Table of contents for 661 in Computeractive

My new LG OLED TV is the smartest I’ve ever had, but it still seems pretty stupid to me. Over the past few months I’ve been plagued by pixelated pictures, suffered dialogue out of sync with the video, and been annoyed by apps that crash more often than dodgems driven by chimpanzees. These problems are all solvable, but only if you read Robert Irvine’s superb Cover Feature. As well as fixing your sound and vision, he reveals how to stop videos playing automatically, how to remove apps from your cluttered screen, and how to block adverts based on your viewing (did you even know your TV could do this?). He also explains what the ‘soap-opera’ effect is, and why it has nothing to do with Dirty Den or Bet Lynch…

It’s generally thought that free trials benefit everyone. Companies use them to attract new business, while customers are able to test a service to see whether they like it. But the unintended consequences of free trials are often overlooked. For example, can they ultimately lead to higher prices? That’s what some broadcasters have warned in response to Government proposals to force all TV-streaming services to offer viewers a 14-day free trial. The rule, part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, lets viewers cancel at any time during the trial without paying a penalty. “Subscribers will pay more if viewers choose the short thrill of a free trial” Disney has been the most vocal in criticising the idea. In a submission to the Lords communications and digital committee, the…

I received an email from the ‘Outlook Support Team’ that was rated as ‘High Priority’. I should have deleted it without opening it, but curiosity got the better of me and I clicked it to see whether I should be concerned. There was a note at the top of the email claiming it was from a ‘trusted sender’ but it looked unprofessional and unconvincing. It said it had detected suspicious activity on my account and that I should investigate by clicking a button to log in. I quickly realised it was a scam and found a screenshot online that looked similar: www.snipca.com/46456. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

I’m no great fan of Facebook, but it can’t be blamed for NHS trusts unintentionally sharing patient data with it (‘Question of the Fortnight’, Issue 660, pictured). I’m a small business owner who has used Facebook’s Meta Pixel tracker to great effect when running marketing campaigns. I knew the dangers of breaking Facebook’s strict rules on sharing user data, so I read the terms and conditions carefully and checked I wasn’t breaching them. Facebook is completely upfront about what the tracker does, describing it as a “piece of code that you put on your website that allows you to measure the effectiveness of your advertising by understanding the actions that people take on your website” (www.snipca.com/46516). When I run a sales campaign on my website I need to know which…

I’ve just returned from a cruise around the eastern Mediterranean. I have an O2 phone contract, so before I left I checked the company’s ‘Roaming in Europe’ page (www.snipca.com/46438) to make sure I was able to use my UK data and call allowances in all the countries we’d be visiting. It stated that I could. During the cruise I noticed my phone had automatically picked up an Albanian telecoms signal. We weren’t due to visit Albania but we must have sailed close enough to pick up their signal. I made a note of this because Albania wasn’t on O2’s list of roaming countries. On returning home I saw there was a data charge of £42.92 on my account. I rang O2 about this, and they immediately waived the fee and…

WEB BROWSER Opera One www.snipca.com/46555 What you need: Windows 10 or 11, macOS or Linux Opera was the first browser to include tabs, pop-up blocking, an integrated search box and a built-in VPN, yet despite its innovations it remains relatively unsung (pardon the pun). Its latest incarnation, Opera One, has been “reimagined and rebuilt from the ground up” to deliver what its developer calls “the future of browsing”. Its main new feature is a built-in AI tool called Aria. Although Microsoft has already integrated Bing Chat with Edge, Aria is even smarter than that chatbot. As well as searching the web to find answers to your questions and generating content from prompts, it knows Opera’s entire support documentation, so you can ask it for help with any aspect of the…

Mozilla’s hypocritical full-screen VPN advert Mozilla encourages Firefox users to install ad blockers, describing them as “secret weapons” to make your browsing smoother. We suspect many users took this advice after seeing Mozilla’s own ad for its VPN (www.snipca.com/46435), which costs $9.99 a month (about £7.90). The advert (pictured) looks harmless enough, but it irritated me (and thousands of others) by slapping itself across my screen while I was browsing the web in Firefox. You couldn’t continue browsing until you clicked one of the two options at the bottom. These kinds of intrusive tactics are what you’d expect from money-chasing giants like Microsoft and Google, not the underdog Mozilla – which always claims to be on the side of the little guy. Mozilla has since said the advert was an…

