Table of contents for 553 in Computeractive

No, we haven’t turned to the dark side. When we say track anyone online, we mean your nearest and dearest – cherished people whose safety you care about. As Nik Rawlinson explains in our Cover Feature (page 50), there are lots of apps and gadgets that help you keep tabs on friends and relatives, wherever they roam. You can use these clever tools to make sure vulnerable loved ones don’t get into danger, or simply to meet up with friends. If you’d rather keep your whereabouts private, Nik also explains how to make sure you’re untrackable. But you may find that his most useful advice covers tracking personal belongings that have a habit of disappearing, like keys and wallets. He recommends the Tile, which uses Bluetooth to record their movements.…

Nine in 10 train journeys will soon be available via smartphone tickets, potentially signalling the end of the orange paper tickets. Rail operators confirmed that following upgrades to barriers, passengers at all major stations can now travel using ‘tap and go’ virtual tickets bought online and stored on phones. It’s expected to usher in a new era in which rail companies will be able to track passengers’ journeys in order to offer them personalised prices. Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies, said around 22 per cent of journeys in 2018 were made using tickets bought online. They claim digital tickets make it easier to get compensation for delayed or cancelled services if passengers link their ticket information to their personal account. It added that 99 per cent of stations…

Fraudsters made a fortune in bank scams last year – around £354m. Victims managed to claw back only £83m of this, which should serve as a reminder to always be cautious when sending payments. To help thwart scams, Santander’s three million UK customers will now be warned about common frauds that are associated with the payment they’ve sent. For example, if they’re transferring money between their own accounts, they’ll be warned about fraudsters posing as bank staff or police telling you to move your cash to a ‘safe account’ instead (see screenshot). Another alert, appearing when a customer sends payment for goods, warns about ‘purchase scams’, in which criminals create fake adverts for items and demand payment upfront. Santander has also introduced biometric security for customers, who can authenticate their…

In Issue 550’s How I Use LibreOffice (page 20), Will Stapley mentioned using the ChordDiagrams extension to Writer (available from www.snipca.com/31398, see screenshot). I’ve installed the latest version of LibreOffice and have added ChordDiagrams, but cannot find a way to get started with it. Could Will please provide some tips? Declan Cullen CA SAYS We asked Will to put down his ukulele for a minute to help Declan. He said: “Clicking Edit (next to ChordInput, top-left) creates a new chord diagram. If you’re using a ukulele, change the Strings box (top right) to 4, then click the string positions for your chord and type the finger number for each (Shift+click removes). Rename the chord at the top, click Insert/Replace, then Close. Press Tab twice, repeat.”…

On 1 April, it became mandatory for most people running a business that pays or makes VAT returns (above £85,000) to keep digital records and file returns online. The idea of digitising VAT returns is to make it simpler for businesses and HMRC, in order “to become one of the most digitally advanced tax administrations in the world”. While the majority of readers won’t have to worry about this, we know from your emails that some of you run thriving small businesses that are VAT registered. You need to make sure the software you’re using is compatible with HMRC’s systems. To find out, visit HMRC’s website (www.snipca.com/31312), scroll down, then click the green ‘Start now’ button (see screenshot). This will list an A-Z of suitable programs, from AAADataX to Zoho.…

I gave up on my family tree some time ago when I reached a plateau. I feel like I’ve reached the stage of needing to pay a professional. Can you provide any information to help me find one? Gerry Jones The Society of Genealogists provides lots of useful information to help you determine costs (around £20-£50 per hour), what you get for your money, and what qualities to look for in a researcher (see www.snipca.com/31268). It also recommends you find a researcher using the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (www.agra.org. uk) for UK research or Accredited Genealogists Ireland (http://accreditedgenealogists.ie) for Irish records. Have a genealogy question for Nick? Email letters@computeractive.co.uk with ‘Grow Your Family Tree’ in the subject line.…

www.snipca.com/31413 What you need: Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 (64-bit) MoviePrint lets you quickly create up to 400 screenshots from any video. It’s simple to use: just open the program and drag a video file into the window. MoviePrint will then create a 4x4 grid of screenshots – you can change this by clicking Show Settings (top right), then adjusting the Columns and Rows sliders (see screenshot) to a maximum of 20x20. You can also adjust the border thickness using the Margin slider. Hover over a screenshot and you can fine-tune it by forwarding or rewinding the video at that point. Clicking the Save option within a screenshot exports it as a PNG file. To save the screenshot grid as a single image – a great way to create artwork…

