Table of contents for 521 in Computeractive

Here’s a parlour game for those Saturday nights when there’s nothing on TV (which to me seems like every Saturday night). Take a bag of Scrabble tiles, give it a good shake, then reach in and pick three letters. Now, can you make a file format out of them? You’d get nine points for PDF, 12 for MKV and a whopping 14 for ZIP. Can you think of a format that scores higher? For ideas, read our Cover Feature, which recommends the best software, websites and apps for converting files. It’ll help you open videos, photos, music and documents you thought you’d never get to see. Most of the formats wouldn’t be allowed in a proper game of Scrabble, of course. But get lucky with the letters and you can…

We knew Meltdown and Spectre would be hard to fix, but we didn’t expect such a farcical series of events. As an illustration of the chaos unleashed by the flaws, you’d struggle to come up with anything better than Microsoft working overtime to elbow Intel’s fix out of the way. Thankfully for now, hackers have failed to develop malware that exploits the flaws, but that’s a timebomb which is ticking louder every day. We need more effective protection from all involved – Intel in particular.…

‘RANSOMWARE’ ADDED TO DICTIONARY ‘Ransomware’ is one of over 1,000 new words that have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary. It is defined as a “type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid”. Other computing terms added include ‘e-ink’ and ‘esc’ – as in ‘to press the escape key’. For the full list visit www.snipca.com/26889. AMAZON SMILES ON ALL UK CHARITIES Amazon has invited all UK charities to participate in its online scheme that donates 0.5 per cent of revenue from the sales of eligible goods. Currently 11 major charities are signed up to AmazonSmile, which launched in the UK last year, including Cancer Research and the Royal British Legion. Before shopping at https://smile.amazon.co.uk, you’re asked to select…

Car insurer Admiral has admitted charging drivers a higher premium if they apply online via Hotmail. It follows an investigation by The Sun that found motorists requesting a quote from a Hotmail address were charged on average £31.36 more than requests via Gmail. The newspaper asked Admiral about policies using identical details but different email accounts. On the price-comparison website GoCompare, Admiral quoted a Hotmail user £467.04, but only £435.68 to a Gmail user. Hotmail users were also charged more on MoneySuperMarket and Confused.com, though the differences were smaller - £6.57 and £5.60 respectively. Admiral said it uses email accounts as part of its criteria to decide a driver’s risk profile, claiming that “certain domain names are associated with more accidents than others”. It’s thought that some email accounts are…

REPORT CAR CRASHES ON THE WEB Drivers may soon be able to report car crashes online, rather than having to attend a police station in person within 24 hours. The Government has launched a public consultation to examine the idea. It said online reporting would “lessen the burden on motorists” and “free up police resources”. If the changes are approved, motorists would still be able to attend police stations in person, should they wish. Read more on Gov. uk: www.snipca.com/26903. GET LATEST VIRGIN TV BOX FOR FREE Virgin Media customers using TiVo can now upgrade to its V6 TV box for free after the company scrapped its £20 activation fee. The company said it will contact eligible customers with details, and expects most will be able to install the box…

One of the things I like about Computeractive is that you never forget those who may be left behind by technology. I noticed this again in your news story (Issue 520, page 9) about the app that lets you have a video appointment with a doctor over the phone (‘GP at Hand’, pictured). Some people might love this prospect, but you focussed on those who could suffer if this technology is widely adopted. My fear is that these video-chat appointments will prove popular with influential people – namely, the under-30s who seem to be the driving force behind technology. They’ll enthuse about how convenient it is to talk to their GP from the comfort of their sofa, and how it saves them time in their busy lives. It will get…

I downloaded the free Driver Support software (www.driversupport.com), ran the scan and all seemed fine. I then paid $9.99 through PayPal for what I thought was a once-only payment for an upgrade. While away on holiday I got an email from Driver Support notifying me of my $9.99 monthly subscription. It was not clear at the time that I was signing up for a subscription, nor a direct debit. Why would I pay $120 a year just to keep my drivers up to date when I have got by for years without it? I do not even pay that for my three-PC security software. Driver Support told me I could cancel my subscription by logging into their website. But I couldn’t sign in with the password they gave me. Despite…

Argos refund? Sadly not I’m a regular Argos shopper, so I nearly fell for a text-message scam I received. It said I was due a £180 refund on my Argos card. I’ve easily spent that much over the past year, so at first glance it seemed plausible. It wanted me to click a link (‘argos. authupdates.com’) to “activate” my refund. But there was a question mark where the pound sign should’ve been, so I was suspicious. I then searched online for ‘Argos £180 scam’, and found it had already been reported to Argos on Twitter (there’s an image of the message at www.snipca.com/26835). Pamela Woodward Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

