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I recently took my young daughter to the Natural History Museum, thinking she would be awed by the dinosaur bones. While she was impressed (“Wow, they’re gigantic!”), what most captivated her was an exhibition on learning, particularly a video explaining how children develop skills by making mistakes. It made me wonder whether of all human inventions the internet best encapsulates this trial-and-error approach (though the modern TV remote control comes close). Every day online feels like an experiment in clicking links, installing extensions and tweaking settings, as you work out what improves your browsing and suits your preferences. Twenty years since I first went online, I’m still making mistakes, and I’m still learning from them. I’d like Computeractive to encourage a similar sense of eager curiosity, which is why I…

You’ll soon receive an alert when your phone and broadband contract is about to end, under new rules aimed at preventing loyal customers from being ripped off. Telecoms watchdog Ofcom wants to force companies to “proactively inform” customers when their contract is due to expire, giving them the chance to find a cheaper deal. Currently millions of customers are automatically moved to a higher tariff once their initial contract expires, with many not realising they are paying more. An estimated 15 million households – around a third of all customers – are in this position. In addition, around six million people have remained on phone contracts despite having paid off the cost of their phone. One in five only realise after six months, by which time they’ve paid around £220…

Defence secretary Gavin Williamson (pictured) has called for computing experts to join the Armed Forces in order to combat cyber-attacks. The MP said the British Army, Royal Navy and Air Force should try to attract “people with amazing cyber and IT skills”, and confirmed that Russia is the UK’s main “strategic threat”. Talking to the Politics Home website, Mr Williamson also said the military needed people skilled in tackling online propaganda that’s aimed at harming the UK. In particular, he wants communications experts to refute fake news spread online. He added: “Sometimes people see the armed forces as being quite traditional in terms of its approach. But in this disinformation age, this cyber age, people often look at cyber as something that’s separate. Actually, it’s completely relevant to every other…

You can now use your phone to help cancer research as part of a medical project to harness the data-processing power of 100,000 devices. Imperial College London has teamed up with Vodafone to launch the DreamLab app (pictured). This analyses data about different combinations of drugs that can be tailored to a patient’s genetic profile. The app works during the night while your phone is charging and connected to the internet. It downloads a small packet of data – about 5MB – and shows you how many calculations have been “crunched” during a session. Vodafone customers get this data for free, while others may have to pay a download fee. The ambition is to build a network of 100,000 phones that can perform calculations much faster than a single computer…

I found it interesting that you used the word ‘controversial’ to describe AOL’s decision to show personalised adverts alongside emails (News, Issue 527, page 8). Surely it would’ve been even more controversial if AOL had said it was turning off all adverts and was starting to charge users instead? Web users have to realise that companies can make money in only two ways – through advertising, or charging for the product. I used to run a small business that advertised heavily online. Over the years the websites became better at targeting my adverts to potential customers. Without this, I would never have grown my business, which eventually allowed me to employ 30 people, some of whom had been out of work for years. None of the customers who came to…

Regarding the letter from Dave Gwyther in Issue 526 (‘Virgin also guilty of crimes against broadband’), I can’t understand why many people say that Virgin Media is terrible. I have been with Virgin for years. I have TV via a V6 box (pictured), broadband up to 70Mbps (usually 50Mbps) and a home phone. I can honestly say that the service I’ve received is superb. If you have any problems, all you do is ring them on a free number and either the query is solved or an engineer calls within a very short time. They are all polite and knowledgeable, and engineer visits are free of charge. I recently thought I had a problem with my TiVo box, but when an engineer came he found the fault was with the…

Is HMRC suing me? Most Computeractive readers are familiar with phone scammers pretending to be from Microsoft. Well, there’s another bunch of fraudsters in town, claiming to be from HMRC. In April I received a call saying I was being sued over tax I owed. I was told to press a button on my phone to speak to a “caseworker”. It sounded professional, and for a moment I thought about pressing. But with ScamWatch warnings ringing in my ears, I searched about it online first, and saw this HMRC warning – www.snipca.com/27616. Scroll down to the ‘Bogus phone calls’ heading. Martin Kendall Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

PC | £600 from www.snipca.com/27705 Mesh Ryzen Gaming PC CS Something for everyone (not just gamers) ‘Gaming PC’ is a bit of a misnomer, really. You might as well advertise a ‘driving car’ or ‘walking dog’. Any PC that has a processor and graphics card will be suitable for games and everything else. True, if games aren’t your thing, the graphics card is less of a must-have. If you never use any other programs that can make use of it, you could skip it and choose a PC with a processor, such as those from Intel’s Core i3, i5 or i7 series, that has an adequate GPU built in. “Packs a huge amount of processing power at a relatively affordable price” In practice, though, there can’t be many of us…

