Table of contents for 585 in Computeractive

Some experts think we should have abandoned USB sticks by now and moved on to doing everything online. I don’t agree. I love how popular they remain with the public (and thousands of our readers). There’s something reassuring about so much power and versatility being housed in a device small enough to fit in your pocket. They’ll be with us for years yet. But they’re not infallible. As we warn in our Cover Feature, if someone gets hold of your sticks they can easily see what’s on them. And files can become corrupted, or you might accidentally delete them. Will Stapley has been in that position a few times, so he’s the perfect person to explain how to keep your sticks completely safe. He recommends the best software for encrypting…

Google has updated Chrome so it blocks pop-up notifications that trick you into accepting messages or installing malware. On safe sites, notifications can be useful for telling you about a new update that needs installing, or a vital piece of news about a program. But scammers are increasingly using notifications to mislead users. Writing online (www.snipca.com/35423), Google says these malicious notifications fall into two “abusive patterns”. One type, called ‘permission request issues’, tricks you into allowing notifications by claiming it’s the only way to access the site. The second type, called ‘notification issues’, include fake messages that resemble chat messages and warnings about how your computer is running. Clicking these popups can install malware on your PC, or give the scammers your personal details. Chrome will show you a message…

Microsoft is continuing its long-term plan to axe the Control Panel from Windows 10, after downgrading its status in a preview version of the operating system. For years, users have opened Control Panel to perform tasks on their PC and to check vital information, such as what processor is installed and how much memory it has. But in Windows 8 Microsoft moved much of this information to the Settings section, while keeping other advanced details in the Control Panel. Windows 10 has a similar split between Settings and Control Panel, making it feel disjointed to many users. Microsoft has made the most recent change in Build 20161 of Windows 10, available to Windows Insiders. Links that previously opened the System page in Control Panel now take you directly to the…

I bought a new computer from PC Specialist www.pcspecialist.co.uk last November, replacing my old one that I had also bought from them. All was going well until I started getting problems with programs crashing and blue screens popping up frequently. A memory-diagnostics test told me that there was a fault with the PC’s memory and I should contact the manufacturer (ie, PC Specialist). They said a faulty RAM stick needed replacing. They immediately arranged for a new one to be sent to me, which arrived a couple of days later by DPD. I inserted the stick, and my PC is now back to its old self again. I’m very impressed with the speedy and efficient way PC Specialist dealt with my problem. I highly recommend them. Sue Chappell Has a…

What can I use to annotate my live presentations? Q I often give presentations at my ornithological club, so I enjoyed your article on using a virtual laser pointer (Issue 584, page 48). However, none of your suggestions allow me to apply live annotations on the slides as I’m presenting. Can you recommend a tool that lets me do this? David Arnold A You could take a screenshot of what you’re presenting, then annotate it in an image-editor such as Microsoft Paint, but switching between programs while you’re presenting isn’t ideal. A better option is to use a free tool called ZoomIt, which is part of Microsoft’s Sysinternals suite and can be downloaded at www.snipca.com/35445. Open the ZIP file, double-click the ‘ZoomIt.exe’ file and follow the instructions to extract it…

WHAT THEY SAY David Porter, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Store www.snipca.com/35350 “It is a new day for how Microsoft Store team members will serve all customers. We are energized about the opportunity to innovate in how we engage with all customers, maximize our talent for greatest impact, and most importantly help our valued customers achieve more.” WHAT THEY MEAN We’re closing all our stores worldwide, allowing us to belch jargon to our customers remotely rather than face to face.…

Toshiba’s 3.5in P300 is a versatile drive ideal for a range of computers - all-in-one PCs, desktop PCs, gaming computers - as well as external enclosures. The dual-stage actuator in the 2TB to 6TB models improves positional accuracy, negating the vibrations caused by the head-track being aligned. This design makes for more precise and faster read and write speeds, giving you instant access to your data. It also has an internal shock sensor, ensuring no data is lost. In addition, ramp-loading technology means that when your hard drive or desktop PC are being transported, the drive slider does not make contact with the disk and risk it wearing out or data loss. To enter this competition, email your home address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘Toshiba’ in the subject line by midnight…

