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I moved into my house four years ago, but only in March this year did I discover a hidden alleyway that halves my walk to the station every morning. It means I can spend another five minutes savouring my Weetabix before being squashed like a butternut into a train carriage. Such alleyways are hard to find in Windows 10, but you won’t have to wait four years before locating them. Our resident Windows expert Jonathan Parkyn has found the 15 best tricks for using the operating system more efficiently. Editing his feature reminded me that while an operating system becomes easier the more you use it, this is mostly down to basic familiarity. It doesn’t actually mean that you’re using it as quickly as you could. editor@computeractive.co.uk PS: At the…

The NHS’s controversial deal with Google to share 1.6 million patient records is to be investigated by the UK’s data-protection watchdog. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) confirmed it will investigate after questions were raised as to whether the data would be encrypted once Google had it. As part of the deal the Royal Free Hospital Trust will pass healthcare records on to DeepMind, an artificialintelligence company owned by Google. The trust runs three hospitals in North London: Chase Farm, Barnet and Royal Free. The contract between the NHS and Google, uncovered by New Scientist magazine, states that there is no reason to make the data anonymous once it’s been transferred to DeepMind, which will receive records going back over the past five years and continuing until 2017. It is using…

The British public are largely unaware of websites that help them stay safe online, despite the Government spending £20m in 2014-15 on cybersecurity campaigns. Some of this money was spent to promote Safer Internet Day 2016, which was on 9 February, but a survey from YouGov and US security company CSID found that 84 per cent of British adults didn’t notice it. The same survey found that only 13 per cent of British adults had heard of GetSafeOnline.org (see screenshot), which is partly funded by the Government. Fewer people – only six per cent – were aware of Cyber Streetwise (www.cyberstreetwise.com), which accounted for £4m of the budget. Both websites aim to provide independent, easy-to-understand advice on staying safe. The Government’s intention was to “drive engagement and awareness” among small…

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. Should I claim a refund from my friend? Q Four years ago, I bought an Amica fridge-freezer from an appliance repair engineer, who has since become a friend. The fridgefreezer has developed a gas leak so I contacted Amica. It told me to contact the seller, but I don’t want to involve my friend. Do I still have a claim against Amica for inherently faulty goods? Nicos Michael A There’s no question of ‘still’ in this scenario – Nicos was never in a position to make a claim against Amica for inherently faulty goods under…

AmazonBasics 3,000mAh Ultra Slim £9 from Amazon www.snipca.com/20576 Carrying a battery pack means not worrying about your phone or tablet running out of charge. This model will charge most phones from zero to 100 per cent. Its 1.0 amp output isn’t enough for most tablets. A MicroUSB cable is built in to connect to most phones. Poweradd Pilot 2GS £10 from Amazon www.snipca.com/20582 This sleek silver charger has standard USB ports to use with your devices’ cables. One is 2.1A, which will work with tablets and may charge your phone faster, although it doesn’t support the Quick Charge standard used by some devices. A 2A input makes charging the Pilot itself relatively quick. It’s great value. EasyAcc 20000mAh Rugged Power Bank £34 from Amazon www.snipca.com/20581 With an IP67 waterproof rating…

What’s the best laptop for my retirement? Q I’ve used various computers in my work. Now retired, I want a laptop that’s not too heavy or large, that I can use for email, Skype, online research, banking and so on. I’m most comfortable with Microsoft Word and Windows 8.1. My budget would be £200 to £250. Josephine Stiernborg A The Acer Chromebook R11 (£200 from Currys www.snipca.com/20551) would suit your needs if you have a reliable internet connection, but you’d be limited to the Office Online version of Word, which lacks some advanced features. The similarly sized Asus EeeBook X205TA (£180 from Amazon www.snipca.com/20552, pictured) runs Windows 8.1 and comes with a year’s free Microsoft Office 365 subscription. The more flexible £200 Asus Transformer Flip Book TP200SA (see our review,…

SUMMER 2016 As we predicted last issue, Nvidia has unveiled its next-generation graphics cards, the GeForce GTX 1070 and 1080. At around £300 and £450, they’re more powerful than components currently selling for twice the price. Expect discounts on other cards after these go on sale. SUMMER 2016 Google’s Nexus 9 tablet offered a lot for the money but was clunkily made. Now that it has been discontinued, a new tablet seems likely. Rumours suggest a it may be a revamped Nexus 7 (pictured). SUMMER 2016 Sony is freshening up its Xperia phone range this year with a new ‘X’ brand. Possibly the most exciting model will be the Xperia XA, a lowercost device with a striking edgeto-edge screen. Supplied with Android 6.0, it has a microSD slot to expand…

