Table of contents for 619 in Computeractive

One of the biggest mistakes of my life, second only to leaving my iPhone within arm’s reach of my toddler son in the bath, was going to Harrods on the morning of its Boxing Day sale. It took 20 minutes to get out of the Tube, a further 30 minutes queuing outside, and two hours inside to realise I had no idea what I wanted to buy. That was over a decade ago. It didn’t put me off browsing the high street, but for sales I stick to the internet – and in particular to Black Friday, which has quickly grown into a pre-Christmas shopping bonanza. You’re less likely to get elbowed in the face by fellow shoppers, but there’s still the problem of knowing which items will be discounted,…

You can now bring the Windows 10 Start menu to Windows 11 by using Stardock’s Start11 program, which has been released fully following several preview versions. The tool – which costs £5.99 for one computer and £13.99 for five – lets you tweak the Start menu in “nearly every detail”, such as changing its colour, transparency and position. You can use it also to move the taskbar to the top of your screen (pictured). Stardock offers a free 30-day trial to see whether you like the changes it can make. To download the tool, visit www.snipca.com/40003 then click the green ‘Get it Now’ button. You may also be able to upgrade to Start11 from Start8 or Start10 at a discounted price. To check your eligibility, visit the site, then scroll…

CURRYS DELIVERS SMALL ITEMS VIA UBER Currys has teamed up with Uber to deliver products such as laptops and printer cartridges within around 30 minutes. A trial is running in 12 London boroughs, and has a £5 delivery charge. Currys said each of the 1,800 products available weigh under 7kg and could fit inside a courier’s bag, citing the biggest item as a coffee machine. Read more at www.snipca.com/39987. FULL EDGE BROWSER ARRIVES ON LINUX Microsoft has released a full version of its Edge browser for Linux, after testing it for a year. It’s available for many of the most popular Linux systems, including Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora, and shares most of the features available in the Windows version. To download it, visit Microsoft’s Edge page (www.snipca.com/39992) then scroll down…

Phone networks have agreed to block almost all internet calls coming from abroad if they disguise themselves as UK numbers. Scammers use VoIP to make it look like a call or text is coming from a real telephone number that’s based in the UK – a practice called ‘number spoofing’. Criminals hope that potential victims are more likely to answer a call if it appears to be from a UK number. However, so far only TalkTalk has blocked such calls. Other networks are exploring technical methods to make it work. The move follows months of talks between networks and the regulator. Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's networks and communications group director, said: “We expect these measures to be introduced as a priority, and at pace, to ensure customers are better protected”. She…

ZOOM SHOWS ADVERTS TO FREE USERS Zoom is testing showing adverts on calls set up by users on its free ‘Basic’ package. Adverts will appear online at the end of calls, not during them. They’re being trialled in “certain countries”, though Zoom hasn’t said which. There’s no change on the 40-minute call limit for free users. Read Zoom’s blog for more information: www.snipca.com/39966. NETFLIX OFFERS GAMES ON ANDROID Netflix has launched its first mobile games to subscribers, available on Android only. It has updated its app to show five games you can download, two of which are related to its hit show Stranger Things (pictured). It promises no ads in games, and no in-app purchases. An iOS app will be available “in the coming months”. Read more at www.snipca.com/39968. ASDA…

Brave doesn’t just want you to switch to its browser – it also wants you to use its search engine, which it claims is just as focused on preserving your privacy. The difference, it says, is that unlike the main search tools of what it calls “Big Tech” (Google, Microsoft’s Bing), Brave Search is built in a way that makes it impossible to build advertising profiles of users (read more on its blog: www.snipca.com/39838). There will at some point be adverts on Brave Search, but it sounds like they won’t be based on what you’ve previously searched for. You’ll be able to pay for a premium version to remove ads. Brave is so confident its search engine is a decent substitute for Google that it recently became the default when…

Will my phone warranty be reset after using it? LEAD CASE Q In May, I bought a Google Pixel 5 phone (pictured) from a private eBay seller. After it stopped working in October, Google replaced it because it was still under warranty. However, given the failure of the first phone, I’m worried that the replacement will also stop working at some time in the future. If that happens, will Google reset the warranty for another year? Or would that not happen, now that I’ve used it? Paul Blackburn A No, manufacturers don’t reset warranties after they are used; nor when they are sold by private sellers on sites such as eBay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace. Whether free or paid for, warranties last only for the period defined when the device…

