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Welcome
EDITORIAL
Group Editor Daniel Booth
Features Editor Jane Hoskyn
Reviews Editor Alan Lu
From the Editor
Technical Editor Sherwin Coelho
Sta Writer Robert Zak In the early days of the web, I thought little
Contributing Editor Scott Colvey
Production Editor Graham Brown about online privacy. Like many users at that
Art Editor Katie Peat
Sorry, no technical or buying advice.
time, I was probably too naive, assuming
that the giddy idealism of the webs founders
ADVERTISING
Advertisement sales & media pack would lead to a glorious cyber-paradise where
020 7907 6799
Advertising Director Andrea Mason
information owed freely and nobody sought
Deputy Advertising Manager Alexa Dracos to exploit anyone. So what if a website wanted probably deposited a generations worth of
MARKETING AND CIRCULATION my phone number and email address whats information across the web.
Subscriptions Manager Sarah Aldridge
Senior Direct Marketing Executive
the harm in that? However, as we explain in our cover feature,
Rachel Evans How times change. Nearly 20 years on and you can erase much of this online debris. Youll
Marketing Production Manager Gemma Hills
For subscription enquiries ring 0844 815 0054 were all a lot more cynical. We now realise learn how to remove dead accounts, vanish from
PRODUCTION
that websites are machines built to ruthlessly Google, wipe old photos, delete forum posts and
Group Production Manager devour our personal data. But knowing that much more so you can feel more secure online.
Stephen Catherall
Production Controller doesnt make it easy to prevent. Despite your Daniel Booth
Daniel Stark
best eorts to preserve your privacy, youve [email protected]
MANAGEMENT
Managing Director John Garewal
Deputy Managing Director Tim Danton
p70
MD of Advertising Julian Lloyd-Evans
Commercial and Retail Director David Barker
Group Managing Director Ian Westwood
COO Brett Reynolds p42 p58
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Chief Executive James Tye
Company Founder Felix Dennis

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Copyright Dennis Publishing Limited

29 October 11 November 2014 3

 Contents 29 October 11 November 2014 Issue 435

CO

REMOVE
In this issue FEA VER
TU
P50 RE
50 Remove personal info
from the web

PERSONAL INFO
Worried about the amount of personal
data youve put on the web? Heres
how to reduce your digital footprint

57 FROM THE WEB

First 100 days of
Windows 10 Part 1
We start using Microsofts next OS

t behind
58 Delete years of data youve lef
New ways to recover
deleted files
Which le-recovery tools beat Recuva?

60 Create multiple virtual

desktops
Need more Desktop space? Here are
the best tools for virtual alternatives

How to make virtual

desktops a reality
p60

Recover lost
files p58

In every issue Apple fans queue will it

never end? p74
6 News 32 Competition
Win a Humax DTR-T2000
11 Question of YouView+ digital TV recorder
er
the Fortnight
Are we turning into a nation 49 Whats All the
of web addicts? Fuss About? Ello

12 Letters 64 Problems Solved

14 Consumeractive 70 Fast Fixes

Kindle
16 Protect Your Tech
73 Jargon Buster
18 Best Free Software
Skype 74 The Final Straw
Stuart Andrews refuses to
30 Buy It! join the iPhone queues

4 29 October 11 November 2014

 Subscribe
be
NOW!!
See page 62 2
for our special
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subs offer

Reviews

20 Tesco Hudl 2
Tescos latest tablet is just what
the doctor ordered

22 Corel AfterShot Pro 2

Powerful photo editor to organise
and alter your favourite images
Tesco Hudl 2 p2
p20 23 LG Chromebase
The rst all-in-one Chrome OS
computer goes back to basics

24 Samsung NX Mini
A slim, slick digital camera with
swappable lens

26 Kobo Aura H2O

Kobo Aura H20 p26 Kobos waterproof e-reader is
perfect for a book at bath time

BUY IT! 28 LG BP645

A Blu-ray player with much to oer
Lexmark MS312dn
A printer thats good on paper

29 Google Cardboard
Virtual reality for virtually nothing
Google Cardboard p29

Workshops & Tips Computeractive

14 pages of brilliant workshops and expert tips offer of the fortnight
Bitdefender
35 Restore your PC from a 42 Remove junk before
virtual hard drive it crashes your PC Family
mily Pack 2015 page 33

38 Add new professional 43 Readers Tips

effects to your videos Get to grips with Evernote Beta

40 Sync email accounts on 44 Phone and Tablet Tips

your tablet Lock apps with a passcode Save
63%
46 Make Windows Better
Get taskbar previews quicker

47 Make Office Better

Collate important info in Excel

48 Secret Tips For

Firefox OW ONLY 29
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29 October 11 November 2014 5

 News The top stories in the world of technology

Two years in prison for online

abuse and revenge porn
P osting nude photos or
videos of people online
without their consent
COMMENT
These laws should curb
so-called revenge porn - and
some of the disgusting
sending abusive messages
behaviour by people who
online or trolling - are to
think they can say and do
become punishable in the UK
anything from the anonymity
by up to two years in prison.
of their PCs. However, there
The new measures are
are tricky questions raised
separate amendments to the
by these laws. Should a
Criminal Justice and Courts
threat over the internet be
Bill. They will cover abusive
treated the same as a threat
messages and images posted
in person? And how can we
on Facebook, Twitter and
tell if someones making
other social networks, and
an inappropriate joke or if
sent by text message. to return to play for his club. Claire Hardaker lecturer
they intend to cause harm?
The amendments come in In the UK, a total of 149 at Lancaster University and
The Government will need
the wake of several high-prole cases of revenge pornography specialist in online behaviour
to tackle these grey areas
incidents of abusive online involving children as young told the BBC that
carefully to make sure its
behaviour. In mid-October as 11 have been reported in understanding the intent of
good intentions dont slip
Chloe Madeley daughter of the past two-and-a-half years. trolls could create problems
into censorship.
TV presenters Judy Finnigan Until now, there have been in enforcing the law.
and Richard Madeley no UK laws specically targeting Its like your mum sending
received rape threats over trolling or revenge porn, with you a text saying Im going to going to kill you she said.
Twitter when defending her convictions being made under kill you because you forgot to Proving intent, proving
mothers comment that the Malicious Communications bring something that she asked that they really meant it that
convicted rapist and footballer Act, resulting in jail sentences you to bring, versus somebody they had the means to carry it
Ched Evans should be allowed of up to six months. on the internet saying Im out is very dicult.

Price-comparison sites hide the best deals

Price-comparison websites are deals they make money from. If customers click yes, the
guilty of hiding the best Comparison websites earn a search lters out deals that
energy deals, according to commission every time a dont earn the websites money.
consumer group The Big Deal customer searching for deals This would mean that

(https://thisisthebigdeal.com). on the site switches account. customers who want to switch
It claims that the big ve But The Big Deal said that straight away wouldnt
CompareTheMarket, when the big ve sites ask necessarily see the best deal.
uSwitch, Confused.com, customers whether they want The Big Deal says this method transparent, and conform to
GoCompare and to switch immediately, only hides almost a third of deals. Ofgems Consumer Condence
MoneySuperMarket behave clicking no shows all the The ve websites responded code. However, Ofgem says its
unethically by prioritising deals available. by saying their methods are planning to update this code.

Youll like this but not this

Mozilla is testing Firefox Hello, a free phone- Dropbox passwords leaked, but the company
and video-call service (www.snipca.com/14084) said its not to blame (www.snipca.com/14085)

6 29 October 11 November 2014

Google announces new Nexus IN BRIEF
phone, tablet and Lollipop EE LAUNCHES TV
SET TOP BOX
Google has announced the performed well in Mobile network EE has
Nexus 6 smartphone and independent tests, announced a TV set-top
Nexus 9 tablet, both of achieving speeds twice box that connects up
which will run Android as fast as previous to four devices, letting
5.0 Lollipop, the most table-topping Android customers watch dierent
colourful Android devices such as the Galaxy TV programmes at the same
update yet. Note 4 phablet. time. The box contains a
The Nexus 6 and 9 The Nexus 6 and 9 were 1TB hard drive, which EE
devices (www.google. announced alongside claims can record up to
co.uk/nexus) built in Android 5.0 Lollipop. The 25 days worth of standard-
partnership with Motorola phone enough power to run biggest change in the denition TV. It also has 70
and HTC respectively are for six hours after just 15 Android update is the Freeview channels, and apps
now available to pre-order minutes of charging. Material Design interface, for YouTube and TV and
before release on 3 November. The Wi-Fi-only, 16GB model which is more colourful lm service Wuaki. The box
The Nexus 6 is expected to of the Nexus 9 tablet costs than previous versions. is oered free with EEs
cost around 400, which 319. It has an 8.9in LCD While Lollipop wont run broadband packages, the
makes it the most expensive display, with a 2048x1536- any faster than Android cheapest of which costs 26
Nexus phone yet. It has a 5.9in resolution at 288ppi (pixels KitKat, Google claims it will (phone line included).
2560x1440 screen, 2.7 GHz per inch). This means it has a improve the battery life of
quad-core processor and sharper screen than the 9.7in devices. Lollipop will be rolled ARGOS OFFER GET
contains a 3220mAh battery, iPad Air 2, recently announced out to Android phones and ONLINE WORKSHOPS
which provides 24 hours of by Apple, which has 264ppi. tablets over the coming weeks. Argos has teamed up with
talk time and 330 hours The Nexus 9 is the rst digital-skills charity Go ON
standby time. tablet to use the dual-core We will review the Nexus 6 UK to help people who are
It comes with a quick- version of the Nvidia Tegra and 9, and the iPad Air 2 not online learn how to use
charge feature that gives the K1 processor, which has over the next few issues. the internet. Each workshop
costs 20, and the rst
10,000 attendees will receive
Watch London Zoos meerkats live in a free Proscan 7-inch Android
tablet and a voucher oering
groundbreaking wireless trial free TalkTalk broadband for a
year. The workshops run until
You can now watch live The technology is mid-January 2015. For more
streams of London Zoos being trialled by several info call 0345 600 4408.
meerkats, otters and other organisations in
Galapagos tortoises on the UK, including the
YouTube (www.snipca. Oxford Flood Network,
com/13991), thanks to which is using it to Tomorrows
cameras using a wireless
technology thats being
tested in Europe for
transmit real-time data
about water levels.
Ships in the Orkney
world
the rst time. Islands and Pentland Bored of your wallpaper?
The as-yet-unnamed Firth are using it to You could try replacing it with
technology is being trialled get wireless high-speed an immersive, augmented
at London Zoo in collaboration It could also help ease internet. If the trials are entertainment experience.
with Google. It uses Television the strain on the existing successful, then the Thats how Microsoft
White Spaces (TVWS) radio spectrum, which is technology could start describes RoomAlive which
unused parts of the radio becoming increasingly appearing in consumer projects objects and creatures
spectrum that exist between crowded because of the products in 2015. onto your walls and oors. Its
the frequency bands used by growing number of people in Live coverage of the being designed for gamers,
technologies such as Wi-Fi the UK wirelessly connecting meerkats, otters and tortoises as you can see on Microsoft
and Bluetooth. TVWS can to the internet. The Zoological will continue until early Researchs YouTube channel
travel longer distances Society of London hopes to December. London Zoo is (www.snipca.com/13947),
than these technologies, use TVWS to monitor animals using night vision to ensure but we think it would be
and can penetrate walls in the wild as part of that streaming is available better as an astronomy guide.
more eectively. conservation projects. 24 hours a day.

29 October 11 November 2014 7

 News
IN BRIEF Criminals wipe seized phones but
NEW SKYPE APP LETS
YOU SEND VIDEOS police forces dont know how
Microsoft has launched
Skype Qik (www.skype. Criminal suspects are
com/qik), remotely deleting data from
a free app smartphones and tablets
for Android, siezed by police as evidence,
iOS and according to a number of
Windows local police authorities.
Phone that Police forces in
lets you Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire,
send video clips Nottingham, Durham,
up to 42 seconds long. Cleveland and Dorset have
The videos self-destruct admitted to the BBC that
after two weeks, if the suspects successfully
sender doesnt delete them removed information from
before that. You dont conscated devices.
need a Skype account A spokeswoman for Dorset investigation, and we went on which phone manufacturers
to use Qik. police told the BBC: There to secure a conviction, said increasing focus on customer
were six incidents, but we a spokeswoman. privacy is impacting criminal
3Tb BROADBAND IS dont know how people Apple and Google now investigations. Emma Carr,
WORLDS FASTEST wiped the phones. include privacy features on director of privacy
BT and Huawei have run We have cases where iOS and Android devices that campaigners Big Brother
successful trials on a phones get seized, and theyre let users remotely remove Watch, believes the police
bre-broadband link that not necessarily taken from data if their phone or tablet is need to be more aware of how
reaches speeds of 3Tbps, an arrested person but we stolen. This function is widely technological advances can
fast enough to download dont know the details of regarded as an important aect their operations.
100 high-denition lms these cases as there is no security measure that helps She said: Traditional police
in one second. The speeds reason to keep records of victims of crime prevent forces are ill-equipped to deal
are the fastest ever this, she added. thieves accessing sensitive with evolving technologies
achieved in a real-world Derbyshire police said that information, but these cases and the crimes associated
environment using existing a phone was wiped remotely demonstrate criminals also with them. It is that weak
infrastructure, according to during the investigation of a recognise its usefulness. point that needs to change,
the two companies. romance scam. The incidents raise wider not the technological
It did not impact upon the questions about the extent to developments themselves.

Whats new from Google The Definitive

Guide to Google
VIDEO CALL DOCTORS TREK THE DESERT ON USE HANGOUTS ON Hidden Tools
FROM SEARCH RESULTS STREET VIEW YOUR DESKTOP
Soon, if you search for Google has used yet another Skype remains most peoples Youll nd more
re
medical symptoms or mode of transport to capture rst choice for free video calls of Googles
illnesses on Google, you images of dicult terrain for (and rightly so we named it brilliant
may get an option to talk Street View, after using trikes, the best free program ever in features in our
to a doctor via video link. snowmobiles and gondolas. Issue 434). But Google hopes new 164-page
Google is trialling a service in This time it attached the Trekker that its new app for Hangouts, book The
California and Massachusetts camera to a camel (called Raa) which also oers free video Denitive
that prompts users to talk to shoot the Liwa Desert in calls, will persuade people to Guide to
with a doctor now and make the United Arab Emirates. See switch. The app lets you chat Google
a free video call. Google the breathtaking to people on your Windows Hidden Tools.
says its trying this landscape, PC (if you have the Chrome
new feature to see if including browser installed) BUY IT NOW FROM
its useful to people, 40-metre or Chromebook desktop. AMAZON
though hasnt said sand dunes, at Theres more information on at www.snipca.com/14021
if it will be tested www.snipca. the ocial Chrome blog at (Cheaper than in the shops!)
outside the US. com/14020. www.snipca.com/14023.

8 29 October 11 November 2014

Danger! Your USB stick is hackable IN BRIEF

after malware code posted online GOOGLE GLASS ADDICT

CHECKS INTO REHAB
A 31-year-old man in the
US has become the rst
The risk of your USB USB devices. person in the world to be
devices being hacked has Unlike Wilson and Caudill, diagnosed with Internet
suddenly increased after Nohl and Lell believe BadUSB Addiction Disorder (IAD)
two independent security is unxable for the most from using Google Glass.
researchers published part, which is why they The man initially checked
online malware code that decided not to post it online. into a substance-abuse
exploits a widespread bug They believe that a complete programme in San Diego to
in USB rmware. redesign of USB rmware is be treated for alcoholism,
Brandon Wilson and required to protect PC users. but doctors noticed that
Adam Caudill published Before even starting this he would get become
details of how to execute arms race, USB sticks have to extremely frustrated and
the malware (www.snipca. attempt security, said Nohl. argumentative when
com/14019), defending their But up to now, manufacturers deprived of the gadget,
move by claiming it will make have generally ignored calls which he wore for 18 hours
companies act more urgently for greater security in USB a day. Other symptoms
to x the aw, which is devices. included involuntarily
known as BadUSB. Its common practice for tapping his temple (where
The BadUSB aw was rst researchers to publish now out of the bag, we the Glass controller is
revealed by Karsten Nohl and malware code, because it should all be putting pressure usually positioned) with
Jakob Lell of SR Labs at the invites ethical hackers and on USB manufacturers to his forenger.
Black Hat Security Conference companies to try to x the get their act together, or
in July (see Question of the aws, but many experts many many folks will be NEW BBC EARTH
Fortnight, Issue 430). They think that BadUSB should potentially exposed. WEBSITE GOES LIVE
demonstrated how hackers not have been published Cluley added that you can You can watch wildlife videos
could exploit the weakness to because it poses too great a protect yourself by avoiding from around the world on
take remote control of your risk to the public. USB devices if you dont know the BBCs new Earth website
computer using infected USB PC security expert Graham what PCs theyve previously (www.bbc.co.uk/earth). It
sticks, keyboards and other Cluley agrees: With the cat been plugged into. promises to oer a new
perspective on the world,
letting you watch behind-
New Poodle bug has more bark the-scenes footage from
BBC shows such as Wonders
than bite, say experts of the Monsoon, Springwatch
and Natural World. Theres
Your safety online is once likely to target you when also a British Wildlife
again at risk, after three youre using public Wi-Fi calendar that lists events
Google researchers revealed hotspots not your home you can get involved in.
a security aw in an Wi-Fi network.
outdated technology that Poodle is also less serious CHECK IN WITH PHOTO
still exists in 40 per cent because most sites no longer OF YOUR PASSPORT
of websites. use the buggy SSL 3 code by An update to EasyJets app
Named Poodle (Padding default. Mozilla, Microsoft lets passengers check in
Oracle On Downloaded and Google are advising for their ights by taking
Legacy Encryption), the people to make sure SSL 3 a photo of their passport,
vulnerability was discovered is disabled on their PCs. eliminating the need to input
in mid-October, and exists in You can do this by going passport details online.
an 18-year-old encryption Poodle is not as severe as the to Control Panel, Internet You can check in using this
code called SSL 3.0 (RC4 Heartbleed and Shellshock Options, Advanced, scrolling method up to two hours
cipher). If exploited, it could bugs because hackers will down to Security then before your ight. EasyJet
allow hackers to steal victims nd it harder to exploit. unticking the Use SSL 3.0 box. says the app, which is
passwords, which they could Unlike the other two bugs, If Shellshock and available for free on iOS and
use to access email addresses hackers would need to be on Heartbleed were Threat Level Android (www.easyjet.com/
and bank accounts. the same network as their 10, then Poodle is more like a en/mobile), is the rst of its
But experts were quick to victim to carry out an attack. 5 or a 6, said Tal Klein of kind in Europe.
reassure the public that This means hackers are only security rm Adallom.

29 October 11 November 2014 9

 News
IN BRIEF Sick hacker pollutes babys tribute
SEARCH 86 YEARS OF
RADIO TIMES ONLINE
Facebook page with porn
You can now browse a vast A Facebook page dedicated to
back-catalogue of Radio the short life of a terminally
Times magazine listings ill baby was taken over by a
published between 1923 and hacker who lled it with
2009. The BBCs Genome pornographic images.
Project (genome.ch.bbc. Jenna Gassew and Dan
co.uk), which is in beta, Haley an American couple
contains details of 4.5m TV from Philadelphia set up a
and radio programmes from page called Prayers for Shane
4,469 issues. You can search (www.snipca.com/14032)
for specic people, events and earlier this year after nding
keywords in the collection. out that their unborn son was
suering from anencephaly
LONDON TRAIN ROUTES - a severe brain defect which
ARE MOBILE DEAD meant he would only have
ZONES several hours to live after
Research has found that one being born. in the details, not realising messages posing as legitimate
in three mobile internet tasks, On the page, they posted the message was actually a sites to trick victims into
such as loading a webpage photos of Shane and wrote a phishing scam, giving the handing over their sensitive
and sending an email, fail bucket list of experiences hacker full access to the details. In this case, the
on 10 of the most popular they would like to have account. phishing email was no more
train routes around London. shared with the child. So far, The hacker started than a deeply insensitive
The study conducted by the page has earned 950,000 uploading porn to Shanes prank, but recently phishers
Global Wireless Solutions Likes on Facebook. Facebook page, which was also managed to create scam
throughout June also found But a heartless hacker saw met with condemnation by eBay listings, which intended
that one in seven voice calls the page as an opportunity to the pages followers. Within to redirect victims to a fake
fail to connect. Vodafone had cause oence. In mid-October, hours, Facebook had removed eBay login page which stole
the best 3G signal on trains, the couple received a message the oending images and their details.
while Three was best for claiming to be from Facebook returned control of the For more information on
voice calls. See the results at asking them to verify the account to Shanes parents. how to spot a phishing scam,
www.snipca.com/14043. account details for the Prayers Fraudsters and hackers see our Spot any scam email
for Shane page. Gassew typed frequently send emails or feature in Issue 434.

Amazon to offer same-day delivery service by Christmas

Amazon is set to deliver items while regular customers will deliveries, Amazon currently orders to arrive.
even faster by dropping them have to pay 4.99. If you order lets its customers pick up This is our fastest pick-up
o at your local shop on the a parcel before 11.45am, you their parcels from 6,000 service yet, said Christopher
same day you order them. will be able to pick it up on Collect+ stores and Amazon North, Amazons UK
Connect Group (formerly the same day. If you order by lockers around the country, managing director.
Smiths News) has revealed 7.45pm, then you can use the but customers have to wait Our intention is to keep
that it will run Amazons Express Morning service to at least one day for the rapidly adding to the many
new Pass My Parcel service, get the parcel delivered the thousands of existing
which is aiming to provide following morning between pick-up locations to
same-day delivery services to 6am and 9am. ensure that customers all
around 550 newsagents and When you order an over the UK are provided
convenience stores in time item using Pass My with as much choice as
for Christmas. It will use Parcel, you will possible when it comes to
Connects vans which receive an email the delivery of their
usually deliver newspapers notifying you Amazon order.
and magazines to deliver when its ready In June, Amazon added
Amazon parcels to shops to be picked Birmingham International
around the UK. up from your Airport and several London
The service will be free to chosen store. tube stations to its list of
Amazon Prime customers, Aside from home pick-up locations.

10 29 October 11 November 2014

 ?
Question
of the
Fortnight
Are we turning into a
nation of web addicts?
More people than ever appear to be suffering Internet Addiction Disorder.
But how serious is the problem?

