Sanet.st.Computeractive_-_Issue_664,_1629_August_2023 (2)

Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 51 SYSTEM TOOLS YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO PAY FOR been neglected since Avast bought its developer, Piriform, and some features are only available in its Professional edition. The best free open-source option for recovering data is PhotoRec (www. snipca.com/47017), which despite its name doesn’t only restore deleted photos. It can scan hard drives, USB sticks and memory cards for lost videos, documents and EXE files, and recover them even if the device has been formatted. You need to download PhotoRec with its sister program TestDisk, which restores lost partitions. Extract the contents of the ZIP file then double-click the ‘qphotorec. exe’ file – this adds a user interface to the command-line tool and is only available in the latest version (7.2). Select the drive you want to scan in the dropdown menu, then the relevant partition and specify whether you want to search only unallocated space or the whole partition. Choose the folder you want to restore files to, and click Search. PhotoRec will then find and recover all files deleted from that partition – it’s extremely thorough, so the results may take you a while to sift through. Defragment specific files and folders Although Windows has its own tool for defragmenting your hard drive, it restricts you to defragging entire partitions, which can take a long time. Sometimes you only want to defrag a specific file, folder or program to consolidate its data, free up space and make it open more quickly. Defragging specific items was one of Defraggler’s most useful tools, but that program was ruined when Avast bought Piriform – it hasn’t been updated for five years. A much better option is WinContig (www.snipca.com/47011), which lets you easily defragment files and folders by right-clicking them and choosing ‘Defragment selected items’ (see screenshot above). To add this option to File Explorer’s right-click menu, click the Tools menu in WinContig and choose ‘Install the shell extension’. The program supports FAT32 and NTFS file formats, and works with hard drives and SSDs (though items on the latter shouldn’t need defragging). It’s the developer’s only program, and is supported by donations rather than adverts. Completely uninstall unwanted software Finding the perfect free program to remove other software from your PC is trickier than you’d think. Some tools, most notably Revo Uninstaller, restrict useful features to their paid-for versions – including Force Uninstall, cleanup of leftover files and removal of browser extensions. Others, such as the brilliant O&O AppBuster (www.snipca.com/46027) are very easy to use, but are owned by companies that also sell commercial products, so there’s no guarantee they’ll always be free. We often recommend BC Uninstaller (www.bcuninstaller.com) as the most powerful tool of its kind, but if you find its feature-packed interface intimidating then HiBit Uninstaller (www.snipca. com/47008) might be a better choice. It’s friendlier and faster than BC Uninstaller, letting you remove multiple programs in one go simply by ticking their boxes and clicking Uninstall Selected (see screenshot top of page 52). Many additional options are available in the Tools menu including Force Uninstall, Junk Files Cleaner and File Shredder, as well as tools for removing Microsoft Store apps, Windows updates and browser extensions. These are all free to use, with nothing locked behind an Upgrade button. Czkawka is a thorough duplicate finder that doesn’t charge you to delete files Use PhotoRec to recover lost files without paying for the privilege Defragment specific files and folders on your PC for free using WinContig Find and remove duplicate files on your PC Freemium duplicate finders – such as Easy Duplicate Finder – are a particularly frustrating type of software. After scanning your hard drive for unnecessary copies of files, they then limit the number and type of items you can view and remove for free. For a truly free alternative, try the open-source tool Czkawka (www.snipca. com/47013), which searches faster and deeper than any duplicate finder we’ve used. Add the folders or drives you want to scan, then select the ‘Check method’ and click Search – ‘Hash’ finds files with matching contents, or you can look for items of the same name and/or size. Czkawka also lets you search for similar images (see screenshot above right), which you can preview in a panel on the right, as well as videos and audio files, empty files and folders, and more. Duplicates can be deleted or moved to another location. Downloading the program is a little confusing – even by GitHub’s standards. Visit the Releases page (www.snipca. com/47014), click ‘Show all 15 assets’ in the Assets section for the latest version (6.0 at the time of writing) and select ‘windows_czkawka_gui2.zip’. Extract the contents of the ZIP file, and double-click ‘czkawka_gui.exe’ to run Czkawka. In case you’re put off by the program’s odd name, ‘czkawka’ is Polish for ‘hiccup’ – the developer was intrigued to hear how non-Polish speakers would pronounce it! Recover lost photos and documents for free Most file-recovery tools restrict how much data you can restore without upgrading to their paid-for versions. Recuva (www.snipca. com/47016) is a notable exception, but as we explained in Issue 662 (page 19), it’s You’ll NEVER Have To Pay For SOFTWARE BEST PC