Find out who lived at a specific address Reader David Parry emailed us to say he wants to find out who lived at a certain address in a certain year. He’s surely not alone at wondering this, so we’re happy to give instructions in this issue’s column. Researching a property’s recent history became easier when the Electoral Register was opened for commercial purposes in 2003. Ancestry subscribers can search the 2003-2010 records at www.snipca.com/39758. Search in Ancestry and Find My Past Electoral Register results before 2003 are fragmented, with databases covering regions and cities spread across Ancestry and Find My Past. Ancestry leads the way for records after World War 2. Most of its 27 regional registers stretch from 1832 right up to the 1960s or 1970s. Search for ‘Electoral’…

How do I remove duplicate photos from my PC? Q I’m an avid photographer and over the years have amassed an embarrassing quantity of digital photos on my PC. A high proportion of them are duplicated and I would love to use a suitable program to identify the copies, but with my final say as to what is deleted. Can you recommend suitable cheap or free software that would do the job for me? Graham Peacock A In Issue 618’s Best Free Software section (page 18), we recommended the excellent free program AllDup 4.5 (www.snipca.com/39806) as an effective way to find and remove duplicate files from your hard drive. You can use it to detect and delete copies of photos by clicking its Search Method tab and selecting ‘Find similar…

When I was a student, some time in the 18th century, the worst we got up to was nicking the odd pint glass. David Kadanga, who was studying computing and cyber-security at Leicester’s De Montfort University, has upped the ante somewhat. He sent almost 10,000 fake text messages, pretending to be from Virgin Media, Three and HMRC. He duped victims by sending them to convincing-looking websites and then used their bank-account details to commit fraud, including the laundering of a £24,000 cheque. Kadanga was kicked off his university course and appears to have narrowly avoided a custodial sentence. “He took an extremely grave and wrong turn when he went to university and lost any sense of a proper approach,” the judge remarked. I agree with the judge. I’d also like…

Q I looked carefully through your recent group test of webcams (Issue 608, page 24), but I couldn’t see one with a variable focus that lets you focus on the user’s head rather than see the whole room. Are there any on the market? Peter Magill A Most webcams come with auto or fixed focus, and we scoured the internet to try to find a webcam from a big name that offers variable focus. However, we didn’t manage to find one. There are small USB cameras available, though, and while we haven’t tested it yet, the ELP Zoom Webcam 1080P from Amazon for £66 (www.snipca.com/39825) might be worth a look. Both the zoom and focus can be adjusted manually on the camera itself, so you should be able to compose…

PHONE | £429 from ZTE www.snipca.com/39895 ZTE was the first smartphone manufacturer to hide its selfie camera under the screen. While most phone makers insert a hole or notch to let the camera peer out, ZTE’s Axon 20 model and now the Axon 30 can take photos through the screen, without taking any space from the main display. “An impressive screen, but the hidden camera isn’t great” As a result, the Axon 30’s large screen is the star of the show. It’s 6.92in across the diagonal, with a resolution of 2460x1080 pixels and an aspect ratio of 21:9. It uses AMOLED technology for perfect contrast and a refresh rate that can be turned up to 120Hz for an impressively fluid picture. It also goes bright enough to be readable in…

The 2022 version of Corel Painter, designed for Windows and Mac, adds enhancements that accelerate workflows, boost brush performance, and improve layer productivity. The popular brushes are now more versatile than ever. You can change the shape and edge effects, as well as rotate and squeeze them. You can also create your own dabs, and organise, import and export libraries from the ‘Captured dab’ panel. The new watercolour brushes make it simple to paint with dry media types, creating mixed-media styles. The new Brush Size Selector makes it easier to choose a brush. You can add, reorder, delete and adjust the size preview to streamline your workflow – all within the Size Library. You can also run the improved Brush Accelerator so Painter 2022 takes full advantage of your computer’s…

Ventoy greatly simplifies the process of booting into different operating systems. Installing it on a large USB stick and adding a selection of ‘live’ operating systems, which can run from the drive itself as efficiently as they would from a computer’s hard drive, means I can carry my preferred workspace around with me if I need to do a job on somebody else’s computer. While it’s easy to set up using your phone, as we’ve shown here, I prefer to work with it using the version for regular PCs, available at www.ventoy.net. How do you boot into different operating systems? Please let us know: letters@computeractive.co.uk…

