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If I printed and stacked all the emails we’ve received about Windows 10, they would reach to the moon. Or the top of Everest. Or maybe Canary Wharf. The exact height doesn’t matter. What’s important is that no subject this decade has generated more opinions, problems and tips from readers than Microsoft’s wonderful/terrible (delete as applicable) operating system. In recent issues we’ve focused on the controversies surrounding Windows 10, and provided tips for getting more from it. Now it’s time for us to fix more of your problems. Our troubleshooting guide begins on page 50. Personally, I think Windows 10 is very good. Better than 8? Undoubtedly. Better than XP? Probably. Better even than the legendary Windows 7? On a good day, yes. But it still gives me problems, most…

WARNING: Junk ahead Junk offender: IObit The theme of this issue’s Named & Shamed is “I’m not angry, just disappointed”. That phrase usually translates as “I’m as furious as a T-Rex whose tail is on fire”, but in the case of IObit, I really do have mixed feelings. IObit Uninstaller (www.snipca.com/19975) is one of the few free programs I go out of my way to keep on my PC. This is because, unlike the uninstaller built into your PC’s Control Panel, IObit Uninstaller removes every last trace of unwanted software. It even lets you see, manage and obliterate any files left behind in your Registry. Sadly – and ironically, given its raison d’etre – IObit has become an aggressive ‘junk-tout’. With one hand it taketh away Registry junk, and with…

I agree with your comments in Issue 471 (News) about adverts in Windows 10, when you say that they are a price worth paying for a free operating system. When I first read about the adverts appearing I feared the worst. I imagined hideous, vulgar adverts that would put me off using Windows 10. I thought it would mean Burger King shouting at me about its ‘Whoppers’, or Tesco telling me that ‘every little helps’. I didn’t want Windows to turn into Channel 5. But the reality hasn’t been so bad. I can live with an image of Tomb Raider (pictured). It looks quite attractive, in a sci-fi sort of way, though I’d rather Microsoft advertised Doctor Who box-sets. I can also live with ‘suggested’ apps based on my tastes.…

Amazon Prime www.snipca.com/19906 BT www.snipca.com/19911 Dropbox www.snipca.com/19923 eBay www.snipca.com/19907 Facebook www.snipca.com/19913 Google www.snipca.com/19920 iTunes www.snipca.com/19910 Kaspersky www.snipca.com/19908 Netflix www.snipca.com/19912 Norton www.snipca.com/19922 Plusnet www.snipca.com/19918 Sky www.snipca.com/19914 Spotify www.snipca.com/19915 TalkTalk www.snipca.com/19917 Three www.snipca.com/19951 Virgin Media www.snipca.com/19916 Vodafone www.vodafone.co.uk/cancel-account…

What should I use to burn photos to DVD? Q We bought Nero Burning ROM a few years back, but lost it after upgrading to Windows 10. I downloaded it again from the Nero site (www.snipca.com/19888) and entered my licence number, but it wouldn’t accept it. Is there a free or reasonably priced alternative I can use instead? I mainly just used it to burn backups for photos. Thanks. Helen Young A Sadly, most of the best-known free Nero alternatives have been discontinued. ImgBurn, LiquidCD and PowerLaser Express have all gone. Is this a dying industry? No, but the names of its programs have got a lot less catchy. ‘Cdrtfe’ (see screenshot) is a brand new, opensource tool that does exactly what you’re after, for free. As well as letting…

SMARTPHONE ❘ £160 from Microsoft Store www.snipca.com/19941 Regular readers will know we’re rather sceptical about the mobile version of Windows 10. Running the same software on phones, tablets and PCs is a great idea in theory, with apps adapting to the screen size and processing power of each, much like web pages do. In practice, though, it doesn’t really feel the same. Hardly any apps except Microsoft’s properly support the idea, and there are far fewer available than for Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS. Even so, there’s no denying Windows 10 is very powerful, and the Lumia 650 brings it to you at a budget price. So is it the Windows 10 phone to tempt you away from the competition? No, it’s not. Microsoft had a real chance here to…