F rustration, guilt, irritability,

social isolation, and
swings between euphoria
and panic. These are the
unpleasant symptoms of
Internet Addiction Disorder
(IAD), a condition which,
according to a recent survey
by marketing agency Digital
Clarity, aects 16 per cent of
18 to 25-year-olds in the UK.
Malissa Scott, a student
from Middlesex and suerer
of the condition, told the BBC:
Im online for most of my
waking hours and feel sick
and depressed if I lose access
to the web I know it has
spiralled out of control in which arent especially evidence that IAD is
the last 12 months and it damaging as medical particularly prevalent among THE FACTS
has denitely aected my conditions. young people. Its easy to see
relationship with friends Fast-forward to today, and why this might be the case. A recent study showed 16
and family members. IAD doesnt sound like a joke The 18 to 25-year-olds in the per cent of 18 to 25- year-
How has the internet - anymore. Many studies show Digital Clarity study are the olds display symptoms of
a tool that was meant to worrying evidence of internet rst generation to have grown Internet Addiction Disorder
improve our lives addiction one by the up surrounded by the internet The term Internet Addiction
ended up ruining some? Chinese Academy of Sciences and web-connected devices. Disorder was coined in
Internet Addiction Disorder shows that IAD suerers have Deprive them of the internet, 1995, in a satirical article
(IAD) is a term rst coined in similar chemical imbalances and you deprive them of a by American psychiatrist
large chunk of their everyday Ivan Goldberg
activities, leaving them Neither the NHS nor the
Parents are spending thousands feeling bereft and agitated. Diagnostic and Statistical
Is this enough to call these Manual of Mental Disorders
of pounds to send their web- people addicts though? recognise IAD as a medical
condition
addicted children to special clinics The NHS is not convinced,
claiming that because IAD
doesnt alter the brains research, or shop, we now do
1995, but was never intended in their brains as alcoholics. chemistry it cannot be much of it online.
to be taken seriously. Meanwhile, newspapers are classied as an addiction. Lest we forget, the press is
American psychiatrist Ivan lled with horror stories of Even the DSM-V is reluctant also lled with questionable
Goldberg invented it in a lives destroyed by the internet, to call it an ocial disorder. stories about addiction to
satirical column published with some parents in the UK On average, people in the video games, porn and social
online that poked fun at the spending thousands of pounds UK spend 5.7 hours a day media all things that are
Diagnostic and Statistical to send their web-addicted online (ranking us 9th in the accessible over the internet.
Manual of Mental Disorders children to special clinics. world). This seems a It makes one wonder if they
(DSM-V) the worlds most One man in the US was even reasonable amount of time. arent showing symptoms of
inuential catalogue of treated for Google Glass The internet is a vast place, another yet-to-be-conrmed
psychiatric disorders which addiction (see News, page 9). after all, and where once wed condition: Labelling-
has been criticised for But how widespread is the go to the oce, the library Everything-as-an-Addiction
dening abnormal behaviours problem? Theres substantial and the high street to work, Addiction Disorder (LEAAD).

29 October 11 November 2014 11

 Letters
Tell us whats on your mind
Email: [email protected]
Facebook: www.facebook.com/computeractive
Twitter: @ComputerActive
www.twitter.com/computeractive

Windows Flopsydoodah Have you noticed how unseasonably understand and hung up! Result:
or Windows 10 the name hot it is this year? And so on. Eventually immense satisfaction.
doesnt matter they hang up, but not before you have LG Melrose
Why all the fuss about Windows learnt something about another persons
skipping number nine (The Final life which enriches your own. Napoleon Coping with tech ageism
Straw, Issue 434)? Microsoft has never was dead right. My most recent examples of tech
had a consistent naming policy for its Howard Jackson ageism came in Waitrose, a shop
operating system. Remember Windows where I usually enjoy good customer
3.0? That was followed by Windows 95. Leaving scammers hanging service. While I was buying myself an
And Windows 2000 was followed by on the telephone iPad, the assistant leaned caringly over
Windows XP. So anyone who has been Ive enjoyed reading the tactics the counter and asked if I had someone
keeping even half an eye on the history readers use to annoy and ridicule to help me set it up. Another time,
of Windows wouldnt have been shocked the phone scammers that target them. while buying Computeractive, the young
by the announcement of Windows 10. I get these malevolent phone calls lady asked me if I read it. When I said
You make a good point in News, Issue regularly, and it just so happened that that I did, she said sweetly, ahh, how
434, that the decision has got people the last caller rang as I was about to nip marvellous. Both times I behaved with
talking. I mean, its even prompted me out to the shops for 20 minutes. I thought admirable restraint. At 78, Im too old to
to email Computeractive for the rst this was my chance to have a bit of fun. leap over counters and bite people.
time (after 15 years of subscribing). The scammer told me my PC had a Pat Jenkins
But ultimately, the name is irrelevant. virus. Putting on my best youre the
How it works is more important. Id be boss, I know nothing voice I said, In Issue 433, Derek Haines wrote
happy if Microsoft called it Windows OK, let me just turn on my PC. But about the tech ageism he has
Flopsydoodah as long as it was easier to instead of switching it on, I put my encountered in Currys and PC World
use than the awful Windows 8. shoes on, quietly shut the door and went (Letters, Issue 433). In my experience,
Pauline Baker to the shops, knowing the scammer these shops are some of the worst places
would be rubbing his hands thinking for anyone of any age to get tech advice
Ranting in Redcar he had a victim. I recently overheard a Currys assistant
I was stunned that Redcar topped Incredibly, when I returned about 20 advise a 30-something shopper that he
the BBCs sweariest places on minutes later, the scammer was still on needed to buy a certain (very expensive)
Twitter (News, Issue 433). I have lived in the line. He asked me what had PC to run the programs he wanted to use.
Redcar all my life (except for the years happened. I told him that Id completely It was obvious the customer had no idea
spent in National Service), and generally forgotten about his call and nipped to the about tech, so I pointed out a PC, which
thought it was a civilised place, free of shops instead. He asked me if Id turned was 200 cheaper, that would do the job.
foul-mouthed yobbishness. I then asked my PC on. I told him I didnt have a PC, I also advised him that upgrading the
a stranger what he thought about it, and which seemed to be the nal straw. He RAM from 4GB to 8GB at a cost of about
he told me to mind my eng business! swore something in a language I didnt 30 would get him a PC with very similar
So perhaps the BBC got it right.
Alan Richards
Blown away by Chromebook
How Napoleon would take
on phone scammers birthday treat
Napoleon famously said turn a
disadvantage into an advantage. In the rst week of October it
Its a good philosophy and one I was my 12th Birthday, and I
regu
regularly apply to phone wanted a Chromebook (the Acer C720
scam
scammers. Instead of Chromebook to be precise). To my
sl
slamming the phone surprise, my father had lovingly
down or becoming bought me one. It booted almost
abusive, I simply instantaneously with a welcome
en
engage the scammer in screen. I wont explain the rest, but
pl
pleasant conversation. the Chrome OS has blown me away.
I ig
ignore their requests Previously, I used my familys HP music. Im not disrespecting the use of
fo
for information and 650 Windows 7 laptop, but it was too Windows PCs or Apple Macs. All Im
inst
instead ask about the heavy and a bit slow. But within seven saying is that Chrome OS and the
we
weather. How are your seconds of turning on my Chromebook Chromebook are brilliant.
chil
children doing? Where are Im doing my homework or listening to Nathan Wright
yo
you going on holiday?

12 29 October 11 November 2014

specications to the one the assistant
recommended. I also saved him a further STAR LETTER
30 by advising him to use Avast for free,
rather than the antivirus software they
wanted to sell him. I left him to decide.
My grandson can count better
Steven Harrison than Microsoft
How can I avoid phones on Recently Ive been teaching g
planes? my three-year-old grandson on
Oh, great. Thanks to the EU, were to count, and having reached 15
now going to get phone-addicted without skipping a number hes
numbskul
numbskulls on ights, as well already better than Microsofts
ass trains (News, Issue number crunchers. I told him that hat
43
434). I hate ying, but Windows had missed out numberr
ha
have to do it a lot to nine, and I doubt youll hear a
viisit relatives. I try to better reaction anywhere: They
bl
blank things out sound like silly people Granddad. . superior to the bons there, he should
ar
around me as much Yes, Toby, they do. be a shoe-in for an internship. Mind
as possible, and use a Though silly doesnt really go far you, I want him to have a job with
tr
travel pillow so I can enough. Its just perverse, illogical and prospects. How long can Microsoft
snooooze. But the thought inexplicable. But more worrying is survive making daft decisions like this?
of trying to sleep next to what it says about Microsoft, and the George Price
some
meone yapping away operating system they force us to use.
on theirr phone lls me with Basically, it makes me realise that these CA says Weve received lots of emails
dread. At leasst trains have quiet so-called experts are making it up as from readers about Windows 10, with
zones, where
whe you ccan avoid these manic they go along, with no ultimate aim in a pretty even split between enthusiasm
jabberers although increasingly people mind. Im not a big fan of Apple, but at and cynicism. Like George, many of
dont observe the quiet-zone etiquette. least you get the impression that their you are perplexed by Microsofts
Tell a young person that theyre talking technology (operating systems, devices, decision to skip nine, though some
too loudly, and youre looked at like you software) has a unied vision. dont think the name matters (see
just told them they smell of rancid Not so with Microsoft. The same Pauline Bakers email opposite).
onions. mindset that overlooked number nine Whatever a new version of
But the point is, planes dont have quiet also gave us the debacle that is Windows is called, were always
zones. Theres rst-class, where people Windows 8. They loved it so much they excited to try it and to tell you whats
are probably more civilised, and will tried to un-make all their mistakes with good and bad about it. You can read
probably refrain from over-using their the Windows 8.1 update. Fortunately, I Part 1 of our First 100 Days of
phones, but I cant aord that. I can foresaw this chaos, and stayed well Windows 10 series on page 57.
hardly lock myself in the toilet all ight. clear, sticking with Windows 7 (the best As for Georges prodigiously
So what should I do? Any suggestions? operating system ever, by the way). numerate grandson, were
Terry Patterson Ive lmed Toby counting, and might putting a tenner on him
send it to Microsofts HR department. If being Microsoft CEO
Right said Fred, why is my hes already developed maths skills by 2050.
internet dead?
I suspect there may be a huge The Star Letter writer wins a Computeractive mug!
number of verses in your inbox
following your invitation for tech-related After thinkin, bootin up and winkin, So Ted said, Lets have a cuppa tea,
poetry/lyrics in Issue 433. Heres another We was getting nowhere, And we said, Right-o.
for your collection (with apologies to And so we had a cuppa tea. And Mavis had a think, and she said,
Myles Rudge, who wrote the original Look, Ted, Ill give a sort of hint er...
Right Said Fred). And Mavis had a think, and she thought If we remove the printer,
we ought to take o all the labels In an hour or two we could see the
Right, said Ted, Got a bit of bother, And the things wot held the cables, blighter through.
Look it up on Google and steady as But it did no good, well I never thought
we go. it would. All right, said Ted, climbed below
Tried to click it, couldnt even ick it, All right, said Ted, Have to take the the workbench,
We was getting nowhere, plugs o; With his st he gave a mighty blow,
And so we had a cuppa tea, and. . . To get them plugs o wouldnt take a What a bloomin caper, half a ton of
mo. paper landed on the top of his dome,
Right, said Ted, Give a shout for So Mavis and me had another cuppa tea,
Mavis, Took its plugs o, even took the lugs o; And then we went home.
In comes Mavis from the PC shop, Should have got us somewhere, but no! Alan Turk

29 October 11 November 2014 13

 Consumeractive
Huawei wont
My tablet repair is taking too long
believe our phone
should I take my complaint to court?
is faulty what Im having
shall we do? Q trouble
getting a
My wife bought an Huawei repair for a Nexus 10
Q phone last November on a
24-month contract with Three.
tablet I bought from
Photo Direct (also
After a few months the phone was falling called Best Buy Photo,
apart. We sent the phone back to Huawei www.bestbuyphoto.
for repair, but they returned it saying co.uk) for 250 using
wed immersed it in water. We got an a Groupon voucher oer in December
independent report which rubbished this 2013. In May 2014, I sent the tablet
claim, but were still paying 25 a month back because it was faulty. I was told a
for a phone we cant use. What can we do? repair would take six to eight weeks. If Andrew had wanted to take Photo
Sherifah O Adesanu Its now been over four months and Direct to the small claims court, he
Photo Direct keeps saying it will be would have pointed out that under the
Sherifahs contract is with Three, done soon. Should I take this to the Sale of Goods Act any repair must be
A so he needs to contact them
with his independent report.
small claims court?
Andrew Palmer
carried out within a reasonable time
or time limits agreed by the customer
This report gives him a strong case and it and retailer. Usually around four to six
may be enough to persuade Three to issue Andrew has a good case for weeks is considered reasonable but
a refund, or replace the phone. If Three
dismisses the independent report, and
A breach of contract, although
he wont have to pursue this
Andrew agreed to give Photo Direct up
to eight weeks. However, four months
sticks instead by Huaweis claim that the because Groupon, which teams up is neither reasonable nor within the
phone was damaged in water, he can with companies to oer shopping agreed time limits.
consider action in the small claims court. discounts, has stepped in and promised Andrew told us that it was taking so
Three may decide that its too much to refund the 250, even though long because Photo Direct said the
eort to challenge Sherifah in court, so its not liable for this cost. Legal company it used for repairs had ceased
its always worth letting a company know responsibility passed from Groupon to trading, so the tablet had to be sent to
if you plan to take legal action. The Photo Direct when Andrew received the US. But this isnt Andrews problem
Citizens Advice website has useful the tablet. This is a great gesture from a and Photo Direct should nd
info about how to proceed if company that hasnt always enjoyed alternatives in the UK and
you opt for legal action (www. positive publicity. not expect customers to wait.
snipca.com/13903).

What are my rights if theres a bug in my TV screen?

I appear to have a small spider Stephens rst step in making a assumes that its a small aw that doesnt
Q (or other type of bug) trapped
within the screen of my 3D
A claim for a repair, refund or
replacement should be with the
warrant a x. But thats not true. SOGA
clearly states goods must be free of even
50in Samsung TV, which I bought from retailer Currys. His contract is with them, minor defects.
Currys in December 2013. When I not the manufacturer. Currys told him to Weve told Stephen his next step is
contacted Samsung I was told to tap use Samsungs warranty, but this is to go back to Currys armed with this
the bottom of the screen so the misleading advice because under the Sale information. If hes fobbed o again, we
creature would drop of Goods Act (SOGA) will contact Currys on his behalf.
out. This doesnt work, Currys is responsible for As for how the bug got inside Stephens
and Samsung is now xing this problem. TV, thats hard to say. It may have been
washing its hands of the Perhaps Currys thinks the there when the TV was made, or crawled
problem. Can you advise problem is so minor that inside after. If its the latter, it
me what to do next? Stephen will forget about means the screen isnt
Stephen Bartlett it. Or maybe Currys properly sealed.

14 29 October 11 November 2014

 Contact us so we can investigate your case
Email: [email protected]
Write: Consumeractive, Computeractive, 30 Cleveland Street, London W1T 4JD
Please include both your phone number and address.
Unfortunately, we cant reply to all your letters.
We stand up for your legal rights

Can I be charged to return faulty goods?

I bought some CD-R discs
Q from the eBay seller Riviera
Multimedia UK (www.riviera
multimedia.co.uk) that I think were not
as described and the case was cracked.
The company refunded me the 8.38 the (formerly called the DSRs) because
discs cost, but said I have to cover the retailers have never had to refund the cost
postage cost of 3.90 to return them. This of sending goods back if theyve made
isnt adhering to the Distance Selling this policy clear at the point of sale.
Regulations (DSRs), but eBay wont let However, Riviera Multimedia UK has
me dispute this and have closed my case. broken the Sale of Goods Act, which
How can eBay act as judge and jury? party remains unhappy with its says the consumer mustnt be out of
David Meekins decision. Weve asked eBay whats the pocket as a result of claiming a refund
best way to challenge the closing of a for goods that are inherently faulty. The
Thats a very good question, and dispute, and will tell you what it says company told us it would look into
A one that many readers have
asked us. Weve had lots of
in a forthcoming issue.
But in this case neither eBay nor
Davids complaint. Well also let
you know what Riviera
complaints from both buyers and sellers Riviera Multimedia UK has broken the Multimedia decide to do
about eBay closing disputes while one Consumer Contracts Regulations at a later date.

CASE UPDATES THIS WILL COME IN USEFUL

Medion confirms extension of
laptop warranty Printer manufacturers
In Issue 433 we reported the problems Graham
Head was experiencing trying to get his faulty Brother Online help:
Medion laptop fixed. It was still under warranty, 0333 777 4444 www.snipca.com/13956
so he sent it back to Medion for repair, only Email: Twitter: @HPSupport
for the company to initially refuse to fix it. After some mixed www.snipca.com/13908
messages from the company, Medion eventually apologised, Twitter: @brothersupport Kyocera
and sent the laptop back. 0845 456 0456
However, despite the repaired laptop working fine, there Canon Email: www.snipca.
were still a few problems. First, Medion promised to extend 0207 660 0186 com/13821
Grahams warranty by another year, but he had received no Email: www.snipca.
confirmation of this. And Medion also forgot to return his screen com/13807 Lexmark
and keyboard protectors. Twitter: @CanonUKandIE 0845 601 5955
We contacted Medion, and the company said it would resolve Online help:
these outstanding problems. It got back in touch with us to say Dell www.snipca.com/13916
it had confirmed the warranty extension and posted the missing 0800 028 2660 Twitter: @LexmarkUK
protectors to him. Email: www.snipca.
A spokesperson told us: It seems like the customers item com/13936 Samsung
was wrongly marked on our system as being out of warranty. Twitter: @DellCares 0330 726 7864
We have spoken to him to apologise and have advised that Email: www.snipca.
we have logged his warranty extension on the system and we Epson com/13915
will also send a letter along with his 01952 607 111 Twitter: @SamsungUK
missing parts he was expecting. Email: www.snipca.
If you have problems with any com/13822 Xerox
Medion products, you should Twitter: @EpsonUK 0330 123 3245
contact the company by Online help: www.snipca.
phone or email (details at Hewlett Packard com/13817
www.snipca.com/13919). 0207 660 0596 Twitter: @XeroxUK

29 October 11 November 2014 15

 Protect Your Tech
Scams and threats to avoid, plus new security tools

WATCH OUT FOR

Zero-day flaws in Windows, IE and Word

What happened? xed this in a patch rated important.
Microsoft issued one of its busiest
Patch Tuesday security updates of What should you do?
the year (14 October), providing You should make sure your PC is
eight security bulletins to x 24 updated with these xes, though we
vulnerabilities, most of them in wouldnt blame you for being a bit
Windows, Internet Explorer and cautious given the mess Microsoft
Word (theyre all listed at www. made of the Windows 7 and 8.1
snipca.com/14024). updates in August. But until we hear
Three of the updates x zero-day otherwise, you should check that
vulnerabilities, which are aws that your PC has automatic updating
hackers are already exploiting. The most only as important, not critical, which turned on. Do this by clicking the
notorious of these has been called is the highest level of urgency. There are Start button, typing update in the
Sandworm by security experts (after three critical xes in this Patch Tuesday, search box then clicking Windows
the creature in Frank Herberts 1965 one of which plugs a hole in Internet Update. Next, click Change settings
novel Dune). According to intelligence Explorer (versions 6 to 11) that hackers and make sure Install updates
analysts iSight, its been used by Russian could exploit to perform a remote-code automatically (recommended) is
hackers over the past ve years to spy execution and take control of your PC. selected (see screenshot). For more
on Nato and the European Union. Hackers could also have used this info read Microsofts excellent FAQ on
But despite the global headlines method to take over your PC by Understanding Windows automatic
Sandworm made, Microsoft rates the x exploiting a aw in Word. Microsoft has updating at www.snipca.com/14026.

New tools Chromes Software Removal Tool

www.google.com/chrome/srt
ScamWatch
READERS WARN READERS
We hope our
Block & Erase I will assassinate you email
Adware cover I receive many spam emails which are
feature (Issue well known and easy to detect, but
433) helped you there was one recently that I think
eradicate those may be especially worrying to some
infernal nasties people. The sender of the email told
that infect your me that he had been hired to
PC and browser, assassinate me. He also said that three
but they have a click Remove suspicious programs. people were tracking me, and unless I
horrible habit of If not, youll receive the reassuring contacted him he would carry out the
returning. Google hates them as much message seen in the screenshot here. threat. As I would hardly consider
as you, and so has released the free, Both results then give you the choice myself important enough to
beta Software Removal Tool for its to reset Chromes settings to the assassinate, I realised it was a scam,
Chrome browser (which works on defaults, which will reset your ignored the threat, and reported it to
Windows only). homepage, disable extensions and Action Fraud. Theres more info on
If Chrome starts behaving oddly, delete cookies. This drastic measure this scam on Action Frauds website:
perhaps by showing toolbars or is like starting from scratch with www.snipca.com/13910.
pop-up adverts, you should run the Chrome, so only consider it if you David Sanderson
tool. It will check Chrome for junk, cant see any other way of removing Warn your fellow readers about scams
oering to eliminate any it nds - junk from your browser. at [email protected]

16 29 October 11 November 2014

 PC Specialist recommends Windows

Vanquish 270X Gaming 3 Evo Predator X99

PC Specialists Vanquish 270X is a Game at the next level with the Gaming 3 The Predator X99 is built to very high
high-end system without the high-end Evo PC. With 4th Gen Intel Core technology standards and designed for a myriad of
price point. and NVIDIA GeForce, the Gaming 3 Evo will duties including 4K ".
Ryan Martin, eTeknix.com breeze through any game. Zardon, KitGuru.net

Overclocked Intel Intel Core Quad Core Intel Core Six Core
Pentium G3258 CPU from i7-4790 CPU from i7-5820K CPU from
579*
Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1
8GB Hyper-X Dual-DDR3 8GB HyperX DDR3 1199* 16GB HyperX DDR4 2299*
BEAST 2133 MHz FURY 1600MHz PREDATOR 2400MHz
1TB Seagate SSHD 120GB HyperX 3K SSD 240GB HyperX 3K SSD
2GB AMD Radeon R9 270X 1TB WD Caviar Black HDD 2TB Seagate SSHD
Corsair 230T Gaming Case 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 8GB AMD Radeon R9 295X2
3 Year Standard Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty

Ultranote II Optimus V X13 17.3Vortex IV

15.6 Full HD IPS Display 13.3 Full HD IPS Display 17.3 Full HD Display
(1920 x 1080) (1920 x 1080) (1920 x 1080)
Intel Core Quad Core
from Intel Core Quad Core
from Intel Core Quad Core
from
749*
i3-4110M CPU i7-4710MQ CPU i7-4810MQ CPU
Windows 8.1 514* Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 1509*
8GB Kingston 1600MHz 8GB HyperX DDR3 16GB HyperX DDR3
500GB 5,400 HDD IMPACT 1600MHz IMPACT 1600MHz
Intel HD Graphics 4600 1TB Seagate SSHD 480GB HyperX 3K SSD
3 Year Standard Warranty 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 6GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M
3 Year Standard Warranty 3 Year Standard Warranty

CA297
 Best Free Software
Brilliant new programs that wont cost you anything

MESSAGES AND CALLS

Skype 6.21
www.snipca.com/14063
What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8

Skype doesnt have to bend over backwards to impress us. window shares similarities with theirs with the added
The program that changed phone calls forever is already our benet that you can now chat on screen while you chat via
favourite free tool of all time (Issue 434), and we know you video or audio. In fact, the new Skype seems directly based
like it too. Even so, its owner Microsoft has made a host of on a messaging app thats very close to home Skype for
changes and improvements in this new release, chiey with a Windows Phone (www.snipca.com/14074).
greater emphasis on what it calls chat swapping messages, Skype 6.21 for Windows is ocially a preview release to
photos and other les on screen, both on call or o call. accompany the full new Skype 7 for Mac (www.snipca.com/
Chat used to be Skypes weak link. If you were in a video or 14076). As previews go its very stable, and its much quicker
audio call and wanted to show your contact a photo or web and easier to install than, say, the Windows 10 preview (see
link, the process was so ddly it was often easier to scribble page 57). Click Download the preview version now on the
on a bit of paper and hold it up to your webcam. Skype seems download page and make sure you untick Bing and MSN
to have learned from the popularity of mobile messaging apps during setup. See page 8 for news of another new project
such as WhatsApp and Apples iMessage, and its new chat from Skype, the Qik mobile app (www.snipca.com/14075).