What does it do? Surge protection prevents brief increases in voltage being transmitted to products plugged into your mains sockets. It’s available as add-ons to the consumer units that supply power to houses, and built into uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), which keep equipment running in the event of a power cut. You’ll also see it as a feature of many multi-way power adapters. Why would I want it? Big spikes can be caused by lightning striking electricity lines, but small surges happen more often because of activity on the grid or in your house, when a power-hungry appliance – a fridge or hairdryer – is turned on or off. In theory, these can gradually degrade other connected products, including phones, tablets and computers. What’s the catch? Basic surge protectors (pictured…

FITNESS WATCH | £100 from Argos www.snipca.com/27769 If you fancy a smart watch to track your keep-fit routine and see messages without having to get your phone out, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives to the Apple Watch and its £300-ish rivals. The Fitbit Versa (£199 from Amazon www.snipca.com/27485, see Issue 526, page 24) is among the best, with the ability to install apps from other makers, but lacks built-in GPS, although it has a heart-rate monitor and swim tracking. The Forerunner 30 looks similar, resembling a digital watch, but is currently half the price, and includes both heart-rate sensor and GPS. As the name suggests, though, it’s aimed at runners. Though chunky, the Forerunner 30 is easy to wear, with a functional rubbery strap and a simple black-and-white screen…

ROUTER | £155 from Amazon www.snipca.com/27725 Hold the front page: this is the first time we’ve seen a mesh router system that undercuts the price of BT’s Whole Home Wi-Fi. And with BT having just put up the price by a tenner (£200 for three dishes from Amazon www.snipca.com/27726), Tenda’s cute little cubes look even better value. Too good to be true? Sadly, yes. Mesh routers differ from ordinary Wi-Fi routers in that multiple nodes communicate with each other, not just to and from a single base unit. To do this they use a ‘backhaul’ network, distinct from the network your devices connect to. At least, that’s the principle. In some cases the backhaul happens over the same network. This is one of those cases, and because of that, adding…

AOL WHAT WAS IT? Q-Link was an online service that let computer users connect with modems over their telephone lines to access functions like email, messaging, file sharing and multi-player games. As IBM-compatible and Apple computers began to dominate, AppleLink and PC Link were added. In 1989, it was rebranded America Online. At its peak, AOL served over 30 million users, with its software discs mounted on magazines or sent out as junk mail. HOW HAVE THINGS CHANGED? Dial-up users had to pay AOL by the hour until 1996, when a flat monthly fee was introduced. By this time AOL was struggling to compete with the world wide web. It moved into internet services, advertising and content, buying US giant Time Warner in 2000 in a deal that showed how…

What you need: Gmail account Time required: 30 minutes After more than five years, Google has spruced up Gmail with a fresh coat of paint and some brilliant new features. You can now view attachments without opening your email, snooze emails until you need to read them, and reply to emails with two clicks. One of the most useful features is the option to turn your emails into notes using Google Keep, which now appears in a neat sidebar. Similarly, you can also add events and turn emails into to-do lists. STEP 1 Go to www.gmail.com and log in to your account. To use the new Gmail, click the Settings icon 1, ‘Try the new Gmail’, Next, then OK. The page will refresh and you’ll see a different interface. Apart…

What you need: EagleGet; Any Windows version (XP to 10) Time required: 15 minutes EagleGet is the best free program to download multiple videos from the internet, including from YouTube and Vimeo. The program has recently added many new features. You can now schedule your downloads for a later time, scan videos for malware, and automatically shut down your PC after that’s done. Downloading videos can slow down your internet, so it’s a good idea to schedule them before you go to bed. We’ll show you how to set this up. STEP 1 Go to www.eagleget.com, then click the green Directly Download For Free button. Open the downloaded setup file, then click Yes. Now untick Install EagleGet iNew Tab at the bottom left, click the Custom Install dropdown menu, untick…

Google Tasks Free Android: www.snipca.com/27833 iOS: www.snipca.com/27834 After living as a basic version inside a hidden menu within the web-version of Gmail for years, Google Tasks now has its own app. You can use it to create tasks, sub-tasks and set date reminders. On page 37, we show you how to turn your emails into tasks. Opera Touch Browser Free Android: www.snipca.com/27835 Opera’s third browser app is designed for easy use with one hand, even on large phones. The URL bar is at the bottom of the screen and scrolling through a website gives you easy access to other tabs. It also has a quick-access button that lets you open sites you’ve recently visited with just a swipe. Slidebox – Photo Organizer/Manager* Free Android: www.snipca.com/27836 iOS: www.snipca.com/27837 Slidebox lets you…

