Table of contents for Vol. 453 in Computeractive

When I bought my first iPad, I was a little overexcited. Just as some Lottery winners recklessly buy everything they see within hours of scooping the jackpot, I downloaded hundreds of apps that I soon realised I would never actually use. What I needed then was someone like Jane Hoskyn to spend several months testing hundreds of apps, then whittle them down to a definitive Top 40. That’s what she’s done for this issue’s Cover Feature, which is a must-read for anyone with a phone or tablet. If you think we unfairly omitted any apps, please let me know. A more important question than which apps to install is whether you need to download Windows 10 when it’s launched later this month, so our next issue is a ‘Windows 10:…

You could soon be bombarded by junk mail just by clicking on a product online, under a pilot scheme being secretly set up by Royal Mail . The company is working on a trial with an unnamed online retailer to use cookies that track items shoppers add to their basket, before matching that information to the shopper’s address. If an item is removed from the basket, Royal Mail will be paid by the website to send the shopper a personalised marketing letter a couple of days later encouraging them to buy the item. The junk mail is in effect a physical equivalent of the targeted digital adverts that follow shoppers around the internet. Shoppers won’t even be able to opt out of receiving the junk mail using the Mailing Preference…

PC-repair shops: ‘ignorant’ customers at fault I don’t know what kind of small PC-repair shops Michael Chadwick has gone to (‘Let down by grouchy service in PC shops’, Letters, Issue 452), but perhaps the problem isn’t the poor service, as he claims, but irritating, ignorant customers (though I don’t want to suggest Mr Chadwick was one). I used to work in a local computer shop, and we had to deal with some terrible customers. I lost count of the number of times people expected us to fix problems for free, as though we were a charity or a Government service. Many other customers fell into the ‘I know better than you’ camp. They confidently told us they knew what problem their PC had, but their diagnosis was often completely wrong.…

PC World’s Care Plan works like a normal warranty In Issue 450, we explained the law on warranties to David Southworth (‘Is this £300 MacBook warranty worth the money I paid for it?’). We advised David to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (FO, www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk) if PC World refused to refund him. In the meantime, a reader contacted us to point out that if David had bought a Whatever Happens package from PC World, this would have been considered a service agreement and not insurance, and therefore the FO wouldn’t have had the power to examine any claims. So we decided to clarify the situation. PC World told us it no longer offers Whatever Happens packages, so David won’t be in receipt of one of these. What it offers now is…

Blocking web cookies that track what you do online also helps web pages load much faster because they have to process less data. That’s the conclusion of recent research carried out by Monica Chew, a former software engineer at Mozilla, and computerscience student Georgios Kontaxis. After testing Firefox’s hidden Tracking Protection tool on 200 websites, they saw a 44-per-cent drop in the time it took for web pages to load. Tracking Protection is tucked away because it’s one of Firefox’s “experimental” features, and may therefore contain flaws. But it’s a relatively low-risk way of trying to speed up your browsing (and it will definitely slash the number of websites that track you). You’ll find instructions on how to enable it on Mozilla’s website – click the link above. Turning it…

Is there a good alternative to Task Manager? Q When I was using Windows XP, Task Manager was fine for sorting out crashes and other problems. But now I’m using Windows 8.1 and its Task Manager leaves me a little befuddled. Is there anything better I can use instead? Stuart Pringle A You’re not alone in your befuddlement, Stuart. Windows Task Manager simply hasn’t kept up with how we use our PCs in Windows 8.1 and beyond. Our favourite alternative is Process Hacker (http://processhacker.sourceforge.net) – no relation to the more complicated Resource Hacker (see opposite page). Unlike Task Manager, Process Hacker lists all processes next to the program that triggered them, which instantly makes it easier to understand. Items are organised in a ‘tree’ format, so you can click a…

Remember the days when you’d let your mum know you were OK by phoning and hanging up after three rings? If you do, your mum may be getting on a bit now, and you’d like to be sure she’s OK. So tech entrepreneur Steve Purdham has invented a modern equivalent. “The plug sends you a message saying the kettle was used, and your mum is fine” A free app for Apple or Android walks you through the 3rings Plug’s setup. At your elderly relative’s house (or yours, if you are the elderly relative in this equation), you connect the sturdy unit between a mains socket and an appliance that’s used daily, such as the kettle. The plug makes contact with the internet using a built-in mobile phone SIM – you…

