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I’ve just checked every room in my house and counted 17 ‘smart’ devices that are at risk of being attacked by Wi-Fi hackers. These aren’t computers, phones or tablets, but security cameras, video doorbells, Amazon Echos, TVs, internet radios and even an air fryer. Each one gives hackers a potential route into my home network. Over the years I’ve been too complacent about these threats, but that will change now I’ve read Nik Rawlinson’s excellent Cover Feature. He reveals just how urgent the risks are, and explains what you must do to protect yourself. Following his advice, I’ve already changed several passwords, updated my ageing encryption, checked for new firmware and strengthened my router’s firewall. Next, I plan to delete any voice commands stored on Amazon’s Echo servers. There’s nothing…

Google has upgraded Gmail’s security to force users to verify their identity when they carry out ‘sensitive actions’. When you make changes to Gmail’s filters, add a new forwarding address or change IMAP settings, you’ll now see a ‘Verify it’s you’ prompt (see screenshot). This will ask you to pass an authentication check, such as typing in an SMS code or pressing a confirmation button on a second trusted device, such as a paired smartphone. If you fail the verification, or don’t complete it, you’ll be sent a ‘Critical security alert’ notification on your paired device, which you can use to lock your account. Google has rolled out this upgrade to increase its chances of identifying suspicious activity in Gmail users’ accounts, and to reduce the risk of cybercriminals manipulating…

Google has added a security feature to Chrome that warns you about potentially dangerous extensions. It tells you when extensions you’ve installed in the browser have been removed from the Chrome Web Store, which is usually because they’ve been found to contain malware or privacy threats. The new feature is set to be introduced in Chrome 117, which is due to be released on 12 September. You’ll find it in the ‘Privacy and security’ section of the browser’s settings under the ‘Safety check’ heading. Chrome will list the names of risky extensions that have been taken down from its Web Store and recommend that you review them. You can then remove them from the browser (see screenshot) to stay safe. If your Chrome hasn’t yet updated to version 117, you…

Openreach has stopped selling copper lines in our town, so I need to learn more about the landline switch-off. When did you last cover it? Pat Lewis CA SAYS In Issue 659’s Cover Feature – buy it from www.snipca.com/47267. When did you explain how to stop Amazon’s Ring doorbells recording what you speak? Angela Nelson CA SAYS In Issue 652, page 61 – buy it from www.snipca.com/47268. When was your Cover Feature about the best apps for smart TVs? Colin Malcolm CA SAYS Issue 636 – read it on our 2022 Back Issue CD: www.snipca.com/44660.…

When I was eight my grandmother told me that my stepfather was not my real dad, and that my biological father – named James Leary – had committed suicide in 1955. I can’t find any info on his death, so how can I trace him? John Leary Your father’s death was registered in the General Register Office (GRO) indexes in the June quarter of 1955 in Chesterfield. His birth was registered in Belper in the September quarter of 1928, with a mother’s maiden name of Wilson. The marriage of James Leary and Olive Wilson is recorded in the September quarter of 1926 in the same district. When the 1939 register was taken, your father was living with his paternal grandparents in Chesterfield, and described as their son. You can obtain…

How can I adjust the quality of audio files? Q I’m currently ripping my entire CD collection to two external hard drives. I’ll then burn my favourite tracks to a USB stick to play in my car. I’m using Magix Audio Cleaner 2016, but it’s a bit old now. What other free audio software can I use to enhance or adjust the audio quality and volume if necessary, then export back to the hard drives or directly to a USB stick? Julian King A The best free software for adjusting the quality of audio files is undoubtedly Audacity (www.snipca.com/47389). Open a track in the program then press Ctrl+A to select the whole thing. Click the Effect menu to access a wide range of enhancement options including adjusting the volume. Select…

Oliver Cooper was so proud of stealing a £55,000 Range Rover Sport that he used his phone to record himself driving it. Such vanity helped West Midlands police to nick this prolific thief, who between July 2021 and May 2022 had stolen over 30 cars worth more than £4 million. Police finally got their man in September 2021, though not before he tried to scarper following a car chase through Birmingham city centre (watch it at www.snipca.com/47350). Videos on his phone showed the interior of many stolen cars, while messages listed the makes and models. Cooper, 23, admitted conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to handle stolen goods. He was jailed for six years and eight months at Birmingham Crown Court.…