Q I need some good powerline adapters for an old, stonewalled French farmhouse. I’m having fibre broadband installed and the engineer will set the adapters up for me when he installs the internet. I’d like the best possible signal up to 35 metres away from the router and I’m happy to buy as many as I’d need to ensure that good quality Wi-Fi reaches every room. Jerry Lloyd A Powerline adapters are definitely the best choice in this scenario. Traditional stone walls will do a phenomenal job of blocking Wi-Fi signals, so a mesh Wi-Fi system won’t cut it. If all the internal walls are made of stone, you’ll need an adapter in every room. However, if some rooms are separated by stud walls, you may be able to get…

SMARTPHONE | £100 from Argos www.snipca.com/46519 If you’re a fan of Samsung phones but you’re on a tight budget, there’s much to like about this model. Considering its price tag, it isn’t as sluggish as you might expect. Its performance lags behind phones around the £150 mark, and there are moments when it struggles. But if all you want to do is browse the web, check your emails and watch YouTube videos, it’s as good as many phones that cost more. That said, it struggles dealing with detailed interfaces, such as Spotify, and when playing demanding games, but it will handle less demanding and older games perfectly well. The screen is also surprisingly good. Its 1600x720-pixel resolution produces sharp results across its 6.5in diagonal, and we have no complaints about…

iStorage, specialists in encrypted portable storage devices, has released a new encrypted flash drive: the datAshur PRO+C. It’s the world’s first and only flash drive to be pending the new FIPS 140-3 Level 3 validation scheme, hitting a cryptography standard approved by the US government. This USB 3.2 (Gen 1) Type-C flash drive is fast – reading files at a maximum of 310MB/s, and writing at 246MB/s. It’s easy to use and has a rechargeable battery that lets you enter an 8 to 15-digit PIN via the on-board keypad before connecting the device to a USB port. It comes with a Type-C-to-Type-A adapter, so you can use it with older devices. Its advanced security features provide complete data security and maximum protection at all times. To access it you need…

The basic Kindle In recent years, I realised that I was finding it harder to get to sleep after switching off my Kindle. I had the 10th version of the cheapest model, released in 2019. It had served me well, but I wondered whether I needed another model with a specific light for bedtime reading. And what I use instead… I researched the options and decided that the Kindle Paperwhite was the best device because of its warm light. When you turn this on it gives the screen a yellowish tint that soothes the eyes as you read (pictured). It’s made a big difference to my sleeping patterns. Turning on warm light is as easy as tapping the down arrow from the top of the home screen then changing the…

1 Click the ‘Browser essentials’ button on Edge’s toolbar 1 to open the ‘Browser essentials’ sidebar. In the Performance section 2, you can check whether ‘efficiency mode’ and ‘sleeping tabs’ are enabled, and if your tabs are using excessive memory and processing power. 2 To adjust these settings, click the three-dot icon and select ‘Manage performance settings’ 1. This opens the ‘System and performance’ section of Edge’s Settings, where you can tweak Efficiency mode 2 and activate sleeping tabs 3 to conserve system resources. 3 The Safety section 1 of ‘Browser essentials’ shows you how many sites and downloads Edge has scanned for malware. Click the three-dot icon and choose ‘Manage security settings’ 2 to boost its security by switching from Balanced to Strict mode 3.…

Reading mode Free Android www.snipca.com/46501 Google has updated its ‘Reading mode’ app, which we covered in Issue 648 (page 45), with a useful background-playback feature. This means that when you tap the button to hear online content read aloud, you can now continue to listen while you switch to other apps and when your screen is turned off. Dropblock Free Android www.snipca.com/46514 iOS www.snipca.com/46515 Not to be confused with Dropbox, this new app lets you store and share files securely from your phone or tablet. It offers 5GB of free online storage (3GB more than Dropbox), ransomware protection and end-to-end encryption. Dropblock uses AI to provide ‘insights’ about your data without decrypting it. Rex Free iOS www.snipca.com/46510 This app makes it easy to share recommendations (or ‘rex’) of places you’ve…

LIBREOFFICE & MICROSOFT OFFICE Link spreadsheet data to document tables LibreOffice lets you link data in a Calc spreadsheet with a table in a Writer document, so when you change the former it’s automatically updated in the latter. First, create a table in Calc, then highlight the selection (see 1 in our screenshot). Next, right-click and select Copy. Now open Writer, then right-click and select Paste Special, followed by ‘More Options…’. Next, select the ‘Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE link)’ option 2, and then click OK. This makes the table appear in Writer 3. Every change you now make in your spreadsheet will be automatically updated in the document table. Microsoft lets you do something similar, though the table isn’t updated automatically. Instead, you have to manually refresh it. First, create…