“Police used facial recognition to reunite 3,000 missing children with their families” What is it? Technology that analyses a person’s face in order to identify them. It ‘reads’ the face, whether live on video or from recorded footage or a photograph, then tries to find a match in its database. How can it do this? There are several methods, which some systems combine to maximise accuracy. The most common examines a face’s features (or ‘landmarks’), such as the position, size and shape of the eyes, nose, cheekbones and jaw. Every face has about 80 nodal points that computers can use to distinguish between people. These include depth of the eye sockets and the distance between the eyes. More advanced is 3D recognition. This produces better results because it’s not affected…

There are 3.9 billion internet users in the world at the nanosecond of writing. The number has doubled in three years and is now well over half the global population of 7.6 billion. As you can see from the live counter at severaldozenusers were added since you read the last sentence. There are 1.87 billion sites on the web as we speak. By the time you get up tomorrow morning, there’ll be another half-million or so. Google processes more than 3.5 billion searches every day. That’s 40,000 per secondSurprisinglyGoogle says 15 per cent of searches are new, which means no one has searched for that term before ( 250 billion emails are sent every day. The internet handles nearly 5 billion gigabytes of data per day, requiring around 4m…

Forget all your passwords (except one) Can’t live with ’em,can’t live without ’em, can’t remember ’em anyway. Passwords are the internet’s worst Catch-22: if you can memorise them, they’re not secure enough. So use a tool that creates and memorises them for you. The newly revamped LastPass (for all major browsers from www.lastpass.com) adds a Generate Secure Password option to the right-click menu (see screenshot below). Click it when setting up a new web account, and LastPass will generate a random password for you. You can then improve on LastPass’s gobbledigook by clicking Advanced Options in the box that opens, then clicking Make Pronounceable (see screenshot below right). To create a password that contains special characters (something many websites now insist on), tick ‘!%@#’, then click the reload button. You…

Customer support numbers and email addresses for your mobile operator and email service provider (the latter may also provide your internet) A list of your ‘recovery’ email addresses. These are the accounts that receive confirmation codes when you log into a service from an unknown browser A copy of passwords for services that your phone logs into automatically, in case you should need to access them through a browser. This includes social media, email and online-storage accounts Emergency top-up vouchers for pay-as-you-go (PAYG) phones Your most powerful USB plug, plus a selection of cables for your devices At least one adapter for British three-pin plugs. Check the one you need on the International Electrotechnical Commission’s plugs website ( seescreenshotabove)…

Q I am running Windows 10 Home on my computer, which connects to my BT Home Hub 4 router via an Ethernet cable. I also have several devices that connect wirelessly, via Wi-Fi, and have a BT Dual-Band Wi-Fi Extender 600 to ensure coverage throughout the house. There are lights on this gadget to indicate range, from ‘Too close’ to ‘Too far’ – with ‘Good range’ in the middle (see screenshot). At any time, and with no set pattern that I can discern, any of these lights could be illuminated. Whichever range light is lit does not seem to affect the use of the Wi-Fi devices, but I do not understand why the range changes when the extender is always in the same three-pin mains socket. Is the router faulty…

Why won’t Air Transfer connect? Q I enjoy your informative magazine, but am having trouble with the Air Transfer app (www.snipca.com/27447) that featured in the Workshops section of Issue 526. I have entered into my PC the URL displayed on my iPad, but keep getting the message that the address is not available. I have been in touch with the developer, but have not yet received a response. Could you help please? Dave Corbett A We’ll certainly try. First, are you sure the iPad is connected to the same network (ie, Wi-Fi router) as the PC? It’s a long shot but, if your iPad is a 3G or 4G model that connects to the internet via a mobile phone network, rather than your household Wi-Fi, then Air Transfer won’t work.…

“Crossword purists may shudder that it tells you when you get an answer right, but I still had 10,065 clues to solve so I didn’t mind” While most research has concluded that tackling crosswords, sudoku puzzles and such like is unlikely to be a miracle cure for anything, there is evidence they can do some good. They can, for instance, lead to the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter that sends signals of pleasure and bliss (assuming you don’t get stuck on seven across, and end up throwing your pencil across the room). So this issue, instead of training my brain, I’m hoping to put it in a happier mood, starting with the three games Microsoft gives away for free in its Wordament package (www.snipca.com/27727): Crosswords, Jumble and Wordament itself. I’m…

A security fix for the latest Windows 10 Feature update – called the April 2018 Update (version 1803) - is crashing computers, leaving them stuck on black screens. The problem began when Microsoft released its monthly batch of fixes on 8 May - these are the ‘Patch Tuesday’ updates that arrive on the second Tuesday of every month. Microsoft said the update, numbered KB4103721, fixed a problem with the April 2018 Update that caused “some devices to stop responding or working when using applications, such as Cortana or Chrome”. But users on Microsoft’s Community forum (www.snipca.com/27850) complained that it prevented their PCs from starting, showing just a black screen and nothing else. Microsoft has yet to comment on the problem, but it appears to be caused by corrupted files. You…