WARNING: JUNK AHEAD Junk offender: Firefox I've been a die-hard Chrome user for years (mainly because I’m lazy and averse to change), but I’ve been hearing good things about Firefox recently, so I thought I’d give it another spin. So far, my experience has been largely positive. The latest version of Firefox is snappy and hogs less memory than Chrome. I also like that it shows you a very clear page outlining Mozilla’s privacy policy when you first launch the browser. But one thing I’m not very keen on is Firefox’s new Recommended Extensions feature. The idea is that Firefox will recommend relevant browser extensions when you frequent particular sites, including Amazon, YouTube, Facebook and others. You’ll see a pop-up window suggesting you install the extension, as well as personalised…

ALL-IN-ONE PC? £705 from Debenhams www.snipca.com/31337 Self-sufficient All-in-one systems are the best and worst idea that PC makers ever had. With all the processing components squeezed into the same case as the monitor, an all-in-one can be an elegant and clutter-free solution that’s just as powerful as any big black box. That takes some nifty design, though, ideally encasedin a massive slab of aluminium that radiates heat away. “For everyday tasks, this space-saving PC is quick and responsive” On a budget, however, the only way to do this is with low-power parts – basically a laptop posing as a desktop PC. That’s exactly what Medion has created, building the Akoya E23401 around Intel’s i5-8250U processor. Like the many laptops we see based on this chip, that gives you the kind…

Q I have a large collection of colour slides which I want to scan and store. I’m happy to do each individually, and speed isn’t important. Searching online, my options seem to be the Plustek OpticFilm 8100 or Kodak film scanners. Do you have any recommendations? Norris Bosworth A Plustek’s OpticFilm 8100 (£269 from Amazon www.snipca.com/31356) includes LaserSoft’s excellent SilverFast SE Plus 8 software, which makes the most of old hardware to give reasonable scan quality, but unlike more expensive devices it lacks optical scratch removal. The cheaper Kodak Scanza (£150 from Amazon www.snipca.com/31357, pictured) emphasises ease of use. Its built-in colour viewing screen may be helpful, but the hardware and software are very basic. If you Google ‘slide scanning’ you’ll find consumer services charging around 30-60p per slide, depending…

PHONE? £165 from Amazon www.snipca.com/31378 The price is right There’s a limited choice of phones under 200 quid, so another option from a big name is good to see. The Xperia L3 ticks lots of our boxes: there are dual cameras on the back, Sony’s convenient fingerprint reader on the side (supporting contactless payment) and a neat case that, from a distance, could be mistaken for a more expensive product. Close up, it’s obvious this is a budget option: the plastic back panel can be flexed about a millimetre with your thumb. The tall screen is tougher, though, thanks to Gorilla Glass 5, and covered 96 per cent of the sRGB colour range with decent accuracy, according to our test meter, with adequate brightness and excellent contrast. It’s not the…

Amazon Fire Phone What was it? Built between 2010 and 2014 by Amazon, the Fire Phone was based on the Fire OS version of Android. It sold for £399 with 32GB of storage (or would have if anyone had bought it). Why did it die? Multi-billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos believed only something unique could compete with the iPhone, and in the absence of a big idea for the Fire Phone, that meant piling on smaller ideas. His suggestions included midair hands-free gestures to control the screen, though Amazon’s engineers managed to ditch that. Essential features like the screen ended up being average, while the Dynamic Perspective – which created a mild 3D effect – was pointless and Firefly, which identified products from packaging or posters, was a sales-boosting gimmick…

What you’ll need: Plex Media Server Time required: 30 minutes for setup (plus several hours for indexing) It often seems easier to stream media remotely – from Spotify, a video library like Amazon Prime, or an online photo service like Google Photos – than it is to access your own media across your home network. That’s a shame because, however large these online media libraries are, they are unlikely to contain everything you own yourself. We all have obscure favourite films or TV programmes that – perhaps due to how old they are or the licencing restrictions that apply to them – simply aren’t available elsewhere. This isn’t a problem when you’re at home, because you can easily put on a CD or DVD, but what happens when you’re away?…

I have two home-built identical (except for the cases) Windows 10 PCs using Gigabyte motherboards, an AMD A8-5600K processor, 8GB memory and Radeon built-in graphics. By the middle of March this year, both PCs were still running version 1803 of Windows (released in March 2018). With another update imminent, I thought it would be prudent to see if I could get my PCs updated to 1809 (released last October) using Windows Update. The first PC, which has a 1980x1080 monitor, updated very smoothly. The second PC, with a LG 25UM58 ultrawide monitor, ended up in a dark mode and very low resolution. Running the LG driver tool did nothing, so I reluctantly rolled Windows back to 1803. I connected my LG monitor to the first PC and it too would…

ANDROID & iOS Protect your eyes with Facebook Messenger’s dark mode ‘Dark mode’, which switches to white-on-black text for more comfortable reading in low light, has long been a feature of Facebook Messenger (Android www.snipca.com/31367; iOS www.snipca.com/31368). But it was hidden behind an Easter egg (you had to send a crescent-moon emoji to switch it on), so hardly anyone used it. Facebook has now come to its senses and made dark mode easy to turn on. Open Messenger, tap your profile photo and then use the ‘Dark mode’ slider to switch it on and off (see screenshots below). Other apps with a dark mode include YouTube (Android www.snipca.com/31369; iOS www.snipca.com/31370), where you tap your profile photo, Settings, General, then ‘Dark theme’; and Twitter (Android & iOS https://twitter.com/download), where you tap…