Why does my TV keep freezing or crashing? There are lots of ways a smart TV can malfunction, from unresponsive apps and buffering videos to a frozen picture and the whole set restarting – and several potential solutions to these problems. Once you’ve tried turning it off and on again, here are some other fixes to try. Update your TV’s firmware Smart TV manufacturers regularly release software updates for their devices to fix security flaws and bugs. If your TV set’s firmware is out of date, this could be causing the freezes or crashes. The option for updating your TV’s software is usually located under Support in Settings, or in System, then About. If you can’t find the option, consult the manufacturer’s support site. Disconnect other hardware To ensure the…

Why aren’t apps opening or working properly? If an app won’t open or keeps crashing, it may no longer be compatible with your smart TV, especially if you recently installed a firmware update. Apps should be updated automatically to avoid this problem, but the setting might be disabled so it’s worth checking. On a Samsung TV, select Apps on your home screen, choose Settings in the top-right corner and switch on Auto Update. On a Google/Android TV, open Settings then Apps, select ‘Manage updates’ and enable ‘Auto-update apps’ (see screenshot right). Also choose ‘See available updates’ to check if there’s one available for the troublesome app. On an LG TV, go to All Settings then General, select ‘About this TV’ and turn on ‘Allow automatic updates’. If the update option…

How can I fix a defective remote control? If your TV isn’t responding to your remote control, and you’ve tried replacing the batteries, you may need to pair the devices again. On a Samsung remote, press the Return/Back button and the Play/Pause button simultaneously for at least three seconds and you should see a message on screen that it’s been paired with your TV. On an LG remote, press the Back and Home buttons for five seconds to re-pair it with your TV. The remote controls for Google/Android TVs vary by make and model, so consult the manufacturer’s website for instructions. If you have an infrared (IR) remote control, you can check that the IR signal is working using the camera on your phone. Point the front tip of the…

A new online tool called ‘AI or Not’ (www.snipca.com/46552) helps you determine whether an image you’ve been sent or that you’ve come across on the web has been generated using AI. This is useful for exposing photos created by scammers of fake or altered people, places, products and events. Upload an image to the site in JPEG or PNG format, or copy and paste its URL from a web page. ‘AI or Not’ will then use “advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques” to analyse the picture and tell you whether it was generated by a human or AI (see screenshot). It can also detect which AI software was used to create the image, such as DALL-E, GAN or Stable Diffusion. ‘AI or Not’ isn’t always right, and sometimes it can’t…

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

1080p Of the common types of high-definition video, this is the best quality: 1920x1080 pixels. 3G/4G/5G Technologies that deliver faster mobile broadband. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. 8K Video with a resolution of 7680x4320 pixels. Currently the highest resolution available. Administrator Someone who can make changes to a computer that will affect others who also use it. AI Artificial Intelligence. Intelligence demonstrated by a machine rather than a human being. Often used to describe technology that can perform human-like tasks. Aspect ratio A measurement of the shape of a screen. Traditional PC screens are 4:3. Widescreen displays are 16:9 or 16:10. Batch file Commands that are processed in sequence, often without requiring input from the user. Benchmarking Comparing software and products with an accepted standard.…

Can I sue Royal Mail for failed delivery? LEAD CASE Q A steam cleaner I ordered using Amazon Prime for next-day delivery failed to arrive. However, Royal Mail disagreed and showed me a photo of a bag being delivered. But I hadn’t ordered this bag. Can I seek compensation from Royal Mail? William Thomas A William can certainly try, but we fear it will be refused in this case because he doesn’t have a contract with Royal Mail. His contract is with Amazon, which is solely responsible for ensuring he receives the steam cleaner. He should chase Amazon for a refund, or ask it to rearrange delivery. Items are only considered late once 30 days have passed from the order date. Only if you’ve paid extra for early delivery on…

Stardock Groupy 2 www.snipca.com/46561 Price: £9.99 Free trial period: 30 days What you need: Windows 10 or 11 Groupy is an ingenious way to manage multiple open programs in Windows. Rather than press Ctrl+Alt+Tab to switch between them, you can group them into a row of tabs – like in a web browser – and simply click a tab to access the relevant program. These tabs are added to all compatible software, including built-in Windows tools, either above a window’s title bar or integrated with it. To add a program, right-click the tab bar, choose ‘Add to group’ and select the title of its window. Alternatively, just drag and drop its window on to the bar, or choose ‘All ungrouped windows on this monitor’ (see screenshot) to add tabs for…

