Table of contents for 612 in Computeractive

Here’s a prediction: Windows 11 will finally break the Microsoft curse that sees a good operating system (98, XP, 7) followed by a bad one (ME, Vista, 8). It gets the balance right between keeping what works in Windows 10, ditching what doesn’t, and adding new tools to improve the whole experience. But will it prove popular? Millions of people believed Microsoft when it said Windows 10 would be the last ever version, and will want to stick with it for as long as possible. I can’t blame them – Windows 10 is excellent. Part of Microsoft’s strategy will be to let Windows 10 wither and die. Support might remain until 2025, but don’t expect new tools or major updates. For that, you’ll need to read our Cover Feature, which…

VIRGIN MOBILE AXES PAYG PHONE DEALS Virgin Mobile is scrapping its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) deals, forcing 123,000 customers to switch to a pay-monthly package, or move to a new network. The company said it will start phasing out PAYG between October 2021 and January 2022, and will email customers nearer the time to give the date when their SIM card will stop working – though you can find out now by phoning 789. JAPAN BREAKS INTERNET SPEED RECORD Japanese scientists have set a world record of 319Tbps (terabits per second) for transferring data, beating the 178Tbps achieved last August by a team at University College London. Japan’s National Research and Development Agency sent data through a fibre cable just over 3,000km, compared with 40km in London last year. The speed of…

Beware ‘Amazon rewards’ survey I reckon about half of the scams I get – whether by email or text – are urging me to complete a survey to win some highly implausible prize. The latest was promising me “exclusive rewards” from Amazon (£1,000). The email said that the survey would take just 30 seconds to complete. What kind of a survey is that? ‘Do you use Amazon? Yes or no?’. It looked so tacky (as you can see at www.snipca.com/38978) that I wasn’t fooled for a moment. I guess it must trick some people though otherwise why would the scammers send these emails? Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

One of our staple pieces of advice is to always approach the retailer before the manufacturer when you have a problem. Stewart Moore will vouch for that. He has finally got a refund of £799 from Currys PC World for a faulty Acer Aspire laptop (see Issue 607), but it took a lot longer than it should have. When the laptop developed a fault, Stewart sent it to Acer under warranty. It added an SSD to fix the problem, but when it returned the laptop the case was warped. Acer promised another repair, but stopped replying to his emails. He then asked Currys for help. At this point, Currys could have rejected his complaint, saying it can’t be held responsible for damage (the warping) caused by another company. However, it…

I’ve realised I’ve made an error when editing a family member’s details in Family Tree Maker 2019, but I can’t remember where. Is there some kind of log I can access to help me locate it? Ann Rye Click the Plan button and you’ll see a Change Log tab at the top. Switch to this to review the last 1,000 changes to your file, helping you pinpoint your error. You can also use this feature to roll back your file to the point where you made the mistake. Have a genealogy question for Nick? Email letters@computeractive.co.uk with ‘Grow Your Family Tree’ in the subject line.…

I have a lot of folders and shortcuts crammed on to my desktop – and I mean a lot. I’ve always thought that by storing folders there I could quickly access them and the items they contain, but in reality all I achieved was to create a rather boring version of ‘Where’s Wally?’, where everything but the folder’s name looked the same. But that was before I started using CustomFolder (free from www.gdzsoft.com), which lets you change the colour of folders, rotate them, apply a different icon to represent them, and add emblems such as numbers and coloured circles. To use it, I right-click a folder I want to change then select CustomFolder in the context menu. By default, this entry is hidden and you have to hold down the…

SMARTPHONE | £279 from Amazon www.snipca.com/39037 Motorola’s original Defy phone was launched in 2010. It was designed to be water and dust-resistant, and able to withstand being dropped without breaking. This new model keeps the name and the tough build quality – keeping it aimed at people who need a rugged device when braving the elements outdoors. However, Motorola has updated it to bring it in line with modern models, though it won’t rival the best smartphones in terms of performance. The Defy is chunkier than most of today’s smartphones, weighing 232g and measuring 10.9mm thick. It’s tested to IP68 standard (meaning it’s protected from harmful dust and can be submerged in water deeper than 1.5 metres for 35 minutes). It can also survive a drop of 1.8 metres on…