WINDOWS 7, 8.1, 10 Shut down your computer after a set period of time If you often forget to turn off your PC, this tip will let you shut it down after a set period of time. Click the Start button, type cmd.exe, then press Enter. In the Command Prompt window that appears, type shutdown -s -t 300. The ‘300’ indicates 300 seconds, so your computer will shut down in five minutes. You can adjust the shutdown time; for example, for a seven-hour timer, you’d need to change it to ‘25200’. Press Enter to start the countdown. Windows will show a warning when you’re a few minutes from being signed out (see screenshot below). If you need more time, return to the Command Prompt window and type shutdown -a to…

If you’ve created formulas in Calc to work out, for example, how much a regular train journey will cost you annually, it can be fiddly to repeat the formulas to show how journey variations will affect the cost. The solution is to use Calc’s Scenarios tool, which lets you apply the same formulas to different journeys and then switch between them. In the example pictured, we’ve created a simple formula in LibreOffice Calc to calculate the annual cost of a train journey (cell B7) based on the ticket price (B3), how many times we travel each week (B4) and how many non-travelling days we expect to have each year (B5). To add different scenarios, highlight the cells you want to try different values with (B3:B5), then select Scenarios from the…

Internet service providers (ISPs) love to shout about superfast broadband. BT (www.bt.com/broadband) is currently guaranteeing download speeds of up to 150 megabits per second (Mbps) over its Ultrafast Fibre 2 network, while Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) promises to more than double this with average speeds of 362Mbps on its fastest deal. But the faster you go, the more you have to pay every month in subscription fees. Virgin’s 362Mbps VIVID 350 deal costs £42 per month for the first year, for example, then £57 per month after that. BT’s Ultrafast Fibre 2, meanwhile, will cost you £59.99 per month – and both services require set-up fees, too. No matter how hard ISPs try to persuade you to upgrade, you shouldn’t feel pressured into paying for fast broadband deals you don’t really…

Changing from a local account to a Microsoft one (or vice versa) is easy and you can do it as often as you like – and it won’t affect any of your personal files. Switch to a local account Go to Settings, Accounts, then make sure the ‘Your info’ section on the left is selected. Click the ‘Sign in with a local account instead’ link on the right. You’ll be prompted to enter your current Microsoft account password, then choose a username and new password. Click ‘Sign out and finish’ to continue (doing this will sign you out of all Microsoft services). Switch to a Microsoft account Go to Settings, Accounts, then the ‘Your info’ section, and click the ‘Sign in with a Microsoft account instead’ link (see screenshot). You…

Why won’t WinToUSB work? Q I bought a copy of Issue 550, as I fancied installing Windows 10 on a USB stick. As instructed in your Cover Feature, I downloaded the Windows ISO file to my PC and also downloaded WinToUSB (version 4.5). However, when I try to open the ISO file in WinToUSB, I see a message that says: “The free/trial version doesn’t support Windows 10 1809 operating system”. Could you tell me what I’m doing wrong please? I’ve tried this procedure on three of my computers with the same result. Paul Roebuck AYou’re not doing anything wrong but, as sometimes happens in publishing, we’ve been been caught out by timing and events outside our control. WinToUSB’s developers have changed the free version of the tool so that it’s…

Join me, if you will, as I bid farewell to the fifth Moto G Android phone I’ve shared my life with since 2013. They don’t seem to last me very long, and I’m starting to think that’s because I need to loosen my tight fist and buy a tougher phone than a Moto. Moto Gs cost less than £200 and are absolutely brilliant when you first use them, but they lack stamina - at least if you use them as much as I do. My daily diet of photos, videos, emails, music, podcasts, messages and browsing (that’s just breakfast) seems to defeat them. My Moto years have been a proof-of-concept demonstration of the one principle I understood at Economics A level: false economy. If you have to spend another £200…

Computer users have been urged to turn off Internet Explorer (IE) after the discovery of a flaw that leaves them open to attack even if they use another browser like Chrome or Firefox. Security researcher John Page revealed a flaw in how IE opens MHT files, which is the format the browser uses to save web pages. It means you’re at risk if you have IE installed on your computer, regardless of whether you ever use it. Opening a MHT file emailed to you by a hacker gives them access to your PC, letting them spy on you. Page said he notified Microsoft about the flaw on 27 March, then decided to go public with it two weeks later when the company told him it wouldn’t release an emergency fix…