1
2

1 Click a contact to open and 2 You can send photos and 3 Skype oers plenty of 4 To start a group video
continue your chat with other les to your contact encouragement to record and call, click the Add people
that person. Green circles without starting a call. Click send video messages. Click icon, then tick up to 25
mean the contact is online the paperclip icon, then Send any Send video message contacts. Click Add to
or has Skype installed on le..., choose a le and click link in your chat history to Group, then click the
their tablet or phone. Open to send it. start recording. Video Call button.

18 29 October 11 November 2014

FILES TOOL FILE MANAGER

OpenSaveFilesView XYplorerFree 14.50

www.snipca.com/14068 www.snipca.com/14072
What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8 What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8

We always welcome new releases from NirSoft (aka At rst glance, XYplorer is similar to OpenSaveFilesView but
independent software developer Nir Sofer). His programs are theyre quite dierent beasts. If you want a handy extra tool for
small, easy to install (and often portable), adware-free and accessing recent les, go for OpenSaveFilesView. If you want a
cost-free, and they have names that tell you exactly what they powerful, feature-rich replacement for Windows (or File)
do. OpenSaveFilesView, then, lets you open, save and view les. Explorer, go for XYplorer. It has numerous functions you wont
When you run the portable program it automatically displays nd in Windows built-in tool, including support for previewing
all your recently opened les and folders and lets you sort by animated GIFs, various batch-renaming options in the right-
attributes, such as le name and last time they were opened. click menu and a tool for copying an entire folder structure.
To download the tool, scroll down and click Download
OpenSaveFilesView (32-bit), then extract the contents
of the ZIP. WHAT SHOULD I DOWNLOAD?
We tell you what software to use

Whats the best free

replacement for Audacity?
For years, Ive used the free
Q audio program Audacity to
make MP3 soundtracks for
slideshows. My version dates back to
2001. Should I switch to a dierent
program? I use Windows XP and 7.
Alan Clarke

NEWS READER Audacity is still fantastic.

RSSGuard A Given that youre familiar

with its tools and interface, wed recommend
www.snipca.com/14082 sticking with it but update to the latest version (2.0.6
What you need: Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8 www.snipca.com/14080), which was released on 29
September. Alternatives tend to be expensive (such as
RSSGuard is a fast, ecient and extremely useful tool for Adobe Audition, 17.58 per month, www.snipca.
keeping all your news feeds updated and in one place. Its very com/14081) or only run on Linux (such as Rosegarden, free,
easy to use: nd an RSS feed URL (from the BBC News Feeds www.rosegardenmusic.com). One notable exception is
page, for example: www.snipca.com/14077) and copy it to your OpenMPT, which has more music-composing tools than
Clipboard, then click Feeds & categories, Add new feed and Audacity. Its free from http://openmpt.org.
paste in the URL. Click Update all feeds to fetch new content,
then click a feed to open and read it in the main window. To Do you need our advice on what software to use?
download RSSGuards portable program le, click the second Just email us at [email protected]
link from the top (rssguard-2.0.0.2-win32.exe).

29 October 11 November 2014 19

Reviews New products tested by our experts

TABLET 129.99 from www.snipca.com/13965

Tesco Hudl 2
Tesco takes on Apple and almost wins

Tesco has taken the original Hudl and

xed its aws to make a brilliant budget
tablet. From the moment you take it out
of the box the Hudl 2 does everything
right. Theres a well written, plain-
English instruction manual and the
packaging explains what every cable
and button does, so novices wont feel
lost. Turning it on for the rst time,
we were even greeted by a jaunty
introductory video explaining some
of the tablets features.

Performance
Unlike the original Hudl (see our review,
Issue 409), which looked great but
performed poorly, the Hudl 2 has the bite
to go with its bark. The rst Hudl looked
good, was well designed and had
a decent screen but its substandard
processor made it slow and unresponsive. tests and, though the results werent disappointing 6 hours 52 minutes. Thats
The Hudl was a decent tablet for kids, stratospheric, they put it almost on par below average and way behind the
but if you wanted to use it to play games with the speedy Nexus 7. The Hudl 2 excellent 9 hours achieved by the original
or run more demanding apps, it just was quick and responsive, even when Hudl. This makes the Hudl 2 ill-equipped
wasnt up to scratch. The Hudl 2, in browsing complex websites. Theres 16GB for use on long train or plane journeys,
contrast, denitely makes the grade. of storage, which is very generous for a and if you want to use it all day be
Its more than capable of playing the budget tablet and this can be expanded to prepared for the battery to die.
latest games, thanks to its powerful 48GB by using its microSD card slot. For 129 its inevitable that corners
1.33GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor will be cut and this is denitely the case
and 2GB of memory. It performed well in Battery life, camera, screen and design with the camera. If youre thinking of
our browser and graphics benchmark This extra muscle hasnt been matched by buying a Hudl 2 to take pictures of your
improved battery life. In our benchmark holiday in Cornwall or the grandchildren
test (which plays a video continuously opening their Christmas presents, then
until the battery runs out), the think again. Photos taken with the
Hudl 2 lasted a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera are
washed-out and lack detail. We took a
picture of what are normally photogenic
friends and they recoiled in dismay at
what the camera had done to their faces.
The 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera,
now a standard feature seemingly on all
tablets, is ne for Skype calls.
But in other areas the Hudl 2
excels. Tesco has upped the
screen size from 7in to
8.3in, which is our
favourite size for a
tablet screen. It
doesnt feel too
 HOW WE TEST
Computeractive is owned by Dennis
Publishing, which owns a hi-tech facility
for testing the latest technology. Youll
often read references to our benchmark
testing, which is a method of assessing
products using the same criteria. For
example, we test the speed of every
PC and the battery life of every tablet
in exactly the same way. This makes
our reviews authoritative, rigorous
and accurate.
Dennis Publishing also owns the
magazines PC Pro, Computer Shopper,
Web User, Micro Mart and MacUser,
and the website Expert Reviews
(www.expertreviews.co.uk). This
unwieldy, but niether is it so small you music streaming, but all of these can means we can test thousands of
cant watch your favourite TV programmes be hidden. Swiping left to right on the products before choosing the most
in bed on a chilly Sunday morning. We home screen brings up a special screen relevant for Computeractive.
were hugely impressed with the quality of Tesco oers and suggestions. It feels
of the screen, which has a resolution of like a hard sell, but some people will FAIR AND IMPARTIAL
1920x1200 the same as the Nexus 7. At nd information on the latest deals and Our writers follow strict guidelines to
this price, its an excellent screen with vouchers helpful and a real money-saver. ensure the reviews are fair and
bright and accurate colours and deep Aside from a dash of Tesco here and impartial. The manufacturer has no
blacks. Cut-price tablets tend to have there, the standard Android 4.4.2 involvement in our tests.
terrible screens, but not the Hudl 2. operating system remains intact. We get
We were also impressed with the irritated at other tablet manufacturers OUR AWARDS
such as Samsung who insist on messing We award every product
with how Android looks so its a relief to that gets a five-star our
From the moment see Tesco leaving the mobile OS well alone. BUY IT! Buy It! stamp of approval.
It means we were
you open it, the Hudl 2 One change we do like is the addition
of the Child Safety app. This lets you extremely impressed by the product,
does everything right add proles for up to seven family and we think you will be too.
members and control exactly what they
can see and do on the tablet. When you Every product that gets a
Hudl 2s smooth plastic rear and gently create a prole the app asks you the age four-star review is given
rounded edges, while the thin borders of the child and will change settings the Great Pick award. We
also gave it a sleek look. It isnt blighted accordingly. The app will only allow highly recommend these
by the usual lazy design hallmarks of access to age-appropriate websites and products, although they just fail to meet
a budget tablet and looks every bit as child-safe apps. You can set time limits so the high standard of our Buy It! winners.
good as devices costing twice as much. children can use it only at certain times
We reviewed the black model, but its of the day or at the weekend. You can PRICES
available in seven other colours: blue, also edit the settings to create the perfect Our reviews contain a link to the best
cyan, orange, pink, purple, red and prole to keep your kids or grandkids price we found online at the time of press.
white (see image left). safe when using the tablet.

Apps and operating system Conclusion VERDICT: A brilliant budget tablet

If youre not a regular Tesco customer, People wanting a tablet with an amazing with a fantastic screen and speedy
you might be put o by the presence of screen, better battery life and faster processor, but battery life is poor
Tesco apps and services, but we didnt processor may still be tempted by

nd them too intrusive. There are apps high-end devices like the iPad Mini
for shopping at Tesco, Tesco Bank and with Retina Display. But at less than half ALTERNATIVE: Asus
Tescos Blinkbox apps for TV, lm and the price, the Hudl 2 is hard to ignore. Nexus 7 170 No SD
This is a powerful, well-made, stylish card slot, but this 7in
SPECIFICATIONS tablet with an excellent screen that xes model is higher-spec
8.3in 1920x1200-pixel touchscreen 1.33GHz Intel nearly all the shortfalls of the original and one of the best
Atom Z3735D quad-core processor 2GB memory
Hudl. For 129 (or potentially 65 if small Android tablets
16GB storage Android 4.4.2 KitKat 410g 128x
224x9mm (HxWxD) One-year warranty you have enough Clubcard points), the around
www.snipca.com/13965 Hudl 2 is an absolute steal.

29 October 11 November 2014 21

 Reviews
PHOTO EDITOR 40 from www.snipca.com/13791

Corel AfterShot Pro 2

Photo management and processing for photography enthusiasts

AfterShot Pro is an image editor aimed

squarely at photographers. It cant
tackle graphic design tasks or create
photo montages. Instead, it focuses on
organising photos with tags, ratings and
labels, and optimising their colours and
details. This is particularly useful for
people who shoot using their cameras
RAW mode. RAW les have the potential
to deliver much better image quality than
the cameras JPEGs. Its down to software
like AfterShot Pro to unlock this potential
as well as to keep track of these RAW
les, which cant be read by most
Windows software.
AfterShot Pro isnt the only software
to oer these features, though. Adobe
Photoshop Lightroom is the market
leader, and rightly so with its elegant
interface and outstandingly good editing
tools (see our review, Issue 402). Against
such sti competition, Corels software
has one immediate advantage at just Exporting nished images is faster than so the copied material matches its new
40 its 60 cheaper than Adobes. before. However, the software cant surroundings. AfterShot Pros Heal tool
We like AfterShots streamlined organise photos into custom albums or is far less eective, simply applying a
interface, with photo management on the export directly to social-media websites. blurry smudge over the oending area.
left, editing tools on the right and a Image processing is mostly excellent. Theres a new tool, actually taken
choice of thumbnails or full-screen Its possible to tweak just the highlights, directly from Corel PaintShop Pro, for
previews in the centre. Its possible to shadows, specic colours or particular combining photos taken at varying
search the library by a huge range of parts of an image. However, some exposure levels to create a single image.
criteria including capture date, exposure features dont match the standard set Its ability to extract highlight details from
settings, ratings, keywords and folder RAW les, however, is frustratingly limited.
location. It performed erratically in our Corel AfterShot Pro is a generally
tests, though, occasionally freezing for up Some features dont good image editor, but theres very little
to 20 seconds. Version 2 recognises the to tempt existing users to upgrade to
RAW les of more cameras than ever, but match the standard set version 2. For those who have yet to
the list is still far from comprehensive, take the plunge into RAW image editing,
with many models conspicuously absent. by Lightroom Lightroom has more consistently
impressive editing tools making it well
by Lightroom. Theres a new Local worth the extra expense.
Contrast control that accentuates details
by boosting the contrast in relation to VERDICT: Some powerful organising
adjacent pixels. Its not as eective as and editing tools, but the various
Lightrooms similar Clarity tool, though, niggles and aws mount up
with a tendency to add distracting halos

around objects. It can compensate for a
variety of lens defects, but whereas ALTERNATIVE:
Lightroom tackles these automatically, Adobe Photoshop
in AfterShot Pro its a more laborious Lightroom 5 100
manual process. Fine editing tools
Lightrooms Heal command can and good camera
REQUIREMENTS
Windows XP or later Pentium 4 processor or faster remove blemishes by copying another support are worth
2GB of memory or more At least 400MB of pristine part of the image and hiding the the extra cost
available hard-drive space www.snipca.com/13792 blemish behind it, tweaking the colours

22 29 October 11 November 2014

ALL IN ONE PC 260 from www.snipca.com/13898

LG Chromebase Accessories
The first Chrome OS all-in-one PC

The LG Chromebase is the rst

all-in-one PC to run Googles cloud-
dependent Chrome OS operating
system. Although LG has squeezed Microsoft
Mi oft Arc
Ar Touch
To h
in a high-quality 21.5in screen, the Bluetooth Mouse
Chromebase doesnt cost that much more 60 from www.snipca.com/13949
than most Chromebook laptops. A portable mouse with a exible body
We were pleasantly surprised by the that attens out so it can be stowed
good image quality of the 1080p screen, away in your laptop bag. Unlike older
because we expected LG to compromise versions of this mouse, it has fewer
here with something substandard. Its buttons and a touch-sensitive scroll pad
very bright with good colour accuracy instead of a scroll wheel, but it is thinner
and contrast, while viewing angles are and doesnt need its own USB dongle.
satisfyingly wide, so colours
dont change if you shift Elgato Avea Light Bulb
your position. Another 40 from www.snipca.
surprise is the anti-glare matte com/13950
nish (as opposed to the glossy nish A light bulb with a screw
found on most modern monitors). tting that connects to your
This makes it far less likely to reect throw some touch typists. You can of iOS device via Bluetooth.
light, which can cause distracting course use a USB or wireless keyboard You can then change the
amounts of glare. instead. colour of the light, have the
Theres no way of connecting a second 802.11n, Bluetooth and Ethernet are all shade vary automatically
monitor, but there is an HDMI port so built in, while the 1.4GHz Intel Celeron over time, or set it to wake you by
you can use the Chromebases high- 2955U dual-core processor and 2GB of gradually increasing in brightness while
quality screen with a tablet or laptop. memory are more than fast enough for playing your choice of audio le.
The stand is a bit wobbly, but its still running Chrome OS. In addition to web
easy to tilt and swivel, which is best apps, Chrome OS can now run a very QDos Q-Pic
done with both hands. small handful of selected Android apps 20 from www.snipca.
Corners have been cut to keep the available through the Chrome Web Store. com/13951
price down however. The stand isnt We tried the Evernote app which worked Once you pair it with
height-adjustable and it has to be surprisingly well and even recognised your Android phone or
assembled when you rst unpack and some common keyboard shortcuts. iPhone, you can use
set up the PC. But the assembly isnt If you have basic computing needs and this Bluetooth trigger to
rocket science screw the two parts of dont need portability then this Chrome remotely take a photo
the stand together, then screw that to OS computer is a good-value choice. If or video recording from
the PC and its all set up. you want the ability to add a second around 10 feet away.
Theres no SD card slot for backing up monitor though, then a Chromebook or Great for self-portraits
your photos, while theres only one the Asus Chromebox (see our review, and other, more
USB 3.0 port, which is on the right-hand next issue) would be better choices. imaginative photography.
edge of the PC for easy access. The other
three USB ports at the rear are USB 2.0. VERDICT: Some rough edges, but this Lindy USB OTG 3-Port Hub
The included USB mouse is basic, but cheap, easy-to-use, big-screen PC is & Card Reader
works well enough. The keyboard is a let good value 13 from www.snipca.com/13952
down though. The keys are far too spongy Connect storage cards and
which makes for uncomfortable typing, multiple USB sticks to your
while the laptop-style layout will initially ALTERNATIVE: Braebo Hemera Android device
349 If youd rather using this three-
SPECIFICATIONS have Windows, port mobile
1.4GHz Intel Celeron 2955U dual-core processor
this cheap desktop USB hub
2GB memory 16GB SSD Intel-integrated graphics
21.5in 1920x1080-pixel screen 802.11a/b/g/n PC only costs a and card
Chrome OS 4.3kg 529x397x189mm (HxWxD) little more reader.
One-year warranty www.snipca.com/13899

29 October 11 November 2014 23

 Reviews
DIGITAL CAMERA 269 from www.snipca.com/13883

Samsung NX Mini
The slimmest interchangeable-lens camera yet

Picking a camera can be a complex this disappointing lens and

balancing act of competing priorities, attach another compatible
ompatible
but there are often two issues on which one. Youll have to pay for
people wont budge. It must be within additional lenses, off course,
budget and not so big that you end up and currently only two
leaving it at home. other compatible lenses
enses are
With the NX Mini, Samsung has available. One is a 3x zoom
addressed those priorities well. The lens, while the otherher is a
sub-300 price is very reasonable, wide-aperture lens
especially when you factor in the thats ideal for
bundled copy of Adobe Lightroom 5, a portraits and
fantastic photo editor that normally sells low-light
for 100 (see our review, Issue 402). And photography. Both
weighing 229g and measuring 35mm are thicker than the he
thick, it isnt much bigger than most bundled lens, which h
budget compacts. is much slimmer
The 1in sensor is four times bigger than usual, but the
than the sensors used in most compact camera is still just
cameras, and is more commonly found about pocket-sized
in more expensive cameras such as the with the larger
Sony RX100 series. As a rule, larger lenses attached.
sensors deliver higher image quality. A big sensor and interchangeable with smaller sensors that produce
The lens plays a part, too, so its lenses are usually the he mark k of an low-light
lo ligh photos
ph blighted
bligh d by grainy
in noise.
disappointing that the bundled lens enthusiast-oriented camera, but the NX Shooting in RAW mode and processing
isnt as remarkable with its narrow Minis controls are designed more for photos in Lightroom boosts quality
aperture and no zoom function. The point-and-shoot operation. There are no further, and unleashes lots of creative
xed wide-angle view is ne for general dials and just a few buttons on the back. colour-processing techniques.
snapping, but not so good for close-up Manual functions are available but The Samsung NX Mini isnt perfect
portraits or capturing distant subjects. theyre not particularly quick to access. its controls could be better and we wish
Because the NX Mini uses The screen is touch-sensitive though, a wider range of lenses were available,
interchangeable lenses, you can whip o which speeds up menu navigation and (although the lenses that are available do
makes it easy to specify where you at least cover the basics). Nonetheless, the
want the camera to focus. The screen NX Minis good image quality and petite
Image quality is is hinged at the top, tilting up for size makes it a great-value alternative to
excellent for such a comfortable use at waist height, and
up and over for self-portraits.
other bulkier, more expensive CSCs.

slim camera Theres Wi-Fi built

bu in for remote SPECIFICATIONS
20-megapixel sensor No zoom (24mm)
control and image transfers to iOS and 3in screen Accepts microSD, microSDHC and
Android devices (using
(u the free apps microSDXC storage cards 229g 62x111x35mm
from www.snipca.com/13880
www.snipca and (HWD) One-year warranty www.snipca.com/13882
www.snipca.com/13881),
www.
plus high-quality VERDICT: Not perfect, but image quality
video
vide recording. far exceeds our expectations for such a
Image quality is slim camera
excellent
ex for such a slim

camera.
ca Thats largely
down
do to the big sensor, ALTERNATIVE: Sony Alpha A5000
wh
which captures smooth, 269 An even bigger sensor and a
life
lifelike details in bright zoom lens gives this
co
conditions. Photos CSC the advantage
ta
taken in low light look for image quality,
re
respectable, especially but its bigger and
wh compared to other
when heavier too
simi
similarly priced cameras

24 29 October 11 November 2014

 Reviews
E READER 140 from www.snipca.com/13859

Kobo Aura H2O

The first waterproof e-reader BUY IT!

If you do a lot of reading in the bath, or enough for thousands of
by the beach and pool while on holiday, books, and if you need more
then the Kobo Aura H2O is an excellent space theres also a slot for
choice. The Aura H2O is waterproof for microSD cards. Unlike the
up to 30 minutes in depths of up to one Kindle Paperwhite, which is
metre; it easily survived a soak in our available in Wi-Fi and 3G
hot bubble bath. versions, the Aura H2O is
The Aura H2Os 6.8in screen has a only available with Wi-Fi.
resolution of 1430x1080 pixels which is At 233g the Aura H2O is
higher than the Amazon Kindle almost 30g heavier than the
Paperwhites 1024x758 pixel 6in display. Paperwhite and is also rather thick and
The result is text that is wonderfully clear chunky, but its still comfortable enough ebook-lending system used by many
and crisp, looking just as good as a to hold for long periods. The touchscreen public libraries whereas Kobos are.
printed book. The Paperwhite still looks is the most responsive weve ever used on At 140 the Kobo Aura H2O is more
pretty good in comparison, but far an e-reader thanks to its speedy 1GHz expensive than the Kindle Paperwhite
cheaper, unbranded, lower-resolution processor. Although using the Aura (109 from www.snipca.com/13543),
e-readers dont. The bigger screen size H2O is by no means a chore, we still but it has an amazing screen, a superb
and higher resolution also means you can prefer the Kindles interface, which is backlight and you can even drop it in
either t more text on screen or, if you simpler and more logically arranged. the bath and not have to worry. The
have poor eyesight, increase font size Kobo has at least always provided ample H2O is a great value e-reader.
while still maintaining sharp, crisp text. options for customising how books
Reading in the dark or in dimly lit look and we could change the font size, VERDICT: A waterproof e-reader with
rooms is a joy thanks to the excellent weight and sharpness as well as the line an excellent screen and its not tied to a
backlight, which is so strong that at and margin spacing. single ebook store
maximum brightness it hurt our eyes. Buying the H2O instead of a Kindle

But once we turned it down a tad it gives you more choice when buying
provided a comfortable light that didnt ebooks. With the Kindle you can only ALTERNATIVE: Barnes and
strain our eyes. Theres 4GB of storage, buy ebooks from Amazon. With the H2O Noble Nook GlowLight 89
you can buy ebooks from any store that Cheaper and also not tied
SPECIFICATIONS supports PDF, ePub or Mobi-formatted to an ebook store, although
6.8in touchscreen 1430x1080 pixel resolution
4GB storage MicroSD slot 802.11b/g/n WiFi books. Even if youre happy with youll have to make do with
179x129x10mm (HxWxD) 233g Supports ePub, Amazons selection and prices, Kindles a lower-resolution screen
Mobi and PDF ebooks www.snipca.com/13858 arent compatible with the Over-Drive

WHAT SHOULD I BUY?