CHROME Access Outlook email faster Formerly bitter rivals, Microsoft and Google play nicely together these days, from Edge’s rebirth as a Chromium browser to the upcoming ability to run Android apps in Windows 11. Now Microsoft has released a new extension that lets you access your Outlook emails in Chrome. Install the Microsoft Outlook add-on from the Chrome Web Store (www.snipca.com/39848), click its toolbar button and sign into your Outlook account. This will open a fly-out panel that lets you check your Inbox and other folders without opening Outlook in a new browser tab. To compose a new email, click the plus sign in the top-right corner of the panel (see screenshot below) to open a ‘New message’ box. You can then address, write and send your email in the…

ANDROID & iOS Encrypt your chat backups in WhatsApp WhatsApp encrypts your messages automatically so that nobody except you and the people you’re talking to can read them. Previously, this encryption didn’t apply to its ‘Chat backup’ feature, which saves your conversations to Google Drive or iCloud so you can restore them if you buy a new phone, or reset your device, but thankfully that’s now changed. The latest version of WhatsApp for Android (www.snipca.com/39927) and iOS (www.snipca.com/39926) adds the ability to encrypt your chat backups so you can keep them completely private. To activate this feature, open Settings in WhatsApp – in Android, tap the three-line menu button, then Settings; in iOS, tap the Settings cog in the bottom-right corner - and select Chats. Tap ‘Chat backup’, select the…

WINDOWS 11 Add quick-access icons to the Start menu Microsoft has simplified the Start menu in Windows 11 by removing icons for certain folders, such as Documents and Downloads, as well as the icon for the Settings app. To bring these back, open Settings (press Windows key+I), then click Personalisation on the left. Now scroll through the options on the right until you see Start, then click Folders. You’ll now see several options for Windows sections. Click the slider next to any to add its icon to the Start menu. Check they’ve appeared by opening the Start menu and looking at the bottom right. In our screenshot below we’ve added (from left to right) icons for Documents, Personal folder (ie, the user folder, C:\ users\your name), File Explorer, and Settings.…

There are plenty of ways to share a spreadsheet, such as by emailing it as an attachment or saving it online, but both of these methods require the other person to have an Office account. You can bypass this restriction simply by emailing a link to the spreadsheet. To create this link, visit https://quickxls.com then enter the spreadsheet’s name at the top (1 in our spreadsheet). Next, copy and paste the spreadsheet data into the box below 2, and tick the box below 3 if the first row is a header. Next, click the green Submit button, then look at the browser bar for your unique link (it will be https://quickxls.com/ followed by a mix of upper- and lower-case letters). Copy this, then paste it into an email and send it.…

Over the last decade, Black Friday has overtaken Boxing Day as the biggest sales event of the year. Traditionally the day after Thanksgiving in the US, Black Friday is now inescapable across the world and we have Amazon to blame – and thank. The company imported the idea to the UK in 2010, when it ran its first Black Friday promotion here, and British stores soon followed suit – both online and on the high street – offering time-limited discounts on thousands of products. This year, Black Friday takes place on 26 November, though many retailers began their sales early, to avoid complications caused by the current supply-chain crisis and potential delivery delays. Amazon was already cutting prices on tech products a month before Black Friday, which was ideal for…

Sign up for Amazon Prime’s free trial Amazon Prime now offers so many benefits that its £79 annual membership fee is actually pretty good value. But if you only want Prime to bag Black Friday bargains, and get early access to Amazon’s Lightning Deals (time-limited offers of variable quality), there is a workaround that won’t cost you a thing. Simply sign up for Prime’s 30-day free trial (www.snipca.com/39910, see screenshot above right) and cancel before Amazon charges you. This will let you enjoy exclusive discounts and free, speedy deliveries on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, without committing to a full subscription. Choose the option to pay monthly when you start the trial, and you’ll only be charged £7.99 rather than £79 should you forget to cancel in time. Be aware…

Cyber Monday always falls on the Monday after Black Friday, which this year is 29 November. Whereas Black Friday deals are traditionally on expensive tech products such as TVs, laptops and smartphones, Cyber Monday’s online-only discounts were once focused on household items such as coffee machines, microwaves and furniture, but the two shopping events are now virtually indistinguishable. Last year, Amazon began its Cyber Monday sales at 12.01am on the Saturday - one minute after Black Friday ended! Inevitably, some Black Friday bargains will be sold out by Cyber Monday, while other items will have their prices slashed further by retailers hoping to clear out stock. But if you’re not looking for a specific product, you’ll find plenty of great tech deals in both the extended Black Friday sales and…