52 WingetUI offers a simple free way to install and update all your software Rufus lets you download and boot Windows ISO files from a USB stick HiBit Uninstaller makes it easy to completely remove unwanted programs Snappy Driver Installer Origin offers a free way to update your device drivers HiBit Uninstaller’s developer, Mohammed Raee, has a couple of other programs, including the equally useful HiBit Startup Manager (www.snipca. com/44640). However, he gives this one the most attention and - unlike Piriform - we can’t imagine he’ll ever sell out to a big corporation. Install and update multiple programs at once When companies offer free versions of their commercial software for personal use, there’s always a risk they’ll eventually ditch them. Such is our fear over the popular program updater Patch My PC (https:// patchmypc.com), which is free to home users but costs from $1,499 (£1,160) for businesses that want to keep all their employees’ software up to date. In fairness to Patch My PC, its free Home Updater has been available for 12 years, but as a backup plan we recommend WingetUI (www.snipca. com/46556). This free open-source tool allows you to install thousands of programs through the Windows Package Manager and other package managers including Chocolatey and Scoop. As well as searching WingetUI’s massive software directory on its Discover Packages tab, you can check for updates for programs you already have installed, just like in Patch My PC. On the Software Updates tab, tick the ‘Select all packages’ box (see screenshot below) then click ‘Update selected packages’ to check for and install updates. Keep your device drivers up to date Driver managers are another type of software that does half a job for free – scanning for outdated device drivers – then charges you to do the other half (actually updating them). Some, such as the dreadful IObit Driver Booster, also come bundled with junk and adverts for the company’s other products. One of the only driver updaters you can trust is the open-source Snappy Driver Installer Origin (SDIO, www.snipca. com/47015), which is completely free to use and free of junk and ads. Its developer emphasises this fact on its website, so don’t be fooled by similarly named tools that ask you to pay - and may contain malware. SDIO was Computeractive readers’ second favourite program of 2022, following our Workshop in Issue 630 and ‘Update your drivers’ Cover Feature in Issue 639 (read them both on our 2022 Back Issue CD: www.snipca.com/44660). If you’re unfamiliar with SDIO, you first need to install its 20MB indexes pack, which scans your PC to detect which drivers need updating. You can then review the results and decide which ones to update, before clicking the Install button (see screenshot above) – make sure you create a system restore point first. Recommended drivers are highlighted in bright green – ignore older and unsigned drivers that are shown in red. Create a bootable version of Windows on a USB stick Keeping a portable version of Windows on a USB stick allows you to reinstall the operating system if something goes wrong with your PC. Rufus (www.snipca.com/47012) is our favourite free tool for creating bootable USB drives and is frequently updated to make it easier to use and to bypass restrictions such as Microsoft’s strict requirements for running Windows 11. We also like that the developer behind Rufus, Pete Batard, is very honest about how he manages to keep the program free – and always will. On the Rufus website, he explains that he doesn’t use a donations system like other open-source programmers, because it can be “guilt inducing” for users, and instead relies on revenue from the two ads on the homepage (there are none in Rufus itself). “The fact I have the freedom to develop free software in my spare time should indicate that I’m well-off enough,” Pete says, thanking users for their “continuing support and enthusiasm about this little program”. To use Rufus, download an ISO file for an operating system from an official source, choose ‘Disk or ISO image’ in the ‘Boot selection’ menu and click Select to load it. Alternatively, click the arrow next to that button, choose Download and select the version of Windows you want to install (see screenshot above). Click ‘Start’ and, Rufus will erase and format your USB stick, and burn the ISO file to make the drive bootable. 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664

53 VIDEO & AUDIO TOOLS YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO PAY FOR Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 Download videos from websites for free ‘Free’ video downloaders are often too good to be true and hampered by hidden restrictions – unless you pay. Even the free version of the excellent 4K Video Downloader (www.snipca.com/46993) limits you to downloading 30 videos a day, one at a time. To unlock unlimited downloads and extra features, you need to pay £18 a year for its Lite plan or £24 for Personal. What’s more, there’s now a new version called 4K Video Downloader+ (www. snipca.com/46991), with a streamlined design and ‘enhanced’ features. Although you can use this for free (with restrictions), its paid-for editions require you to buy a new licence, even if you have one for the old version. The original 4K Video Downloader will remain available but