WHAT THEY SAY Lenovo (www.snipca.com/46434) “Meet the 2023 motorola razr family – two devices that blend style and premium specs to deliver an innovative mobile experience. Each feature of this new family was carefully crafted to meet the needs of modern consumers chasing a balanced smartphone experience at the intersection of style-driven self expression and cutting edge technology.” WHAT THEY MEAN Priced over £1,000, these phones lie at the intersection of expensive and ‘you’re having a laugh’.…

What do they do? A printer’s quoted speed is the rate at which it can produce printed pages. Inkjet printers, for example, tend to print line by line, so are typically the slowest type of printer. Laser printers (such as the Brother HL-L3270CDW, pictured below) print each colour by rolling a drum over the whole sheet of paper, which is much faster. How do they work? Previously, companies used their own very different documents to test their models, so you could only accurately compare printer speeds between models from the same manufacturer. Now, most use what’s called the ISO/IEC 24712 standard document, so you can easily compare speeds across different brands. Tests are carried out using multiple pages to calculate an average - this is because the first page out…

What is it? LG has released a 26in touchscreen tablet/monitor built into a briefcase (pictured), so that it’s easier to carry around. It runs WebOS, which is the interface built into LG’s smart TVs and has its own app store with a wide range of popular apps. What does it do? Open the briefcase and the screen extends out. You can have it in portrait or landscape mode, or leave it flat in the case to use like an interactive tabletop, but you can’t fully remove the screen from the case. What’s the catch? Currently it’s only available in South Korea, with no immediate plans to launch it elsewhere. It costs 1,170,000 Korean Won (around £712). It’s also bulky, measuring 119x670x433mm (HxWxD) and weighing 12.7kg. So can I do without…

EMAIL Delay messages sent in Gmail Like Al Frederick (Readers’ Tips, Issue 660), I also have clumsy fingers that accidentally send emails before they’re finished. But unlike Al, I use Gmail, so I couldn’t follow his tips for delaying emails in Outlook. I reasoned that Gmail must have a similar tool, and so it proved. I found it by clicking the top-right cog icon (Settings), then ‘See all settings’ and looking next to ‘Undo Send’. The default delay is a mere five seconds, which is nowhere near long enough for me to ‘unsend’ an email if I’ve made a mistake. Al said he has set his Outlook delay to five minutes, but the maximum Gmail allows is 30 seconds (see screenshot below left). Better than nothing, I thought, so selected…

£380 from www.snipca.com/45482 As a club secretary I was given the task of finding a printer that could print hundreds of documents every week at a price that wouldn’t bankrupt us. It was a tough call in this era of rising prices, but your review of the Canon Maxify GX4050 (Issue 655, page 26, pictured) seemed promising. You said it cost £430, but I managed to find it for £50 less. We’ve had it for a month and it’s transformed our club’s admin. It’s much faster than the ancient printer we were using (also Canon), and the 35-page document-feeder for the scanner is flawless. But it’s the cheap running costs that I think will make it a great purchase in the long term. Most of the pages we print are…

Imageye Chromium www.snipca.com/46404 Firefox www.snipca.com/46405 Although downloading a web image involves little more than right-clicking it and choosing ‘Save image as’, it can be time-consuming when you want to save multiple pictures from a site. Imageye makes life easier by automatically detecting all the images on the page you’re viewing, then letting you download them all (see screenshot) – or just selected pictures - in one go. Use its filters to show only images of a particular size, format or orientation, and click its Preferences cog to change how detected images are presented. You can specify which folder pictures are saved to and convert WEBP images into JPEG format. If you don’t like that, try… Quick Image Downloader Chromium www.snipca.com/46406 This extension finds and downloads images impressively quickly, but it’s…

My Data Manager Free Android www.snipca.com/46522 iOS www.snipca.com/46523 This app will help you avoid exceeding the monthly data limit of your mobile-phone plan. My Data Manager tracks your data usage across 4G/5G, Wi-Fi and when roaming. It notifies you when you’re near your limit and tells you which apps consume the most data. The iOS version also includes an optional VPN. Best For Monitoring your data usage Meteor Speed Test Free Android www.snipca.com/46524 iOS www.snipca.com/46525 This app tests the download and upload speeds of your mobile or Wi-Fi network, and rates the performance of individual apps. This allows you to see, for example, if your current connection is fast enough to smoothly stream videos. It also includes a signal coverage map and lets you compare different locations. Best For Testing…