Find out what other products we liked in 2014. Buy our Back Issue CD now: www.snipca.com/14981 LAPTOP PRICE DROP ASUS X555LA-XX290H £280 from www.snipca.com/16158 Tested: Issue 446 Asus has made all the right choices with this budget Windows 8.1 laptop. Its comfortable keyboard, fast performance, respectably lengthy battery life and bright screen are all the more impressive given its low price. ALTERNATIVE Asus Chromebook C200 A cheap Chrome OS ultra-portable laptop with a bright screen, lengthy battery life and a great keyboard. £200 from www.snipca.com/16705 PHONE Motorola Moto G 4G (second generation) £150 (without contract) from www.snipca.com/16160 Tested: Issue 436 Moto G 4G has been updated with a 5in screen, 4G and a microSD card slot. The 3G version has dual SIM slots. ALTERNATIVE: Apple iPhone 5s An excellent smartphone…

Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT Activate Gmail’s new ‘Undo Send’ option There have been so many times when I’ve sent an email only to realise immediately that I’ve forgotten to include something important or sent it to the wrong person. I recently read that Gmail has introduced a new feature called ‘Undo Send’, which lets you retrieve an email a few seconds after you’ve dispatched it. My friend told me this feature has been part of Gmail for years. Previously, it had been an element in Google Labs. The Gmail section of Google Labs lets users test prototype email features and provide feedback. The new ‘Undo Send’ feature is now out of this experimental phase. But it’s not enabled by default and has to be activated…

AGES 0-5 Look and Find £1.49 www.snipca.com/17053 (iOS) This game will help your toddler identify objects. They play Sesame Street’s Elmo and need to find the five objects on the left by zooming into the messy room and tapping them, after which they’ll see a small animation of the object. They win Elmo stickers after completing each level. AGES 6-10 Subway Surfers Free www.snipca.com/17056 (Android, iOS, Windows Phone) In this game, your child needs to avoid getting collared by the policeman while surfing on subway trains. While on the run, they need to collect as many coins as they can and avoid incoming obstacles. They can double-tap the screen to activate the hover board and trade coins to upgrade it. AGES 11–16 Threes! Free www.snipca.com/17057 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/17058 (iOS) In…

Play or save online videos VLC lets you download videos hosted by sites like YouTube. Simply copy the video’s web address, then go to VLC and choose ‘Convert/Save’ from the Media menu. Select the Network tab, click in the ‘Please enter a network URL’ field and press Ctrl+V to paste the video’s address. Click the down arrow on the button at the bottom and select ‘Convert/Save’, then click the button again. Click Convert and choose the desired video-file format from the Profile dropdown menu. Click Browse, select a destination, type a name for the saved video and click Start, and then wait for the video to download. Use your phone and tablet as remote controls You can control VLC’s playback using your smartphone or tablet and the device’s browser. First,…

How many free apps have you downloaded since you bought your first tablet? Unless that was last week, you’ve probably installed dozens or even hundreds of these little nuggets of mobile software – and we’re happy to bet you’re ignoring most of them. We’re just the same. We love browsing for new, old and interesting apps on Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store, and we’re easily sucked into the sites’ breadcrumb trails (‘customers also bought’, ‘more apps by this developer’ and so on). This simple pleasure has kept us up far too late at night and left our phones and tablets stuffed to the gills. The only apps you need There’s been an app breeding frenzy in the eight years since Apple launched its first iPhone. For one brief…

Windows 10 will be easier to install than previous versions. If you’re upgrading to Windows 10 from 7 or 8/8.1, the process only takes a few clicks using Windows Update, and should have minimal impact on your files and programs. It’s much easier than the clean install you’ll have to do if you’re upgrading from Windows XP, Vista or another operating system (OS). So why should you bother backing up your data in Windows 7 or 8/8.1? It may seem unnecessary, but it’s still important because plenty can still go wrong. The Windows 10 installation process will rewrite key system files, so if it doesn’t quite go to plan you could end up with a PC that won’t start, or with files you can no longer access.…

The right-click menus in Explorer and on your Desktop haven’t changed much in years, and there are some you’ll never use. Do you really need the array of Microsoft junk that opens when you right-click your Desktop and click New, for example? If you really wanted to create a Microsoft Publisher document, you’d open Publisher. There’s no easy way to disable these pointless shortcuts using the Control Panel (Microsoft won’t give up its defaults that easily). Instead, you need a third-party tool such as the free, portable version of Right Click Enhancer (www.snipca.com/16953), which is really a suite of tools. Download and extract the zip file, run the program as administrator (by right-clicking, of course, and selecting ‘Run as administrator’) and then click New Menu Editor. Click Run if prompted…