CHERRY has released a new premium version of its popular Stream Desktop, called the STREAM DESKTOP RECHARGE keyboard and mouse set. New features include rechargeable and replaceable batteries, while the mouse now also has AES encryption, not just the keyboard. Both mouse and keyboard are also rechargeable through a USB-C cable. The keyboard has CHERRY’s own SX scissor technology, making the keys crisp and clean to press. They’re also extremely quiet, similar to the flatter design found in laptop keyboards. The mouse buttons are almost inaudible. You can configure the keyboard and mouse according to individual wishes – just download the CHERRY KEYS tool from www.cherry.co.uk/keys. To enter this competition, answer the question at www.snipca.com/38880 and enter your details. It runs until midnight Tuesday 24 August. Good luck! You can…

ANDROID Quickly organise and back up your text messages Most texting apps offer very limited options for organising or doing much else with your messages. Install Microsoft’s SMS Organizer, however, and it will organise your messages into categories – Personal, Transactions, Promotions and Starred. It also lets you quickly view unread messages, back up your messages to online storage and more. SMS Organizer is still in beta, but we found it worked very well when we tested it. Install it from www.snipca.com/38995 and launch it. Tap the Continue button and you’ll be prompted to provide the app permission to access your messages, phone and contacts. Tap ‘Okay, give access’ then tap Allow for all the categories requested. Eventually, you’ll reach a screen that says ‘No backup found’. Tap ‘Google Drive…

WINDOWS 11 Find out more about your home-network settings Microsoft has updated the design of the Settings app in Windows 11 Insider Preview, with the most notable change being that many settings are hidden by default – to reveal them, you have to click the appropriate section (a second click hides the section). Microsoft has also added some new settings, including one called ‘Advanced network settings’ (you’ll find this by opening the Settings app, then going to ‘Network & Internet’). In the ‘Network adapters’ section at the top, you’ll see all your network adapters (wired and wireless) – click one and you’ll see detailed information about it, including its speed (see screenshot below) and how much data Windows has transferred using it. Click ‘View additional properties’ and you’ll see the…

What is it? There are actually two of them - one in Polzeath, Cornwall (pictured right) and another 800 miles away in Craigie Brae, in Scotland’s Western Isles. They’ve been cited by Ordnance Survey (OS) as examples of coastal areas with nicknames used by local people that emergency services don’t recognise. Ideally, people would quote map coordinates when they phone for help, but these can be hard to find without internet access. Instead, they typically say what comes first into their heads, which is often the name used colloquially by locals. So Stinky Bay isn’t an official name? No, which is why historically it’s never been written on the maps used by rescue teams. Other places they’ve struggled to find include Black Knob Point (Salcombe, Devon), Crazy Mary’s Hole, (Gisleham,…

Once you’ve decided which programs you want to include in your Feature update, don’t waste time downloading them to each of your computers. Instead, create a shared folder on your main PC in which to store all the downloads and settings files. You’ll then be able to access them from any computer on your network. 1 Make sure all your computers are connected to the same network. On each, make sure the network is set to Private, which means they can share files and folders. To do this, click the Wi-Fi icon in your system tray, then click Properties next to your network followed by Private 1. 2 On your main computer, open File Explorer (press the Windows key+E) then create a folder in which to store your Feature update’s…

1 Download the associated app from your phone or tablet’s app store. If you need to set up an account, as you do with Kasa, tap the link 1 to create a new ID for yourself. If you need to set up your device on another phone in the future, you should be able to use the same login details. 2 Tap the ‘+’ button on the Kasa Smart toolbar, followed by Device 1. The other option – Group 2 – lets you add several devices so that sending a single command affects them all. 3 Many manufacturers make Wi-Fienabled devices, including plugs, bulbs, switches and more. Select yours. If you’re using Kasa Smart, tap Smart Plugs, then Smart Power Strip 1. Two strips are listed: the HS300 and KP303.…

