Computeractive 469

ONLY
£1.99 Get Warned When EDIT YOUR REGISTRY

Y
WINDOWS
10
Your Passwords WITHOUT ERRORS p355
Are Hacked p38
6
016
R 20
ISSUE 469 ❘ 17 FEB – 1 MA
OUTRAGE
Now Microsoft downloads
it to your PC without
Your friendly guide to tec
o gyy
hnolo your permission!
Museum p10 But you CAN stop it p8
Stop
Free entry to the Malware
URGEN
T!
C HANG
YOUR E
SETTIN
GS
NOW!
Microsoft
W7, 8 &
10
SPYING ON
£1.99 YOU
Windows tracks EVERYTHING you do – HOW TO STOP IT
p50
PLUS STOP YOUR WEBCAM

BEST WEBSITE FOR BEING HACKED
FREE SOFTWARE p60 You’ll never know you’re being watched page 40
Available
ailable on Sky Movies
© 2016 M A RVEL
Welcome
EDITORIAL
Group Editor Daniel Booth
Technical Editor Sherwin Coelho
Production Editor Graham Brown
From the Editor
Art Editor Katie Peat
Sorry, no technical or buying advice. Does Microsoft know I’m writing this? I’m
using Word on a Windows 10 PC, so it’s a
ADVERTISING
Advertisement sales & media pack question I’m tempted to ask. You may ask
020 7907 6799
Advertising Director Andrea Mason yourself something similar after reading this
Deputy Advertising Manager Alexa Dracos issue’s cover feature (page 50), in which we
MARKETING AND CIRCULATION reveal how Microsoft’s new operating system
Subscriptions Manager Sarah Aldridge
Marketing Manager Rachel Evans spies on your every move. It doesn’t just know we have it in for Windows 10. That’s not true.
Marketing Production Manager Gemma Hills
For subscription enquiries ring 0844 815 0054
the obvious stuff - your name, age and so on. It We still think it’s a very good operating system
also tracks what you type, targets you with that provides a richer computing experience
PRODUCTION
Group Production Manager adverts and uploads info from your calendar. than its rivals. It’s precisely because we’re such
Stephen Catherall And why is Microsoft doing this? I’ll give you big Windows fans that we feel the need to
Production Controller
Maisie Harvey a clue: it’s one word, five letters long, begins highlight where Microsoft gets it wrong.
MANAGEMENT with M, ends in Y, and rhymes with ‘funny’. Daniel Booth
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MD of Advertising Julian Lloyd-Evans
Given recent cover features, it may seem as if editor@computeractive.co.uk
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17 February - 1 March 2016 5

Contents 17 February – 1 March 2016 • Issue 469
Stop
In this issue… CO
FEA VER
TU
P50 RE
50 Stop Microsoft spying
Microsoft
on you
Ever get the feeling you’re being
watched? Well, it’s probably those
people behind Windows. Here’s
how to stop them tracking your
SPYING ON
every move
58 Windows 10 settings:
YOU
your questions answered
Want to change Microsoft’s defaults? NT!
Perhaps you already have? We explain URGE GE
what happens next and why CHANUR
YO NGS
I
SETT
!
NOW
60 NirSoft’s 10 best programs
One of our favourite software
developers has so many useful free
W7, 8
& 10
tools to offer. We highlight the best 10 Windows tracks EVERYTHING you do – HOW TO STOP IT
W
What happens if you turn off

Windows 10 settings? p58
NirSoft: ten
t off
the best p60
In ev
every
y issu
issue…
iss e…
… A life
f off Pi?
?
N
No thanks
h k
8 News 33 Competition p74
Win Xara Photo & Graphic
11 Question of Designer 11 software
the Fortnight
Is BT treating the British 49 What’s All the Fuss
public like fools? About? Microsoft Research
ch
12 Letters 64 Problems Solved
14 Consumeractive 70 Fast Fixes

Windows shutdown
16 Protect Your Tech
73 Jargon Buster
18 Best Free Software
CloneApp 1.12.633 74 The Final Straw
Ken Rigsby chews up and
30 Buy It! spits out the Raspberry Pi
6 17 February – 1 March 2016

Subscribe
NOW!
See page 62
for our special
subs offer
Reviews
20 Asus Zen AiO Z240ICGT
A do-it-a
all Windows desktop PC
21 Acer Chromebook 15 C910

Decent laptop for undemanding tasks
22 Mesh Elite Voyager Mini CS

A great
g al
all-round desktop PC
23 Phil
hilips 272S4LPJCB
This big
gmmonitor for your PC is
expansiv
p ve and expensive
24 Huawei
Huaw Mate 8
It screen is larger and smarter than
Its
your average large smartphone
Asus
sus Zen
e AiO
O
Z240ICGT
2 0 CG p20 26 Sony Xperia Z5
Feature-heavy phone with slick
de
design, but fragile case
Mesh Elite Voyager Sony
S y Xperia
p a
Mini CS p22 Z5 p26 27 Microsoft Band 2
BUY IT! Is Microsoft’s fitness band fit for
★★★★★ purpose?
28 Wacom Intuos Art

A graphics tablet with substance
an
and stylus
29 Microsoft Display Dock

BUY IT! Tu
Turn your Windows phone into a PC
★★★★★
Workshops & Tips 2015

14 pages of brilliant workshops and expert tips BACK ISSUE CD
35 Edit your Registry 42 Improve your Windows 10
E NOW!
L
ON SA
without errors System Tray
38 Change your passwords 43 Readers’ Tips

on hacked sites Stop Avast hijacking your email
40 Stop webcam hackers 44 Phone and Tablet Tips

spying on you
yo Back up WhatsApp conversations
46 Make Windows Better

Retrieve old-style clock in
Windows 10
47 Make Office Better

Save table templates in Word
BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON
48 Secret Tips For… Action Centre at www.snipca.com/19124
17 February – 1 March 2016 7

News The top stories in the world of technology
Microsoft to download
Windows 10 without approval
M icrosoft has begun to
automatically download
Windows 10 on to PCs
unexpectedly high bills for
people with a limited internet
download allowance or
COMMENT
When does persuasion
running Windows 7 and 8, metered connections.
become coercion? Microsoft’s
prompting fury among users. However, you do have an
latest upgrade trap is
In early February the opportunity to refuse the
dangerously close to the latter.
company changed the update automatic upgrade. After the
We’ve never had a problem
status of Windows 10 from files are downloaded you will
with the company promoting
‘optional’ to ‘recommended’. see a screen asking you to
the new OS. Microsoft should
This means that the new confirm that you want the
be proud that Windows 10
operating system (OS) will be upgrade. At this point you can
revives the best of 7 and
downloaded in the background Ward, slammed the “forced choose to stick with your
removes the worst of 8. But
of any PC that has Windows upgrade” as “an unhelpful and current OS, whether it’s 7 or
the more it strong-arms its
Update switched on, without pushy business practice”. 8. You can also choose to
users into upgrading, the more
the user needing to approve it. It’s the latest ploy in reschedule the Windows 10
it resembles the behaviour
The company outlined its Microsoft’s highly upgrade for a more
of gangster heavies. Could
plans to do this in October last controversial marketing convenient time.
Microsoft’s next tactic be
year (read the blog post at campaign to persuade Critics of Microsoft say that
an email beginning: “Nice
www.snipca.com/19590), Windows 7 and 8 users to many people will be “tricked”
computer you have here -
saying: “Our aspiration is for upgrade. It’s likely to be very into installing Windows 10
would be an awful shame if
customers to choose effective because most people because they have become
something happened to it”?
Windows, and to love leave Windows Update enabled accustomed to clicking ‘OK’ to
Windows”. in order to receive security begin Windows updates. With
Computeractive readers on fixes and new features. this particular upgrade, they users who do accidentally
our Facebook page (www. Microsoft itself “strongly may not realise that they are upgrade. Microsoft gives you
facebook.com/computeractive) discourages” users from agreeing to a whole new 31 days to revert to your
responded with a mixture of disabling Windows Update. operating system. previous OS.
dismay and anger. Peter Microsoft says this won’t
Willetts wrote: “Whatever Huge download happen because users will be Windows 10 overtakes
happened to freedom of The download will take up “clearly prompted” to make a XP and 8.1
choice ? Why do Microsoft between 3.5GB and 6GB of decision, thereby minimising Recent figures suggest that
think they know better than storage space on hard drives. any confusion. Microsoft’s aggressive
us?”Another reader, David Such large files could result in There is a safety net for marketing of Windows 10 is
working. Since December 2015
HOW TO AVOID THE UPGRADE the proportion of PCs running
it has risen to almost 12 per
You can stop Windows 10 Windows Update. Click ‘Change cent, overtaking XP and 8.1.
being automatically downloaded settings’ on the left, then below But Windows 7 remains
in Windows 7 and 8 by ‘Recommended updates’ untick far ahead on 52 per cent.
knowing which box to untick the box ‘Give me recommended Microsoft’s target is to install
in Windows Update. Click the updates…’ (see screenshot). Windows 10 on a billion
Start menu, Control Panel, Click OK. You’ll still receive devices. To hit that, it needs
‘System and Security’, then security updates. to persuade millions of
Windows 7 users to upgrade.
You’ll like this… … but not this

You can now run Windows 95 in your A British hacker escaped prison after
browser (https://win95.ajf.me) pleading guilty (www.snipca.com/19589)

Good riddance to Java! Unsafe IN BRIEF
plug-in to be ditched FIREFOX FIXES 12

SECURITY FLAWS
Mozilla has updated its
One of the most notoriously numbered for some time”. Firefox browser to fix 12
unsafe browser tools – the Java He added that for most of security vulnerabilities, three
plug-in – is being phased out Java’s life “hackers have been of which were rated ‘critical’.
by its maker Oracle. exploiting vulnerabilities in Hackers could have used
Software developers have the plug-in to infect some of the flaws to steal
been using Java for the past 20 computers”. personal information from
years to allow programs to run Oracle said that it will users as they browsed the
in browsers. But it has “deprecate” Java. This means web. The new version of
recently become increasingly that before removing it Firefox, number 44, should
riddled with security flaws, completely Oracle will stop have updated automatically
and many modern browsers encouraging users to install it. on your PC. To check, click
are now incompatible with it. But it didn’t say when support the top-right Menu button
Microsoft’s new browser also hated for coming with the for Java would end completely. (three horizontal lines), the
Edge has never supported Ask toolbar, which installed Other plug-ins – such as question mark at the bottom,
Java, while Google removed itself on to PCs along with the Adobe Flash and Microsoft then ‘About Firefox’. Mozilla
support for it in Chrome in plug-in (read more on the Java Silverlight – are also becoming illustrates these instructions
September last year. Mozilla, site: www.snipca.com/19563). obsolete as browser at www.snipca.com/19541.
which makes Firefox, said it You had to remember to opt developers look to alternative
will follow suit later this year. out of installing the toolbar technologies that don’t need RANSOMWARE ATTACKS
Only Internet Explorer, every time you updated Java. to be installed, such as LINCS COUNCIL WEBSITE
Opera and Apple’s browser Most security experts HTML5. Lincolnshire County Council’s
Safari now support plug-ins. weren’t surprised by Oracle’s If you have Java installed on website was down for five
Java’s demise will come as a decision. Respected blogger your PC, you should consider days in late January following
relief to PC users fed up with Graham Cluley (www. removing it using Oracle’s a ransomware attack on its
having to regularly update it grahamcluley.com) said that instructions at www.snipca. computer system. It was
to fix vulnerabilities. It was Java’s days “have been com/19564. initially reported that hackers
were demanding a £1m
ransom to unlock data on the
TalkTalk phone scam: Indian call-centre website, but the council later
workers arrested said the figure was ₣500
(around £350). After getting
Indian police have its system working again, the
arrested three men at council said that the ransom
a TalkTalk call centre hadn’t been paid, and that no
in Kolkata (Calcutta) data had been stolen.
in connection with
scam calls to UK since the attack it has GOOGLE TO SHOW
customers. conducted “a forensic review ANTI ISIS RESULTS
They are suspected to ensure that all aspects of Google is to start showing
of having stolen our security are as robust as anti-extremist results when
customer data in possible - including that of people search for material
order to con victims our suppliers”. relating to terrorist groups,
out of thousands of pounds. saying in a statement that it Over 101,000 customers such as ISIS. It wants to show
TalkTalk said it alerted Indian remains “determined to left TalkTalk as a result of “counter narratives” that help
authorities following a review identify and deal effectively the hack, the company prevent the radicalisation of
of its data security. with these issues and we will recently announced. This potential jihadists. They will
The arrested men are continue to devote significant figure was much less than appear as Google AdWords,
employed by Wipro, an Indian resource to keeping our expected, amounting to the sponsored links that
IT services company that customers’ data safe”. just three per cent of its appear at the top of search
TalkTalk pays to run its call TalkTalk said there was no customers, though it cost result. It’s not yet clear which
centres. As a result of the evidence that the arrests were the company £60m. search terms will prompt
arrests, TalkTalk says it is related to the well-publicised Sky and BT appeared to these results. A similar system
“reviewing its relationship” hack last October, in which have benefitted most, adding is already used for searches
with Wipro. the details of 157,000 144,000 and 130,000 relating to suicide, which show
The company was quick to customers were stolen. customers respectively in the links to the Samaritans.
reassure worried customers, The company added that final three months of 2015.

News
IN BRIEF Don’t click that button! Google to
AMAZON RELEASES NEW
KINDLE SOFTWARE warn you about dodgy downloads
Amazon is updating several
models of its Kindle e-reader Google has declared announcing the news (www.
with new software. The war on one of snipca.com/19575). In one
most significant feature is the most devious advert, hackers use a fake
a homepage that displays tricks used by “error message” (pictured left)
books you’ve recently read cybercriminals – to dupe people into thinking
books and suggests other fake download they need to update their
titles based on your tastes. buttons that steal media player.
The update – due before your personal details Google’s ‘Safe Browsing’
the end of February – will or install junk on protection is turned on by
automatically be applied to your PC. default in Chrome and Firefox.
the Kindle Voyage, the 2013 As part of its ‘Safe Browsing’ or advert. A red screen will To check in Chrome, click the
and 2015 Paperwhite, and the initative (www.snipca.com/ appear urging you not to menu button (three horizontal
2014 standard Kindle. Read 19576), the company will now visit the site (see screenshot lines), Settings, then ‘Show
Amazon’s announcement at warn Chrome and Firefox below left). advanced settings’ at the
www.snipca.com/19574. users when they are about to Criminals often masquerade bottom. On the next page,
visit a site that it suspects as legitimate companies to under the Privacy section,
NOW FISHER PRICE contains a “deceptive” button con people into clicking links check that ‘Protect you and
TOYS CAN BE HACKED and installing software. your device from dangerous
Fisher Price has fixed a Google will fight this by sites’ is ticked.
security flaw in its ‘smart’ warning you of anything that In Firefox, click the menu
teddy bears that could have tries “to act, or look and feel, button, then the Options cog.
allowed hackers to access like a trusted entity”. Click Security in the left-hand
the account of children Google gave a couple of column, then check all the
who owned them. The examples on the blog post boxes under General are ticked.
vulnerability was exposed
by security company Rapid7,
whose blog (www.snipca. Malware Museum revives old PC viruses
com/19577) claimed that after
stealing personal details an The colourful history of
attacker could have launched computer viruses has been
a “malicious campaign” captured with the launch of
against a child. The toys can the Malware Museum (www.
be controlled and updated snipca.com/19587), an online
through a mobile app. collection of vintage PC
infections. It shows what
happened to PCs running
MS-DOS – Microsoft’s pre-
Tomorrow’s Windows operating system –
world when they were attacked.

The results were as
imaginative as they were
Would you like your great-
great-great-grandchildren devastating. Many viruses they couldn’t be booted from access to all knowledge”.
to relive events of your would show kaleidoscopic the hard drive or floppy disk. It was compiled by Mikko
life? That’s the promise of images, gaudy animations or To relive the full impact of Hypponen, Chief Research
‘electronic immortality’, in blocky graphics that bring to the malware, click the top- Officer for Finnish antivirus
which your experiences are mind computer games from right ‘fullscreen view’ button company F-Secure.
uploaded online for future the 1980s. In one virus the in the museum. It’s Hypponen said his favourite
generations. Dr Ian Pearson words on your PC would be completely safe because all virus was Casino, which forced
says it may be possible by ‘eaten’ by a centipede. destructive elements from the the victim to play a game to
2050. Read more of his The virus pictured, called malware have been removed. unlock files. It typified the
predictions on the website HYMN.COM, displayed words The effect is like turning a mischievous nature of old
for The Big Bang Fair in the shape of a ‘V’ on your virus into a screensaver. viruses which were, he said,
(www. snipca.com/19586), PC screen. Believed to have The Malware Museum has mostly made by “teenage boys
an exhibition for young originated in Russia, it was been created by Internet who were bored”. By contrast
scientists. identified in 1990 and Archive, a free digital library most of today’s hacks are
damaged PCs so severely that that aims to provide “universal linked to organised crime.

?
Question
of the
Fortnight Is BT treating the British
public like fools?
The company was caught mocking a report that criticised its poor broadband service
O f all the skills required

to work at BT, you’d
think knowing how to
properly timely manner”.
It says that Britain
“deserves better”, and should
operate a telephone would be “leading the world on
rank highly. But two press digital investment and
officers for the company innovation”. It accuses BT of
recently committed that being “a company that clings
most embarrassing of to outdated copper technology
mistakes: leaving a message with no long-term plan for
then carrying on talking, the future”.
mistakenly thinking that Most of those stuck on slow
they had hung up. speeds live in the countryside.
It may not sound Shapps said that “BT seems
catastrophic, but they content to ignore forgotten
were ringing the office of rural communities”.
Conservative MP and former BT’s official statement
party chairman Grant wasn’t as disdainful as its
Shapps, who had just press officers were, but it
published a report that did call the report “misleading
investigated BT’s “natural and ill-judged”. The company
monopoly” on UK the comments might be suggested that if its Openreach
broadband. inclined to agree. Many will THE FACTS infrastructure division
Assuming nobody would feel outraged by the press became independent it would
hear, they started to ridicule officers’ attitude, seeing it as • BT press officers were struggle to invest as much as it
the pun in the report’s title: symptomatic of the company’s caught mocking a report does currently. It also pointed
‘Broadbad’ (pictured below). perceived arrogance. from MPs criticising the out that other reports, such as
“Oh, that’s clever,” said one of The report itself is company’s broadband from UK telecoms watchdog
the press officers sarcastically, damning about Britain’s • 121 MPs backed a study that Ofcom, said that the UK’s
“that’s hilarious”. broadband infrastructure, claims 5.7 million people in broadband network is one of
Shapps wasn’t pleased. He blaming the lack of the UK suffer “dire” speeds the best in Europe.
posted the recording online competition in the industry. • They want BT to split from The Government’s digital
(www.snipca.com/19523), Published by the British its Openreach division, economy minister, Ed Vaizey,
calling the press officers’ Infrastructure Group and which runs the UK’s also questioned the wisdom of
comments “contemptuous backed by 121 MPs – both broadband network dividing BT and Openreach.
and dismissive” and saying Labour and Conservative – it He told the Financial Times
that they “appeared simply called for BT to be split from infrastructure because rival that he is “a sceptic” of the
not to care” about the issue. its Openreach division, which ISPs, such as Sky and TalkTalk, proposals, which are currently
BT customers who listen to maintains the cables that would benefit. It has left 5.7 being considered by Ofcom as
comprise UK’s million Brits with “dire” part of its Strategic Review of
broadband network. internet speeds, the report Digital Communications.
All major internet claims, despite BT receiving Vaizey recently said that
service providers £1.7bn from the Government Ofcom is due to make its
(ISPs), except Virgin to fund the delivery of decision by the end of
Media, pay super-fast broadband. February. BT’s press officers
Openreach to carry The report (which can be won’t have harmed the
their service. read at www.snipca. company’s case, but its public
Critics of this com/19528) claims that reputation has taken another
arrangement argue “Openreach makes vast profits battering. Customers can
that BT has no and finds little reason to invest rightly expect employees of
BT’s press officers didn’t appear to take the incentive to improve in the network, install new such a prestigious company
‘Broadbad’ report seriously its broadband lines or even fix faults in a to behave better.

Letters
Tell us what’s on your mind
Email: letters@computeractive.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive
Twitter: @ComputerActive
www.twitter.com/computeractive
ible –
Windows 10 is incredibl Wind
i dows 10: on the Money
why wouldn’t you wan ?
nt it? I was surprised to read that Geoff
I’m amazed by some letterrs Gr
Griffiths is unable to use Microsoft
from readers, and wonder
er whyhy Money y Plus in Windows 10 (Letters, Issue
they use something so modern a as a 468).
) I ha
have now installed Windows 10 on
computer when their minds are four
f PCs
Cs and I have MS Money working
completely closed to progress. Why perfectl
f ly on all of them. On two
would any sane person not want nt a machin
h nes I have the original MS Money
free advance in computing – and d 2005, an
and the other two are running
what an incredible advance Mone ney Plus. One of the machines was
Windows 10 proves to be. alre
l eady running Money 2005 when
I’ve upgraded my desktop PC a andd ffour I uppgraded from Windows 7 to
laptops to Windows 10. The upgrradesd Window
d ws 10, but on the other three I
were accomplished faultlessly and have
h insstalled Money after upgrading.
without any great need for computer XP diehard
diehards are Alan J Brown
know-how. Two of the machines ran ‘worse than dinosaurs’
Windows 8 – they belong to my young Personally, I think it’s generous to Shame that people left
grandchildren and they don’t seem to call Windows XP users ‘dinosaurs’. Friends Reunited for
be having any trouble with the new I would perhaps go back further in time, Facebook
operating system. and say that XP is like the primordial The death
I have never found any update simpler, swamp, and its users like single-celled of Friends
and the improvement in reliability and organisms. I’m sorry if this leads to a Reunited (News, Issue 468) made me sad.
performance has been noticeable on all torrent of abuse from XP devotees, but I used the site quite a bit years ago to
the computers. I’m convinced Windows there have been four operating systems track down old school friends from the
10 will be one of the most loved operating since XP launched, plus countless 1950s, and we’re still in touch. To me, the
systems once people have had time to use updates. website represented a more civilised, less
it for longer. I would understand it if XP was like self-obsessed type of internet, an era BF
Derek Peters a vintage car, and users had spent years (Before Facebook). In these BF years the
renovating it. But XP users don’t continue internet was a pleasant place, an escape
Use Windows 10? Vista is to use it because it’s a design classic from from the real world, somewhere you’d go
still good enough for me a bygone age. They do so because they for fun, curiosity, random discoveries and
Can I be the only one who is fed simply can’t be bothered to learn a new friendly conversation. Now it’s populated
up with people pointing fingers of operating system. by preening morons taking selfies with
derision at people who use a previous Robert Mason preening moronic celebrities.
version of Windows? It gets more
annoying every week, particularly when
there is a new kid on the block like Hospital Wi-Fi is ‘a lifeline’ for patients
Windows 10.
Whenever you buy a new PC you I was rather surprised to read
always get a nasty feeling that a couple of Ruth Stack’s views on free
years down the line a new operating Wi-Fi in hospitals (‘Doctors will
system will come along, at which point take selfies in surgery’, Issue 467).
the manufacturer and other companies My husband was recently seriously
will say that what you’re using is out of ill in a hospital where there was no
date. They say they won’t support it phone signal. Wi-Fi enabled him to
anymore, pointing the finger at you as keep in touch with us at home and
though it was your fault for buying it in also download the daily paper to
the first place. read.
As well as a laptop that runs Windows Having been rushed to hospital
10, I’m still using a Vista desktop myself a year ago, my phone was understand it more fully. Taking a selfie
computer that is perfectly adequate for my lifeline. It helped me keep in touch could not have been further from my
my needs. So everybody can go ahead with friends and family via Wi-Fi or mind. And whoever said, like Ruth did,
and have a good laugh if they want, 3G. It also enabled me to know what that hospitals had to be “solemn
but it’s only a matter of time before was going on in the world and also to places”? Being cheerful and happy gets
Windows 10 is derided as being wholly look up online some of the treatment you well quicker!
inadequate. that I was receiving, allowing me to Linda Hawkins
Dave Quinton

I know Friends Reunited was blamed
for wrecking several marriages, as people STAR LETTER
tracked down old loves online. But for
my peer group it was used in a more
innocent way. We just wanted to catch up
Why are PC sales falling?
and chat about the old days. We all Because they last longer
swapped email addresses and have stayed
in touch. None of us moved on to Your ‘Question of I’m less interested in
Facebook. It’s just a shame that millions the Fortnight’ in computing. I still use my
of other people did. Issue 468 (see image) machines every day. I still
Howard Atkinson asked why PC sales are think they’re better than
plummeting. It seems that any swanky phone or
I have a lot to thank Friends experts are blaming tablet. In fact, I don’t
Reunited for. I lost touch with my phones and tablets, but consider my tablet (a
first love when she moved house aged 16. can I offer an alternative Galaxy Tab) to be a
A lifetime and one divorce later I spotted theory? Could it actually computing device at all.
her on the site, got in touch, and, well, be that computers are It’s more like a TV
reader, I married her! I doubt I’d have had lasting longer these days, alternative, because all I
such success wading through the and need to be replaced do on it is watch videos
narcissists on Facebook and Twitter. less often? and, on occasions, play
Ted Baldwin In this analysis, rather than being on games and do crosswords. Tablets
the decline, computers are actually in will never replace computers because
There were a lot of crocodile tears good health. I’m still using the same they aren’t built for heavy-duty tasks.
shed for Friends Reunited when it Windows 7 Lenovo PC I bought five I once tried to fill in a spreadsheet
was announced that it was closed. If years ago. It may be a wee bit slower on a tablet, and gave up after 20
everyone was so sad to see its demise, than when it was new, but it’s still fast frustrating minutes.
why had millions of people switched to enough for most things I do. The same So, in conclusion: computers are still
Facebook years ago? People forget how goes for the chunky Dell XP PC I use great, tablets are good but overrated,
basic Friends Reunited was. Facebook for offline tasks. and so-called experts don’t know what
isn’t perfect, and it does attract some As a result I haven’t bought a PC for they’re talking about.
idiots, but it’s simply light years ahead of over five years, but that doesn’t mean Alistair McEwan
what came before.
Bryan Robertson
The Star Letter writer wins a Computeractive mug!
Google’s political clout will
only get stronger possible, while paying as little tax on Ban people who use
David Campbell’s fury about those earnings as possible. But that stupid passwords
swords
Google telling the Government doesn’t mean the companies are wrong Every
how to run the country (Letters, Issue about everything. On the debate over issue of
468) made me chuckle. Hate to say this encryption, for example, I’m tempted to Computeractive Password
David, but Google’s influence over agree with Google and Apple. The gives me at least
political affairs is only going to grow Government is getting too much power to one ‘If I ruled the 123456
stronger. Just think how cockahoop intercept our communications. I hope world. . .’ fantasy.
Google must feel that it had to pay a technology companies can continue to In Issue 468 it
measly £130m to the UK taxman. And wield more influence. was reading the news that ‘123456’ was
we’re supposed to feel grateful that it Adrian Sutton the most popular password in 2015. Now,
coughed up at all! if I ruled the world (and don’t rule out
I don’t expect our authorities to fight Indian call centres are that, one day, I will) I would ban anyone
back any time soon. They’re too easily ‘patient and helpful’ who ever used that password from
dazzled by companies like Google and Can I defend the reputation of buying a computer. They have forfeited
Apple because they are seen as ‘cool’. It’s Indian call centres, which have their right to enjoy computers and the
a shame the steel industry doesn’t carry taken a bit of a kicking in these pages? internet because of their stupidity.
the same prestige. While I accept that sometimes the accent Tough? Certainly. Hard to enforce?
Judith Passmore is hard to follow, I have always found the Almost definitely. But the right thing to
staff patient, helpful and understanding do? Absolutely.
The Conservatives may have won – often more so than their counterparts Len Longford
the last election, but they still need in the UK. Yes, it’s good news that BT is
to be held to account. Big companies can moving its call centre back to Britain, but CA says We shudder to think at how Mr
play a part in doing that. Corporations it doesn’t automatically mean we’ll get Longford would treat Lenovo, were he to
obviously have their own vested interests, better service than before. take over the world – see Protect Your
which involve making as much money as Richard Langham Tech, page 14 .