SPRING 2016 The MateBook is Huawei’s first stab at a Windows 10 tablet, and it looks great, with a narrow bezel around the 12in screen and a leather-backed snap-on keyboard. But it’s not cheap, prices will start at just under £700. SPRING 2016 Expected in April, LG’s G5 is a new kind of flagship smartphone with a modular design. This means you’ll be able to add upgrades such as cameras, replaceable batteries and memory cards. Yet it has a slim metal body that looks like a premium phone. Will it catch on? SPRING 2016 A proper graphics card can help with tasks like video editing. Lenovo’s 14in laptop-tablet hybrid take that on board: the Yoga 710 (around £705) will include an Nvidia GTX 940M, while an AMD Radeon R7 M460…

What you need: Adblock Browser; Android/iOS phone or tablet Time required: 15 minutes All mobile browsers display ads by default. These include everything from banners and Google’s sponsored links – which are merely annoying – to malicious ads (malvertising) that put your device and its contents at risk – a phenomenon that’s becoming increasingly common (see www.snipca.com/20053). Adblock Browser is a free app that will eliminate these nuisances and keep you safe by blocking all types of advert on your device. We’re using the Android app (www.snipca.com/20046) here, but the iOS app (www.snipca.com/20047) works in a similar way. STEP 1 We’ll first show you how Adblock Browser blocks banner adverts. Open the app, tap Only One More Step, then tap Finish. Now tap the search field at the top and…

LumaFX – infinite video effects £3.99 iOS: www.snipca.com/20027 LumaFX is pricey for an app, but is worth every penny if you want a reliable videoediting tool for your iPhone or iPad. It lets you add a variety of video effects (colour effects, styles, blurs, distortions and monochrome). You can also trim and merge your clips, and download or share the edited video file in HD. Manything Free Android: www.snipca.com/20024 iOS: www.snipca.com/20025 The latest update makes Manything just about the best security app for your device. The free plan lets you use one device as a remote security camera for your home. You see notifications whenever motion is detected and can download motion alerts as video clips. Cubes Free iOS: www.snipca.com/20028 This brilliant app collects all the data stored within your…

OUTLOOK Schedule specific emails to send when you want There’s an easy way to defer sending specific emails to a particular date and time. This is especially useful if you’re sending emails for special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries, and so on). To do this, click New Email at the top left, then click the Options tab and click Delay Delivery at the top right. Now tick the ‘Do not deliver before’ field (see screenshot right). Click the date dropdown menu and set when you want it delivered, then click the time dropdown menu and set a delivery time. You can send it as a message of High importance by clicking the Importance dropdown menu at the top left and selecting High. If you want to receive a report (email) when your…

WHAT YOU CAN DO • Increase the scaling of your font, so words look less blurry • Transfer your data to a new PC using Windows Installer • Update your graphics card driver for Windows 10 • Stop Windows 10 updates repeatedly failing • Make Windows Live Mail compatible with Windows 10, so it works properly Our Problems Solved team have had to become Windows 10 experts very quickly. Since the operating system (OS) launched last July they’ve received thousands of emails from readers requesting fixes to problems. We answer many of these in the Problems Solved section of every issue (see page 64), but sometimes we get so inundated that the only sensible solution is to devote the Cover Feature to them. Here we tackle 13 problems that readers…

Graphics freeze or blue-screen crashes Symptoms like these point to a hardware problem. It could be that your card’s graphics processing unit (GPU) is getting too hot — games in particular make big demands on the chip, so it’ll heat up quicker. The cause is often built-up dust and grime on the card’s integrated fan and/or cooling fins (or ‘heat sink’). Remove the mains power, then open your PC. Cleaning is easier with the card extracted, so remove the retaining screw from the PC’s backplate and then slowly tease it free from its expansion slot. Use a can of compressed air to expel dust from the card’s cooling fan (and from your PC’s other fans), then use cotton buds to get into the nooks and crannies of the heat sink.…

Is Mozilla about to copy Microsoft, and launch a new browser? It now seems possible, following confirmation from a Mozilla developer that Firefox’s new browser engine, called Servo, is being released in June. It would be a significant development, because a browser engine is what all browsers – Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and the rest – use to interpret the code of a web page, using this information to display it on screen. It determines a browser’s speed and stability. Mozilla has used the Gecko browser engine since Firefox’s launch in 2004. But during the past few years its developers have been working on Servo. Any browser running on it will be more ‘modular’, which means you’ll be able to choose which tools you want it to contain. This should…