It won’t work out cheaper than a ready-made desktop PC, such as those £800 machines running AMD’s Ryzen processor we tested recently (see Issue 518, pages 22-23), but part of the appeal of the barebones concept is that it’s associated with small form factors. Intel’s NUC (Next Unit of Computing) is a popular example. Starting at around £100, Zotac’s Magnus is at the other end of the scale, but still takes up much less room than a typical tower PC. Installing an SSD and memory yourself isn’t hard. You’ll need 2133MHz or 2400MHz DDR4 SODIMM (smaller size) RAM modules, available from any memory supplier (such as Crucial: http://uk.crucial.com) at around £10 per gigabyte, and an M.2 SSD, such as Samsung’s very fast Evo 960 250GB (£108 from Amazon www.snipca.com/26845). If…

Is there a phone that helps me get my bearings? Q Having had a Motorola G-series phone which you’d previously recommended, I recently upgraded to the Moto G4 Plus. Very smart it is too. However, to my dismay it has no magnetometer, so it can’t run a compass app or tell which way you’re facing in apps like Google Maps or Google Sky. As a walker, this is a great loss to me. I’ll learn to live with it, but would this affect your recommendation? Helen Slade A There was confusion around this feature in the G4 and G4 Plus, with some Motorola staff assuring customers the magnetometer was included. It wasn’t. We expressed some reservations about the G4 Plus (see our review, Issue 483), which many users would probably…

SMART SPEAKER £120 from Amazon www.snipca.com/26896 The Echo Spot is to the Echo Show (see our review, Issue 518) what the Echo Dot is to the Echo: a smaller, cheaper version with essentially the same features. It looks more endearing, shaped like a truncated sphere about the size of a softball, and its little round screen is attractive, showing a clock, with a choice of faces when idle, and information, such as song details, when in use. Like other Echos, it plugs into the mains and requires a home Wi-Fi network. A camera is also built in, as well as the speaker and microphone for communicating with Alexa, so you can use the Spot for video chat with other Amazon Echo users, who can ‘drop in’ on you if you…

The Ultimate version of PaintShop Pro 2018 includes a faster, easier PaintShop Pro, and an exclusive bonus collection of premium software you won’t find in Photoshop. You can turn photos into works of art with Painter Essentials 5 (see screenshot), using brushes specifically designed for beginners. You can automatically correct images using Perfectly Clear 3 SE, which has time-saving presets that let you control multiple adjustments with just one click. And in Corel AfterShot 3 you can edit RAW photos quickly. To enter, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘Ultimate’ in the subject line by midnight 27 February PaintShop Pro 2018 Ultimate is available to buy from https://www.paintshoppro.com/en priced £89.99. For more information follow @CPaintShopPro and ‘like’ www.facebook.com/corelpaintshop. HOMEPLUGS PRICE DROP TP-Link AV1200 Powerline Wi-Fi Kit WPA8730 £95 from www.snipca.com/23766…

ANDROID & iOS Send voice messages and call other Amazon Echo users Amazon Echo devices have a little-known feature that lets you send voice messages and make calls to anyone else who owns an Echo. After setting up the feature via the Echo app, calls and messages can be made/sent directly between both Echo devices. First install and open the Amazon Alexa app (Android www.snipca.com/26918 iOS www.snipca.com/26919), log in using your Amazon account, tap the Conversations icon (speech bubble) at the bottom, then follow the onscreen instructions to give Alexa access to your contacts. To see contacts who own an Echo device, tap the notepad icon at the top (see screenshot below left). Say “Hey Alexa” to activate your device. When the Echo’s blue light flashes on, say “Send a…

WINDOWS 10 Delete the 3D objects folder on your PC One of the new features of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is Paint 3D – an app that lets you create 3D objects. Any objects you create are automatically saved in the Paint 3D app and to a new 3D folder on your PC. To see this folder, open File Explorer, then click This PC on the left. The folder is of no use to you if you don’t create 3D objects. You can’t delete the folder by right-clicking it, then selecting Delete. But there’s an easy way to remove it using the Registry Editor. Press the Windows key+R to open the Run box, type regedit.exe, press Enter, then click Yes to open your Registry Editor. Now navigate to…