Consumeractive
Is it worth
pursuing a claim Who should refund me -
for a laptop that’s Wowcher or the retailer?
Just before Christmas there
five years old? Q was a Wowcher offer for a
Chuwi V90 Android tablet
My HP dv7-4015sa laptop, which from a company called Chimp
Q I bought from John Lewis in
November 2010 for £549, has
Electronics (www.chimpelectronics.
com). I paid £54 for the tablet plus
developed a black screen and the local £9.99 postage. However, the tablet isn’t
repair shop said it’s an inherent fault ‘new’ (as described), so I’m sure it’s
with the processor. John Lewis told me I refurbished. Also, I’m pretty certain it’s
had to contact HP because it’s an old not HD as was claimed, and it’s rooted
fault. Is this correct? when it shouldn’t be. Surely I’m
Ray Taylor entitled to a refund, but from whom?
Chimp or Wowcher? received the goods the responsibility
No. What matters isn’t whether Darla Wilson for providing a refund or repair shifts
A a fault is old, but exactly how
old it is. For inherent faults, the Darla is right – she is entitled
to the retailer. Within the first 14 days
of receiving the goods you can reject
Sale of Goods Act says that retailers have
to repair or replace the item within six
A to a refund. It sounds like her
tablet was misleadingly
them for any reason under the
Consumer Contract Regulations. If like
years of purchase (five in Scotland). But is described. But we understand her Darla you believe the goods aren’t fit
the case worth pursuing? Ray will need a confusion about who to approach for purpose, aren’t as described, or are
report from his local repair shop to prove because she bought the tablet from inherently faulty, you have six months
the fault is inherent, which will cost him Chimp using a voucher from the to claim a full refund, although you can
£49. Ray is entitled to a pro rata refund, ‘group-buying’ website Wowcher. In also request a repair or replacement.
but this will amount to only £60 because cases like these legal responsibility is Although in Darla’s case Wowcher is
he’s used the laptop for over five years. shared between the voucher site no longer responsible, it told us that it
That said, if John Lewis accepts the repair (Wowcher) and the retailer (Chimp). will investigate her claim against
shop’s report it will have to refund Ray Which company you contact depends Chimp because it is “always happy to
the £49 fee. If it rejects the report, Ray is on where you are during the purchase assist a mutual customer in any way
left with the small claims court, which process. Let us explain. we can”. We hope Wowcher can put
costs £30. We’ve contacted John Lewis to If you want to cancel a voucher pressure on Chimp to either refund
see what it plans to do, pointing out there before you redeem it, the group-buying her, or provide an
is a known problem with website must refund you. But after unrooted replacement
some of the processors you’ve redeemed the voucher and that is as described.
used in this laptop.
How long should a refurbished item last?

In May last year, an assistant at It may be correct that Apple’s
Q an Apple store said my iPhone 5
had a blown motherboard (our
A warranty lasts only 90 days, but
it’s also irrelevant. What counts
image shows a healthy one). Because the is that John is still covered by the Sale of
warranty had run out, I had to pay £199 Goods Act and is therefore entitled to a
for a refurbished replacement. This has refund if the phone is broken. But Apple
now failed after just eight months, and maintains it is working fine. We told John
the battery won’t charge. Apple tested the to go back to the Apple store to ask for products. Even so, eight months for a
phone, concluded there was nothing more tests. refurbished iPhone is deeply
wrong with it and rejected my claim, John’s case also raises the issue of how unsatisfactory. We told Apple this in
saying that the new warranty is valid for long refurbished items should last. This the hope of nudging the
only 90 days. Is this the case? isn’t set by law, though it is accepted that company toward
John Chisem they won’t survive as long as new refunding John.

Contact us so we can investigate your case
Email: consumeractive@computeractive.co.uk
Write: Consumeractive, Computeractive, 30 Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JD
Please include both your phone number and address.
Unfortunately, we can’t reply to all your letters.
W sstand up for your legal rights
We
Can a retailer change the length of a warranty?

I recently bought a Panasonic think the terms of purchase weren’t fair.
Q Lumix FZ 200 camera from
SLRHut (http://slrhut.co.uk)
It doesn’t matter whether the item is
faulty or not, nor whether the retailer
that was advertised with a two-year was trying to scam you or simply made
warranty. But SLRHut has now sent me a mistake. William needs to decide how
an email saying the warranty is for one important the warranty is. If he is deeply
year only. Isn’t this illegal? unhappy about it, he should contact
William Morrow SLRHut asking for a refund under
Unfair Trading Regulations.
Only if the retailer is trying to Read more about these rules
A con you, and that can be very
hard to prove. In most cases like
on Which?’s website: www.
snipca.com/19493.
this, the mistake is likely to be a genuine We’ve seen a sharp rise in the
error rather than an attempt to deceive. number of complaints about screenshot of the website offering the
However, you can claim a refund under warranties that turn out to be shorter warranty. Make sure you attach it if you
the Unfair Trading Regulations if the than advertised. We’re not sure if email us with a complaint. In the
warranty was the pivotal factor in your companies are being cynical or careless, meantime, we’ll talk to Trading
purchasing decision. These give you 90 but it’s a worrying trend. One way to Standards to get its views on
days to return an item for a refund if you boost your legal chances is to take a misleading warranties.
CASE UPDATE THIS WILL COME IN USEFUL

Silence from Acerr on
broken laptop Instructions to uninstall programs
We’ve been frustrated ini
ader
our attempt to help read Adobe Flash Internet Explorer
Jan Mclean, who receiveded a www.snipca.com/19468 www.snipca.com/19463
faulty Acer laptop as a
competition prize (see Issue 465). Adobe Reader iTunes
Jan explained that the Aspire E keeps www.snipca.com/19474 www.snipca.com/19466
randomly switching itself off, and has
now been repaired three times by Syn-Star (http://
(h p // Avast Java
syn-pc.co.uk), the shop that supplied it. www.snipca.com/19477 www.snipca.com/19469
The complicating factor is that because Jan didn’t buy the
laptop, she doesn’t have a contract with any of the companies AVG Kaspersky
involved - Acer, Syn-Star or Breeze FM (the radio station that www.snipca.com/19472 www.snipca.com/19478
ran the competition). Syn-Star has provided good service in
repairing the laptop, but three failed attempts suggest the Chrome Malwarebytes
computer is inherently faulty. If so, only Acer can help. While the www.snipca.com/19461 www.snipca.com/19476
company isn’t legally responsible, we thought it might replace
the laptop as a goodwill gesture. Dropbox Norton
But so far we’ve heard nothing from Acer. It hasn’t responded www.snipca.com/19465 www.snipca.com/19475
to any of our emails or phone calls, not even to reject the case.
We realise that Jan’s complaint may not be top of Acer’s list of Firefox Office
priorities, but the company’s silence is very disappointing. www.snipca.com/19462 www.snipca.com/19464
We hope somebody at Acer reads this and at least
acknowledges Jan’s situation, because what was a happy Google Drive Skype
experience for her - winning a competition - has turned rather www.snipca.com/19470 www.snipca.com/19467
sour. We’ll keep pursuing Acer, and send a copy of this article to
the company’s boss. We hope to have more positive news to Google Earth
report soon. www.snipca.com/19471

Protect Your Tech
Scams and threats to avoid, plus new security tools
WATCH OUT FOR…
Lenovo’s password gaffe

What happened? launch attacks. It was forced to release
Lenovo, the world’s biggest a tool to help people uninstall it (www.
PC manufacturer, was caught snipca.com/19501).
using the password ‘12345678’ This was followed in December
for one of its programs. by the emergence of a flaw in the
Researchers at Core Security Lenovo Solution Center tool, for which
discovered that the password, the company issued an update: www.
which is notoriously easy to snipca.com/19502.
guess, is built into ShareIt
(http://shareit.lenovo.com), a Core Security spotted several other What should you do?
file-sharing tool that comes with many security flaws in ShareIt, the worst of If you use ShareIt you should update it
Lenovo computers. It can be used to which transfers files in plain text, straight away by following Lenovo’s
moves files between computers and allowing hackers to access them. Lenovo instructions at www.snipca.com/
Android devices. issued an update in January to fix the 19500. To make the Windows version
The password in question is used problems, three months after Core said it of ShareIt safe you must enable the
for a Wi-Fi hotspot that’s created first informed the company about them. ‘Secure mode’ option (see screenshot).
when files are sent from a Windows It’s the latest in a series of security In the Android app you need to turn on
PC. To make matters worse, it is scares involving Lenovo computers. ‘Hotspot Encryption’. We doubt this
hard-coded into the system, which In February 2015, the company admitted will be the last flaw exposed in
means it can’t be changed to something that its Superfish adware, which Lenovo’s built-in tools. We’ll tell you
more secure. was built into its PCs, allowed hackers to what to do each time one is uncovered.
New tools IE11’s new settings

www.snipca.com/19503
ScamWatch
READERS WARN READERS
It’s time to give Microsoft some
credit. The company has been Will BT suspend my
heavily criticised – not least in broadband?
Computeractive – for nagging In January, I got a call from someone
Windows 7 and 8.1 users into purporting to be from BT. He quoted
upgrading to 10. And its hectoring my BT account number and said that
will surely get worse as the ‘free other people were using my
upgrade’ deadline approaches (28 broadband without my knowledge.
July). But at least it isn’t leaving He said that BT would suspend my
Internet Explorer (IE) users high broadband for 72 hours, and send a
and dry. In January, it updated the technician to my house. I told him it
ageing browser to let you ‘lock’ was a scam and hung up. Worryingly,
your home page and default the account number he gave me was
search engine, thus preventing correct. BT confirmed to me that the
adware from changing them. IE to Edge, it won’t abandon – not yet call hadn’t come from them, but they
Yes, it’s the sort of feature that should anyway – those sticking with IE. Click didn’t seem concerned about this
have been in IE anyway. Microsoft had the link above to read Microsoft’s apparent breach of security involving
added it to Edge (its replacement for IE) instructions on enabling the new their customer’s account details.
in November. But better late than settings. It involves tweaking IE’s Joy Davies
never. It’s a reassuring sign that while ‘Internet options’ and ‘Manage Warn your fellow readers about scams at
Microsoft wants people to move from add-ons’ sections (see screenshot). letters@computeractive.co.uk

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CloneApp is a clever tool that can help you with precisely stick and run it from there. You can also back up the settings
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settings for your programs so that you can restore them when plugging the stick into your clean or new PC, running the
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1 CloneApp lists all the 2 Click Custom to create your 3 Click Options to change 4 For each program, you’ll
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WHAT SHOULD I DOWNLOAD?
We tell you what software to use
How can I restore lost

photographs?
Having returned from holiday, I discovered I
Q had somehow lost or accidentally deleted all
the photographs I took. I was advised to try a
program called Flash File Recovery. Will this work, or is
there something better?
Kevin Keeley
EMAIL CLIENT
We suggest starting with Wise Data Recovery, which
FossaMail 25.2.0 A has just been updated with improved scanning and
www.fossamail.org Windows 10 support (www.snipca.com/19366,
What you need: Windows Vista, 7, 8/8.1 or 10 pictured). When you install it, make sure you decline any
unwanted tools you’re offered. It scans camera memory
The Mail app in Windows 8 and 10 isn’t a patch on good old cards and external drives for lost files as well as your PC.
Outlook Express – and Windows 7 doesn’t even come with an However, if the files were
email program. For many years, Thunderbird has been the best deleted from your PC, use
free alternative, but Mozilla has no plans to develop it further. In another computer to download
its place, consider FossaMail, which is based on Thunderbird’s the portable version of the
open-source code, and supports its add-ons and plug-ins, program (www.snipca.
including the excellent Lightning calendar and organiser. Click com/19367), which you can
the ‘Download from FOSSHub’ button, then select ‘Download transfer to (and run from) a
FossaMail Windows 32-bit (x86)’ or ‘Download FossaMail USB stick. That way you’re not
Windows 64-bit (x64)’ depending on whether your system is in danger of overwriting
32bit or 64bit. Lightning can be downloaded from the same page. potentially recoverable files by
downloading or installing any software on your hard drive.
Launch the program, click Scan, then use the folder
structure on the left to browse likely locations, or the Input
Keywords box on the right to search for a file type. Tick any
files you think might be the ones you lost, then click Recover.
The program will prompt you to recover the files to a
different storage device, again to prevent overwriting hidden
data, so plug in a USB stick. If Wise Data Recovery comes up
empty-handed, there are other free tools you can try, including
Recuva Free (www.piriform.com/recuva), and Undelete 360
(www.snipca.com/19371). Avoid Flash File Recovery because
it’s only a trial version and charges £35 to unlock files.
Do you need our advice on what software to use?
Just email us at letters@computeractive.co.uk
IMAGE FINDER
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The Definitive Guide
What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8/8.1 or 10 to Free Software
You’ll find more superb
Have you ever wished you’d copied an image from a web free programs in our new
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ImageCacheViewer from NirSoft may help. It scans your Guide to Free Software
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when your browser is closed. For more excellent NirSoft
programs turn to page 60.

Reviews New products tested by our experts
PC ❘ £1500 from Currys www.snipca.com/19555
Asus Zen AiO Z240ICGT

T
One of the best four-figure PCs available
First things first: don’t let that trying to quickly pl g

plug
eye-watering price put you off. Yes it’s your headphones iin.
very expensive, but this Asus PC is one The SD card readerr is
of the few Windows PCs that’s worth similarly inaccessiblible,
spending four figures on. If you’re and the rest of the p ports
tempted to splash out a similar amount are barely reachablle at
on an Apple iMac – don’t. This PC has the bottom left. Wh l the
hile h
design touches every bit as good as those iMac’s smooth, flatt b base
you’ll find in Apple’s computers, and makes it easy to tu urn to
of course it runs Windows 10, a much access the rear, thehe Zen
better operating system than OS X. AiO’s forked prong ngs are
less mobile.
A more serious g h llack
grievance is the k
It’s one of the of an equivalent to h iMac’s access
o the
hatch. This lets you h
ou cheaplyly upgrade
g d theh
fastest PCs we’ve memory in the 27in in iMac (though not the
ever tested 21.5in model) to as much as 32GB. Asus

provides a sensible 16GB as standard, but
want. Versions of the Zen AiO are also
available with a fast 128GB SSD as well as
there’s no option for more, and you can’t a hard drive.
Like Apple, Asus has mounted a open the case. We liked the Zen AiO, but it’s very
slender aluminium crescent on a solid There’s better news at the front. The Zen expensive. If the 4K display isn’t essential,
one-piece tilting stand. Its characteristic AiO’s 24in display – halfway between the you can get cheaper configurations
gold-tinged brushed metal is just as iMac’s two sizes – covered the whole sRGB (£1,299 with SSD from Very at www.
upmarket as Apple’s silvery anodised colour range with high levels of accuracy snipca.com/19556). There’s also a smaller
finish. The rear panel is clearly modelled in our tests, and its 4K (3840x2160) 21.5in version with a slower i5 processor
on the iMac, with the power socket at the resolution looked extremely sharp. (£1,000 with SSD from John Lewis at
centre, where its cable feeds through a It has a touchscreen, so you have the www.snipca.com/19557).
cut-out in the stand. option to reach out to tap a button or
SPECIFICATIONS
Asus has also put the Ethernet and scroll a web page. What’s more state of
2.8GHz Intel Core i7-6700T quad-core processor •
headphone ports here, which makes the art is the RealSense webcam, which 16GB memory • 1TB hard drive • Nvidia GeForce GTX
sense for permanently connected network works with Windows’ ‘Hello’ facial- 960M graphics • 23.8in 3840x2160-pixel screen •
and speaker cables, but not when you’re recognition feature to unlock your RealSense camera • 802.11ac Wi-Fi • Bluetooth 4.0
computer as soon as it sees you. It can
comput • 4x USB 3.0 ports • 1x USB 3.1 Type-C port • Gigabit
Ethernet • 2x HDMI ports • SD card reader • Windows
l be
also b used along with a few motion- 10 Home • 434x585x190mm (HxWxD) • 7.3kg •
trracking apps. One-year warranty www.snipca.com/19558
Inside the Zen AiO is one of
Intel’s newest and fastest
In VERDICT: It’s expensive, but the screen
processors, the i7-6700T, putting it
pr is superb, it has a fast processor and it
ght alongside the fastest desktop
righ looks fantastic
PCCs we’ve tested. It’s accompanied
by aan Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M ★★★★☆
g hics card, which will cope fine
graphi
ALTERNATIVE:
withh any 3D game.
HP Pavilion 27-n n170na
0 a
Th s level of performance makes tasks
This
ance iss in
£999 Performance
l k vid
like deo editing quite feasible. The only
the same league, b
e, but
catch iss the slow 1TB standard hard drive.
the 27in Full HD screen
sc ee
Withth fou
four fast USB 3.0 ports available,
is coarse by
and d onee even faster ‘10x’ USB 3.1 Type-C,
comparison
y can
you n add quicker external drives if you

LAPTOP ❘ £255 from Ballicom www.snipca.com/19452
HOW WE TEST
Acer Chromebook
mebook 15
5 C910
C 0
Computeractive is owned by Dennis
Publishing, which owns a hi-tech facility
for testing the latest technology. You’ll
The biggest Chromeb
ebook
k yet
y t often read references to our benchmark
testing, which is a method of assessing
products using the same criteria. For
Chromebooks use Google’s leess example, we test the speed of every
demanding Chrome OS softw ware, PC and the battery life of every tablet
rather than Microsoft’s Wind ndows,, in exactly the same way. This makes
as a way of getting acceptable le our reviews authoritative, rigorous
performance out of very chea eap hardware.
h d and accurate.
And when you’re trying to makem k a Dennis Publishing also owns
laptop for as little money as the magazines PC Pro, Computer
possible, you don’t start withth Shopper, Web User and Micro Mart
a massive screen. So most and the website Expert Reviews
models come in an 11 or 13in (www.expertreviews.co.uk). This
format. Acer’s Chromebook 15 means we can test thousands of
C910 is the exception to the rule,
r l with ha products before choosing the most
full 15.6in display. relevant for Computeractive.
The catch is that it doesn’t show
sh any
y It’s poweredd by an Intell Celeron
l 3205U
own up
more pixels; they’re just blow p bigger
b gg dual co e processor.
dual-core p y Windows
By d 10 FAIR AND IMPARTIAL
(there is a version that comes with a standards, this might as well be a Our writers follow strict guidelines to
1920x1080-pixel Full HD screen, but it six-year-old child doing sums with a ensure the reviews are fair and
isn’t sold in the UK). So although icons, crayon. But for Chrome OS, it’s adequate, impartial. The manufacturer has no
labels and word- processor text look and Acer has paired it with a relatively involvement in our tests.
relatively large, they don’t look very crisp. generous 4GB of memory. We found that
Still, we found colour accuracy and apps ran smoothly, web pages loaded OUR AWARDS
contrast weren’t terrible, so you could without the stuttering you’d normally We award every product
have a go at tasks like photo-editing, expect on a cheap Windows or Android that gets five stars our
using apps such as Pixlr Touch Up, if device, and switching between several BUY IT! Buy It! stamp of approval.
you had a mind to. tabs didn’t test our patience. ★★★★★ It means we were
There is the option to buy the C910 extremely impressed by the product,
with an Intel Core i3 processor and 32GB and we think you will be too.
Average screen, of storage, but the cheapest we found for
these specs was £345, which seems a lot. Every product that gets a
modest storage, but it’s If you’re committed to trying the Chrome four-star review is given
way – everything in the cloud, nothing on the Great Pick award. We
a smooth performer your hard drive – 16GB should be highly recommend these
enough. But if you don’t need a big products, although they just fail to meet
screen, consider Dell’s Chromebook 11 the high standard of our Buy It! winners.
Chrome OS is designed for working on instead. For a similar price (£221 from
the web, though some apps also work www.snipca.com/19449), it’s far less PRICES
offline for when you can’t get an internet bulky and even tougher. Our reviews contain a link to the best
connection (see the list of apps at www. At 2.2kg, the C910 falls into the price we found online at the time of press.
snipca.com/19454). However, that’ll ‘luggable if necessary’ category rather
only work if you have room on your than than the truly portable, but this is
Chromebook for apps and documents, partly because it’s built to withstand VERDICT: It’s a shame the display isn’t
b t the
but th C910 comes rough treatment. And yet the flimsy lid better, but if you find small screens
h only
with ly 16GB didn’t quite convince us in this respect, hard to read, the C910 could be the
off storage.
g though the C910 does feel reasonably well Chromebook for you
made, with a very usable full-size
★★★☆☆
keyboard and smooth trackpad.
ALTERNATIVE: Toshibaiba Satellite C40
C40-C
C
SPECIFICATIONS £199 This 14in laptop with
1.5GHz Intel Celeron 3205U processor • 4GB memory Windows 8.1 (upgradada
dable
• 16GB flash storage • 15.6in 1366x768-pixel screen •
free to Windows 10) is great
g
Webcam • SD card slot • 1x USB 2.0 port • 1x USB 3.0
port • 802.11ac Wi-Fi • Chrome OS • 24x383x256mm value if Chrome
(HxWxD) • 2.2kg • One-year warranty doesn’t appeal

Reviews
PC ❘ £999 from Mesh www.snipca.com/19458
Mesh Elite Voyager Mini CS

Everything you want in a desktop PC, but smaller
BUY IT!
Why do retailers always knock a penny
★★★★★
or a pound off prices? Back when
Computeractive was born in the 1990s, a
practical general-purpose desktop PC
used to cost about £1,000. But they’d
always make it £999.
Some psychologists reckon this works
because when we see an awkward
number, we estimate the nearest round
figure. So we see £999 and think £1,000.
Now that we’re thinking about £1,000,
£999 sounds a bit less. And a bit less
must be better value!
black, which makes it all but invisible. The two handy USB ports on the
It may be pricey but If you’re using it as part of a home- front of the case support USB 3.0, and
entertainment system, it could be tucked there are four more like them on the
it’s fast, future-proof away wherever you’d put a subwoofer back, along with two meeting the even
(assuming your cables stretch that far). Its faster USB 3.1 standard and two basic
and handles all your big, quiet fans won’t be audible there. It USB 2.0 sockets for your mouse and
peripherals does lack a standard DVD drive (they
really will be extinct soon) so there’s no
keyboard. All your older USB peripheral
devices can plug into any of those.
need to keep it within easy reach. Both wired and wireless networks are
Economists, meanwhile, note that once What’s inside? For starters you have handled at top speed by a Gigabit
a price point is established, it tends to an Intel Core i7-6700K processor, from Ethernet port and 802.11ac Wi-Fi, the
stick. The £999 PC was around for quite a Intel’s new Skylake range, which would latter with an external aerial for the
while. Eventually the cost of components cost you £300 on its own. It’s very fast. As best reception.
drifted down, and you could get a pretty a comparison, we’ve seen £500 PCs using Not everyone needs to spend this much
decent desktop for £899, then £699. AMD’s Athlon X4 860K processor, which on a PC. But if you want no limitations
Today you can find something without runs at 4GHz – like the i7-6700K. and no need to upgrade for years to come,
too many compromises even for £499, or However, the Intel processor scored the Voyager Mini CS is a fine choice.
five hundred quid, as your brain just nearly three times higher in our tests.
rightly estimated. That means it’ll cruise through any SPECIFICATIONS
That being the case, why would you task, no matter how ambitious, aided and 4GHz Intel quad-core i7 6700K • 16GB memory
spend a grand on a PC? The compact abetted by a generous 16GB of memory. If • 250GB SSD • 1TB hard drive • Nvidia GeForce
GTX 970 • 2x USB 3.1 ports • 6x USB 3.0 ports •
Mesh Elite Voyager Mini CS answers the you think you’ll need even more, for £168
2x USB 2.0 ports • Gigabit Ethernet port • DVI port
question rather elegantly, and, of course, you can upgrade to 32GB when ordering, • HDMI port • 2x Mini DisplayPort • Windows 10 •
with a pound to spare. On the outside, or swap the modules later yourself. 210x250x374mm (HxWxD) • Two-year warranty
it’s not so much like a PC as a first-aid Heavy-duty creative jobs, like video www.snipca.com/17781
box. The plain white case also comes in editing, will benefit from the Nvidia
GeForce GTX 970 graphics card, as long as VERDICT: The Intel Skylake i7 processor
your software can take advantage of it. gives you exceptional processing
To store all your programs and files, the power, and the rest of this system
1TB Seagate Barracuda hard drive is amply keeps up
included. It is exceptionally fast, but you
★★★★★
also get a 250GB SSD on a high-speed M.2
connector. With Windows 10 running ALTERNATIVE: Scan 3XS
from this, you can start up the PC and Z170 £1,070 This impressed d
load programs almost instantly. There us in the autumn, but it has
are three SATA3 connectors left over for a weaker i5 processor and
more internal drives if you need them only 8GB of memory, so the he
later (you will if you shoot a lot of photos Mesh is better value
or videos).