Are you misleading your readers with ‘six years’ claim? Q I don’t wish to criticise, but sometimes I think your advice can be misleading when you say retailers have to repair or replace an item within six years. Nowhere does the Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) or the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) state how long products should last. What’s your response? Paul Naylor A Paul’s right to say that neither law states how long a product should last – but we’ve never claimed they do. Instead we’ve always stated how long they give you to make a claim for a product that’s faulty, not fit for purpose or not of satisfactory quality: up to six years (five in Scotland). Of course, this doesn’t mean that all products will be expected…

WATCH OUT FOR… Emails seeking your ‘Attention’ What happened? Action Fraud revealed that the most common word in the subject line for scam emails in 2015 was ‘Attention’. Other words and phrases used often by scammers included ‘Your account has been revoked’, ‘Important Notification’ and the seemingly innocent ‘Hello’. They are all designed to suggest a sense of urgency that compels the recipient to open them. The organisation, which is run by the City of London Police, also said that the three email addresses most commonly used to send scams were Do-Not-reply@amazon.co.uk, bt.athome@ecomm.bt.com and PQ8MPY@m.apple.com. Action Fraud received on average 8,000 reports of phishing scams every month last year, a 21 per cent increase on 2014. Around 68 per cent of people reporting a scam had been targeted by email,…

PC ❘ £650 from PC Specialist www.snipca.com/20020 There are cheap PCs and expensive PCs, and that’s fine. Pro users with fancy work to do can buy fancy PCs to do it, while the rest of us manage with cheaper systems that are perfectly adequate for our everyday tasks, and save our money for real luxuries, like printer ink. But this sensible arrangement breaks down when normal people need to do demanding things, such as video editing. Now that even phones shoot Full HD, most of us record more than we’ll ever have time to watch, so it’s great that affordable software lets us trim clips and put the best bits together. “A great generalpurpose PC with enough power and storage space for all your video-editing projects” Try this on a…

Find out what other products we liked. Buy our new 2015 Back Issue CD: £15 fromwww.snipca.com/19124 LAPTOP Asus UX305 Asus UX305 £570 from www.snipca.com/19439 Tested: Issue 447 13.3in is a practical size for a laptop, and this light but sturdy ‘ultrabook’ has a smart and slim design that does justice to its capable performance. Upgradeable to Windows 10, it’s limited mainly by its 128GB SSD, which makes it work fast but might leave you needing more space. ALTERNATIVE Toshiba Satellite C40-C This 14in Windows 10 laptop looks like it costs a lot more. It’s not the most amazing PC, but it’s fantastic for the price. £199 from www.snipca.com/19436 PHONE Apple iPhone 6s £539 from www.snipca.com/18240 Tested: Issue 461 It may look like the 2014 model, but this update is stronger…

Handy hints and tips from your fellow readers Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT ‘Type’ documents using your voice I don’t use Word and Excel as often as I used to, so I chose not to subscribe to Microsoft Office 365 when I bought my new Windows 10 PC. Instead, I use Google Docs. The other day when using the service, I was informed about a new feature that lets you dictate text and make text edits using your voice. I initially thought this was a bit gimmicky, but decided to give it a go. To my surprise, the feature worked quite well. It only works in Google Chrome (www.google.com/chrome). Go to docs.google.com, then log into your Gmail account. Click Blank to create a new document or…

AGES 0-5 Charlie and Lola: I’ve Won! £2.99 www.snipca.com/20029 (Android) £2.99 www.snipca.com/20030 (iOS) This new app based on the popular children’s TV programme contains over 50 mini-games that will entertain and educate your toddler. Our favourite is ‘Word and Number’ in which they need to spell simple words and count numbers. AGES 6-10 Lumino City £1.49 www.snipca.com/20031 (iOS) In this BAFTA-winning game, your child plays as Lumi – a little girl who needs to solve puzzles to progress through various levels. At the start, you receive a book containing all the clues you’ll need. To access the book, however, you need to solve various number-based riddles. AGES 11-16 Trials Frontier* Free www.snipca.com/20032 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/20033 (iOS) This is a modern-day version of the Nineties video game, Excite Bike. On your…