In the last few years, plenty of websites have introduced PWA functionality, and more are adding it all the time. Here are 10 of the most useful sites you can run as apps. • Argos www.argos.co.uk• Google Photos https://photos.google.com• Outlook https://outlook.live.com• Pinterest www.pinterest.co.uk• Spotify Web Player (pictured) https://open.spotify.com• Telegram Web https://web.telegram.org• Tinder https://tinder.com• Twitter https://twitter.com• Unsplash https://unsplash.com• YouTube www.youtube.com…

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AMAZON TO TEST BROADBAND SATELLITES Amazon says it plans to launch two internet satellites in a low-earth orbit by the end of 2022. If the test is successful, it could lead to 2,000 more satellites being launched, as part of the company’s $10bn Project Kuiper. Long term Amazon wants to compete with Starlink’s SpaceX satellites, which are already providing internet to parts of the UK. EE ‘SMART’ CUSTOMERS GET MICROSOFT 365 EE customers on a Connected Device Smart Plan can now choose a Microsoft 365 Personal subscription as a ‘Smart benefit’. This gives you access to Office tools across five devices, including computers, phones and tablets, as well as 1TB OneDrive storage. Other benefits include watching Netflix and the Roam Abroad Pass to use your call, text and data allowance…

Facebook has said it will delete the facial scans (‘faceprints’) of more than one billion users and axe its facial-recognition system that automatically recognises people in photos and videos. The change means Facebook will no longer suggest a tag for a person when you upload a photo or video, though you can continue to do this manually. It will also affect the Automatic Alt Text (AAT) system, which creates image descriptions for blind and visually impaired people. After the change, AAT will no longer include the names of people recognised in photos. The site’s facial-recognition tool has proved popular, with around 640 million users – more than a third of Facebook’s 1.6 billion daily visitors – opting in to use it. However, the company has grown increasingly nervous about the…

For some people Christmas is all about carols, mince pies, under-the-mistletoe kisses and glasses of sherry. For others it’s the promise of the latest TV streamers, tablets or smart speakers waiting wrapped beneath the tree. The latter group are likely to be disappointed this year, as the worldwide processor shortage continues to slash supply of electronic goods. Tech bosses have been lamenting the shortage all year, and now the head of British company Arm, which designs processor architecture, has warned that you may already have left it too late to guarantee delivery by Christmas. Simon Segars said the mismatch between supply and demand is “the most extreme” he has ever seen. The “unprecedented” crisis may not be over even by Christmas 2022, he said, with the wait for some processors…

Scammers posing as your kids I recently read about people receiving WhatsApp messages claiming to be from their grown-up children, asking for money to pay a late bill, or for another urgent reason. The messages aren’t like typical text scams. Instead, they’re written as an informal conversation. You’d expect the parents to be suspicious of a message from an unfamiliar number, but the scammers try to get around this by claiming they’ve recently switched networks. I know a couple of parents who have received these messages. It was reported in our local newspaper: www.snipca.com/39798. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

Customers can easily fall through the cracks when companies subcontract parts of their business to other firms. As reader Brian Ford found out (Issue 617), it’s not always clear which firm you should chase for help. He was paying for insurance with Sky Protect (www.skyprotect.com), so was baffled and angry when it refused to fix his broken TV. After some digging, we realised that the insurance was actually provided by Domestic & General (D&G) – under the name Sky Protect. In turn, they paid repair firm Equinox to fix broken devices. D&G initially said the problem was with the Sky Q box, not the TV, and therefore Sky was responsible for fixing it. But a Sky engineer sent to Brian’s home said this wasn’t true, and that the TV was…

I see that RootsMagic 8 (www.rootsmagic.com) has been released. Is there some way I can try this version before paying for it? Dan Fletcher There’s no free trial of the paid-for version, but you can install RootsMagic Essentials for free (www.snipca.com/39730). This cut-down version works with your existing data file, and will give you a taste of the new interface in the full version. If you like it, you should consider upgrading to the full version, which costs from £29.95 as a one-off download. Have a genealogy question for Nick? Email letters@computeractive.co.uk with ‘Grow Your Family Tree’ in the subject line. Next issue: Save your tree offline for free…