Extensions often trigger Flash animations and other content that can slow down your PC and even make it unsafe. To reduce the risk, enable ‘click-toplay’ in your browser settings. This blocks Flash and other plug-ins by default, letting you play only the content you want. As well as improving security, click-toplay can reduce bandwidth consumption and lower memory and processor usage, making pages load quicker and reducing the overall impact on your system speed. To switch it on in Chrome, click the menu button and select Settings, then click ‘Show advanced settings’. Under Privacy, click the ‘Content settings’ button. Scroll down to Plug-ins, tick ‘Let me choose when to run plug-in content’, then click Finished. Now you’ll see a placeholder image (usually a grey jigsaw piece) where Flash animations would…

Cursor jumps around your laptop screen If your laptop’s cursor won’t stay still on screen, chances are the touchpad is the culprit: one wayward brush of your wrist and your cursor zooms all over the place. If you have a modern multi-touch touchpad, you may even experience a lot of unwanted scrolling or zooming. To take control in any Windows version, press Win+R then type main.cpl and press Enter. Now select the Device Settings tab, click to select the touchpad and then click the Settings button. Available options vary, but you’ll definitely be able to disable the touchpad completely, or even just tweak its sensitivity so it ignores accidental input. Mouse movement is jerky It’s a myth that modern optical mice can’t get clogged up with gunk like old-fashioned ball…

4G A set of technologies that delivers faster mobile broadband, so called because it is the fourth generation of mobile data networking standards. 64bit A technology that processes information in larger chunks. Most modern computers are 64bit. 802.11ac A standard for wireless networks that allows for higher transfer speeds than 802.11n. Beta A version of software that’s being tested. Beta versions are often released so problems can be ironed out. Biometrics Using measurable personal characteristics, such as fingerprints, for identification. BIOS Basic Input-Output System. Essential software built into every PC that connects the vital components. It’s visible for a few seconds when the PC starts. Bot See Botnet. Botnet A group of infected computers – Bots –connected together via the internet, and used to infect other PCs, send junk email…

Samsung is to stop disabling Windows Update on some of its laptop models. This was after it initially denied that its laptops did this . The decision came just days after a claim that Samsung prevents Windows Update from running was made by Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional Patrick Barker, whose job involves fixing bugs in Windows and analysing malware. Barker explained on his blog (www.snipca.com/17070) that Samsung laptops were running a file, Disable_ Windowsupdate.exe, which is part of the company’s SW Update software, (download it from: www.snipca.com/17087). Samsung uses this to update pre-installed programs and drivers on its laptops. It appears that Samsung was shutting down Windows Update to ensure it wouldn’t interfere with its own update procedures. A Samsung support representative told Barker that SW Update blocks Windows Update…

In Letters, Issue 452, Derek Key gave us four reasons why we should upgrade to Windows 10. He unwittingly provided one very big reason why I reserve judgement: how fanatical he sounds. His evangelism is rather off-putting. He almost sounds like a Windows 10 fundamentalist trying to win followers, when he raves about a “new generation of Windows users all operating the same system”. He then goes through the different operating systems, presuming to read the minds of people still using them. He says XP users are all moaning about the end of support. Well, some might be. Others, like myself, are happy to use XP on old PCs to carry out basic tasks, and understand that Microsoft had no choice but to terminate support last year. He says Vista…

Car tech and services The AA 0844 209 0754 Email form: www.snipca.com/16826 Twitter: @TheAA_Help Belkin 01933 770 254 Online support: www.snipca.com/16829 Twitter: @BelkinCares Binatone 084 4557 9677 Email: enquiries@binatonesupport.co.uk Twitter: @BinatoneUK Garmin 0808 238 0000 Email: www.snipca.com/16772 Online support: www.garmin.com/uk/support Twitter: @GarminUK RAC 0800 015 6000 Email form: www.snipca.com/16827 Twitter: @RAC_Care RoadHawk 01208 269 159 Email: info@roadhawk.co.uk Twitter: @roadhawk_uk Snooper 01928 579 579 Email: sales@snooper.eu Twitter: @SnooperUK TomTom Online contact: www.snipca.com/16773 @TomTom…

Target of Crimestoppers con I think I may have been targeted by a new scam. I received a call from someone who said he was representing Crimestoppers at the Home Office. The number that came up was 0800 555 111, which is the Crimestoppers number. I had been on the receiving end of con artists pretending to be from Microsoft, but I had never spoken to someone claiming to be from Crimestoppers. He started asking personal questions, which made me suspicious. I hung up, then searched for the scam online. Sure enough - Crimestoppers know all about it: www.snipca.com/16834. Sidney Hicks Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