TSB has become the first UK bank to offer refunds to all innocent victims of banking fraud. It comes amid growing anger that banks aren’t doing enough to help customers who lose money in online scams. At the moment, victims who are duped into transferring money directly into a fraudster’s account are less likely to get their money back because they approved the payment. Scammers often pose as solicitors and builders and send invoices when they know the victim is expecting to have to pay for a service. Around £354m was stolen last year in these ‘push payment’ scams. Only £83m of this was returned to customers. TSB says its ‘fraud refund guarantee’ now covers all of its 5.2 million customers, and represents a “step-change in banking”. Richard Meddings, TSB…

‘Reactivate Hotmail’ scam In early April I received a scam email telling me I needed to reactivate my hotmail account. The subject used capital letters to instill urgency (‘UPDATE YOUR EMAIL BOX… NOW!!’), and it came from the email address ‘noreply@emailupdate.org’. It said my “account storage capacity” is very low, and threatened to “terminate” my account if the data exceeds the “maximum capacity”. It’s clearly a scam because it told me to reactivate my account on 25 March, even though it arrived in my inbox on 4 April. The email asks you to click a ‘Sign in’ link, where you can “upgrade” your account. Warn your fellow readers about scams at letters@computeractive.co.uk…

Living in a small village in rural Dorset, we have been campaigning for fast fibre broadband under the Superfast Dorset scheme for some years. Currently, although I am paying my ISP (EE) for ‘up to’ 38Mbps, I am getting about 12Mbps download ‘fibre’ speed from the standard telephone wires fed from a fibre cabinet in the next village more than half a mile away. Then at last a breakthrough. During recent months fibre infrastructure has been installed in our village and we are told is now available as FTTP (‘Fibre to the Premises’). I was over the moon at the thought of high-speed broadband delivered right to our home. But my euphoria was short-lived! I excitedly phoned EE to see how much extra I would have to pay and what…

After Microsoft withdrew support for Windows Movie Maker, I needed to find a replacement video editor. I saw an article about OpenShot (www.openshot.org) in your sister publication Web User and decided to give it a try. It turned out to be very user-friendly and met my requirements perfectly. Recently, I encountered a problem whereby the video stalled during playback at the beginning of the fade-out. I sent an email describing the problem directly to the creator and lead developer, Jonathan Thomas. He replied within hours explaining what caused the problem, and later sent me a link to test an experimental version of OpenShot. This worked perfectly - problem solved! It was an outstanding example of customer service, especially considering OpenShot is a free program. Full marks to Jonathan. A voluntary…

www.snipca.com/31407 What you need: Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 Because they have no moving parts, solid-state drives are more robust than traditional hard disk drives. However, over time both can develop critical faults. In severe cases, this can lead to all data stored on the drive being lost, which is why we always recommend you make regular backups. By using a tool such as CrystalDiskInfo, which scans the SMART diagnostic data that’s built into hard drives, you can also get warnings when your drive shows signs of imminent failure. When you load CrystalDiskInfo (to download, click the blue Standard Edition link, top-left of the website), it displays a report on all of your computer’s hard drives; each one is shown as a tab along the top of the window. This…

Q I have a large collection of over 700 football programmes. Could you recommend some software that will let me make an up-to-date and searchable listing? Nigel Willis A Try Data Crow – a free program designed to catalogue collections (download it from www.snipca.com/31414 - if the 64-bit version returns an error, try the 32-bit alternative). The design looks dated and it has its quirks, but it’s regularly updated and is a great tool once you master the basics. Each collection is stored in what Data Crow calls a module. The program comes with a selection of pre-defined modules (including ones for books, movies and software), but you can also create your own. To create one for your collection, click the Modules menu at the top, then Create Module Wizard…

WHAT THEY SAY ‘Gender, race and power in AI’ reportwww.snipca.com/31401 “Despite many decades of ‘pipeline studies’ that assess the flow of diverse job candidates from school to industry, there has been no substantial progress in diversity. The focus on the pipeline has not addressed deeper issues with workplace cultures, power asymmetries, harassment, exclusionary hiring practices…” WHAT THEY MEAN There are too many white men working in artificial intelligence.…

LAPTOP? £2,200 from John Lewis www.snipca.com/31361 Everything on display If you don’t have two grand plus to spend on a laptop, read on anyway, because the best part of this one also comes in cheaper versions. It’s the screen. While Apple’s market-leading 15in MacBook Pro covers the DCI-P3 colour space used in professional video, Asus has targeted Adobe RGB, preferred by graphic designers. ‘100 per cent coverage’ is often an optimistic claim, but our test meter revealed 99.5 per cent. If you did want DCI-P3, you’ll have to make do with just under 89 per cent, still far better than most screens. All this comes with effectively perfect accuracy, justifying an endorsement by Pantone, the print industry’s favourite colour-matching system. Add ridiculously sharp 4K resolution and this really is something…