PC MONITOR ❘ £305 from Insight www.snipca.com/19480
The best…
Philips 272S4LPJCB Headphones
A big screen with style
Skullcandy Grind
£30 from
Twisted nematic and in-plane www.snipca.com/19513
switching are types of what? A comfortable pair of headphon ones
You’d probably only encounter makes radio or TV on your PC or
this question on Mastermind mobile device much more involving. The
if your specialist subject was Grind is an on-ear pair, which means
‘geeky jargon’. For what it’s worth, it rests on the ear – unlike ‘over-ear’
they’re types of LCD panels. headphones that cover it. It provides
It was twisted nematic (TN) displays surprisingly great audio quality with a
that, in the 1980s, first made detailed rather than thumping bass.
flatscreens viable. A backlight shines A mic is included.
towards two polarising glass plates, one
at right-angles to the other. Because a just as good. Here’s one. The Philips
polariser cuts out all light waves except 272S4LPJCB impresses even before you Plantronics BackBeat Pro
ro
those aligned with it, this eliminates turn the screen on: its matt grey finish £119 from
half the light and then the other half, looks professional, and the understated www.snipca.com/19517
leaving darkness. case exudes quality. These chunky over-ear
With 12cm of height adjustment, headphones have two special
rotation, tilt and the ablity to pivot into features: wireless and noise-cancelling.
It’s very adjustable portrait mode, it’s easy to get the screen They can connect to your PC, phone or
exactly where you want it. A pair of tablet via Bluetooth, and built-in audio
with a decent screen, 2-watt speakers caters for basic audio, technology can block out background
but nothing justifies and if you prefer headphones for music

or films, there’s a handy 3.5mm jack on
noise, both for you and for callers
listening to you via the inline mic. Sound
the hefty price tag the bottom edge.
In our tests, the display covered an
quality is excellent, although the cups
won’t completely encircle most ears.
excellent 99.6 per cent of the sRGB colour
But within each pixel, LCD crystals lie range, with good contrast. But colours
between the plates in a twisted pattern. weren’t always accurate: greys looked Sennheiser Momentum 1.0
These rotate the light that’s passed slightly red, and reds were too vivid. £100 from
though the first polariser so it can pass It’s good enough for everyday photo www.snipca.com/19514
through the second. Only when a voltage editing, and from wider angles we only These closed-back over-ear
is applied to break the pattern does the saw a mild shadow effect. The on-screen headphones (not to be confused ed
pixel go dark. This system is repeated menus provide lots of options, including with the Momentum On-Ear)
across trios of red-, green- and blue- showing two inputs at once and dimming were originally much more expensive,
tinted pixels to make a colour image. when you walk away. and are now discounted because
TN screens couldn’t show a full range The monitor’s sticking point is price. they’ve been superseded by a new
of colours, though, and looked wrong We couldn’t find it for under £300, and model. Their flat, spacious sound, with
when viewed off-centre. In the 1990s, that’s more than you need to pay for a rich bass and lots of detail, will do
in-plane switching (IPS) displays good but unexceptional 27in screen. justice to the highest-quality audio.
rearranged the crystal molecules to
scatter less of the light, enabling wider VERDICT: This is a beautifully made
viewing angles and more accurate monitor with lots of adjustments, but AKG K451
colours. The downsides were lower nothing stands out quite enough to £40 from
contrast and slower switching, causing justify its cost www.snipca.com/19516
ghosting in moving images. These cushioned on-ear
★★★☆☆
For a long time, IPS was considered headphones have been popular for
superior. But TN was evolving too, and ALTERNATIVE: AOC Q2778VQE £215 years. Supplied in a travel case, they
now many mid-range TN monitors are It doesn’t rotate and there’s
e’s no
o fold up small but sound big, and come
height adjustment or with an inline mic and remote, and
SPECIFICATIONS speakers, but this much some handy jack adapters. They’re
27in TN LCD • 2560x1440-pixel resolution • 1x HDMI
port • 1x DVI port • 1x DisplayPort • 1x VGA port •
cheaper TN panel has a classic blend of quality and
540x639x244mm (HxWxD) • One-year warranty better colour accuracy convenience.

Reviews
PHONE ❘ £429 from Huawei w
p 9 92
Huawei Mate
ate 8
A super-sized smartph
hone
e
When the iPhone was launched in n 2007,,

it changed mobiles forever. Previo ly
iously,
a phone was mostly buttons. Now w it
was mostly screen. In fact, so
much of it was screen that there
was no obvious reason for the othe her
bits. Surely it might as well go righ
ight to
the edge?
Manufacturers still haven’t quitite
figured out how to achieve that, b h
but this b
backk wakes
k it from
f l
sleep d bly
incredibly
extra-large smartphone from Hua awei is kly and
quickly, d when
h theh h g d
huge l y llights
display gh
as close as we’ve seen. There’s a sl e of
sliver l k great.
up it looks g b gh with
It’s bright h great
g
space at the top for the speaker and lfi
nd selfie contrast,, andd our tests found
f d it covered d
camera, and a slightly larger sliveer at the
h p cent off the
99.3 per h sRGB
s GB colour
l g
range. Hea thsto e The Mate
Hearthstone. ate 8
8’ss broad
b oad format
fo at
bottom for… well, just to write ‘Hu uawei’ th a standard
With sta da d Full
ull HD resolution
esolut o of ggives it room ffor a llarge
g b y which
battery, h h
on. The 6in screen fills all the spa
pace in p l it’s not quite
1920x1080 pixels, q h p
as sharp llastedd us jjust short
h off 12 h hours off video
d
between, leaving only the slenderest st off as mostt currentt high
high-endnd smartphones,
rtph playback,
pl back so you can usually be sure off
ally b
borders to the left and right. but you’d be hard pushed to see the getting through the day.
difference with the naked eye. The Mate 8 has one final flaw, though.
Things aren’t quite so impressive when Its 16-megapixel rear camera takes
A large, impressive you come to using the software. The pictures that are acceptable at first glance,
Mate 8 comes with the latest version with good colour and contrast indoors
screen makes use of of Google’s Android (6, also known as and out. But look closer, and what should
Marshmallow), which is good. But be detail is a smeary blur. We’ve seen
every inch, but the Huawei has put its own ‘skin’ over the plenty of worse cameras, but rarely on
top, which is bad. App icons look basic, phones this pricey. Similar Android
camera is poor with rounded corners that imitate phones take much crisper photos.
Apple’s but don’t suit Android, and the That’s a shame, because Huawei had
This means that even though it has a way some of the screens are laid out just almost convinced us bigger was better.
noticeably bigger display than Apple’s wastes space, which looks ridiculous on Web browsing, watching videos and
iPhone 6s Plus, the Mate 8 is almost such a large screen. typing emails feels less cramped on the
exactly the same size overall. Available Still, that’s the sort of thing we’re likely Mate 8 than on a regular phone, even if
in black or white, it’s half a millimetre to notice, because we test lots of different it’s not always easy to use with one hand.
thicker than Apple’s phone, but that’s Android devices. You might not find it
still pretty slim. Chamfered edges provide much different from any other phone. SPECIFICATIONS
sufficient grip so you won’t let go of it, The touchscreen, as you’d expect, 6in 1920x1080-pixel screen • 16-megapixel rear
camera • 8-megapixel front camera • 32GB flash
and the simple metallic design makes it a responds instantly to taps and swipes, storage • MicroSD card slot • 802.11ac Wi-Fi •
very striking device. and everything happens quickly and Bluetooth 4.2 • 3G/4G • 157x81x7.9mm (HxWxD) •
Nor will you be disappointed when you smoothly. The Mate 8’s Kirin 950 185g • One-year warranty www.snipca.com/19492
turn it on. The fingerprint sensor on the processor comfortably beat leaders like
the iPhone 6s and Samsung’s Galaxy S6 VERDICT: The camera and software
in tests where all of its eight cores leave a lot to be desired, but the Mate 8
could be used, and even in gets our vote for squeezing such a large
single-core tasks it was up at the top screen into a handy-sized device
table. Complicated web pages – a
★★★★☆
stumbling block for a lot of Android
phones – didn’t challenge it at all. ALTERNATIVE: Samsung
The Kirin doesn’t handle graphics Galaxy Note 5 £500 This much--
quite so well, meaning it could struggle o
praised phablet is expected to
with more demanding 3D games, reach the UK any day now, so
especially as time goes on. You’ll rarely it might be worth holding fire
notice a problem if you stick to more to compare the two
prosaic games, even prettier ones such as

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Reviews
PHONE ❘ £408 from O2 www.snipca.com/19505
Sony Xperia Z5
A more interesting phone than you think
Sometimes the best upgrades are the you should appreciate the Z5’s
subtlest. Sony’s Z2, Z3 and Z3+ made design, which rivals Apple’s for
slow progress, and the Z5 still looks much luxurious minimalism. A
the same. But this is actually a great new fingerprint reader has been
phone. As before, the metal and glass added to the power button on
case (available in white, black, blue-green the right-hand edge, the most
or gold) is resistant to water and dust. sensible location we’ve seen –
Its characteristic square corners are easy to reach when you
protected by bumpers, and the frame pick the phone up or when it’s
now has a slight lip at the rear, which we lying flat. We also like the way
reckoned would protect the elegantly Sony provides a camera-shutter
frosted glass back. button at the bottom right.
However, to accommodate this,
it has moved the volume controls directly Z5 will last up to two days). It certainly
Slick design, clever above the shutter, making them more lasted a day even with some game-
fiddly to use and easier to activate playing. Our only grumble is that there’s
features and great battery by accident. no charger in the box – you’re expected to
A brand new rear camera brings a provide your own USB mains adapter or
life, but don’t drop it larger sensor chip and a wider aperture charge more slowly from a PC’s USB port.
as well as higher resolution. SteadyShot
How wrong we were! We managed to optical image stabilisation avoids wobbly VERDICT: It’s not outstanding at any
drop the test model – and its rear panel photos and brings a lovely smoothness to one thing, but the Z5 gives you all the
shattered. All things considered, you videos. Our pictures didn’t quite match right features and no major flaws in a
might want to use a protective case. those from Apple’s latest camera, beautifully understated phone
Assuming you’re less clumsy than us, especially in low light, but we were more
★★★★☆
than happy with them.
SPECIFICATIONS In our tests, the Snapdragon 810 ALTERNATIVE: Google Nexus
5.2in 1920x1080-pixel screen • 23-megapixel processor kept Android 5 running very 6P £440 This slightly larger
rear camera • 5.1-megapixel front camera • 32GB
smoothly, and the medium-sized Full HD phone lacks a microSD slot for
flash storage • MicroSD card slot • 802.11ac Wi-Fi •
Bluetooth 4.1 • 3G/4G • Android 5.1 • 154x76x7.8mm screen showed high levels of brightness, extra storage, but comes with
(HxWxD) • 180g • One-year warranty contrast and colour accuracy. Android 6 and is a worthy rival
www.snipca.com/19506 Battery life is excellent (Sony claims the
WHAT SHOULD I BUY? We solve your buying dilemmas
What’s the best laptop for web browsing?

I am looking to buy a A Chromebook does sound as if there’s much to go wrong or cause
Q laptop for browsing digital
newspapers, reading horse-
A it could fit the bill. Using
Google’s operating-system
confusion.
Since reading is your priority,
racing websites and occasionally software instead of Windows, these consider Toshiba’s Chromebook 2 with
playing video. I’m not looking for machines focus their limited processing Full HD (£270 from Currys: www.
a lot of storage or features such power on making web access smooth. snipca.com/19510 – see image), which
as a camera, but ease of use and They’re inherently well protected has a sharper screen than most of its
security are important. Battery life is against malware, so you don’t need to rivals, though it doesn’t load web pages
also not a top priority because I can add antivirus software. However, you as fast as some. Its battery lasted us
recharge every day. should still take basic precautions like seven hours of video playback.
Can you tell me whether a checking the reputation of a website
Chromebook is my best option? before entering credit-card details. And Do you need advice on what you should buy?
Ralph Dandridge with fewer features, you shouldn’t find Email us at letters@computeractive.co.uk

FITNESS BAND ❘ £200 from Microsoft
Microsoft Band 2
A fitness band that we could live with
One of the best reasons to

buy a smartwatch – and
let’s be honest, there aren’t Lasting reliability down to the finest detail.
many – is to help you keep
fit. Some wrist devices
concentrate almost entirely
on this, including Fitbit, Jawbone and Microsoft’s Band. This
new Band offers more comfort and practicality, with just
enough smartwatch features to suit people who want both.
Like its rivals, the Band 2 is essentially a rubber bracelet, but
thanks to its big touchscreen it looks more like a futuristic
watch. It isn’t waterproof enough for swimming, but the
occasional splash won’t be a problem, and toughened Gorilla
Glass protects the front. The display is now curved to fit your
wrist – a big improvement – and presents text and figures clearly.
Opposite this is a chunky clasp incorporating a secondary
battery and some of the 10 medical sensors. The way this sits
inside the bracelet feels odd at first, but it has a benefit: even
with the band securely tight, only the top and bottom sections
are in contact with your skin. The gaps at the sides help you
avoid a build-up of sweat, while the battery lasts between one
and two days and charges in an hour and a half.
The Band 2’s main purpose is to track your exercise. It can
count your steps, display the distance you travelled using its
built-in GPS, chart your heart rate and calculate how many
calories you burned. There are sleep-analysis features, too,
and you can use ‘guided workouts’, where the Band 2 tells you
what to do via the screen and vibrations.
A lot can be done on the device itself, but it’s designed to
work with a smartphone (Apple, Android, Windows Phone
and Windows 10 Mobile are supported). A couple of features,
including voice control, only work with Windows phones,
though. Connected wirelessly to your phone, the Band 2 can
also notify you of incoming emails, calls, Facebook alerts and
so on, but the apps available are fewer and simpler than for
something like the Apple Watch.
It’s not cheap for a fitness band, but not bad value given the
technology packed into it. If you want something to encourage
you to exercise, the Band 2 could be worth it.
SPECIFICATIONS
32x13mm display • Accelerometer • Gyrometer • Light sensor • Skin-temperature
sensor • UV sensor • Capacitive sensor • Galvanic skin-response sensor •
Barometer • One-year warranty www.snipca.com/19539
VERDICT: A good choice if you want comprehensive health and

fitness tracking with the basic features of a smartwatch
★★★★☆
ALTERNATIVE: Fitbit Surge £160 The firsst Fitbit
that’s also a watch, this has similar featur
ures to
X300/P30 00
the Band 2 but overall feels like neither o
nor the other
one thing
g
High-Performance Hard Drrives
For further information please visit toshiba.co.uk/internal-hdd

Reviews
GRAPHICS TABLET ❘ £65 from Ebuyer
y www.snipca.com/19495
p 9 95
Wacom Intuos
os Art
At
The pen is mightier than the
h mouse
e
If engineers Doug Engelbart and Bill ll

English hadn’t come up with the
computer mouse, we might all be
controlling our computers with pen ens. But
styluses ended up confined to graph hics
tablets, a niche option for profession
onall
artists. Meanwhile, the rest of us got
ot to
push flat plastic blobs around our deesks.k.
There are times when we could alll do
with a pointier pointer, though. Yearrs
after Steve Jobs declared them dead, d,
Apple is just one of the companies
resurrecting styluses. So maybe we
should look again at graphics tabletss too..
commercial studios, with a drawing area Manga Studio 5), normally £35, which
It’s nicely designed, that’s slightly less than half A4, but we
found there was still just about room to
you can pay to upgrade or use as a
cut-down version when the trial expires.
comfortable to use and draw comfortably. It recognises finger
taps and gestures as well as the stylus,
Intuos Photo (also £75) comes with the
full version of Corel PaintShop Pro X8
pretty good value and you can control regular Windows (worth £45). Mac users also get a version
features as well as art software. of Macphun Creative Kit thrown in,
Like most graphics tablets, it’s just a which would normally cost over £70. This
Wacom is the big name in this area, sensing surface, not a screen: you plug it will make PC users feel short-changed,
and although its Intuos Pro and Cintiq into your PC via USB. As you draw ‘blind’ but it’s still a good deal. You can knock a
tablets are beyond most budgets, it also with the pen, your work appears on the few pounds off all of these prices if you
offers much more affordable versions. monitor. It senses pressure, so you can shop around.
The Creative Pen & Touch Tablet is vary lines by pressing harder, making You can also buy Intuos Draw at just
sold as Intuos Art, Intuos Photo or Intuos drawing feel quite natural. £55, with ArtRage Lite, a £25 painting
Comic; the difference is in the software It’s never going to be as natural as program. This can be upgraded to
that’s included. With the Art, you get drawing on an iPad, especially with an ArtRage 4.5, for £21 (a 50 per cent
Corel Painter Essentials 5, a basic version ‘active’ stylus, such as the Adonit Jot discount). The catch is that you get the
of the leading ‘natural media’ program, Touch PixelPoint (for iPads, £57 from plain Creative Pen tablet, which only
used by artists and illustrators to produce www.snipca.com/19498), or Apple’s recognises the stylus, not your fingers.
artwork reminiscent of paints, pastels Pencil (for iPad Pro, £79 from www.
and pencils. snipca.com/19499). That’s the way to go SPECIFICATIONS
Corded tablet with cordless stylus • USB • Active area
The Creative Pen & Touch Tablet feels if you can afford it. For Mac users, the 152x95mm • 290g • Two-year warranty • Requires
plasticky, but is nicely designed. Extra Astropad app (£8) even lets you use the Windows 7 or OS X 10.8.5 or later www.snipca.
buttons on the surface and on the pen let iPad as a graphics tablet for your desktop com/19496
you operate functions without having to software. Unless you already have an
reach for your keyboard. It’s much iPad, though (there are no VERDICT: Mastering a graphics tablet
smaller than the tablets you’ll see in comparable styluses for Android), takes some time, but this one is usable
the Intuos is much cheaper. and good value if you want to improve
Which bundle should you your art
buy? Intuos Art has an official
★★★★☆
price of £75 including Painter
Essentials 5, which is £30 on its ALTERNATIVE: Huion H610 Pro £64
own. Intuos Comic swaps this for If you want a bigger
Anime Studio Debut 10, a good tablet, this is a popular
choice for beginners who want to learn and decent option for
how professional animators work. For the price, though it can
still comics, you get a two-year trial of be fiddly to set up
Clip Studio Paint Pro (also known as

DISPLAY DOCKING STATION ❘ £57 from Amazon www.snipca.com/19529
COMING SOON
Microsoft Display Dock SPRING 2016
Apple’s next batch of mobile devices
could arrive in March. The third
Use your Microsoft phone as a PC version of the iPad Air 3 could add
support for the iPad Pro’s excellent
Pencil stylus. The company may
Windows 10 Mobile, which replaces also return to the iPhone 5’s
Windows Phone, is only available on two smaller 4in format with a
smartphones so far – Microsoft’s Lumia lower-cost smartphone.
950 and Lumia 950XL. Its main
selling point is how close it is to SPRING 2016
‘proper’ Windows 10, as Due in March, HP’s EliteBook Folio G1
opposed to other phones that could be the first ultra-slim laptop to go
run mobile-specific software, one better than Apple’s 12in MacBook.
such as iOS and Android. And Comes with an even sharper
the best example of this is a screen and a 180-degree hinge
feature called Continuum that lets for more flexibility, but will be too
you use your phone as a PC. It expensive for many people.
requires a monitor and a little grey gadget
called the Display Dock. running Windows 10 Mobile in the SPRING 2016
background. Bear in mind, you can only Lenovo’s Link is a USB stick that
open ‘universal’ apps – those designed for connects an Android device to a PC,
It could save both desktop and mobile. This includes letting you operate mobile apps from
Microsoft’s Office apps and the Edge web your keyboard or display the device’s
Windows 10 Mobile browser, through which you can access screen in a window. Expected to co cost
services like Netflix, but most of the other £40, it contrasts with Microsoft
ft’s
users buying a PC apps you might have on your Lumia, or Display Dock, which lets you usese
on your PC, won’t work. a Windows 10 phone as a PC.
This is a small but heavy box, about the Adding a USB or Bluetooth keyboard
width of a phone and an inch high, and mouse gives you the full impression SUMMER 2016
perforated with ports. If you thought we of using a PC, and we found it worked Zotac thinks it invented the ‘mini PC’.
were living in a wireless era, Microsoft is pretty well. Web browsing was a bit jerky, Among the new range it’s planning this
having none of it. You connect your but editing in Word and playing videos summer is an upgrade for the C series
Lumia 950 or 950XL (it won’t work with was smooth. It’s an interesting idea that that squeezes Intel’s latest ‘Skylake’ Core
other phones, not even older Lumias that could save Windows 10 Mobile users i5 processor into a box the size of
can be upgraded to Windows 10) with a buying a basic PC. But with few other a large sandwich. These cheap,
cable from its USB Type-C port, and reasons to choose a Microsoft phone, compact machines are reviving
attach the Display Dock’s mains adapter there may never be many Windows 10 interest in desktop PCs.
to its own USB Type-C port. This keeps Mobile users to take advantage.
your phone powered. Your monitor plugs
SPECIFICATIONS
in via HDMI or DisplayPort.
Once this is set up, what looks like
2x USB Type-C ports • 3x USB 2.0 ports • HDMI port NEXT ISSUE ON SALE
2 March
• DisplayPort • Requires Microsoft Lumia 950 or
Windows 10 appears on the monitor, as if 950XL phone • 26x64x64mm (HxWxD) • 230kg • Lenovo IdeaCentre AIO 700
from a PC. You can still use your Lumia One-year warranty www.snipca.com/19524 Affordable, expandable
phone for any of its usual purposes, like all-in-one PC
making
k g calls, but at the
ll b h same time, it’s VERDICT: It’s a good way to make the
most of modern devices’ processing Acer
power, but Continuum won’t tempt Chromebook R11
many Apple or Android users to switch Laptop-tablet
hybrid for under
to a Windows 10 phone
£200
£2
★★★☆☆
ALTERNATIVE: BenQ EW2440L £140
An MHL monitor like this is
will display your Android d
device’s screen (if the device
de
These and
a d much
uch more…
o e…
supports it) so you can ssee
mobile apps in larger formrm Subscribe to Computeractive at
www.getcomputeractive.co.uk