Capture anything with the Snipping Tool Well, nearly anything. The Snipping Tool has been included with Windows Vista onwards. It will capture screenshots that seem beyond the reach of keyboard shortcuts – meaning specific parts of the screen, or a freehand area. The Snipping Tool is hidden in different places but one way to launch it on any version of Windows is to press Windows key+R, type snippingtool.exe and press Enter. Click the New button before dragging a rectangle over the part of the screen you want to grab. But have you ever noticed the little down arrow next to this button? Click this instead to access four different ways to capture screens (see screenshot below). Don’t forget the Shift key If pressing the Print Screen (or PrtScn, see photo…

FEWER THAN 100 LEF T! THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO WINDOWS 10 This 148-page book is the only guide you need on Microsoft’s new operating system. You’ll learn how to master all the new tools, lock Microsoft’s weak privacy settings and prevent future updates from wrecking your PC. It includes fixes for all the problems and bugs that have appeared in Windows 10 since it launched. Plus, you’ll discover how to make Cortana understand you, remove the apps you hate, fix the dreaded Reboot Loop problem, master the new Edge browser, and stop Microsoft sharing your personal info BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON at www.snipca.com/17716 THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO ANDROID If you use an Android tablet or phone, our new book will tell you how to get the most out of…

Email us your problem and we’ll try to help noproblem@computeractive.co.uk Have cheap cartridges ruined my printer? Q My Canon Pixma iP3300 will no longer start, let alone print. On my Windows 7 PC, a small screen appears with the following message: ‘Operator error. Press the printer’s Resume button. If this doesn’t clear the error, cancel printing and turn the printer off and then on again!’ I’ve tried that but it’s still stuck. I use cheap compatible cartridges – could these be the cause? Robert Vallance A We wouldn’t rule out the cheap cartridges as a possible cause, because printer companies do spend a lot of money precisely formulating ink for their devices. However, your specific printer model is getting on for 10 years old, so its most likely that the…

UNLOCK YOUR PC USING YOUR PHONE Microsoft has released a phone app for Windows 10 that lets you unlock your computer without having to type a password. Called Phone Sign-in Beta, it connects to a computer via Bluetooth, then asks you to select a machine to unlock. It’s only intended for “internal testing purposes” at the moment and, when launched fully, will only work on phones running Windows 10 Mobile. The app is available on the Windows Store at www.snipca.com/19991. 314GB HARD DRIVE FOR THE RASPBERRY PI A new hard drive specially built for the Raspberry Pi 3 adds 314GB storage to the micro PC. Made by Western Digital, the WD PiDrive (pictured) is connected via USB, but uses less power than typical hard drives. It’s available at the promotional…

Tell us what’s on your mind Email: letters@computeractive.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive Twitter: @ComputerActive www.twitter.com/computeractive Windows 8 better than 10? You must be joking Is Bill Munns for real? How can he say Windows 8 is better than 10 (Letters, Issue 471)? After the bliss of Windows 7, which I loved, Windows 8 almost drove me mad with rage. Nothing ever appeared to be in the same place twice. Things would open when I hadn’t clicked them. Things I clicked wouldn’t open. I was hoping Windows 10 would be better, and it is. I’m pleased that Mr Munns is happy with Windows 8. He obviously found something in it that I couldn’t. But his enthusiasm won’t persuade me to go back. Andrew Cunningham I still use XP on my shop’s PC Your…

When we contact companies on behalf of readers, we’re primarily looking for a refund. We occasionally get apologies too, plus ‘goodwill’ vouchers to spend. Happily we got all three from Tesco, which was at fault in David Ellender’s case (Issue 471). When we contact companies on behalf of readers, we’re primarily looking for a refund. We occasionally get apologies too, plus ‘goodwill’ vouchers to spend. Happily we got all three from Tesco, which was at fault in David Ellender’s case (Issue 471). We told Tesco that David’s contract was with it, not Canon. It agreed, apologised to David, and gave him a £20 voucher to spend in its stores. We told Tesco that David’s contract was with it, not Canon. It agreed, apologised to David, and gave him a £20…

PRIVACY File Shredder Tool www.snipca.com/19933 What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1 or 10 Recycle Bin is an appropriate name for the place you dump unwanted documents and other PC files, because it’s about as secure as chucking bank statements into a plastic box outside your front door. Anyone can see what you put there. Even when the contents disappear into a dustcart, or into apparent digital oblivion by right-clicking and choosing ‘Empty Recycle Bin’, thieves can still access your paper or digital leftovers until they’ve been shredded, pulped and turned into egg boxes or unrecoverable data. File Shredder Tool is a free new program from NoVirusThanks – maker of trusted security tools including SWF (Flash) File Blocker and Smart PC Locker – that completely and permanently obliterates your…

