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On 11 January 2015, I watched a video of a ‘vibrating fork’ on YouTube. On 19 March 2013, I used my Nexus tablet in a coffee shop in Vienna. And on 24 November 2011, I searched online for a photograph of Alan Turing. I know all this because Google has been keeping a close eye on me. Such fascinating information could prove invaluable when I come to write my autobiography. Google probably knows similar things about you, too. To find out read our Cover Feature (page 50), where we explain how to use Google’s My Activity website. It’s like seeing your internet life flashing before your eyes. If that unnerves you, follow our instructions to disable Google’s spying. Thanks to all the readers who emailed me to say how useful…

Tell us what’s on your mind Email: letters@computeractive.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive Twitter: @ComputerActive www.twitter.com/computeractive I’d love a version of Windows without updates In the Comment on page 6 in Issue 483 Computeractive says that it’s in no rush for the next Windows update. Make that two of us. I’ve not had any catastrophic problems with the Anniversary Update, but there have been lots of niggles that together have damaged my poor PC. I contemplated rolling back but left it too long – the 10-day deadline has now passed. Updates should be good things, but Microsoft has made people fear them. I wish there were two versions of Windows 10, one for people who want the latest fancy tools, and one for those who (like me) are happy with what they’ve got,…

EBay refunds reader £500 after item goes missing We know that many of you find it hard dealing with eBay and PayPal, so you should feel encouraged by the outcome of Alex Blake’s case, which we covered in Consumeractive, Issue 477. He told us that a graphics card he bought for £500 on eBay had been sent by recorded delivery to the wrong address. The seller first blamed Royal Mail, then vanished from eBay without a trace. The seller may have been a fraudster, but it’s hard to know for sure. EBay told Alex that because the item had been signed for – albeit not by him – it was no longer covered by its Money Back Guarantee (www.snipca.com/20538). PayPal also rejected his claim for a refund. That sounded absurdly…

What can I use instead of Win10 SpyStop? Q You recently recommended a program called Win10 SpyStop (Best Free Software, Issue 482). I can access the web page, but there is nothing on it. Has Microsoft got wise to the program and blocked it? What can I use instead? David Spens A This useful but short-lived little program has indeed vanished from the internet. It provided an easy way to block Microsoft’s so-called ‘telemetry’ – multiple processes that run in the background and track your activity in Windows 10. It seems to have disappeared since the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. There are similar tools available. We’re particularly impressed by O&O ShutUp10 (www.snipca.com/21600), a free program that’s updated regularly and has been around for 12 months now - long enough to…

PHONE ❘ £150 from Honor vMail www.snipca.com/21585 When we test products, we try to do all the kinds of things with them that you might do as a user, and see how they cope. We may have been a little too thorough with the Honor 5C: by the time we’d finished, its brushed-metal back panel bore a number of rather noticeable gouges. Maybe we’re clumsier than the average user, but it didn’t inspire confidence. “It runs quickly and looks nice, but in every other aspect is distinctly average” That wasn’t the only thing that made us look twice. Buy a 5C in the Far East and it comes with a fingerprint scanner at the rear, like the otherwise completely different Honor 5X (see our review, Issue 471). In the UK,…

Find out what other products we liked. Buy our new 2015 Back Issue CD: £15 from www.snipca.com/21619 LAPTOP Asus ZenBook UX305CA £549 from www.snipca.com/21649 Tested: Issue 475 This metal-cased ‘ultrabook’ looks much more expensive than it is. There’s no touchscreen or 36-degree hinge, just great quality all round and an ultra-sharp display. The M3 processor is adequate for most tasks, though not gaming. ALTERNATIVE Dell Inspiron 15 5000 If you need a full-size Windows 10 laptop with a DVD drive and a desktop PC-level i5 processor, this is a solid choice. £529 from www.snipca.com/21650 DESKTOP PC Palicomp AMD Avenger £500 from www.snipca.com/20927 Tested: Issue 479 AMD’s Athlon X4 880K processor gives this PC solid performance with money left for GTX 960 graphics and a very fast 128GB SSD as well as a…

Handy hints and tips from your fellow readers Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT Add an extra layer of security to your Gmail account Ever since my Google account was hacked a few years ago I’ve used two-step verification to sign into Gmail on my PC. This basically means that every time I log in, Google will send a six-digit code to my phone via text message or voice mail, which I then need to enter to access my account. Initially, I thought this would be rather time-consuming, so didn’t bother with it, but it’s actually very easy to set up and only takes a few more seconds to access my account. Worth it for that extra peace of mind. To enable it, log into your Gmail…