Road-safety campaigners in the UK have urged the Government to consider introducing cutting-edge cameras that catch drivers using phones, after new laws were passed in Australia allowing police to use them. New South Wales police will be the first to use the cameras, which run software that automatically detects a driver using a phone. It follows a 12-hour trial in Sydney in which police detected more than 400 drivers making calls, texting or taking selfie photos. New South Wales minister for roads Melinda Pavey said the cameras could be as “revolutionary” as the breathalyser. The RAC agrees, calling them a potential “game-changer”. Rod Dennis, spokesman for the RAC’s Be Phone Smart campaign (https://bephonesmart.uk), said: “If proven to be accurate in detecting illegal use, it could really help shift behaviour and,…

Google has unveiled new technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to convert your old black-and-white photos into colour. The ‘Colorize’ tool (pictured), still being developed, will be added to Google Photos (https://photos.google.com) when it’s ready for release. Google said it was inspired by how many people use its PhotoScan app (www.google.com/photos/scan) to scan old black-and-white pictures. The tool will ‘learn’ which colours work best for particular elements in a photo, such as green for grass. It will be much trickier to colorise things like skin, so Google will launch the tool only when it’s “really right”. It was demonstrated during the company’s I/O show for developers in early May, along with other AI photo tools. One leaves an object in colour while turning the background black and white. Another recognises…

Tell us what’s on your mind Email: letters@computeractive.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive Twitter: @ComputerActive www.twitter.com/computeractive Gangs upload videos attacking their rivals Frank Betts is absolutely right to say that the curse of social media “whips up gang warfare” (Letters, Issue 527). I read recently in my local newspaper how one gang filmed a ‘rival’ being beaten up, then uploaded the footage online from their phone. They do this even though they realise it will escalate the violence, leading to revenge attacks. In fact, perhaps that’s why they do it. These gangs have no self-control, and take any act of ‘disrespect’ as an excuse to get the guns and knives out. Sadly, I don’t think there’s an easy solution. You’ll never be able to ban phones or social media. Even if you tried,…

Is a free repair or replacement due? Q I bought a Garmin fitness watch from Argos in December 2016. I had trouble getting it charged within the first four months, so Garmin sent me a USB cable, which worked. However, the same problem has reoccurred. Garmin will replace the watch for £100, but I’d like a free replacement. Am I asking too much? Malcolm Haswell A No, Malcolm isn’t asking for too much. We’d expect the watch to last longer than 16 months. However, he needs to pursue Argos, the retailer, not Garmin, the manufacturer. Because the fault seems to be the same problem that first appeared within four months of purchase, we believe the watch could be inherently faulty. But six months after purchase customers must prove this. Malcom…

WATCH OUT FOR… Fake ad-blocking Chrome extensions What’s the threat? Security researchers found fake ad-blocking extensions for Google’s Chrome browser, some with names deliberately designed to sound like genuine tools. These fakes, downloaded more than 20 million times, were absorbing users’ browsers into a botnet. The criminals’ tactic was to exploit how similar and generic the names of ad-blocking tools are. Adblock Plus, AdBlock and uBlock Origin are all real extensions, so it doesn’t take a criminal mastermind to work out that imposters called uBlock Plus, Adblock Pro and AdRemover for Chrome would fool people into installing them. They were uncovered by Andrey Meshkov, a researcher at AdGuard, a legitimate ad-blocker. In his blog (www.snipca.com/27631) he explained that the criminals used relevant keywords in the description of the extension to…

IMAGE EDITING Gimp 2.10 www.snipca.com/27750 What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1 or 10 (64-bit only) This popular open-source image-editing program has a reputation for being complicated – let’s just say it’s more Adobe Photoshop than Microsoft Paint. But, while Gimp offers many professional-level features, such as layer-based editing and support for plug-ins, it’s also well designed and straightforward enough for anyone to use. Version 2.10 represents Gimp’s first major update in more than five years, and it introduces a raft of improvements and additions, including a whole fresh look. The new default dark theme looks smart but also helps draw your eye to your subject – the photos themselves. The program now supports high bit-depth images and advanced GEGL (General Graphics Library) filters, which let you preview and…