Q On my iPhone I have an app called Photos and another called Google Photos. I think both were pre-loaded. I wonder if you could tell me the difference? I don’t know what images Google Photos stores. I’d like to know if I need Google Photos and, if not, how to delete it and everything it contains? Gerry Jones A New iPhones include only apps that Apple allows. The particular line-up of apps occasionally changes, as Apple invents new ones or drops old ones. Once upon a time Apple did include YouTube – an app by Google – on new iPhones, but that cooperative spirit ended nearly a decade ago. We say all this to explain why there is no possible way that Google Photos came pre-installed on your iPhone.…

Virgin Media plans to upgrade its entire UK broadband network to gigabit (1Gbps) full-fibre by 2028, as it takes on BT’s dominance of the market. The company, which merged with O2 earlier this year, wants to connect 14.3 million premises to Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband. It will install fibre inside tunnels used by its cable network, building upon the 1.2m homes already connected to full-fibre through the company’s Project Lightning. This will give it more opportunity to offer network access to other providers, such as Sky, Vodafone and TalkTalk, who currently use Openreach’s cables. Virgin boss Lutz Schuler said: “This major new fibre upgrade programme will see us begin the next evolution of our network, building on the investment, firepower and leadership we already have and ensuring we’re fibre fit for…

DuckDuckGo has launched an email service that removes “creepy” trackers from messages that are sent to you. The privacy-focussed company claims that 70 per cent of emails contain trackers that tell the sender when you’ve opened a message, your location when you opened it, and what device you used. Companies can use this information to create a profile of you in order to target you with adverts. But DuckDuckGo’s Email Protection will wipe these trackers. It works by giving you a free ‘duck com’ email address (eg, ‘johnsmith1946@duck.com’), which forwards emails to your normal inbox, whether that’s Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo or another service. The company says the content of your emails “is none of our business”, and points out that it doesn’t need to save the messages in order to…

Ofcom has said more must be done to help poorer households afford internet access and phone subscriptions, but has stopped short of forcing broadband companies to offer cheap deals for low-income families. Last month, the regulator published research showing that nearly two million UK households struggle to pay their internet bills. Between January 2020 and January 2021, total debt among broadband and mobile customers increased from £475m to £550m. Ofcom did acknowledge that some firms have introduced “social tariffs” which, it estimates, can save low-income households more than £200 a year. BT, for example, recently launched its £15-a-month Home Essentials package (www.snipca.com/39031, see screenshot) for people who receive certain benefits, including Universal Credit. Virgin’s Essential service (www.snipca.com/39032) costs the same, though it’s available only to those on Universal Credit. However,…

What’s the threat? A new malware is infecting computers after users click on adverts showing results for ‘cracked software’, which are paid-for programs that have been illegally hacked to make them free to download. The malware, called MosaicLoader, can install Trojans and steal your usernames and passwords, as well as hog your computer resources by mining cryptocurrency. In order to appear genuine, the illegal download has the same file information as the real software, even down to the names and descriptions within file folders. The criminals behind the attack appear to be exploiting the rise in the number of home workers looking for free versions of expensive programs. Researchers at Bitdefender said the malware is probably the work of a new gang that wants to quickly build an infected network…

I bought a Chillblast PC seven years ago after a recommendation in Computeractive, and it has served me well. As its memory was getting full, I decided to add a 1TB SSD. I had accumulated a large number of photos and correspondence, which I wanted to keep handy for business reasons. Chillblast advised me to install a Samsung 1TB 870 QVO SSD. To help me install it, Chillblast sent me colour photos of SATA power and data cables that I’d need, plus annotated photos of both sides of my PC’s motherboard to show where I could connect the power system, and to a spare available data socket on my motherboard. All this made installation quick and easy. Despite the many emails we exchanged, Chillblast didn’t ask for any payment for…

BROWSER Vivaldi 4.1 https://vivaldi.com What you need: Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 Vivaldi’s developers don’t hang around. A few weeks after its big 4.0 update, which added a translation tool, email client, calendar and RSS feed reader, comes version 4.1 which, while smaller, still contains smart new features. The most useful is the marvellously named Accordion Tabs, which gives you a third (and we think much tidier) way to view your browser tabs when you’re using the Tab Stacks option. Tab Stacks lets you place your tabs into groups, freeing up space on the browser’s bar. Previously there were only two views: Compact (giving an indication of how many tabs are in a stack) and Two-Level (showing a second row of tabs below the main one). With the Accordion setting…