AGES 0-5 Kids Animals Jigsaw Puzzles* Free www.snipca.com/21714 (Android) These simple animal puzzles feature scenes drawn by a professional artist. Once your child places a piece, they can’t remove it, but they can move it around by nudging the other pieces. Completing the puzzle rewards them with a cute animation. AGES 6-10 Beyond 14* Free www.snipca.com/21715 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/21716 (iOS) Beyond 14 is an addictive puzzle game in which you place numbered tiles on a grid. Match the numbers in adjacent squares to combine the tiles and raise the value by one – so two 2s combine to make a 3, two 3s make a 4, and so on. The aim is to go beyond 14. AGES 11-16 Rush Rally 2 £2.99 www.snipca.com/21717 (Android) £2.99 www.snipca.com/21718 (iOS) Help hone your…

Record sounds playing on your PC Free audio-editing program Audacity (www.audacityteam.org) is great for editing digital files from your music collection as well as voice recordings. But it can also record any audio playing on your computer – for example, an internet radio station, a YouTube video or an iTunes song. To start recording, open Audacity, select Windows WASAPI in the Audio Host dropdown menu and click the record button (see screenshot right). Once you’ve made your recording, click the stop button. If you’d like to listen to your recorded audio on an MP3 player or smartphone you should convert the audio file to MP3 (see next tip). Save audio files as MP3s Due to licensing restrictions, the default audio format for files you export from Audacity isn’t the standard…

NEW! THE ADVANCED GUIDE TO WINDOWS 10 Written by Computeractive’s PC specialists, The Advanced Guide to Windows 10 is a musthave manual for anyone who uses Microsoft’s operating system. Its 196 pages are packed with expert advice written in plain English, helping you unlock every hidden tool. You’ll learn how to customise Windows 10 so it works exactly how you want it to, and how to reverse settings that Microsoft keeps changing. It’s also the ideal trouble-shooting guide, providing fixes for every conceivable problem. Don’t turn on your PC without it! BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON at www.snipca.com/21617 THE A-Z JARGON BUSTER BOOK This A-Z guide contains over 900 definitions of computing and tech jargon, helping you take back control of your PC. It tells you in plain English what…

Folders missed during backup There’s currently a bug (Todo Backup’s developer is currently trying to fix it) that causes the backup process to miss important folders, such as Documents, Pictures, Music and Videos. EaseUS says that the problem lies in Library shortcuts being selected for backup, rather than the folders themselves. For a temporary fix the company suggests clicking File Backup, then the arrow to the left of your C drive. Scroll down to Users and find your Windows profile (look for your username), then make sure the tick boxes next to Documents, My Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos are ticked (see screenshot below), then click Proceed. Hopefully, EaseUS will update the program soon to fix this flaw permanently. Can’t recover cloud-based backups Todo Backup lets you back up your…

The top stories in the world of technology Microsoft’s Anniversary Update (AU) for Windows 10 appears to be playing havoc with thousands of computers. Since the AU arrived in early August angry users have bombarded Microsoft with complaints about their webcams not working and their PCs crashing when they plug in their Kindle e-readers. The Kindle problem seems to affect the Paperwhite and Voyage models. When users transfer ebooks or charge a device, their computers freeze and need to be rebooted. Many users have reported seeing the so-called Blue Screen of Death - the infamous sign that your PC has crashed. Some users say that their computer crashes when the Kindle is plugged into a USB 3.0 port, while others claim it also occurs with USB 2.0. Solutions suggested in…

SOLITAIRE COMING TO ANDROID AND iOS Microsoft is testing a version of its popular Solitaire game for Android and iOS phones and tablets. The company revealed the news in an email to its Microsoft Casual Games Inner Circle – a group of users that tests early versions of games (you can apply to join at www.snipca.com/21622). It came in the same week that Google added a Solitaire game to its search results (read more at www.snipca.com/21621). RESET YOUR DROPBOX PASSWORD NOW Dropbox has advised longterm users to change their password “as a preventive measure” after it emerged that the details of 68 million users had been leaked online. It said on its blog (www.snipca.com/21620) that anyone who signed up to the online storage service before mid-2012 will be prompted to…