What’s the best value mono printer? Q Born in the 1930s, I appreciate your ‘plain English’ approach – much better than magazines that use all the jargon but fail to get the message across. I need to replace my old faithful Samsung ML-1915 mono laser. I’ve tried colour printers, but I find it better to pop into the local photo shop when I need colour. What would you recommend for good value? David Smith A Samsung is still a good choice: the ProXpress M3320ND (£94 from www.snipca.com/17009 after cashback; pictured) is much faster, can print double-sided (duplex), and has both USB 2.0 and Ethernet interfaces. Running costs are average, at £65 for a 3,000-page toner cartridge or £103 for 5,000 (2.1p to 2.2p per page, excluding paper). The M2825ND (£131…

Devolo makes some of the best Wi-Fi equipment around. In Issue 450, we gave a five-star Buy It! award to its new HomePlugs, and here we’re giving away five dLAN 1200+ Wifi ac Starter Kits. Using these super-fast HomePlug adapters you can create a powerful home network over your power line. You can hit speeds of up to 1,200Mbps, guaranteeing lightning-fast internet. To enter, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk by midnight 7 July. Devolo’s dLAN 1200+ Wifi ac Starter Kit is available to buy now priced £159.99 from www.snipca.com/16819. For more information on Devolo’s products visit www.devolo.com, and follow Devolo on Twitter @devoloUK.…

ANDROID Access multiple Chrome tabs without leaving your browser If you’ve updated your device to the latest version of Android (5.0, called Lollipop) and open multiple tabs in Chrome, you won’t be able to access tabs you opened previously. To access these tabs, you’ll need to tap the square button at the bottom right of your screen (called the Overview button). To open a new Chrome tab, tap the three dots at the top right, then ‘New tab’ and go to the website of your choice. In order to switch between open Chrome tabs you first need to tap the Overview button. You’ll now see all the apps that are open on your device as a carousel (each Chrome tab appears as a separate slide in this view). Swipe through…

WINDOWS 10 Add commonly used settings to the Start menu The Start menu in Windows 10 is much more dynamic than its former incarnation in Windows 7. There are tiles on the right, while the section on the left is similar to Windows 7 and provides access to the programs you use most often. The ‘All apps’ option at the bottom lets you see all the apps and programs on your PC. In our Workshop on page 35 we show you how to add website tiles to the Windows 10 Start menu, but you can also add tiles for settings you use on a regular basis – for example, to update to the latest Windows 10 Preview Build so you can make use of the latest features. Instead of navigating…

VLC supports dozens of browser-style free extensions (VLC calls them ‘addons’) that add new functions to the program, as well as ‘skins’ that change how the player looks. Explore extensions on the Addons section of VLC’s website (http://addons.videolan.org). Popular choices include VLSub (www.snipca.com/16941), which makes it easy to add subtitles to your downloaded videos. You need to download subtitles separately using sites such as OpenSubtitles (www.opensubtitles.org). You can also browse and download skins from VLC’s website (www.snipca.com/16630). You might find the WMP11 or WMP12 skins (see screenshot), which are useful if you often switch between VLC and Windows Media Player (WMP), because they make VLC look and work just like Microsoft’s player – but with VLC’s superior built-in tools.…

ON SALE 22 July As you may know Windows 10 – a free upgrade for all Windows 7 and 8 users – launches on 29 July. We’ve received countless emails from readers asking us what to do when it arrives, so our next issue is a Windows 10: Should You Upgrade? special. We’re expecting an extremely high demand for this issue, so we’re printing some extra copies of Computeractive. They will probably sell very quickly, so please make a note in your diary of when the issue is available in the shops: Weds 22 July. Regards Editor Subscribe to Computeractive at www.getcomputeractive.co.uk…

Advert-blockers like Adblock Plus (https://adblockplus.org) are among our favourite types of extension – but they’re not without problems of their own. Last year, it was found that Adblock Plus, with more than 50 million users, was guilty of inordinate memory usage. Its Firefox version is especially memory-sapping, consuming anything up to 2GB of RAM at a time. Its developers have been working round the clock to improve the situation, and post regular updates in the Adblock Plus blog (https://adblockplus.org/blog). Besides the memory issues, Adblock Plus is a brilliant tool, so this definitely isn’t one to rush to uninstall. However, if your PC is getting on or slowing down and you need a more lightweight advertblocker, try uBlock (Chrome www.snipca.com/16920, Firefox www.snipca.com/16919). It’s easy to find out if any extensions are…