Acture Free iOS www.snipca.com/35373 Android www.snipca.com/35374 Acture replaces your phone’s regular lock routine so that when you next wake it up it can demand to know what you’re about to do. Once you’ve entered a reason, it stores it so that you can go back and see what’s been distracting you throughout the day and, by cutting down on needless checking in, possibly reclaim some of the time you’re wasting. Google Photos Free iOS www.snipca.com/35371 Android www.snipca.com/35372 Google has improved its Photos app so it enlarges the pictures it thinks you’ll be more interested in. There are sharing suggestions for sending pictures to friends, shared libraries to which you can grant friends access, and a new live map feature that shows your photos and their locations on the same screen…

MICROSOFT EXCEL & LIBREOFFICE CALC Hide the contents of individual cells in spreadsheets In Issue 580 (page 47) we showed you how to hide entire rows and columns in your spreadsheet to declutter it. But what about those times when you only want to hide the contents of specific cells? To do this, you need to change cell formatting. In Excel, select the cells you want to hide (hold down the Ctrl key while clicking them), then right-click one and select ‘Format Cells…’. Make sure the Number tab is selected, then click Custom in the Categories box. Now clear the ‘General’ text in the Type box and type ;;; (three semicolons, without spaces). Click OK to save your changes. In Calc, follow the same steps as Excel (press Ctrl+1 to…

If you’re anything like us, you’ll have amassed a large collection of USB sticks over the years. As a storage and file-transfer option these handy little sticks are simple to use and getting cheaper all the time. Over the past year, SanDisk’s whopping 64GB stick has plummeted from £50 to just under a tenner (www.snipca.com/35388). But while they’re perfect for quickly transferring files, running portable apps and installing entire operating systems, have you ever considered how secure your sticks and the files they contain actually are? Being small and portable makes them easy to use, but it also means they’re easy to lose, or leave plugged into a public computer for the next person to find. And if someone does get their hands on your USB stick, they’ll be able…

Microsoft has released a Windows 10 update to fix problems with a previous update that was crashing printers and causing computers to reboot unexpectedly. The problems were triggered by updates for Windows 10 released on 9 June. Microsoft fixed them by releasing a cumulative update (also called quality updates) on 14 July. This type of update includes all previous updates, and typically fixes performance problems with the operating system. Microsoft had admitted that its June updates were preventing some brands of printer from working properly. It wrote online (www.snipca.com/35475) that the “print spooler may error or close unexpectedly when attempting to print and no output will come from affected printer”. It added: “You might also encounter issues with the apps you are attempting to print from. You might receive an…

BT PHONE CUSTOMERS TO PAY MORE BT is moving 1.3 million of its landline customers to its Unlimited Minutes package, giving them unlimited landline and mobile calls for up to £54 a year. It’s writing to affected customers, who are those on old plans that don’t include calls to mobiles. The change happens on 1 September, but you can cancel without paying a fee by telling BT within 30 days of being notified. NO MORE ‘FETCH FILES IN ONEDRIVE Microsoft is to remove the ‘Fetch file’ option from OneDrive, which lets you access your PC files from other computers. It will stop working on 31 July, though you’ll still be able to sync files and folders to OneDrive and access them from your browser. Microsoft revealed its decision on its Support…

Can Virgin force me to stay on a new tariff? LEAD CASE Q In late June I spent many frustrating days trying to phone Virgin Media to negotiate a new contract before I was moved on to a higher tariff. But I never got through. Instead I was stuck on a recorded message that said staff were dealing with complaints caused by widespread outage on its network. I was on hold for half an hour every day for a week I’ve now been moved to this more expensive contract, but can I cancel without a fee because it’s not my fault that Virgin’s staff were too busy to deal with me? Danny Bowyer A Yes, we think Danny would have a good chance of cancelling without a fee. Virgin’s outages…