If your phone is storing a lot of incorrect entries that AutoCorrect brings up time and again, it might be worth resetting the dictionary and starting afresh (you will then need to teach your phone any words that you use regularly). To do this in Android, open Settings, then look under the ‘Language & input’ section for a ‘User dictionary’ or ‘Personal dictionary’. You should be able to delete or edit entries here. Alternatively, try selecting your keyboard in the menu, and looking for an option there. iOS users can reset their dictionary by going to Settings, General, Reset then tapping Reset Keyboard Dictionary.…

New Windows 10 settings Users with hearing loss will already be familiar with Windows’ built-in accessibility features, located under Start, Settings, then ‘Ease of Access’. Here, you’ll find a ‘Closed captions’ section (where you can adjust the font, size and visibility of captions), and more settings under ‘Other options’. Microsoft continues to improve its options for users with hearing and other accessibility requirements. Last year’s Creators Update, for example, introduced a new way of setting up Windows 10 on PCs by following on-screen instructions (Microsoft calls this Out-Of-The-Box Experience, or OOBE). Further improvements are on the way. Preview builds of the next Windows 10 feature update (codenamed Redstone 4, due Spring) reveal a reorganised ‘Ease of Access’ centre, with options grouped into clearer categories, such as Vision, Hearing and Interaction.…

Microsoft has released an emergency security update for Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 to disable a fix from Intel that was causing computers to randomly restart and lose data. Intel’s fix was for the Spectre processor flaw which – like the similar Meltdown bug – affects millions of devices worldwide, leaving them at risk of attack. Days after releasing the fix, Intel admitted it led to “data loss and corruption”. Intel urged users to ignore the fix and wait for the next one, but Microsoft plugged the gap by taking the rare decision to release an unscheduled (called “out-of-band”) update, numbered KB4078130. It’s designed to act only as an interim fix until Intel releases a more extensive update that doesn’t cause problems. Microsoft hasn’t installed the update automatically on PCs…

MET POLICE FINALLY DITCHES XP The Metropolitan Police will finally upgrade most of its computers from Windows XP in May, over four years after Microsoft ended support for the operating system. It said around 50,000 devices will be upgraded to Windows 10, with XP remaining only on machines not connected to its network. As recently as June last year the force still had 18,000 XP devices. WORLD’S BIGGEST MICROSD CARD LAUNCHED A UK company has released the world’s biggest microSD card, letting you store more photos and videos on your Android tablet. The 512GB card from Integral Graphics beats the 400GB card from SanDisk. Price has yet to be confirmed, but it’s likely to cost more than SanDisk’s £220 card. Visit Integral Graphics’ site for more details: www.snipca.com/26832.…

Google now lets you block adverts that follow you around the internet. These are typically adverts showing products you’ve previously bought or searched for. On its ‘Ads Help’ site (www.snipca.com/26856), Google gives the example of visiting a sports shop on your phone on your way to work. On the way home, you see an advert from the same store while you’re reading a news website. Google said these so-called ‘reminder’ adverts can be useful, but people should have more control over where they appear. It now lets people with a Google account ‘mute’ adverts on websites and apps that use Google to provide them (see box below for instructions). Muting a company means you won’t see a reminder advert from them for at least 90 days. However, muting a reminder…

WARNING: JUNK AHEAD Junk offender: Comodo Free Antivirus I’ve been looking for a good alternative to Windows Defender for some time, so I decided to give Comodo Free Antivirus a go. After all, it has a good reputation, so my expectations were high. Alas, the software let itself down before it had even moved in. I launched the installer, and the very first thing I saw was a pre-ticked box inviting me to switch my homepage and search engine over to Yahoo. That’s a pretty clear statement of Comodo’s priorities, which have nothing to do with keeping me safe, and everything to do with securing the commission it receives sending web traffic to Yahoo. After starting badly, things tailed off further. On the next page, I was asked to grant…

Tell us what’s on your mind Email: letters@computeractive.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive Twitter: @ComputerActive www.twitter.com/computeractive Keep files on partition to avoid update disaster I read Jonathan Parkyn’s advice on how to survive Windows updates in Issue 520’s Cover Feature (page 58). In the piece he quite rightly highlights the advantage of creating a System Image to get him out of trouble. During the recent Creators Update and on other occasions I have had to resort to my System Image as a last resort. May I also recommend a method I use that involves keeping all data files on a separate partition, or better still on a secondary hard drive if the PC can accommodate two drives. This has three advantages. First, a System Image of the C Drive containing only Windows and…