These wireless on-ear headphones are probably among the less elegant offerings in Sony’s huge catalogue of headphones. However, if looks aren’t your priority they provide decent-quality output for a reasonable price. When compared with more expensive headphones, this set feels light and plasticky, but structurally robust. The headband-adjustment mechanism, for example, feels very firm and it slides smoothly into place. There’s no doubt these have been built to last. There’s light padding on the inside of the headband and earpads, which makes them comfortable to wear for long periods. The hinges between the closed-back earcups and the headband are sturdy, and the cups themselves swivel a little, which helps to maintain a comfortable fit. What you don’t get with these headphones is noise cancellation. They also lack the clarity, range…

I most often encounter ISO files when I download new software or operating systems from the web. Windows arrives this way, but fortunately I rarely have to reinstall it from scratch. So mostly I use ISO files for operating systems on single-board computers like Raspberry Pi, which I use for a range of home monitoring, weather and information tasks. That said, writing this has prompted me to use ISO files to back up large blocks of work, including novels and non-fiction books. How do you use ISO files? Please let us know: letters@computeractive.co.uk…

Recuva You’re right to recommend ditching Recuva (Issue 664, page 51). It was a favourite of mine in the years before Avast bought it, but now it’s inadequate. And what I use instead I’ll definitely try the alternative you suggest (PhotoRec, www.snipca.com/47017), but it’ll do well to beat Stellar Data Recovery (www.snipca.com/47150, pictured). I first tried it after erasing photos from my Nikon camera’s SD card without properly backing up my primary folder. It found a long list of photos with the correct sequence numbers, and the file dates were correct. I conducted this scan using the free version of Stellar, which rescues up to 1GB of files. It was so effective I decided to subscribe for £49.99 and no data limit. That was three years ago. Since then it…

Opera Browser with AI Free iOS www.snipca.com/47432 Opera’s AI-powered browser, Aria, is now available for iOS, following the release of its Android and Windows versions. Tap ‘Chat with Aria’ to interact with the AI assistant by asking it to look up information online, generate content based on prompts and provide assistance with the browser. Aria requires a free Opera account. Giga Icon Free Android www.snipca.com/47438 Giga Icon makes it easier to find and open apps on your home screen by creating large widgets for them. Simply choose an installed app in its list, select ‘Add to Home screen’ and move the resulting widget to the desired position. You can resize it by dragging its borders and tap it to launch the relevant app. INNS Mapper Free Android www.snipca.com/47440 iOS www.snipca.com/47441…

To print a document in Windows, you must first open the file and access the Print menu. But you can save time by adding your printer as an option in the right-click context menu. First, open two File Explorer windows. In one, type shell:PrintersFolder into the address bar; in the other, type shell:sendto. This will open the Printers (1 in our screenshot) and SendTo folders 2. Next, drag and drop your printer icon from the Printers folder into Send To. You can now see it by right-clicking the file you want to print, then selecting ‘Send to’ 3. You can also rename it – we chose Home Printer 4. Clicking it will send your document straight to the print queue.…

2G Second-generation cellular network. 3G/4G A set of technologies that delivers faster mobile broadband. 32bit/64bit A measure of how much data a PC can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit, more modern ones are 64bit. 480p/720p/1080p/1440p Common types of high-definition video of 640x480, 1280x720, 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 pixels respectively. 8K Video with a resolution of 7680x4320 pixels. Currently the highest resolution available. AI Artificial Intelligence. Intelligence demonstrated by a machine rather than a human being. Airplane mode Phones and tablets in this mode disable all radio communication (GSM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc) so they are safe to use on aircraft. Aspect ratio A measurement of the shape of a screen. Traditional PC screens are 4:3. Widescreen displays are 16:9 or 16:10. Bandwidth A measure of how much data can…