Can I get a pay-as-you-go deal for a mobile router? Q I tried a friend’s Huawei mobile router for Wi-Fi and liked it, but I don’t like the pricing structure. Is there a pay-as-you-go option at a reasonable cost? Henry Smith A Sometimes called ‘Mi-Fi’, a mobile router takes a SIM card and plugs into a laptop via USB or creates a Wi-Fi network for devices. You get on the internet wherever there’s 3G/4G (no need for Wi-Fi hotspots). Smartphones now have a ‘personal hotspot’ function, if your network tariff permits it, so many users won’t need Mi-Fi, but various deals are available and you don’t need a long contract. For example, you can buy EE’s 4GEE WiFi Mini (see www.snipca.com/27789, pictured) for £50 with 2GB of data for the…

Most of us by now have broadband with a Wi-Fi router, but it’s still common to suffer unreliable or slow connections in rooms further away or through thick walls. If your router is very old, replacing it with an 802.11ac model is a good start, but it may not fix those signal black spots. One solution is a Wi-Fi extender, basically a second router. They can be fiddly to set up, though, and may still not cover all of a larger home. Mesh networks are the new alternative, and work very well, so the only drawback is price. We’ve tested all the mesh routers we know of on the UK market: see Issue 523, page 24. Another option is powerline adapters, which send data through your electrical wiring. At each…

LAPTOP Asus ZenBook UX410UA £590 from www.snipca.com/26789 Tested: Issue 518 With a dual-core Intel i3 processor, 4GB of memory and 128GB SSD, this slim aluminium 14in has just enough power to make Windows 10 feel smooth – and unlike Asus’s cheaper models it has a very good Full HD screen. ALTERNATIVE: Dell XPS 13 This premium laptop starts at £1,149, but the best deal is with the brand new quad-core i7-8550 and QHD touchscreen. £1,300 from www.snipca.com/26796 ANDROID TABLET Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 £600 from www.snipca.com/27058 Tested: Issue 501 Samsung’s new mid-sized tablet has a wonderful HDR screen and comes with a pen included, unlike Apple’s iPad Pro. But its processor isn’t the fastest and it’s disappointingly expensive, especially compared to the £339 iPad 9.7in. ALTERNATIVE: Asus ZenPad 3S…

TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT Add watermarks to your photos for free ✓ After retiring last year, I decided to turn my passion for photography into freelance work. My friends recommended that I add a watermark to photos in my online portfolio to stop them being used by other people. This led me to uMark - a free program that lets you create your own watermark and add it to a batch of photos in one go. Go to www.freewatermarksoftware.com, click the Download button at the top of the page, run the downloaded setup file and open its desktop shortcut. You’ll need to enter your email address to activate the program. On the left (see screenshot), you’ll see options to add individual images or all the images from a folder. Click…

AGES 0-5 Sago Mini Apartment £2.49 www.snipca.com/27838 (Android) £2.99 www.snipca.com/27839 (iOS) Your child plays as Sago, who is sharing an apartment with his friends, each of whom live on different floors. Each floor has different activities and mini games that will assist their reading, counting and learning about colours and shapes. AGES 6-10 Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery* Free www.snipca.com/27840 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/27841 (iOS) Children familiar with thebooks or movies will love this game. Your child starts as a first-year student. They choose their avatar and which house they’re in. As the game progresses, they learn Quidditch and spells, mix potions and use their skills to investigate mysteries. AGES 11-16 Space Nation Navigator* Free www.snipca.com/27842 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/27843 (iOS) Developed in collaboration with NASA, this app aims to give your teenagers…

Disable the overlay The Windows Snipping Tool lets you take a snapshot of your screen. However, it places a white overlay over the screen while taking the screenshot. If you don’t like this, get rid of it by clicking the Options button that appears when you launch the tool, then unticking the ‘Show screen overlay when Snipping Tool is active’ box (see screenshot below). Capture right-click context menus The Snipping Tool can capture right-click ‘context’ menus that often vanish before you want them to. Launch Snipping Tool, then click the New button. Next, press the Esc key (for access to your desktop), then open the context menu you want to capture. Now hit CTRL+PRTSC (or Print Screen) to take a screenshot with the context menu visible. On some laptops and…

What has the internet ever done for us? All right, but apart from information at your fingertips, instant connections with distant friends and family, free education and Monty Python films in HD on YouTube (www.snipca.com/27741), what has the internet ever done for us? It’s taken 20 short years for this invention to embed itself so deeply that most of us take it for granted. I dream of swapping the litter, traffic and crowds of urban living for a house in the woods, but only if it’s got a decent broadband connection. Keep your supermarkets and even your bin collections – just give me running water and Wi-Fi. But while the internet may feel indispensable, most of us would admit its whirlwind pace of change is hard to keep up with.…