What can I do about a dead battery? Q I bought an Asus EeeBook X205TA from John Lewis in November 2015. Although it’s only had light use, the battery is now dead. It’s just outside the two-year warranty and I’ve read batteries cost around £80 and shouldn’t be replaced by an amateur. What should I do? Keith Rider A While the Consumer Rights Act gives up to six years in which to make a claim (five in Scotland), Keith will need to prove the fault was inherent. If he pays a repair company to prove this, John Lewis must refund this cost as well as install a new battery. Most repair firms charge around £40 for an initial examination, usually refunding this from the overall cost if you proceed with…

What’s the threat? Scammers have been paying for adverts on Facebook to fool victims into fake investment schemes promising instant riches. The ads often use the images of celebrities and business figures to give them more credibility. In one recent scam Virgin boss Richard Branson’s face appeared in an advert (pictured) that, when clicked, took people to a fake CNN web page, which in turn led them to a site claiming they could win free Bitcoin (the cryptocurrency that has rocketed in value in the past 12 months). It’s not the first time Branson has been used in a scam advert - in early 2017 he published a blog post (www.snipca.com/26852) warning people not to be tricked. A similar scam last year claimed MoneySavingExpert founder Martin Lewis was recommending a…

DIAGNOSTIC TOOL HDDScan 4.0 http://hddscan.com What you need: Windows Vista, 7, 8.1 or 10 Of all the problems that could affect your PC, hard-drive failure is one of the most terrifying. Your hard drive is where everything is stored – your programs, files and even Windows itself – so if its health is starting to deteriorate, you may need to replace it with a new drive before it dies altogether, taking all your precious data with it. It can be hard to diagnose hard-drive problems using only Windows’ built-in tools. All drives are capable of providing real-time information about their health (known as SMART – self-monitoring, analysis and report technology) and internal sensors can reveal temperature spikes. But Windows only offers a basic drive-checking tool and doesn’t provide an easy…

PC £880 from Amazon www.snipca.com/26891 All play and no work? Life would be much simpler if every PC came with one big processor to do all the work. In reality, tasks are divided between the main processor (CPU) – normally an Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 or AMD Ryzen – and a graphics processor (GPU). Both consist of hundreds of millions of microscopic transistors on silicon wafers sealed in a black plastic slab, but they do their work differently. The GPU, for example, is optimised for certain types of computation involved in rendering data into pixels. “It has a fast graphics card for games and creative software” So one big choice is how much to spend on the CPU and how much on the GPU. If you often play…

What does it do? Fifteen years ago, TomTom launched what it called a ‘portable navigation device’ (PND) but everyone soon called it a ‘sat-nav’, for ‘satellite navigation’. Other brands soon joined the market. Using the GPS (global positioning system) radionavigation technology operated by the US government, and cross-referencing with map software, it showed drivers and walkers the way to their chosen destination in real time. Why would I want it? It’s a lot easier than stopping the car to unfold an Ordnance Survey map or find the next page off the edge in an A-to-Z. It tells you which turn to take as you come to it, just like your partner could but without having to pretend it was your fault it was the wrong turn. What’s the catch? Last…

Keyboards and mice are often an afterthought, but you’ll use them all the time, so it’s worth choosing carefully. Some people like traditional sculpted keys with long travel, meaning you have to press them down fully. Others prefer flat tile-style keys that take less effort, but don’t give much feedback and can be easy to hit by accident. Mice can be symmetrical or ergonomically shaped. The latter will often only suit right-handed use. Beyond these obvious differences, there’s a lot of variation in look, feel and price. Bluetooth may be the standard shortrange wireless technology, but it’s not especially reliable or power-efficient and many desktop PCs don’t support it, so most of these wireless sets come with their own radio frequency (RF) adapter, which needs a free USB port. £80…

PHONE £360 from Amazon www.snipca.com/26857 Previously, there was stiff competition in the £250-£350 smartphone market. Now, that rivalry exists in the £350-£450 price range. We liked it better when they were cheaper, but at least the Honor 9 exemplifies how you can now get the kind of features that were once exclusive to £700 phones for half that amount. The Honor 9’s price has fluctuated, but at £360 it’s nearly a hundred quid less than the OnePlus 5T (£449 from www.snipca.com/26858, see our review, Issue 518), which is currently king of the mid-range models. The Honor 9’s slim case, with curved glass front and back, comes in blue or a less gaudy grey, and feels quite glamorous, with a decent-sized 5.15in Full HD screen and fast-acting fingerprint reader. Huawei’s version…