ANDROID & iOS Change folder colours in Google Drive and edit files offline Google Drive now lets you add colours to your folders to help you distinguish them better. Open the app (default on Android; iOS www.snipca.com/20563) to see all your folders. Tap the three dots beside the folder you want to add a colour to (see right of screenshot below), tap the ‘Change colour’ option at the bottom and choose from one of 20 colours. A little-known feature of Google Drive is that it lets you make specific files (such as documents or presentations) available for ‘offline use’. You can then access and edit these files even if you don’t have a signal – for example, when you’re on a flight. Any edits you make will sync with the…

WINDOWS 7, 8, 10 Print more than one page on a single sheet of paper By default, your printer reproduces a single page on a separate sheet of paper. However, there’s an easy way to print two or more pages on a single sheet. This can be quite handy if you’re running low on paper and you want to print something that doesn’t need to look great – say a copy of your bills or notes for a presentation. To do this, open the document you want to print, then press Ctrl+P. Now click the Printer Properties link below the Printer dropdown menu at the top left. In the Properties window, the Page Layout dropdown menu will be set to ‘1 on 1’ (meaning one page per sheet). To change…

Email us your problem and we’ll try to help: noproblem@computeractive.co.uk Where are Windows 10’s file-sort options? Q In Windows 7 there’s a menu that lets you sort files in different ways. The options include List, Details, Tiles, Content and a few others besides. I cannot find the equivalent of this in Windows 10, and in particular the List item. I really want to make use of this to remove information I don’t personally need to see, such as the file size, type and date. Do you know what I’m talking about? If so, where would I find this menu in Windows 10? Mike Williams A Yes, we know what you’re talking about — it’s the ‘Change your view’ button-cum-menu in Windows Explorer. Microsoft gave Windows Explorer an overhaul in Windows…

KEN RIGSBY is Computeractive’s Mr Angry Hey, listen up! I’m brilliant at my job. I’m also great at sport — a karate black belt (second dan), and an accomplished skydiver. There’s more. I’m married to that incredibly clever (and attractive) lady who adds up the numbers on Countdown, and we’ve enrolled our yet-to-be-conceived kids for places at Oxford and Cambridge (yes, both universities, because our children are bound to be twice as clever as yours). Oh, and I had chips for lunch, thrice-cooked for me personally by Heston Blumenthal. Frankly, my life is amazing and I damn well want you to know about it. Okay, some or all of the above is a tad fanciful. But it brings me neatly on to virtual-reality headsets, those newfangled techno-blindfolds like the Oculus…

BBC IPLAYER LOOPHOLE TO BE CLOSED The Government has confirmed that it will close the loophole that lets people watch catch-up TV shows on the BBC iPlayer without paying the licence fee. Since the iPlayer launched in 2007, only people watching shows broadcast live have needed a TV licence. John Whittingdale, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, said the change will make the licence fee “fairer”. GOOGLE BANS PAYDAY ADVERTS ONLINE Google has banned adverts from so-called payday lenders appearing in its search results, in an effort to protect its users from “deceptive or harmful financial products”. It will no longer show offers for loans that ask for repayment within 60 days, or have an interest rate of 36 per cent or higher. Lisa McGreevy, president and CEO…

Tell us what’s on your mind Email: letters@computeractive.co.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive Twitter: @ComputerActive www.twitter.com/computeractive Microsoft should charge for XP support Your news story in Issue 475 ‘All cash machines can be hacked – and XP is to blame’ says that “over 100 million home computers still run XP”, indicating the continued popularity of the OS. My view is that Microsoft is to blame and has acted irresponsibly by abandoning all these millions of home and commercial Windows XP users, who initially paid them good money to buy their product. Why should these users – who have been perfectly happy with XP – be expected to fork out yet more money just because Microsoft abandoned them on some arbitrary date? The concept that Microsoft has forced users to accept is that their…

Dell has provided us with the perfect example to highlight one of the most important changes in the new Consumer Rights Act (CRA), introduced last October. The new law gives companies only one chance to repair a faulty item. If that fails, they must refund the customer or replace the item. In Issue 475, we told you about Denis Griffiths’ problem with the keyboard on a Dell Inspiron laptop, which he bought in November 2015. He said that the printed letters on the keys had faded, a fault that Dell claimed wasn’t covered by the warranty. But as with all products, this is irrelevant if the fault is inherent. And because fewer than six months had passed since purchase, it was up to Dell to prove that Denis had caused…

PORTABLE PROGRAMS PortableApps Platform 14.0 http://portableapps.com What you need: Windows XP, 7, 8/8.1 or 10 We love portable programs. Unlike installable programs, they run as soon as you click their EXE file – no setup wizard to worry about. Unlike web-based tools, you don’t need a fast connection. In fact, portable programs don’t need any internet connection at all – just insert a USB stick containing the program’s EXE file, then click the file to run the program. Open-source program PortableApps Platform is your portable programs mixtape. Choose from a range of portable programs, organise them into categories and select your favourites. The Platform itself is an installable program, so you must install it using a fully supported version of Windows. However you can then run your portable programs in…