Buy It
Find out what other products we liked.
Buy our new 2015 Back Issue CD:
£15 from www.snipca.com/19124
Our pick of products that have won the Buy It award
LAPTOP DESKTOP PC TABLET
Asus UX305 Palicomp AMD Shockwave Apple iPad Mini 4

£570 from www.snipca.com/19439 £500 from www.snipca.com/18748 £319 from www.snipca.com/18100
Tested
Tested: Issue 447 Tested: Issue 464 Te d IIssue 460
Tested: 60
13.3in is a practical size for a laptop, and The 2015 update to Apple’s 7.9in
this light but sturdy ‘ultrabook’ has a tablet greatly improves the screen
smart and slim design that does justice Proving
Pr in that you d
don’t need an Intel and camera, boosts performance, and
to its capable performance. Upgradeable processor, Palicomp has built an makes it worth the £100 extra over the
to Windows 10, it’s limited mainly by its excellent PC around AMD’s Athlon X4 iPad mini 2 (still a good budget buy).
128GB SSD, which makes it work fast but 860K and Radeon R7 370 graphics Go for the £399 64GB version if you
might leave you needing more space. card. Runs Windows 7, 8.1 or 10. can, though.
ALTERNATIVE Toshiba Satellite C40-C ALTERNATIVE: Chillblast Fusion Orion ALTERNATIVE: Apple iPad Air 2 The
This 14in Windows 10 laptop looks like it i3 As long as games aren‘t a priority, this 9.7in option is still slim and light, also
cost a lot more. It’s not the most amazing almost invisibly plain black box has all has Touch ID and Apple Pay, and the
PC, but it’s fantastic for the price. £200 you need in an all-round budget system. range of apps beats Android. £399
from www.snipca.com/19436 £380 from www.snipca.com/19427 from www.snipca.com/18139
PHONE DIGITAL CAMERA E READER P

DRRIC
OP E
Apple iPhone 6s Panasonic Lumix FZ330 Amazon Kindle Pape
erwhite
hi e
£539 from www.snipca.com/18240 £449 from www.snipca.com/19441 £100 from www.snipca.com/17776
om/17776
Tested: Issue 461 Tested: Issue 462 Tested: Issue 458
It may look like the 2014 model, but A wide-angle lens to capture scenes, a With a new
ew high-reso
high-resolution
solu
luti
tion sc
screen, the
this update is stronger and faster, longer fast lens for flattering portraits affordable Kindle lacks only automatic
with a higher-resolution camera, and a telephoto for distant subjects brightness adjustment and page-turn
time-saving 3D Touch features and an – the 12-megapixel FZ330 gives you buttons (you have to swipe the screen).
excellent screen. The bigger 6s Plus them all in one unit, with a fixed high- It’s great value as long as you’re happy
has better battery life. quality zoom lens. to buy your books from Amazon.
ALTERNATIVE: Moto X Play Motorola’s ALTERNATIVE: Sony A5000 This neat ALTERNATIVE: Kobo Glo HD As good
fun phone may be plasticky, but it runs compact system camera (CSC) lets you as the Paperwhite, but with more
Android 5 smoothly. The screen, camera choose different lenses from Sony’s storage, and slightly more compact,
and battery life are all big pluses. £260 range for more creative possibilities. this is the independent e-reader to pick.
from www.snipca.com/17934 £249 from www.snipca.com/15854 £90 from www.snipca.com/19158

BUY IT!
★★★★★ Buy It
SECURITY SOFTWARE PHOTO EDITING SMART TV
Kaspersky Internet Adobe Photoshop Samsung UE40H5500

Security 2016 Lightroom 6 £398 from www.snipca.com/19160
£19.99 from www.snipca.com/17874 £104 from www.snipca.com/16952 Tested: Issue 446
Tested: Issue 437 Tested: Issue 453
Kaspersky Internet Security 2016 has won Lightroom is the professional’s choice
our past seven antivirus tests. Compatible for managing and tweaking photos,
with Windows 10, the 2016 edition is including raw files from DSLR cameras. A 40in smart TV with great picture
available at an exclusive reader discount If you need Photoshop for more quality and apps for all the terrestrial TV
on our Software Store. Go to the link advanced editing, get both on the Adobe catch-up services. It has plenty of extras
above for a one-device licence, or buy a CC Photography Plan for £8.57 a month too, such as recording to USB storage,
three-device licence for just £39.99 at (www.snipca.com/19283) playing media files stored on a NAS or
www.snipca.com/17903. USB stick and plenty of HDMI ports.
ALTERNATIVE: Xara Photo & Graphic
ALTERNATIVE: Avast Free Antivirus Designer 11 For all-round design ALTERNATIVE: Sony KDL-43W755C
Almost as good as Kaspersky, but and drawing plus photo filters, this Excellent image quality, stylish looks
sometimes blocked legitimate software. affordable app has a lot to offer. £50 and a 43in screen. £429 from
Free from www.snipca.com/16493 from www.snipca.com/19280 www.snipca.com/18153
PC MONITOR ROUTER NAS
AOC Q2778VQE Trendnet TEW-812DRU Synology DiskStation

£215 from www.snipca.com/19416 £122 from www.snipca.com/19437 DS215j
Tested: Issue 468 Tested: Issue 427 £132 from www.snipca.com/16187
Tested: Issue 449
It comes with no extras, such as

built-in speakers or a USB hub, but
this 2560x1440 panel gives you a full This two-drive NAS enclosure has it all
27in screen with excellent contrast and An incredibly fast 802.11ac router – fast performance, easy configuration
colour accuracy at a very reasonable that’s also one of the cheapest we’ve and plenty of extra features. Its only
price. It’s a little laggy for gamers, but seen. It’s superb and it’s the router to flaw is that installation is a little fiddly –
there’s no ghosting on motion. buy if you’re ready to make the jump but if you want quality network storage,
to 802.11ac. then this is the obvious choice.
ALTERNATIVE: Dell UltraSharp U2414H
This 1920x1080, 24in screen has a ALTERNATIVE: Linksys WRT1900AC ALTERNATIVE: Synology DS414j
stand that can switch to portrait mode. More expensive, but even faster and A four-drive NAS that’s generally fast,
Colour accuracy is excellent. £188 from with loads of features too. £180 from easy to set up and use. £242 from
www.snipca.com/18207 www.snipca.com/14950 www.snipca.com/16707

HOMEPLUGS WEB DESIGN COMPETITION
Devolo dLAN 1200 Triple+ Xara Web Designer Win 1 of 5 Xara Photo &
Starter Kit Premium 11 Graphic Designer 11
£119 from www.snipca.com/15369 £70 from www.snipca.com/16955 The 11th version of
Tested: Issue 444 Tested: Issue 453 Xara Photo & Graphic
Designer, which won a
five-star ‘Buy It’ award
in Issue 467, has plenty
of outstanding new
features. These include
a set of paintbrushes that create
realistic strokes in styles such as acrylic
paints and watercolours. With a large
collection of templates and the scope
Devolo’s latest HomePlug adapters are This visual web-design program makes to perform countless tasks, it’s simply
the fastest we’ve ever seen. They’re creating sites more like laying out a the best graphic-design software you
well designed too, with a passthrough document than writing HTML code, and can buy without spending hundreds of
socket so you can still power another sites can be responsive, meaning they pounds. To enter, email your address to
device and the design should avoid look right on both big and small screens cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘xara’ in the
skirting boards and other obstacles. without extra work. A basic version is subject line by midnight 1 March.
also available for half the price.
ALTERNATIVE: D-Link PowerLine AV2 Xara Photo & Graphic Designer 11 is
1000HD Gigabit Starter Kit Fast (speeds ALTERNATIVE: Incomedia WebSite X5 available to buy now priced £50 from
of up to 1000Mbps), much cheaper and v12 Evolution It may feel a little basic, Xara (www.snipca.com/19280). For
very easy to set up, but the lack of a but this straightforward program outputs more information visit www.xara.com,
passthrough socket is frustrating. efficient HTML code and responsive follow @XaraGroup on Twitter, and
£43 from www.snipca.com/17836 pages £38 from www.snipca.com/19440 ‘like’ www.facebook.com/XaraGroup.
MULTIFUNCTION PRINTER SOLID STATE DRIVE P SECURITY CAMERA

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Canon Pixma MG6650 Crucial BX100 1TB Y-cam HomeMonitor HD
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T d: IIssue 455
Tested: Tested: Issue 445 Tested: Issue 420
It may look like something that James

Bond would have to defuse, but this
low-cost, all-in-one printer is an A home-security camera that’s well
excellent choice. Running costs are priced and easy to set up. Plus, it has
reasonable too – buy the XL cartridges A blindingly
g ffast, high-capacity
g SS
SSD great picture quality, useful apps and
and running costs work out at 7.7p per a
at a low
ower
er price than ever before.
f Iff there’s no need to subscribe to any
colour page or 2.4p for black and white. y
you’ve been put off ff buyingg a SS
SSD extra services. It’s a worthy successor
This makes it very affordable to run. b
because off the cost,, then now is to the original HomeMonitor, our
finally the time to take the plunge. previous favourite security camera.
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It’s slow, and black ink is pricey, but ALTERNATIVE: Samsung 850 Pro ALTERNATIVE: D-Link Wireless N Day
this cheaper MFP has a paper feeder 256GB An even faster SSD, but it’s & Night Camera A good-value security
and fax too. £41 from www.snipca. much more expensive per gigabyte. camera with excellent night vision.
com/17174 £110 from www.snipca.com/16498 £88 from www.snipca.com/15275

2015
Back Issue CD
NOW !
SA LE
ON CON
ALLTAINS
ISSU 26
ES
Buy it now from Amazon at

or search for ‘computeractive cd’ on Amazon
You can still buy our 2014 CD at www.snipca.com/14981
PU
& LL
Workshops & Tips

Is K OU
su E
e E
46 P T
9
Edited by Sherwin Coelho
14 pages of easy-to-follow workshopss and expert tipss

35 Edit your Registry 40 Stop webcam hackers PLUS
without errors spying on you 43 Readers’ Tips 47 Make Office Better
38 Change your passwords 42 Improve your 44 Phone & Tablet Tips 48 Secret Tips For...
on hacked websites Windows 10 System Tray 46 Make Windows Better Action Centre
Edit your PC’s registry

without errors
What you need: Registry Finder; Any version of Windows (XP to 10)
Time required: 30 minutes
E diting your PC’s registry can be a

complicated process because it
involves navigating through multiple
Editor doesn’t let you search for
specific keys or copy and paste a
specific key location to go directly to
menus to a registry key, then making it. Registry Finder is a brilliant free
precise changes to it. One small program that lets you do both these
mistake can cause your PC problems. things, while minimising the risk of
Unfortunately, the Windows Registry making serious errors.
STEP It’s always a good idea to create a system restore point

1 for your PC before you start editing your registry. This
lets you undo any mistakes you may make. Press the
Windows key on your keyboard, type restore point, then click
‘Create a restore point’. In the System Properties window that 2
opens, click Create 1 , name your restore point 2 , click Create 3 ,
wait until that’s done, then click Close.
2
1
3
STEP Before installing Registry Finder, you need to find out
2 your PC’s version. Right-click Computer, click
Properties and look next to ‘System type’ 1 . Next,
1 create a new folder on your Desktop. To install the program, go
to www.snipca.com/19457 and click the link (64bit or 32bit) 2
that corresponds to your PC. Open the downloaded zipped
folder and extract its files to the folder you created. Finally, open
this folder on your Desktop, click the RegistryFinder setup file,
then click Run to launch the program.

Workshops
3
2
2
1
STEP The handiest feature of Registry Finder is the ability to STEP By default, the registry keys are listed vertically in the
3 go directly to any registry key simply by typing (or
copying and pasting) its location path in the address 4 section on the right. If the section contains numerous
keys, click the Grid Lines button 1 to add a grid that
bar at the top (in Registry Editor you must navigate multiple will help you distinguish them. You can jump back or forward
menus). For example, type HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control between the registry keys by clicking the Back or Forward
Panel\Accessibility\ToggleKeys 1 into the bar at the top, then buttons 2 . You can also click the dropdown menus beside
press Enter to reach the ToggleKeys key 2 . You can use this each button 3 to see a list of all the keys you visited previously.
method whenever you come across the path of a registry key (in From here, click the key 4 you want to jump to.
Computeractive or online, for example) that you want to edit.
STEP To search for a specific item and locate its key without
5 navigating through multiple menus, first click the
search icon 1 . Next, type a keyword for the item you
want in the ‘Find what’ field 2 , then click Find 3 . By default,
1 Registry Finder searches your entire registry, so the process can
take anything up to a minute.
STEP You’ll see your results in a new

6 Find Results tab 1 . Every instance
of the word you typed will be 4
highlighted red (‘infrared’ in this
example). Double-click the key you want. 1
It will open in your Local Registry tab 2 .
Right-click any of the entries for options
to modify, copy or delete that key 3
(without having to navigate to it). For
convenience, you can save this list of
search results as a registry file that you 3
can open with one click. To do that, click
the Save icon 4 , name your file, select
where you want to save it on your PC,
2
then click Save.

Edit your registry without errors
STEP If you have some idea where the key
5 7 you want is located in your registry,

then there’s a faster way to search for
it. Click the search icon in Registry Finder,
then type the name of the key you want in
2 the ‘Find what’ field. Next, select Key 1 ,
1
3 click Browse 2 , select where you think it’s
located 3 , then click OK. Use the Options
4 boxes 4 to specify what you’re looking for
(a key, value, data, case or entire search string),
then click Find to see your results in a new tab.
The dropdown menu 5 lets you access any
earlier search terms.
STEP Like the Windows Registry Editor, Registry Finder has a STEP Registry Editor lets you access only one registry key at
8 Favourites section, which is useful for quickly reaching
keys you often access. You can import any favourites 9 a time. However, Registry Finder lets you navigate to
multiple keys by opening them in different tabs
from Registry Editor to Registry Finder. To do this, click (similar to opening separate tabs in Chrome). You’ll already
Favorites 1 , Import RegEdit Favorites 2 , then click OK. Now have the first tab (Local Registry) 1 open. To add a second one,
click Favorites again and you’ll see all your RegEdit favorites in a click File 2 then click Open Local Registry. Repeat this to open
list at the bottom. To add a key you access often, simply navigate as many registry tabs as you want. You can now access multiple
to that key 3 within Registry Finder, click Favorites, then click registry keys within each tab.
‘Add to Favorites’ 4 . Name the key whatever you want, then
click OK. 2
1
4
STEP To close a tab, right-click it, then click
1 10 Close 1 . Another feature lets you compare

any two adjacent registry tabs from within
2 the same window. The tab on the left appears as a
bigger window by default, so click and drag the
tabs to rearrange their order if you need to.
Right-click the tab you want to see as a smaller
3 window, then click Restore 2 . You’ll now see both
tabs open 3 . Double- click any of the windows’
4 title bars 4 to exit this view. ●

Workshops
Change your passwords
on hacked websites
What you need: Dashlane; Any version of Windows (XP to 10) Time required: 30 minutes
nutes
D ashlane is a fantastic free

password manager for your PC.
The latest version has a new feature
There are two ways to do this. The
first is from within the program itself
without even having to visit the
that lets you quickly, easily and hacked website. The second method
securely change your password on directs you to the hacked website’s
any website you know has been ‘Change password’ page, from where
hacked. you can create a new password.
STEP To download Dashlane, go to www.dashlane.com, and click

1 the ‘Get Dashlane – It’s FREE’ button. Click the downloaded
setup file, then Run, Yes and wait for it to install. If you’ve
used Dashlane before, click ‘I already have an account’ 1 and log into
it. Otherwise, click ‘Create your free account’, enter your email
address, type a password 2 , untick the box 3 (if you don’t want to
receive tips and offers from Dashlane), then click ‘Next: Confirm 2
password’ 4 . Finally, click ‘I know it. Let’s go!’ to register your account.
1 3
4
2 1 3
STEP Keep clicking Next until you reach the ‘Now add Dashlane to your STEP You’ll now see tabs for sites, including
2 browser’ screen, then click ‘Add Dashlane now’. Your default
browser will open and you’ll be prompted to add the Dashlane 3 Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo. If you’ve
previously logged into any of those websites
browser extension. If you use Chrome, click ‘Add it now. Finish set up!’ 1 , on your browser, you’ll be taken to that site by
then ‘Add extension’ 2 . Next click ‘See what Dashlane can do’. You’ll need clicking its tab. Finally, click ‘Go to the app’ to open
to fill in your personal details, then click ‘Great! Let’s try it out’. In the the Dashlane program on your PC. Click Passwords 1 ,
blank form on the next page, click inside any field then click the pop-up then ‘Click to start’. You’ll see a list of the websites
menu to fill in the form automatically. you’ve logged into 2 . Move your cursor to any of the
sites’ icons, then click ‘Go to website’ 3 . Dashlane
will automatically log you into that website in your
default browser.

STEP If you can’t find a website you often use in Dashlane’s STEP Dashlane’s new Password Changer feature lets you
4 list, there are two ways to add it. The first is to log into
that website within your browser. You’ll now see the 5 change your password on a hacked website without
even having to visit it. At the moment only 500
option to save those details to Dashlane. Alternatively, in websites are supported (see the list at www.snipca.com/19497),
Dashlane, click ‘Add new’ 1 , enter the website address 2 , then but new ones are added regularly. Click Password Changer 1 ,
your login details for the site 3 . Next, select a category from the then click ‘Got it!’. Now click ‘Change now’ 2 beside the
dropdown menu (Shopping, Email, etc) 4 , then click OK twice. relevant website. To change your passwords for multiple
websites in one go, tick the boxes beside those websites’
1 2 entries 3 , then click ‘Change X passwords’ at the top right. To
change your passwords for all the listed websites, click ‘Change
all passwords’ 4 . Now whenever you want to log into any of
these sites, open Dashlane, click Passwords, navigate to the
website entry, then click ‘Go to website’ (see Step 3).
4
4
2
3
STEP If Dashlane’s Password Changer doesn’t contain a

6 hacked website, there’s another way to access the
website securely and change your password there.
Click Security Dashboard 1 . Here you’ll see a large percentage
(this is how secure Dashlane rates all your account passwords).
Dashlane lists sites which it recommends you create stronger
passwords for (in this case Twitter and Evernote) 2 . Click
‘Replace now’ 3 . You’ll automatically log into that website and
go directly to its ‘Change password’ page. To see the other
websites you’ve added to Dashlane’s list, click Show 4 .
1 2
STEP Here, you’ll see all your websites with Dashlane’s safety
[2] – twitter.com and evernote.com
7 level ratings (as a percentage) 1 . Click any of the
Detailed Password Analysis sections at the top to see
those sites. To change your password for any of these, simply
4 click ‘Replace now’ 2 beside the relevant one. As in Step 6 this
securely logs you into that website and directs you to its ‘Change
password’ section, where you’ll see the option to enter your old
2 password and type and confirm a new one. ●

Workshops
Stop webcam hackers spying on you

What you need: Who Stalks My Cam; Any version of Windows (XP to 10))
Y our webcam represents

one of the easiest ways for
hackers to remotely spy on
or by someone remotely. It also
logs which program used
your webcam, when and for
you. To protect yourself use how long. What’s more, you
the free program Who Stalks can use the program to set
My Cam (made by software specific rules – for example,
company Phrozen). It notifies to automatically switch off
you every time your webcam your webcam when you’re
is switched on – either by you away from your PC.
STEP To install Who Stalks My Cam (WSMC), go to www. STEP The program doesn’t track your webcam activity by
1 snipca.com/19508, scroll to the bottom of the page
and click Proceed Download. Open the downloaded 2 default, so click the Active Now button at the bottom
right to let it start tracking. If you want to test whether
compressed folder and run the setup file 1 (run the Portable your webcam is working, click the Phrozen dropdown menu 1 ,
folder’s 2 setup file if you want to install a portable version of and select Webcam Testing, then click Start to switch it on.
the program). Now click Next, accept the licence agreement, Whenever your PC’s webcam is activated (either by you or
then keep clicking Next until you reach Install, then click that. someone else), you’ll see a pop-up notification 2 . From here,
On the final screen, untick the first box 3 , tick the second you can either close your webcam 3 or terminate the program
box 4 , then click Finish to launch the program. that’s using it 4 .
4
1
4 3 2
1
STEP WSMC creates a log of every

3 instance your webcam was
used – by you, by someone
else using your PC, or by a hacker 4
accessing it remotely. This tells you
2 3
which webcam was used (if you have
more than one) and what program
used it 1 . Scroll to the right to see
when the webcam was switched on 2 ,
when it was turned off 3 and how
long it was used for 4 .

1
2
1
3 3
2
4 4
STEP The Options tab lets you configure the program’s STEP Hackers are likely to spy on you when your PC is idle.
4 settings. Tick both boxes in the General Options
section – the first 1 lets you monitor your webcam’s 5 WSMC has excellent tools to counter this. Tick the first
box in the Security Policies section 1 to automatically
activity and the second 2 starts the program with your PC. close your webcam when it’s being used as a background
Ensure Active Toast Notification System is ticked 3 . This process. Tick the second box 2 to automatically close your
displays the pop-up notification every time your webcam is webcam when your PC is idle. Use the time field 3 and
activated (see Step 2). By default, you’ll see this notification for dropdown menu 4 to set how long your webcam stays on after
four seconds, but you can extend or shorten this duration by your PC goes into idle mode.
ticking the ‘Hide automatically…’ box 4 and changing the value
in the Seconds field.
2 STEP By default, WSMC notifies you every time your

6 webcam is activated. If you find this distracting,
you can specify certain programs (such as Skype)
that don’t merit a notification. To do this, click the
Configure White List button 1 (in computing terminology,
a ‘whitelist’ consists of safe or approved programs). There
are three ways you can add programs to this list.
The Add Running Process dropdown menu 2 lets you add a
3 program that’s open on your PC. Add Application From
Path 3 lets you add the program from its setup file.
STEP The third (and easiest) way to add a program to 1

7 your whitelist is to open and use it. Next, click
the Webcam Events tab 1 to see it in WSMC’s
log. Now, right-click the program you want to add to your
whitelist, then click ‘Add process(es) to White List’ 2 . A 2
green tick will appear beside that program. Add all your
‘trusted’ programs to this list, then click the Options tab
and tick the last box at the bottom. This automatically
closes your webcam if any program that’s not on the
whitelist tries to access it. ●

Workshops
Improve your Windows 10
System Tray
What you need: TrayStatus; Any version of Windows (XP to 10)
Y our PC’s System Tray (at the

bottom right of your screen)
informs you of any pending
TrayStatus is a brilliant tool that
adds all kinds of useful icons to
your System Tray. It has indicators
notifications or system updates. for Caps Lock and Num Lock, and
It also shows indicators for audio you can add icons that tell you
volume, battery life and internet when your Control, Alt and Shift
connection. keys are pressed.
STEP To install TrayStatus, go to www.snipca.com/19507 STEP 1 and A tell you respectively whether your Number
1 and click the blue Download Now button. Click the
downloaded setup file, Yes, Next, accept the licence 2 Lock and Caps Lock keys are on. The cog icon shows
you your PC’s activity (R and W represent its Read
agreement, then keep clicking Next until you reach Install. and Write speeds). Click and drag the 1 and A icons from the
Click this, then click Finish to launch the program. You’ll see ‘hidden menu’ to your System Tray to see them. If your Caps
three new icons (1, A and a cog 1 ) in your System Tray. If you Lock or Number Lock key is on, the relevant icon will appear in
don’t see these icons, click the ‘Show hidden icons’ 2 button a green box 1 . You can add five other icons to your TrayStatus
to reveal them. System Tray. To do this, right-click an icon, then click
TrayStatus Settings 2 .
1
2
STEP In the settings, you’ll see options to enable/disable

3 all eight TrayStatus icons. Select those you want by
ticking/unticking the relevant options 1 . After doing
that, click Apply, then OK. The Alt, Control, Shift and Windows
keys will only be indicated as being switched on if you keep
them pressed for a few seconds.
ON SALE
1 NEXT ISSUE 2 March
• Add Windows 7 tools to 10
• Discover what’s slowing your PC
• Always avoid fake download buttons
• Send texts from your PC
Subscribe to Computeractive at getcomputeractive.co.uk

Readers’ Tips Handy hints and tips from your fellow readers
Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk
TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT

T
Stop Avast hijacking your email signature

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve been realised this was happening.
using Avast Free Antivirus for three Thankfully, it’s easy to disable this
years and I generally agree with from within Avast’s settings. Open
Computeractive that it’s the best free Avast, click the settings (cog) icon at
antivirus program around. However, a the top right, untick ‘Enable Avast
few months back an Avast update signature’ and click OK. Your
quietly replaced my email signature original email signature will now be
with its own ‘This email has been restored. This option is automatically
checked for viruses’ signature. This ticked whenever you update Avast,
affected the Outlook program on my but there’s a way to stop this from
Desktop, and my Yahoo and Gmail happening. In the Settings window,
accounts online. The signature doesn’t click Active Protection on the left,
appear when you write your email, so then click Customise beside Mail clean message (outgoing)’ (see
it was only when a friend I emailed Shield. Next, click the Behaviour tab on screenshot). Finally, click OK twice.
brought it to my attention that I the left, then untick ‘Insert note into Harry Bourne
The winner of every Tip of the Fortnight wins this exclusive Computeractive mug!
PHOTO EDITING far left of your panorama should be at the (say, Terry Wogan) within na
Create a panoramic image top of the list and so on). To rearrange specific website (for example,
ampl
ple,
e,
using IrfanView your images, click its file name, then click The Guardian) type site:theguardian.com
Living in the beautiful Lake District, the ‘Move images up’ or ‘Move images terry wogan into the search engine’s URL
I’m lucky to be surrounded by some down’ button on the right (see screenshot bar at the top.
of the most breathtaking views in the below left). When you’ve finished, click Similarly, you can search for a term
country. I know it’s considered a bit ‘Create image’ at the bottom to merge that only appears in the headline of the
old-fashioned, but I prefer using my your images into a panorama. article by searching for intitle: terry
digital camera to capture these views (it’s Brad Hawkins wogan. What’s even better is that you
better than any phone). However, one can combine both search terms for a
feature it lacks is a panoramic mode. So I SEARCH ENGINE more nuanced result by typing
use IrfanView (www.irfanview.com) as Search for content on a site:theguardian.com intitle: terry wogan
my photo editor to merge adjacent views specific website (see screenshot below left).
from the same spot into stunning On the day his death was James Turner
panoramic images. announced, I came across a very
interesting article on the great Terry PHONE CONTACTS
Wogan on my mobile phone. But, Restore Android contacts
distracted by a phone call, I didn’t get you’ve accidentally deleted
round to finishing it. I tried to find the I was spring-cleaning my Android
same article on my PC later that day, but phone’s contact book the other
couldn’t locate it among the deluge of day when I accidentally deleted a few
tributes and coverage. I’d almost given contact details. On a whim, I decided
up, when my nephew came to the rescue. to check whether the Google Contacts
I remembered the feature was on The website has an option to retrieve them.
Guardian’s website, so he simply typed Thankfully, it does.
something into Google and voila! – the Go to contacts.google.com and log
article appeared on the first page of the in using your Google account details.
search results. He told me there were a Now click More at the bottom left, then
few handy tricks that work on any search click ‘Restore contacts’. Finally, select a
To do this, open IrfanView, click engine. To search for a particular term point in time from which to restore your
Image at the top left, then click ‘Create contacts (see screenshot
Panorama image’. Now click ‘Add images’ below), then click Restore.
and navigate to the folder containing your When that’s done, you’ll see
images. Next, press the Shift key, select a message at the bottom
the photos you want to merge, then click saying that your contacts
Open. Ensure your images are in the have been restored.
correct order (the image you want at the Calum Taylor

Phone and Tablet Tips Brilliant things to do on your device
ANDROID To do this, first ensure you are

Back up your WhatsApp connected to a Wi-Fi network. Now open
conversations to Google Drive WhatsApp, tap the three dots at the top
WhatsApp Messenger has been right, Settings, ‘Chats and calls’, then
making a lot of headlines recently. ‘Chat backup’. Next, tap ‘Back up to
First, it dropped its 69p yearly Google Drive’ and select how regularly
fee and then earlier this month you want to back up (we recommend
announced it has one billion users, Weekly – see screenshot below left).
making it the world’s most popular Next, select your Google account. On the
messaging app. Its latest Android update ‘Chat backup’ screen, ensure the ‘Back up
(www.snipca.com/19544) lets you back over’ section is set to ‘Wi-Fi only’. Tick
up your conversations and media files ‘Include videos’ at the bottom (optional),
(photos and voice notes) to Google Drive. then tap the green Back Up button.
This is extremely useful if you’re Now, on your new or formatted
switching to a new phone or formatting phone, install and open WhatsApp.
your old one, because it means you can You’ll be prompted to restore your
then reinstall WhatsApp and retrieve all messages and media files by selecting the Calendar app, tap the new ‘+’ button
your conversations and files on your new your Google account. Tap Next to see at the bottom right, then tap Event. Now
or formatted phone. all your WhatsApp conversations. Your tap the ‘Enter title, times, people, places’
media files won’t appear immediately field at the top and start typing details
within your conversations because of your event.
they download in the background, but For example, type dinner with.
you should start seeing them after a You’ll automatically see relevant names
few minutes. from your contacts list as you start
typing. Select the correct option, then
ANDROID & iOS type on and you’ll see date options.
Use Google Calendar’s new Select the date, then type at and start
gg options
autosuggest typing the name of the place or venue
Google’s Calendar app to see a list of relevant suggestions
has been updated and (see screenshot above).
now includes Smart Google Calendar is versatile, so you
Suggestions. Previously, you had to type can also add the relevant details of your
in full all your event details (description, event in a different order to that detailed
time, location and so on). Now, whenever above. For example, you can simply type
you start typing, you’ll see automatic dinner at X with X on X. Next, tap Done
suggestions in a list, making it easy to add at the top right to add the event to
detailed event information quickly. Open your calendar.
Best New Apps What you should install this fortnight
QuickPark Mimicker Playcast

Free Alarm £3.09
iOS: www.snipca.com/19546 Free Windows Phone:
QuickPark will help you avoid getting a Android: www.snipca.com/19548
parking ticket. It lets you save your parking www.snipca. Until now you couldn’t ‘cast’ content from
spot as a ‘pin’ com/19547 your Windows Phone to your TV. Playcast
on a map and Microsoft’s new is the first app that lets you do that. You
enter how alarm app will can stream your music playlists to your
much time you ensure you don’t Chromecast or Apple TV and even view
have left before nod off again your device’s photos and videos.
your parking because to turn
ticket expires. it off you need to
The app then ‘mimic’ the action
alerts you when requested by the
the expiry time app. For example, take a ‘selfie’ photo with
is approaching a specific facial expression (happy, sad, etc),
and directs you photograph a household object of a specific
to your car. colour, or say a tongue twister.

iOS WINDOWS PHONE
Customise Yahoo Mail’s Add multiple weather tiles to
swipe
ip actions your start screen
If you use Yahoo Mail and have an The Bing Weather app – Windows
iOS device, we recommend you Phone’s default – only displays
install the Yahoo Mail app (www. the weather at your current
snipca.com/19545), which looks and location (both in the app and on the start
works better than the website. It lists screen tile). However, there’s an easy way
emails in your inbox on the left with a to add weather details for another
preview section on the right. By default, location as a live tile on your start screen.
swiping left across an email in the list lets First, open the app, then swipe to the right
you delete it and swiping right across one until your reach the ‘favourites’ section.
gives you the option to ‘Mark it as read/ Now tap the ‘+’ symbol at the bottom,
unread’. start typing the name of the place/city
The latest app update lets you you want to add, then tap the correct
customise what the right and left swipe suggestion when it appears. You’ll now
actions do. Tap your account icon (see see both locations (your current one and
screenshot below), Settings, then select the one you just added) as tiles. To add
‘Swipe actions’. You’ll see your default the second location as a tile to your start
actions. Now tap ‘Choose right swipe screen, simply tap and hold the tile, then
action’ and select one of the six actions tap ‘pin to start’ (see screenshot right).
listed: Delete, Archive, ‘Mark as read/
unread’, ‘Star/unstar’, ‘Mark as spam’
and ‘Move to’. Next, tap ‘Choose left
swipe action’ and select another action
Games With Kids
of your choice. When you’ve finished, What to play together on your phone and tablet
tap Back, then Done.
AGES 0 5
Pango Hide and Seek
79p www.snipca.com/19549 (Android)
£2.29 www.snipca.com/19550 (iOS)
Your toddler will love the 15 colourful
levels in this game, which include snowy
mountains and African savannahs. They
have to find Pango (who’s hiding within the
landscapes) and tap to find other objects,
such as keys, hearts, leaves and balloons.
AGES 6 10
Twofold Inc.
£2.99 www.snipca.com/19551 (Android)
£2.99 www.snipca.com/19552 (iOS)
In this puzzle, your kids will be given a
specific challenge - for example, joining
seven blue tiles by swiping through them.
iOS The challenges become harder with
Stop Safari crashing each round, forcing players to adopt new
on y
your iPhone strategies.
Recently, many iPhone users have
had problems with the Safari AGES 11 16
browser crashing, mostly when *Horizon Chase – World Tour
they search for something using the Free www.snipca.com/19553 (Android)
app’s URL field. Here are a couple of Free www.snipca.com/19554 (iOS)
quick fixes you can try if you’ve Horizon Chase is a car-racing game from
experienced the same problem. a bygone era - arcade-style. You get five
First, open Settings, Safari and tap the free tracks, but it’s worth paying £2.29 to
Safari Suggestions switch (to turn it off). unlock the full game. This removes the
Alternatively, try clearing your browsing adverts and gives you access to 73 tracks,
cache. To do this, open Safari in your 32 cities and eight trophies.
Settings, scroll down, tap ‘Clear History *Contains in-app purchases
and Website Data’, then tap Clear.

Make Windows Better Clever tips for every version
WINDOWS 7, 8, 10
Add website shortcuts WINDOWS 10
to your Taskbar
You’re probably familiar Switch back to the old clock
with bookmarking
websites in your
in Windows 10
browser, but you can also ‘pin’ them Microsoft has added a new menus on the left: HKEY_LOCAL_
to your Taskbar. By doing this you pop-up clock to Windows 10. MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\
can access favourite sites from your To see it, click the time on your Windows\CurrentVersion\Immersive
Desktop with one click. Taskbar (bottom right on your screen). Shell. Right-click any blank area on the
At the moment you can only do this While earlier versions of Windows had right, move your cursor to New, then
in Internet Explorer (IE) and Google a small calendar with a round clock on click ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’. Name
Chrome. First, open a website (in IE or the right, Windows 10 has a larger this UseWin32TrayClockExperience,
Chrome). In IE, drag that website’s tab to calendar that shows the time at the then press Enter. Next, double-click
your Taskbar until you see a ‘Pin to top. If you prefer using the old clock, this value, change the ‘Value data’ field
taskbar’ message (see screenshot below). then there’s an easy way to switch to it. from 0 to 1 (see screenshot), then
Release your mouse and you’ll see a new Press the Windows key+R to open the click OK. Now close the Registry Editor
Taskbar button featuring the website’s Run dialogue box, type regedit into it, and click the time in your Taskbar to
icon. In Chrome, navigate to the website press Enter and click Yes to open your see your old Windows clock. If you
you want, click the three lines at the top PC’s Registry Editor. want to revert back to the Windows 10
right, move your cursor to ‘More tools’, Now navigate to the following clock, simply change the ‘Value data’
click ‘Add to taskbar’, then click Add. Registry key by clicking the dropdown field back to 0.
You can do this in Edge, Windows 10’s
default browser, but it requires a
workaround. Open Edge, click the three
dots at the top right, then click ‘Open
with Internet Explorer’. Now follow the
same steps for IE.
WINDOWS 7, 8.1
Display subtitles in
Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player
(WMP) doesn’t display icon (three
video subtitles by dots and an
default. If your downloaded video arrow) at the
doesn’t come with subtitles, you can top right.
search for and download the relevant Next, right-
subtitle file (in the default .SRT format) click any area
from the internet for free. Just type the at the bottom
name of the film or TV shows alongside of WMP (near
‘subtitles’. To ensure WMP plays your the playback WINDOWS 8.1, 10
subtitle, make sure your video and its controls) to bring up a menu. Move your Trim your video quickly
associated subtitle file are saved in the cursor to Play, ‘Lyric, captions and Did you know you can use the
same folder. subtitles’, then click ‘On if available’ (see Photos app in Windows 8.1 and
After doing that, play your video in screenshot below). Restart WMP and 10 to play and trim your videos?
WMP. Now click the ‘Switch to Library’ your video will now play with subtitles. To do this, right-click the relevant video,
select ‘Open with’, then click Photos.
When the video plays, click it to see a
menu bar at the top right. Now click the
Trim option (to the left of the bin icon).
You’ll see two white circular dots at the
start and end of your video timeline (see
screenshot above). Move the dots to select
your start and end points, then click the
floppy-disc icon at the top right to save
your edited video.

Make Office Better Expert tips for every program
WORD
Save your table templates to re-use in future

Creating tabulated charts in example. The Design tab at the
Excel can be a complicated top lets you add different one-
process. It’s much easier to click formatting styles to
create basic tables in Word. If you tend your table.
to use the same table format again and Once you’re happy with your
again, then you should save its template, select it, click the
template for future use. Insert tab, then click the Table
To create a table, click the Insert dropdown menu. Move your
tab, then the Table dropdown cursor to Quick Tables at the
menu at the top left, and select the bottom, then click ‘Save Selection
rows and columns you want to use to Quick Tables Gallery’.
(see screenshot). You can also click Name your template, give it a
Draw Table to create one manually, or description, then click OK.
click Excel Spreadsheet to add an The next time you want to reuse
Excel-style spreadsheet that you can that template, click the Table
click and drag to resize. Now add data dropdown menu, move your
to the table that you might want to cursor to Quick Tables Gallery
reuse – column and row headers, for and select the table you added.
ONENOTE the left and click OK

Stop OneNote linking copied to insert it into your
text to its original webpage spreadsheet. Use the
By default, whenever you copy Chart Styles section
text from a webpage and paste it at the top to format it.
into OneNote, the program adds To add additional
a link to the original web address below information, move
your copied text. You can delete this URL, your cursor over
but if you copy and paste webpage content the chart, then click
often, it’s a good idea to disable this feature. the ‘+’ symbol at its
To do that, click File at the top left of top right (see
One Note, then click Options. Next, click screenshot below).
Advanced on the left, then untick the You’ll see the Chart
‘Include link to source when pasting from Elements menu with
the Web’ box (see screenshot below). various options
Finally, click OK. then click Confirm Delete. To retrieve any ticked (depending on the chart and style
deleted files, click the Recycle Bin option you selected). From here, you can tick
at the top right. You’ll see all your deleted more options such as ‘Data table’ to add
presentations. Tick the ones you want data in a table. What’s more, all these
back, then click Restore (see screenshot options are easy to customise. For
above). To delete a presentation example, move your cursor to Legend
SWAY permanently, tick it, click Delete at the for options to change its position within
Restore presentations you top, then click Delete again to confirm. your chart.
accidentally deleted
In January, Microsoft added EXCEL
new features to its online Make your chart easy
presentation tool Sway in to understand
January. One of the most useful is the Excel has some nifty
ability to recover any presentation you’ve hidden features that
accidentally deleted within the past let you add data to
month. Previously, there was no way charts. To create a chart,
to retrieve it. select the data you want, click
Go to www.sway.com and log into your the Insert tab, then click
account to see your presentations as tiles. Recommended Charts
To delete one, click the three dots at the (in the Charts section). Now
top right of its tile, click the bin icon, select one of the charts from

Secret Tips For…
Action Centre
Stop notifications in presentations, view old alerts and customise Quick Actions
Present without interruptions Area icon and choose ‘Turn

Do you carry out presentations in on quiet hours’ or, in Action
PowerPoint? In Windows 10 you can Centre, click ‘Quiet hours’.
use a setting to automatically disable Action Centre will continue
Action Centre during your presentations, collecting your notifications,
thus eliminating interruptions. Click but it won’t display them
Start, followed by Settings, then System unless opened. Disabling Quiet
followed by ‘Notifications & actions’. Now Hours reverses these actions.
scroll down to find ‘Hide notifications
while presenting’ and switch it to On. Choose your View Windows 7’s archived Action Centre messages to
notifications help with PC troubleshooting
Silence all notifications By default, Action Centre will
If you need a bit of hush to concentrate inform you about... well, pretty much in Windows 7 but they’re still worth a
on something in Windows 10, then enable everything and anything. If you find look. Open Action Centre and then click
the Quiet Hours feature. Either right- this overwhelming, you can customise ‘Change Action Centre settings’.
click the Action Centre’s Notification what’s shown. In Windows 10, first open
Action Centre, then click ‘All settings’, View past actions
System, followed by ‘Notifications If you’re using Windows 7 there’s a
& actions’. The switches under the hidden way you can view previous
Notifications heading (see screenshot actions and solutions. This can be
left) are very broad controls. It’s helpful if you’re trying to troubleshoot PC
better to scroll down to the ‘Show problems because you might just
notifications from these apps’ heading spot something that contributed to
and then switch off notifications from your current plight. First, right-click
specific apps. the Action Centre icon then choose
If you want even more control, click Open Action Centre. Now click the
an app’s name to choose the types of ‘View archived messages’ link in the
notifications it displays, and whether left-hand pane. To find out more about a
Scoll do
down thi
this screen tto di bl al
disable ts or
alerts, they should be accompanied by an particular action, right-click its entry in
manage how they appear audible alert. There are fewer options the list that appears and choose
‘View solution’ (see screenshot above).
Customise the icons for quick actions Disable the Action Centre icon
Are you short of space on your Windows
When you open Windows 10’s Taskbar? In Windows 10 you can disable
Action Centre by clicking its icon in Action Centre entirely, removing its icon
the Notification Area, you may have from the Taskbar – and stopping all alerts
noticed the Collapse option. Click it into the bargain. Click Start, followed
and the Quick Actions panel shrinks by Settings, then System followed by
to a strip of four icons – making ‘Notifications & actions’. Next, in the
space for more notifications above. right-hand pane, click ‘Turn system icons
That’s useful, but did you know on or off’ then move the Action Centre
you can customise the remaining switch to Off.
icons to whatever you want? First,
open the Action Centre and click ‘All Launch Action Centre with a
settings’. Next, click System, keyboard shortcut
followed by ‘Notifications & actions’. Not every secret tip requires a detailed
Now click an icon under ‘Quick explanation. So here’s a quick one for
actions’ and then choose its Windows 10 to finish: next time you want
replacement from the list. to open Action Centre, don’t use your
mouse – just press Windows key+A instead.
48 17 February - 1 March 2016 Next issue Secret Tips For… Windows 10 Gestures
What’s All the Fuss About...
Microsoft Research
The company wants to turn great ideas into great products more quickly
What is it? years later, Gates saw Google
Have a guess. In a rare Maps and ordered his
outbreak of jargon-free engineers to create their
clarity from the company, own version within 100
Microsoft’s research division days.
is called Microsoft Research
(http://research.microsoft. Is Microsoft copying
com). Hallelujah! Google then?
Yes. Google’s recipe for
Wait - Microsoft successful innovation is to
actually researches make sure its researchers
its products? work closely with the teams
Now, now. Windows may not building products. Google’s
always work perfectly, but management says that this
it’s not through a lack of makes it easier for them to
testing. Since Bill Gates spot an idea’s potential, and
set it up in 1991 Microsoft then suggest ways it can be
Research has grown to turned into a product people
employ more than 1,000 will want to use.
researchers and engineers
around the world, in cities What are the dangers
including Cambridge, New of this new approach?
York, Beijing and Munich. Critics argue that research
Projects involve all aspects of has to be given the freedom
computing, from artificial intelligence to to develop at its own pace, allowing for
speech recognition. But things are about What will actually happen? happy accidents along the way. They fear
to change. Researchers will work more directly that a more disciplined approach may
with the teams that build products. stifle creativity, leading to a short-term
In what way? Until now researchers worked in vision that will actually result in less
Microsoft wants the research to lead to isolation, protected from the commercial innovation. However, Microsoft Research
more products. The company’s boss, pressures of having to build products that had earned a reputation for developing
Satya Nadella, thinks that in the past too would prove popular in the ‘real’ world. technology that was fascinating, often
much emphasis was placed on ‘pure’ That started changing in February 2014 groundbreaking, but ultimately pointless.
research that wouldn’t necessarily lead to when Nadella was shown a translation It looked great in a laboratory, but was
anything concrete. Engineers were guided tool Microsoft Research had built. never likely to appear in a person’s home.
by a ‘research for the sake of research’ Impressed, he gave the team a It’s widely accepted that a change was
ethos, not always focusing on the end three-month deadline to make it work needed.
result – such as products that would with Skype. It’s now known as Skype
make the company even more money. Translator, and comes with the Desktop How will I benefit?
version of the program (www.skype. Hopefully by getting your hands on better
com/translator). products sooner. In fact, that’s already
happening. As well as Skype Translator,
So we’ll see inventions turned better collaboration has led to products
into products more quickly? such as Cortana and the holographic
That’s what Microsoft hopes. In the past headset HoloLens (www.microsoft.com/
too many good ideas were overlooked, hololens). But we’ll know that a new era
giving rival companies the opportunity has dawned only when the teams work
to launch products first. For example, together to release a tool that helps users
back in 1998 the research team showed block Microsoft’s incessant Windows 10
Skype Translator is the result of a more Bill Gates a program for making digital upgrade messages. At least Google can’t
efficient Microsoft Research division maps. Nothing came of it until, seven beat Microsoft to that one.

Stop
FOR
WINDMORE
TIPS OWS 10
OUR NBUY
D EW
EFI I
GUIDN
E
TIVE
Microsoft
SPYING ON
W
YOU
Why is Microsoft watching everything you do in Windows 7, 8.1 and 10?
And what can you do to prevent it? Windows expert Jonathan Parkyn investigates
I
f you’re upgrading from Windows 7 Windows 7 and 8 users aren’t safe
or 8, Windows 10 doesn’t cost you from from Microsoft’s snooping.
any money. But there is a big hidden The company recently added similar
cost to Microsoft’s free operating tracking abilities to those systems.
system (OS): your privacy. Concealed So even if you’ve decided against
within Windows 10 are numerous upgrading to Windows 10, you won’t
options that give the operating system be able to avoid Microsoft’s prying eyes.
WHAT YOU CAN DO permission to record a variety of Until recently, Microsoft has
• Discover what personal info Microsoft information about you and the way seemed to be relatively respectful of
is collecting you use your PC – including what you its users’ privacy, so what has changed?
• Find out what Microsoft does with search for online and anything you type What types of information is the
your personal data on your keyboard. All this is then sent company now gathering? And what
• Protect your privacy by turning off back to Microsoft for analysis. What’s does it do with your data once it has
Windows 10’s hidden settings worse is that most of these options are got it? We’ll answer these questions
• Disable Microsoft’s tracking tools in enabled by default. So, unless you take and more, and show you how to protect
Windows 7 and 8 action, you could be unwittingly handing your privacy, whatever version of
your private data to Microsoft on a plate. Windows you’re using.

Stop Microsoft spying on you
YOUR PRIVACY QUESTIONS ANSWERED

What exactly is Microsoft doing?
It’s using tracking tools built into
Windows 10 to monitor users’ activity. This
data is then sent back to Microsoft. But
that’s not all. Windows 10 contains other
privacy-eroding features that target you
with adverts; log what buttons you press
on your keyboard (your ‘keystrokes’); and
consume your internet bandwidth.
Microsoft provides ways to disable most
of these, but they’re scattered throughout
the OS, making them difficult to find.
And you will need to find them because
most of Microsoft’s snooping options are
enabled by default. You’ll need to opt out
if you want to protect your privacy. We’ll
be showing you where to look and what
to do from page 53.
Why is this so controversial? In its privacy statement Microsoft admits that it collects your data in order to show “more
While some of us now grudgingly relevant” adverts
accept that online services (Google,
for example), and our mobile devices, The OS gathers other info to make need to access or share your data in
collect our data, never before have we certain tools work. For example, order to “comply with law enforcement
been in a situation where our own Cortana records your keystrokes and or other government agencies” or
computers routinely spy on us and spoken commands. It can also access “maintain the security of our services”.
gather personal information on such your calendar and contacts as well as It’s somewhat perturbing to consider
a massive scale. It has made lots of find out what you buy online. All this that “good faith” is the only thing
people feel very uncomfortable. is stored online - or “in the cloud”, as standing between you and a situation
To give Microsoft credit, it has been Microsoft puts it. where the contents of your personal files
transparent about its data collection. Windows 10 and Windows 8 are being viewed, copied and handed
But the company has made it automatically synchronise your settings over to unknown third parties.
unreasonably difficult for users to do and data with the cloud. This may not There’s also the growing risk of hacking
anything about it. Not only that, but sound terrifying, but it does mean that to consider. Even if Microsoft itself isn’t
Microsoft also recently admitted that you need to opt out if you don’t want going to abuse your data, what’s to stop it
Windows continues to track PC activity, information about you stored online. being stolen from the company’s servers
even when users have disabled the buried via a cyber-attack?
tracking options - more on this later. Should I be worried about it?
Some of Microsoft’s data-collection Why is Microsoft doing this?
What information is actions obviously pose more of a risk to In its Privacy Statement, Microsoft
Microsoft collecting? your privacy than others, which is why says that it collects data “to operate
Prepared to be shocked. Microsoft can we’ve given each of our tips (from page effectively and provide you the best
gather your name, demographic info (age, 53) their own urgency rating. In general, experiences with our services”, as well
gender, language), interests, relationships however, your level of concern is likely to as “to send communications, including
and PC usage. But what’s most unsettling fall roughly in line with the level of trust promotional communications” and,
is that Microsoft gathers something it you have in Microsoft as a company. finally, “to display advertising”. It admits
ambiguously calls “content”. This can In a lengthy Privacy Statement that it uses some data to make adverts
refer to almost anything, including (www.snipca.com/19521, see “more relevant” to you. One way this
private files and emails. screenshot above), Microsoft states that could work is by tracking which apps
By default, Windows 10 gathers data as it will “access, disclose and preserve you use, then ‘recommending’ others
you browse the web and use Desktop personal data, including your content” that are similar.
apps. It uses this to build a profile of you – such as your emails or private files It’s true that some aspects of the OS
that is then used by Microsoft and other and folders – “when we have a good simply won’t work unless you’re
third-party companies to target you with faith belief that doing so is necessary”. prepared to put up with a certain amount
advertising. It also tracks your location, This effectively gives Microsoft the right of tracking. For example, you won’t be
keeping a record of where you’ve been to access and share your private files able to check your current whereabouts
and gathering information about the and data with anyone it likes, should it in the Maps app if you’ve turned off
networks you connect to. And, unless you wish to. location tracking. And you won’t be able
tell it not to, it even shares your private To help reassure users, Microsoft gives to get suggestions from Cortana if you
home Wi-Fi password. some examples, such as when it may block it from monitoring your activity.