will no longer be updated. Saddened by 4K Video Downloader’s aggressive promotion of its commercial software, we’ve turned instead to Vividl (www.snipca.com/46995). This new open-source tool lets you download videos from hundreds of websites – including YouTube – for free, with no limits on the number of daily downloads. Simply click the Add New Videos plus sign ( 1 in our screenshot below), paste the URLs of the videos you want to save and click Settings to specify the download format 2 , such as AVI, MP4 or MKV. Click the Download tab to set the maximum number of concurrent downloads (up to eight), then click OK and the respective download buttons to save the videos. Vividl isn’t as slick as 4K Video Downloader+, but it’s easy to use, downloads videos quickly and doesn’t restrict any options to a paid-for version – because there isn’t one. Convert videos to play on different devices Video converters are also notorious for restricting features to their paid-for versions, often without making this clear until you try an option. We’ve already mentioned how Icecream Video Converter recently started charging users to remove its watermark. Other freemium tools, such as Any Video Converter, limit the quality, length and/or formats of the videos you convert. For a truly free video converter that doesn’t charge you and never will, we recommend HandBrake (www.snipca. com/46990). This versatile, open-source tool has been around for 20 years and was most recently updated (to version 1.6.1) in January. It can convert virtually any video, including content from unprotected DVDs and Blu-rays, to the widely used formats MP4, MKV and WebM, and includes handy presets for converting videos to watch on different devices. These include settings for Android, Apple and Amazon Fire, as well as for email, social media and YouTube. To use the program, click ‘File’ on the Source Selection screen (click Open Source if you don’t see this), choose a video and HandBrake will show you a preview of its contents. Click the Preset menu to choose a format and quality to convert to, specify the folder where you want to save the converted video and click Start Encode (see screenshot above right). Record and edit audio files privately In our ‘Switch to private versions of software’ feature in Issue 649 (page 62), we explained how our favourite audio editor, Audacity (www.audacityteam. org), has raised privacy concerns since it was bought by Muse Group in 2021. Also, although it remains free and open source, Audacity is now integrated with Muse Group’s audio-sharing platform Audio.com. This makes it easy to share files with other people, but because you need to create a free account with the service, you’ll lose your anonymity by doing so. To get all the benefits of Audacity without passing your data to the ‘Muse Group family’, install Tenacity (www. snipca.com/47002) instead. Last time we wrote about this Audacity fork, it was still in beta, but it’s since released its first stable version (1.3). Tenacity is based on the last version of Audacity before it was bought by Muse Group and looks almost identical, with all the same options for recording, editing and enhancing audio files, but none of the privacy worries. To download Tenacity, visit www. snipca.com/47003 and click one of the ‘exe’ links under Downloads. The program opens in its default dark theme, but you can change this by clicking Preferences in the Edit menu (see screenshot below) and choosing a different theme on the Interface tab. Play audio files and rip CDs for free The highly anticipated comeback of Winamp (www.winamp.com) in April was a major disappointment. Rather than release a new version of the popular audio player, which had only been updated sporadically over the previous 10 years, Winamp’s owner Llama Group relaunched it as a streaming service. Download web videos without restrictions using the opensource tool Vividl HandBrake offers a completely free way to convert videos and will never charge you 1 2 Tenacity is a customisable fork of Audacity that isn’t owned by a data-gathering company You’ll NEVER Have To Pay For SOFTWARE BEST PC

54 Caption Landscape box use Box header Body Text Drop Cap xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx Body copy (indent) xxxxxxxxx xxxxx xx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxxx xxx xxxx xxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx Crosshead Body copy (indent) xxxxxxxxx xxxxx xx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxxx xxx xxxx xxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx Body copy (indent) xxxxxxxxx xxxxx xx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxx xxxxxx xxx xxxx xxx xxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxx Landscape box use 00 – 00 Month 2023 • Issue xxx This lets you listen to radio stations, podcasts, audiobooks and music by Winamp ‘creators’, but you can no longer play audio files stored on your PC. You also need to pay €50 (£43) a year to subscribe. Although the most recent version of the free desktop program (5.9.2) is still available from www.snipca. com/47019, it may eventually be removed. Thankfully, there are two similar alternatives to Winamp that are guaranteed to remain free. One is AIMP (www.aimp.ru), but as this has a Russian developer you may feel more comfortable using Foobar2000 (www.foobar2000. org). This open-source audio player has been around