More than 1,000 traditional red phone boxes are still available to be used by communities, BT has said. The company is urging communities, charities and parish councils to take advantage of its ‘Adopt a Kiosk’ scheme (www.snipca.com/47339) to transform redundant phone boxes and use them for other purposes. More than 7,200 boxes have been adopted since the scheme began in 2008. It costs just £1 to take ownership of a box. Communities have turned boxes into a range of facilities, including defibrillator units, libraries, mini art galleries and local museums. BT highlighted one box in the Surrey village of Compton that has been decorated to mark special occasions, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018, Burns Night, the football World Cup and the coronation of King Charles III…

When BT resumed its rollout of Digital Voice earlier this year, ahead of the copper network being switched off in 2025, it had the backing of Silver Voices (www.silvervoices.co.uk), a campaign group for the elderly. The group claimed BT assured it that nobody over 70 would be switched to digital unless they volunteered to do so. “The telecoms industry still needs a smarter strategy to make people feel better prepared” Silver Voices has now withdrawn that support, and called previous BT guarantees “untrue”. The problem, it says, is that in a recent trial of Digital Voice in the East Midlands, BT moved customers without them having requested it. BT said that the customers, aged between 70 and 74, were well placed to cope with the switch because they already had…

Dodgy job offer on WhatsApp A person contacted me on WhatsApp claiming to be from the recruitment agency Adecco. He asked if I was in work. When I said I was between jobs, a new person took over offering me work boosting the ranking of apps for up to £64 an hour. He told me to visit innovation-techalliance.com for more information. A search on Whois (https://who.is) revealed the site was registered only two weeks earlier, and the owner’s details were hidden behind a paid-for service. I told him not to contact me anymore. He immediately responded with a diatribe against capitalists in broken English. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

WEB BROWSER Vivaldi 6.2 www.snipca.com/47453 What you need: Windows 10 or 11, macOS or Linux Vivaldi has long been one of the most innovative browsers, with each new release making significant changes – rather than the incremental updates you get in Chrome and Firefox. Version 6.2 is a major milestone because it ‘refactors’ the browser’s code to reduce memory usage and improve performance. Vivaldi says you can now open new windows 37 per cent faster than before. Besides that ‘under the bonnet’ change, there are several new features that enhance your browsing experience. One of the most useful is the ability to change the order of the auto-complete suggestions that appear in Vivaldi’s address-bar dropdown menu. You can now prioritise your preferred entries, such as matches from your bookmarks, browsing…

SOFTWARE WARNING! IObit Uninstaller 13 Learning there was a new version of IObit Uninstaller filled me with both dread and intrigue. Regular readers of this column may know that IObit acts like a recurring villain in a superhero series, always ready to confound us with fresh built-in junk and infuriating tactics to persuade you to download its tools. I had some slight hope that version 13 of Uninstaller might be different. Perhaps iObit had seen the light, left villainy behind, and joined a junk-fighting crusade. But no. It’s as shady as ever. Clicking the green Free Download button on IObit’s home page (www.snipca.com/47295) sent me to a confusing page with an identical Free Download button (1 in our screenshot above right). It seemed logical that I had to click it again…

Q At the moment I’m using an old PC with Windows 7 for browsing, and email checking and composing. I also use it to store and edit my family photos and videos. Every now and then my PC freezes and then – after recovering – runs painfully slow. I am considering buying a replacement and would welcome your suggestion for a fast PC with a modern version of Windows, ample USB ports and built-in Wi-Fi. I’d prefer a desktop PC so it has potential for future upgrades, and I’m not keen on having an all-in-one. My budget is between £400 and £500? Dee Oal A For this kind of budget we’d recommend the Palicomp AMD Cobra (www.snipca.com/43515, reviewed in Issue 643, pictured). Its base price is £400, which includes everything…

This back-to-basics device reminds us of a time when the Moto brand was synonymous with decent-quality phones at great prices. There are compromises with every low-cost phone, of course, and this has a plastic frame and rear panel. However, it feels well made and, while it doesn’t have an IP rating, Motorola promises some basic splash resistance. It also comes with a transparent protective case. “A decent screen, smooth operation and superb battery life” The 6.5in screen is generous but – being an IPS panel rather than OLED – hardly exceptional. Its viewing angles aren’t particularly wide but pump up the brightness level to its peak of 449cd/m2 and images still pack a punch. And Motorola certainly doesn’t skimp on the 2400x1080-pixel resolution. We kept the refresh rate in Auto…