WARNING: JUNK AHEAD Junk offender: Start Menu 8 There are loads of great free tools for customising your Windows 10 Start menu, but Start Menu 8 isn’t one of them. I came across this offending program while looking for an alternative to Classic Shell for a friend. It’s still available to download, but I didn’t want to recommend it because it’s no longer being worked on, and therefore isn’t the safest option. Start Menu 8 (www.snipca.com/39035) promises many of the same functions as Classic Shell, including letting you change the Windows 10 Start menu to something closer to the traditional Windows 7 equivalent. But there’s a problem – several problems, in fact. The tool is offered as a ‘free’ download from serial junk offenders IObit. You can tell it’s a…

DESKTOP PC | £1,500 from Currys www.snipca.com/38977 The Predator Orion 3000 is an off-the-shelf gaming desktop PC. It certainly looks fantastic, and you can control the colour of its illuminated fan to match your mood or decor. The fan’s colour is then synced with the LEDs that illuminate the interior of the case (pictured below) and light up the triangular power button at the top. It has an integrated carrying handle and even a pop-out hook for hanging your headphones on. “This striking gaming PC plays hard and fast, but falls short on allround performance” A discreet cover on the front conceals several connection points – a USB-C port, a USB 3.0 port and two 3.5mm audio jacks. Around the back there are four more USB 3.0 ports, two USB…

Aspect ratio What is it? Aspect ratio is a physical characteristic of a screen, whether it’s on a PC monitor, a laptop or a TV. It refers to the relationship between the width and the height of the screen, usually stated as two numbers, separated by a colon. The first number refers to the width of the screen, the second to the height. How does it work? The numbers aren’t actual measurements in millimetres or inches, but refer to their respective lengths relative to each other. For example, TV screens used to have an aspect ratio of 4:3 (pronounced “four by three”), which is a squarish rectangle that’s 33 per cent wider than it is tall. Modern TVs are usually 16:9 (“sixteen by nine”), which has been popular since the…

A20TB hard drive? What is it? A 20TB Seagate hard drive (pictured), aimed at consumers. One of these should ensure you don’t run out of storage space for years to come – 20TB is enough to hold 10,000 hours of HD video or five million 12-megapixel digital photos. What does it do? Seagate already makes 20GB hard drives for businesses that will always need more storage space, but these use heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, which cost more than £500. However, the company has made breakthroughs in producing larger-capacity drives using the cheaper perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology, which should the price. What’s the catch? While they will be cheaper than HAMR drives, we still expect these 20TB PMR drives to start at around £400. So can I do without…

What you need: Windows 10 Time required: 30 minutes Icons serve two purposes – both make your life easier. First, they are shortcuts to the locations, files and programs you want to use. Second, they can be vital sources of information, particularly when overlaid by graphic indicators. For example, an orange spot on the Windows Update icon in the notification area (next to the clock) tells you that your computer needs to restart. It’s annoying, therefore, when an icon you’ve come to rely on disappears from your desktop. Finding what it refers to can then take several clicks. If it was showing vital information, you might miss something important. Here, we’ll explain how you can bring back icons that vanish without a trace, whether they appear on the taskbar, Start…

Water Resistance Tester Free Android www.snipca.com/38998 This app can reveal your device’s waterproof status by testing its barometric sensor, though we wouldn’t advise plunging your phone into water, based on its results. But in our tests, it was able to identify when a device wasn’t water resistant. S2 Music Player Free* Android www.snipca.com/39000 With Google killing off its own Music app last year, this could be the replacement you’re looking for. It’s a completely revamped successor to the once-popular Shuttle Music Player and its focus is music files stored on your device, rather than streaming services. It supports playlists, album art, Chromecast and has a built-in equalizer. Liquify Free* iOS www.snipca.com/38999 As we write this review, it’s July and currently 30 degrees. Inevitably, temperatures will plummet as the Great British…