My home office is in the cellar. Years before we bought our house, the cellar was converted into a call centre. As a result there are fitted desks along the walls, with enough seating and phone points for six people. I like working down there because no matter what the temperature is elsewhere in the house, my office is always cool in summer and warm in winter. The downside is that there are no windows and no natural light. I have LED spotlights above me and square fluorescent tube lights on the walls, which make the room bright and far-from easy on the eyes. This isn’t helped by my glaring dual-monitor setup. To compensate, I use f.lux (https://justgetflux.com), but perhaps not in the same way most people do. Typically, f.lux…

What is it? A technology that allows some mobile phones to charge faster than others. For example, the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro offer OnePlus’s own Warp Charge 65 technology (charger and cable pictured). OnePlus claims that a 15-minute charge can deliver enough battery power to run its phones all day. How does it work? How quickly a phone charges depends on the capacity of its battery (a larger-capacity battery takes longer to charge), and the limits that the phone and the charger put on the throughput of power to the battery. What are the specs? Look for the charging rate (in Watts) of a phone. If the phone’s specification refers to voltage and current, multiply the two to get the power. For example, OnePlus’s Warp Charge operates at 65…

What is it? As 4K monitors with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels become more common, manufacturers are starting to look at the next step up. Dell has now launched an 8K monitor (7680x4320 pixels) on a screen that measures 31.5in across the diagonal. What can you do with it? High-resolution monitors are typically aimed at professional artists and video makers. If you’re editing a 4K video, it makes life easier if you can preview it at full resolution, and still have space on your screen for the icons and toolbars that your video-editing software needs. What’s the catch? The few that are available are very expensive. Dell’s UltraSharp 32 PremierColor UltraHD 8K Monitor, for example, costs £3,478 (www.snipca.com/39920, pictured). So can I do without it? Yes. There aren’t many ways…

This Black Friday you can get 12 months for the price of 6 when you subscribe to one of our top technology titles! Plus as a Computeractive reader you’ll also receive a FREE gift with each subscription. Don’t miss out, this offer ends on 30th November 2021. SEE ALL OFFERS AT magazinedeals.co.uk/blackfriday-tech OR CALL 0330 333 9493 quoting order code: PBF21 Calls to 03 numbers will be charged at your standard local rate. Please allow 28 days for delivery, UK only. Gift limited to first 100 subscribers. SCAN ME…

Anything to PIP Free Android www.snipca.com/39930 This app lets you view any image or video stored on your phone or tablet, or in Google Drive, in picture-in-picture mode. Tap ‘Pick image or video’ to select the file, crop or rotate it if necessary, and tap the icon in the bottom-right corner. It will then appear in a small floating window while you’re doing other things on your device. Breathwrk Free* Android www.snipca.com/39928 iOS www.snipca.com/39929 You don’t need an app to remind you to breathe, but Breathwrk offers useful breathing exercises to reduce anxiety, relax your muscles and help you sleep. Follow its instructions to inhale, exhale and hold your breath for different lengths of time, and customise the app to suit your habits. It also suggests a ‘Breath of the…

Create and share notes to generate ideas coming up with ideas and events for your club – over Zoom or face to face – can sometimes get messy. IdeaBoardz (https://ideaboardz.com) solves this problem by providing an online space where anyone can put forward suggestions for activities (anonymously if you prefer), and modify and vote on any proposals made by others. This lets you see at a glance which ideas are the most popular. Choose the most suitable board and headings On the home page click the link in ‘Create my own IdeaBoard’ in the yellow How box. The box will expand, letting you enter a name and description for your board. Click the dropdown menu and you’ll see five ready-made boards, and the option to create your own board with…

TABLET Amazon Fire HD 10 www.snipca.com/39883 RRP: £149.99 Expected discount: £99.99 (£50 saving) Amazon’s latest Fire tablet (pictured below) combines a large (10.2in) high-resolution screen with 3GB of RAM and 32GB (or 64GB) of storage to provide a sharp, speedy and affordable way to enjoy your favourite apps. It also offers an impressive battery life of 19 hours, which helped it gain a five-star rating when we reviewed it in Issue 610 (page 24). The Fire HD 10 is slimmer and lighter than previous models, and delivers superior sound through its dual Dolby Atmos speakers. You can enter a competition to win one by scanning the QR code on our cover Expect Black Friday discounts on Amazon’s other tablets, too. We predict that the smaller and older Amazon Fire HD…