Betamovie BMC-100 WHAT WAS IT? Launched in 1983, Sony’s BMC-100 (pictured) was the first all-in-one consumer camcorder. Priced $1,500 ($3,700 now, or £2,600), it weighed 5.5lb (2.5kg) and was designed for shooting from the shoulder. Before this, video rigs for out-of-studio TV shoots consisted of a camera wired to a separate recording unit, both parts large and heavy, making operation a two-person job. Although it recorded to Betamax tapes, it wasn’t equipped to play them back, so footage could only be viewed using separate equipment. HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED? Formats such as VHS-C, Video8 and later MiniDV helped camcorders to get smaller, but the biggest breakthrough was flash memory replacing tape in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, quality increased. Today, Sony’s AX33 4K Handycam costs around £579 with a choice of…

PULL OUT & KEEP Issue 521 What you need: CloudBerry Remote Assistant; Windows 7 to 10 Time required: 40 minutes 14 pages of easy-to-follow workshops and expert tips CloudBerry Remote Assistant is a new free program that lets you give someone else remote access to your PC. They can then connect to your PC via the web to help you fix any PC problem. CloudBerry is much easier to use than other similar programs and also has a brilliant ‘encrypted sessions’ feature that ensures no one can spy on your remote connection. It also offers text and voice chat options. STEP 1 To install CloudBerry Remote Assistant, go to www.snipca.com/26836, type your email address in the box provided, then click the green Download button. The setup file will download to…

What you need: iPhone or iPad (iOS 11 or later) Time required: 10 minutes The best free star-gazing app for making the most of iOS 11’s new augmented reality (AR) feature is Night Sky. It superimposes a real-time view of the constellations over anything you point your camera at. This lets you, for example, view the planets, stars and satellites directly above you even in your own living room. The app also lets you view the sky from any planet and set notifications when the International Space Station (ISS) is visible overhead. STEP 1 Ensure you’re using the latest version of iOS (11.2.5). Install and open the Night Sky app on your iPhone or iPad (www.snipca.com/26898), swipe right across the intro screens, tap the three Allow buttons when prompted, then…

Cake Web Browser Free Android: www.snipca.com/26925 iOS: www.snipca.com/26926 While other browser apps show your search results in a vertical list, Cake displays them as tabs that you can swipe across to view. This saves you from having to go into each web page in the search results to find the site you need. You can arrange these tabs in any order that you want. Files Go by Google Free Android: www.snipca.com/26924 Google’s brilliant app lets you recover valuable storage space by finding and deleting large, unwanted and duplicate files. The app is now updated to support tablets and SD cards. It also has a new feature that lets you choose default apps to open specific file types. Upthere Home Free Android: www.snipca.com/26927 iOS: www.snipca.com/26928 This online storage service lets you…

EXCEL Create your own custom lists in Excel Excel has a hidden feature called Custom Lists that can save you time if you often type certain info in a particular order. By default, Excel offers four custom lists – two each for days of the week and months of the year. For example, you can type Sunday into any cell, move your cursor to the bottom of that cell until it turns into a cross symbol, then click and drag your cursor along the entire row or column. You’ll see the other days of the week are added in order (see top of screenshot). It’s easy to create custom lists for any items you want to appear in a sequence. In this example, we’ll show you how to create a…

Replace your motherboard Motherboards have always been the hardest part of a PC to diagnose because you first need to rule out everything connected to it. Replacing it also means replacing the processor and RAM, adding more layers of complexity. For these reasons, if you do suspect your motherboard has developed a fault, it’s best to go to an expert. Our local PC shop quoted us a flat fee of £120 to repair or replace a motherboard, plus parts if any are needed. Relatively simple faults can be fixed in under 10 days. It can take longer to fix multiple faults, or if the shop needs to order parts. Upgrade your processor If your PC is too slow, upgrading your processor may help. But it’s fraught with danger. Even the…

Both Google Play and the iTunes App Store host a number of hearing-test apps that claim to help you determine your level of hearing loss. But we’d recommend using these with a degree of scepticism. Mimi (free for iOS www.snipca.com/26934 and Android www.snipca.com/26935, see screenshot) is one of the better examples. Its “medically certified test” takes about six minutes and works over headphones. You can also track how your hearing capacity changes over time. Mimi is easy to use, but the developers themselves admit that accuracy is dependent on the surrounding noise level and the type of headphones you use – the app only works with specific models. A disclaimer states that “this app is not intended to self-diagnose, -prevent, -monitor, -treat, -alleviate or to exclusively compensate any disease, injury,…