Whats the best portable scanner?
I often need to scan Theres no need reliable and sturdy weve rarely
Q documents for my
local genealogy club.
A to lug around a
desktop MFP
experienced paper jams and it survived
a drop onto a carpeted oor from a
Ive been lugging a big, old when much smaller, more height of about four feet. It can scan
HP printer-scanner combo portable scanners are multiple pages unattended thanks to
down to the town hall in available. Our pick is the its ADF and its software can save your
the boot of my car, but its Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i scans in several dierent formats,
not very practical and I (210 from www.snipca. extract text from scans using OCR
dont need the printer com/13913). Although its and save scans to online storage
part. Is there a more scan quality isnt really services such as Dropbox.
portable scanner good enough for photos,
youd recommend? its more than sucient for Do you need advice on what you should buy?
Bruce Davison documents. Its also very Email us at [email protected]

26 29 October 11 November 2014

www.iiyama.com
 Reviews
BLU RAY 90 from www.snipca.com/13872

LG BP645
A Blu-ray deck with Wi-Fi, extras and apps

While there may be cheaper Blu-ray available for iOS and Android devices problems on more expensive devices.
players than the new LG BP645, 90 (from www.snipca.com/13876 and www. Thankfully, we could barely hear a
is roughly the going rate if you want snipca.com/13877 respectively), and also whisper from the Blu-ray drive when
built-in Wi-Fi. With the BP645, this houses the Private Sound feature. Private playing discs.
gives you wireless access to BBC iPlayer, Sound didnt work very well, though The LG BP645 is a ne Blu-ray player.
Netix, Amazon Instant Video, Tescos no matter what we watched, the audio However, on balance its worth paying a
Blinkbox, Skys Now TV, Spotify, always lagged a half-second behind the little more for the Samsung BD-H6500
Napster and YouTube, plus many video, which doesnt sound like much instead. It doesnt have Now TV, but
more obscure apps. but proved to be very distracting. it does have ITV Player, 4oD and
The tricks dont end there though: Private Sound deserves further Demand 5, which the BP645 lacks.
theres also Miracast support, the ability development, because being able to
to play a wide range of video les from watch TV without disturbing everyone VERDICT: Quiet, with lots of features,
a USB stick, NAS or networked PC, else is very useful. Miracast worked this is a good-value Blu-ray player
remote control via an app, and the seamlessly, though: we could start
Private Sound feature that lets you playing a video on our Samsung Galaxy


play a videos audio through your tablet S5, tap the Cast icon and display it
ALTERNATIVE:
or smartphones headphones. perfectly on our telly within seconds.
Samsung BD-
LGs free remote-control app is The remote was a little sluggish (using
H6500 106
the remote-control app was much more
SPECIFICATIONS Slightly more
responsive), and online HD video often
HDMI, optical, USB2 and Ethernet ports expensive, but with all the terrestrial
44x430x205mm (HxWxD) 1.5kg took a few seconds before it displayed at
TV catch-up apps
One-year warranty www.snipca.com/13873 HD quality, but weve seen similar

PRINTER 161 from www.snipca.com/13878

Lexmark MS312dn
A fast mono laser printer with network support

Lexmarks MS312dn is a small mono laser standard still

printer aimed at homes and small oces. supported. In the
Its impressive specication includes a base theres a sturdy
high 1200 dots-per-inch (dpi) resolution paper tray, while
and a fast 33 page-per-minute (ppm) top theres a robust
speed. Theres no built-in support for multi-purpose manual
wireless networks, but you can use an feed at the front.
Ethernet cable to connect it to a router Printing starts quickly, with
and share it among several users that way. the rst page appearing in just eight B2360dn (see our review, Issue 434),
It can also print on both sides of the page seconds. In our tests the printer reached which is quicker still, cheaper to run
(duplex printing) without you lifting a a speed of 26.7ppm when printing a and a match for print quality.
nger, thereby saving paper. 20-page text document, which is fast.
This printer is small and light enough Graphics prints werent noticeably
for one person to lift comfortably. The slower, except when using the maximum VERDICT: This is a good quality printer,
setup software will automatically nd the resolution: here a single A4 photo but its expensive to run
printer whether youre connecting via a took 14 seconds.
network, USB or even a parallel cable Print quality is among the best weve
its very unusual to see this ancient seen from a mono laser, with sharp text ALTERNATIVE: Dell
and good shading in graphics and photos. B2360dn 136 A
SPECIFICATIONS Unfortunately, a 5,000-page replacement similar printer but
1200x1200dpi maximum print resolution
toner costs around 132, leading to high cheaper, with lower
33ppm A4, A5, A6, letter and legal paper sizes
263x399x282mm (HxWxD) 14kg Three-year print costs of 2.6p per page. For about running costs
warranty www.snipca.com/13879 25 less you could buy Dells very similar

28 29 October 11 November 2014

Reviews
ACCESSORY 20 from www.snipca.com/13690
COMING SOON
Google Cardboard NOVEMBER 2014
Sonys Xperia Z3 Compact
Virtual reality at a bargain price 8in Android tablet will be
waterproof, as with previous
Xperia tablets. Prices start
Google Cardboard is unlike like at 329 for the Wi-Fi
any product weve ever model, with pricing still
reviewed. This budget to be conrmed for the
cardboard kit turns your ur 4G version.
Android smartphone into nto
a virtual-reality headset.t. NOVEMBER 2014
The headset itself is merely a The iPad Air 2 is rumoured
cardboard shell which contains to be thinner than the
a pair of lenses, a slider on the original Air and will have
left-hand side which actss as a simple a ngerprint reader as well
controller, and a Velcro-secured
-secured as the new faster A8 processor, rst
compartment for your smartphone
martphone introduced in the iPhone 6.
(compatible models are listed in
Specications below). Your phone does These include Google Maps Street View NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2014
all the hard work to display the panoramas, YouTube videos and some HPs Stream laptops have similar
immersive wrap-around images. It tracks simple games. Image quality varies specications to
your head as you move it horizontally hugely from grainy to sharp and lifelike. Chromebooks,
and vertically, so what youre seeing The API is freely available, so if youre but run Windows
changes to match your head movements. a programmer then you can create 8.1 instead. The 11in
You select what you want to view using your own apps. version will arrive in
the slider, which is actually a small You can also view 360-degree November and cost
magnet that interacts with your panoramas taken using the Photo Sphere 179, while the 13in version will arrive in
phones magnetic sensors. Its a little option in the free Google Camera app December priced 199.
ddly, though a quick slide-down and, with a little tinkering, panoramas
and release motion works best. taken on other cameras such as the Ricoh DECEMBER 2014
Theres no interactivity, if only because Theta (see our review, Issue 415). This was HP has announced the Stream 7, a 7in
you have to hold the headset to your face. our favourite use for Google Cardboard Windows 8.1 tablet that will
You cant pick up objects or walk around using panoramic photos to relive family cost just $99 (62) in the US.
freely for example. Even so, using gatherings, parties and a holiday in the UK pricing and availability
Google Cardboard is incredibly fun and Jordanian desert. havent been conrmed, but
immersive. A small range of virtual- Google doesnt actually sell Cardboard wed expect a release date
reality content is available via the Google itself. It instead makes the blueprints just in time for Christmas.
Cardboard app (free from www.snipca. freely downloadable, so if you dont want
com/13692), as well as a handful of to pay a company to make and send you
third-party apps in the Google Play store
and online (free from g.co/chromevr).
the headset then you can make it yourself.
The cheap materials are widely available.
NEXT ISSUE ON SALE
12 Nov
The headset do doesnt t if youre wearing
glas
glasses, but you can build your
ow
own version that does.
Google Cardboard is
Go
hard
hardly an essential purchase,
but it is great fun and if
youre
you a condent tinkerer
then theres potential for loads
of weekend
wee projects, from
building
buildi your own headsets to iPho 6
iPhone Asus Transformer
creating apps and new content for it. The smaller of Book Flip
Apples new A laptop with a
phones rotating screen
VERDICT: AdAddictive fun and plenty to
SPECIFICATIONS tinker with too These and much more
Requires Google Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Motorola Moto X,
Samsung Galaxy S4, S5 or Galaxy Nexus smartphone Subscribe to Computeractive at
www.cardboard.withgoogle.com subscribe.computeractive.co.uk

29 October 11 November 2014 29

 Buy It Our pick of products that have won the Buy It award

LAPTOP DESKTOP PC TABLET

Apple MacBook Palicomp AMD Kaveri Asus Nexus 7

Air 13in 128GB Evolution 170 from www.snipca.com/13419
849 from www.snipca.com/10020 500 from www.snipca.com/11804 Tested: Issue 407
Tested: Issue 402 Tested: Issue 422

Apples latest MacBook Air isnt cheap,

but its the best lightweight laptop An excellent budget 7in Android tablet
available. It has excellent battery life, A budget PC with a fast overclocked with a high-resolution screen and good
a comfortable keyboard, a sensibly processor. It also has good upgrade battery life. Its not quite as cheap as the
sized screen, a sturdy and classy build potential and comes with a surprisingly original Nexus 7 and Android still needs
and great bundled software. good 24in monitor, as well as a quality more high-quality tablet apps, but its
USB keyboard and mouse. still a fantastic bargain.
ALTERNATIVE: Asus Chromebook C200
A cheap Chrome OS ultra-portable ALTERNATIVE: Braebo Hemera A ALTERNATIVE: Apple iPad Air A
laptop with a bright screen, lengthy cheap, complete PC system thats lightweight, 10in tablet with an excellent
battery life and great keyboard. 200 powerful enough for basic tasks. screen and peerless selection of apps.
from www.snipca.com/13460 350 from www.snipca.com/12606 399 from www.snipca.com/10545

PHONE DIGITAL CAMERA E READER

Motorola Moto G 4G Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF6 Kobo Aura

157 without contract from 300 from www.snipca.com/12607 98 from www.snipca.com/12147
www.snipca.com/13465 Tested: Issue 405 Tested: Issue 410
Tested: Issue 432

A great e-reader with an easy-to-read

This compact interchangeable lens lit touchscreen that can be tweaked
Motorolas budget Android smartphone camera is small and reasonably priced, extensively through its settings. Theres
is an absolute steal. Its very responsive, yet it has well-designed controls, a wide no 3G version for downloading books on
well made, fast and has a good screen. range of available lenses and shoots the go, but, unlike the Amazon Kindle,
Plus, its now been updated with 4G and excellent quality photos. The GF6 really you can buy ebooks from independent
a microSD card slot. is unbeatable value. retailers that use the ePub format.

ALTERNATIVE: Apple iPhone 5s An ALTERNATIVE: Fujilm XF1 If you dont ALTERNATIVE: Amazon Kindle
excellent smartphone with a great need the exibility of removable lenses, Paperwhite (2013) An e-reader with a
camera and performance. 459 without this slim compact is a great choice. brilliant screen and some useful features.
a contract from www.snipca.com/10171 130 from www.snipca.com/13701 109 from www.snipca.com/13543

30 29 October 11 November 2014

SECURITY CAMERA ROUTER NAS

Y-cam HomeMonitor HD Trendnet TEW-812DRU Synology DiskStation

147 from www.snipca.com/11646 107 from www.snipca.com/13854 DS213j
Tested: Issue 420 Tested: Issue 427 160 from www.snipca.com/10575
Tested: Issue 404

A home-security camera thats well

priced and easy to set up. Plus, it has This NAS enclosure has it all fast
great picture quality, useful apps and An incredibly fast 802.11ac router performance, easy conguration and
theres no need to subscribe to any extra thats also one of the cheapest weve plenty of extra features. Its not perfect
services. Its a worthy successor to the seen. Its superb and its the router to disk installation is a little ddly and its
original HomeMonitor, our previous buy if youre ready to make the jump a little pricey but there are few other
favourite security camera. to 802.11ac. NAS devices we would rather buy.

ALTERNATIVE: D-Link Wireless-N Day ALTERNATIVE: Linksys WRT1900AC ALTERNATIVE: Synology DS414j A
& Night Camera A good-value security More expensive, but even faster and four-drive NAS thats generally fast and
camera with excellent night vision. with loads of features too. 220 from easy to set up and use too. 258 from
90 from www.snipca.com/12741 www.snipca.com/12928 www.snipca.com/12545

29 October - 11 November 2014 31

 BUY IT!
Buy It
WEB DESIGN SMART TV P COMPETITION
DRRIC
OP E
Win a
Serif WebPlus X7 Samsung UE32H6200
00
80 from www.snipca.com/12338 360 from www.snipca.com/13101
om/13101
Humax WIN IT!
DTR-T2000
Tested: Issue 414 Tested: Issue 427 YouView+ digital TV recorder

The Humax DTR-T2000 YouView+

is an outstanding digital TV recorder,
which won a ve-star Buy It! award
in Issue 433. The easy-to-use 15-day
Electronic Programme Guide lets
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available for designing a website seven days back, so you wont miss
without having to write a line of code. A stylish 32in smart TV with great picture any of your favourite shows. Catch-up
It comes with lots of templates, with quality and apps for all the terrestrial TV TV services include BBC iPlayer, ITV
more available for purchase if you need catch-up services. It has plenty of extras, Player, 4oD and Demand 5. Enter this
them. It also has lots of specialist tools too, such as recording-to-USB storage, competition by emailing your address
for building a small business website. 3D, playing media les stored on a NAS to [email protected] by midnight
or USB stick, and plenty of HDMI ports. on 11 November.
ALTERNATIVE: Jimdo Pro This browser-
based program for creating websites is ALTERNATIVE: Sony KDL-42W705B The Humax DTR-T2000 YouView+ is
slick and feature-packed, but lacking in Excellent image quality, stylish looks available now priced 200. For more
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SOLID STATE DRIVE MULTIFUNCTION PRINTER HOMEPLUGS

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156 from www.snipca.com/12743 50 from www.snipca.com/12457 Powerline Adapter Starter Kit
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This budget multifunction printer (MFP)

A blindingly fast, high-capacity SSD at a isnt the fastest available, but its cheap TP-Links tiny Homeplug adapters are a
remarkably low price. If youve been put to buy and inexpensive to run. Just as great choice, especially if socket space
o buying an SSD because of the cost, importantly, both prints and scans look is at a premium or you dont want to
then now is nally the time to take the great. Unless you need faster print block an adjacent socket. Despite their
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t to your computer.
ALTERNATIVE: Canon Pixma MX535 ALTERNATIVE: Devolo dLAN 500
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If you need a bigger SSD, this fast 1TB duplex, ADF and fax, but also good adapters can block adjacent sockets,
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32 29 October 11 November 2014

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Inside the 164-page The Denitive
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stunning sights in Google Maps,
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 PU
& LL

Workshops & Tips

Is K OU
su E
e E
43 P T
5

14 pages of easy-to-follow workshopss and expert tips

35 Restore your PC from 40 Sync email accounts PLUS
a virtual drive on your tablet 43 Readers Tips 47 Make Office Better
38 Add new pro effects 42 Remove junk before it 44 Phone & Tablet Tips 48 Secret Tips For...
to your videos for free crashes your PC 46 Make Windows Better Firefox

Restore your PC
from a virtual drive
What you need: Paragon Backup & Recovery 2014 Free Edition;
Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 8.1 Time required: 1 hour

P aragon Backup & Recovery 2014

Free Edition is the only free
program that lets you create a
folder on your PC, where all your
backed-up settings, programs, les
and folders can be stored and
virtual hard drive so you can back restored should anything go wrong.
up and, if necessary, restore your The program also lets you create a
entire PC. The virtual hard drive bootable drive to help boot your
comes in the shape of a compressed PC should it fail to start.

STEP To download the correct setup le, you rst

1 need to establish whether you have a 32bit
or 64bit operating system. To do this, right-
click the Computer icon on your Desktop, then click
Properties. Next, check the System type in the
System section 1 . If you have a 64-bit Operating
System 2 , go to www.snipca.com/13884 and click 2
the Download Now link. If you have 32-bit, go to
www.snipca.com/13885 and click the Download
Now link. Wait for the setup le to download to your 1
PC (which can take a while because its a large le).

STEP Click the setup le, Yes, then OK to download the les
1 2 Paragon needs to work properly. When the download is
nished, click Next, accept the T&Cs, and click Next again.
If you dont want anyone else to use Paragon on your PC, enter a
username in the User Name eld and select Only for me (Userd).
Otherwise, select Anyone who uses this computer (all users) and
click Next. Select Backup and Recovery 1 . Click Space 2 (to check
the available space on your hard drives) and then click Next 3 ,
followed by Install. Click Finish when its completed installing.

2 3

29 October 11 November 2014 35

 Workshops

1
1

2 3
2

STEP We suggest backing up your PC to your virtual hard STEP You can follow the backup progress in the progress
3 drive before you go out or go to bed because the
process can take a while to complete (depending on 4 bar 1 . The process took around 25 minutes on our
Windows 8.1 PC, which contained 80GB of data. If you
how much you need to back up). Open Paragon by clicking want to shut down your PC afterwards, tick Shutdown system
its green Desktop icon. Youll see a tiled interface, similar to on complete 2 or click Minimize to system tray 3 to move it to
Windows 8s. Click Backup to Virtual Disk, then Next. Select your taskbar and continue working on your PC. Click Finish
your C Drive 1 (because this is where your PCs setup les once this is done. Youll now see the virtual hard drive on your
are stored) and then click Next 2 , and Next again. By default, Desktop as a compressed folder.
Paragons virtual hard drive is stored on your Desktop, which
lets you easily access it when you need to restore your PC
(see Step 7).

1 1

STEP Over time youll make changes to your PC STEP Select your virtual drive and click Next. On the
5 (downloading new programs, changing your PCs
settings, etc). Paragon oers an easy way to back up 6 following screen, ensure all your drives are ticked 1
and click Next 2 again. Name this incremental backup
only these changes without going through the entire backup whatever you want (by default its called Increment 1) and
process again. On Paragons tile interface, click Incremental click Next. The process wont take as long as your full backup.
Backup to Virtual Disk 1 and then click Next. When its nished, click the virtual disk folder on your Desktop
to see the new incremental backup folder.

36 29 October 11 November 2014

 Restore your PC from a virtual drive

1
2

3
STEP Now, if your PC malfunctions and you need to restore STEP Recovering your PCs contents from your virtual drive
7 it, open Paragon, click Restore from Virtual Disk
and then click Next. Select the virtual hard drive and 8 is easy as long as your PC is able to start up. But what
happens when your PC is so badly corrupted it fails to
then click Next again. Now select the hard drive you want to even boot? To overcome this problem, Paragon lets you create
restore (your C Drive) 1 . If you have trouble identifying your an ISO le (containing a bootable media environment) from
drive, an easy way to nd it is to look under Size 2 (the largest which you can start your PC. This le can be copied to a CD or
drive is likely to be your C Drive). Click Next 3 again. In the USB stick. To create the ISO le, open Paragon, click Recovery
nal screen, select your drive again and then click Next (twice) Media Builder, then click Next. Select Microsoft Windows PE 1
to begin restoring it. Once thats done, click Finish. and click Next 2 . Now select the ISO le, click Next, and wait
for the creation process to complete. The le is saved to your
Documents folder by default. Click Finish when this is done.

STEP To copy this ISO le to a CD or

9 DVD, insert a blank disc into
your PC, then right-click the
ISO le 1 (in your Documents folder),
move your mouse to Send to 2 and
select your CD/DVD drive 3 . Now follow
the steps to burn it using your PCs
2 default burning program.

1 3

1 STEP If youd rather create a bootable USB drive

10 (instead of a bootable CD or DVD) to boot into
your PC when it fails to start, then insert a
blank USB stick (with at least 512MB) into your PC. Now,
open Paragon, click Recovery Media Builder, Next, select
Microsoft Windows PE, and click Next again. Select the
2 ISO le from your Documents folder and then click
Browse 1 . Click Disk Drives 2 , select your USB drive 3
and then click Save. Click Next, and when the process is
complete click Finish. Now, whenever your PC fails to
boot, insert the bootable drive (CD or USB stick with
the ISO le) into your PC. Next, boot into your BIOS,
3 change the boot order to whatever device you inserted
and press Enter.

29 October 11 November 2014 37

 Workshops

Add new professional

effects to your video
What you need: Lightworks; Windows Vista, 7, 8 or 8.1
Time required: 40 minutes

L ightworks is a paid-for video-

editing program thats been used
to edit Oscar-winning movies,
In this Workshop well show
you how to import and edit a
video. We will then add eects
including The Kings Speech. The to it, such as advanced colour-
updated free version has many correction eects that arent
new features, including professional available in Windows Movie
eects you can add with a few clicks. Maker.

STEP Go to www.snipca.com/14029 to see two

1 downloadable versions of Lightworks for Windows (for
32bit and 64bit operating systems, the red Download
buttons). See Step 1 of the lead Workshop (on page 35) to nd
out what version you use and then click the corresponding
Download button. Click the setup le, OK (for English), Next
(twice), accept the T&Cs, then click Next again (four times).
Type 2 when prompted to choose a Start Menu folder, and then
click Install. Finally, click Next and then Finish. You need to
register for Lightworks before using it. Go to www.lwks.com/
1
2
register, type your details in the User Information elds 1 , tick
the T&Cs box 2 and then click Next 3 . Now click the link you
receive in your email to activate your account.

1
1

3
2

STEP Open Lightworks on your Desktop, type STEP Now, double-click the video thumbnail 1 to open it in a larger

2 your registration username and password

on the bottom right, and then click 3 viewing panel. You can use the controls at the bottom of this panel
2 or the slider on the timeline 3 to play your video. However,
Continue. Type a name for your project, leave your while editing video its always preferable to use keyboard shortcuts. Press
Frame rate on Auto, and then click Create at the the spacebar to both play and pause your video. To move forward and
bottom left. From the Import window, navigate to backward one second at a time, press the right and left arrow keys
the video that you want to edit by clicking the Places respectively. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Z to undo any action.
dropdown menu 1 and then clicking the folders 2 .
Double-click the video, which will load in the list
view by default.

38 29 October 11 November 2014

 3

2 3

2
1

STEP To remove footage from your video, rst open the

4 Target Editor by clicking the downward pointing arrow STEP Well now add one of Lightworks new pro eects.
1 . Close the viewing panel in the background as you
wont need it. To delete a section from your video, you need to 5 First you need to create a marked section to apply the
eect to. In this example, well show you how to apply
set markers to dene its deletion start and end points. Again, colour correction to your entire video, so add an In marker at
its faster to use keyboard shortcuts instead of Lightworks the start of your video and an Out marker at the end of it (using
controls 2 . Press I on your keyboard to insert an In marker at the I and O keyboard shortcuts). Now click anywhere on the
the point where you want to begin cutting your video and O to marked section on your timeline 1 and then click Eects 2 .
insert an Out marker, determining its end point. The marked Click the Eects Category dropdown menu 3 and select Colour
section will be highlighted on your timeline and in the viewer to see all the eects within it.
below. Click the Delete icon 3 .