Chrome’s experimental reader mode, Distill, has been around since long before Windows 10, but it’s still not made it into Chrome proper. However, you can enable it with a secret tweak. With Chrome closed, right-click its taskbar shortcut, right-click Google Chrome in the list, and then click Properties. Click inside the ‘Target:’ text box, press End, type a space, and then type --enable-dom-distiller (see screenshot below). Click Apply, then OK. Now when you open Chrome and click the menu icon (three dots), you’ll find a new ‘Distill page’ entry. Click it to reload the current page without the clutter. There are no customisation options, but it’s a start. Alternatively, use a Chrome extension. Free, new, open-source tool Just Read (www.snipca.com/27795) lets you remove blocks of text that you find distracting,…

Q I have a laptop that’s on its last legs. This machine has Windows 10 Pro installed, which was upgraded from Windows 7 Pro. I am purchasing a new laptop, but it has Windows 10 Home. Can I upgrade the new laptop to Windows 10 Pro from my old laptop? If so, how do I do that? John Quinn A Sadly, the answer is almost certainly not. We assume your laptop originally came with Windows 7 Pro pre-installed? That being the case then it would’ve been sold with what Microsoft calls an ‘original equipment manufacturer’ (or OEM) licence. When you upgraded from Windows 7 Pro this licence was subsumed into your Windows 10 Pro licence, so it remains of the OEM variety. You can bore yourself with Microsoft’s full terms…

Q I’ve just entered my eighth decade on this planet and I’ve decided I need to learn to use a computer. Your mag is a great help but I’ve also been attending a local evening class. While showing me how to use Microsoft Word, the tutor explained that pressing Enter added a ‘hard return’, while pressing Shift+Enter applied a ‘soft return’. When I asked him the difference, to his credit he admitted that he didn’t really know – it was just an instruction printed in the guide he uses to prepare the classes! So, could you help us both out by explaining the difference? They appear to do the same to me. William Brock A In many regards they are the same, but there is a subtle functional difference that…

You’ll soon be able to copy and paste items across different computers using Microsoft’s revamped clipboard. It has appeared in a preview build of Redstone 5, the codename for the next Features update of Windows 10, due this autumn. Pressing the Windows key+V opens the ‘cloud clipboard’, in which you can currently save plain text, HTML and images less than 1MB. It also lets you ‘pin’ items you open often, and shows you a history of what you’ve already copied. At the moment it works between computers running Windows 10, but Android and iOS may be added before it’s released fully. To turn on the clipboard you have to click the sliders ‘Save multiple items’ and ‘Sync across devices’ in the Clipboard section in Settings (see screenshot).…

EE’S EARLY? CANCEL FEES EXAMINED Ofcom is investigating the fees EE charges customers for cancelling their contract early. The regulator will examine whether EE’s fees act as a disincentive to switch to another provider, and whether the terms applied to the fees are “clear, comprehensive and easily accessible”. It will complete gathering evidence in August, before publishing an update. Read more on Ofcom’s site www.snipca.com/27771 CHANGE YOUR TWITTER PASSWORD NOW Twitter has advised its 330 million users to change their password after it found a security flaw that exposed them for “several months” on the company’s internal network. To do this, click your top-right profile pic, ‘Settings & privacy’, then Password on the left. Twitter said there was no evidence the passwords had been stolen or misused. MICROSOFT FIXES IE…

Over the years, I’ve become quite friendly with the delivery drivers who serve my area, even if their tight schedules discourage me from inviting them in for a cuppa. Sadly, not all drivers are the personable type. When Manchester resident David Kirk missed a delivery in April he came home to find an Amazon card stuck through his door with ‘ANSWER YOUR PHONE!!’ written on it in aggressive blue biro, next to an ‘angry’ face (pictured). Perhaps the driver was trying to be funny, but he should have realised that the tone was inappropriate, and could be seen as intimidating. Worse, when Mr Kirk contacted Amazon to complain, he was told that the matter would be investigated internally, and he would not hear any more about it. Amazon must show…

Before emailing us, reader Dave Price faced the expensive prospect of paying £500 to replace the motherboard in his HP Envy x360 laptop-tablet (see Issue 526), which cost him £760. That was PC World’s drastic solution to the problem of the USB 3.0 port no longer working. We weren’t convinced by this, so eagerly took up Dave’s case. We told PC World that if the fault was inherent, it must offer him a replacement or refund. Because more than six months have passed since purchase, PC World could have asked Dave to prove the fault was inherent. But instead it refunded him the £60 he had paid for a failed repair, plus £450 in damages. This is much more generous than either we or Dave had hoped for. The reason…

Microsoft would dearly love you to browse the web using Edge, its default choice in Windows 10. So why is it offering phishing protection for its arch rival Chrome? Probably because it realises Edge is doomed (its worldwide market share is just four per cent), and that someone who is scammed while browsing on Chrome is just as likely to blame the operating system (ie, Windows). This extension is a generous gift from Microsoft, because it uses the company’s SmartScreen technology that helped Edge score 99 per cent in an independent security test last year (beating Chrome and Firefox, see www.snipca.com/27695). Chrome already warns you about scam sites, of course. But just as you double-lock your front door at night, it pays to add an extra layer of security when…