Why can’t I create system restore points? Q My fully updated Windows 10 PC will no longer create system restore points. Microsoft’s support team advised me to reinstall Windows, which I did, but it still fails. When the Restore Point Creator Workshop appeared in Issue 516 (page 35), I thought this might be the answer. However, all I get is a ‘Code Returned Was “5” (0x5)’ error message. Do you know why this is happening? Gerry Hendry A If even a clean install of Windows 10 didn’t fix this, we strongly suspect your antivirus software is the culprit. Security programs sometimes flag System Restore’s activities as false positives. So, as a test, temporarily disable your antivirus, then try System Restore again. If it works, you’ll need to look through the…

In my ongoing quest to a) keep this column relevant and b) help it pay my mortgage for the next few months, I couldn’t help but notice that cognitive testing has been in the news of late. Specifically, that the President of the United States took a MoCA test, and scored an impressive 30 out of 30. MoCA is the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, used by doctors to spot early signs of Alzheimer’s in patients. It checks concentration, visual skills, executive functions, orientation, calculations, attention, and, er, something else. Oh yes – memory, that’s it. You can take a version of it yourself at www.mocatest.org, though it’s not the official test reserved for medical and academic studies (for that you’ll need to pay $10 a month). The signing-up fee also lets…

Microsoft has confirmed that Office 2019 will only run on Windows 10 computers. The company explained its decision on its website (www.snipca.com/26942), saying that old software – including old versions of Windows – is difficult to keep safe, and lacks new features “to help people do their best work”. The company also said it will end support for Office 2019 earlier than with previous versions, which were updated for 10 years. It will stop updating Office 2019 on 10 October 2025, which is also the same day it ends support for Office 2016. A beta version of Office 2019 is expected in the spring, followed by a final release in the second half of the year.…

BT’s Openreach has pledged to deliver ‘ultra-fast’ FTTP broadband of 100Mbps to three million more homes and businesses by 2020, an increase on the previous commitment of two million premises. Openreach says it will re-train existing employees to support the expansion, and hire an extra 3,000 engineers. The first phase will begin this year in eight cities across the UK: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester. Long term, Openreach’s plan is to provide ultra-fast speeds to “up to 40 UK towns, cities and boroughs”, reaching 10 million premise However, Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, said that how quickly and widely the service is provided depends on “the right conditions” being met, such as how soon it can agree the terms of its return on investment. Openreach…

Health, transport, water and energy companies face fines of up to £17 million if they do not take effective action to prevent cyber-attacks that target the UK’s infrastructure. The measure is part of the UK’s response to the European Union’s Network and Information Systems directive, which comes into force in May. It includes a new system for companies to report security breaches and other IT problems. The National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance for companies working in the relevant sectors. Under the directive regulators will be allowed to inspect a company’s cybersecurity policy – including recruiting the right staff to deal with an attack – and issue fines “as a last resort” if its defences aren’t strong enough. Margot James, the Minister for Digital, said: “We want our essential…

Sussex Police In an ideal world, police are out to nab the villains – but this issue’s nomination goes to the boys and girls in blue themselves. To be fair, Sussex Police had the best of intentions when they started selling old clothing and other gear on eBay (pictured). It was to raise much-needed funds for the constabulary, and it’s more eco-friendly than sending unwanted items to landfill. There’s already a real problem with criminals impersonating police officers in Sussex, and it seems no one thought through the possible consequences. Just last month two pensioners in Brighton were robbed of £9,000 by scammers dressed as cops. As Stephen McCarthy, director of Action on Elder Abuse (www.elderabuse.org.uk), points out, if crooks can easily obtain genuine police jackets and equipment, it makes…

In Issue 519, Keith Norton asks if he is the only Computeractive reader not on Facebook. Relax, Keith, there are thousands of us out there who want nothing to do with Master Zuckerberg et al. I’ve never seen the point of social media. I’m not interested in what our wider family had for lunch, or who they met that they once went to school with. It’s not that I’m anti-tech – I build my own PCs (five and counting). But like smartphones, I simply cannot see any point in Facebook. I do have a mobile phone (a ‘dumb’ phone, obviously), but guess what? It makes phone calls, and even sends texts! And it only cost £25 from a well-known superstore! What more do I need from a phone? If I…