1 2

2 3

STEP Double-click Colour Temperature to see a Temperature STEP The nal step, after editing and adding eects to your
6 slider 1 in the Eects window. Move this slider in either
direction to see your video change colour. This is useful 7 video, is to export it to your PC. The free version
of Lightworks only lets you export videos to MP4
to brighten dark videos and decrease the intensity of bright ones. format in 720p, but this is a good video resolution. Right-click
To check how another point on your marked timeline will look anywhere in the viewer, move your cursor to Export 1 , click the
with this eect, click anywhere on the Keyframes timeline 2 . To Targets dropdown menu 2 and then click YouTube 3 . This
add another eect, double-click it from the Category dropdown doesnt mean that your video will be uploaded to YouTube, only
menu. Youll see a second slider added to the Eects window, that the resolution would be high enough if you wanted to.
which you can move to modify that eects intensity in the same Click the Folder dropdown menu to change the destination
way. To toggle these eects on and o (to compare it with your folder if you want to, type a name in the Name eld and then
original video), click FX1 3 . click Start to begin exporting the video.

29 October 11 November 2014 39

 Workshops
Sync email accounts
on your tablet
What you need: Blue Mail; Android (phone or tablet)
Time required: 25 minutes

B lue Mail is one of the best free

Android apps to sync all your
email accounts on your phone or
Inbox. It has many other useful
options such as swiping across an
email to create a reminder to read or
tablet. You can choose to see emails reply to it at a time you want. You can
from each account individually or also set quiet hours during which
from all your accounts in one Unied you wont get any email notications.

STEP Open the app (www.snipca.com/14013) and

1 then tap Add Google Account (well add
other email accounts later). If you want to
add the Gmail account you use to log into Google Play 1
on your device, tap that account. To add another
Gmail account, tap Another Google Account, enter
your account details and then tap Sign in. Blue Mail 2
will request permission to access your account. Tap 3
Accept this is perfectly safe because Blue Mail
encrypts all your data. Now type a name for your
account (your name) 1 , a Description (such as
Personal 2 or Work) and then tap Done 3 .

1
3
2

2
3
1

STEP To add another email account to Blue Mail,

3 tap the three lines at the top left 1 . Now tap
your email description dropdown menu 2
and then tap Add Account 3 . Youll be taken to Blue
STEP Swipe across the screens highlighting Blue Mails features and then Mails sign-in screen. Tap Add Other Account to see

2 tap Close to see all your emails on the left panel. Tap an email 1 to
see it on the right. To read an email in full-screen mode, tap the
options for Yahoo, Outlook/Hotmail, iCloud, Gmail,
Oce 365 and Other Email (IMAP accounts). Tap the
expand icon 2 . To write a new email, tap the pen and notepad icon 3 . If email account you want, enter your login details and
you want to attach a le, take a photo with your device or add CC and BCC then tap Sign in. Next, tap Yes to let Blue Mail access
elds to your email, tap the three dots at the top right. You can attach as your account. Again, youll need to name your
many les as you want. Tap the blue arrow icon at the top right to send account, give it a description (use dierent
your email. descriptions to distinguish between your accounts)
and then tap Done. As soon as your emails are
synced, theyll appear in the app.

40 29 October 11 November 2014

 2
1

STEP Tap the three lines at the top left to see all STEP Blue Mail lets you categorise emails using swipe gestures. For
4 the folders within that email account. To
see emails from both the accounts youve 5 example, to archive an email, delete it or mark it as read/unread,
swipe left across that email on your left panel and select one of
added in one inbox, tap the three lines at the top those options. If you want to be reminded of an email at a later date (say a
left, the description dropdown menu, My Inboxes birthday invitation), swipe right across that email in the same panel and
and then Unied Inbox 1 . If you want to add a third then tap Later. Now set when you want to be reminded. Options include
account, tap the My Inboxes dropdown menu 2 , Later Today, This Evening, Tomorrow Morning, and so on 1 . To be notied
Add Account and then repeat Step 3. You can add as at a specic date and time, tap Pick Date 2 , adjust the date and time sliders
many email accounts to Blue Mail as you want. and then tap OK. You can access all the emails you set notications for by
tapping Tasks at the bottom of the left panel.

STEP To batch-select emails and categorise them,

6 tap the three dots at the top right and then
tap Multi Edit. Now tap all the emails you
1
want to apply actions to 1 and then select one of the
icons below (which left to right stand for delete 2 ,
archive, mark as read/unread and move to a folder).
If you select the fourth option (move to a folder),
youll need to tap the folder you want to move these
emails to. Tap the three dots at the bottom 3 and
then tap Mark All (to select all the emails in that
2 3
inbox) or Star (which will add stars beside them,
helping them stand out).

STEP To add your own signature (replacing

7 the default Sent by Blue Mail signature),
tap More at the bottom of the left panel and
then tap Manage Account Settings. Select the email
1 account you want to apply this to and then
2 tap Signature. Now untick Sent from Blue Mail,
tap Custom Signature and type your signature.
To set quiet hours (which will turn o all Blue
3 Mail notications), tap the back button twice,
Notications and then tap Do Not Disturb. Untick
Always Notify 1 , tap Quiet Days 2 , tick the days on
which you want to turn o notications and then
tap OK. Finally, tap the From and To options 3 and
change the sliders to disable notications during this
time on all days. Repeat this step for all the accounts
youve added.

29 October 11 November 2014 41

 Workshops
Remove junk before it
crashes your PC
What you need: Clean Master; Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 8.1
Time required: 10 minutes

C lean Master is one of the

best free Android apps for
removing junk from your
lets you set reminders that
prompt you to clean your PC
after a certain amount of time
device and speeding it up. has elapsed or when junk
It now has a new Desktop exceeds a specied limit. You
version that does the same for can either clean junk on an
your PC. Its most useful feature individual basis or in one go.

STEP Go to www.snipca.com/13966 and click the

1 Free Download button. Click the setup le that
downloads to your PC, tick both the boxes
(T&C and Create a desktop shortcut), then click Install.
As soon as its installed, Clean Master will begin
scanning your PC. To delete junk only from a specic 1
location, click it 1 in the scan-results screen. Click
Details if you want to see the selected items scanned
junk, and then click Clean Up 2 to delete it. If you want 2
to retain junk (for example, from within your browsers 3
cache), click Ignore 3 .

STEP Before cleaning all junk in one go, close any open programs on your

2 2 Desktop. Now click Clean Now at the top right. If Clean Master thinks you
may still need any of the junk les it has found (for example, your driver
3 cache), youll see a pop-up asking you to conrm removal. Click Clean Up to do
that or Ignore to retain your driver cache and clean the rest of your PC. You can still
1 clean these junk les later by clicking the box icon 1 and then clicking Clean Up. If
you have a program running in the background that Clean Master couldnt clean
during the scan, itll appear at the top 2 . Click Close & Clean 3 to force-close and
clean it. This will only stop the program running, not uninstall it.

1 STEP To set Clean Masters reminders, click the down

3 arrow 1 , then Settings. Youll see two Reminder
frequency sliders. These trigger reminders to clean
your PC based on a time period and the amount of junk
accumulated. Set the rst slider to 1 week 2 and the second
to 800M 3 (MB), which we think are the best settings. When
you see a notication reminder, run Clean Master.

ON SALE
3 NEXT ISSUE 12 Nov
Block zero-day malware for free
Delay start-up items to boot faster
Watch US TV blocked in the UK
Send texts from your PC for free
Subscribe to Computeractive at getcomputeractive.co.uk

42 29 October 11 November 2014

Readers Tips Handy hints and tips from your fellow readers
Email us your tips: [email protected]

TIP OF THE FORTNIGHT

T

Use th
the new Evernote Beta online
I really enjoyed your Workshop on
Evernote in Issue 433 (page 35).
Personally, I nd the checklist notes
feature particularly useful, especially
when I want to keep track of my wifes
ever-growing shopping lists. I mainly
use it over the internet (at www.
evernote.com) and the last time I logged
in, I saw a notication asking if Id like
to try the new Evernote Beta. Feeling
rather adventurous, I clicked Yes. If you
dont see the notication, click your
Account dropdown menu at the top To create a note, click the + symbol, To add tags, click the New tag eld at
right, followed by Account Settings name your note and start typing. To the top and type your tags, separating
and then click Get the beta. create a checklist, move your cursor each with a comma. Click Done at the
Youll see a revamped, less cluttered over the three lines to the right of your top right to save your note, which is
interface, with all your notes listed at note and then click the tick icon. then synced to all your devices. Although
the left-hand side. If you want to see a To save the note to a dierent notebook, dnt
t
this is a Beta version, I didnt
list of your shortcuts, notebooks or tags click the notebook dropdown menu at encounter any problems.
instead, click those options on the far-left. the top and select the one you want. John Brill

The winner of every Tip of the Fortnight wins this exclusive Computeractive mug!

CLOUD STORAGE because I used it all the time to keep signatures youve set up when you
Automatically save PC track of my household expenses. So I forward an email or reply to one. It took
screenshots to Dropbox switched to the online version of Google me a while to gure out how to enable
Whenever something goes wrong Sheets (www.snipca.com/13995) and this, because Mozilla has hidden these
with my PC, I take a screenshot of havent looked back since. options deep in Thunderbirds settings.
the problem or error message and email it To help dierentiate between cells, I To add a signature to your email, click
to a friend who works in IT. If he thinks like to colour alternate rows (1, 3, 5, and the menu icon (three lines) at the top left,
its a major problem, hell pop round to so on) a light shade of grey. In Google move your cursor to Options and click
take a look at it. On his last visit, he Sheets, the process is even easier than in Account Settings. Then type your
wanted to know which software I used Excel. Click 1 to highlight the rst row, signature in the Signature text eld.
for taking screenshots and I told him I then click the Fill colour icon (the To ensure your signature is used in
used Microsoft Paint, which requires a tilted bucket) and select a colour. emails you forward and send in reply,
rather lengthy copy, paste and save process. Now, keeping the Shift key pressed, click Composition and Addressing in the
Knowing I use Dropbox (www.snipca. click rows 1 and 2 (to highlight them). left panel (see screenshot, below) and
com/13994), he activated a setting that Move your cursor to the extreme tick both boxes - Include signature for
automatically saves a Desktop screenshot right until you see the blue marker replies and Include signature for forwards.
to a new Screenshots folder in Dropbox at the bottom right of cell Z2. Move Annoyingly, for replies and forwarded
whenever I press the Print Screen key. your cursor over it to see a crosshairs emails, your signature isnt added to the
To enable this, open Dropbox, click the symbol. Click and drag this symbol end of your message but to the end of the
cog icon at the top right and then click to the bottom of your sheet to create entire email chain. To rectify this, click
Preferences. Next, click the Import tab alternating row colours. the place my signature dropdown menu
and then tick Share screenshots using Emilia Fortescue and change it to below my reply (above
Dropbox. Finally, click Apply and then OK. the quote). Click OK.
Skip Turner EMAIL Jacob Perry
Add your signature to emails
GOOGLE SHEETS you forward and send in reply
Add colour to alternate rows to After reading your Secret Tips on
dierentiate between cells Mozilla Thunderbird (www.snipca.
I bought a new Windows 8.1 PC com/13996) in Issue 422, I started using
recently, and was disappointed to it and really like it. But one particular
nd it didnt come with Microsoft Oce. aspect that annoyed me was that by
The Oce program I miss most is Excel, default Thunderbird doesnt use personal

29 October 11 November 2014 43

 Phone and Tablet Tips Brilliant things to do on your device

ANDROID com/14042) and select one of two Now tap Share and select the app you
Lock your apps and photos with passcodes - either Pattern (a pattern that want to share it with. Follow the steps
a passcode you can draw by joining the dots) or to share it using that app.
If you often share your device Classic (a four-digit code). Enter and Chrome remembers your app
with other people, its a good idea conrm this. Now choose one of the selection and adds it to the Share
to lock the apps you dont want security questions from the dropdown option, so the next time you want to
them to access and hide photos you menu (which will be used to retrieve share something with that same app,
dont want them to see. The new, free app your passcode in case you forget it), repeat the process and then tap the
Droid Protector lets you do this in a few type your answer and then tap Save. apps icon.
seconds. It also lets you stop them Youll see all the apps on your device
making calls, sending messages and with padlock icons beside them. Tap ANDROID
changing your phones settings, which is the icon beside the apps you want Remotely lock your lost device
especially useful if you have children. to lock (see screenshot, left). Youll from someone elses phone
Install the app (www.snipca. now need to enter your passcode to In Issue 414s Phone and Tablet
access them. Tips, we showed you how to
To hide photos you dont want others to remotely locate and lock your lost
see, tap Hide Pictures at the top right, the devices using Googles Android Device
Picture icon (third from top right) and Manager. This is a useful way to nd your
then open the folder containing the device from the web or from a second
photos. Tap the photos and then tap the Android device that you may own.
Hide icon (eye with a cross symbol). Google has now added the option
These photos will be hidden from your to nd your lost device from someone
Gallery app and will only be accessible elses Android phone or tablet by
from within Droid Protector, which itself logging into your account as a Guest in
is locked with your passcode. Android Device Manager (www.snipca.
com/ 14044).
ANDROID To do this, the person whose device
Share any article with two taps youre using will rst need to log into
Chrome (www.snipca.com/14045) Device Manager using their account.
has made it easier for you to share Theyll then need to tap their account
any article you read with third- dropdown menu at the top and tap Guest.
party apps that support this functionality, Now enter your Google login details
including email, social networking, cloud for the lost device and tap Accept to
storage and reader apps. Open any article sign in. Immediately youll see your
you want to share and then tap the menu devices location on a map. Tap Ring
button (on Samsung devices) or the three and then Ring again if you want to
dots at the top left (on Nexus devices). make your device ring loudly. To

Best New Apps What you should install this fortnight

Firefox Browser for Android Clips HomeTube

Free Free Free
Android: www.snipca.com/14048 iOS: www.snipca.com/14050 Android: www.snipca.com/14052
After a huge update, Firefox now lets you This app saves all the text, images and URLs HomeTube features a list of childrens
send videos to your TV via Chromecast, you copy on your device. These items can be shows (including Curious George, Peppa
which we showed you how to do in Issue accessed from Pig) that are available on YouTube. You can
433 using Firefox within the app customise this list based on your childrens
Beta (see Use or from the preferences. Use the Settings to set
Chromecast Clips widget HomeTube as your default app launcher,
with Firefox (in your giving your kids easy access to it.
Workshop). You Notications
can now set Center). Tap
Firefox to clear any of these
all your browsing items to
data (including paste it into any
the cache) other app you
whenever you want (such
close it. as Mail).

44 29 October 11 November 2014

remotely lock it, tap Lock, enter and iOS
conrm a password (which you can use Prioritise which
later to unlock your device) then type a apps notications
phone number, which will appear on appe
appear rst
your devices lock screen, letting Theres an easy
whoever has it know how to contact way to prioritise
you. Tap Lock at the top to activate this. your app
If youre sure you wont get your device notications so youll
back and want to completely wipe all its always see those you
data, tap Erase and then Erase again. want at the top of your
notication panel.
ANDROID/iOS Open Settings, tap
Find cultural landmarks Notications and then
around you
y tap Sort Manually (its
Often, when you go to a set to Sort By Time by
new place (especially default). Now tap Edit at
abroad) you may be close the top right. Next, tap
to a museum or other cultural landmark the three lines beside
without realising it. The Wikipedia app any app you want to appear at the top To disable notications from a specic
now has a new Nearby feature that and drag to reposition it within this list. app, tap that app and then tap the Allow
displays all the places with Wikipedia Tap Done at the top right when nished. Notications slider to turn it o.
entries that are near you.
Open Wikipedia (Android: www.
snipca.com/14046; iOS: www.snipca.
com/14047), tap the three lines at the
Games With Kids
top left on Android (the W icon in What to play together on your phone and tablet
iOS) and then tap Nearby to see these
places. Tap Allow if youre asked to AGES 0 5
grant location access, which determines Endless Alphabet
your precise location via GPS. On Free www.snipca.com/14051 (Android)
Android devices, youll see a small Free www.snipca.com/14053 (iOS)
icon pointing in the direction of the This is the ideal game to teach your kids
landmark, with its approximate distance. how to spell. They need to tap a letter
Tap a place to read more about it. (which makes a sound prompting them
where to drag it) and move it to its correct
place in the words outline. A voiceover
then pronounces the word and a short
animation explains its meaning.

AGES 6 10
Math Maniac
Free www.snipca.com/14054 (Android)
In this game your child has 10 seconds
to tap any of the tiled numbers on the
grid that add up to the total below. Those
tiles then disappear and theyll have to
repeat the process for the next total using
the remaining tiles.

AGES 11 16
New Words With Friends
Free www.snipca.com/14055 (Android)
Free www.snipca.com/14056 (iOS)
Challenge your teenage children to a
game of Scrabble with this updated version
of Words With Friends. They can now
practice the game alone using the oine
Solo Play mode and use the in-game
dictionary to get meanings of words,
which will increase their vocabulary.

29 October 11 November 2014 45

 Make Windows Better Clever tips for every version

WINDOWS 7, 8, 8.1
Change your PCs name WINDOWS 7, 8, 8.1
Any new PC with a
pre-installed operating See Taskbar previews faster
system comes with a
default computer name created by the Moving your cursor preview to appear. Decrease this value
manufacturer. This will usually be a mix over any minimised to reduce the time it takes to display.
of letters and numbers that will mean item in your Taskbar We nd that 200 milliseconds is ideal
nothing to you, so its a good idea to displays a thumbnail preview of it. because thumbnail items pop up
change this to something more However, youll probably notice a slight almost immediately. Click OK and
recognisable. delay between hovering over the item then restart your PC.
To nd your PCs name, right-click the and the thumbnail preview appearing. There are keyboard shortcuts that
Computer icon on your Desktop, click You can reduce this delay by making let you switch between minimised
Properties and look under Computer some tweaks in the Registry editor. items on your Taskbar. Press the Alt
name, domain, and workgroup settings. Click the Start button, type regedit key and keep pressing Tab to switch
Click Change Settings beside Computer and press Enter. Next, navigate to the between Taskbar previews. Release
name. In the System Properties dialogue following key by clicking the dropdown the Alt key to open the item youre
box that appears, click the Change menus at the side: HKEY_CURRENT_ currently previewing. Alternatively,
button. Type a new name (avoiding any USER\Control Panel\Mouse (see keep the Windows key pressed
spaces, punctuation marks and special screenshot, below). then keep pressing the Tab key
characters) and then click OK. You may Double-click MouseHoverTime on to open all your Taskbar items in
need to enter your PCs login details. the right. Its default Value data is 400, the stylish Flip 3D view. Release
Click OK after doing that and then OK which means it takes 400 milliseconds the Windows key to open the item
again to restart your PC with the (0.4 seconds) for your thumbnail youve navigated to.
name change.

WINDOWS XP, VISTA, 7, 8, 8.1

Free up space on your PC by
deleting downloads
If your PC is running
short of space, the rst
place to look for junk
you can safely remove, such as setup les,
is your Downloads folder. This will be on
your C Drive unless youve changed your
browsers default Downloads folder.
In Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 8.1 open
your C Drive, click the Users folder,
then your user account folder, and then
Downloads. In Windows XP, open the
C Drive, Documents and Settings, your click Personalise at the top. Youll
user account folder, My Documents, see 20 wallpaper options and two
then Downloads. colour palettes at the bottom
You can safely delete old setup les Background colour and Accent
because they have already served their colour (see screenshot, right).
purpose. But if you do want to save a If you want a plain wallpaper,
setup le to reinstall something later, you click the penultimate option (of the
could copy it to a partition with free 20) and change its background
space, or to an external drive, then delete colour. If you want your Desktop
it from the Downloads folder. and Modern tile interface to use
the same background, then click
WINDOWS 8, 8.1 the last option.
Personalise your wallpaper on If you want to use one of the
the Modern tile interface other wallpapers, select it then
In Windows 8, Microsoft click a colour at the bottom of the
introduced new wallpaper Background colour palette to see
options that you can personalise dierent shades of that colour,
however you want. To do this, move which you can apply by clicking.
your cursor to the bottom right of the Do the same thing in the Accent
Modern tile interface to activate the colour palette to change the colour
Charms bar, then click Settings. Next, of patterns in your wallpaper.

46 29 October 11 November 2014

Make Office Better Expert tips for every program

EXCEL

Print important data from multiple sheets on one page

Sometimes its useful to be you want to print from your rst
able to collate the most sheet and then click the Camera icon at
important information from the top to take a snapshot of that
across a number of worksheets in Excel section. Click the next sheet at the
into one sheet that you can then print as bottom left and then click where you
a single A4 page. The best way to do this want to paste this snapshot. Reposition
is by adding the Camera tool to your the snapshot by clicking and dragging it.
Quick Access Toolbar (at the top left). Repeat this process to collate data from
To do this, click the down arrow on the as many sheets as you want.
toolbar (see screenshot, right), then Once youve nished collating all the
More Commands. Next, click the Choose important data onto one worksheet,
commands from dropdown menu and click File at the top left and then click
click Commands Not in the Ribbon. Print (or Ctrl+P on your keyboard).
Scroll down the left-hand column, click The best thing about the Camera
Camera, then click the Add button to tool is that any changes you
add it to your Quick Access Toolbar subsequently make to the data on any
(the camera icon will be added to the earlier sheets will automatically apply
right-hand column). Click OK. to the sheet with the pasted snapshot.
Well now collate sections of data This means you wont need to spend
from multiple sheets onto one sheet for time changing data values across a
a handy print-out. Highlight the cells number of sheets.

WORD start of your document where you want contain illustrations.

Generate and auto-update to insert your ToC, then click the Table of You can set these templates as defaults
a Table of Contents Contents dropdown menu (beside the for each of your OneNote sections. To do
You can easily generate a Table Add Text dropdown menu) and then click this, navigate to the template section you
of Contents (ToC) in Word. This Automatic Table 1 to create your ToC. want to set a default for. Next, right-click
will list all the Headings you If you later add more headings using the specic template you want to set as
specify and the page numbers that they this method, you can easily update your your default, then click Set as Default
appear on. ToC. To do this, click the ToC you generated for This Section.
To do this, highlight the text you want and then click Update Table. Select
as your rst entry in your ToC (usually Update entire table and then click OK. OUTLOOK
a heading, section title or chapter name Add pictures to the body of your
in your document). Now click the ONENOTE email and edit them
References tab, the Add Text dropdown Access illustrated templates Adding attachments to Outlook
menu and then click Level 1 (see and set them as your default emails is easy simply drag a le
screenshot, below). Scroll through your OneNote 2013 has numerous and drop it into an email. But if
document and repeat this process for all pre-set templates which are not you want to add inline pictures (images
the other headings you want to include in immediately visible. To access that appear in the body of your email),
your ToC (clicking Level 1 each time). them, click the Insert tab, then click the the process is slightly dierent.
Once youve nished, click an area at the top half of Page Templates in the Pages Move your cursor to whichever line
section (the bottom half you want to insert the picture and then
is a dropdown menu, so click the Insert tab. Next click Picture,
dont click that). navigate to and select the image you
Youll see a panel on the want from your PC, then click Insert.
right containing a number Click and drag the handles on the
of template sections. Click pictures edges to resize it. You can
the dropdown menu within also add eects to inline pictures by
a section to see all the clicking them and then clicking the
templates within it. For Format tab at the top.
example, click Planners to Be careful not to add too many inline
see three types of To-Do pictures to an email, or you run the risk
List templates. of making its le size so big that it may
Unlike standard OneNote cause problems when you come to
templates, these templates send it.