Which budget laptop should I buy? Q I would like a Windows 10 laptop to use when I’m not at home with my desktop PC, but I can’t spend more than £300. Is it possible to get a good machine for that, or would I be wasting my money? Andrew Smith A A wise question. The little HP Stream 11 (£179 from Tesco www.snipca.com/19959) is fine for basic tasks and video chat, while the 14in Toshiba C40-C (£200 from Toshiba www.snipca.com/17851, pictured) is a better size for typing. There are some good, cheap laptop-tablet hybrids too, such as the 10.1in HP Pavilion x2 (£200 from Argos www.snipca.com/19963). All of these are up to basic tasks such as email and web browsing, but more power-hungry tasks like photo editing would get…

Varidesk makes stand-up desks that give you the option of standing up or sitting down while working at your computer. The Soho White is the company’s smallest model at 76.2cm wide, and pops up or folds down in just seconds. It can sit on top of desks, and is sturdy and stable even when fully extended. To enter, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘varidesk’ in the subject line by midnight 12 April. The Varidesk Soho White is available to buy now priced £150 from http://uk.varidesk.com. For updates on Varidesk products follow @VariDeskUK and ‘like’ www.facebook.com/VarideskUk.…

ANDROID Navigate long documents quickly Google Docs on Android has a new feature that lets you quickly jump to any section within your document. This is particularly handy if you are working with longer documents. Previously, you had to scroll through to find what you wanted. If you’re creating a document using Google Docs, you need to make sure that it’s broken down into separate sections. Give each section a heading and ensure this is in bold. Now whenever you access these documents via the Google Docs app, simply scroll up or down to see a small slider (with two arrows) on the right, then tap this. All your document headings will appear on the right (see screenshot below left). Tap the one you want to go directly to that…

WINDOWS 10 Add folders to your Start menu Adding folders to your Start menu in Windows 10 requires a different method than in 7 and 8. Press the Windows key, click Settings, then Personalization. Now click Start on the left, then scroll to the bottom and click the ‘Choose which folders appear on Start’ link. You’ll see a list of the folders that you can add to your Start menu with sliders beneath them. Some sliders (such as File Explorer and Settings) are turned on by default. Turn on the sliders for the other folders that you want. These will now appear at the bottom left of your Start menu. WINDOWS 7, 8 Download free (and legal) music for your videos Windows Movie Maker has useful links to websites that…

What are they? Emails dated ‘January 1, 1970’ being sent to iPad and iPhone users. They have perplexed thousands of people because they have no subject, sender or content, and can’t be deleted. Many users are worried that they are being hacked – or haunted. Which is it? Neither. It’s actually a flaw in iOS that occurs when users check their emails in a different timezone. The problem is that to tell the time iOS uses Unix, an operating system developed by Bell Labs in 1969. Unix counts how many seconds have elapsed since January 1, 1970 (about 1.45 billion). It’s an effective way for computers to measure time, but because Unix works on Greenwich Mean Time it can get confused by a new timezone. It reacts by reverting to…

Why do my emails disappear? Q I am using Windows 10 with Windows Live Mail (WLM) and was initially happy with the setup. I also have Kaspersky Internet Security installed. Recently I have been having problems with email. When I start WLM I have become aware of new messages that appear briefly in the inbox, then disappear – and I cannot retrieve them! At 77 years old and suffering the onset of dementia, I’d appreciate some help. Ken Nicholas A There are a couple of things going on here. First, you have an option enabled in WLM that automatically marks messages as read, just a few seconds after they’re selected. Second, you are using a WLM view that hides messages that have been marked as read. These two things in…

Before I allow you to read this issue’s column, I’m going to ask you to do something. It’s not a big effort, really: I just need you to tell me your Final Straw username and password. If you can’t remember them, don’t worry – just tap the ‘I’ve forgotten my username or password’ link at the foot of this page. It won’t do anything, obviously, because this is a printed magazine. So what on earth were you thinking? But humour me and I’ll pop a password reminder in the post. Just keep refreshing your doormat until it arrives. “Why should I have to hand over my personal details just to discover where the Find button is in the latest edition of Word?” Don’t have a Final Straw login yet? Well,…