Amazon helps reader let down by the weakest Linx You’d expect good customer service from an Amazon Marketplace seller with a 96 per cent ‘positive’ rating from over 4,300 reviews. But GSM M, based in Barking, Essex, badly let down reader John MacDonald (see Issue 517). He thought he was buying a Linx 810B tablet (pictured), as listed on GSM M’s site, but he received the older Linx 8 tablet instead. John didn’t realise at first, but his suspicions were raised when the tablet reverted to Windows 8.1, despite coming with Windows 10 pre-installed. He complained to GSM M, which told him to send the tablet to Linx for repair. He then contacted Linx, which confirmed that he had received the wrong tablet. He explained this to GSM M, hoping…

Chrome 64 www.google.co.uk/chrome Of the 53 security fixes in the new version of Chrome, the most vital is the one that disables the browser’s SharedArrayBuffer. This tool lets programs transfer memory between scripts, helping them to run faster. But it also makes them vulnerable to the Meltdown and Spectre processor flaws, which affect millions of computers worldwide. Chrome 64 also adds the option to mute the sound in some online videos (mostly adverts) that play automatically. To switch it on, right-click the noisy tab in the browser bar then click ‘Mute site’ (see screenshot). Alternatively, click the top-right Menu icon (three vertical dots), then click Settings, scroll down and click Advanced. Under ‘Privacy and security’ select Content Settings, then Sound. Here you can add sites whose audio you want to…

How can I watch DVDs on my PC? Q I am running Windows 10 on a new PC but none of my DVDs will open. I’ve tried VLC, as suggested in previous issues of Computeractive, but it doesn’t work. Is there anything else I can try? Preferably free. Andrew Walsh A For watching DVDs on your PC, VLC Media Player (www.videolan.org) would still be our free program of choice. But you’ll need to make sure you download the desktop version, not the Windows 10 Store app version, as the latter can’t play DVDs at all. Also, VLC can’t play Blu-ray discs, as they are heavily encrypted. To play a DVD in VLC, insert it into your disc drive, then click Media and select Open Disc. In the window that opens,…

Computeractive is owned by Dennis Publishing, which owns a hi-tech facility for testing the latest technology. You’ll often read references to our benchmark testing, which is a method of assessing products using the same criteria. For example, we test the speed of every PC and the battery life of every tablet in exactly the same way. This makes our reviews authoritative, rigorous and accurate. Dennis Publishing also owns the magazines PC Pro, Computer Shopper and Web User and the websites Expert Reviews (www.expertreviews.co.uk) and Alphr (www.alphr.com). This means we can test thousands of products before choosing the most relevant for Computeractive. FAIR AND IMPARTIAL Our writers follow strict guidelines to ensure the reviews are fair and impartial. The manufacturer has no involvement in our tests. OUR AWARDS We award every…

PHONE £370 from Amazon www.snipca.com/26860 Whatever happened to BlackBerry? A decade ago it was a Canadian company selling distinctively button-festooned phones with its own software and services. Now it’s just another Chinese-owned Android manufacturer. The Motion runs BlackBerry’s version of Android 7 Nougat (an update to Android 8 Oreo is promised) on a 5.5in Full HD screen, with a fingerprint reader on the front and a 12-megapixel camera on the back. If that doesn’t sound very exciting for a phone in 2018, that’s because it’s not. The business-like styling still stands out, with a textured plastic back that should make it easier to grip. Unfortunately, harsh square edges and relatively thick sides make it harder. The programmable shortcut key on the right edge is handy, but the slow processor inside…

Find out what other products we liked. Buy our new 2017 Back Issue CD: £15 fromwww.snipca.com/26848 LAPTOP Asus ZenBook UX410UA £590 from www.snipca.com/26789 Tested: Issue 518 With a dual-core Intel i3 processor, 4GB of memory and 128GB SSD, this slim aluminium 14in has just enough power to make Windows 10 feel smooth – and unlike Asus’s cheaper models it has a very good Full HD screen. ALTERNATIVE: Dell XPS 13 This premium laptop starts at £1,149, but the best deal is with the brand new quadcore i7-8550 and QHD touchscreen. £1,300 from www.snipca.com/26796 ANDROID TABLET Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 £500 from www.snipca.com/24140 Tested: Issue 501 Samsung’s new mid-sized tablet has a wonderful HDR screen and comes with a pen included, unlike Apple’s iPad Pro. But its processor isn’t the fastest…