29 October 11 November 2014 47

 Secret Tips For

Firefox
Use Firefox without slowing
Preview open tabs, save PC memory
and master the scroll-wheel shortcuts

warning next time and click Ill be Alt+Tab in Windows), you need to
down your PC careful, I promise to access Firefoxs tweak Firefoxs advanced settings again.
If you tend to open lots of tabs in Firefox advanced settings. In the list that opens, Type about:cong in the address
and then keep the browser minimised right-click anywhere, move your cursor bar and then press Enter. Next type
while working on something else, you to New and then click Boolean. Type browser.ctrlTab.previews in the Search
may notice your PC running slowly. cong.trim_on_minimize in the box bar at the top. Right-click the value
This is because Firefox uses a lot of your that appears and then click OK. Now false, click Toggle (see screenshot,
PCs memory (RAM) when running in select true in the next screen and below left) so the value says true
the background. We recommend moving then restart Firefox. and then restart Firefox.
Firefox to your hard drive when its
minimised, which will reduce the Preview all your open tabs Use your mouse to control
The keyboard shortcut to open Firefox how you browse
tabs is Ctrl+Tab. But if you want to use If you use a mouse, there are various
this shortcut to preview your Firefox ways you can make navigation easier in
tabs instead (similar to the minimised Firefox. These involve using the scroll
programs previews you see by clicking wheel (which you can scroll in the
usual way or press like a button).
Move your mouse over a link you want
to open and press the scroll wheel. This
opens the link as a background tab. If you
want to open a new tab and go directly to
it, press the Shift key and then press the
scroll wheel. To close a tab (without
Conserve the amount of memory Firefox uses
via the browsers advanced settings clicking the X icon) move your mouse to
the tab and then press your scroll wheel.
amount of memory Firefox uses. You Press the Shift key while scrolling up to
can do this by accessing Firefoxs navigate to the next web page and press it
advanced settings. Preview your open Firefox tabs using the while scrolling down to visit pages youve
In the address bar, type about:cong Ctrl+Tab keyboard shortcut by tweaking the previously visited. To zoom in and out of
and press Enter. Now untick Show this browsers advanced settings the page, hold the Ctrl key while scrolling.

Recover an online form

Search other websites from the address bar after a crash
Websites dont automatically save
You can use Firefoxs address online forms youre lling in, which
bar to search for content means that if the site crashes or you
directly on other websites lose your network connection when
(such as BBC News, YouTube completing or submitting the form,
and Wikipedia). To do this, youll have to re-do it all over again.
you need to connect that Lazarus is a free Firefox extension
specic websites search bar that autosaves web forms every few
to your Firefox address bar. seconds. Go to www.snipca.com/
Well show you how to do Create a Bookmark that lets you search websites 13658, click Add to Firefox, Install
directly from Firefoxs address bar
this for Wikipedia, but it Now then Restart Now.
works for any website with its folder by clicking the dropdown menu. Now, if disaster strikes while lling
own search bar. Next, type a short, simple keyword in in a form, wait until you regain network
Go to Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org), the Keyword eld (we used wiki) connection and then right-click the text
right-click the search bar, then click and click Save. box where you last wrote something.
Add a Keyword for this Search. In the Now, whenever you want to search Now, go to Recover Text to see a list of all
New Bookmark dialogue box (see for a Wikipedia entry using Firefox, type the autosaved entries up to the last point
screenshot), you can rename the site wiki in the address bar, add a space, Lazarus managed to save them. Click
(optional) and save it to a Bookmarks type your search term and press Enter. the entry you want and itll automatically
pre-ll the form for you.

48 29 October 11 November 2014 Next issue Secret Tips for Google Now
Whats All the Fuss About...

Ello
Ello is a new social network that wants you to say goodbye
to Facebook but should you like it?

What is it?
A new social network that bills itself as
the anti-Facebook because it doesnt
pass on your data to other companies.
This means it has nothing to sell to
advertisers, and therefore displays no
adverts on the site. Remember what
Facebook used to be like before
everything you posted resulted in a
related advert 30 minutes later?

That sounds great.

Is there a catch?
Only that Ello (https://ello.co) is currently
a closed beta, which means you need an
invite to join. You can request this by Caption
clicking Request An Invitation on the
homepage (see screenshot, right). Ello is
currently sending out invites in small
batches, so keep an eye on your inbox.
New websites often launch as invite- people who make things and the people Ello obviously thinks the typewriter font
only to control how quickly they grow, who use them should be in partnership. looks cool, but its very hard to read.
giving the developers time to x Ellos core message (you are not a
persistent bugs (Gmail, for example, was product) chimes with many people fed Will it replace Facebook?
ocially invite-only for almost three up with Facebook. It will make money No. Too many people already use
years). It also helps to create a buzz of by selling paid-for features to users, Facebook over a billion every month.
exclusivity, like a party with a strictly not data to advertisers. But Ellos Ello has no chance of persuading enough
controlled guestlist. And its working self-righteous stance is a bit irritating. people to leave to create a tipping point,
people are selling invites for $100 on Is a social network really a tool for and youre unlikely to nd friends and
eBay. Yes, really. empowerment as it claims or just a family on it. Once the hype dies, Ello will
place to post photos of your holiday? probably remain popular among young,
Should I believe Ellos creative types who are always eager to try
advert-free claim? What does Ello look like? new things. But it wont ever be used by
Yes, its the websites main selling point. Its very simple probably too simple for one-seventh of the worlds population.
Just read what its manifesto says: We most people with black text on a white
believe there is a better way. We believe in background and little else (see screenshot What caused the hype?
audacity. We believe in beauty, simplicity below). Your prole is little more than a It began in September when Facebook
and transparency. We believe that the photo, a small biography and a few links. started to disable the accounts of people
who werent using their real name. This
angered many users, who found Ellos
anti-establishment ethos more to their
liking. At one point over 30,000 people
an hour were joining, including most
notably a group of US drag queens who
wanted to continue using their stage
names. Facebook has since loosened its
real name policy (see News, Issue 434),
but that wont be enough to stop Ellos
rise. For a few more months, at least.

29 October 11 November 2014 49

 REMOVE
PERSONAL INFO
FROM THE WEB
The web has known you for nearly 20 years, so its got plenty of information on you.
Jane Hoskyn reveals how to remove this data and deep-clean your digital legacy

Y
ouve been using the internet You signed up for every website that When the right to be forgotten was
for, what, 15 years? Probably prompted you, gave your full name on enshrined in EU law in May this year,
more like 20. In that time, forums and used your dogs name as your most coverage focused on requests by
youve left a rich trail of personal password everywhere. In the worst-case celebrities and criminals to have their
litter all over the web. Forum posts, scenario, your former, less-clued-up self horrible histories erased. But this isnt
photos and account sign-ups hundreds, might be responsible for getting you about celebrities. Archive news stories
if not thousands of them. Theyve faded hacked today. At best, he or she is a about the famous and infamous were
from your memory, but they havent privacy-threatening embarrassment. around long before Google. What the
faded from the web. internet has changed is the way normal
This digital litter trail could seriously Do you have a right to be people like you and me have had our
damage your dignity, not to mention your forgotten? private lives turned public, so the right to
security. Back when you were running This will be the rst generation of be forgotten is as relevant to us as it is to,
Windows 98 on a 256MB PC with a humans to have an indelible record, say, a politician with a dodgy past.
dial-up connection, you were probably a writes former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Well show you how to give your online
lot less security-savvy than you are now. in his book, The New Digital Age (www. history a deep-clean. First, well show
snipca.com/14012). To make your own you how to limit and edit the information
record somewhat less indelible (more that Google reveals about you to complete
KEY POINTS delible?), start by giving it a good hard strangers, and how to remove outdated
Remove yourself from Google look. Type your own name (the more links from Google and other search sites.
Disappear completely from any unusual, the better) into Google and Then well explain how to batch-delete
website, including Facebook brace yourself for an uncomfortable information youve shared online,
Find and remove old and embarrassing experience. Laid out in front of you, and without having to give up using Google or
links and photos for anyone who cares to look, is the Facebook but if you do want to give up
Make your public information private, biography you never wanted. It feels like using Google or Facebook, well show you
so only you can see it a terrible intrusion, but you were the one how to do that, too. We also reveal some
Erase all your hidden online data who put most of that information there great free tools for tracking down forgotten
for good and if you dont clear it up now, chances online accounts and erasing your data
are it will long outlive you. from them, completely and permanently.

50 29 October 11 November 2014

 b
Remove personal info from the web

SECTION
ERASE CROSSHEAD
YOURSELF FROM GOOGLE
Prune your social proles
Before you can start clearing your trail of
digital debris, you need to know whats
out there. Log out of your Google account,
so that you see what everyone else can
see, and search for your own name. Add
your home town or other identifying
information to narrow down the results
if your name is less unusual than, say,
Jane Hoskyn.
If you belong to any social-network
sites such as Facebook or Flickr, your
proles on these sites will appear at the
top of your Google results. This is broadly
down to the way that people use these
sites (lots of linking and sharing), which
makes them very, very public.
The most obvious way to remove your Use your Activity Log to delete posts and comments quickly from Facebook
social proles from Google is to delete the
accounts. Well show you how to do this Googles form (www.snipca.com/13973), select Delete Album. This will only work
later (see pages 55 and 56), but this and to delete a Twitter post (tweet), click with albums youve created, not smart
should be a last resort. Deleting your the three dots below it, then Delete Tweet. albums like Timeline Photos.
Facebook, Flickr or Google+ account The Fast Delete Messages extension
deletes everything youve uploaded Batch-delete photos or posts (Chrome: www.snipca.com/13974;
to them over the years and in most Your quest to delete all your unwanted Firefox: www.snipca.com/13975) lets you
cases you cant get it back. data will take an age if you do it one post delete entire Facebook message threads
Instead, try pruning out the old, at a time. Annoyingly, Facebook, Google+ with one click of a bookmarklet, but
outdated and embarrassing content. and even Twitter (which makes a virtue theres no tool for batch-deleting posts.
Its easy to delete individual posts on the of throwaway) dont let you batch- To delete a batch of Twitter tweets, use
big social sites. On Facebook, click View delete your own posts, and the tight the free online tool TweetEraser (www.
Activity Log on your prole and work controls put in place by Facebook and tweeteraser.com). Click Sign in with
your way through your posts, photos and Google+ prohibit third-party batch- Twitter, then click Authorize app to link
comments, clicking the pencil to the right deleting tools. TweetEraser with your Twitter account.
of any item and selecting Delete. Click Facebook does at least let you delete You can then search for tweets within a
the months and years on the right to entire albums of photos. Click Photos on specic date range or that contain certain
jump back in time and remove older info. your prole, click Albums, then click an words, and delete some or all of them in
To delete or edit Google+ posts, use album to open it. Click its cog icon and one go. Its especially useful for weeding
out tweets posted on your behalf by a
linked account (umpteen unwitting tweets
that say I posted a new photo to Facebook,
for example see screenshot, left).
Photo-sharing site Flickr bucks the
trend with its excellent built-in tools for
batch-deleting and editing. Hover over
You at the top of the home page and click
Organize to open the Batch Organize
window. Your entire photo stream appears
along the bottom. Drag any unwanted
photos onto the main window (or click
Select all), open the Edit photos
dropdown menu and select Delete.
Photos and posts you delete from these
sites stay on the sites servers for several
days, and some may be stored indenitely
unless you delete your account (Facebooks
policy: www.snipca.com/13981). But
retrieving data is still dicult (impossible,
according to Facebook www.snipca.
com/13980), so back it up to your PC
Batch-delete your unwanted Twitter posts with TweetEraser before you click Delete (see box, page 54).

29 October 11 November 2014 51

 Remove information you cant
nd in Google
Social-network sites may dominate Google,
but theyre only a tiny component of
your online history (assuming you use
them at all). Google isnt much use for
weeding out older data, because anything
after the rst page of results is lost in a
forest of links that dont relate to you at
all. Instead, use the free online tool Yasni
(www.yasni.co.uk) to nd old forum
posts and outdated references to you on
directory sites, blogs and elsewhere.
Type your name into the What does
the net know about... box (Yasni suggests
adding a nickname to narrow down
results), then click Find out to uncover a
wealth of links to your personal info,
including your address and phone
number, on sites like Amazon (including
your Wish List), Ancestry.co.uk and the
directory sites 192.com and Yell.com.
In many cases, you can remove your
info from these sites yourself simply by
clicking the links and deleting what you
nd there. Some directory sites may
require you to ll in forms and follow
a specic process to remove your details.
Free website UnlistMyInfo (http://unlist
my.info/sites) has opt-out instructions
for dozens of online directories, and its Use Yasnis Censor Search Result tool to remove outdated links instantly
very useful, albeit with a strong US bias.
In some cases youll need to contact page, get the sites registered contact to bow to our advert-blocker Adblock
whoever runs the website and ask them details from a WHOIS domain database. Plus (https://adblockplus.org). But Yasni
to remove your info. If theres no Contact Type whois into Google followed by the clawed back some credit when it gave us
websites URL, then click a a captcha that actually made us smile
result to nd a contact email (Cheese and Crackers, see screenshot
address, postal address and/or above) and, more importantly, instantly
phone number. You may even suspended the link we asked it to remove.
see this information at a If anyone clicked it, theyd be taken to a
glance in the Google results. Censored results page.
To ask Google to remove a link to
Remove outdated links content youve managed to remove,
from Google use the Remove outdated content
When you delete or edit your form (www.snipca.com/13968). Type
details on pages linked from or paste the URL of the page thats
Yasni or Google, the search links been changed, click Request removal,
dont instantly disappear. You then click Yes when youre asked Has
can wait until they do (you may the site owner updated or removed the
be waiting a very long time) or content?. Type in a word (such as your
ask the search sites to remove name) thats on the old version of the
the outdated links. page but not on the new version, so
To ask Yasni to remove a link, Google understands that the page
click the small red, white and has been updated.
blue icon to the right of the link, If you couldnt get the original content
complete the dreaded captcha deleted, you can still ask Google to
and click Censor link. We dont remove its link to the oending page,
like the use of the word censor under the new right to be forgotten
here this is about accuracy and ruling. To submit a request, go to Googles
privacy rather than censorship. Search removal request page (www.
We also dont like that Yasni is snipca.com/14028) and enter your name
covered in adverts (Is He (or the name of the person mentioned in
See links to old and outdated info at a glance in Yasni Cheating on You?) that refuse the link), your email address and the full

52 29 October 11 November 2014

 Remove personal info from the web

URL of the page you want removed from

Google. Then use the big text box to
explain why you want the link removed,
and attach a scanned copy of your
passport or other form of ID. The process
is relatively quick, but its not guaranteed
to work of the 60,000 links that UK
users have asked Google to remove since
May 2014, just 18,000 have actually been
removed.
If you want Google to remove content
that you believe to be oensive or
defamatory, use the Legal Removal
Requests page (www.snipca.com/13969).
This applies to content hosted on Google
services such as Blogger, Google+ and
Picasa as well as links on the Google
search site. Click Submit a Legal Request
and select the Google service where the
content is hosted. For links hosted on
Googles search site, choose Web Search.

Hide your info from Google

The simplest reversible way to remove Ask Google to remove offensive content using the Legal Removal Requests tool
your info from Google searches is to hide
it rather than delete it. If you use Facebook, Public posts have a little globe icon. Click posts turning up in Google searches.
start by checking what non-friends can the globe next to any of your own posts Flickr gives various options for hiding
see on your prole. Click the three dots and use the dropdown menu to select your entire photo stream or individual
next to View Activity Log, click Timeline Friends, Only Me or Custom (where you photos, including photos youve already
Settings, then click View As to see whats allow only certain people to see the post). posted. Go to your Batch Organize page
visible to anyone who looks you up on To quickly make all your Public content as before, drag selected photos into the
Facebook including people who dont visible to Friends only, click the three window, click Permissions and choose
have Facebook accounts. dots next to View Activity Log, click a privacy level.
For a closer look at who can see and Timeline Settings, click Privacy on the Twitter doesnt let you make individual
share your posts, prole and app activity, left, then click the Limit All Posts link on posts private, but you can choose to
click the padlock at the top-right of your the right. Next, click the Edit link next protect all your tweets retrospectively so
prole page and click Privacy Check-up. to Do you want other search engines... that only selected people can see them
To change any of these settings, click the (a few lines below Limit Past Posts) and (www.snipca.com/13976). On Google+,
padlock and click See More Settings. untick the box. Youll need to click you cant hide posts retrospectively
Use your Activity Log to set individual Conrm in an annoying really?-style but you can limit all future content
Facebook posts to private retrospectively. pop-up. This prevents your prole and to yourself or chosen friends (www.
snipca.com/13985).
Weve only mentioned a selection of
social sites and web accounts here. To
check your privacy settings across a
much wider range of sites, use AVGs free
tool PrivacyFix (Chrome: www.snipca.
com/13986; Android: www.snipca.
com/13987; iOS: www.snipca.com/13988).
When you visit a website, PrivacyFix
automatically checks its privacy settings
and tells you how much of your personal
information strangers can see and
whether your activity is being stored.

Remove your data from

Googles servers
Sites like Google, Facebook and others
store plenty of info about you on their
servers, even after youve removed it
from public view.
Google, for example, stores information
Prevent search engines listing your profile by tweaking your Facebook privacy settings about searches you make, every video you

29 October 11 November 2014 53

 BACK UP BEFORE YOU DELETE

When youre having a clear-out, click Settings, click Download a

its easy to get carried away and copy, then click the green Start
delete too much as youll know My Archive button. Your archive
if youve ever had a tidy up at includes everything youve ever
home, only to end up selling half posted on your Timeline (Wall);
your worldly possessions on eBay. sent and received messages;
At least when youre having photos and videos, and even your
a web clear-out, you can guard Friends list. If youve been using
against chucking out treasured Facebook for a few years, this
data on a whim, by backing it up archive will be enormous, so
rst. Googles free online tool you may have to wait several
Takeout (https://google.com/ hours while its created. Facebook
takeout) lets you download will email you a download link
your data from Google services when its ready.
including Gmail, Google+ and Similarly, you can download an
YouTube. Only you can download archive of all your Twitter posts by
your own data, and there are Use Google Takeout to download your emails and other clicking Request your archive on the
restrictions on how many archives Google data before deleting it Account Settings page (www.snipca.
you can create. Find out more in tick one service. Well use Gmail as an com/14009).
Googles Download your data FAQ example (confusingly, its called Mail Free program Bulkr (http://clipyour
(www.snipca.com/13989). in Google Takeout). Click Next, choose photos.com/bulkr) is a superb backup
The process is very simple but the whether to save the archive to Google tool for Flickr users. Even if you dont
archive les may be huge, depending on Drive or receive a download link via plan to delete any photos or videos, use
how much data you want to download, email, then click Create archive. Bulkr to download full versions of every
so wed recommend archiving only one Facebook has a built-in tool for item youve uploaded, divided into sets
service at a time. Go to Takeout, click downloading all your data. Click the and containing the original metadata if
Select none to untick all the boxes, then small arrow at the top right of the page, you wish.

watch on YouTube, every Android app

you install, and plenty more besides. This
information wont turn up in peoples
Google searches, but its used for all sorts
of things, including targeted adverts and
personalised information in the Google
Now tool on your Android tablet or
phone. Your information is currently
helping to build Googles forthcoming
Knowledge Vault encyclopaedia, which
draws on data automatically extracted
from peoples Google activity (http://
research.google.com).
To extract yourself from this creepy
involuntary crowdsourcing, log into
your Google Dashboard (www.snipca.
com/13982) and delete the data you dont
want Google to store. Click Expand all
to review and edit data, including your
location history, registered address and
search history. To edit your search history,
for example, click Remove Search History
items (or go straight to www.snipca. Remove items from your search history using your Google Dashboard
com/13990) and tick any items that you
want to remove, then click Remove items. easier to see and click. You can nd out while some remains until you
Google does at least help you remove more on Gmails Google+ page (www. permanently delete your account
your details from other companies snipca.com/13983). (www.snipca.com/13981).
databases. Gmail now automatically looks Facebook has no Dashboard equivalent.
for an unsubscribe link in emails and When you delete posts, photos and other Delete your Google account
moves it to the top of the email, next to personal data from your prole, some If you are committed to wiping yourself
the senders email address, so its much of it is deleted from Facebooks server, o the face of the internet, deleting your

54 29 October 11 November 2014

 Remove personal info from the web

SECTIONYOUR
DELETE CROSSHEAD
ONLINE ACCOUNTS
Google account is the best way to achieve
it. But its a drastic, irreversible move, and
wed recommend trying any of the other
steps weve mentioned before you even
consider this one.
Googles dominant presence in your
digital life may be unwelcome, but youd
probably miss it if it were gone. We know
we would. Communicating with friends
and family, storing your photos and
documents and even working out how
to get from A to B are all easier and far
cheaper (usually free) thanks to Google.
If you use an Android tablet or phone,
deleting your Google account would
render it pretty much unusable, because
You can delete your entire Google account with one click but we wouldnt recommend it
youd be unable to install or update apps.
Youd also lose all your Gmail emails and recently), along with a Delete Account wholesale from Google. Theres no simple
contacts, Google Drive documents, link (Close account and delete all dashboard for picking o separate Google
YouTube videos and Google Photos services and info associated with it). This services, so youll need to log into them in
(including photos youve stored in Picasa). Delete Account link will remove your turn and use the Remove permanently
Still want to do it? OK, heres how. entire Google account. If you click it and link (see box, below).
Go to Google accounts (www.snipca. conrm, all your Google data will be
com/13984), an apocalyptically sparse erased, with no chance of getting it back. Delete your Facebook account
page with a couple of links for removing We recommend deleting individual Deleting your Facebook account is much
Google services (our links were for Google services instead. You can delete less dramatic than ditching Google. You
removing Gmail and Google Books, Gmail, YouTube and other Google can easily back up all your posts and
because wed logged into those servers services without having to resign photos (as outlined above), and Facebook

DELETE 15 ACCOUNTS IN 15 MINUTES

AMAZON GENES REUNITED
Use the Contact form (www.snipca.com/ Log in and ask the team to delete your
13997) to ask for your account to be closed. account (www.snipca.com/14005).

APPLE GMAIL
Contact Apple (www.snipca.com/13998) Log into Gmail, then go to the
and ask them to close your Apple ID account. Google accounts page (www.snipca.
com/13984) and click Remove Gmail
DROPBOX permanently. Do the same to delete
Click this link (www.snipca.com/13999), other individual Google services,
log in and complete the secure form. including Google+.
steps at www.snipca.com/14010, then
EBAY GROUPON contact Customer Service (www.snipca.
Click request to close your account (www. Click If you have general questions Click com/14015) to ask for your account to
snipca.com/14001), log in and choose a here (www.snipca.com/14006) and ask be removed.
reason for leaving. for your account to be closed.
TWITTER
FLICKR OUTLOOK.COM Go to Settings (www.snipca.com/14009)
Log into www.snipca.com/14003, Log in and click Deactivate account. and click Deactivate my account.
complete the captcha and click Terminate
this Account. This closes your Yahoo and PAYPAL YAHOO
Flickr accounts, and deletes your photos. First, withdraw any money from your See Flickr (and screenshot above).
account or youll lose it. Then click Prole,
FRIENDS REUNITED Account Information, Close Account. YOUTUBE
Click Remove my account from Friends To delete your YouTube channel and
Reunited, then ask Customer Care (www. SKYPE www.skype.com uploaded videos, go to www.snipca.
snipca.com/14004) to delete your data. Remove your personal info using the com/14008 and click Delete channel.