The Marshall Middleton Bluetooth speaker gives you powerful audio in your hand, and is ideal for playing at home or outdoors. Connect multiple Bluetooth speakers and drop straight into your music with no fuss – just pair and play. It uses True Stereophonic, a unique form of multi-directional stereo sound from Marshall to deliver the ultimate immersive experience wherever you are. Thanks to its durable design, Middleton is equally at home in the festival mud or on your polished sideboard. With a rugged IP67 dust- and water-resistant build, a bit of rain and dirt won’t get under its skin. And it keeps going for 20 hours on a single charge. You can also connect it to as many other Middleton speakers as you like, amplifying the sound with a multi-speaker…

Tccmebius TCC-S862 Docking Station £24 from www.snipca.com/47116 The Tccmebius TCC-S862 docking station is one of my better buys. I have SATA and IDE drives sitting in it – these were the hard drives from my old PC and laptop. It handles both 2.5in and 3.5in drives. It’s an excellent device, and is fairly quick at both reading and writing files – it claims a transfer speed of 480MB/s. There are ports for xD cards and two USB connections. It worked perfectly straight out of the box and didn’t need any additional software. It’s compatible with Windows, Linux and MacOS, and can also be connected to gaming consoles, DVD players and projectors. I bought it from Amazon after searching for an HD docking station, and for just over £20 it’s well…

Kiwix Free Android www.snipca.com/47442 iOS www.snipca.com/47443 Kiwix ensures you’ve always got something to read when you lose internet connection by letting you download the whole of Wikipedia to browse offline. Alternatively, you can save only the top 100 most popular articles, a 50,000-strong ‘Best of’ collection and curated selections for specific topics. Best For Reading Wikipedia offline Maps.me Free* Android www.snipca.com/47446 iOS www.snipca.com/47445 Google Maps lets you save maps to browse offline, but Maps.me makes the process much easier. You can download maps of specific regions or entire countries to explore without a connection. Simply tap the More button, choose Download Maps, search for the area you want to save and tap Download. Best For Exploring maps offline Offline Browser Free* Android www.snipca.com/47447 This app offers several ways to save…

The reason for blocking on the basis of a MAC address rather than an IP address, which is the address given to each device by the router, is that IP addresses can change over time. So, while an unauthorised device might be at 192.168.1.50 one day, it could be at 192.168.1.44 the next. You therefore can’t actually ‘block’ an IP address in this respect: you can only tell the router not to allocate it to any device in the futur. This does nothing to prevent interlopers from continuing to access your network using a different IP address.…

Launched in 1996, the Internet Archive has always been a non-profit organisation that receives most of its material and funding from donations. None of the companies that have sued the site claim that it’s profiting from its vast digital library, but by making its content freely available to the public, they insist the Internet Archive is depriving the creators and publishers of equitable remuneration and undermining the value of their work (even though most are long dead). Regrettably, the site stands a fair chance of losing these legal battles by offering copyrighted content for free. Even if it removes the offending material and pays compensation, there are likely to be further challenges that it may not be able to afford to settle. One suggestion is that the US Library of…

Microsoft has no “immediate” plans to fix a security flaw in Skype’s mobile apps that could let hackers see your IP address. The flaw was discovered by an independent security researcher called Yossi, who said he reported it to Microsoft on 12 August. Yossi then demonstrated the flaw to the website 404 Media (www.404media.co), showing that he could expose a user’s IP address while chatting in Skype by getting them to open a message containing a link. This worked even when they were using a VPN. He also showed 404 Media emails he received from Microsoft saying that the “disclosure of an IP address is not considered a security vulnerability on it’s [sic] own”, and that it “does not meet the definition of a security vulnerability” that would “require immediate…