Handy hints and tips from your fellow readers Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT ✓ Test which Meltdown and Spectre fixes slow your PC In your ‘Test whether you’re at risk of Meltdown’ Workshop (see page 42, Issue 520), you explained how to check whether your PC is vulnerable to the Meltdown and Spectre flaws. The method works fine, but you have to be careful when typing all the complex command lines without making a single mistake. One of the recognised downsides of installing the advised updates to Windows 10 and your motherboard’s BIOS is that they can significantly affect the performance of your PC. Well, I have discovered a very nifty little free portable program called InSpectre. It not only checks if you are protected against…

AGES 0-5 Sago Mini Babies Dress Up Free www.snipca.com/26929 (Android) £2.99 www.snipca.com/26930 (iOS) In this game, your child dresses up four characters – Jack, Jinja, Harvey and Robin, choosing from a selection of costumes and accessories for different occasions. Once finished your child can take a photo of the four characters together. AGES 6-10 Tiles2 Free www.snipca.com/26931 (iOS) Tiles2 claims to be a ‘fast-paced memory game’ and lives up to this promise. You get three seconds to memorise numbered tiles, then have to tap them in the correct sequence. The number of tiles increases as you progress and you can compete against other players online. AGES 11-16 Wordscapes* Free www.snipca.com/26932 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/26933 (iOS) This is a combination of a crossword puzzle and a word-search game. You need to complete…

Ban certain words or phrases in Word If you’re trying to avoid using certain, bland, everyday words like ‘nice’ or ‘very’, or you want to stop using a phrase or cliché that you trot out all the time in your writing, you can set Word to automatically replace the word or phrase every time you type it. Click the File tab in Word, and select Options. Click Proofing on the left-hand side, then click AutoCorrect Options on the right. Under ‘Replace text as you type’ you’ll see a list of all the things that AutoCorrect fixes for you. Type a word or phrase you want to avoid, along with its replacement (see screenshot below). Click OK when you’ve finished, then close the window. Back up AutoCorrect entries If you’ve been…

There are so many file types – far too many, really – with new formats arriving all the time courtesy of advancements in technology. It used to be the case that if you wanted to watch a video you just needed a media player that could handle AVI (PC) or MOV (Mac) formats, but now there are more choices available, such as MKV and MP4. Media players like VLC (www.videolan.org/vlc) can handle all the major formats without a problem, but sometimes you’ll encounter a file – be it a video, photo or document – that just isn’t recognised by your software or device. Ebooks in the EPUB format aren’t recognised by Amazon’s Kindles, for example. It’s always worth trying to convert your file into a more common format. There are…

We’re proud to have a ‘make do and mend’ mentality at Computeractive, always seeking ways to fix what appears unfixable. But it’s important to know when to admit defeat, and start looking for a new computer. Key factors to consider are the age of your machine, its value, and the potential cost of repair. For example, a motherboard repair can set you back £120, which for a cheap £300 laptop might not be worth it. Processor upgrades can range from £250 to £1,000, with the upper end far outstripping the cost of a new PC in many cases. A good rule of thumb is that if the cost of upgraded parts is more than half the cost of a new system, you’re normally better off buying a replacement PC.…

PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT Why won’t my tablet merge with an SD card? Q My wife and I both have Prestigio Android tablets. They are different models but both have the same problem. When we insert an SD card it doesn’t integrate with the tablet’s memory, and I can’t find a way to merge them. If I insert the same SD card into my Motorola Moto G4 it works straight away. If it’s so easy to do on one device, why not on another? Am I doing something wrong? Malcolm Lewis A This is either because your tablets are running older versions of Android or that the manufacturer has disabled a feature dubbed ‘adoptable storage’, which is what allows an Android tablet to ‘merge’ its internal memory with an ‘external’…

4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. 7z Also known as 7-Zip. A free, open-source file archiver. 802.11ac A standard for wireless networks that allows for much higher transfer speeds than 802.11n. Aspect ratio A measurement of the shape of a screen. Augmented reality Lets you view the real world on a screen and add digital elements. Beta A version of software that’s being tested. BIOS Basic Input-Output System. Essential software built into every PC that connects the vital components. Bitrate A measure of data transfer speed, or of the quality of digital video or audio files. Blue light Light given off by PC and phone screens. Can disrupt sleep patterns. Blue screen of death Technically called a ‘Stop error’, this is shown when your PC crashes.…