This is a monitor aimed at gamers. Computeractive is not aimed at gamers. But don’t tear up your magazine and stamp on it in a huff: there’s a good reason why we decided to test the Gold Phoenix. For just over £300, it gives you a big 28in screen with a huge 3840x2160 pixels. ‘4K’ panels don’t get much cheaper, even at smaller sizes – and smaller sizes do less justice to all those dots. “The screen is very sharp, but looked too blue in our tests” So what’s the catch? With the first affordable 4K screens, it was slow refresh rates: the picture would update only 30 times a second (30Hz), giving slightly jittery motion that was useless for games and subtly annoying for everything else. When we first…

Win 1 of 3 Devolo dLAN 550 Wi-FiPowerlinestarterkits Devolo’s new dLAN 550 Wi-Fi Powerline starter kit extends the range of your internet throughout your home. It uses your electrical wiring as extended cable, bringing the internet to any room at speeds of up to 500Mbps. The clever ‘WiFi Move Technology’ means that devices automatically switch to the dLAN adapter if it’s providing a stronger signal than the router. To enter, email your address to cacomp@dennis.co.uk with ‘devolo’ in the subject line by midnight 7 June. Devolo’s dLAN 550 WiFi powerline adapter is available to buy now priced £99.99 from Amazon and Broadbandbuyer.co.uk. For more information on Devolo products visit www.devolo.co.uk and follow @devoloUK on Twitter.…

Arts & Culture Free Android: www.snipca.com/20568 iOS: www.snipca.com/20569 Google’s app is a font of knowledge divided into three categories – Art, History and Wonders. The first covers famous artists and their trademark styles. History reveals events that took place on today’s date in the past. Wonders takes you on virtual tours of various world heritage sites. Email – EasyDo Mail Free iPhone only: www.snipca.com/20570 Despite competing in a crowded market, this email app – which can be used with Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo – has some unique features. It lets you unsubscribe from emails with one tap and postpones email notifications to a time that suits you. The app also notifies you of flight delays and gate changes. Awesome Tube Free Windows Phone: www.snipca.com/20571 YouTube doesn’t have an official app…

What is it? A groundbreaking method of storing computing data on synthetic strands of DNA. Data that is normally stored as zeroes and ones on a hard drive is converted into genetic material – the G, A, T and C of DNA. It could solve one of the biggest problems facing us in the computing age. Which is? How to store the vast amounts of data that we produce. We are rapidly running out of space. By 2020 the ‘digital universe’ is expected to hit 44 trillion gigabytes, which far exceeds how much we can store on hard drives and servers. Many technology experts have commented on the paradox that although we now record more information than at any time in history, only a fraction of it will survive to…

A few weeks ago, someone walked into my house one Saturday morning while I dozed in bed, then walked out with my Windows 8.1 laptop and my wallet. I did hear footsteps while half-asleep, but thought it must be my housemate getting ready for work. “Hey, is that you?” I shouted, peering downstairs. Silence. Nothing. So I resumed my doze and assumed I’d been dreaming. It took nearly two days to realise we’d been burgled. I couldn’t find my wallet, but thought I might have left it in a shop somewhere. When I checked my bank account that evening I discovered that someone had tried to use my card for a contactless payment. The next evening, my housemate and I sat down to watch BBC iPlayer via my laptop, which…

Microsoft has urged users of Windows Live Mail 2012 (WLM) to switch to Outlook.com after announcing that it will end support for the email client at the end of June. The company sent an email to all users, warning them that after 30 June they won’t be able to use WLM to read emails sent to any address that ends @outlook.com, @hotmail.com, @hotmail.co.uk, @live.com, or @msn.com. From that date users will also be unable to synchronise contacts and calendar entries. Microsoft apologised for any inconvenience, and said that the change has been made “only after thoughtful consideration”. As it explains in a blog post (www.snipca.com/20549), Microsoft wants to move all users to a new email “infrastructure”, which is incompatible with WLM. It says that users will enjoy “enhanced performance, security…

Sticking with Windows XP, but ditching my iPad The letters in Issue 475 regarding Apple users pitying Windows users prompts me to turn the argument around. Until recently I owned an iPad, which allowed me to check emails without powering up a desktop PC. However, Apple invited me to update to iOS 9.0 without warning of the consequences. Once my iPad updated I was unable to access any of its content unless I updated iTunes, but this required me to be running Internet Explorer 11, which could not be installed on my three XP Pro Service Pack 3 PCs. I’m one of the few people happy with XP Pro and find Windows 10 a poor replacement in many respects, certainly for business users and serious PC users not enamoured of…