If you often need volunteers to help run your club, you should make it as easy as possible for people to sign up. This is where Jotform comes in. This handy website automates the entire process, letting you create registration forms so you can gather all the details you require. Choose your template Before doing anything else, create an account at www.jotform.com by clicking the top-right ‘Sign Up for Free’ button. You can sign in using your Google account, Facebook account or email address. The Starter plan, which is free, has a monthly limit of five ‘active’ forms and 100 volunteer applications. Once you’ve signed up double-check you’re on the Starter plan by clicking your profile picture at the top right. Next, visit www.snipca.com/46417 to see Jotform’s volunteer templates. For…

How can I fix a pixelated picture? The most common cause of pixelation, which makes the picture on your TV look distorted or blurry, is a loose or faulty cable. This affects live digital channels more than streaming content, because it weakens the TV signal, but it’s usually easy to fix. First, unplug the coaxial aerial cable that connects your TV or set-top box to the wall socket, and inspect it for signs of damage. If it looks fine, plug it back in and ensure it’s connected securely at both ends. If the cable is plugged into a splitter, unplug it and connect it directly to the wall socket to improve the signal strength. Should you notice the aerial cable is frayed or worn, you can buy a new one…

Google/Android TV Go to Settings, then System and choose About. Select ‘Factory reset’ then ‘Factory reset’ again. Amazon Fire TV Open ‘Settings’ then My Fire TV, choose ‘Reset to Factory Defaults’ and press Reset. Samsung TVs Go to Settings, then General and select Reset. Enter your PIN (0000 is the default), choose Reset again and press OK. Alternatively, go to Support, then Self Diagnosis and choose Reset. LG TVs Open ‘Settings’ followed by All Settings and choose General. Select ‘System’ then ‘Reset to Initial Settings’ and press OK. Roku devices Go to Settings then System and select ‘Advanced system settings’. Choose ‘Factory reset’ then ‘Factory reset everything’. Apple TV Open ‘Settings’ then System and choose Reset. Select either Reset or ‘Reset and update’.…

Unless you’ve added an account for a child to your smart TV, it won’t prevent you from watching age-restricted content – but YouTube might. Sometimes it blocks you from viewing videos until you “complete a brief check to show you’re old enough”, which is very annoying when you’re the adult who owns the TV. To stop this happening on any device, go to the ‘Personal info’ page in your Google account settings (www.snipca.com/46455) in a desktop or mobile browser – this must be the account you use for YouTube on your smart TV. Click the Birthday section and enter your date of birth (or an approximate one), then click Save. Google and YouTube will now know you’re old enough to watch age-restricted videos without verification. Next, open the YouTube app…

If the advice in this feature doesn’t fix your smart TV problems, but you can’t afford a new TV, a streaming stick could be the ideal solution. You can buy an Amazon Fire TV Stick from £35 (www.snipca.com/46482), a Roku device from £30 (www.snipca.com/46483) and a Chromecast with Google TV for £35 (www.snipca.com/46484, pictured) to get a smart-TV experience for a tenth of the price. They’re also faster, easily portable and less prone to technical trouble. Streaming sticks simply plug into an HDMI port on your TV, and can be set to launch instead of its built-in software. On a Samsung TV, open Settings, then General, select Smart Features and disable Autorun Smart Hub and Autorun Last App. On an LG TV, go to All Settings then General and choose…

Many biologists believe that the reason evolution pushed testicles out of the body is to store sperm at a cooler temperature. Sperm production is most effective at 35° celsius, which is two degrees lower than inside the human body. This theory has led to research testing whether using a hot laptop on laps can raise the temperature of testicles enough to reduce sperm production – potentially causing infertility. A 2005 study (www.snipca.com/46559) showed that using a laptop for just one hour increased “scrotal temperature” by nearly 3° celsius. Follow-up research found that sitting with knees together traps heat and increases the problem. However, the study’s co-author, Dr Yefim Sheynkin, said it’s not clear just how much heat testicles can take before it affects their reproductive power. In short, if you’re…