What’s Microsoft really up to? advertising or to sell your data to
We’re not going to suggest that there’s third parties. The company appears to USE FREE PRIVACY TOOLS
anything profoundly sinister lurking be granting itself the right to share As well as following our advice in this
behind Microsoft’s motivations. But for your data either with your consent or feature, you should try one of the
all its talk about how “your privacy is ‘as necessary’.” Read the full post at many third-party privacy tools that
important to us”, we’re convinced that www.snipca.com/19522. have sprung up since Windows 10
its real motivation boils down to one launched. Though these rarely offer
thing: money. Can I completely stop anything more than is already built
By giving away Windows 10 for free, Microsoft snooping? into Windows 10, they do display all
Microsoft has lost a very valuable source The tips we’re about to provide will the major privacy options in one place,
of revenue. It’s only natural that the block most of Microsoft’s data-collecting making your life easier. The problem is
company should look for alternative ways tricks. However, Microsoft’s Corporate that some of the tools install unwanted
to make money. Google, which recently Vice President Joe Belfiore revealed in software, which is actually worse for
reported record profits, has proved that an interview last October that some your privacy. However, Ashampoo’s
companies can generate vast amounts of data-collecting tools in Windows can’t free AntiSpy for Windows 10 (www.
revenue from advertising while providing be disabled (read the full interview at snipca.com/19534) is safe to use. In
free services to its users. Microsoft wants www.snipca.com/19519). fact, it’s a portable program, which
some of that action. That’s why every Microsoft records something it calls means you don’t even need to install
Windows 10 user is allotted a unique ‘telemetry’ – diagnostic data about how it. Just run the tool and choose which
advertising profile and why there’s so you use your PC - though it’s unclear privacy options to disable or enable,
much advertising embedded within the what this data actually is. Belfiore claims based on our advice in this article.
OS and its related services. It would also it is only “to do with the health of the
explain why the company is being so system” and doesn’t contain personal
pushy about getting everyone to upgrade information. But in an unrelated
to the new OS. announcement in January trumpeting
Collecting and using people’s data is Windows 10’s success
something that mobile operating systems (www.snipca.com/19520), Corporate
– such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Vice President of Microsoft’s Windows
Android – have been doing for years, so and Devices Group Yusuf Mehdi revealed
Microsoft is just catching up with other just how much the company knows
tech companies. But that doesn’t make it about what its users have been doing
any more palatable. with their PCs, including the number
Microsoft has come under fire from of photos viewed using the Windows 10 way for users of the Enterprise Edition
all sides, with the campaign group Photo app (82 billion) and how many of Windows 10 to disable telemetry
European Digital Rights (EDRi) neatly hours of Xbox One games were streamed collection but, sadly, the company has
summarising criticism of the company’s to Windows 10 PCs (6.6 million). This no plans to introduce a similar option
privacy policies in a recent blog post: suggests that Microsoft may be collecting for Windows 10 Home or Pro users.
“Microsoft basically grants itself very much more than merely how often your Windows 7 and 8 include similar
broad rights to collect everything you PC crashes. telemetry tracking abilities, but
do, say and write with and on your Thanks to a backlash from its business thankfully you can disable these. See
devices in order to sell more targeted customers, Microsoft recently provided a page 55 to find out how.
MICROSOFT ACCOUNTS: SHOULD YOU USE ONE?

The default user account type in offline-only Local account instead,
Windows 8 and 10 is a Microsoft similar to the user accounts used in
account. You may already have one Windows 7. This won’t be ideal for
of these (from a Hotmail or Outlook. everyone – you won’t be able to use
com email account, for example) or the Windows Store if you do this and,
you may be prompted to create one in truth, the privacy risks of sticking
when you first log in. The key benefits with a Microsoft account are relatively
of using it include the ability to make low. But if you’re uncomfortable
purchases (and download free apps) with your Microsoft account, switch
from the Windows Store, synchronise to a Local one. In Windows 10,
your settings and passwords with click Start, Settings, Account, then
other PCs, and sign into other click ‘Sign in with a local account
Microsoft services. But because instead’ and follow the prompts (see
your account is online, Microsoft screenshot). In Windows 8.1, click
knows whenever you’re using your Start, type account, then click ‘Your
PC. So one way to make Windows account settings’. Click Disconnect
8 and 10 more private is to use an and follow the prompts.

PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY IN WINDOWS 10

Here’s how to disable all of the snooping Turn off these
features Microsoft has built into its latest settings to stop
Windows 10
operating system. targeting you with
“personalised
1 Don’t use Express settings

Urgency level: Very high
During the Windows 10 upgrade process,
adverts”
Microsoft sneakily glosses over a very

important part in the procedure. It uses
misleading wording to trick you into
agreeing to a load of default settings –
many of which potentially compromise
your privacy. By choosing this ‘Use
Express setup’ option when prompted,
you’ll shave a few minutes off your
setup time. But you’ll also be allowing
Microsoft to collect personal data from
your contacts and calendar. there, also switch off ‘Let websites this device’.
If you’ve already upgraded to Windows provide locally relevant content by If you’re using a laptop - or a Windows
10, it’s too late to change this. Instead, accessing my language list’. phone or tablet - Location can be pretty
you’ll need to switch off each tracking You’ll need to change settings useful for navigating, so you may wish
tool individually – follow our tips below. elsewhere too. Click ‘Manage my to leave it on. But if you do, scroll down
But if you’ve not upgraded, when you do Microsoft advertising and other on the Location settings page and
so just click the tiny ‘Customise settings’ personalisation info’ to be taken to disable any apps you don’t want tracking
link on the ‘Get going fast’ screen to Microsoft’s About Our Ads web page you under ‘Choose apps that can use
disable most of Windows 10’s snooping (www.snipca.com/19455). Sign in your location’. Almost all can be safely
features (see screenshot below). with your Microsoft account, then switched off.
switch both ‘Personalised ads in this
browser’ and ‘Personalised ads whenever
I use my Microsoft account’ to Off
(see screenshot above).
4 Stop apps watching
and listening
Urgency level: High
To block Start menu adverts, click Start, Giving apps permission to use your
Settings, Personalisation, then Start and device’s camera or microphone means
switch off ‘Occasionally show suggestions that they could spy on you. They could
in Start’. Finally, open the Windows Store even record your voice and take video
app, click on your account and choose footage of you. By default, Windows
Settings. Here, switch off ‘Show products 10 lets apps use your camera and
on tile’ if you’d rather not see adverts in microphone, so to change this, click
the Store’s Start menu Live tile. Start, Settings, Privacy, then either
Camera or Microphone. The setting at the
Protect your privacy by clicking the tiny
‘Customise settings’ link when upgrading to
Windows 10
3 Block location tracking
Urgency level: Medium
If you don’t like the idea of people
top of both pages turns off the camera
and microphone for all apps, but you
may not wish to do this – Skype, for
knowing where you are and where example, won’t work if it can’t access the
2 Disable targeted advertising

Urgency level: High
Advertising has become an unavoidable
you’ve been, click Start, Settings, Privacy,
then Location. The settings you need
to change here depend on what type of
microphone or camera. Instead, turn off
individual apps listed under ‘Choose apps
that can use your camera/microphone’.
part of modern computing, but Windows device you’re using and the services you
10 goes much further than previous want to use. If you’re using a standard
versions. You’ll not only see adverts on desktop PC, for instance, there’s no real
web pages, but also within apps and benefit to having Location switched on at
even in your Start menu. all, as the PC is fixed in one place. To plan
You can’t turn off advertising journeys in the Maps app, you can always
completely, but you can stop advertisers just use your postcode instead.
from using information about you to To disable Location altogether for
target you with personalised ads. To do anyone who uses the PC, click Change,
so, click Start, Settings, then Privacy. then turn it off. To turn it off for
Click General on the left, then switch individual user accounts, click the switch
off ‘Let apps use my advertising ID for under Location to Off. To erase location Why does the ‘Food & Drink’ app need access
experiences across apps’. While you’re data, click Clear under ‘Clear history on to your camera? Simply turn it off

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5 keylogger
Disable Windows 10’s
Urgency level: Very high
Select ‘Basic’
to limit
Microsoft’s
‘telemetry’
We’ve been warning readers about the tracking
dangers of keyloggers – tools that record
what you type on your keyboard – for
years. So it’s astonishing that Windows
10 should come with one built-in.
Microsoft claims it’s there to help
improve services and provide you with
a more personalised experience, but we
think it’s just plain creepy. First, click
Start, Settings, Privacy, General, then
switch off ‘Send Microsoft info about how
I write to help us improve typing and
writing in the future’.
Once you’ve done that, click ‘Speech,
inking and typing’ on the left, then click
‘Stop getting to know me’ on the right.
This will stop Windows (and Cortana) typing’. Under ‘Manage cloud info’, to turn off access completely.
collecting data from spoken commands click ‘Go to Bing and manage personal However, as with Camera and
and handwriting (on devices that support info for all your devices’. This will open Microphone, you may find that doing
this), as well as from what you type. It’ll a web page – sign in with your Microsoft this prevents certain apps and tools
also disable Cortana, and stop the voice- account, then scroll down to ‘Other from working properly. The Mail app,
dictation tool from working. Click ‘Turn Cortana Data and Personalised Speech, for example, needs to have access to
off’ in the warning message if you’re Inking and Typing’ and click Clear (see your calendar, contacts and, of course,
happy with this. screenshot below). email. So, instead of disabling app access
altogether, it’s better to leave the top
6 Stop Cortana storing

your data online
Urgency level: High
7 your
Block apps from accessing
private info
switch on in each case, then choose
which apps to allow or disable from
those listed below.
For all of Microsoft’s fanfare about Windows 10 allows apps to access a wide
Cortana, it’s hard to ignore the fact that
Windows 10’s digital assistant is a privacy
nightmare. Even if you disable it using
variety of different personal data – from
your calendar and contacts to emails and
text messages. To stop this, click Start,
8 telemetry
Limit Microsoft’s
tracking
the previous tip, Cortana will continue to Settings, Privacy, then click ‘Account It’s not possible to turn off all of Microsoft
store detailed personal information about info’, Contacts, Calendar, ‘Call history’, telemetry tracking in Windows 10. But
you on Microsoft’s servers unless you opt Email and Messaging in turn. In each case you can customise it to limit the amount
to delete it. To do so, click Start, Settings, (apart from Contacts) you’ll see a main of data you share, and to stop Windows
Privacy, then click ‘Speech, inking and switch at the top of the page allowing you nagging you for feedback. Click Start,
Settings, Privacy, then click ‘Feedback &
diagnostics’ on the left (you may need to
scroll down if you can’t see it). On the
right, select Never from the ‘Windows
should ask for my feedback’ dropdown
menu, then select Basic from the
dropdown menu under ‘Send your device
data to Microsoft’ (see screenshot above).
9 your
Stop Windows 10 sharing
Wi-Fi password
Urgency level: High
Windows 10 comes with a new feature
called WiFi Sense, designed to let friends
and colleagues quickly connect to each
other’s wireless networks without
having to physically enter a password. In
practice, what happens is that Windows
shares an encrypted version of your
private Wi-Fi security key with anyone
in your contacts list. Others can’t see
your key, but the system does mean that
Click ‘Clear’ to delete the data that Cortana stores on you contacts you don’t really know or trust

could end up with the ability to access
your Wi-Fi when they’re in the vicinity. CAN YOU BE ANONYMOUS
Not only that, but your encrypted Wi-Fi IN EDGE?
key is stored on Microsoft’s servers, Like most browsers Edge has a private
leaving it vulnerable to hackers. To switch mode. Called InPrivate (instructions
WiFi Sense off, click Start, Settings, at www.snipca.com/19559), it lets
‘Network & internet’, then WiFi. Scroll you browse the web anonymously,
down and click ‘Manage WiFi settings’. so you don’t leave a trail containing
Under WiFi Sense, make sure both your browsing history, image cache or
options are set to Off. cookies. This prevents other users of
your PC from seeing what you’ve done
10 privacy
Configure Edge’s
options
online. However, evidence recently
uncovered by researchers at website
Forensic Focus (www.forensicfocus.
Microsoft’s new web browser has its com) suggests that anyone with the
own set of privacy settings that need right know-how and access to your
addressing. Click the menu (three dots) computer could easily reconstruct
button in the top right and choose your InPrivate browsing history via
Settings, then ‘View advanced settings’. data stored in your user account’s
Scroll to ‘Privacy and services’. Leave WebCache folder. Microsoft has since
‘Offer to save passwords’ and ‘Save admitted it is aware of the flaw and is
form entries’ enabled only if you are “committed to resolving this as quickly
comfortable with the browser storing this Enable ‘Send Do Not Track requests’ to limit how as possible”.
information. We recommend enabling much information Edge sends to Microsoft
‘Send Do Not Track requests’ to limit the
amount your online activity is tracked It’s convenient to leave enabled sent to Microsoft. Under the Cookies
(see screenshot), and disabling ‘Get ‘Show search and site suggestions as I section, we’d suggest selecting ‘Block
Cortana to assist me in Microsoft Edge’ type’ and ‘Use page prediction to speed only third-party cookies’, but bear
(though this may already be disabled if up browsing’. But it will mean data in mind that this will stop some sites
you’ve switched Cortana off). about your searches and browsing being working properly.
PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY IN WINDOWS 7 AND 8

Stop CEIP from snooping your name, address or phone number - on your PC, click Start, type action and
Windows 7 and 8 also snoop on you. you can read more about CEIP at www. click Action Center. Now click ‘Change
Microsoft collects info on how you use snipca.com/19537. Action Center settings’, followed by
your PC for its Customer Experience The big difference in Windows 7 and ‘Customer Experience Improvement
Improvement Program (CEIP). Microsoft 8, compared with Windows 10, is that Program settings’. In the Window that
claims that the data doesn’t contain you can opt out of this data collection at opens, make sure the ‘No, I don’t want
any identifying information, such as any time. To check whether it’s enabled to participate in the program’ option
is selected and click Save Changes, if
necessary (see screenshot left). Turn to
page 48 for more tips on Action Centre
(we’re spelling it in UK-English!).
Disable Microsoft’s new

tracking updates in 7 and 8
Microsoft recently introduced further
snooping abilities into both Windows 7
and 8 via a slew of Windows updates.
Looking through the update codes on
Microsoft’s Knowledge Base (www.
snipca.com/19543) reveals that they
are related to “customer experience
and diagnostic telemetry”. If your PC is
set to update automatically, then these
may already have been installed on
your system and be reporting back to
Microsoft. The good news is that disabling
CEIP (see workshop on opposite page)
will effectively block these. However, to
Select ‘No, I don’t want to participate in the program’ to opt out of Microsoft’s CEIP be certain, you may want to follow the

Uninstall and
block Microsoft’s
tracking updates
STEP Click (or right-click in

1 Windows 8.1) Start and
select Control Panel, then
click ‘Uninstall a program’. On the
left, click ‘View installed updates’.
Untick privacy boxes in Office to stop
Microsoft tracking your use of the
software
steps below to check whether any

of the offending updates have been
added to your system, then remove
and block them if desired.
Disable CEIP in STEP Look for the following

other programs
Microsoft includes CEIP and 2 updates (you can use the
Search box): KB3022345,
similar tracking tools in other KB3068708, KB3075249 and
products, so you may want to turn KB3080149. Right-click each,
these off too. In Microsoft Office, select Uninstall, then click Yes.
for example, click File, Options, Restart your PC.
Trust Center, ‘Trust Center
settings’, then Privacy Options and
untick any options that refer to
Customer Experience or sharing
data with Microsoft - the precise
wording depends on your version Untick this box to stop Microsoft knowing how you
of Office (see screenshot top). use Windows Media Player
If you use Windows Media
Player, click Organise, Options, Privacy, Active Protection Service (MAPS), a
then untick ‘I want to make Microsoft similar system to CEIP, which reports STEP Open Windows Update and
software and services even better…’
and click OK (see screenshot above).
information about your PC usage
– including browsing history – to 3 click ‘Check for updates’.
Click the ‘important
And if you use Microsoft Security Microsoft. Open Security Essentials or updates’ link, then right-click the KB
Essentials (Windows 7) or Windows Defender and click Settings, MAPS, select numbers from Step 2 and select ‘Hide
Defender (Windows 8), you may ‘I don’t want to join MAPS’, then click update’ for each.
also want to disable the Microsoft ‘Save changes’.
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Subscribe to Computeractive at www.getcomputeractive.co.uk

Windows 10
settings
Your questions answered
You’re keen to change Microsoft’s defaults, but you have a few questions first.
Windows expert Jonathan Parkyn provides the answers
O A
ur Cover you still can’t access it at the address Yes, hopefully. Your PDF problem is a
Feature in Issue provided, try this alternative address: strange Windows 10 quirk that other
466 (see image www.snipca.com/19455. It will redirect readers have also experienced. First, try
right) shed light you to Microsoft’s website, though you right-clicking a PDF file, then selecting
on the multitude of may then need to log in using your ‘Open with’, then ‘Choose another app’.
settings and hidden Microsoft account details before you can Select the program you want from the
options in Windows 10, access the settings themselves. list, then tick the box next to the ‘Always
and offered advice about use this app to open .pdf files’ option at
whether to accept or Why can’t I change my the bottom of the box, before clicking OK.
change Microsoft’s defaults. We received default PDF viewer? If that still doesn’t work, launch Acrobat
hundreds of emails from readers telling
us how useful they found it, but there
were also lots of questions about our
Q In your settings feature you
suggest clicking ‘Choose default
applications by file type’ to change
Reader, then click Edit, Preferences,
General. At the bottom of the window,
click Select As Default PDF Handler. Click
recommendations, which we’re happy to default apps in Windows 10. However, Yes, then OK.
answer here. If you have further Windows this does not seem to work with
10 problems, email us at noproblem@ PDF files. I tried Acrobat Reader and Why does my Start button
computeractive.co.uk and our Problems others but, no matter what I do, it no longer work?
Solved team will consider them for future
publication.
changes back to using Microsoft
Edge as the default PDF viewer.
Can you help?
Q I changed most of the settings you
recommended in Issue 466. On
restarting my computer, however, I
Why can’t I access Microsoft’s Dave Ingram discovered that left-clicking the Start
personalised ad settings? button did nothing. I could
Q In your advice concerning

the settings for ‘Personalised
ads’, there seems to be a problem
right-click it, but the Settings
button and all the tiles had
disappeared. Also, the internet
with the website you suggest we and Mail icons have disappeared
visit: http://choice.microsoft. from the Taskbar. How do I fix
com. I have tried it on different all this?
browsers but have not been Dennis Pasco
able to access it. Is there an
alternative?
David Dye A The problem you describe
is widely known to affect
Windows 10, seemingly at
A We also had problems

accessing it for about a
week after Issue 466 went to
random. The simplest fix is to
create a new user account.
Right-click Start, select Control
press. Perhaps Microsoft took it Panel, User Accounts, then ‘Add
offline for some reason. It seems Click Select As Default PDF Handler in Acrobat Reader to make it or remove user accounts’. Next,
to have reappeared now, but if your default PDF program click ‘Add a new user in PC

You can
enable
other drives
in System
Restore,
but in most
cases
there’s
little point
Fix the common ‘vanishing Start menu’ problem by creating a new user account
settings’, then ‘Add someone else to this images, but they’re cached in your PC’s I still didn’t like the operating system, so I
PC’ and follow the remaining steps (see memory and stored on your hard drive, decided to go back to Windows 7. The
screenshot above). Once the account has so disabling them is one way to free up problem is that now Windows 7 won’t
been set up, click ‘Change account type’, system resources and boost performance. start. It lists a ‘StartupRepairOffline’
select Administrator then click OK. Log If you prefer to leave thumbnails on, problem with the number ‘6.1.7600.16385’
in using this account and your Start however, choose the Custom option in and ‘NoRootCause’ listed as problem
menu should be back. You’ll need to copy the Visual Effects screen, then untick all signature codes. What has happened?
your personal files from your old account the options below, except ‘Show Steve Dinsdale
and re-apply any other settings, but your thumbnails instead of icons’ (see
apps and programs should be unaffected.
Why have my thumbnails

screenshot below left).
Can I set up an alternative

A None of the changes we suggested
would have resulted in the situation
you describe. The most likely explanation
turned into icons? drive to store data? is that some of Windows 7’s startup files
Q I followed your instructions about

changing the Visual Effects setting to
‘Adjust for Best Performance’, but it
Q In your feature you said that
Windows 10 disables System Restore.
As far as I can tell, this is incorrect.
have somehow become corrupted during
the rollback process.
There are a few things you can try to fix
turned every photo into a red icon. What However, while following the procedure this. Grab your Windows 7 installation
has happened to my photo files? you recommended, I came across other DVD (or borrow one), then start your PC
Ralph Mynn options, such as being able to set up an with the disc in the drive. Press a key to
alternative drive for storing the restore boot from the DVD when prompted. On
A Nothing has happened to them – they

are safe. It’s quite normal for photos
to revert to icons if you choose the ‘Best
data. Could you explain how to do this?
John G Steel
the Install Windows screen, select your
language preferences, click Next, then
click ‘Repair your computer’. You should
Performance’ option. Doing so disables
thumbnails, meaning that your photos
and other files will be displayed as icons
A Sadly no, because it’s not actually
possible. Clicking a different drive,
then clicking Configure will enable
see your Windows 7 installation listed.
Click it, then click Next. From the
Recovery Options listed, first try Startup
in the default programs they open with, System Restore protection for that other Repair – your error message suggests that
rather than as a miniature preview of the drive, which isn’t much use because it’s Startup Repair was unable to fix the
image itself. only usually necessary to enable System problem, but running the tool multiple
Thumbnails are useful for identifying Restore for the drive with Windows times sometimes solves this, so attempt it
installed. at least five times before moving on.
In our experience, Windows 10 does If you still can’t start Windows 7, boot
leave System Restore disabled by default, to the Recovery Options again and this
but it’s possible that on some systems, time click System Restore. Click Next,
including yours, it is turned on. We’ll select a restore point, then click Next,
keep checking this in future. As we followed by Finish. This may restore the
explained in the feature, it’s easy enough corrupt files. If it doesn’t and you have a
to re-enable. Right-click Start, select system-image backup made before you
System, then click ‘System protection’. In upgraded to Windows 10, you can restore
the window that opens, click your system this by attaching your USB stick, booting
drive (usually C:) then Configure. Click to the Recovery Options, choosing System
‘Turn on system protection’, then OK. Image Recovery and following the
instructions. If you don’t have a system-
Why can’t I start Windows 7 image backup, you may need to reinstall
after rolling back from 10? Windows 7 from scratch, though doing
To lleave thumbnails
thumb il enabled
abled in Visual Effects
tick ‘Show thumbnails instead of icons’ Q I changed my Windows 10 settings as
you suggested in Issue 466. However,
this will erase everything on your hard
drive, so it’s very much a last resort.

