Computeractive 648

When I moved house in 2021, the list of things to arrange at my new address seemed endless: broadband, postal redirection, electricity, water, council tax, TV licence and so on. But never did it occur to me to set up a new landline. I was happy to leave that behind. Soon we won’t have much choice in the matter. By the end of 2025, BT will have completed its great Copper Switch Off, forcing us to use internet phone services. I know many of you have grave concerns about this, so we’ve tried to put your minds at ease in our Cover Feature. We start by answering the main questions, then reveal your options for switching to full-fibre broadband. We also explain how to get online using 4G and 5G and recommend…

Microsoft says it plans to fix a problem with a recent Windows 10 update that’s causing computers to crash and show the ‘Blue Screen of Death’ (BSOD). It confirmed that the error lies with the KB5021233 update, which was intended to stop the Camera app in Windows becoming unresponsive when PC memory is low. The update was part of Microsoft’s latest batch of monthly security updates, released on 13 December. Users started to report problems with it soon after, saying that the BSOD error appeared when they tried to boot their computer, showing the error code ‘0xc000021a’. Microsoft said that the problem is affecting multiple versions of Windows 10, including the builds 20H2, 21H1, 21H2 and 22H2. It revealed a workaround solution for the problem using the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE), which launches a…

Virgin Media and Sky were two of the best UK firms to haggle better deals with in 2022, according to a poll of 8,000 MoneySavingExpert members. Eighty-five per cent of respondents said they’d had a ‘success’ negotiating with Virgin, which came top of 10 firms spanning broadband and mobile, car breakdown cover and insurance. Sky came third with customers reporting an 84-per-cent success rate, far higher than the average of 66 per cent. TalkTalk, Three and O2 were also in the top 10, but there was no place for BT which had a success rate of 64 per cent. See the top 10 at www.snipca.com/44600 and full results at www.snipca.com/44601. Have you got a better deal by haggling? Let us know: letters@computeractive.co.uk You’ll like this… You can hear a Martian dust storm on Nasa’s website (www.snipca.com/44492) but…

The Government has removed advice saying that sharing online passwords is against the law, following a backlash over whether the information was accurate. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) made the claim in new guidance issued on avoiding piracy and counterfeit goods online (www.snipca.com/44578). It worked with Facebook’s owners Meta on the guidance, which initially stated that “pasting internet images into your social media, password sharing on streaming services and accessing the latest films, TV series or live sports events through Kodi boxes, Fire sticks or apps without paying a subscription all break copyright law”. The advice was heavily criticised for appearing to criminalise the sharing of passwords for services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney+. While password sharing is against most terms and conditions, hardly anyone gets in trouble for doing it. An…

Sky customers still using TV boxes that show programmes in standard definition (SD) can now upgrade to a Sky Q box (pictured) for free. Viewers who don’t do this will lose access to all BBC services once the corporation removes its SD channels from both Freesat and Sky boxes. It will begin this process after it introduces high-definition (HD) versions of local news across the UK, which is set to be completed by March. Between March and April, the BBC will show messages on screen to remind SD satellite viewers that its SD channels will no longer be available. It will give contact details for both Freesat and Sky viewers seeking advice. Sky says you can check whether your box is SD-only and needs upgrading by selecting Channel 105 on your remote control and…

WORLD CUP FINAL SETS GOOGLE RECORD Argentina’s victory over France in the World Cup final produced the highest search traffic in Google’s history. Google CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed the record on Twitter (www.snipca.com/44550), saying “it was like the entire world was searching about one thing!”. Searching for terms related to Argentina’s win brings up fireworks in the team’s blue and white colours. NEW LENOVO MINI PC HAS 1TB SSD Lenovo has unveiled the latest mini PC in its IdeaCentre range (pictured below), available with 8GB or 16GB RAM and SSD storage up to 1TB. It has Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 and Windows 11, while ports include four USB-A, two USB-C, and HDMI 2.1. It will cost $650, with UK pricing yet to be confirmed, and will go on sale in the second quarter…