PHONE? £899 from Amazon www.snipca.com/31386 For the long shots Much like Samsung tops its mobile range with both the Galaxy S and the Galaxy Note, Huawei has the Mate and the P. The P30 Pro costs the same as Samsung’s slightly smaller Galaxy S10+ (see Issue 551, page 28), but £200 less than Apple’s similarly sized iPhone XS. Unlike Apple, Huawei includes 128GB of storage, which you can expand, though only with Huawei’s pricey ‘Nano’ memory cards. On the back are three cameras, complementing the main 40-megapixel unit with a wider-angle lens and groundbreaking 5x telephoto. This points upward inside the phone, shooting through a tiny periscope to get the focal length. There is a Time-of-Flight infra-red depth sensor, more accurate than the type used in other phones, which creates…

LAPTOP PRICE DROP HP Envy 13 £799 from www.snipca.com/29555 Tested Issue 539 The combination of an eighthgeneration quad-core i5 chip and MX 150 graphics makes this an excellent all-round laptop, let down only by the poor colour reproduction of its Full HD touchscreen. Seven-hour battery life is adequate, and it’s nicely made. ALTERNATIVE Dell XPS 13 This premium laptop starts at £1,200, but the best deal is with the brand new quad-core i7-8550 and QHD touchscreen. £1,350 from www.snipca.com/26796 ANDROID TABLET PRICE DROP Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 9.7 £399 from www.snipca.com/30707 Tested Issue 501 Now discounted and with a stylus included, this full-size HDR tablet is a better deal than the new Tab S4 (see Issue 540). Apple’s faster £319 iPad with optional £89 Pencil is superior, but lacks microSD…

Your folders don’t need to be hosted by the same PC that hosts the Plex Media Server, as long as they are accessible to the same machine. If you followed our How To in Issue 535 to set up a networkattached storage drive (NAS), and you have a large media collection stored on it, you first need to assign the remote folder to a Windows drive letter. Open a new Windows Explorer window then navigate to your NAS. Log in if asked for a username and password, then click through to the folder containing your music directory. Right-click the music folder and select ‘Map network drive…’ in the menu (see screenshot), then choose a letter from the dropdown menu. We’ve opted for Z (Windows’ default suggestion). Now, when you click…

Microsoft Money I stopped using this in 2009 when Microsoft ended support for it. I knew it wouldn’t be safe anymore, so I needed a good replacement. And what I use instead… I now use Money Manager EX (www.moneymanagerex.org, see screenshot) for all financial work for a sports club accounts system. It lets you encrypt databases and offers multiple accounts and categories, plus a very good search tool and some basic pre-defined reports (SQL-savvy users can generate their own specific reports). For club use, where the accounts are subject to an end-of-year audit, each transaction has a unique identifier that shows the transaction sequence. There’s also a Notes field, letting you add comments. For any new financial year, it’s simple to create a copy of last year’s file and delete…

Notenger Free Android www.snipca.com/31382 Manage notes and reminders easily by seeing them in a simple message-style layout. Notes aligned to the right hand side still need to be acted on; those on the left have expired. There are no gimmicks or swipe gestures – speed and simplicity are paramount – but you can archive notes with a quick tap. Laughable Free Android & iOS www.snipca.com/31389 Follow a famous person who interests you - whether it’s Elon Musk in the Tech Titans category, Keith Richards in Musicians, or Ricky Gervais in Comedians – and Laughable will notify you when it finds a podcast featuring that person. You can also search, subscribe, download and play podcast series and episodes. FirstVet Free Android & iOS www.snipca.com/31388 Book a video chat with an experienced…

If a desktop PC key stops working, buying a new keyboard is a quick and easy fix. For a laptop, however, a keyboard replacement can be much more expensive. To avoid this use SharpKeys instead to reassign (or ‘remap’) the function of any key. So, for example, if your Windows key doesn’t work, you can make the Alt Gr key function as the Windows key instead. Download and install SharpKeys from www.snipca.com/31396 (select the MSI link). SharpKeys works by making changes to the Windows registry, so we recommend you create a system restore point before starting and back up your personal files. To change a key’s function, click Add (see screenshot right). Select the key you want to repurpose in the list on the left, then choose the key command…

WhatsApp is far too useful to be the sole preserve of bickering teenagers. It’s free, lets you send messages faster than traditional SMS, and chances are most of your club’s members are already using it (there are now over 1.5 billion users worldwide). Although we wouldn’t recommend WhatsApp as the only method for communicating with your membership, its group chat feature is a great way to send out reminders about meetings and photos of recent events. Create and name your group You’ll need WhatsApp on your phone to create your group - so download it for free for (Android www.snipca.com/31362; iOS www.snipca.com/31363). Once you’ve set up a WhatsApp account, open the app, tap the New Chat button (bottom right), then select New Group. You now need to add at least…