1 Microsoft They said: “We start delivering on our vision of more personal computing, defined by trust in how we protect and respect your personal information, mobility of the experience across your devices, and natural interactions with your Windows devices.” They meant: Windows 10 works on phones and tablets. Who said it: Microsoft’s Executive Vice President Terry Myerson in a blog post in June 2015 to mark the launch of Windows 10 (www.snipca.com/21663). Google They said: “Building the true conversational understanding and being able to have the dialogue (are) where we plan to differentiate. The hardware is just a manifestation of that. We’re at the 1 per cent stage of what we can do here.” They meant: Google Assistant can understand conversations. Who said it: Google CEO Sundar Pichai in…

How to change your password Amazon account www.snipca.com/21555 Amazon Kindle www.snipca.com/21558 Apple ID www.snipca.com/21556 BBC ID www.bbc.co.uk/id/info/signin CCleaner www.snipca.com/21563 Dropbox www.dropbox.com/en/help/37 eBay https://fyp.ebay.co.uk Facebook www.snipca.com/21557 Google Account (incl Gmail) www.snipca.com/21552 Netflix www.netflix.com/password Outlook 2010 www.snipca.com/21553 PayPal www.snipca.com/21559 Skype www.snipca.com/21560 Twitter www.snipca.com/21561 WordPress www.snipca.com/21562 Yahoo Mail www.snipca.com/21554…

Cooking up a British Gas scam I’m a British Gas customer so I wasn’t surprised to receive an email that claimed to be a bill from the company. It looked very convincing, with the correct British Gas logo, and the subject line seemed plausible too: ‘Your summer gas & electricity bill’. It told me how much I owed and when to pay it by. Fortunately, I’d already paid my bill, so I guessed the email was a scam. I found a news story about it saying worried customers should ring (0800 048 0202) or email (phishing@centrica.com) British Gas to check whether emails are genuine. Sandra Goodwin Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

Logitech K780 £67 from Amazon www.snipca.com/21704 This Bluetooth keyboard can pair with three devices at once, so you can switch between using it with a PC (a Bluetooth dongle is supplied), tablet or TV box. Multiple key layouts cater for Mac and iPad users. The round keys are better for typing than they look, and a slot at the back holds a phone or tablet. Two AAA batteries should last two years. Iogear Quietus RF Desktop Combo £23 from Newegg www.snipca.com/21705 It’s not widely stocked in the UK because of its US-specific layout, but if you can put up with that, this neat AAA battery-powered keyboard is a bargain, with a basic wireless mouse thrown in. The tile-style keys are indeed quiet, yet they move more than most for satisfying…

Win 1 of 4 Penclic Mouse B3 Posturite’s latest ergonomic device, the Penclic Mouse B3, puts the functionality of a conventional mouse into a swivelling pen, helping to prevent RSI by creating a healthy and natural working position when you use your computer. Your forearm rests on the work surface, easing any pain caused by regular use. The mouse has five buttons and a scroll wheel suited for both left- and right-handed users. To enter this competition, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘penclic’ in the subject line by midnight 27 September. The Penclic Mouse B3 is available to buy now priced £79.99 from www.snipca.com/21692. For more information visit Posturite’s website (www.posturite.co.uk) and follow Penclic on Twitter @Penclic.…

What you need: Vopt; Any Windows version (XP to 10) Time required: 40 minutes Popular PC-defragmenting program Vopt (www.vopt.com) previously cost $40 (around £30), but now – in accordance with its creator’s dying wishes – the program is available for free. Aside from defragmenting your drives, it offers several tools for freeing up storage space and speeding up your PC’s performance. What’s more, you can check for problems on your hard drive, measure its file-transfer speeds, and remove any malicious programs lurking on your PC. STEP 1 To install the program, go to www.snipca.com/21581, click the blue link 1 , then run the downloaded setup file. If you’re prompted to enter a registration key when you launch the program, click this link 2 to reveal the key, copy and paste…

ANDROID Search for items within all your apps Android’s digital assistant app, Google Now, has been updated with a new feature that lets you search for items within popular apps on your device. The feature is currently limited to certain apps, including your contacts and messages, Gmail, Evernote, Google Keep, YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, The Guardian and Daily Mail. However, Google is expanding this list. To perform a search, open the Google Now app (a white circular icon with a multicoloured G inside), enter your search term and tap the search icon. The app will display your Google search results first. Swipe across the panel at the top (All, Images, Shopping and so on) until you come to the new In Apps option. Tap this, then tap Got It on the…