As well as Amazon Assistant and The Camelizer (see page 55), there are several other browser extensions that save you money on Amazon on Black Friday. Amazon Discount Finder (www.snipca.com/39919), for example, provides a quick way to find the biggest reductions. Install it in Chrome, then click its toolbar button, choose ‘United Kingdom’ in the Select Country menu, specify a department and enter keywords relating to the item you want to buy. Use the sliders to set a discount range, enter a minimum and maximum price, and choose whether to sort the results by price, popularity or customer rating. Finally, click the Search Discount button to create a custom ‘bargain basement’. You can save extra money on Black Friday by installing Honey (www.joinhoney.com). Available for all the main browsers, and…

Each issue of Computeractive will be delivered directly to your device each fortnight SEE NEXT PAGE FOR SET-UP INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO SUBSCRIBE… … on an iPad or iPhone STEP 1 Return to the Computeractive Library STEP 2 Choose your subscription term and tap twice on the 'price' box STEP 3 Choose whether to create an optional PixelMags account STEP 4 Enter your Apple ID password to confirm … on a Kindle Fire Kindle Fire subscriptions come with a FREE one month trial. STEP 1 Tap 'Free Trial subscription' In the Computeroctlve library STEP 2 Chose your subscription term from the drop down menu on the popup that appears STEP 3 Tap 'Subscribe' … on an Android device STEP 1 Open the Google Play Store homepage and navigate to the Newsstand…

Smart thermostats have been around for a decade, but if you’ve never been inclined to fit one, it’s time to think again. In October, the cap on domestic energy prices was lifted, and regulator Ofgem warned that a typical home’s gas and electricity costs could climb by £139 if paid by Direct Debit, and £153 via pre-payment. That lifts the average annual bill to £1,277 and £1,309 a year respectively. To cushion the blow, first compare your current tariff against available alternatives using a site such as MoneySavingExpert.com’s Cheap Energy Club (www.snipca.com/39874), and if you’re not still under contract, consider a more competitive plan. You can then turn to the latest technology to maximise your savings. What is smart heating? Smart heating combines a digital thermostat, a control box wired…

Why didn’t your recovery instructions work? Q Spurred on by your comments to Morley Pecker in Issue 615’s Problems Solved (page 67), I attempted to update the recovery drive I created a few years ago. However, I saw a message telling me that it couldn’t be done, because some required files were missing. What did I do wrong? Paul Dredge A Nothing, but this is probably the result of corrupted files on your system. The System File Checker tool that’s part of Windows is a reliable way of fixing such problems, so we’d suggest giving that a try. First, press the Windows key+X to open the Quick Link menu and click ‘Windows PowerShell (Admin)’. Next, to check for problems, type sfc /verifyonly and press Enter. To fix any problems that…

Windows 11 has so far been a successful release. The problems have been fixable glitches, not disasters forcing Microsoft back to square one. It makes sense then to roll out the system to more computers, particularly because Microsoft itself has explained how older machines without TPM 2.0 can run the system (see Issue 618, page 38). There are plenty of reasons why you may or may not want to upgrade, but one thing you don’t need to worry about is Windows 11 being too different to Windows 10 (see Star Letter, page 13).…

Computer scientists have developed storage technology that might be able to save 500TB of data on to glass discs the size of CDs. A team at Southampton University used a method called ‘5D optical storage’ to store 10,000 times more data than Blu-ray discs. They etched holes into glass using lasers that send pulses every femtosecond, which is one quadrillionth of a second. The technique is called 5D because it uses two optical dimensions, based on the polarisation and intensity of light, as well as the three usual spatial dimensions. It’s been estimated that 5D storage could withstand temperatures up to 1,000 degrees centigrade and last billions of years at room temperature without degrading, providing a permanent alternative to online storage. In tests, the researchers managed to write six gigabytes…

Microsoft should support Windows 10 until 2031 Like Jonathan Parkyn (Issue 618, page 57), I have three Windows 10 machines (one purchased less than 18 months ago) that don’t meet Microsoft’s hardware requirements. Also, Nik Rawlinson’s clear and comprehensive review of Windows 11 in the same issue leaves me in no doubt that there’s nothing in the operating system that I desperately need, so I’ll continue to use Windows 10 for as long as possible. The Workshop (pages 38-39) on how to beat Microsoft’s restrictions to install Windows 11 was equally useful. However, as a dyslexic I’ll avoid any changes to the registry, where typing an illogical string of characters or following instructions is fraught with danger, so I won’t be tempted to go down that route. Surely it’s not…