MICROSOFT EXCEL Format charts in Excel online Microsoft recently added new tools to the free online version of Excel (known as ‘Excel for the web’, which you can use at www.office.com), including one that lets you format your charts. To use it, double-click a chart in your spreadsheet. A pane will appear on the right-hand side with sliders to switch the visibility of labels on and off, including the chart’s title and legend. You can also tweak other aspects of your chart. To increase the thickness of its bars, open the Vertical Axis or Horizontal Axis section (depending on the type of chart you’re using), then reduce the size of the gaps between each bar by moving the Gap Width slider to the left (see screenshot below). LIBREOFFICE WRITER Resize…

Norton 360 Premium 10 devices, 2 years We’re delighted to announce an outstanding new Reader Offer for the antivirus software Norton 360 Premium. For just £24.99, you’ll protect 10 devices for two years WHAT YOU GET ✔ Real-time malware protection ✔ Secure VPN ✔ 75GB PC Cloud Backup ✔ Webcam hack alerts PLUS Monitors the dark web for your personal information Norton is made by NortonLifeLock Inc – a standalone company dedicated to consumer cyber safety. It has always performed strongly in Computeractive antivirus tests, so we highly recommend it. 10 devices for two years NOW ONLY £24.99* Normally £179.99 Buy it from our Software Store at www.snipca.com/33247 *while stocks last…

It’s always risky to type ‘How to download…’ into Google, because scammers will never stop creating websites offering fake versions of popular programs (and those that have been ‘cracked’ – see page 11). It’s safer to type the URL for the download page into your browser. Within seconds of Microsoft announcing Windows 11, scammers would’ve started devising ways to exploit people’s interest. The attempts spotted by Kaspersky are crude, but will be followed by more sophisticated attacks over the next few months. We’ll do our best to protect you.…

FLIGHT SIM 2020 GETS HUGE UPDATE Microsoft Flight Simulator (www.flightsimulator.com) has had its biggest ever update, increasing frame rates to make flying feel even more realistic while using fewer PC resources. Its developers have also confirmed they’re planning to add helicopters in 2022. OLD KINDLES STOP WORKING IN THE US Amazon has said that some older Kindles in the US that use 3G rather than Wi-Fi will soon no longer be able to connect to the internet to download books. It comes as networks around the world start switching off their 3G signals. Amazon hasn’t contacted UK users, but BT has already announced it’s axing 3G in 2023 (see Issue 611, page 7). See which Kindles are affected at www.snipca.com/39054.…

Writing fake reviews online could be made illegal under government proposals to strengthen protection for UK consumers. New laws might also make it illegal for websites to let bogus reviews appear. The potential new laws are part of the Government’s wider plan to give the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) more powers to tackle bad business practices. These include fining firms that break the law up to 10 per cent of their global turnover. Ministers want to stamp out other “dodgy tactics” that websites use to rip off customers. These include ‘dark patterns’, which is when a site manipulates customers into buying or signing up to something they hadn’t intended to. An example is when items are added to your shopping basket without you knowing. Ministers also want to clamp…

GOOGLE ALTERS RISKY BEN NEVIS ROUTE Google has updated its route for climbing Ben Nevis after mountaineering groups said it was “potentially fatal”. The driving directions on Google Maps took people to a car park where a dotted distance line (pictured below) could be misinterpreted by climbers. Mountaineering charities have advised people not to use Google Maps after several incidents that resulted in “injury or worse”. EDINBURGH SEES MOST BROADBAND FAILURES Edinburgh was the UK’s ‘broadband outage’ capital over the past 12 months, with users suffering on average 175 hours without a connection. The figure comes from research by comparison site uSwitch, which claims that nearly 15 million people lost their connection for more than three hours in the past year – triple the number from a year before. Bristol…

Locating the correct option you need in settings can be harder than finding a black circle drawn on black paper placed inside a black box buried deep inside the world’s darkest cave. Google’s solution is ‘quick actions’ that when typed into Chrome’s address bar give you the option of clicking straight to the setting. It launched them last November (see Issue 595, page 8), with actions including wipe cookies and edit passwords. Chrome 92, released in late July, adds a couple of useful security actions. Type run safety check (1 in our screenshot) and then click the button that appears below 2 to assess the security of your passwords and scan for malicious extensions. You can also type manage security settings to access more controls (explained on Chrome’s blog: www.snipca.com/38990).…