If you wake up one morning to find your driveway empty, you’ll be glad you installed a car tracker. It may even be a condition of your insurance if you own a valuable or classic vehicle. Tracker (www.tracker.co.uk) uses VHF as well as GPS – or instead of it, depending on which model you choose. If someone moves your vehicle without your permission, Tracker flashes an alert on your phone. Once you’ve reported the car stolen, the police can use a mesh of sensors to monitor its movements. Detectors can even locate a vehicle parked underground or in a shipping container, where conventional GPS tracking devices would be blocked. You can wire the tracking hardware to your vehicle’s battery, but if you have a classic car that you don’t use…

If you think you’re paying for broadband speeds you don’t need, you may be able to downgrade to a slower service. First, check with your ISP whether you’re still in a minimum-term contract (usually the first 12 months). If so, it’s unlikely your ISP will let you downgrade without paying a fee. However, if you’re approaching the end of that contract you may be offered a cheaper deal to stay on. If you’re on a superfast fibre broadband package, you should be able to downgrade to a cheaper fibre package. Downgrading to an ADSL service from fibre, however, may incur a service fee - your ISP will be able to confirm. If so, look for another ADSL broadband provider to switch to, which should avoid any such fee. Your new…

You won’t be able to install the forthcoming Windows 10 May Update if you’ve got a USB stick, external hard drive or SD card plugged into your computer, Microsoft has said. It’s taking this measure to prevent drive letters being “inappropriately reassigned” during the installation. It gave the example of a USB stick assigned the drive G being moved to H as a result of the update. Microsoft said some users will see the message ‘This PC can’t be upgraded to Windows 10’ (see screenshot) if they try to install the update with storage attached. Its advice is to unplug the USB stick or SD card and restart the installation, though a proper fix will be released in a later update.…

SAMSUNG DELAYS FOLDING PHONE Samsung has postponed the launch of its long-awaited folding phone after reports from reviewers that the screen broke. The Galaxy Fold (pictured), originally due to go on sale in late April, will now launch in the “coming weeks”, giving the company time to “fully evaluate the feedback and run further internal tests”. It costs £1,800 from www.snipca.com/31405. CHROME USERS WAITING FOR DARK MODE Google has disappointed millions of users by restricting the browser’s new dark mode to “a small number” of people. The dark mode, which reduces eye strain when browsing the web, arrived in late April when version 74 of Chrome launched. Google said it will be “more widely available in the near future”. TOMORROW’S WORLD Fed up with cricketers sledging and footballers diving? Try…

Patients testing the new NHS app (www.snipca.com/31330) have said it’s easy to order repeat prescriptions, but booking an appointment is riddled with jargon. The responses come from a survey of patients using the app during its pilot phase between September and December 2018. Around 3,200 users had registered with it by the end of the year. Most patients used the app to access their medical records, though ordering repeat prescriptions proved the most useful service, with 87 per cent of testers describing it as “easy and convenient”. One respondent even called it “amazing”. NHS Digital says the app will soon let patients choose which pharmacy they can collect their prescriptions from. However, less than half of patients said they could understand the instructions for booking appointments, with some saying they…

Hackers will target ‘goldmine’ of NHS patient data I wish I shared Simon Clarkson’s confidence that sharing our health data with the NHS is a safe way to boost research (Star Letter, Issue 552). But unfortunately the NHS will never receive enough money to build cyber-defences sufficient to thwart hackers worldwide. My son, who works in cyber security, said hackers will increasingly target health data because it’s a goldmine. He says the NHS will never keep hold of the best security staff because the private sector pays much more. The hackers know that, and will cynically exploit it. I take Simon’s point that the NHS isn’t a ruthless money-making machine like Facebook. But I’m not worried about the NHS abusing my data. I trust the NHS. I just don’t trust…

Can I get a refund for downloaded software? Q I needed to recover some files from a SanDisk memory card, so downloaded a free trial of Wondershare Recoverit software (https://recoverit.wondershare.com, see screenshot). I scanned the card and the software showed I had over 1,200 pictures saved. Because the free trial only allows 10 files to be recovered, I paid £30 for a one-year licence. But it then said there were no pictures on the card. Wondershare’s initial advice hasn’t helped and the company is now ignoring my emails. Am I entitled to a refund? Keith Mason AIf the software is not fit for purpose, Keith is entitled to redress under the Consumer Rights Act (CRA). However, unlike physical goods, there’s no initial 30-day period during which he could insist on…