STUART ANDREWS is Computeractive’s Mr Angry Last month I came across a report from an online-safety site in the US; a well-intentioned piece about parents misusing social media. It expressed concern about the way these Facebook users were exposing their poor children to potential internet threats. Among the statistics one really set my hair on end: the average American parent uploads 973 photos of their kids to social media, and that’s just by the time the little ones reach five. “I can’t move for photos of little darlings doing something that I’m told is adorable, clever, zany, strange or fun” 973 photos in just five years - that’s nearly 200 every year! That can’t be good news for the kids. Most of us have a book of baby photos to…

Microsoft is getting a little carried away by silly marketing tricks in the run up to Windows 10’s launch. It should have confirmed the operating system’s price before teasing us with the sort of promotional campaign supermarkets use. We don’t blame Microsoft for generating hype around the free upgrade – it’s a huge event. But with less than a month until the launch, Microsoft should stop playing games and just give users the basic information they need to help them decide whether to upgrade.…

VIRGIN TO ROLL OUT LIGHTNING BROADBAND Virgin Media has started work on Project Lightning, the largest investment in the UK’s broadband infrastructure in more than a decade. The service will be rolled out in Manchester first. An extra 150,000 homes and businesses in the city will be able to get 152Mbps, double the average speeds available from BT, TalkTalk and Sky. Virgin says it will spend £3bn by 2020 extending the service across the UK, reaching 17 million homes. ADOBE FIXES YET ANOTHER FLASH FLAW Adobe has released yet another emergency security update to fix a Flash flaw. The latest bug was being exploited by Chinese hackers to remotely access and control PCs. Visit Adobe’s website (www.snipca.com/17060) to check you’re using the latest version (18.0.0.194). If not, download it from…

Can I ignore email from GoDaddy? Q I have just received the following email in my Yahoo inbox from ‘service@hbpaydepartment . co.uk’, saying they have received a request from ‘goDADDY.COM’ to charge my account £3.99 a month or go to their website if I wish to cancel it. I’ve no knowledge of these people and payments. Should I just ignore this? Roy German A Yes. This is a phishing email and if you go to the site you’ve been directed to, you’ll see a fake HSBC Bank UK web page. These emails are generated by bots, which have no idea whether or not you have an HSBC account. But if you do, and have fallen for this scam you should contact the bank immediately. You also need to change all…

What happened? Anti-fraud agencies warned the public about a new, sophisticated spate of scams being sent by text message. Financial Fraud Action UK (FFA UK) said that criminals are trying to steal personal information by sending texts that purport to come from the recipient’s bank. Scammers are using several different tactics. One is to send a text message that claims the recipient’s account has been targeted by fraudsters, and that they need to update their personal details. The message urges the victim to phone a number or visit a website, both of which are controlled by the fraudsters. Criminals are also texting people to tell them they will soon receive a call from their bank’s fraud department. Minutes later a scammer phones the victim claiming to be from their bank,…

SYSTEM TOOL Resource Hacker 4.2 www.snipca.com/17143 What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8/8.1 Customise your Windows menus and icons using this small and simply designed but extremely powerful tool that’s been around almost as long as the internet. It’s currently enjoying a spell of rapid change and had gone from version 4.2.0 to 4.2.3 just in the few days before this issue of Computeractive went to press, so if you’re a fan of the program keep an eye on its website for the latest developments. The most significant change is a new built-in tool for creating your own ‘resources’, using templates or from scratch. We know what you’re thinking. What have resources got to do with customising icons? Normally when we talk about resources we mean processor power…

If you have the room, a bigger display always looks better. The same cannot be said for bigger pixels – the smaller the better. Although more affordable 32in monitors are beginning to muscle in on 24 and 27in models, they often come with a relatively low resolution of 1920x1080 – fine for watching TV, not so good for Windows, especially when you’re sitting close to the screen. Unfortunately, you tend to pay a lot more for monitors with higher resolutions. “Not everyone will need a screen this big, but it offers sharp images, vibrant colours and great contrast” The Acer B326HUL packs in 2560x1440 pixels. It’s never going to compete with Apple’s iMac 5K, which has twice as many pixels again (squeezed into a smaller 27in screen), but for £350…