Reader Derek Coles asked us whether we could help him find out the employment history of his grandparents. He had searched online, but without much luck. Employment records are hit and miss at the best of times, but even more so when you’re searching for 20th-century records, particularly those held by private companies. Derek provided some additional information to help us: both grandfather (born 1890) and father (born 1913) had worked as greengrocers before World War Two broke out. After the war, his father switched professions to work as a bus driver, then a removal man for Pickfords and finally a long-distance lorry driver for Vickers before retiring in 1978. Search for professions in National Archives If you don’t know your ancestors’ professions, start by looking for them in the…

I suspect I’m something of a rarity in that I stubbornly continue to use Microsoft Paint to edit images. These were usually only basic edits, but I’m so familiar with Paint that it’s become second nature for me to open it up when I need to crop, resize or convert photo files. Up until a few years ago, I had a similar reliance on Notepad, which I would often use to jot down everything from notes taken during phone calls to random work ideas. Now I use Google Docs for my note taking (and, indeed, almost all other document-based tasks), primarily because I never have to think about saving my work. As soon as I start typing, Google Docs starts saving. So if there’s a power cut, a Windows crash…

There are numerous reasons why I might have made David Delatouche (pictured) from Grimsby this fortnight’s villain. I could, for example, have chosen the 32-year-old because he used classified ad site Gumtree (www.gumtree.com) to con online buyers out of thousands of pounds by advertising non-existent items of furniture under false names. Equally, I could have nominated him because one of his victims claims he single-handedly ruined their Christmas (www.snipca.com/35343). Or perhaps because he already had convictions for 17 previous offences, including a community order for fraud, which suggests he really should have learned his lesson. But what really swung it for me was that, during a Grimsby Crown Court hearing last month, it was revealed he had tried (unsuccessfully) to pin all his offences on his ex-girlfriend. Classy one, David.…

Jet setter The inkjet printer market is a strange place at the moment, with lockdown turning prices and availability into a sort of unregulated national lottery. But at the time of writing, Canon still had the TS8350 at its usual price. This wireless multi-function A4 printer from the top end of the Pixma range distinguishes itself with a huge touchscreen, two 100-sheet paper feeds and automatic duplex (double-sided printing). There’s no automatic document feeder for the scanner, but it would have spoiled the minimalist rectilinear design, which does look rather classy, with a motorised front panel that tilts up when activated. It’s one more thing to break, but printers are full of mechanical Murphy’s Law magnets anyway. An SD card slot allows instant photo printing, which is practical with a…

Free as a bud Apple’s AirPods (from £159, www.snipca.com/35426) redefined what we expected from wireless earphones. No Bluetooth dongle sticking out of your ear, no neckband or ribbon cable between left and right, just tiny earpieces (‘buds) connected to nothing that work like magic. Aside from furthering the tech industry’s long-term aim of packing more of your money into something you can mislay on an even more regular basis, it’s a nice step forward that’s attracted plenty of imitations. Comfortable to wear, with a clear and balanced sound Most rivals have felt a bit clumsy by comparison, but this latest set, from a well-established Chinese audio brand, is very neat. Available in white or black (the latter harder to find in the UK), they’re almost unnoticeable in your ears, and…

Back in the 1980s, technology experts promised that we’d soon be working in paperless offices. That never came to fruition, and they focused their attention instead on the digital revolution: your files will be available anywhere, any time, on any device. This time they might have got it right, but only thanks to a lot of hard work behind the scenes by Microsoft and other companies that have a hand in indexing those files. When computers and operating systems were first developed, the idea of replicating the analogue world, in which documents (files) were stored in folders (directories) inside individual filing cabinets (hard drives) made a lot of sense. Why? Because computers weren’t yet powerful enough to manage the filing themselves. They needed us to keep track of where we’d…

TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT Record screens in smaller EXE files I saw Quick Screen Recorder (www.snipca.com/35066) in Issue 582’s Best Free Software and was disappointed to see that it saved recordings in the AVI file format. The main problem with AVI is that it produces huge file sizes, making sharing and storing a video awkward. In the article, you mention that a 30-second low-quality video was 49MB, while at high quality it was 293MB. or years I’ve been using Screen2Exe (www.screen-record.com/screen2exe. htm), a free program that lets you save the video as a self-playing EXE file (the option is highlighted in the screenshot). A 30-second video of the entire desktop in best quality produces a file of 0.6MB, which is far more manageable. It also has some other cool features,…