Consistency is a vital but often overlooked component of any family tree, but it’s hard to implement in practice. One area stands out: the recording of place names. Whether you’re inputting these yourself or merging records from websites, you should make sure they’re presented in a consistent fashion. Choose a standard format First, you need to adopt a uniform system for recording place names. All programs provide at least one field for recording a place, but GEDCOM restrictions mean you should write names in the following so-called ‘jurisdiction’: city/town/village, county/state and country. When recording the country, choose England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland rather than United Kingdom. Also, county boundaries change over time – for example, Lambeth was part of Surrey before 1899. For consistency, we suggest recording its current…

www.snipca.com/31408 What you need: Windows 7, 8.1 or 10 Unlike most graphics programs, Chasys is split into several independent applications, including Converter (image file conversion) and Viewer (a simple, but fast image viewer). The main application, Artist, looks similar to Paint.NET (www.getpaint.net) and has some interesting tools, such as the ability to quickly create animations from multiple images (select ‘Animation Composer’ from the Animation menu – see screenshot). You can also use it to create your own icons – open a new image, click the Processes menu, then select Icon Generator. Help windows pop up at regular points, explaining how to use some of the more complex tools. New features in version 4.6 include an enhanced Layers window that makes it easier to show and hide individual layers. The autosave…

Streaming music from services such as Amazon Prime and Spotify is so much easier than maintaining my own library of music. I get access to more tracks than I could every store (or afford) myself and I can play them on all my devices – whether I’m at home or travelling. But to stream most (but not all) of my CD collection I’d need Amazon Music Unlimited, which costs £7.99 per month for Prime members (or £9.99 for non-members), or Spotify Premium (£9.99 a month). Instead, like many people I’ve got thousands of MP3s stashed away on my computer’s hard drive - all ripped from CDs that have since been damaged or lost. To keep these tracks organised and accessible, I use music player MusicBee (free from https://getmusicbee.com). Although the…

Most of us are aware that public Wi-Fi isn’t very secure. But an Android app called WiFi Finder just made it even less safe by leaking two million Wi-Fi passwords online. The app is supposed to help public Wi-Fi users locate nearby hotspots and store logins in the cloud, making it easy to connect. But it also uploaded the private home Wi-Fi passwords of hundreds of thousands of users, storing them as plain-text files that any hacker could get hold of and use to access private networks, steal data, spread malware or worse. Google has now ejected the app from its Play Store, and the online password database has been taken down, but it shows that apps like these should be treated with caution. If you have WiFi Finder installed,…

Until recently, all hard drives and SSDs inside PCs used the SATA III interface, which has a maximum speed of six gigabits per second (Gbps). That’s enough to transfer over 500 megabytes per second (MB/s) – performance that no hard drives, and previously few SSDs, could reach. USB 3.0’s 5Gbps limit is nearly as high, so external drives can work at similar speeds. Today’s fastest SSDs can hit transfer speeds of over 3GB per second – that’s gigabytes, not gigabits – so connecting them to SATA or USB 3.0 would slow them. Instead, these drives are installed in PCs using NVME, based on the PCI Express (PCIe) interface, typically through an M.2 socket (although many laptops have their SSD chips soldered in or on a manufacturer’s interface, and can’t be…

What is it? Microsoft’s Surface Hub 2S (pictured) is the next incarnation of what the company insists is ‘not a personal computer’. It is, technically, a PC, and comes with a huge 50.5in screen. What does it do? Just as the all-in-one Surface Studio is bigger and less portable than the Surface Pro tablet, the Surface Hub is bigger again, made to be hung on a wall or wheeled around on a stand (see photo above). It’s currently aimed at workgroups within companies, but the ideas that Microsoft is putting into it raise interesting possibilities for the future of PCs in general. The big screen, for a start, will make Surface Studio users jealous, at over one metre across – bigger than an A1 sheet of paper – with touch…

HEADPHONES? £75 from Creative www.snipca.com/31393 No strings attached It’s only a few months since we congratulated Mobvoi’s TicPods Free (£120 from Amazon www.snipca.com/30541, see Issue 547, page 29) on matching most of the functionality of Apple’s AirPods (now in a second edition, £159 from Apple www.snipca.com/31394) for 40 quid less. Now Creative, known for its Sound Blaster accessories, has thrown its hat – well, its wireless earbuds – into the ring at just 75 quid. Not only are they cheap, but with battery life rated at 10 hours for the earbuds and 20 for the portable charging case, they’ll keep your sounds going longer than any current rival. The buds have a larger blob attached to their detachable earpieces, similar to RHA’s TrueConnect (£150 from Amazon www.snipca.com/30819, see Issue 549,…

The 2019 version of CorelDRAW Graphics Suite offers an exciting collection of new features to create jaw-dropping designs with more precision and creative freedom than ever. It looks and performs better, making it easier for you to take advantage of interface improvements for easier navigation, greater consistency, and increased productivity. New tools include: • Objects Docker Completely redesigned, this offers direct control over the structure of a document and quick access to its components to speed up any project. • Non-Destructive Effects Apply, modify and experiment with effects on both vectors and bitmaps, all without altering the source object or image in CorelDRAW. • Pixel Perfect Workflow Ensure web graphics are crisp every time. Align the pixel grid to the edge of the page so exported graphics have clean borders,…