Email us your problem and we’ll try to help: noproblem@computeractive.co.uk PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT Would broadband replace my phone sockets? Q I’m not new to computers but, like many silver surfers, I don’t understand the practical side of installing a fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband and telephone system. At present I have a copper connection to my home, which is fed from a fibre-enabled street cabinet that’s about a mile away. Openreach has laid fibre cable immediately in front of my house, but it’s not connected to the building. I’m thinking about subscribing to an FTTP service, but I’m not sure what this will involve. Is all installation work done by Openreach? If so, would they follow the route of my existing copper cable to my main phone socket? This is in…

MAKE VIDEO CALLS ON SKY GLASS Sky has released a camera for Sky Glass for making video calls through Zoom. The device, called Sky Live, is 4K and costs from £6 a month. It sits on top of the Glass TV set (pictured below), and comes with games you can play on screen and workout routines to watch. Visit Sky’s site for details: www.snipca.com/46574. FLY OVER FRENCH TOWNS IN FLIGHT SIM You can fly over Reims Cathedral (pictured below) in the latest update to Microsoft Flight Simulator. It also adds the French towns of Amiens, Angers, Nantes and Nîmes, and the Paris–Le Bourget Airport, where Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927. Watch the trailer at www.snipca.com/46582.…

KeePass has reacted quickly to fix a flaw that could have let hackers see every letter of your master password except the first or second – making it easy to crack. The process is highly complicated, involving such clever hacking tricks as retrieving memory dumps, but all you need to know is that updating to version 2.54 plugs the vulnerability. You can’t set KeePass to update automatically, so to get version 2.54 visit www.snipca.com/43309 and click either of the green buttons at the top: the one on the left to install it on your computer (1 in our screenshot), the one on the right to install it on your USB stick 2. Our screenshot also shows the download link for an earlier version of KeePass (1.41) that’s not affected by…

When did you explain how to disable the push-button feature on a mouse’s scroll wheel? Brian Hillier CA SAYS That was back in Issue 596 (page 19). We recommended using X-Mouse Button Control (www.snipca.com/46465). When did you warn about fake QR codes on parking machines? Helen Charlton CA SAYS In Issue 646, page 11. Read it on our Back Issue CD: www.snipca.com/44660. I want to browse the web anonymously using Tails (www.snipca.com/44809). Didn’t you cover this recently? Bob Fletcher CA SAYS Yes, in Issue 651, page 35. Buy it from www.snipca.com/46518.…

Microsoft has declined to fix Benjamin Erkul’s Surface Pro 4 laptop-tablet (pictured), despite admitting the design was faulty and was causing the battery to bulge (see Issue 658). Benjamin knew that Microsoft had replaced many faulty Pro 4s since the laptop was released in 2016, but it told him that this scheme had now ended. He didn’t have a case against the company under the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) because he bought the device from a private seller on eBay. Also, the warranty had expired. Our only option was to ask Microsoft to help as a goodwill gesture, but we knew it was a long shot – and so it has proved. To be fair to the company, it did contact Benjamin about his problem. But it had no legal…

I can’t find details about my great-grandparents Frederick McKay and Elizabeth Milln, who married in 1833 in Scotland. There’s nothing on ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) and they’re not in the 1881 census. Brian McKay Try searching using * (asterisk) as a wildcard for spelling variations, for example, Mil*n* for Millin and Milne. Also select the ‘Other Churches’ option in the pre-1855 church records to include registers from dissenting congregations. Note that ScotlandsPeople only hosts records held by the National Records of Scotland. Consult the Statistical Accounts of Scotland (www.snipca.com/46464) for information about other denominations in their parish, then check the catalogues at www.snipca.com/46419. Have a genealogy question for Chris? Email letters@computeractive.co.uk with ‘Grow Your Family Tree’ in the subject line. Next issue: Search for ancestors in parish’s bastardy records…

Can I transfer my Handycam video to PC? Q I have a 20-year-old Sony Handycam camcorder, but I can’t find the software to download the tapes I made with it via USB to my PC. Is there anything you can recommend? Sanjay Jethwa A Have you tried Sony’s extensive library of drivers for its tape-based camcorders (www.snipca.com/46408, see screenshot below), covering nearly 300 devices? You don’t mention which Handycam model you have but, if it’s in the list, the solution may be simpler than you expect. If not, check which ports your Handycam has, aside from USB, then use an adapter such as the August VGB100 external USB capture card to connect them to your PC. You can buy one for £33 on Amazon (www.snipca.com/46409, pictured left). It has phono…