How can I compare folders and remove duplicates? Q Can you recommend a program for comparing two different folders or directories? Similarly, would you be able to suggest a duplicate file finder? Alain Franck-Steier A When you copy files or folders from one location to another – to make a backup copy on an external drive, for example – it’s not always clear whether the operation was completed successfully. One way to check would be to compare the two locations to see if there are differences, but File Explorer can’t do this. Similarly, when you move files to another location, it’s possible to leave the originals behind, which can take up hard-drive space. Again, File Explorer can’t check for duplicates. Free software can plug these gaps in File Explorer. Let’s…

PHONE | £489 from AO www.snipca.com/27782 The Mate 10 launched only last autumn, but since the arrival of the Hauwei P20 and P20 Pro (see Issue 527, page 29), its price has been cut. The ‘Pro’ is meaningless to customers in the UK, because the standard version isn’t sold here, but this model certainly feels like a premium product, with an almost borderless 18:9 screen and a classy grey back panel. Just take care with those dual camera bezels, which not only look sharp but could probably deliver a scratch wherever you plonk your phone down. The AMOLED screen is bright, with excellent contrast, although colour isn’t as vivid as on some phone screens. Inside is a Kirin processor comparable to the chips in a Samsung Galaxy S8 or OnePlus…

Although drones can feel like toys, they bring real safety risks. To fly one for paid work, you have to complete a training course (at least £1,000), take out insurance and apply for a licence: see www.snipca.com/27721. At the moment, anyone can fly a drone under 20kg for fun, although the Government is proposing compulsory training. But you need to follow some surprisingly tight rules, summarised in the Civil Aviation Authority’s Drone Code (see www.snipca.com/27722). To avoid collisions with planes, you’re told to stay below 120m (400ft). You must steer clear of airports and prisons, and you can’t fly within 150m (500ft) of built-up areas or 50m (150ft) of people, unless they’re ‘within your control’ (for example, your friends who’ve come to watch). You must also consider the privacy of…

Computeractive has teamed up with TP-Link to offer five readers the chance to test its Deco M5 mesh routers If you’re struggling with poor signals throughout your home, converting to mesh Wi-Fi could be the answer. These systems create a ‘mesh’ of signals between multiple nodes, providing a blanket of Wi-Fi from cellar to loft. One of the best products you can buy is TP-Link’s Deco M5, winner of a ‘Great Pick’ award in Issue 508 (16 August, 2017). Supplied as a set of three dishes, it covers up to 4,500 square feet with high-performance dual-band Wi-Fi, meaning you can get rid of your old boosters or extenders. In total, it can keep over 100 devices connected at the same time. If one node loses the internet connection, the remaining…

Ready to explore your full video-making potential? Pinnacle Studio 21.5 Ultimate features a new, intuitive interface that makes it easier than ever to edit videos. New tools include Selective Color, which lets you highlight a single colour in your picture (see screenshot below), pushing everything else to the background in black and white. It’s a truly unique effect to add to your next video. Version 21.5 Ultimate also offers Split Screen video, enhanced 360-degree editing and Seamless Transitions that add excitement and energy to your cuts. To enter, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘pinnacle’ in the subject line by midnight 5 June. Pinnacle Studio 21.5 Ultimate can be purchased now for £114.95 SRP (VAT inclusive) at www.snipca.com/27715 and is available as a free download for registered Pinnacle Studio 21…

ANDROID & iOS Snooze emails within Gmail In our Workshop on page 35, we show you how to use the new web version of Gmail. One of the new features is the ability to ‘snooze’ emails, letting you hide them until a convenient time that you set. The feature has been available on Gmail for Android for a while now, but has recently been added to the iOS version. Open Gmail (default on Android; iOS www.snipca.com/27825), then tap to select the email that you want to snooze. When it opens, tap the three dots at the top right, then tap Snooze. You’ll see a pop-up screen with five snooze options (see screenshot below). The first three display a specific date and time. Selecting ‘Some day’ will display the email as…

WINDOWS 10 Edit images within Windows Mail Windows 10’s default Mail app lets you rotate and crop photos after you’ve added them. To do this, open the Mail app, click ‘+New mail’ at the top left, then type the recipients and subject line. Next, click the Insert tab at the top, Pictures, navigate to and select the photo on your PC that you want to add, then click Insert. You’ll see a new Picture tab with options. Clicking Rotate displays four options to rotate and flip your photo (see screenshot below). The Crop button displays black bars around the photo’s edges. Click and drag the bar to crop the photo in that direction, then click the Crop button again to confirm your changes. The Size tab lets you set a…