Google Earth Free iOS www.snipca.com/35379 Android www.snipca.com/35380 Although much of its content is in Google Maps, Earth is still one of the best tools for exploring the planet using satellite imagery. Go somewhere special, ask it to pick a random location for you, or take a guided tour with the new Voyager feature. Knowledge Cards tell you more about a place, and you can share postcard views with friends. Best For Exploring satellite imagery The World HD £2.99 iOS www.snipca.com/35377 One of the joys of owning an atlas is leafing through pages of printed maps. Recreate that experience here by zooming in on a country and panning around. Aside from the maps, it includes the contents of the CIA World Factbook for each country, along with links to Wikipedia. You…

No doubt in reaction to the threat posed by newcomers such as Zoom (www.zoom.us), Microsoft has been busy adding new features to its video-chat Teams service in recent months. Like Zoom, Teams offers group video calling, but there are a number important differences. Most notably, the latest update to Teams lets you make video calls with up to 250 other people - more than double that of Zoom’s 100-person limit, and perfect if you want to run online AGMs for your entire club. Currently, you’ll only see a maximum of nine people at any one time (the nine most recent speakers) in a 3x3 grid view, but Microsoft will soon roll out a 7x7 grid, showing up to 49 live feeds. Teams also beats Zoom’s 40-minute limit, with calls able…

If using software to encrypt your USB sticks sounds too much like hard work, you should consider buying a stick with built-in encryption. As well as offering extra security features, these come with the tools you’ll need to unlock them, meaning you don’t have to install anything when using it across different PCs. And as we reveal here, some sticks have incredibly sophisticated unlocking methods. Use budget sticks with built-in encryption If you only want a secure USB stick for transferring small files such as financial documents, don’t waste money on a high-capacity model. Kingston’s DataTraveler Locker G3 (pictured below) is one of the cheapest secure USB sticks available. Its 8GB version – big enough to store around 30,000 PDFs – is available for £15 (www.snipca.com/35383). When you insert the…

1080p Of the common types of high-definition video, this is the best quality: 1920x1080 pixels. 32bit/64bit A measure of how much data a PC can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit, more modern ones are 64bit. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard with speeds up to 10 times faster than 802.11ac. Also called Wi-Fi 6. 8K Video with a resolution of 7680x4320 pixels. Currently the highest resolution available. aptX A codec that’s used to compress audio so it can be transmitted over Bluetooth with minimal loss in quality. AVI Audio Video Interleave. A type of video file known as a container format, as it can hold many types of audio and video. Bandwidth A measure of how much data can be…

It should now be easier and cheaper to get out-ofwarranty iPhones repaired after Apple allowed UK independent stores to fix them. Previously, Apple let only its own stores and Authorized Apple Resellers receive the required parts to carry out repairs. But last year the company announced its Independent Repair Provider Program (IRPP) in the US, which allows any store to request genuine spare parts, if they meet specific criteria. It has now expanded that service to Canada and Europe, including the UK. Repair firms can apply for the program through Apple’s site (www.snipca.com/35366). They must prove they are an established business with a commercial location that is “in an easily accessible location”. Technicians who want to carry out repairs will need to pass online exams run by Apple. The company…

Like all tech giants, Google is coming under increasing pressure from governments and activists to do more to protect your data. In response, it’s been tightening its privacy settings as a pre-emptive gesture to show the authorities it really does care about your privacy (the CEO even blogged about it recently: www.snipca.com/35297). How much you believe this is up to you. Its latest move is to turn on its auto-delete options by default. These settings stop Google collecting your Location History (where you’ve been), your Web & App Activity (which saves information such as your online searches), and YouTube History (what you’ve watched). However, they’ve been turned on only for people creating new Google accounts. This means those with existing accounts will have to do it themselves by visiting www.snipca.com/35298,…