WINDOWS 7, 8, 10 Make Windows’ searches faster By default, your PC’s search results (including those in Windows 10’s Cortana) display files stored on your C Drive, but they may not show files stored on other drives. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to modify your search results by adding and removing folders you want your PC to search in. To do this, press the Windows key, type indexing options, then press Enter. You’ll now see a list of all the default programs (including OneNote and Outlook) and PC locations that Windows searches. Click the Modify button to see all your drives listed (see screenshot above). Next, click the dropdown menus beside each to see the folders they contain. Tick the drives and folders you want to include in your search…

Why can’t I open my old Word documents? Q I have an old Windows XP computer. It’s no longer connected to the internet because I know that’s not safe, but I still use it for basic word processing when my wife is using our new Windows 7 computer. This setup has worked fine for years but recently I tried to open some very old documents only to be met with a message saying that the file type is blocked by my Registry settings. I’ve not made any Registry changes that I know of, and these are Microsoft Word documents. Any ideas? Anna Scott A You didn’t say which version of Word is on your XP machine but we’ll assume 2003, because Service Pack 3 introduced a block on the use…

WhatsApp has angered users by declaring that it will share their phone number with its parent company, Facebook. But there is a way to stop this happening. It’s all part of a controversial overhaul of WhatsApp’s privacy policy. The messaging service (www.whatsapp.com), which millions of people use on their phones as a free alternative to paid-for texting, said it wants to share your number with Facebook so the site “can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads”. It also said it will start allowing companies to send “messages” to users, leading to concerns that the service will be flooded by adverts. In the WhatsApp blog (www.snipca.com/21703) the company admitted that some of these messages will be “marketing” offers. But it added that messages will also include important…

Can a company change its contract terms? Q In June 2009 I bought an Inforad GPS Speed Camera Warning Device for my car, because it came with a “lifetime” of free updates for both fixed and mobile cameras. Now Inforad is charging for mobile updates. Can it arbitrarily change the contract terms? Peter Stocks A Companies can change contract terms, although restrictions do apply. For example, under Ofcom’s rules internet service providers and phone networks that plan to increase their bills must give you a month’s notice, and let you cancel without penalty. But that’s little help to Peter. He needs to ask Inforad what it means by a “lifetime” of free updates. Is it the lifetime of the owner, the device, or the technology used? Inforad may say that…

PC CLEANER AdwCleaner 6.0 www.snipca.com/21594 What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1 or 10 ‘Adware’ is a catch-all term for extra junk that turns up on your computer after you run an installer. Search engines, dodgy Registry files, extra programs - you know, all the stuff you hate as much as we do. Adware isn’t always malicious, but it’s always unsettling and unwanted. AdwCleaner, short for ‘Adware Cleaner’, is our favourite weapon in the adware war. It’s free, portable, easy to use and small (just 3.65MB). However, it’s extremely powerful, able to scour every nook and cranny of your PC – including the Registry and all installed browsers – for adware. It then lets you remove all the junk with one click. Version 6.0 is the first big release…

TABLET ❘ £167 from Argos www.snipca.com/21689 If we look a bit overexcited here in the Computeractive office, it’s not because of the BBC’s recent retro sitcom season. No, it’s the sight of a brand new low-cost tablet. While you can’t move for cheap laptops, tablets under £200 are thin on the ground. With Tesco’s £99 Hudl 2 discontinued and Nvidia’s £150 Shield Tablet K1 impossible to track down, you might well ask yourself: are you being served? “An eye-catching design, sharp screen and faster than budget rivals” Well, this update to Acer’s full-size device might just get you smiling again. Its 10.1in screen is slightly bigger than an iPad Air, and although its resolution isn’t as high, at 1920x1200 it looks quite sharp and does full justice to Full HD…

PHONE ❘ £700 from Argos www.snipca.com/21568 This could be the best smartphone ever made, if Samsung can stop it exploding. At the time of writing, many of the 2.5 million units initially sold were being recalled because of a battery fault that could make them catch fire. This kind of issue crops up from time to time with lithium ion cells, but anyone thinking of buying a Note 7 will be looking for some serious reassurance from the company before going ahead. When it’s not on fire, this is a beautiful phone. Samsung’s wraparound ‘Edge’ screen feels uniquely futuristic even while it’s inactive. And when you turn it on the vibrant colour (covering the full sRGB range) impresses as much as the incredibly sharp resolution. The auto-brightness mode that compensates…