LEAD CASE Does Dell’s warranty cover software problems? Q Last October, I bought a £400 refurbished Inspiron 3585 laptop (pictured) directly from Dell, and paid for a two-year warranty. A month ago, when opening my browser, I lost my Virgin Media internet access. Can Dell refuse to help under warranty because the problem is software related, not hardware? Anthony Robinson A Yes, Dell can refuse a repair, replacement or refund, but only if Anthony is seeking assistance under the warranty, and then only if this policy doesn’t cover software. Instead, he should seek help under the Consumer Rights Act (CRA), which gives more legal rights than a warranty, and covers second-hand goods (as well as software). To use the CRA, Andrew must prove that the laptop isn’t fit for purpose. This applies…

There have been over 5,000 trade unions in UK history, with a collective membership running into the tens of millions, so it’s likely that some of your ancestors belonged to one. If they were card-carrying members then they’ll probably be on file somewhere. Search Find My Past’s online records The biggest collection can be found at Find My Past (www.snipca.com/38854), which has over three million records from 26 unions. Searching is free, but you’ll need a Plus subscription (£12.99 a month) to actually view the records. Take the time to scroll past the search boxes and review the summary to see which records are available. Once you’ve done that, enter an ancestor’s full name (or just the surname for a more speculative search) and wait for the search tool to…

How can I improve colour in old videos? Q I have Super 8 video footage taken in Mauritius between 1968 and 1970 that’s been copied to DVD, but the colour is not what it was. Is there any way to improve the colour, as you can with old photographs? I’ve looked online, but can’t see whether any programs will actually do this. David Butler A Enhancing the colour in a video isn’t as easy as in photos, but it can still be done. The best program to use for this is DaVinci Resolve 17 (www.snipca.com/38963), which is a professional-level video editor that’s been used on many Hollywood films. The free version offers all the tools you’re likely to need. Run it, click the New Project button at the bottom, then…

If you were tasked with sentencing one of the most prolific cybercriminals in history, you’d probably come down pretty harshly. Especially if the offender is Russian spam kingpin Peter Levashov – known as Severa to his hacker friends. The 40-year-old was behind some of the world’s biggest email spam campaigns. He was arrested in 2017 while on holiday in Spain and extradited to the US a year later. But last month, after serving nearly three years in federal custody, he walked out of a Connecticut courtroom a free man. He had pleaded guilty to four felony counts, including intentional damage to protected computers and aggravated identity theft. But, despite facing up to 12 more years in prison, the judge decided he’d served enough time and let him off with a…

FITNESS WATCH | £129 from Amazon www.snipca.com/39009 This is the first Fitbit that’s not primarily being marketed as a fitness watch, but instead as a fashion item that also happens to tell you how close you are to your daily target of 10,000 steps a day. We tested the plain black version (pictured), but it also comes in more eye-catching colours with typically pretentious names: ‘Lunar White/Soft Gold’ and ‘Orchid/Platinum’. If you want something that really stands out, you could opt for the ‘Peony/Soft Gold Stainless Steel’ model, though it’s a more expensive at £179. You can also buy a range of optional straps, costing £50 for leather or from £80 for metallic. The Luxe is a slender fitness tracker with a small 0.76in, 124x206-pixel resolution AMOLED touchscreen, and a…

LAPTOP PRICE DROP Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 (256GB) £649 from www.snipca.com/38429 Tested Issue 601 Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 (256GB) £649 from www.snipca.com/38429 Tested Issue 601 ALTERNATIVE Dell XPS 13 New Intel CPUs and a taller screen make this a more powerful, all-round slim laptop. Prices start at £1,299 from www.snipca.com/36642 ANDROID TABLET PRICE DROP Lenovo Tab P11 Pro £562 from www.snipca.com/38585 Tested Issue 609 A fast tablet that comes with a magnetic stand and keyboard that means you can also use it as a laptop. It has an outstanding screen, 128GB storage and a 17-hour battery life, while its excellent dual mics make you sound clear in video chats. ALTERNATIVE Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite Slower than the Lenovo Tab P11 Pro, but the 64GB storage and decent 10.2in screen make…