With lockdown easing, companies will be busy catching up on outstanding queries from customers. Many cases were inevitably delayed while firms shut their offices. One reader who has now been refunded is Charles King (see Issue 581), who was worried that because he hadn’t been able to speak to Currys during lockdown, he had missed the six-month deadline to claim a refund for a faulty Breville kettle. Within this period, Currys would have to prove the fault wasn’t inherent; after six months, Charles would have to prove that it was. But like many retailers, Currys is taking a relaxed approach to complaints over the past few months, and has refunded Charles the full amount. He had a strong case because before the deadline Currys had promised to deal with his…

PASSWORD MANAGER KeePassXC www.snipca.com/35448 What you need: Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 To keep your online accounts safe you need a strong and unique password for each one. And with many people having upwards of fifty online accounts, a password manager is the only secure way to keep track of all your login details. Unlike online services such as LastPass (www.lastpass.com), which store your passwords on their servers, the open-source KeePassXC keeps everything on your PC, meaning you remain in total control of them. KeePassXC is based on the original and popular KeePass (what’s known as a ‘fork’ in open-source parlance). This means that although it shares many features with KeePass’, it’s maintained by a different team of developers. However, we prefer the design of KeePassXC, particularly the revamped layout of…

WARNING: JUNK AHEAD Junk offender: MKV Player Video files can be a pain. Not only does your media player need to support the file format, but it also needs the requisite codecs to decode the video stream. Windows 10, for example, now has built-in support for the increasingly popular MKV format, but it won’t play these files if they’ve been encoded with a codec that it doesn’t recognise. All you’ll see is an unhelpful ‘Can’t play’ error. To remedy this, you might conceivably run a Google search for ‘free MKV player’. Do so and you’ll be presented with a number of links to a free tool called MKV Player. And, yes, MKV Player will indeed play MKV files. But unless you’re extremely vigilant, it’ll also plonk a nasty surprise on…

TABLET £90 from Amazon www.snipca.com/35336 Amazon Fire HD 8 (2020) Alexa, find me a bargain It’s no secret that Amazon’s Fire tablets are cheaper because they’re not as good as more expensive rivals. Their FireOS operating system is a version of Android, but supports only a fraction of the apps available from the Google Play Store on a full Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (£309 from Amazon www.snipca.com/35338), let alone the range for Apple’s iPad (£349 from www.snipca.com/35339). And you can’t expect the same processing power or screen quality. On the other hand, it’s only 90 quid. Unless you prefer not to see Amazon adverts every time you pick it up: turning them off costs an extra tenner. All the limitations you’d expect in a £90…

Nothing bright and beautiful This is a 15.6in portable monitor that connects with a single cable to any PC with a USB-C port. Pack it with your laptop and you can have a two-screen setup when working on the move. It’s bigger than the 13.3in screens on many popular laptops, although the Full HD resolution is on the low side, so your Windows desktop is larger rather than more detailed. It’s a decent idea, but not new. AOC’s I1601FWUX (£164 from Amazon www.snipca.com/33914, see our review, Issue 537, page 26) offers the same size and resolution, and our tests found it covered 52 per cent of sRGB at a maximum brightness of 223cd/m², which is mediocre but usable. The PM1 managed 59 per cent of sRGB, but brightness petered out…

Q I’ve decided artist David Hockney has had it his own way too long and I’m going to try some drawing on my tablet. I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1in, which doesn’t come with a stylus, and I don’t really know what a stylus will do that a cotton bud won’t, but I suspect it’s a lot. The screen does show stunning pictures, though not by me. Will my tablet support a clever stylus? Roy Houghton A In short, no: the Galaxy Tab A 10.1in (2019) doesn’t work with Samsung’s S Pen. You’d have to pay over £300 for a Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (see our review, Issue 582, pictured) or an iPad with Apple’s Pencil (see Issue 566) to use a proper pressuresensitive stylus. This makes drawing…