What’s the quickest router I can buy? Q My 802.11n Wi-Fi router, supplied by my internet service provider a few years ago, now seems slow. What should I replace it with? Mark Crossley A A Wi-Fi router lets all your PCs and devices connect to each other and to the internet, wirelessly or via Ethernet ports. It may also contain a modem that handles your internet connection. Older Virgin Media cable and some BT fibre connections come with a separate modem box, which you can leave where it is, replacing the separate router with a ‘cable router’. Users with a Virgin Super Hub, which has a built-in modem, can switch it to a modem-only mode (refer to your manual) and add a new Wi-Fi router. If you have ADSL broadband…

No.2 THE TPU When you buy a PC, the two components that most affect how fast it carries out tasks are the central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU). The balance between them dictates the tasks your PC will be best suited to. Want to run simultaneously several programs that carry out complex operations like applying filters to high-res photos or converting videos between formats? Choose a fast CPU with several cores, and don’t worry about the GPU. Want to play the latest 3D games or try virtual reality (VR)? You’ll need a graphics card with a decent GPU. Editing 4K video? Well, that depends on your software. Why is this so hard? What we want is a TPU: a single ‘total processing unit’ that can turn its…

 What you need: Google Duo; Android phone or iPhone Time required: 10 minutes We’ve tried out countless apps over the years to video chat with friends and family, including FaceTime and Skype. However, Google’s new, free video-calling app Duo is easier to use than any of these and has better video and audio quality. It also has a unique Android feature called Knock Knock which lets you see who’s calling before you answer. Install it on your Android device (www.snipca.com/21537) or iPhone/iPad (www.snipca.com/21538). STEP 1 Open the app and tap I Agree. Next, you’ll see several requests for permission to access your phone’s camera, microphone, text messages and contact list. Tap Allow each time. Next type your phone number to verify it 1 , then tap Next 2 . You’ll…

Trainline Free Android: www.snipca.com/21709 iOS: www.snipca.com/21710 As well as providing live train times and the option to book tickets up to 10 minutes before departure, the latest version of Trainline has some useful new features. The iOS app helps you find cheaper tickets at alternative times, while the Android app recommends hotels based on your journey. Stitch It! Screenshot Editor Free Android: www.snipca.com/21711 iOS: www.snipca.com/21712 New to Android, this app lets you crop screenshots you’ve taken on your device. Another useful option is the ability to blur any private information, such as your email address, bank details or the content of private messages. You can then share your edited images easily through other apps. Photo Scan Free* Windows Phone: www.snipca.com/21713 This app uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to pick…

How would you react if the next time you walked into a restaurant you’d never visited before the head waiter not only greeted you by name, but also reeled off your address? Then, before you’d had a chance to sit down, he asked you about your recent holiday to the Costa del Sol, before telling you that your best friend visited the restaurant recently and would definitely recommend the chicken chasseur. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN • The extent to which Google tracks you online (and how to stop it) • The best way to delete your browsing and search history • How to stop Google recording what you say • How to prevent hackers watching you through your webcam • How to run a deep scan of your PC to remove…

Installation stalls at the same point every time – what can I do? Q I have two desktop PCs. One installed Anniversary Update (AU) without any problems. But so far the other PC has got stuck at 99 per cent for over six hours. Before installation the Anniversary Update gave my PC the all clear for compatibility, so I can only assume that the basic hardware remains OK. I have updated all drivers on this PC, and no error codes were generated. Do you have any ideas? Mike Goodwin A Many of you have emailed to say you’ve experienced the same problem, with the installation limbo hitting anywhere between the 2 and 99 per cent mark. In fact, we experienced the problem ourselves on one of our test PCs, with…

Last week I grudgingly had to move offices. Admittedly it wasn’t much of an upheaval, as it only involved lugging my computer and desk from the corner of one bedroom to the corner of a smaller bedroom. This is because Mrs Rigsby demanded the space that I occupied be freed up for the installation of a new en suite shower. She certainly needs a good wash, so I couldn’t argue. “When I switch on at the mains, the speakers let out a roar of static as loud as a rally car’s exhaust” All went smoothly but, with the walls now closing in around me, a previous annoyance is now causing me headaches — literally. I’m talking about the incessant hum emitted by my PC’s various cooling fans. From the moment…