29 October 11 November 2014 55

 Remove personal info from the web

isnt responsible for as many elements

of your online life as Google. Its just
Facebook, after all.
Try telling Facebook that. It strongly
discourages you from deleting your
account, urging you to deactivate it
instead. Deactivating your Facebook
account is like a turbo version of hiding
all your posts, and prevents anyone
including you seeing your Timeline.
Go to your security settings (www.
snipca.com/13992) and click Deactivate
your account. All your data remains
on Facebooks servers and you can Click Deactivate your account to hide your Facebook profile until you log in again
reactivate your account at any time
by logging back in. marks) and username into the search on Just Delete Me (http://justdelete.me)
To delete your account, go to www. box to nd account sign-up emails and Account Killer (www.accountkiller.
snipca.com/13993 and click Delete my going back years. com). Theyre very similar tools, each
account. Some of your data will stay on A few third-party tools make the listing scores of direct links to websites
Facebooks servers for up to 90 days, and search easier. Type your most-used Delete account pages and giving advice
certain content youve sent to friends, usernames into the search box at on how dicult it is to remove your
such as messages, may still be visible. KnowEm (http://knowem.com), data, but they cover a slightly dierent
and the site will reveal where those range of sites. The Where to delete an
Track down old accounts usernames are registered. The account browser extension (www.snipca.
youd forgotten about greyed-out links indicate sites where com/13971, Chrome only), from the
One way to track down old accounts is your username is registered. Chances makers of Just Delete Me, takes you
to search your webmail archive are, its you. straight to a sites account-deletion page
(assuming you havent deleted it). Type If you cant nd the Delete account when you click the small coloured dot
phrases like conrm email (with quote links on any of these sites, look them up in the address bar.
We found this worked brilliantly with
accounts that are easy to delete, such as
Gmail and other Google services, but not
so well with websites that you have to
contact with a deletion request, such as
Amazon, Skype and the original UK
social network, Friends Reunited. You
can contact these sites customer-service
departments using the links weve given
you (see box, page 55), but what next?
They tend to leave you to work out what
to do. This isnt by accident they dont
want to lose your custom or your info
from their database.
Our advice is to give your username
and email address in the contact form
or via email, and ask for your account
to be closed and all associated data to
be deleted. Never give your account
password in an email to customer
services they dont need it and they
should never ask for it, even if you
Go straight to a sites Delete account page by clicking links on Just Delete Me want to close your account.

ON SALE
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HIDDEN AREAS
Best free tools to optimise every part of your computer
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56 29 October 11 November 2014

PART 1

First 100 days of

Windows 10
Microsofts new operating system has arrived (sort of),, and
a
Jane Hoskyn will spend the next three months trying it out. Heres
the first instalment of her Windows 10 Technical Preview
ew ddiaries
iaries

Week 1: Hello, Windows 10 machine so unloved Id appreciate it

I hate surprises, and I hesitate to disagree more if used to replace the broken tile
with my colleague Stuart Andrews in my bathroom. It fails at basic cursor
(see Final Straw, Issue 434), but I love control and displays the Desktop the
Windows 10. The name, I mean. wrong way up about 30 per cent of the
Its neat, round and condent. Almost time. If Windows 10 breaks it, itll be
as neat and round as Windows One, doing us all a favour.
which would have looked so good on the
bookshelf next to Xbox One and OneDrive, Day 7, 4am
had it not disqualied itself some time Wake up. Create a system restore point,
Downloading the Windows 10 installation file
ago by being the name of a previous just in case. Go back to sleep. requires patience and good Wi-Fi
incarnation (www.snipca.com/14027, see
screenshot below). Windows 10 its Week 2: Downloading the technical experts.
Windows 9, but One better (You can Technical Preview My woeful Wi-Fi hates the enormous
have that one for free, Microsoft.) In return for my kindness towards its 2.9GB installer on sight and point-blank
According to our lead Workshop in controversial name, Windows 10 hits refuses to download it, so I try again on
Issue 434, I can install this glossy new me round the face with a pig of an my Windows 7 PC. The le still takes an
operating system right now, provided Ive installation process. hour to download via cabled broadband
got a couple of hours to spare and dont It all starts innocuously enough, as I log to transfer to a USB stick.
mind risking my PCs life by lling it with into Microsoft via the time-honoured With heavy heart, I return to my laptop.
what is essentially a massive beta. The route of getting my password wrong, My heart is heavy not because Im about
truth is, I cant install Windows 10 now, clicking Cant access your account? to stab Windows 8.1 in the back (via a
and nor can you. But we can install the and waiting for a password-reset link. USB 2.0 socket), but because I condently
Windows 10 Technical Preview, which is Eventually, Im in and ready for my expect that none of this will work.
close enough to qualify for bragging next challenge getting into the Oh me of little faith.
rights. For the sake of brevity, Ill refer to Windows Insider Program. When I plug the USB into my laptop
it as Windows 10 from here on in. The rst rule of Windows Insider and double-click the installer le, it
Our Workshop recommends installing Program is, you must join Windows automatically creates a virtual DVD drive
Windows 10 on a virtual drive to avoid Insider Program before downloading and opens its contents in File Explorer. I
destabilising your PC. With apologies for Windows 10. The Program is essentially a nd myself staring at a list of les and
outing yet another colleagues advice, beta-testing group, and its designed to folders called boot, e, setup and the
Ive decided to forego the virtual drive gather users feedback. A cynic might like. Ive no idea what to do next. For the
and install Windows 10 directly onto suggest this is so Microsoft can blame us rst time in perhaps two decades, I wish
my Window 8.1 laptop partly out of if their OS turns out to be rubbish. an installation wizard would appear out
laziness, partly to see what will happen, The instructions state that I have to of nowhere and lure me into its
and partly out of spite for my laptop, a download the Windows 10 installer le, interminable tick boxes. With nothing to
copy it to a USB and install it from there. lose but a useless laptop and possibly my
There are lots of download links to job, I double-click setup and cross my
choose from, and I go for English (United ngers and Im in.
Kingdom) 32-bit because I dont trust my
laptop to handle the 64bit version, and Windows 10 so far: 5/10
because I dont want my new Desktop to I love a new operating system, and Im
spell colour wrong. Theres not an awful very partial to the name, but installing
lot of guidance on the Microsoft website the Technical Preview is more time-
about which download link is right for consuming than Id anticipated. The new
Windows 1.0 not to be confused with you, presumably because they expect Start button still feels a long way o.
Windows 10 users of the Technical Preview to be

Next issue Jane rediscovers the Start button 29 October 11 November 2014 57
 New ways to
recover deleted files
File-recovery tool Recuva is one of our favourite programs ever, but there are some
things it cant do. Jane Hoskyn finds free tools that recover what Recuva cant

R
ecently weve shown you how to featured in our recent list of 20 best free
wipe adware from your PC, programs of all time (Issue 431). If youve
remove old software and even never used it before, give it a go. Its very
deep-clean the internet (see our easy to download and install, lets you
cover feature, page 50). But not all les recover all sorts of le types including ZIP
deserve to be removed, and weve all les and emails, and guides you through
experienced that stab of horror when the process with a clear, informative
weve deleted the wrong photo or wizard. It even adds a Scan for deleted
document or an entire folder of them. les option to your right-click menu in
The rst obvious damage-limitation Windows Explorer and the Recycle Bin.
strategy is to check the Recycle Bin (not As recovery programs go, its very hard to
always the answer, especially if youre in beat. But is it impossible to beat?
the habit of emptying it immediately after We set ourselves a challenge: nd free
UndeleteMyFiles recovers more deleted files
lling it). The next obvious step is to run tools that recover what Recuva cant. It than Recuva but its only free for 10 days
Recuva (www.piriform.com/recuva). turned out to be quite a challenge. Read
Piriforms popular free tool is so good it on to nd out which programs reach the The one program that managed to
parts that Recuva cant and restore a few of our unrecoverable
why, ultimately, you shouldnt les was the portable program
stop using this excellent tool. UndeleteMyFiles (UMF) (www.snipca.
com/14071). Its File Rescue tool is very
Recover les that similar to Recuva it scans your chosen
Recuva cant drive for deleted les, tells you which
Hundreds, if not thousands, of ones it can recover, then lets you save
the les that Recuva detects in them to your PC. You can see les in a
the depths of your hard drive folder-tree view, which is easier to
are designated unrecoverable. navigate at a glance than Recuvas list.
This means that Recuva has As well as File Rescue, UMF has a
found them, but cant restore Deleted File Search tool for quickly
them to your PC. Surely theres unearthing specic deleted les, and a
a tool that can bring them back Files Wiper tool for deleting sensitive
Many of the deleted files Recuva finds are unrecoverable from the dead? les permanently, so they can never be

58 29 October 11 November 2014

 THE HIDDEN COST OF FREE FILE-RECOVERY SOFTWARE
File-recovery tools are often much com/14057) and iPhone
less free than they claim to be. They Backup Extractor (www.
download for free, they scan for free snipca.com/14058) both
and they nd lost les for free but if claim to extract photo and
you want to save those lost les, you video les from iTunes
have to pay. backups for free another
We rst noticed this trend when useful function thats
using EaseUS MobiSaver Free (www. missing from Recuva. We
snipca.com/14037) to recover deleted downloaded the programs,
photos and texts from our Android ran them, got our hopes up
tablet (theres also an iOS version: and... you guessed it were
www.snipca.com/14038). It works a asked to cough up.
treat, up to the point when it asks for Repeating this pattern
$39.95 (25) to let you save your les. EaseUS MobiSaver, like many recovery tools, hides its true over and over is frustrating.
We scoured the Licence Agreement for cost in the small print Worse, its bad for your PC.
the free version and found this sneaky Wed advise steering clear
clause: If you wish to save recovered oppy disks for deleted les, unlike Recuva. of free programs whose claims seem too
les, you must purchase the full Its setup wizard also contains a couple of good to be true. There may be les that
version (see screenshot, right). PUPs (Save2PC and AnyTV). Recover Files Recuva cant recover, but its a powerful,
A similar clause appears in the gets great reviews on download mirror sites, reliable program that lives up to its
licence for Recover Files (www.snipca. but were not going near it again. claims. If you only ever use one recovery
com/14035), which can even scan iTunes Photo Extractor (www.snipca. program, Recuva is still your best bet.

recovered by anyone. damaged. As long as you can switch

But theres a catch. Despite claiming your computer on, PhotoRec will
everywhere on its website that its free recover data from it.
(Free absolutely free, no joke), On the downside, PhotoRec isnt
UMF is just a trial program. You can exactly slick. Its program window
use it and all its features for 10 days is a Command Prompt-style text box
before you have to register (software- that you navigate using your arrow
speak for pay). This is less reprehensible keys and Enter. In some respects, this
than the many le-recovery programs is a virtue it gives you a sense of
that claim to be free until you actually control and makes the program faster
try to save any les (see box, above), than any of the other scanning tools
but its still dishonest. Were happy to we mention here, including Recuva. Using ClipX, press Ctrl+Shift+V to restore
pay for good software, but only if its If you need advice, head for the overwritten Clipboard text and photos
not dressed up as free. excellent PhotoRec Wiki and Forum
(www.snipca.com/14061). those of us in the habit of copying text
Recover les from old and to our Clipboard and forgetting to paste
damaged PCs Recover overwritten it somewhere before overwriting it. But
Recuva works on any version of Windows Clipboard clips the brilliant free Clipboard manager
since 98, which is impressive but Wed always assumed that overwriting ClipX (www.snipca.com/14062) proves
open-source program PhotoRec (part of is the one guaranteed way to delete that even overwritten Clipboard clips
the TestDisk partition-recovery program, data permanently, without any hope of can be resurrected.
www.snipca.com/14060) goes several recovering it, which was bad news for ClipX is a tiny (65KB) program that
steps further by recovering runs quietly in the background, storing
deleted les on Windows 95 all your cuts and copies until you press
and MS-DOS computers, as Ctrl+Shift+V to open your Clipboard
well as Linux and Mac. And history. Use your arrow keys to select
its genuinely free, honest. the text or photo youd copied and
Despite its name, PhotoRec overwritten, then press Enter to copy it
doesnt just recover deleted back to your Clipboard, ready for pasting
photos. It can scour local into any supported program.
drives, external drives, CDs Note that ClipX can only start saving
and digital-camera memory Clipboard clips from the moment you
cards for deleted videos, install it. Were still waiting for a tool that
documents and archive les, can restore every single Clipboard item
even if the data or device has Get deleted files from your oldest PC using Command weve ever overwritten. Now theres a
been reformatted or severely Prompt-style tool PhotoRec program wed pay good money for.

29 October 11 November 2014 59

 Create multiple
virtual desktops
open a whole new set of programs on
You dont need a second monitor to get loads more desktop 2, and switch instantly between
Desktop space. Robert Zak reveals the best free the two desktops by clicking their system
tools for creating virtual desktops tray icons. To set up another virtual
desktop, just click 3.
Any open programs continue running

O
ne of the key features of the useful ways to set up virtual desktops, in the background on your desktops until
newly unveiled Windows 10 is a and the best free tools for the job. you close the programs or Tri-Desk-A-Top
built-in virtual desktop tool, as
introduced by Microsoft in an Set up two extra desktops
ocial video (www.snipca.com/14022). Free new tool Tri-Desk-A-Top (www.
Unless youve seen this technology in snipca.com/13967) is a good introduction
action, youd be forgiven for wondering to virtual desktops, and lets you set up
what a virtual desktop is. Multiple two virtual desktops in addition to your
desktops would be a more apt phrase. default Windows Desktop.
When youve set up a couple of virtual Once youve installed and opened it,
desktops on your PC, you can switch three icons (1, 2 and 3) appear in your
between them and instantly access system tray. Each number corresponds to
dierent desktop layouts, each with their a dierent virtual desktop. Desktop 1 is
own open programs. It eectively gives your default.
you a second screen to work on. Some If you double-click the 2 icon, your
virtual desktop tools let you create three, Windows Desktop will disappear, along
four, ve or more desktops, each of which with every shortcut on it, to be replaced
you can use for a dierent purpose by a blank virtual desktop. Dont panic!
work, play, photo editing and so on. Your programs are still open on desktop Click the 1, 2 and 3 icons to switch between
Here well show you some of the most 1, just as you left them. You can now Desktops using Tri-Desk-A-Top

60 29 October 11 November 2014

 Create multiple virtual desktops

(right-click one of the icons

and click Exit Tri-Desk-
A-Top), so be aware that this
may slow your computer
down. Any shortcuts you
create on your virtual desktops
remain in place after you close
and re-open the desktops.
If you want even more
desktop space and an
even quicker way to
switch between them,
download Desktops 2.0
from Microsofts website
(www.snipca.com/13962).
It lets you assign number
keys or Function keys (F1,
F2 and so on) to switch
between up to four desktops.

Switch quickly between Get a quick preview of all your virtual desktops in Dexpot
several desktops
Dexpot (www.snipca.com/14034) is a swipe right, the cursor appears on the Customise your virtual desktops
more advanced tool that has loads of left of the new desktop). This really Dexpot has powerful customisation
options for customising up to 20 virtual makes it feel as though youre moving options that make your PC more
desktops. When installing it, choose from one monitor to the next. To set organised and even safer. You can give
Custom installation and untick the box this up, right-click Dexpots system tray each virtual desktop its own background,
to avoid installing the Opera browser. icon and click Settings. Click Controls, screensaver and resolution, and you can
Despite Dexpots wealth of tweakable go to the Mouse switch tab, then tick even assign it a password.
options, you dont have to delve deep into Activate mouse switch. If you nd that you tend to use specic
its settings to quickly preview all your The trouble with swiping to switch programs and folders with each desktop
desktops. Open Dexpot, and all the desktops is that its all too easy to switch (for example, your Photos library and
virtual desktops (four by default, until by accident. Free program VirtuaWin Paint.NET), use Dexpot to make them
you create more) will appear stacked on (www.snipca.com/13960; click the top open automatically when you open one
your Taskbar. Hover your mouse over the download link) guards against this by of your desktops. To do this, open Dexpot
stack to see a thumbnail of each virtual letting you set keyboard keys that you and right-click its system tray icon. Click
desktop, then click one to go to it. have to press at the same time as swiping Congure Desktops, choose a desktop
You can also set up keyboard shortcuts your mouse to the edge of your screen and rename it Photos desktop. Click the
to switch between desktops in Dexpot. (left or right only). Background tab, click Browse and choose
Right-click its system tray icon, click Once youve installed VirtuaWin, a background for the desktop. You can
Settings, click Controls, then click the + right-click its system tray icon (a green even give it its own screensaver.
next to Switch desktop. Here you can set square), click Setup, go to the Mouse Next, choose which programs you want
up shortcuts to go directly to specic tab and tick Enable mouse desktop to open automatically when you switch to
desktops, or to scroll through them. changing. Move the slider to set the Photos desktop. Click the Start-Up tab,
time it takes for your mouse-swipe to Browse, then navigate to a program that
Swipe your mouse to open a virtual desktop and use the you want to open automatically with the
switch desktops modier key setting to choose a key desktop. Select it then click Apply.
Dexpot lets you switch between virtual to press when swiping. Finally, to add a password to Photos
desktops by swiping desktop so no one else who uses
your mouse to the your computer can tamper with your
edges of your Desktop. work click the Properties tab, then
You move seamlessly to type your password into the box.
a new desktop by If you dont need this multitude
moving your mouse to of options and just want to have
the left, right, top or dierent backgrounds for dierent
bottom of your screen, desktops, try the free program
or to the corners. You Moo0 Multi-Desktop (www.snipca.
can also set the mouse com/13964). When youve installed
cursor to jump to the Moo0, a small bar with the numbers
opposite side of the 1-4 appears on your Windows
screen when you switch Desktop. Right-click the green
to a new desktop (for VirtuaWin lets you swipe your mouse between Desktops, with an extra Options icon to change wallpapers
example, when you key press to guard against accidental switching for dierent desktops.

29 October 11 November 2014 61

 Problems Solved
PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT Can I block emails
from certain
What password do I need for countries?
Windows 8?
Like countless others I get spam

Q
I have bought a new computer
that runs Windows 8. It
using credentials from an existing
Microsoft account, such as a Hotmail or
Q messages, most of which are
irritating rather than oensive.
appears that I need a Outlook.com username and password The originators of most of the stu
password to operate Windows 8 and well explain how to do so. appear to be based in Canada, but the
properly. My old computer runs Our guess is that youve set up messages (according to the country-of-
Windows XP and I never needed a your PC with a local account. If youre origin codes) come from Russia, eastern
password to access that. I contacted happy with that arrangement but Europe or Africa. I may be naive (for me,
Microsoft to ask for the password simply want to disable the need to computers are for working on rather
but I didnt get very far. I would log in with a password when you wake than taking apart), but is it possible to
appreciate any help you can give the PC, then this is possible. First, bar incoming emails with address codes
this ancient surfer. press the Windows key+C to open the from countries you know you have no
Alex Burness Charms bar, click Settings, then contact with?
Change PC settings. Next, click Ben Phillips
When Windows 8 is rst set Accounts followed by Sign-in options
A up it oers the option of two
login types a local account
and, under the Password policy
heading, click the Change button
A
There are ways to lter or block
messages based on their place of
or a Microsoft account. The latter is not followed by OK to conrm. origin but its unlikely to be an
a requirement but does enable the If, on the other hand, you want to eective anti-spam method. For starters,
downloading of apps from Microsofts use Windows 8/8.1 with a Microsoft many spammers spoof their email
Windows Store and the ability to sync account then you must follow a addresses and locations, so someone in
information between two or more dierent procedure. Bear in mind that Nigeria can make it appear their messages
Windows 8/8.1 computers. Youll also while no personal les and folders are originate from the UK, for example.
need to do this to upgrade Windows 8 at risk when switching from a local to a If you still want to try, the method you
to 8.1, if you are indeed using Microsoft account, wed advise backing use depends on the email tools at your
Windows 8 (any new PC purchased up just in case anything goes wrong. disposal. In recent versions of Outlook,
from around July onwards should have Next, proceed as above but instead of for example, select the Home tab on the
Windows 8.1 installed). clicking Sign-in options, click Your Ribbon, then choose Junk in the Delete
Either way, Microsoft cannot supply account followed by Connect to a group. Next, choose Junk E-mail Options
with you a password for a Microsoft Microsoft account. followed by the International tab. Click
account, as this will typically be chosen If you already have a Microsoft the Blocked Top-Level Domain List
by you when setting up Windows. It is account (i.e. Hotmail or Outlook.com) button and tick the relevant country
possible to log into Windows 8/8.1 then here you can simply type your boxes. Click OK twice.
username (such as alexburness@ Do remember to check Outlooks
hotmail.com) and the relevant Junk email folder regularly, just in case
password and click Next, followed by legitimate messages are being incorrectly
Switch to agree to turn your existing identied and ltered.
local account into a Microsoft account
this process will take a few moments.
Otherwise, if you dont have an
existing account, click the Create a
new account link (at the bottom of the
screen, under the marginally more
prominent Dont have an account?
heading) then ll in the personal-
details form, the additional-security
form and, nally, the communications-
preferences form and Captcha security
Set up the way you access your Windows 8 check, clicking Next at each turn.
PC via Sign-in options in Settings Finally, click Switch. In Outlook, block emails from certain locations
via your Junk E-mail Options

64 29 October - 11 November 2014

Our experts solve all your tech problems
Email us your problem and well try to help: [email protected]

How do I view backed-up photos with Picasa?

I have something like 50,000
Q photos stored on my laptop,
which I organise and view with
Google Picasa. Its clear to me now that I every time Picasa is launched; those with
should save the photos onto an external a green tick are indexed just once, after
backup drive, as there is little storage you click OK in this dialogue box.
space left on my laptop. My question is: if As new additions to your setup, your
I have all my photos on an external drive, external drive (or drives) will appear in
how do I use Picasa on my laptop to sort the folder list with a red cross. To index
and view them as I do currently? the drive in Picasa, click it in the folder
Stephan Robertson list, then choose the Scan Always (see
screenshot) or Scan Once button. If you
A precise answer depends on want to index only specic folders or les
A
Use Picasas Folder Manager to manage
how you intend to arrange your photo files on external drives on an external drive, double-click the
les between your laptop and drive entry and scroll down to the folders/
external drives, but we can give you tell us which version of Picasa youre les, then click your choice of scan type.
general instructions. using but well assume its the latest (3.9). Click OK to close Folder Manager.
First, connect your external drive, then Open the File menu and choose Add Thats really all there is to it. However,
press Windows key+E to launch Windows Folder to Picasa to open the Folder if you disconnect an external drive then
Explorer and use this to move some or all Manager dialogue box. In the folder list Picasa will obviously be unable to index
of your photo folders to your external on the left youll see a list of locations. or display its contents, until its attached
drive (or drives theres no reason why Folders and drives that are currently again. If you want to prevent a drive or
you cant spread them over several indexed will have either a blue circular- folder from being scanned, return to the
devices, if that suits your purposes). arrow icon or a green tick: those Folder Manager dialogue box and choose
Now launch Picasa as usual. You didnt locations with the blue arrow are indexed Remove from Picasa.