The Snipping Tool is the kind of program you’re likely to use frequently, so it’s sensible to create a keyboard shortcut to open it. In Windows 7, Click Start, ‘All programs’, then Accessories. Right-click the Snipping Tool, then click Properties. Go to the Shortcut tab, click in the ‘Shortcut key’ box, press the key you want to use for your shortcut, then click OK. Windows will now assign that key, prefixed by CTRL+ALT. So if you chose ‘S’ you can access Snipping Tool by pressing CTRL+ALT+S. It’s a similar procedure in Windows 10. Right-click Snipping Tool, then ‘Open file location’. Next, right-click the Snipping Tool shortcut, Properties, then type your shortcut as before. An alternative is to pin the Snipping Tool to the taskbar, so you can use the Windows…

Adblock Plus, Ghostery, OneTab and many other extensions we recommend here demand some hair-raising permissions. In Chrome, they want to ‘Read and change all your data on the websites that you visit’. In Firefox, they want a whole list of privileges including ‘Access (to) your data for all websites (and) browser activity’ (see screenshot right). Crumbs. Here’s more bad news. These permissions are everywhere. Browsers now request them as standard for extensions that affect the way websites load. It’s not sinister, it’s simply how these tools work. For example Adblock Plus needs to access internet data going to and from your browser, so it can spot and block ads en route. It’s great that browsers are being transparent. However, we worry that the alarmist wording may scare many normal users…

CHROME Best for: Extra features Chrome’s extensions leave rivals in the dust. It also integrates smoothly with other Google products and syncs across devices. Market share: 60.64 per cent. FIREFOX Best for: Fast browsing New Firefox Quantum (57+) is twice as fast as its predecessor, and pages load noticeably quicker than in Chrome. Its bookmarking tools are great, too. Market share: 11.73 per cent. OPERA Best for: Anonymous browsing Opera’s free built-in VPN (virtual private network) lets you spoof your location to bypass geographical restrictions. Extremely fast. Market share: 1.53 per cent. VIVALDI Best for: Customisation Makes the internet easier to read and use. You can redesign the browser window, create shortcuts and easily manage bookmarks and downloads. Market share: 0.08 per cent. INTERNET EXPLORER Best for: Familiarity Version 11…

Q Since the Fall Creators Update (FCU) was automatically applied to my Windows 10 PC, it refuses to shut down. Or rather, when I click the ‘Shut down’ option in the Start menu my PC duly shows the ‘Shutting down’ message and my two screens momentarily go blank. Then, seconds later, it starts up again. I have gone into the ‘Power & sleep’ section in Settings to confirm that ‘Shut down’ closes all apps and closes down the PC. Will I need to reinstall Windows 10, or is there a quicker and better method to rectify this fault? Chris Watkis A We doubt you’ll need to reinstall Windows. A change introduced by the FCU is probably causing a conflict with an installed app, because Windows 10 has an option to…

Q I had a Windows 7 PC built that took a long time before it was ready to use. In the meantime, Windows 10 bounded on to the scene, but I don’t want to upgrade. This is not least because I see from Computeractive that it occupies more than 20GB, and my monthly download allowance is just 5GB. If I’m forced to install Windows 10 I will end up paying to download unwanted software. Can I block Windows 10 from installing, and tell it to go away? Geoffrey Boxall A We think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Windows 10 has no ability to force itself on to a Windows 7 PC. Yes, Microsoft offered a free upgrade to Windows 7 users, and yes the company was rather…

Q I recently had a bit of a fright, prompted by my son-in-law needing some more memory for his Samsung J5 smartphone. I had a few spare microSD cards, so attempted to format one in my Acer laptop. However, I could soon smell burning. I quickly managed to pull the card out before total meltdown. As you can see from my photos, both the card and adapter are ruined. Any ideas why a card could fail like this? Alan McAuley A It could be anything from a counterfeit memory card to a hardware fault inside your laptop. There’s even the outside possibility of poorly written drivers allowing too much power to be supplied to the card slot. However, speculation is academic. With something as potentially serious as this we wouldn’t…

1080p Of the common types of high-definition video, this is the best quality: 1920x1080 pixels. 32bit/64bit A measure of how much information a computer can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit, more modern ones are 64bit. 802.11ac A standard for wireless networks that allows for much higher transfer speeds than 802.11n. Benchmarking Comparing software and products with an accepted standard. Beta A version of software that’s being tested. Beta versions are often released so problems can be ironed out. Biometric 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. Blue screen of death Technically called a ‘Stop error’, this is shown when your PC crashes. Botnet A group of infected computers connected…