WATCH OUT FOR… Fake Amazon ads that lead to security scam What’s the threat? Scammers have once again infiltrated Google’s search results to show fake adverts for Amazon.com. They appear under a ‘Sponsored’ heading when you type ‘Amazon’ into Google in Chrome and show the genuine URL for the site (www.amazon.com) – see screenshot 1. Clicking the link takes you to what looks like a security alert from ‘Windows Defender’ saying that your PC is infected with the ‘ads(exe).finacetrack(2).dll malware’. It claims your computer has been locked (see screenshot 2) and tells you to ‘Call Windows Support immediately to report this problem’. Phoning the number at the bottom of the alert takes you to the scammers, not Microsoft. The advert appears in full-screen mode, making it hard to close. To…

Why am I being refused a refund so soon after purchase? LEAD CASE Q Earlier this year, my wife bought me a trail camera from Antiete (www.antiete.com). It worked well, but in April it failed completely. Antiete said that it wasn’t going to help because I hadn’t filled in the registration form. It also said its terms of business stated that any goods that weren’t wanted had to be returned for a refund within two weeks. Is Antiete allowed to do this? Brian Heard A No it’s not. Antiete is mixing up Brian’s rights under the Consumer Contract Regulations, which gives 14 days to reject unwanted goods bought online, with the Consumer Right Act, which governs inherently faulty goods. Brian is rejecting the camera because it’s faulty, not returning it…

4K Video Downloader+ Personal www.snipca.com/47454 Price: £24 Free trial period: N/A What you need: Windows 10 or 11, macOS or Linux In our Cover Feature in Issue 664 (get it from www.snipca.com/47455), we mentioned that 4K Video Downloader has a new ‘+’ version, but recommended using the free tool Vividl (www.snipca.com/46995) instead. Sadly, the latter is no longer working reliably, so we decided to see if 4K Video Downloader+ is worth paying for. There are several paid-for editions of the program, of which Personal is the best value because it’s a one-off purchase – the Lite plan has the same features, but costs £18 a year, while the business-oriented Pro version costs £56. All plans have a 14-day money-back guarantee. Personal lets you download an unlimited number of videos every…

WHAT THEY SAY Opera on its Wallpaper Showdown competition (www.snipca.com/47125) “Users can convert their browsing journey into an immersive visual delight that echoes their unique style. Previously preset, a user’s browser backdrop can now feature anything they choose: awe-inspiring landscapes, cherished memories, preferred pieces of art – the canvas is blank, the possibilities only limited by users’ imaginations.” WHAT THEY MEAN We hope gimmicks like this will stop users journeying to another browser.…

What does it do? In this column in Issue 663, we explained keyboard travel – how far a key needs to be pressed before it sends a signal to the computer it’s connected to. Actuation force is the amount of pressure that needs to be applied to the key in order to get it to register an action. So a keyboard with a high actuation force is likely to feel stiff and cumbersome, while a lower-value actuation may result in key presses feeling mushy. How does it work? Actuation force is defined by the mechanism the keyboard uses to register a key press. A switch on a mechanical keyboard is usually mounted on a spring, which creates resistance when pressing the key and returns it back into place when you…

What is it? The head of Samsung’s mobile division, TM Roh, let slip to The Independent (www.snipca.com/47457) that it is working on a range of tablets with foldable screens. Riding high after its recent launch of smartphones with folding screens (including the Galaxy Z Fold5, pictured), Samsung is the first company to declare an interest in applying the technology to tablets. What does it do? There’s no confirmed design yet, but Roh refers to tablets that fold like books. This, he argues, makes them more portable and gives them a design that’s as easy to carry around, read and make notes in as a paper book. What’s the catch? There’s not even a prototype yet, so folding tablets might be a long way off – assuming they happen at all.…

What you need: WinCDEmu Time required: Two hours You’ve almost certainly come across an ISO file before. They’re typically used to bundle huge amounts of data, such as in Windows installers. ISO is short for International Standards Organisation, which is the Geneva-based body that ensures all countries adhere to common standards on matters like film speeds, currency codes and food safety. It gives every ‘standard’ a number, starting with ISO 1, which in 1951 established 20°C as the reference point for measuring temperatures. That doesn't mean every member state must adopt the exact same standards. For example, ISO 8601 (www.snipca.com/47293), which regulates time and date formats, rules that YYYY-MM-DD is the “internationally agreed way to represent dates” – and with good reason. When you use this format, it’s easy to…