Can I use USB for Samsung Galaxy S4 file transfers?

I am considering buying a USB button) then tap either Move or Copy
Q on-the-go (OTG) cable for use
with my Samsung Galaxy S4
(wed suggest Copy to be on the safe
side until you get the hang of it).
phone. Will this cable let me transfer Next, tap the entry of the destination
les between the microSD card on my storage device labelled SD memory
phone and a USB device connected via card in this example. Tap Copy here
the USB OTG cable. If so, how? (or Move here), or rst create a new
Keith Jones folder by tapping the Menu button
followed by Create folder.
Yes, is the quick answer. When Copying or moving the opposite way
A you attach a USB device, like a
thumb drive, to the female
is the same process, using My Files to
rst navigate to your microSD card.
end of the OTG cable your S4 will take a
moment to recognise it and then launch
Samsungs My Files app, which is a
basic le-management tool.
My Files will display the contents of
the attached USB device. Now long-
press a displayed le or folder until a
tick appears alongside. Tap the
tickboxes that appear to select more
les/folders if required. Tap the S4s Use Samsungs My Files app to transfer files
Menu button (to the left of the Home to and from your phone via USB

29 October - 11 November 2014 65

 Problems Solved
Is my cheap tablet just junk?
How do I stop I wish Id guidance. It is unlikely
this RunDLL Q listened to your that pressing any Reset

message? scepticism about

cheap tablets. I recently
button will wipe the
device completely, but we
bought one and, even cant say for sure.
I wonder if you can help. though it worked okay In terms of the rotation
Q Every time I restart my
Windows 7 PC I get the
for a few weeks, it will
now not rotate to
problem, perhaps you
have accidentally set
following message: Run DLL. There landscape mode. Im the orientation lock.
was a problem starting C:\users\ worried that if I press the We suspect your device
robert\appdata\local\conduit\ Reset button I might lose may have a physical
background container\background all the apps that came switch that locks this
container.dll. The specied module with it, including Google setting, but otherwise tap
could not be found. When I clear Play Store. Is this the case? Settings, Display and look
this message everything seems Also, while it does through the options there
normal again. What is this? Is it connect to the web it in the latest version of
anything to worry about? And sometimes tells me that Android, for example,
how do I stop this popping up on its not within range, tick the Auto-rotate
Unlock your tablets screen
every restart? even though all my other rotation in the Display settings screen option.
Robert Smith nearby devices connect Sadly, the Wi-Fi
to the same Wi-Fi network just ne. It problem is most likely down to poor
At some point in the past seems all but impossible to contact the build quality. A cheap tablet will
A the Conduit Search browser
hijacker has found its way
eBay seller who sold me the tablet. contain cheap components, including a
Harry Shaw basic antenna. Short of venturing inside
onto your system. Whether or not your tablet to replace the component
you were aware of its presence, You didnt tell us anything about (not recommended), all you can really
were guessing that your security
software has removed it, because
A the tablet other than it being do is move closer to your router or
cheap, so we cant oer detailed Wi-Fi hotspot.
this message relates to Conduit and
some of its behaviours. To be sure,
update your security software
immediately and run a full scan.
How do I get PC sound on my HDMI TV?
Even though your security I have an Acer Aspire
software has removed the threat,
some digital traces have been left
Q 5738Z laptop with
Windows 7. I can
behind. To clean up this message, connect it to my TV via an HDMI
click Start followed by Control lead to view photos and videos
Panel, System and Security, but I dont get any sound via the
Administrative Tools, and then TVs speakers. How do I get the
double-click Task Scheduler. Now audio signal through?
click Task Scheduler Library in the John Stoyles
left-hand navigation pane then scroll
through the list in the middle section This problem is usually
to nd the BackgroundContainer
tasks: right-click this, choose Delete
A caused by the failure to
set the TV as your PCs
and then click Yes to conrm. default audio-output device.
First, make sure your PC is
connected to your TV and that
your TV is displaying your PCs
screen. In Windows 7, click Start
followed by Control Panel then
Hardware and Sound. Next, Play your PCs audio through your TV by tweaking
your audio playback settings
click Manage audio devices in
the Sound section and select the
Playback tab. Here, you should see a list close the dialogue box.
of audio-output devices, including your Note that you may need to restart your
Remove traces of unwanted programs TV. Right-click the entry for your TV, media applications. Also remember to
using Task Scheduler choose Set as Default Device in the switch the default audio setting back to
pop-up menu and then click OK to your PC speakers afterwards.

66 29 October - 11 November 2014

How do I
connect a
monitor
without HDMI?
With advancing years I require
Q all the help I can get with my
eyesight. I read your glowing
review on the Dell UltraSharp U2412M
monitor (see Buy It section or Issue 378) the two for the display to work. You
and believe this is the device I need to probably already have this cable for your
overcome my diculties. However, I current monitor. You wont have sound
understand the device does not have an but the Dell UltraSharp U2412M doesnt
HDMI input and my Zoostorm PC does Connect an older PC to a newer monitor using have built-in speakers, so you wouldnt
not have a DVI output. an HDMI-to-DVI adapter cable get sound with HDMI or DVI anyway.
My online research suggests a cable However, be warned that with a VGA
or connector converter does not always You might be over-complicating connection the picture and colours will
work and DVI does not support sound.
The latter is relatively unimportant as I
A this problem. The UltraSharp
monitor includes a standard
not be as sharp and faithful as they
would with DVI, and if the cable is too
have a separate sound system, but I want 15-pin VGA socket, in addition to the DVI long then you might not be able to use
to know how to connect this monitor and HDMI connectors. So, assuming your the displays full resolution. If your PC
to my PC without spending a fortune. PC has a standard VGA output and has an HDMI output, then an alternative
Can you help? almost all PCs do then you need only to is to use an HDMI-to-DVI cable (from
Alan Orchard connect a standard VGA cable between around 6, www.snipca.com/13639).

How do I write email replies in a new window?

In my old email you want in
Q program (Outlook
Express) I could
Outlook 2013,
using one of two
hit the Reply button and a methods. If you
new window would open want to only
for me to compose my occasionally open
reply. My new Windows 8.1 replies in a new
computer came with window then click
Outlook 2013, but this Reply as normal,
doesnt work in the then click the Pop
same way. Out button above
For example, now the editing pane
when I hit Reply, the (Outlook 2013s
cursor appears within at design means
the program itself. this button is easily
This isnt a big problem overlooked). To
because I can still work on several
reply, but I nd it replies at once,
annoying, as I used to just repeat this for
be able to have several each one.
reply windows open at Alternatively, to
the same time when the Make sure every reply in Outlook 2013 opens in a new window via the Mail tab make sure every
need arose (I found this reply always opens in
useful for cross-referencing). Outlook Express is no longer a new window, click File, then Options.
Can I do this in the new Outlook?
Or is there any way to put Outlook
A supported by Microsoft and
will not work in Windows 8.1,
In the dialogue box that appears, select
the Mail tab and scroll down to the
Express onto Windows 8.1? It seemed so were afraid youll have to forget Replies and forwards section. Tick the
much simpler! about resurrecting it on your new PC. Open replies and forwards in a new
Paul Arthurs However, its easy to achieve what window box and click OK.

29 October 11 November 2014 67

 Just
15!
(include
s p&p)

Read Computeractive
back issues on CD!
Buy Volume 16 Every issue in 2013
e
Collect every issue NEW
of Computeractive e !
from 2013 on one
easy-to-use CD
Youll nd every feature, review
and Workshop, with an option
to search all 26 issues using
keywords.

If you havent bought the 2012 CD

yet, you can add it to your order
for an extra 5, making a total
cost of 20.

Buy it online at:

www.snipca.com/11910
How do I deal with my PCs slow-down problem?
I have a problem with The highlighted service might be
Q something called svchost.exe
using a lot of memory and
recognisable, but in all likelihood
youll need to Google it to nd out what
slowing down my computer. What is its for and what to do next. If your
svchost.exe and what can I do to x research tells you the service is not
the problem? necessary, then you can disable it by
Rob Weeks right-clicking it and choosing Stop
Service. However, wed recommend this
The svchost.exe (or Service only if youre absolutely certain of your
A Host) process is used by
many Windows services and
research. A much safer option would be
to exit (or even uninstall) the related
is usually nothing to worry about. Indeed, program before restarting your PC.
there might be several instances of Bear in mind that some viruses
svchost.exe running at any one time, disguise themselves as svchost.exe.
each serving a dierent program. If Your security software should prevent
one or more of these instances are infections but, if youre suspicious,
taking up a lot of memory then right-click the svchost.exe entry in
further investigation is a good idea. Shut down processes that use a lot of Task Managers Processes tab and
Right-click any blank space on the memory in the Windows Task Manager choose Open File Location. The
Windows Taskbar and choose Task folder that opens in Windows
Manager. Select the Processes tab then problem (i.e. the one thats taking up a lot Explorer should be C:\Windows\
click the Show processes from all users of memory) and choose Go to Service(s). System32. If its anything else then
button. Now scroll through the list to the Task Manager will open the Services tab, right-click the svchost.exe le in
group of svchost.exe processes. Right- highlighting the service thats related to Windows Explorer and choose your
click the one that you believe to be the the selected svchost.exe entry. security softwares scan option.

How do I run my Windows games on my Android tablet?

I recently bought a small You cannot do what you want require your tablet to have Wi-Fi access
Q Android tablet to take on
holiday and use as a games
A because the Android operating
system will not run programs
(or a fast and reliable 3G signal though
watch out for data charges). Though a
console. On my Windows PC I have a written for Windows. Theres no way complicated arrangement, it might just
couple of logic games that Id like to put around this its simply not possible. be sucient to play your logic games.
on the tablet, to help to keep the old However, it does sound as though the If this sounds tempting then you could
brain working. Ive tried to transfer them particular games are very simple so, in use the RemotePC (www.remotepc.net)
but no joy. To help, I bought a program theory at least, it might be possible to tool that we recommended to Eric
called 123 Copy, but Ive only managed to use an app on your Android tablet to Coulter in last issues Problems Solved.
transfer music les with this. How do I remotely access and control your Download the host app for your PC and
transfer my favourite Windows games? Windows PC. This means leaving your then install the Desktop Viewer app
Will Ong PC switched on all the time and would to your Android tablet: this is a free
download from the Google Play Store
(www.snipca.com/13594). The setup
process is pretty easy but if you need
detailed steps refer to the answer in
Issue 434.
ON SALE
NEXT ISSUE 12 Nov

Why wont my user prole load?

Why is my PC so sluggish?
How do I stop my PC waking up
on its own?
How do I deal with this TomTom
update error?
...And many more
Subscribe to Computeractive
Use RemotePCs free Desktop Viewer app to control your PC using your tablet at getcomputeractive.co.uk

29 October 11 November 2014 69

 Fast Fixes

Kindle
Screen stops responding
If your Kindles screen is displaying the
Fix unresponsive screens, make your
battery last longer and read EPUB books

screensaver and your device stops

responding, it usually means the battery
needs a recharge. However, if the screen
fails to respond while youre using it (for
example, reading a book or browsing the
Kindle Store), your Kindle has most likely
crashed. To get it working again, hold
down the power button for 20 to 30
seconds. This makes your Kindle reboot,
rather than shut down (you wont lose
any data doing this). First the screen will
go blank, and then youll see a loading bar Switch off Device Synchronisation if you and someone who shares your account are reading the
as the Kindle starts up again. The process same book
may take a couple of minutes before it
turns back on. This force-reboot x can The furthest page read is and hold the message until the option
also get your Kindle working again if its wrong Delete from Device appears, then tap
become slow to respond when turning You can skip straight to the furthest that. If youre using a non-touchscreen
pages or navigating through menus. page read on your Kindle, and by default Kindle, navigate to the message, press the
this page is synchronised across all the right button on your directional pad and
Battery drains too fast Kindle devices that use the same account, click Delete from Device.
All Kindle models are renowned for their as well as Kindle apps on your PC and
impressive battery life. For example, other devices. So if youre sharing an EPUB ebooks wont load
if you read for half an hour each day, it account with family or friends, and If you like to download free ebooks
should last two weeks before needing a theyre reading the same book as you, online, youll be frustrated by the fact
recharge. If you nd the battery doesnt the furthest page read may be the page that your Kindle doesnt support EPUB.
survive that long, it may be because your theyve reached, not the one youve This popular open-source format is used
Kindle is constantly looking for Wi-Fi reached. Youll also see their highlights for most ebooks from free sources such as
networks (or mobile networks if you have and comments as well as your own. the Open Library (www.openlibrary.org)
the 3G model) in the background. If you To x this, turn o the synchronisation and Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org). You
have Wi-Fi switched on all the time, (Whispersync) feature. Go to your wont be able to open EPUB les on your
whenever you are out of range of any Amazon account on your PC, click Your Kindle unless you convert them rst. To
network, your Kindle will still try to Account, Manage Your Content and do this, install the free ebook program
connect to a network, and these eorts Devices, then click Settings. Scroll down Calibre (www.snipca.com/13832) on your
will drain your battery. to Device Synchronization, click the PC to convert your EPUB books to Kindle
To x this, go to Settings (press Menu dropdown menu and select OFF (see format. Open Calibre, plug in your Kindle
on a non-touchscreen Kindle to see screenshot, above). If you like reading (Calibre will recognise it automatically),
Settings, or the three horizontal lines at across multiple devices, you can turn this then click Add books. Select the EPUB
the top-right corner of a touchscreen feature back on when youre no longer books stored on your PC, click Send to
Kindle), then tap the Airplane Mode reading the same book as someone else. device and click Yes when asked if you
slider to switch o all wireless want to auto-convert the books.
connections. To prolong your battery life, Kindle says you have a
stay in Airplane Mode until you need to credit-card problem
download content. To switch connections If you keep seeing a message on your
back on, just tap the slider again. Kindle home screen telling you There
was a problem with your credit card,
youre experiencing a common problem
thats easily resolved. This tends to
happen if the card details youve entered
are incorrect or the card has expired, but
the message may continue to show up
Activate Airplane Mode to prevent your Kindle even after youve updated your details. If Convert EPUB ebooks to read on your Kindle
searching for Wi-Fi networks all the time youre using a touchscreen Kindle, tap device by using the free program Calibre

70 29 October 11 November 2014 Next issue Fast Fixes for Printers

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72 29 October 11 November 2014

Jargon Buster
32bit A measure of how much Crowdsourcing Obtaining ideas, Miracast A standard for RAM Random-access memory.
information a computer can info or money from a large group connecting a computer to a TV or The computers working area,
process at once. Most older of people, usually online, rather monitor wirelessly. used for data storage while the
computers are 32bit. than from more traditional sources. PC is switched on. Its capacity is
MP4 A type of digital movie le measured in megabytes (MB):
64bit A technology that processes Download mirror A website that often used for portable players. the more memory your PC has,
information in larger chunks. Most contains the same downloadable the more things it can process
modern computers are 64bit. software as others, bundled in a NAS Network-attached storage. A simultaneously and the faster it
branded installer. hard drive attached to a network will seem. Any information in RAM
720p A common resolution of HD that can be shared by other PCs. will be lost when the power is
video: 1280x720 pixels. dpi Dots per inch. A measure of switched o.
printed image quality, or the size Noise Visible dust-like speckles
802.11n A standard for wireless an object will be shown on screen. that appear in some camera and Raw A format for digital photos
networks that allows for high TV images. In photos, they are that stores the image exactly as
transfer speeds. Dual core When two processors caused by the cameras sensor. the camera captured it, without
are combined into a single chip. compression or optimisation, but
ADF Automatic Document OCR Optical character recognition. which is not compatible with all
Feeder. A device that feeds sheets DVI Digital Visual Interface. A The process by which printed text image editors.
of paper into a photocopier or common type of display connector is scanned and converted into
scanner, one by one. that can carry a digital signal. documents that can be edited. Remote-code execution When
a hacker is able to start a program
Aperture An opening that controls Exposure The amount of light Open source Software that can running on a remote computer.
the amount of light entering a collected by a cameras sensor. be modied by anyone, rather
camera lens. than just by the employees of the Resolution The amount of detail
Extension A program that adds company that created it. shown in an image, whether on
API (or Platform) Application extra features to your browser. screen or printed.
Programming Interface. A system Overwrite A way of ensuring data
built into a program so that other Firmware Basic software stored is securely erased by writing new SD card Secure Digital card. A
programs can work with it. on a device, such as a music data or nonsense data in place of popular type of memory card.
player, to control its operation. the data to be deleted.
App launcher An app that changes Can sometimes be upgraded in a Sensor The part of the camera
how the Android homescreen process often called ashing. Parallel cable Normally used to that captures each image.
looks and works, especially for connect a PC to a printer, but also Analogous to a piece of lm on
managing and opening apps. HDMI High-denition media used to link two PCs together. a lm camera.
interface. A type of connection that Parallel cables allow data to be
Beta A version of software thats transmits high-denition video and swapped between computers at a System Restore Point The
being tested. Beta versions are audio signals. It is found on many higher speed than serial cables. collection of system les stored
often released so problems can be new TVs, media PCs and high- by System Restore on a given date
ironed out. denition products such as Blu-ray Partition A large hard drive can and time to which Windows can
disc players and the PlayStation 3 be split into two or more partitions revert if a problem occurs.
BIOS Basic Input-Output System. and Xbox 360 games consoles. or virtual drives. Once partitioned,
Essential software built into each section is treated by Windows Tag A keyword used to describe a
every PC that connects the vital IMAP Internet Message Access as though it were a completely le or web page. Many programs
components. Its visible for a few Protocol. A method for email that separate, smaller hard drive. use tags to organise related
seconds when the PC starts. lets the user manage messages information quickly.
stored on a remote server. Phablet A smartphone with
Bookmarklet A small, very simple a screen size that is midway USB 2.0 Faster successor to USB
program stored as a bookmark in ISO A type of image le that between that of a typical thats used by devices such as
your web browser. contains all the data from a CD smartphone and a tablet. external hard drives.
or DVD disc.
Bootable A DVD with system les Processor The processor or USB 3.0 A faster version of the
on it so it can be used to start up Megapixel A measure of the central processing unit is the USB standard used to connect
your computer. amount of detail that can be brain of a computer. Processors devices to a computer.
recorded by a digital image. A now are tiny and capable of
Cache A temporary space for one-megapixel image is made millions of calculations per second. VGA Video Graphics Array. A
storing information. Can be up of a million dots (pixels). standard socket for connecting a
memory used on a computer PUP Potentially Unwanted monitor to a computer.
processor, or space on a hard drive Metadata A set of data that gives Program. Malware which has been
used by a web browser. information about a le. unknowingly installed by the user Web apps Programs that arent
in addition to a desired download. stored on your computer, but on
CSC Compact system MFP Multifunction Device. A a web server instead and run
cameras. A camera that uses combined printer and scanner. Quad core A computer that through your web browser.
interchangeable lenses, but doesnt has four processors on a single
have a viewnder that uses a MicroSD card A small type of chip, which allows it to operate Widget A small program such
mirror. Oers many of the benets memory card. Can be converted to faster than standard (single-core) as a calendar that runs on the
of a DSLR without the size and cost. SD size using an adapter. computers. Windows Desktop.

29 October 11 November 2014 73

 The Final Straw STUART ANDREWS is
Computeractives Mr Angry
Stuart Andrews doesnt want to be stuck in @SATAndrews

iPhone queues
E
very year Im amazed by the queues
outside Apple when a new iDevice
is launched. In September around a
thousand people waited outside Apples
Covent Garden and Regent Street stores
for the iPhone 6, some camping out for
days. Even those who merely waited
overnight endured thunder and rain.
Why? To be among the rst to own a
gadget they could have bought online.
Of course, new iPhones will sell out,

What is it that inspires

grown men to fly to
thing. Seriously, ladies and gentlemen: men and women behave like Moonies or
Australia so they can Apple launches a new one every year! adolescents. But then there is one thing
buy an iPhone 6 before I dont have anything against the new
iPhones. Ive heard theyre the best Apple
that makes me even more depressed than
all this nonsense, and thats the attitude it
anyone else? has produced in years. Personally, Id inspires in Android geeks. For every
rather save myself 500 and buy a Moto review of the new iPhones youll see a
G, but there are plenty of people out there mass of vitriol, stating that theyre
who disagree. I just dont understand the rubbish, produced in sweatshops and
veneration it generates. Does owning an bought by mindless sheep.
iPhone really make people feel that good? Curiously, you never read these
and there might be a few days wait It seems to. What else could prompt the comments about Android phones. They,
involved, but is it worth all that eort to normally brilliant Stephen Fry to babble of course, are hand-built in excellent
get your new phone before everyone else? on in The Guardian about exquisite working conditions by well-paid sta
Some think so. A chap called Sam dimensions and the best and most who cant stop smiling, then sold at cost
Sheikh was the rst in the Covent Garden beautiful mobile telecom technology ever to free-thinkers who work for the good of
queue to get his new iPhone, having yet produced? What is it that inspires mankind. Oh. Sorry. It turns out that
joined it the week before. Im getting a grown men and women to y to Australia theyre just another smartphone made in
feeling of success and victory, he told cue 2,000-strong queues so they can similar factories and sold with slightly
reporters, comparing the experience with buy an iPhone 6 before anyone else? lower prot margins to rival geeks.
last year, when his failure to get a gold Some of those queuing outside Covent When I remember this, I feel kinder
iPhone had left him feeling like a loser. Garden were told they might not even get towards those poor souls in the queue.
Good grief. There are a few things I their preferred iPhone, but stayed I might not understand them, but good
might queue overnight for, but they dont anyway. I wonder how many ended up luck to them I hope their new phones
include an iPhone 6. I can see why you buying their second or third-choice make them happy. But the Android
might do it for tickets to see a band who iPhone, just because they refused to go fanatics? Lighten up. Youre not ghting
perform live once a decade, or for the home empty-handed. injustice or exposing corruption, merely
chance to see your football team win the For some reason the iPhone inspires getting cross about another Apple phone.
FA Cup. But a new iPhone? It wont look the sort of senseless adoration that only
or feel any dierent if you get it one week cult leaders, heart-throb actors and pop Do you agree with Stuart?
later, and its hardly a once-in-a-lifetime groups attract. It makes normally sensible Let us know at [email protected]

74 29 October 11 November 2014 Next week Stuart cant understand Captchas

 David
1995 - 2012
Brain tumours are
the biggest cancer
killer of children and
adults under 40.

Text HOPE to 70123

to donate 5*

Together, we can
defeat brain tumours

thebraintumourcharity.org
*For terms and conditions visit thebraintumourcharity.org/waystodonate
The Brain Tumour Charity 2014. Registered Charity no. 1150054 (England and Wales) SC045081 (Scotland)
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