About a year ago we decided to buy a desktop PC to replace an ageing laptop. We bought an ‘All-in-One’ computer from a European supplier because it was absolutely outstanding value, but there was a snag: lots of system files in Chinese. We then started to experience pop-up advertising that gradually increased to nuisance levels, while the Edge browser froze completely. We contacted Microsoft’s support team, who clearly and patiently explained how to get Edge going again, but this didn’t work. Eventually we had to reinstall Windows 10, and all was progressing well, with Microsoft’s help. That said, after the reinstall Edge was now showing the Chinese search engine Baidu. We deleted the tab showing Baidu, and since then the PC has been running without any problems. Has a company…

VIDEO EDITOR MiniTool MovieMaker Free 3.0 www.snipca.com/39948 What you need: Windows 7, 8.1, 10 or 11 Microsoft hasn’t included a video-editing tool in Windows since it ditched Movie Maker in 2017 and incorporated its features into Windows 10’s Photos app. MiniTool MovieMaker Free is an excellent replacement for that much-missed program and version 3.0 is its best yet, with lots of useful new options for creating professional-looking videos. Notable additions include the ability to edit audio in every clip you import, by using sliders to adjust the volume and fade in and out. You can also add a soundtrack to your videos by clicking the audio track on your timeline and choosing one of MovieMaker’s nine music options or importing your own audio files. Simplicity has always been MiniTool MovieMaker’s…

SOFTWARE WARNING! aTube Catcher’s ‘ironic’ junk Let’s be honest, downloading videos from YouTube is a bit iffy (what with the risks of breaking copyright), so it’s not a massive shock to find the market for tools that help you do this is about as wholesome as a seven-day-old doner kebab. The program aTube Catcher is another dubious example. When I first installed the tool it tried to add RAV Endpoint Protection, an antivirus suite that I’ve never heard of. Irony fans will be tickled that the next “optional offer” was for CCleaner – which of course is meant to help rid your system of junk. In aTube Catcher’s defence, it provides clear buttons to Decline or Accept these bundled apps, and there’s even a Skip All button (see screenshot). Frankly,…

LAPTOP Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 (256GB) £599 from www.snipca.com/39635 Tested Issue 601 Weighing just 1.16kg, this is an excellent lightweight laptop with a great screen and an AMD processor faster than many Intel rivals. It has two USB-C ports, two USB 3.0 ports and a microSD card reader. Battery lasts nearly 16 hours. ALTERNATIVE Dell XPS 13 New Intel CPUs and a taller screen make this a more powerful, all-round slim laptop. Prices start at £1,149 from www.snipca.com/36642 ANDROID TABLET Lenovo Tab P11 Pro £600 from www.snipca.com/38585 Tested Issue 609 A fast tablet that comes with a magnetic stand and keyboard that means you can also use it as a laptop. It has an outstanding screen, 128GB storage and a 17-hour battery life, while its excellent dual mics make you…

What you need: Android phone; Ventoy app; OTG cable; USB stick or external hard drive Time required: One hour We’ve always recommended preparing a USB-based emergency toolkit, from which you can boot and reinstall Windows if your PC suffers a serious corruption. This isn’t an alternative to maintaining regular backups, but a supplement: reinstalling the operating system usually means you’ll lose everything on the drive your PC boots from. So, if you store important files there, they’ll disappear unless you have duplicates. The trouble is, without anticipating a system collapse and getting your toolkit ready, a breakdown of this kind will plunge you into a Catch-22 situation: you won’t be able to use your PC to compile the tools required to fix it. But all is not lost if you…

TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT Compare PDFs to see differences My part-time job requires me to compare PDFs side by side and spot differences that solicitors have made. It’s not the most exciting job in the world, but a site called Draftable (https://draftable.com/compare) at least makes it easier. It’s simply a case of dragging the original PDF into the left box, the newer version into the right, then clicking the green Compare button underneath. This brings up both PDFs, with the changes displayed on the right. Original elements are highlighted in a salmon-pink colour (1 in screenshot), with changes in a pale green 2. You can use the dropdown menu at the top right 3 to show only content changes (words); only style changes (design); or both. I do content changes…

Screencastify Chrome www.screencastify.com Screencastify goes much further than other screen-recording tools. As well as letting you record the current tab (see screenshot), including any videos you’re playing, it has options for capturing your entire screen and your webcam – including audio. While recording is in progress, there are tools for annotating your screen, capturing your cursor and applying stickers, which makes the extension useful for creating your own video tutorials. Recordings can then be edited directly within Screencastify, so you can trim the video, merge clips and blur confidential elements. You need to sign in with your Google account to use the extension, which allows it to save your videos to Google Drive. They can also be downloaded in MP4 format. The free version of Screencastify lets you record and…