CHROME Skip annoying CAPTCHAs on websites Chrome 116, which was released in August, adds the long-overdue option to stop websites asking you to prove you’re human, either by completing a CAPTCHA or by clicking ‘I’m not a robot’. Once you’ve passed one of these tests, the browser will store the confirmation so other sites can automatically verify that you’re a real person and not a bot. This new ‘Auto-verify’ feature should be enabled in Chrome by default, but it’s worth double-checking. Click the browser’s three-dot menu button and choose Settings, then ‘Privacy and security’. Select ‘Site settings’ then ‘Additional content settings’ and click ‘Auto-verify’, ensuring that the option is switched on (see screenshot below). Google says the setting works without identifying you or allowing sites to see your browsing history.…

ANDROID & iOS Send higher-quality photos and videos in WhatsApp When you send a photo to someone in WhatsApp, the messaging app compresses the image to reduce its file size and conserve data. However, this also lowers the quality of the picture, which many users find annoying. To address the problem, WhatsApp has introduced the option to send HD versions of photos at their original resolution. To use it, tap the attachment icon in the message box at the bottom of a chat and select either Camera to take a photo or Gallery to choose an existing picture. Tap the new HD button in the top menu bar (1 in our screenshot below) and select ‘HD quality’ 2 under ‘Photo quality’. Add a caption, and send the image as normal –…

WINDOWS 11 Switch on Paint’s new dark mode Microsoft has updated Paint so you can set it to mirror your system’s screen mode (light or dark), or make it appear in dark mode permanently. Search for and open Paint. You’ll know you’re using the latest version if you see a gear icon (1 in our screenshot below) at the top right. Click this to see Paint’s new settings menu. Now select Dark 2 in the ‘App theme’ options, and Paint will adopt the dark mode. If you don’t see the cog icon, you need to update to version 11.2304.30.0 (or later) of Windows 11. Do this by opening Windows Update in Settings and clicking ‘Check for updates’. WINDOWS 10 & 11 Stop processes from being reordered in Task Manager If your…

You can use conditional formatting to quickly colour-code your data, helping you to make sense of it more easily. In our example, we’re going to highlight temperatures above 23°C to pick out holiday destinations for September. You should be able to apply these instructions to your own data. First, we highlighted cells B4:B36 (1 in our screenshot). Then we clicked the Home tab followed by Conditional Formatting 2. We hovered over Highlight Cells Rules, then clicked ‘Greater Than…’ 3. Next, in the box that appears, we set the value to 23 and chose the ‘Light Red Fill with Dark Red Text’ in the dropdown menu. We clicked OK to confirm. All cells above 23°C now appear in red 4. You can also set conditional formatting in LibreOffice Calc. After highlighting a…

Newer isn’t always better when it comes to downloading free software. Developers sometimes make unwanted changes to their programs, which frustrate many users and leave them pining for the previous versions. Such updates can include removing useful features, imposing restrictions on how you use the software and dropping support for older hardware. Although we frequently stress the importance of keeping PC programs up-to-date, there are times when it’s preferable to ‘downgrade’ them to the last good compatible versions – provided you can continue to use them safely. Here we pick five tools that were updated for the worse and explain how to restore them to their former glory. Any Video Converter Free Current version: www.snipca.com/47352 Old version: www.snipca.com/47431 Last year, this popular free video converter was completely redesigned, with its…

LOWEST-EVER PRICE! WHAT YOU GET ✓ Real-time malware protection ✓ Secure VPN ✓ 75GB PC Cloud Backup ✓ Webcam hack alerts PLUS Monitors the dark web for your personal information Norton is made by NortonLifeLock Inc – a standalone company dedicated to consumer cyber safety. It has always performed strongly in Computeractive antivirus tests, so we highly recommend it. 10 devices for two years NOW ONLY £19.99* Normally £179.99 Buy it from our Software Store at www.snipca.com/33247 * while stocks last…