Simulator games range from the popular (flight, railway, truck) to the downright weird (powerwashing anyone? – www.snipca.com/46431). But no game I’ve played has been as repellent as the Android app Slavery Simulator (pictured), which lets players “buy and sell” black characters. The aim is to “prevent the abolition of slavery and accumulate wealth”. It was listed on the Brazilian version of the Google Play Store in April, and was downloaded more than 1,000 times. Shockingly, the game had received several positive reviews, with one player saying it was a “great way to pass the time” – though they criticised the lack of “torture options”. Mystery surrounds the game’s creators – listed as ‘MagnusGames’ though unrelated to a Malaysian firm of the same name (www.snipca.com/46433) – but Google are the real…

EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE | From £130 from Argos www.snipca.com/46498 Seagate already has several 5TB drives in its product range, and this Ultra Touch is the latest. Like Acer’s Vero range of products, this wears its eco-credentials on its case, which is made from a speckled-grey plastic that is formed from used materials. “You pay extra for its green credentials, while its transfer speeds are underwhelming” The downside is that Seagate is charging the consumer a slight premium for helping to save the planet. At the time of writing the Ultra Touch costs £130 at Argos, but you can buy other Seagate 5TB drives, such as the Expansion Plus 5TB Portable Hard Drive (www.snipca.com/46499) for £107. There’s nothing particularly striking about the Ultra Touch. It’s a relatively standard size at 23x80x115mm…

HEADSET | £110 from Amazon www.snipca.com/46462 HyperX was originally an offshoot of memory storage manufacturer Kingston, but is now owned by HP, probably best known for its printers. HyperX has a similar remit to its parent company – producing decent-quality products at reasonable prices, and this wired headset and microphone combination is no exception. It’s the third offering in the affordable Cloud range, and is easily the best yet. It beats its predecessor with superior audio quality, a more robust build, improved comfort, more connectivity options, a sleeker design and a better mic. The headband and the ear cups boast a softer foam than previous models, and a pleasing leatherette finish. The band is extremely flexible, so you can adjust the fit to the size of your head. The whole…

Find out which other products we liked. Buy our new 2022 Back Issue CD: £17 from www.snipca.com/44660 LAPTOP Acer Swift 314in £999 from www.snipca.com/44367 Tested Issue 648 Comes with a powerful 12th-generation Intel processor and 1TB SSD to make Windows tasks feel incredibly fast. Also has a decent 2560x1440-pixel IPS screen and comes with plenty of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4-compatible USB-C. ALTERNATIVE Lenovo Yoga 6 Gen 7 Has a slower processor, and half the storage and RAM, but remains a good laptop for the price. £799 from www.snipca.com/44950 ANDROID TABLET Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 £749 from www.snipca.com/42211 Tested Issue 634 Samsung has replaced its own Tab S7+ to become our favourite Android tablet. It’s fast with a stunning 11in screen, and has a longer battery life than the iPad.…

I need to make a confession. I know how to organise files and find duplicates, but I hardly ever get around to doing it. But now that I’ve written this feature, I’ll be more diligent in future. I know I have loads of duplicate photos because I often back up whole folders of shots even if I’m just going to edit one or two of them, so that seems as good a place as any to start. How do you search for duplicates? Please let us know: letters@computeractive.co.uk…

I’m the latest member of the PDFgear (www.pdfgear.com) fan club. I agree with all the readers and your writers who say it makes managing PDFs amazingly simple. Beyond all the features you’d expect in a PDF editor, it has several hidden tools like the ability to create your own stamps to say things like ‘Approved’, ‘Final’ or ‘Sold’. But before you create your own, click the Insert tab at the top then the Stamp dropdown menu and choose Preset. You’ll then see all the stamps that PDFgear comes with. If what you want isn’t there, hover your cursor over ‘Custom Stamp’ (1 in our screenshot), then click ‘+ Custom Stamp’. Write a message and it’ll replace the sample text below. You can also change its colour by clicking one of the…

CHROME Disable ‘hover card’ previews for tabs When you hover your cursor over a tab in Chrome, it shows you a preview image of the relevant web page. This saves you needing to click the tab to view its content, but because these ‘hover cards’ can be triggered accidentally, some people find the feature annoying and similar to viewing pop-ups in your browser. Thankfully, Chrome 114, which was released at the beginning of June, gives you the option to disable hover-card previews, if they’re more of a hindrance than a help. Type chrome://flags into the browser’s address bar and press Enter to load the Experiments page. Search for the entry Tab Hover Card Images (see screenshot below), click the dropdown menu next to it and select Disabled. Relaunch Chrome and…