1 Click the Settings icon 1 at the top of the Plex interface, then select Home Users 2 in the ‘Family & Friends’ section in the sidebar. If you don’t yet have a Plex Pass you’ll see a link to buy one. Before you do, search Google for ‘Plex Pass free trial’ as there are a 30-day discount codes readily available online. 2 Click ‘Add a user’, then choose whether you want to ‘Add an existing Plex user’ 1 or ‘Create a managed user’ 2. Although both give access to the same media files, administrators have more control over what managed users can do, so this is a good solution for parents who want to restrict their children’s use. For the moment, click ‘Add an existing Plex user’. 3 Enter…

SYSTEM RESTORE Swap RollBack Rx for cheaper Eazy Fix Like Carl Hughes in Issue 550 (page 42), I am fed up with System Restore in Windows 10. Taking his suggestion, I gave RollBack Rx (www.snipca.com/30877) a try. I could not actually find the pricing as it is well hidden. The only way to find it seems to be installing the program, then following the purchase link from there. The program seemed fine, but I was shocked to find the price is now £69.20 a year (plus £14.94 if you want ‘Gold Support and Maintenance’ – www.snipca.com/31279). This seemed very expensive. But reading through the RollBack Rx forum it seems that Eazy Fix is the same program under a different brand. I have installed and run Eazy Fix (www.pcundo.com) and yes…

£1,200 from Amazon www.snipca.com/30405 I recently had a bit of a windfall (not a fortune, but enough to make my bank manager smile). After years scrimping and saving with second-hand laptops, I treated myself to the Huawei MateBook X Pro you gave five stars to in Issue 547. My ageing hands don’t find it easy to type, so I was attracted by your claim that it has a well-spaced and comfortable keyboard. Having used it for a month, I can vouch for that. But the biggest difference between the MateBook and my previous laptops is in the screen. It’s simply dazzling. You said it’s “nearly 4K”. I’ll take your word for it. All I know is that it makes videos clearer than any crystal. I’ve even got used to the…

MapFactor Navigator Free Android: www.snipca.com/31383 iOS: www.snipca.com/31384 Get turn-by-turn directions without an internet connection using crowdsourced data from OpenStreetMap (www.openstreetmap.org). Download MapFactor’s GPS data and maps to talk you from A to B (or 1 to 2) in more than 200 countries, with data about speed limits, pedestrian routes, languages, speed-camera warnings and more. Best For: Directions around the world HERE WeGo Free Android, iOS: www.here.com Breeze through traffic and global public transport systems using this fast, powerful navigator. Enter a destination to get an interactive route map from your location, plus info about journey options – train times, traffic jams, toll prices and more – far quicker than Google Maps. Tap ‘Download maps’ in the menu to set up offline use. Best For: Instant journey info OsmAnd* Free Android,…

EXCEL Match cases in Excel Having to edit a long list of cells (such as people’s names) in Excel so that they appear in a uniform manner takes time and is prone to errors. Instead, use this simple shortcut and get Excel to do the hard work for you. For example, say we’ve got a list of 10 names, all with a mix of upper and lower case characters (see screenshot below). In the cell to the right of the first name, type that name as you want all others to appear – in this example, we typed ‘Alex Andersson’ and pressed Enter. Select the empty cell below this, then press Ctrl+E. Excel will paste the remaining names underneath, all using the same style. If it doesn’t get it quite…

TRACTIVE (www.tractive.com) Tractive produces tracking collars and attachments for both cats and dogs. They use satellite navigation to pinpoint your pet and update its location over the mobile network every two to three seconds. You can monitor their position in a free smartphone app. The collars are waterproof (see photo) and have rechargeable batteries that last two to three days on a three-hour charge. The trackers cost £44.99, but you’ll also need to pay a subscription, ranging from £6.99 a month to £89.90 for two years, depending on the level of service you require. PAWTRAILS (www.pawtrails.com) Pawtrails provides a combination smart collar and harness with a removable tracking device and neat docking station to recharge it. A single charge lasts around three days, during which it uses sat-nav to position…

1080p 1920x1080-pixel video. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. Add-in Microsoft’s name for tools that can be added to Office software. Adobe RGB A wider colour space than sRGB, extending into richer cyans and greens ADSL Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. A technology that converts a standard phone line into a broadband internet connection. aptX (sound transmission) A codec is used to compress audio so it can be transmitted over Bluetooth with minimal loss in quality Augmented reality Lets you view the real world on a digital display and add elements from the digital world. Bandwidth A measure of how much information can be transferred through a connection at one time Benchmarking Comparing software and products with an accepted standard Biometric Using measurable personal characteristics, such as…