Discontinued products Acer www.snipca.com/20389 Adobe software www.snipca.com/20396 All printers www.snipca.com/20392 Apple www.snipca.com/20387 Brother printers www.snipca.com/20393 Canon www.snipca.com/20397 Epson www.epson.co.uk/offers HP printers www.snipca.com/20390 Lenovo www.snipca.com/20402 LG monitors www.snipca.com/20401 LG TVs www.snipca.com/20399 Microsoft software www.snipca.com/20388 Netgear www.snipca.com/20400 Philips www.snipca.com/20398 Samsung tablets www.snipca.com/20403 Sony Vaio www.snipca.com/20391 Toshiba www.toshiba.eu/discontinued-products TOSHIBA…

How can I translate between English and Spanish instantly? Q We recently moved from the UK to Spain, and we love it here but our Spanish language skills are very basic. We’re using Duolingo for learning, but it can’t translate in real time when I need to speak to a doctor or understand a letter. Is there a laptop program (Windows 10) or Android app that can do this? Liz Kendrick A Best place to start is Google Translate (https://translate.google.co.uk), which automatically translates your typed English to Spanish (or French, Polish and dozens more). Open it in the browser on your laptop, tablet or phone, click English in the left row of buttons and Spanish in the right, then type. Typing on Google Translate’s free mobile app (Android www.snipca.com/20475; iOS…

A couple of years ago, the prevailing Wi-Fi standard moved on from 802.11n to 802.11ac. It’s theoretically faster, uses the less crowded 5GHz band, and has better range, so you should get decent reception over a wider area. Meanwhile, the ADSL broadband connections available over the phone lines to our homes moved up to VDSL, allowing internet service providers (ISPs) to run fast fibre-optic cables to the cabinet in the street and just use the copper wires for the last few yards. The Archer VR900 is a wireless router that connects to any ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+, VDSL or VDSL2 internet socket and provides an 802.11ac network for your Wi-Fi computers, phones and tablets. You could use it to replace an old router or in preference to one supplied by an…

Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT Block adverts on an older iPad Recently Computeractive featured two Workshops about blocking ads while browsing the web on your iPad or iPhone. The first Workshop involved a third-party browser app called Adblock Browser (Issue 472, page 42); while the second featured Kaspersky AdCleaner – an app that adds ad-blocking features to Safari (Issue 474, page 42). I was particularly interested in the latter, but I couldn’t install the Kaspersky app because I have a very old iPad. After some research, I figured out why. I also found out the best way to bypass Safari and block ads on my old device. Basically, Safari is the default browser in iOS and (unlike Google on Android) Apple doesn’t let you change your…

AGES 0-5 Ocean II – Stickers and Colors* Free www.snipca.com/20572 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/20573 (iOS) The four activities in Ocean II will keep your toddler busy for hours. There’s a simple matching game, and 15 albums where they need to match stickers to the correct outline. There are also games involving colouring and playing tunes on a virtual keyboard. AGES 6-10 Stack* Free www.snipca.com/20574 (Android) Free www.snipca.com/20575 (iOS) There are several ‘stacking’ games but none are as addictive (or as challenging) as Stack. The aim is simple: arrange blocks one on top of the other until you’ve built a mini-skyscraper. Whenever you fail to align a block precisely, part of it will be chipped off – thereby increasing the risk of collapse. AGES 11-16 80 Days £3 www.snipca.com/20577 (Android) £3.99 www.snipca.com/20578…

THE POLICE The police non-emergency number is 101, though it seemed constantly engaged when I tried it. You could persist until you get through, or alternatively, report the crime online (each constabulary has its own website). The police will then give you a crimereport number. YOUR HOME INSURANCE COMPANY The crime-report number obtained from the police is vital at this stage. My insurance company was very helpful, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to make a claim because my laptop was partially used for work purposes. Hopefully, this won’t be the case for you. LOCAL SECOND–HAND SHOPS These types of shop work closely with police, who check the shops’ databases every morning for serial numbers of reported stolen goods. It doesn’t hurt to ring yourself, though in my case staff confirmed…

Picture on TV is distorted Because the resolution of laptop screens varies from those on high-definition TVs, whenever you connect one to the other the resulting picture on your TV can often look stretched or distorted. The edges of your Windows desktop may even be cut off altogether – a problem known as overscan. To solve this you need to tweak your TV’s settings, though exactly which setting will depend on the make and model of your TV. In short, you need to change your TV’s screen’s aspect ratio from 16:9 to Just Scan or Screen Fit mode (the name will vary). To do this on a Samsung TV, for example, open the TV’s menu using your remote control and choose Picture, Screen Adjustment, Picture Size then select Screen Fit.…