I like to keep my desktop tidy, so I hide all my icons from there. I also keep a minimum of icons pinned to the taskbar. Although having a lot of icons on display means programs are never more than a single click away, I prefer to keep in view only items that I use every day. For anything else, I press the Windows key and type the first few letters of the program name, so I can quickly locate it on the Windows menu. Want to share icon tips with readers? Please let us know: letters@computeractive.co.uk…

TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT Read Adobe PDFs in dark mode I’m a big fan of dark modes in software – they’re less of a strain on my eyes. I’m delighted then that I’ve found how to change PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Reader (get.adobe.com/uk/reader) so that white text appears on a black background. With Adobe Reader open, press Ctrl+K and you’ll see the Preferences section. Now click Accessibility in the menu on the left (1 in our screenshot above right), and in the middle tick the ‘Replace Document Colors’ box 2. Next, select the ‘Use High-Contrast colors’ option 3 and choose a colour combination in the dropdown menu on the right. I use white text on black (see screenshot above right) because it produces great contrast – and is the closest…

Geo Measure Area Calculator Free* iOS www.snipca.com/39007 This app lets you measure area and distance, either on a map or by recording yourself as you walk. There’s a wide range of measurement units to choose from and you can customise the colours used or import your own map files in KML format. You can pay £2.99 to remove adverts, but all features are included for free. Best For Less common units of measurement GPS Fields Area Measure Free* Android www.snipca.com/39004 iOS www.snipca.com/39005 Quickly measure area, distance or perimeter from a Google Maps satellite view. You can plot area manually or by using GPS to locate your position. Results can be saved and shared, and you can choose imperial or metric measurements. Opting for premium (£4.50 per month) removes ads and…

PayPal is closing one of its best hidden features. Called Money Pool, it lets you set up a up a fundraising page and share it with supporters via email, WhatsApp or social media. It’s free when transferring money between UK accounts, though PayPal charges for international payments, and its exchange rates may be applied to currency conversions. You’ve got until 30 September to set up a new money-raising page, before the service closes for good on 8 November. If you don’t transfer the money you’ve raised by then, PayPal will do it on 15 November (read more at www.snipca.com/39059). Set up your pool You’ll need a PayPal account, as will the people who donate to your cause – sign up for one at www.snipca.com/38985 (it’s not available for business accounts,…

PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT What's this Dropbox exclamation mark? Q I’ve used Dropbox for several years, mostly without bother. Recently, though, the little Dropbox icon in my Notification Area has developed a red exclamation mark. Obviously, this suggests a problem but, weirdly, I don’t seem to be experiencing any hiccups. All my files are synced as expected and if I hover my mouse pointer over the icon it even shows the message ‘Up to date’ – which indeed everything seems to be. I’ve looked through the settings but can’t find anything about this. The red mark has been there for a few weeks now. Any ideas? Mark Wyatt A What you’re seeing is almost certainly not a red exclamation mark, but the number one in a red circle – but…

Where’s my iPad Mini update? Q I saw in Issue 609’s News section that Apple has released updates for the iPad Mini. I followed the www.snipca.com/38648 link and looked at the information there but really don’t know what to do next. I didn’t find a list of models affected, nor how to download and install the software. I looked in the Software Updates page in my iPad Mini’s Settings, but it reports that there are no updates available. It currently runs iOS 9.3.5. I don’t want to throw a perfectly good device in the bin, as it’d be such a waste. Mike Hearn A The flaw for which Apple released a fix relates to specific versions of iOS running on older iPads and iPhones. The affected models are listed on…

One of my worst domestic habits, along with eating crisps in bed, is continuing to use things that badly need upgrading. My favourite mug is chipped around the rim, my bathroom scales only work when heavily jumped on and – until recently – I was streaming my entertainment using the original Google Chromecast. Back in 2013, this HDMI dongle was undoubtedly groundbreaking, but eight years later, it was starting to feel cumbersome and slow. Rather than splash out on a smart TV, I treated myself to an Amazon Fire TV Stick, for the princely sum of £30, having been impressed with the device when writing Issue 605’s ‘Master Your TV Sticks’ Cover Feature. “Navigating to Netflix is like walking through a pre-Covid Piccadilly Circus” This lightweight streaming device has proved…