NirSoft’s
Best
programs
(and they’re ALL free!)
You’re spoilt for choice on NirSoft’s superb website – it’s packed with dozens of
simple but clever free programs. Patricia Walsh picks the 10 best
O 8 LastActivityView
ver the past few years one all, they’re free, contain no junk and
website has made repeated require no email registration. Here’s our www.snipca.com/19527
appearances in our Best Free countdown… Knowing what caused your PC to crash
Software section: NirSoft (www. should help you avoid the problem in
nirsoft.net). It’s home to an impressive
range of Windows programs that carry
out the sort of ‘boring but useful’ tasks
10 OutlookAddressBookView
Many of NirSoft’s tools add the kind of
future. That’s where LastActivityView can
help. It lets you retrace your footsteps by
displaying a list of actions performed on
that make using your PC so much easier. features to Office and Windows that we your PC, and events that took place
And incredibly, it’s the work of just one wish Microsoft had thought of. immediately prior to a crash. You’ll see
man (see box on page 61). OutlookAddressBookView is a good when you logged on/off, when you ran
We’ve spent some time testing the example. It shows you at a glance the software, when a system restore point
100-plus programs on the site and important details of contacts stored in was created and when you saved a
whittled it down to our top 10. Most of your Microsoft Outlook address book, document. Obviously, it’s also a useful
these are small (typically less than giving you quick access to phone way to keep an eye on how other people
100KB) and portable, so they don’t need numbers, postcodes and email addresses. are using your PC.
to be installed. They all work with XP, By default, it shows details from any
Vista, 7, 8 and 10 except ProduKey. Best of contacts in your default Outlook profile.
You can select other profiles by clicking
Options, then Advanced Options, or by
7 BlueScreenView
Here’s another tool to help you investigate
pressing F9 on your keyboard. the cause of a crash. It scans the
‘minidump’ files that Windows creates
9 RecentFilesView
Every time you open a file, Windows
during those dreaded ‘blue screen of
death’ disasters, then presents them in a
neat table. The upper pane lists each
saves its name in the ‘Recent’ folder or in crash; the lower pane shows the
the Registry. This information is displayed corresponding driver that was loaded –
by RecentFilesView, showing you and possibly caused the crash. Visit
instantly where to find it. Click ‘Modified Microsoft’s Support website for more
Time’ at the top to see them listed information on how to understand
chronologically based on when you last Windows dump files: www.snipca.
amended each file, or ‘Created Time’ to com/19530.
see them in the order you created them.
A recent update added the same
right-click options you get in Windows
Explorer’s ‘context’ menu, such as ‘Create
6 VideoCacheView
Using VideoCacheView you can save
shortcut’ and ‘Send to’ (see screenshot video files in your hard drive. It works by
left). Just select a file then, while holding scanning your entire browser cache for
Press Shift and right-click to bring up
Windows Explorer’s ‘context’ menu in down Shift on your keyboard, right-click videos you’ve recently watched online.
RecentFilesView your mouse. These can then be saved to your PC for

MEET THE MAN
BEHIND NIRSOFT
At the controls of NirSoft is Israeli
software developer Nir Sofer. He is
very proud of his one-man operation,
boasting that at NirSoft “there is no
CTO or CEO, there is no secretary,
there is no development team, and
there are no rented offices”. Sofer
doesn’t make a living out of the site.
Instead it is a huge labour of love. He
says he uses all his free time to make
new programs, and add new tools to
Right-click a video in VideoCacheView, then click ‘Open Download URL In Browser’ existing ones.
Sofer’s first site, launched in
offline viewing (we recommend playing NirSoft says that it will soon update the 2001, contained tools for his own
them in VLC media player: www. program to reveal master passwords, personal use. The site we know
videolan.org/vlc). Left-click a file to see which are used in password-management and love now, www.nirsoft.net,
information about it, including when you services like LastPass. arrived three years later. It has grown
watched the video, and in which browser to offer over 100 programs, which
(it supports Internet Explorer, Chrome,
Opera and Firefox). Right-click a file to
play it, save it, or open it in the browser
3 Mail PassView
What WebBrowserPassView does for
are used by millions of people
worldwide. He is open to comments
on programs, and suggestions for new
(see screenshot above). browsers, Mail PassView does for email ones - just email him at nirsofer@
programs. Run it and you’ll see your yahoo.com.
5 WirelessNetworkWatcher
If you ever suspect someone else is
passwords for Outlook (including the
2016 version), Gmail, Windows Mail,
Thunderbird, Yahoo Mail and other
piggybacking on your Wi-Fi, run services. You’ll also see what server type
WirelessNetworkWatcher. It scans your the email account is on - POP3, IMAP or
network and lists all the computers and SMTP - which is always handy when you
devices using it, showing the IP address need to set up email forwarding, or sync
and MAC address for each. It also runs a across devices.
background scan to check for new Don’t worry if your security software
devices connecting to the network. To flags up Mail PassView as malicious.
hear a beep when one connects, click NirSoft says that antivirus products often
Options then tick ‘Beep On New Device’ misclassify its password-recovery tools as
(see screenshot below). dangerous. Visit NirSoft’s blog to read If you’re a confident Windows user, select
more about these false-positive results: ‘Advanced Mode’ in MyUninstaller
www.snipca.com/19535.
touch. NirSoft’s MyUninstaller isn’t as
2 ProduKey
We all know that we should make a note
powerful as some of the heavyweight
uninstallers, such as IObit’s program
(www.snipca.com/19491), but it’s worth
of our Windows/Office Product ID and trying if the built-in Windows tool
Product Key, but it’s easy to forget, doesn’t work well for you.
because it may seem like you’ll never It claims the top spot because of how
need them again after the first time you much information it provides. As well as
use them. These crucial details are the obvious (product name, version etc),
revealed by ProduKey. Scroll to the it tells you in which installation folder the
bottom of its download page (URL above) program is stored, which website you
in WirelessNetworkWatcher, tick ‘Beep On
New Device’ to receive alerts whenever a to see command-line options you can use downloaded it from, and its uninstall
device joins your network to operate it. It doesn’t yet work for string that appears in the Registry.
Windows 10, so visit Microsoft’s website It’s easy to use – just right-click what
4 WebBrowserPassView
To recover passwords old and new, use
for instructions instead: www.snipca.
com/19536.
you want to remove, then select
‘Uninstall Selected Software’. If you’re a
confident Windows user and know
WebBrowserPassView. It shows passwords
for your accounts in Chrome, Firefox,
Internet Explorer and Opera. It rates their
1 MyUninstaller
Uninstalling programs is never as simple
exactly what you want to remove,
consider switching on Advanced Mode.
This lets you uninstall multiple programs
strength (from ‘very weak’ to ‘very as it should be, which is why we all need at once. Click View, then tick ‘Advanced
strong’) and shows the date you created it. tools that well and truly kick them into Mode’ (see screenshot above).

Problems Solved
PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT What should I
use instead of
Why can’t I enable ReadyBoost? BitLocker?
I decided to
Q buy an HP
Stream 11 Q
In Windows 10, Microsoft seems
to have dispensed with the
and upgrade it to BitLocker encryption tool. I have
Windows 10, just for a previously used this feature to safeguard
play. I can upgrade the data that I move on to USB memory sticks.
meagre 32GB SSD Do you know why Microsoft removed it,
storage with an SD and is there a reliable free alternative?
card, but my main Peter Rowe
concern is the 2GB of
memory. I thought I’d Microsoft has not killed off
enable ReadyBoost for
some breathing space,
A BitLocker, but it’s only available
in Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise
but the system tells Change
Ch the number
be in the ‘Value
‘Valu data’ field from
fr ‘2’ to
t ‘0’ in the and Education. The only editions of
me it would gain no Registry window to enable ReadyBoost Windows 7 to include BitLocker are
advantage, and has there’s probably no benefit in caching Enterprise and Ultimate. Windows 8 Pro
therefore disabled the option. Is there the files they store on to a different and Enterprise both have BitLocker.
any way to hack this in the Registry? drive. In fact, to do so might even slow Our guess is that you either used
Surely if I purchase the fastest-available things down a tiny fraction, because it BitLocker on a work PC, and therefore
SD card, the machine will at least be introduces an unnecessary extra probably under Windows 7 Enterprise, or
able to call on extra memory? Or is process to every read/write operation. you have the Ultimate edition on a
there another reason Microsoft is All of which is to say we think different home computer. We also reckon
stopping me from using this? Microsoft is probably right. However, if you’ve bought a new computer with
James Francis you want to hack the Registry to force Windows 10 Home. Had you updated a
ReadyBoost to work on your system, Windows 7 Ultimate PC to Windows 10
We don’t know Microsoft’s you can. Be sure to back up first, just in under Microsoft’s free-upgrade
A specific reasoning, but
ReadyBoost was designed for
case anything goes wrong.
Insert the SD card you want to use,
programme you would’ve got Windows
10 Pro, which has BitLocker.
a time before the widespread adoption then press Windows key+R, type regedit As for your new PC, you could upgrade it
of SSDs as main hard drives. and press Enter. Next, in the Registry by buying Windows 10 Pro, but for this one
It’s commonly thought that Editor, press Control (Ctrl)+F to open the feature there are free alternatives. We’d
ReadyBoost makes use of a USB Find dialogue, type AttachState and suggest downloading VeraCrypt (www.
memory stick (or SD card in your case) press Enter. It’ll probably take a few snipca.com/19353). This is an updated
to provide ‘extra memory’, but that’s seconds for the result to be highlighted, version of TrueCrypt, which was
not really what it does. Memory sticks and it should be right under the parent discontinued by its authors due to security
and cards are much quicker than key ‘rdyboost’. Click AttachState in the concerns. VeraCrypt claims to have dealt
traditional hard drives, which store and left-hand pane and then, in the right- with TrueCrypt’s security problems.
read data from spinning magnetic hand pane, look for entries with a value
platters – a bit like an old-fashioned of ‘0x00000002’: these are the drives
record player. So, ReadyBoost uses this where ReadyBoost has been disabled.
fast memory as a cache for frequently Unfortunately there’s no easy way to
accessed files on your hard drive: when tell which drive is which. The one at
your computer needs to access one of the bottom of the list is likely to be your
these files, it is first transferred from SD card, but you’ll need to use trial and
(or to) a ReadyBoost-enabled memory error. Right-click its entry in the Name
stick/card – not the hard drive. column and choose Modify. Change the
This is important background data for number in the ‘Value data’ field from
understanding why Microsoft disabled ‘2’ to ‘0’ and click OK. You can now
ReadyBoost in SSD-based systems: even enable ReadyBoost on that drive. If it’s
the fastest memory sticks/cards will be the wrong one, just repeat this step for
little or no faster than your SSD, so the next entry up in the Name column. VeraCrypt is a free alternative to upgrading to
Windows 10 Pro to use the BitLocker tool

Our experts solve all your tech problems
Email us your problem and we’ll try to help: noproblem@computeractive.co.uk
Why won’t my
PC find Windows
first time?
When I switch on my PC, I now of its ‘boot order’ list. We
Q get a message saying that the
operating system has not been
can safely assume that
when the PC was made
found, along with a prompt to insert a its manufacturer ensured
disc containing an operating system. If I that the hard drive was at the
press Enter, this message is cleared and Enter the BIOS and change the boot order if your PC top of this list. This is also
then Windows launches just fine. I’ll fails to load first time why your PC’s date and time
admit that it’s a very old machine reset themselves.
(running XP!), but it does everything I now looking first at some other drive – It’s pretty easy to put right, but first
need. It never used to do this, so I did probably the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive replace the CMOS battery to stop it
wonder if this was a trick from Microsoft – for an operating system, rather than the happening again. Open your PC, carefully
to get me to upgrade. But then why hard drive. It doesn’t find one, and so tells prise out the disc-like battery and fit a
would Windows load afterwards? Is there you this, requesting that you press Enter replacement – you need a CR2032 type.
a way to get it to load first time, without to acknowledge the ‘problem’. Your PC Put your PC back together then start it
having to press Enter? It seemed to then moves on to the next drive, which is and press the necessary key to enter the
coincide with the date and time resetting the hard drive containing XP – so it then BIOS – usually F2 or Delete (Del). Now
themselves, but both are now fine. launches as normal. use the cursor (arrow) keys and Enter to
Ashley Harrison Why is it doing this all of a sudden? navigate the menus. Find ‘Boot Order’
Because your aged PC’s CMOS battery or ‘Boot Sequence’ or similar, then
This has nothing to do with died, or is all but dead and dropping out, ensure your hard drive is at the top.
A Microsoft. In fact, all that’s
happening is that your PC is
resetting the BIOS to its defaults – and
putting the optical drive back at the top
Press Escape (Esc) to exit, and choose
the option to save.
How do I see who sent old emails?

I am running Windows Windows Explorer. If you want to
Q Live Mail (WLM, www.
snipca.com/19266) on
keep things this way, then all you
need to do is right-click one of
a Windows 7 PC. Recently, my the existing column headings and
hard drive died, taking with it a tick either To or ‘To addresses’,
load of emails. As an alternative, or both. Click OK and the
I turned to a store of emails information you need will appear.
I had backed up on an external However, did you know
drive. As you can see from my that you can easily put these
screenshot, when I view backed-up emails back into
these emails, I’m missing key WLM? Right-click in WLM’s
information – most importantly left-hand navigation pane and
to whom the various emails were choose ‘New folder’. Give it a name
sent. Is there any way to add a and choose the desired location
column showing this information? under the relevant account. Now
Leslie Rushbrook return to the Windows Explorer
folder that contains your .eml files.
To protect your privacy You can either press Control
A we’re not printing your
screenshot so, for the
(Ctrl)+A to select the lot, or hold
down Ctrl to select them
benefit of other readers, we’ll individually, or Shift to select
explain that you are viewing your batches. Now just drag and drop
backed-up emails individually – as the selected emails to the new
files with a .eml extension in Tick either To or ‘To addresses’ to get info on old emails folder in WLM.

Problems Solved
How do I pin websites to
Why does my Windows 10’s Taskbar?
PC’s display keep
dimming? Q
I have recently
upgraded
to Windows 10. In
In Windows 10’s settings I Windows 7, I could copy a
Q have set my laptop to turn off
the display on battery power
web address and pin it as a
shortcut on the Taskbar or
after 10 minutes, and after one hour to the Favorites bar in
when plugged in to the mains. Internet Explorer (IE). Is
However, the display goes dark after there a way to do this in
about three minutes anyway. A tap on Windows 10? I am aware
the Enter key restores it, but this is that I can do this with
annoying. It did not happen in programs, but I can’t figure
Windows 8 or 8.1. A solution would out how to do the same You can pin
Yo pi websites
bsit to th
the Start
St menu if you use the
th Edge
Ed
be welcome. with web shortcuts. browser
Charles Moon David Reginald Charge
option is to pin websites to the Start
It’s possible that your laptop It sounds like you’re using Edge, menu instead. Visit the relevant website,
A is configured with ‘adaptive
brightness’, which is
A because the current version does
not offer the ability to drag and
then click Edge’s menu button (three
dots, top right) and choose ‘Pin to Start’.
deciding that the ambient light is drop shortcuts, as you could with IE. The Alternatively, you can just launch IE
sufficiently low that it should dim Edge icon looks very similar to that of IE, and do it in exactly the same way as you
the screen. To check, click Start and it sits on the Taskbar from the used to. Open the Edge menu again, but
followed by Settings and then ‘Power moment you install Windows 10 – so you this time choose ‘Open with Internet
& sleep’ followed by ‘Additional might not have realised you’re using the Explorer’. Now just drag and drop the
power settings’. This puts you on the new browser. website icon from IE’s address bar to
Power Options screen. Now click If you want to continue using Edge, one your Taskbar.
‘Change plan settings’, followed by
‘Change advanced power settings’,
then scroll down to find Display and
click to expand it, followed by
What’s this Windows startup message?
‘Enable adaptive brightness’. Now set My PC opens
both ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’ to
Off. Click OK.
Q Command
Prompt
If this doesn’t help it could be that window when
the current power profile is corrupt. Windows 10 starts,
Return to the Power Options screen, which displays a
but this time click ‘Create a power message that says
plan’ on the left. Give it a name, click “Windows cannot
Next, choose your key settings and find C:\Program Files\
click Create. Now click ‘Change plan User Extensions\Client.
settings’ alongside the new plan, exe”. I click the red
followed by ‘Change advanced power cross to close this and
settings’ and fine-tune as needed. all seems fine.
Any idea what’s
causing this?
John Storer Delete entries from the Task Scheduler in the Selected Item section
We think ‘Task Scheduler (Local)’ in the left-hand

A your security software has
detected and removed some
pane, then look for the offending task in
the Active Tasks list at the bottom.
malware. However, the malware in Double-click its entry.
question had added an Click Disable under Selected Item, then
entry to Task Scheduler to launch itself reboot your PC. If the problem is
on startup, which is not something resolved, repeat the above but this time
Adjust the ‘Enable adaptive
daptiv brightness’
bright ’ your security software can resolve. click Delete under Selected Item. If not,
setting if your display keeps dimming Press Windows key+R, type click Enable to restore the disabled task,
taskschd.msc and press Enter. Select and then repeat to identify the culprit.

How do I stop
Facebook game
requests?
I’m quite sick of the endless
Q game requests and notifications
I receive from my Facebook
friends. I’ve talked to some of them
about it and it seems they didn’t even
know that their game updates were
appearing in my news feed. Why does
this happen, and can I stop it? Do they
need to do it, or do I? I need simple
instructions. Click Edit under ‘Apps, Websites and Plugins’, then ‘Turn Off’ to stop getting game requests
Alison Grove
If you want to help your friends, tell notifications from your end. In your
It happens simply because them first to log into Facebook, click feed, click the down arrow next to a
A your Facebook friends have
installed gaming apps and not
the down arrow at the top right, choose
Settings and then click Apps. They
post and choose ‘Hide all from [app
name]’. To hide all such notifications,
opted out of allowing these to post should then click the pencil icon next click the down arrow at the top right
information automatically to their own to an app and choose Only Me. Tell of your Facebook home page and
walls. It’s all too easy for this to happen, them to repeat for all affected apps, choose Settings followed by Apps,
and your friends are unaware of the then click Save. and then click Edit under ‘Apps,
situation precisely because the posts But you can also take unilateral Websites and Plugins’, followed by
are automatic. action by blocking individual or all Turn Off.
Can I view two email accounts in Thunderbird?

I recently changed my
Q ISP from TalkTalk to
the Post Office. I now
have two email addresses –
one ending @talktalk.net
and the other ending in
@pobroadband.co.uk, from
the Post Office. I can access the
@talktalk.net email address in
Thunderbird, as before.
However, to access my Post
Office email I have to use a
page where I type my Post
Office email address and
password and click ‘Sign in’. Add your Post Office account to
I would like both email Thunderbird by entering your details
accounts accessible from
Thunderbird. Is this possible, time. Officially, the company says it
and if it is, how do I do it? discontinues ex-customer email
Arthur Smith the @pobroadband.co.uk email address addresses after 30 days. Unofficially
and password and click Continue. we know that these @talktalk.net email
Yes, all you need to do is add Thunderbird should configure everything addresses sometimes continue to work
A your Post Office account to
Thunderbird as a new account.
automatically from here but, if it fails,
click ‘Manual config’ and then fill in the
for long after a subscriber has stopped
paying for the company’s broadband
First, click the menu button (three Post Office email server details service. But the fact is that your access
horizontal lines), then click Options, manually – you’ll find them at www. to TalkTalk’s email servers could end at
followed by Account Settings. Now click snipca.com/19320. any time – so we’d recommend letting
Account Actions, followed by Add Mail However, a word of warning: your your contacts know that you have a
Account. Type your name, then supply TalkTalk email address is on borrowed new email address.

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Problems Solved
? Whatever happened to... Usenet?
I spent years on the uk.sport. newsgroups – using Microsoft’s
Q horseracing newsgroup. Then
I upgraded my computer and
Windows Live Mail (WLM).
You might have this installed,
my Usenet newsgroups were gone. It otherwise it’s a free download
wasn’t catastrophic, but recently I’ve from www.snipca.com/19266.
been wondering where they went and Microsoft killed WLM’s built-in
how so many people and messages newsgroup (NNTP) servers a
managed to disappear without anyone while back, but you can set
seeming to know or care. WLM using free public news
David Barnes servers (see www.aioe.org for
details).
In fact, nothing happened to Select the Accounts tab, then
A
You can still access Usenet – and all other newsgroups
Usenet or its newsgroups. – using Microsoft’s Windows Live Mail (WLM) click Newsgroups. Type your
Loads are still up and running, name and click Next. Now type
and you can dive right back in to the Today, there are millions of websites an email address for replies and click
discussions – and probably without on every conceivable topic, many with Next. Type nntp.aioe.org into the
installing any additional software. But their own comments sections or forum. ‘News (NNTP) server’ box, click Next,
first, let’s explore why Usenet fell off Using these is easy. then Finish. Wait for the list of
the radar. So, Usenet just gradually fell out of newsgroups to download.
The web as we now know it didn’t favour – but it’s by no means extinct. Use the search box at the top of the
exist when Usenet was at its peak, Admittedly many newsgroups are now Newsgroup Subscriptions box to find
during the late 1980s and early 1990s. If awash with spam, porn or other dodgy what you’re after, select the relevant
you wanted to discuss stuff with others stuff, but we checked uk.sport. newsgroup and then click Subscribe.
online, newsgroups were the place to horseracing site and it still has a few
Want to know what happened to your
be – but getting set up did need a bit of useful regular contributors. favourite program, website or technology?
technical know-how. You can access it – and all other Email noproblem@computeractive.co.uk
Can I send large files with Outlook?

In Issue 466 (page 58), you a 60MB file taking about one hour! So, achieve the same result. Press Windows
Q described how to send large files
via email, using Outlook. Well, it
how do I use the OneDrive method
with Outlook?
key+E to launch File Explorer, then
navigate to your OneDrive folder. Now
doesn’t work with Windows 8.1, which I Rupert Wilson right-click a big file that you want to send
use and am happy with. Simply, the and, from the pop-up menu, choose
‘Share from OneDrive’ option doesn’t The method we described was ‘Share a OneDrive link’.
appear under Insert. Is there another
way, or is this just a Windows trick to
A for Microsoft’s webmail service,
Outlook.com, not the company’s
Now launch Outlook and write a new
message in the normal way. When you’re
persuade users to ‘upgrade’ to Windows desktop email program – which is called ready to insert a link to your big file, just
10? I use MailBigFile (www.mailbigfile. Outlook (without the .com). There were right-click and choose Paste, or use the
com), but it takes forever to upload, with fewer confusions of this nature when keyboard shortcut Control (Ctrl)+V. Click
Outlook.com was Send to send the email and then, at the
called Hotmail, other end, all the recipient needs to do to
so it’s a shame download the file is click the link and
Microsoft messed follow the prompts.
around with the
names.
However,
NEXT ISSUE ON SALE
2 March
assuming you’ve • What happened to my
got OneDrive up Google page?
and running on • How do I stop LibreOffice
your Windows 8.1 second-guessing my typing?
PC and have an
• How do I fix my Windows search?
active OneDrive
...And many more
account, you can
Use OneDrive to send large files from your Outlook desktop email use a different Subscribe to Computeractive
program technique to at getcomputeractive.co.uk

Fast Fixes
Windows shutdown
Solve never-ending shutdown, make the power button switch off and
stop unwanted shutdowns
Windows shutdown never ends or 8/8.1, press Windows key+R, type
When the Windows shutdown message wuapp.exe and press Enter. Now click
remains on screen for a while, it’s usually ‘Change settings’ on the left then, from
down to something you recently installed the dropdown menu on the right,
or out-of-date drivers. You’ll need to choose an option other than ‘Install
uninstall the offending program, and look updates automatically (recommended)’.
for the latest drivers for all attached In Windows 10, click Start, followed by
devices. Microsoft’s System Configuration Settings, then ‘Update & security’,
can help to finger the culprit. Press followed by Windows Update. Now click
Windows key+R, type msconfig and press Drive errors can slow shutdown, so make ‘Advanced options’ and choose ‘Schedule
Enter. Now select the Services tab, tick the Windows fix them automatically a restart’. A hardware fault is another
‘Hide all Microsoft services’ box then click possibility. If your PC’s processor is
‘Disable all’, and also ‘Disable all’ on the No ‘Shut down’ option getting too hot, for instance, then the
Startup tab. Restart your PC and use System If you use Windows Vista or 7 and notice computer will shut itself down.
Configuration to enable disabled items that the ‘Shut down’ button has a label Carefully open your machine, then make
one at a time, restarting each time. When other than ‘Shut down’, then it’s likely sure all the fans are free from dust and
Windows fails to shut down, the last item that in the past you’ve changed it. able to turn freely. Also install the free
re-enabled is the cause. Leave it disabled, However, it’s possible that a program has SpeedFan tool (from www.snipca.
or turn to Google to research the problem. made the change itself without your com/19395) to monitor the temperature
permission. In fact, the ‘Shut down’ inside your system.
option is still there – but hidden in a
pop-up menu, accessed by clicking the Windows shuts down when
right-pointing arrow to the right of the laptop is closed
button. But if you want the button to be This isn’t actually a fault but a decision
‘Shut down’, then first right-click a blank by your laptop’s manufacturer. If it’s not
part of the Taskbar and choose Properties. the behaviour you want, it’s easily fixed.
Now select the Start Menu tab, open the Press Windows key+R, type powercfg.cpl
dropdown menu alongside ‘Power button and hit Enter. Now click ‘Choose what
action’ and choose ‘Shut down’. Click OK. closing the lid does’, on the left-hand
Troubleshoot never-ending shutdown
by disabling services using the System If you can’t find ‘Shut down’ in Windows side. In turn open both dropdown menus
Configuration tool 10, that’s because it has moved: click alongside ‘When I close the lid’ and
Start, followed by Power – and there it is. choose either ‘Do nothing’, Sleep or
Shutdown is really slow Hibernate. Click ‘Save changes’.
Sometimes slow shutdown is normal – Windows shuts down
Windows often finalises programs, automatically Power button doesn’t shut down
installations or updates during shutdown. If your PC sometimes seems to shut Like the above tip, this isn’t a fault but a
But if this happens a lot a misbehaving down and restart when you’re away, feature set by the PC manufacturer.
program or driver could be the cause: then it’s probably down to your However, different manufacturers
follow the first tip to troubleshoot this. Windows Update settings. In Windows 7 choose different actions, and it might feel
Slow shutdown can also be caused by file odd if one PC’s power switch shuts down,
errors or even a failing hard drive. while another enters Hibernation or
Right-click the drive in Explorer and Sleep mode, or even ignores your press
choose Properties. Select the Tools tab, entirely. Again, press Windows key+R,
click the ‘Check now’ button then tick type powercfg.cpl and hit Enter, but this
‘Automatically fix file system errors’ and time click ‘Choose what the power
‘Scan for and attempt recovery of bad buttons do’. Now, alongside ‘When I
sectors’. Now click Start (see screenshot press the power button’ set both the
above right) and wait while Windows ‘On battery’ and ‘Plugged in’ dropdown
checks the drives for errors and fixes any If your PC shuts down while you’re away, menus to ‘Shut down’, then click
problems it finds. check Windows Update ‘Save changes’.
70 17 February – 1 March 2016 Next issue Fast Fixes for… Your PC’s BIOS
Lowering the cost of printing...
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consumables – and proud winners of multiple Good Service Awards.
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Ink Cartridges Photo Papers Albums & Frames