Find out what other products we liked. Buy our new 2019 Back Issue CD: £15 from www.snipca.com/33711 LAPTOP HP Envy 13 (2019) £870 from www.snipca.com/34945 Tested Issue 568 Thanks to eighth-gen Intel processors and dedicated Nvidia MX250 graphics, this sleek aluminium laptop offers a practical combination of all-round processing power and portability, topped off by 8 hours 30 minutes battery life – and the touchscreen is now excellent too. ALTERNATIVE Dell XPS 13 Gets the most out of Intel CPUs, now tenthgen, but there’s no GPU option and the cheapest sensible configuration is £999 from www.snipca.com/33309 DESKTOP PC Palicomp Intel Mercury £600 from www.snipca.com/34223 Tested Issue 576 If you don’t need advanced gaming, your money’s well spent here on a six-core Intel i5-9600K processor overclocked to 5GHz. 16GB of memory…

What you need: Microsoft ICE; Google Drive (optional); Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 Time required: 30 minutes Ordnance Survey (OS) maps can turn any walk into an adventure. But paper maps are bulky, and folding them away can be awkward. Far better to access them from your phone. The official OS app does this and more (including pinpointing your location), but it costs £2.99 per month (www.snipca.com/35322). Here, we show you how to create a free OS map of your local area, then transfer it to your phone to keep you on track when out rambling. OS maps are copyrighted material, so make sure you only take screenshots for your personal use (ie don’t publish or distribute them). STEP 1 First, download Microsoft’s Image Composite Editor (ICE) from www.snipca.com/35323 (if…

ANDROID Detect and delete old screenshots Screenshots are useful the moment they’re taken, but quickly lose their importance. Whether you’re grabbing the contents of your screen to help you remember something, to email to a friend or to remind you to add an item to your shopping list, they soon outlive their usefulness, after which they do nothing but clutter up your photo library. Google’s updated Files app (https://files.google.com) saves you the chore of going through your collection and deleting them individually. Launch the app, then tap Clean on the toolbar at the bottom of the screen (see screenshot below left). Scroll through the various media types until you reach ‘Old screenshots’ and the app will tell you how much space you can save by deleting them (in our case,…

WINDOWS 7, 8.1 & 10 Make your cursor easier to see If the standard Windows cursor is too small to make out or you just fancy a change, you can choose from a selection of designs and even bring back the old hourglass icon from Windows XP. Open Settings (press Windows+I), then select Devices, Mouse and click ‘Additional mouse options’ (in Windows 7, open Control Panel, then click ‘Hardware and Sound’, followed by Mouse). Select the Pointers tab, then click the dropdown menu under Scheme to browse the options. If you’re struggling to see your mouse, choose one that’s labelled ‘large’ or ‘extra-large’ (see screenshot below). To try the retro hourglass, choose one of the ‘Windows Standard…’ options. Once you’ve made your choice, you can preview how the cursor will…

What is it? A new technology that automatically logs you into Wi-Fi networks when you’re outside your home, without you having to repeatedly sign in or accept endless terms and conditions. So you can ‘roam’ between networks without noticing when you switch? Precisely. You can start by browsing the web via a coffee shop’s Wi-Fi, then connect again automatically when you move to a pub’s Wi-Fi, followed by a trip to the theatre (when they finally reopen). At no point will you have to log manually into a specific Wi-Fi network, meaning you won’t be disrupted by any pop-up screens as you browse. That’s very clever. Who developed it? US company Cisco. Instead of coffee shops and pubs, they use the example of trying to connect to multiple networks while…

Can I list cloud-storage folders? Q Thanks for Issue 581’s Workshop on creating an inventory of USB sticks. I have used it for my USB sticks and CDs. In particular I am trying to sort out my father’s memoirs, which I transcribed some years ago. I have copies saved all over the place and want to sort them out. I also have copies on my PC, and some on Google Drive, Outlook and Dropbox (why have one copy when you can have lots?). Is it possible to download the details on what I have stored on each in the same way? Chris Roddis A Assuming you’re syncing Dropbox and Google Drive with your PC, as would be the norm, then the same fundamental technique could be applied to the local…