Shazam Free Android www.snipca.com/39932 iOS www.snipca.com/39933 Shazam is the best-known – and simply the best – app for identifying songs that are playing on the radio, in shops or anywhere else. Simply tap the button on its home screen and it will listen for music and tell you the name of the track. It’s fast and accurate, and provides lyrics, videos and related songs for matches. Best For Identifying music when you’re out and about SoundHound Free* Android www.snipca.com/39934 iOS www.snipca.com/39935 SoundHound offers many of the same song-recognition features as Shazam, but we particularly like its Lyrics option. Enter a few words from an unknown track that’s been stuck in your head and it will find matches. You can then play each one at the point the lyrics appear to…

LIBREOFFICE CALC Make the cursor ‘fatter’ and easier to see If you find yourself struggling to see your cursor in Calc, switch to the new, chunky ‘fat-cross’ cursor, which was added in version 7.2 (released in August). Open a spreadsheet, then click Tools at the top, followed by Options. Now click LibreOffice Calc in the left-hand menu (1 in our screenshot below), then View 2, and select the Themed option 3 under the Visual Aids heading. Finally, click Apply to save the change and leave the box open, or OK to save and close the box. LIBREOFFICE WRITER Set speech marks as straight or curly Do you like your speech marks straight or curly? They’re straight by default in Writer, but you can change them in the AutoCorrect options. Click…

What is it? The metaverse is a shared virtual environment, which people can access via the internet. Traditionally, the term has been used by gamers to refer to gaming worlds, in which their characters walk around and interact with other players, but the metaverse is now being envisioned for other purposes, including education, entertainment and conducting business. Okay. What’s the web address? Oh, the metaverse isn’t a website, it’s a network – or virtual universe – of 3D spaces. Whereas the current web is largely based on pages of text, images and video, you don’t merely visit the metaverse, but immerse yourself in it, using virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR). By creating your own avatar, you can explore the metaverse as if you were really there, meeting other…

Unlike Black Friday last year, manufacturers have spent most of 2021 experiencing a huge global shortage for PC components, particularly of silicon processors (see www.snipca.com/39900). And while it’s still been fairly easy to get your hands on a new computer, the scarcity of parts means they haven’t been going on sale very often. There are likely to be some great PC deals going live on Black Friday, but we’re not expecting anything truly amazing from Amazon and other online stores. You’ll probably be able to save a hundred pounds here or there, but we wouldn’t advise holding out for a miracle half-price deal, as in previous years. Additionally, the computers that do get those tempting 50 per cent discounts probably won’t be worth your time or money. They’ll be using…

Not preparing for the day Rather than browse endless pages of discounts on Amazon and other sites, it’s sensible to decide what you want to buy before Black Friday begins. Tech items can sell out quickly, so any delay could mean missing out on a brilliant bargain. For example, if you’re looking for a new smart TV, research different models and note their specifications, such as screen size and resolution, supported apps and number of HDMI ports. Sites such as TechRadar, What Hi-Fi and Tom’s Guide (see page 56) are good sources of recommendations. That way, if the exact model you want sells out or isn’t reduced in price, you’ll have some good backup options to choose from. Falling for Black Friday scams Unfortunately, Black Friday and Cyber Monday inevitably…

Progressive web apps – or PWAs for short – provide a way to access your favourite websites without opening your browser, whether you’re using your desktop PC or your phone or tablet. By converting websites into apps, PWAs give you the best of both worlds, and they’re currently being touted by Google – with support from Microsoft – as the future of the web. As with traditional PC and mobile apps, you can launch PWAs from your desktop or home screen, but they have the additional benefits of working offline and taking up very little space. Most browsers now support them and an increasing number of websites offer PWA functionality. Here we’ll explain how to install PWAs and what you can do with them. Install a PWA on your PC…

Keep an eye out for offers. I bought a Hive thermostat, with hub and installation for £159 in Amazon’s 2017 Black Friday sale. At that rate, I’ll have made back my money in just over two years, and been in profit since spring 2019. Every time my tariff is hiked, I save a little more. Having lived with Hive for close to four years, I’d still recommend smart heating, even if the savings were marginal. The convenience of voice and app control – especially when away from home – isn’t something you really appreciate until you’ve experienced it. It’s one of those instances where, once you have something, you won’t want to lose it.…