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by your printer manufacturer, and in many cases we also choose the perfect way to display your printed photographs.
offer Compatible cartridges, which are usually made by a UK Below is just a tiny sample of what we offer:
company called Jet Tec. Using Jet Tec Compatibles is a way Photo Satin 200gsm: Smooth Pearl 280gsm:
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Originals: Originals: A4 25 sheets £12.99 Plastic Bevel, Glass Front:
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Colours 36ml each £19.99 No.16 Black 5.4ml £7.99 A3 25 sheets £25.99 Memo Style Albums: Frisco 7x5 seven colours £2.29
6x4 40 sheets +40 FREE £9.99 Grace 6x4 100 photos £5.99
No.16 Colours 3.1ml each £5.99 A3+ 25 sheets £35.99 7x5 30 sheets £9.99 Frisco 8x6 seven colours £2.79
PGi72 No.16XL Set of 4 £42.99 Premium Matt Duo 200 gsm: A4 15 sheets +15 FREE £9.99
Grace 6x4 200 photos £9.99 Frisco 9x6 seven colours £3.49
Pixma Pro 10 No.16XL Black 12.9ml £14.99 A4 50 sheets £12.99 Grace 6x4 300 photos £14.99 Frisco 10x8 seven colours £3.79
A3 20 sheets £29.99 Grace 7x5 100 photos £7.99
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Grace 7x5 200 photos £13.99 Frisco A4 seven colours £3.99
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Colours 14ml each £9.99 No.16 Set of 4 £14.99 A4 50 sheets £17.99 6x4 50 sheets £9.99 Frisco A3 seven colours £8.99
No.16 Black 12ml £4.99 Grafton 6x4 200 photos £9.99 Wood Bevel, Glass Front:
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CLi42 No.16 Colours 12ml each £3.99 A4 15 sheets £11.99 Baby 6x4 200 photos £9.99
Emilia 6x4 two colours £4.99
Pixma Pro 100 Premium Semi-Gloss 251gsm: Travel 6x4 200 photos £8.99
Originals: No.18 6x4 50 sheets £8.99 Traditional Style Albums:
Set of 8 £74.99 Daisy Inks PP-201 Plus Glossy II 275gsm: A4 20 sheets £14.99 Grace 29x32cm 100 pages £14.99 Emilia 12x8 two colours £8.99
Colours 13ml each £9.99 Originals: 6x4 50 sheets £9.99 A3 20 sheets £29.99 Grafton 29x32cm 100 pgs £14.99
A3+ 20 sheets OFFER £24.99 Rio 6x4 four colours £5.99
No.18 Set of 4 £22.99 7x5 20 sheets £11.99 Baby 29x32cm 100 pages £12.99 Rio 7x5 four colours £6.99
CLi8 No.18 Black 5.2ml £7.99 A4 20 sheets £11.99 Archival Matte 192gsm: Accessories: Rio 8x6 four colours £7.99
Pixma Pro 9000 No.18 Colours 3.3ml each £5.99 A3 20 sheets £27.99 A4 50 sheets £14.99 Photo Corners Pack of 250 £2.99 Rio 10x8 four colours £8.99
No.18XL Set of 4 £42.99 A3+ 20 sheets £36.99 A3 50 sheets £33.99 Photo Stickers Pack of 500 £1.99 Rio 12x8 four colours £9.99
Originals: No.18XL Black 11.5ml £14.99 A3+ 50 sheets £44.99
Set of 8 £74.99 No.18XL Colours 6.6ml each SG-201 Semi-Gloss 260gsm:
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Colours 14ml each £9.99 A4 50 sheets £11.99
Compatibles: A4 20 sheets £11.99
Compatibles: No.18 Set of 4 £14.99 A3 20 sheets £27.99 A3 50 sheets £34.99
Set of 8 £27.99 No.18 Black 12ml £4.99 A3+ 20 sheets £42.99 A3+ 50 sheets £44.99
Colours 14ml each £3.99 No.18 Colours 6.5ml each £3.99
PGi9 No.24 USB Pen Drives
Pixma Pro 9500
Originals:
Elephant Inks More Ink Cartridges... 8GB: £3.59 16GB: £5.49
Originals:
Set of 10 £84.99 No.24 Set of 6 £41.99 32GB: £9.99
Colours 14ml each £8.99 No.24 Colours 4.6ml each £7.99
Compatibles: No.24XL Set of 6 £64.99
Set of 10 £44.99 No.24XL Colours 8.7ml each £11.99 T0711-T0714 Originals:
Colours 14ml each £4.99 Compatibles:
No.24 Set of 6 £22.99
Cheetah Inks
Originals:
No.38 Colours 27ml each £26.99
No.300 Black 4ml £10.99 Memory Batteries
More Canon Inks... No.300 Colour 4ml £12.99
No.24 Black 7ml £3.99 Set of 4 £32.99 No.301 Black 3ml £9.99 SDHC & SDXC BP-511 for Canon £12.99
Originals: No.24 Colours 7ml each £3.99 Black 7.4ml £8.99 No.301 Colour 3ml £11.99 Sandisk Blue LP-E6 for Canon £16.99
PGi520/CLi521 Set of 5 £42.99 Colours 5.5ml each £8.99 No.350 Black 4.5ml £11.99 33X (5MB/s) LP-E8 for Canon £12.99
PGi520 Black 19ml £9.99 No.26 Compatibles: No.351 Colour 3.5ml £14.99 4GB £3.49 LP-E12 for Canon £12.99
CLi521 Colours 9ml £8.99 Polar Bear Inks Set of 4 £14.99 No.363 Black 6ml £13.99 8GB £3.99 EN-EL3E for Nikon £14.99
PGi525/CLi526 Set of 5 £42.99 Black 7.4ml £4.99 No.363 C/M/Y/PC/PM each £9.99 16GB £5.99
PGi525 Black 19ml £9.99 Originals: NB-2L/LH for Canon £9.99
Colours 5.5ml each £3.99 No.363 SET OF 6 £39.99 NB-6L for Canon £9.99
CLi526 Colours 9ml £8.99 No.26 Set of 4 £29.99
No.364 Black 6ml £7.99
Sandisk Ultra
PGi550/CLi551 Set of 5 £37.99 No.26 Black 6.2ml £8.99
T0791-T0796 No.364 PB/C/M/Y 3ml each £6.99
266X (40MB/s) NB-10L for Canon £12.99
PGi550 Black 15ml £9.99 No.26 Colours 4.5ml each £7.99 8GB £4.99 NP95 for Fuji £9.99
Owl Inks No.364 SET OF 4 £21.99
CLi551 Colours 7ml £7.99 No.26XL Set of 4 £49.99
No.364XL Black 14ml £13.99
16GB £6.99 NPW126 for Fuji £12.99
No.26XL Black 12.1ml £14.99
PGi550/CLi551XL Set of 5 £54.99 No.26XL Colours 9.7ml each £13.99 Originals: 32GB £12.99
No.364XL PB/C/M/Y 6ml each £12.99 64GB £24.99 EN-EL3e for Nikon £14.99
PGi550XL Black 22ml £11.99 Set of 6 £72.99 No.364XL SET OF 4 £49.99 EN-EL14 for Nikon £19.99
CLi551XL Colours 11ml £10.99 Compatibles: Colours 11.1ml each £12.99 No.920XL SET OF 4 £46.99 Sandisk Extreme
PG540 Black 8ml £10.99 No.26 Set of 4 £14.99 EN-EL15 for Nikon £24.99
Compatibles: No.932XL SET OF 4 £43.99 400X (60MB/s)
PG540XL Black 21ml £15.99 No.26 Black 10ml £3.99 Set of 6 £19.99 BLN-1 for Olympus £24.99
No.26 Colours 7ml each £3.99 No.950XL SET OF 4 £69.99 16GB £10.99 BLC12 for Panasonic £23.99
CL541 Colour 8ml £13.99 Colours 11.1ml each £3.99 32GB £17.99
CL541XL Colour 15ml £15.99 Compatibles: FW50 for Sony £24.99
64GB £34.99
PG545XL Black 15ml £13.99 T0481-T0486 T0801-T0806 No.15 Black 46ml £4.99 BX-1 for Sony £14.99
CL546XL Colour 13ml £15.99 Seahorse Inks No.21 Black 10ml £7.99 AA 1300mAh (4) £3.99
Hummingbird Inks No.22 Colour 21ml £11.99 Compact Flash
Compatibles: Originals: Originals: No.45 Black 45ml £4.99 Sandisk Ultra AAA 1100mAh (4) £3.99
PGi5 Black 27ml £4.99 Set of 6 £69.99 Set of 6 £49.99 No.56 Black 24ml £9.99 333X (50MB/s)
CLi8 Colours 13ml £3.99 Colours 13ml each £16.99 Colours 7.4ml each £8.99 No.57 Colour 24ml £12.99 8GB £11.99
PGi5/CLi8 Set of 5
PGi520 Black 19ml
CLi521 Colours 9ml
£19.99 Compatibles:
£4.99 Set of 6
£3.99 Colours 13ml each
£19.99
Compatibles:
Set of 6 £19.99
No.78 Colour 36ml
No.110 Colour 12ml
£9.99
£10.99
16GB
32GB
£15.99
£24.99
Filters
£3.99 Colours 7.4ml each £3.99 No.300XL Black 18ml £14.99 Screw-type Filters
PGi520/CLi521 Set of 5 £19.99 No.300XL Colour 18ml £16.99 Sandisk Extreme
PGi525 Black 19ml £4.99 T0541-T0549 800X (120MB/s) 46mm UV / Haze £4.99
CLi526 Colours 9ml £3.99 T0871-T0879 No.301XL Black 15ml £14.99 16GB £26.99 49mm UV / Haze £4.99
PGi525/CLi526 Set of 5 £19.99 Frog Inks
No.301XL Colour 18ml £16.99
Flamingo Inks No.337 Black 21ml £10.99
32GB £32.99 52mm UV / Haze £4.99
PGi550XL Black 25ml £4.99 Originals: Originals: 64GB £47.99 55mm UV / Haze £5.99
No.338 Black 21ml £10.99 58mm UV / Haze £6.99
CLi551XL Colours 12ml £3.99 Set of 8 £105.99 Set of 8 £66.99 No.339 Black 34ml £12.99
128GB £94.99
PGi550/CLi551XL Set of 5 £19.99 Colours 13ml each £14.99 Colours 11.4ml each £9.99 No.343 Colour 21ml £12.99
62mm UV / Haze £7.99
BCi6 Colours 15ml £2.99 Compatibles: Compatibles: No.344 Colour 21ml £14.99 MicroSDHC & SDXC 67mm UV / Haze £8.99
PG40 Black 28ml £12.99 Set of 8 £27.99 Set of 8 £27.99 Sandisk Ultra 72mm UV / Haze £8.99
No.348 Photo 21ml £12.99 77mm UV / Haze £11.99
CL41 Colour 24ml £16.99 Colours 13ml each £3.99 Colours 11.4ml each £3.99 No.350XL Black 30ml £14.99 320X (48MB/s)
PG50 Black 28ml £12.99 16GB £6.99 Skylight Filters from: £6.99
No.351XL Colour 20ml £16.99
CL51 Colour 24ml £14.99 T0591-T0599 T0961-T0969 No.363 Black 20ml £6.99 32GB £12.99 Circular Polarising Filters from: £14.99
PG510 Black 11ml £13.99 Lily Inks 64GB £24.99 ND4 and ND8 Filters from: £11.99
CL511 Colour 11ml £15.99 Husky Inks No.363 Colours 6ml each £4.99
No.363 SET OF 6 £24.99 P-Type Square Filters
PG512 Black 18ml £13.99 Originals: Originals:
CL513 Colour 15ml £15.99 Set of 8 £89.99 Set of 8 £69.99 No.364 Black 10ml £4.99 Readers & Cases 49-82mm Adapter Rings £4.99
No.364 Colours 5ml each £3.99 Delkin USB2 Card Reader £9.99
PG540XL Black 21ml £13.99 Colours 13ml each £11.99 Colours 11.4ml each £8.99
No.364 SET OF 4 £15.99
Filter Holder £5.99
CL541XL Colour 15ml £14.99 Compatibles: Compatibles: Delkin USB3 Card Reader £19.99 ND2 Filter £12.99
No.364XL Black 18ml £8.99 Delkin SD Card (x8) Case £6.99 ND2 Grad Filter £13.99
PG545XL Black 15ml £11.99 Set of 8 £27.99 Set of 8 £27.99 No.364XL Colours 11ml each £7.99
PG546XL Black 21ml £12.99 Colours 13ml each £3.99 Colours 11.4ml each £3.99 Delkin CF Card (x4) Case £6.99 ND4 Filter £12.99
No.364XL SET OF 4 £31.99 ND4 Grad Filter £13.99
Many more in stock! More Epson inks >>> Many more in stock! Many more in stock!
E&EO. Prices may be subject to change, but hopefully not! www.premier-ink.co.uk Telephone: 01926 339977 or 0800 1077 211 Premier Ink & Photographic 12 Longfield Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV31 1XB
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In the next issue of our sister title

Web User...
● KEEP YOUR EMAILS PRIVATE
Stop hackers, companies and even your boss
seeing what you write
● WHY IS YOUR INTERNET STILL SLOW?
All the reasons you hadn’t thought of
● SPY ON YOUR OWN PC
See what happens behind your back
● BACK UP EVERYTHING IN WINDOWS 10
Do it so you never lose anything
CD U NEW
2015ING
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Jargon Buster
32bit A measure of how much Dual core When two processors IMAP Internet Message Access Plug-in A small program that
information a computer can are combined into a single chip. Protocol. A method for email that adds extra features to software or
process at once. Most older lets the user manage messages to your web browser.
computers are 32bit. Extension A program that adds stored on a remote server.
extra features to your browser. POP3 Post Office Protocol 3. A
4K Video with a resolution of at IP address Internet Protocol system for remotely accessing and
least 3840x2160 pixels False positive When an antivirus Address. A unique set of numbers, retrieving email from an ISP.
program wrongly detects a separated by full stops, used to
64bit A technology that processes malware infection. identify computers and websites Ransomware Malware run by
information in larger chunks. Most on the internet. hackers who take over your PC
modern computers are 64bit. Ghosting In relation to television and demand payment to release it.
screens, the appearance of an M.2 A standard specification for
802.11ac A standard for wireless offset second image that’s a ghost- internal PC expansion cards and Registry keys The Windows
networks that allows for higher like facsimile of the first. This effect connectors. Registry equivalent of a folder.
transfer speeds than 802.11n. can be caused by radio interference
or – in the case of 3D images – poor MAC address Media Access Root To perform tasks on Android
Add-on See Extensions. viewing position or cheap glasses. Control. A unique code that devices that aren’t permitted by
identifies any router. A laptop PC the manufacturer.
Aperture An opening that controls Gigabit Ethernet A very fast might have one MAC for its wired
the amount of light entering a networking standard that can network socket and another for SATA 3 The latest and fastest
camera lens. transfer data at up to 1,000Mbps. wireless. version of the SATA interface
for connecting internal storage
Bandwidth A measure of devices to a computer.
how much information can be 2015 BACK ISSUE CD
transferred through a connection SD card Secure Digital card. A
!
at one time. popular type of memory card.
ENOW
L
BIOS Basic Input-Output System. SMTP Simple Mail Transfer
Essential software built into
every PC that connects the vital
components. It’s visible for a few ON SA Protocol. A standard for sending
email messages. It is now largely
reserved for sending messages
seconds when the PC starts. rather than receiving them.
Cache A temporary space for sRGB A standard RGB colour

storing information. Can be space for use on monitors, printers
memory used on a computer and the internet.
processor, or space on a hard drive
used by a web browser. .SRT A file format for video
subtitles.
Clean install An operating system
installation that overwrites all SSD Solid-state drive. Storage
other content on the hard drive. that, unlike a hard drive, uses no
BUY IT NOW FROM AMAZON moving parts.
CMOS Complementary metal- at www.snipca.com/19124
oxide semiconductor. Can refer to System restore point The
both a type of image sensor chip collection of system files stored
used in some digital cameras and Graphics card A component in a Megapixel A measure of the by System Restore on a given date
another chip on PC motherboards computer that produces the image amount of detail that can be and time to which Windows can
that stores the date and time. shown on the monitor. recorded by a digital image. A one- revert if a problem occurs.
megapixel image is made up of a
Command line A way to control HDMI High-definition media million dots (pixels). Uninstall string Registry info that
a computer by typing instructions interface. A type of connection that lets you remove programs using
one at a time. In Windows this is transmits high-definition video and MicroSD A small type of memory Command Prompt.
called the command prompt. audio signals. It is found on many card. Can be converted to SD size
new TVs and media PCs. using an adapter. USB 2.0 Faster successor to USB
Cookie A small text file stored on that’s used by devices such as
your computer by a website. Used Hotspot A public area covered by Open source Software that can external hard drives.
to store browsing preferences, a Wi-Fi network that allows you be modified by anyone, rather
website log-in details and so on. to access the internet, either free than just by the employees of the USB 3.0 An even faster version of
or for a fee. company that created it. the USB standard.
DisplayPort A new socket for
connecting monitors that’s still HTML5 The latest version of the Optical image stabilisation USB 3.1 The latest version of the
relatively rare. Hypertext Markup Language used A mechanism built into digital USB hardware interface.
to create most web pages. HTML5 cameras that compensates for any
Driver A file that tells Windows how will soon replace plug-ins such shaking or vibrations that occur USB Type-C A new connector
to work with an external device. as Flash and Java. during shooting. that’s reversible.
All Windows 10 jargon explained in our Definitive Guide: www.snipca.com/17716

The Final Straw KEN RIGSBY is
Computeractive’s Mr Angry
This issue Ken Rigsby has had a bellyful
b ll f l off the…
th …
Raspberry i
T
his column isn’t supposed to be a
popularity contest, is it? I do hope
not, because I’m about to reveal
how I feel about one of the bestselling
computers that the UK technology
industry has ever produced – the
Raspberry Pi.
Actually, my real ire is reserved for the
recently announced Raspberry Pi Zero,
but I’ll come back to that. So just for a
moment let’s think about the general
concept of the Pi.
protruding pins. A 10-year-old might needed to borrow a keyboard, mouse and

exhibit a bit more interest, but only until monitor (you know, like a real PC), then
It’s not just technically they realise there’s no touchscreen and
they can’t play Minecraft. Frankly, you’d
swore at Linux a lot, clicked some icons,
found Minecraft, launched it, played it a
limited by modern have more luck giving your dog the tin
opener and telling it to feed itself than
bit, launched Scratch, then scratched
their heads a bit. Finally they realised it
standards – it’s also handing a computing virgin a Raspberry was all a bit too much, so they put it on
Pi. If the desire is to get kids, silver surfers that aforementioned dust-gathering shelf,
a dire introduction or anyone in between excited about pledging to try again another day.
technology, then we need to give them Millions remain there.
to computers devices that do something brilliant right So why do I single out the new
away. Have them first enjoy the wizardry Raspberry Pi Zero for particular disdain?
before pulling back the curtain. After all, it only costs £4. Because it’s just
Hand a technophobe your smartphone less of the same. It has less memory, and
or tablet, then set it to the home page. Tell fewer ports. It doesn’t even have the
them to swipe or tap. They’ll get it right original Pi’s sticky-out pins to keep your
It is everywhere. It’s on TV. It’s in away, because everyone can do something toddler’s hair neat and tidy.
newspapers. It’s in magazines (including with a touchscreen device. Touchscreens Here’s an idea for you. Before coughing
Computeractive). It’s in schools. And, as are magical. If they ask “How does that up four quid for a Zero, prise open your
the Raspberry Pi Foundation has sold work?”, then tell them honestly that you TV remote control and then remove the
well over 5 million units, it might well be haven’t a clue. But also tell them that circuit board. Voila! You have a free
in your home (probably stuck on a shelf you’re damn sure the Raspberry Pi won’t bare-bones computer! All you’ve got to
somewhere gathering dust, but in your teach them. Yes, the Raspberry Pi runs do now is attach a keyboard, mouse and
home nonetheless). Minecraft, and the basic programming display, figure out how to make Linux
So what’s the problem? Simple: the language Scratch. It even runs them pretty work on it and you’re good to go.
Raspberry Pi is rubbish. Not just well. But to get the thing up and running Admittedly it won’t be easy, but do you
technically limited by modern technology you pretty much need a degree in Linux. expect the world on a plate? If it all seems
standards, but also a dire introduction to That’s why Raspberry Pi books and a bit too much, then put it away for the
computers – for kids, or anyone. magazines are best-sellers. A nation of day. But don’t expect to relax in front of
Don’t believe me? Give one to a toddler, well-meaning parents splashed out on Midsomer Murders because you’ve just
then watch what happens. They’ll use it to the original Pi and then realised that bust your TV remote.
brush their hair, pretend it’s a harmonica neither they nor their kids had the
and then hide it in one of your shoes to slightest clue what to do with it. So they Do you agree with Ken?
extract maximum pain from those sharp bought reading materials, realised they Let us know at letters@computeractive.co.uk
74 17 February – 1 March 2016 Next issue Ken refuses to believe broadband-speed hype
5/5
“A competent and compact gaming PC, the Fusion Drone is a bit of a Bargain”
Michael Passingham, Computer Shopper
Chillblast
www.chillblast.com/hdgaming
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A DENNIS PUBLICATION THIS ISSUE IN NUMBERS HOW TO USE

17 February - 1 March 2016 5

What happens if you turn off

12 Letters 64 Problems Solved

14 Consumeractive 70 Fast Fixes

6 17 February – 1 March 2016

21 Acer Chromebook 15 C910

22 Mesh Elite Voyager Mini CS

28 Wacom Intuos Art

29 Microsoft Display Dock

Workshops & Tips 2015

38 Change your passwords 43 Readers’ Tips

40 Stop webcam hackers 44 Phone and Tablet Tips

46 Make Windows Better

47 Make Office Better

17 February – 1 March 2016 7

You’ll like this… … but not this

8 17 February – 1 March 2016

plug-in to be ditched FIREFOX FIXES 12

17 February – 1 March 2016 9

world when they were attacked.

10 17 February – 1 March 2016

O f all the skills required

17 February – 1 March 2016 11

12 17 February – 1 March 2016

17 February – 1 March 2016 13

How long should a refurbished item last?

14 17 February – 1 March 2016

Can a retailer change the length of a warranty?

CASE UPDATE THIS WILL COME IN USEFUL

17 February – 1 March 2016 15

WATCH OUT FOR…

Lenovo’s password gaffe

New tools IE11’s new settings

16 17 February – 1 March 2016

UNLEASH THE GAMER WITHIN YOU...

14” ENIGMA VI SPECTRE LITE GLADIUS 900

from £409.99 from £499.99 from £899.99

15.6” OCTANE II VITRUM GLACIER

from £1,119.99 from £1,199.99 from £1799.99

18 17 February – 1 March 2016

How can I restore lost

17 February – 1 March 2016 19

PC ❘ £1500 from Currys www.snipca.com/19555

Asus Zen AiO Z240ICGT

First things ﬁrst: don’t let that trying to quickly pl g

ever tested 21.5in model) to as much as 32GB. Asus

20 17 February – 1 March 2016

17 February – 1 March 2016 21

Mesh Elite Voyager Mini CS

22 17 February – 1 March 2016

but nothing justifies and if you prefer headphones for music

17 February – 1 March 2016 23

When the iPhone was launched in n 2007,,

24 17 February – 1 March 2016