ANDROID & iOS Identify skin problems using Google Lens Although no mobile app is a substitute for a professional medical diagnosis, a new feature in Google Lens could help you identify the cause of minor skin complaints, such as rashes, insect bites, psoriasis and eczema. Simply take a picture of the affected area using the Google Lens app for Android (www.snipca.com/46507) or the Google app for Android and iOS (www.snipca.com/46508), or select a photo of the problem from your library. Google Lens will then search the web for images that match your skin complaint. Select a result (see screenshot below) to visit the source web page for information and advice. Google says the feature also works for other blemishes on your body, such as “a bump on your lip, a…

WINDOWS 11 Change Print Screen so it doesn’t open Snipping Tool With the third ‘Moment’ update for Windows 11 automatically installed on computers on 13 June, Microsoft changed the Print Screen (Prt Scn) key so it opens the Snipping Tool, rather than saving a screenshot to your Pictures folder. To change this back, press Windows+I to open Settings, then click Accessibility (1 in our screenshot below). Now scroll down to the Keyboard section, under the Interaction options. Next, in the ‘On-screen keyboard, access keys and Print screen’ section, turn off the ‘Use the Print screen key to open Snipping Tool’ slider 2. WINDOWS 10 Create a folder that can’t be deleted Command Prompt lets you create a folder that can’t be renamed, moved or deleted, though you can copy files and…

What is it? Microsoft’s software for writing on your screen using a stylus such as the Surface Pen (www.snipca.com/46493) or your finger. Added to Windows 10 in 2016, it lets you write Sticky Notes, annotate screenshots and add text in programs like OneNote. You can also use it to present slides in PowerPoint and edit text in Word, as well as in third-party apps (see some of them at www.snipca.com/46491). And soon you’ll be able to write inside boxes that are actually part of Windows, making it even more useful. What kind of boxes? Microsoft calls them “edit fields”, which are any areas in software where you can type. They’re also known as input fields and text-input boxes. You’ll find them in forms, dialog boxes and other interactive elements of…

ADD A DISC FOR £5.95 In this special offer you can buy Windows 11 Pro for just £79.99 – that’s £140 cheaper than Microsoft’s full price of £219.99. To buy Windows 11 Pro, visit www.snipca.com/41588 and click the red Buy Now button on the right. If you have any questions about your order please email editor@computeractive.co.uk JUST SO YOU KNOW… This offer can be used by one person only, and expires at midnight on 18 July, 2023. It’s a lifetime licence for one computer.…

Why you should be worried about AI voice scams We’ve all received ‘robocalls’, which claim to know, for example, that we’ve been involved in an accident or are being investigated by HMRC. Most have a giveaway pause or click before they begin and use stilted, disembodied voices, so we know to hang up immediately. The latest AI voice scams, in contrast, are often very convincing, because they clone the voice of a real person, such as a friend or family member, to trick you into handing over money. The only thing the scammer needs is a short (three-second) audio sample of the person’s voice, which they can obtain from content posted online and previously recorded scam calls. This is then fed into AI voice-cloning software to impersonate the supposed caller…

Q I’m an occasional listener to music. I used to be able to pay for and download the odd album from iTunes. However, it seems not any more, without signing up for some kind of monthly subscription. Can I download and pay for albums or the odd single without having to tie myself into a monthly contract? Pamela Viccars A This comes down to Apple’s messy line-up of products, and the differences between them. For the bulk of its two-decade history, Apple iTunes has been the front end for everything related to listening to music on Apple devices, and for Windows users wanting to manage their music libraries using the PC version of the program. Complementing iTunes is the iTunes Store. On Macs and Windows, this is part of the…

Has PowerToys doubled my PC’s boot time? Q I’m booting Windows 11 Pro from my M.2 SSD and was very happy with my startup time. However, after installing Microsoft’s PowerToys (www.snipca.com/46172) following your many recommendations, I set it as a startup item and it seems to have doubled my boot time. I haven’t seen you mention this, so is it something you’d expect? Dave Ingram A In general, adding or removing any startup items in Windows – including PowerToys – will have some kind of impact on boot speeds. That said, we’ve not noticed any significant slowdowns as a result of installing PowerToys on any of our test systems. To diagnose the problem, our suggestion would be to try blocking PowerToys from running at boot to see if this makes…