Betron Bluetooth Pop-up Speaker £14 from www.snipca.com/17138 A bigger speaker makes more noise, so this tiny one expands for extra resonance, then compresses into a neat puck. It comes in lots of colours, and has a jack as well as Bluetooth, but only lasts 3.5 hours on a charge. Divoom Voombox On Go £37 from www.snipca.com/17137 Available in several colours, this Bluetooth speaker, like the BRV-1 and IKUtrax, includes a microphone so you can take calls without having to pick up your phone. As well as a lanyard rail, it has a tripod mounting thread, which fits some bike mounts. It’s loud, but at 408g it’s the heaviest speaker here. Braven BRV-1 £100 from www.snipca.com/17132 It’s expensive for a small speaker, but the BRV-1 is IPX7 water-resistant (falling in the…

SUMMER 2015 Lenovo, which bought Motorola last year, has hinted at “exciting products, including phones and watches” coming soon. That’s likely to include a new version of the Moto 360 smartwatch, as well as Moto G or X phones. SUMMER 2015 Apple Pay, which lets you pay at tills or online using an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 or iPad mini 3 or Apple Watch, will be available in the UK from some time in July. In shops it’ll be limited to £20, and Barclays customers won’t be able to use it until a later date. JULY 2015 Windows 10 arrives on 29 July. It’ll be a free upgrade if you currently have Windows 7 or 8 installed, and you can can ‘reserve’ it now (www.snipca.com/16890). Windows…

WhatsApp Messenger Free Android, iOS, Windows Phone: www.snipca.com/17045 In Issue 448 (page 42), we showed you how to make free phone calls using WhatsApp Messenger on Android phones. The feature is now available on iOS devices and Windows Phones. Also new to Windows Phones is the ability to send voice messages from the app. BitTorrent Shoot Free Android, iOS, Windows Phone: www.snipca.com/17049 BitTorrent Shoot is the fastest way to send a number of photos or large video files from one device to another on the same Wi-Fi network. Unlike cloud services no remote servers are involved. Tap the files you want to send, then tap Send. The recipient needs to scan the QR code on your device to instantly receive them. Slidebox Free iOS: www.snipca.com/17052 This iPhone app lets you…

OFFICE Use the new Insights feature in Office 2016 In Issue 450, we showed you how to install and use the new Office 2016 Preview (see ‘Try Office 2016 on your PC for free’ Workshop on page 35). The Preview received its first update a few weeks ago, which includes a new tool called Insights that lets you access further information about any text you select. For example, you can find definitions for words or information about a place or a famous person simply by rightclicking the relevant text. First, to apply the update, open any Office 2016 Preview program, and you’ll see a Microsoft Activation Wizard. Click Next (twice) then Upgrade. Once that’s done, restart the program. To use Insights (which works in all Office programs), highlight a section…

What are they? Mini PCs entirely contained within a case the size of a power adapter. They plug into and are powered by an electrical socket. They’ve been around since 2009, but mostly only for Ubuntu, the Linux distribution that requires less processor power than Windows, and is therefore better suited to such a small machine. They’ve only had niche appeal so far, but that may soon change. Why’s that? Because the first plug computer running Windows 10 has arrived. Made by Taiwanese company Quanta, the Compute Plug (see main image) has an HDMI port and two USB sockets. Like other mini PCs, such as the Raspberry Pi, it connects to a TV, keyboard and other peripherals to operate as a full system. But the most significant feature is that…

Internet Explorer (IE) is the perennial bridesmaid when we talk about browsers (and it’s now being edged out by Edge, www.snipca.com/16963 – see our Workshop, page 35). But its right-click options are superb – so catch them while you can. The menu differs according to the item you right-click, but in most cases you can create a shortcut to it, download it, print it, use it as your IE wallpaper (‘Set as background’) or attach it to a Windows Live email (this now opens automatically in Outlook.com). Edge looks to be a right-click winner, too, with the option to right-click a word or phrase and ‘Ask Cortana’ to tell you all about it.…

Email us your problem and we’ll try to help: noproblem@computeractive.co.uk PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT What file properties am I unable to copy? Q I tried to copy some digital photos from my Windows 7 laptop on to a USB memory stick that someone had given me. When I did this Windows displayed a dialogue box headed ‘Property Loss’, which contained the following message: “Are you sure you want to copy this file without its properties? The file has properties that can’t be copied to the new location”. I have no idea what this means, but I don’t want to lose data. What is this about, and what should I do? Mark Sterner A This is happening because the memory stick is using a different type of file system to that…