for nearly 20 years, but is still in active development and supports all the main audio formats. Foobar2000 lets you play and rip songs from CDs, stream internet radio stations (see screenshot below left) and tag tracks with information from an online database. It’s not immediately obvious how to use all its features, but you’ll find plenty of help in its wiki (www.snipca. com/47021) and subreddit (www. snipca.com/47022) pages. Record and stream videos for free Software for recording and streaming your own videos can be very expensive – for example, HitPaw Screen Recorder costs $50 (£39) – so it’s amazing that OBS Studio (www.snipca.com/47023) won’t cost you a penny. Maintained by open-source volunteers, but far more professionallooking than your average GitHub project, this powerful broadcasting tool has no watermarks or other limitations and can be used commercially without any restrictions. OBS Studio lets you capture and stream video from a variety of sources, including movies stored on your PC, content that’s playing in your browser and the live feed from your webcam. You can apply a wide variety of edits and effects; mix multiple sources into one broadcast and preview them using Studio Mode (see screenshot above); stream directly to YouTube, Twitch and Facebook Live; and save files in MP4, MKV or FLV format. Indeed, our only criticism of OBS Studio is that its many options mean it has a fairly steep learning curve. Visit its comprehensive Knowledge Base (www. snipca.com/47024) if you get stuck. Buy Windows 11 Pro for just £79.99! READER OFFER! JUST SO YOU KNOW… This offer can be used by one person only, and expires at midnight on 29 August, 2023. It’s a lifetime licence for one computer. ADD A DISC FOR £5.95 In this special offer you can buy Windows 11 Pro for just £79.99 – that’s £140 cheaper than Microsoft’s full price of £219.99. To buy Windows 11 Pro, visit www.snipca.com/41588 and click the red Buy Now button on the right. Foobar2000 lets you play your own music and internet radio stations for free OBS Studio is packed with features and is the best free way to record and stream your own videos

Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 55 PHOTO & PDF TOOLS YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO PAY FOR Edit and enhance photos more easily There are plenty of free image-editing programs for keen photographers who can’t afford Adobe Photoshop. But some, such as GIMP (www.gimp.org), have so many advanced tools that they’re not easy to use. Computeractive favourite Paint.NET (www.getpaint.net) is a slightly simpler alternative, but it’s not open-source and, although its desktop software is free, its Microsoft Store app now costs £8.39. One image editor that strikes the right balance between professional features and ease-of-use, as well as being free and open-source, is PhotoDemon (www. snipca.com/47025). This powerful, portable program resists the urge to cram its toolbars with options you’ll never need, so editing and enhancing your photos is more intuitive than in GIMP or Paint.NET. It offers the same basic tools, including layers, adjustments and a wide range of effects, but applies them faster and doesn’t make you hunt through sub-menus to find them. PhotoDemon 9.0, which was released last September, introduced a useful option called ‘Content-aware fill’. This lets you remove unwanted objects and people from your photos, and seamlessly blend in the surrounding area to disguise the deletion. PhotoDemon says the feature doesn’t “rely on ‘AI’ or other silly buzzwords”, and works offline. To use it, click the Elliptical Selection tool, select the object you want to remove, then click the Edit menu and choose ‘Contentaware fill’ (see screenshot above). Browse photos in a free image viewer IrfanView (www.irfanview.com) is one of the best image viewers available. It’s simple to use, includes lots of editing tools and lets you expand its capabilities by installing plug-ins (www.snipca.com/47026). IrfanView has been free for home users since its launch in 1996, but to use it for commercial purposes you need to register the program and buy a licence for $12 (£9.25), so it doesn’t meet the ‘never pay for’ criteria of this feature. JPEGView (www.snipca.com/47027) is a truly free alternative. Originally developed through the open-source community SourceForge then taken up by a GitHub developer, this lightweight, portable image viewer offers a speedy and minimalist way to browse and perform basic edits to your photos. Open a picture in JPEGView and all you’ll see is the image itself – there are no toolbars or menus. This is confusing at first, but hovering your cursor over the photo or right-clicking it reveals options to zoom, rotate, display EXIF information, apply auto-correction, view other files in the folder and more (see screenshot above). Move your cursor to the bottom of the image to reveal controls for fine-tuning its colour, brightness and contrast. Press Ctrl+S to save your changes. To download JPEGView, click the ‘JPEGView_1.2.45.zip’ link under Assets on its Releases page (www.snipca.com/47028) and extract the contents of the ZIP file. Open the JPEGView64 or JPEGView32 folder (depending on whether you have a 64bit or 32bit version of Windows) then double-click the ‘JPEGView.exe’ file. Despite its name, it supports all the main image formats. Edit PDFs by deleting and adding text and images Free PDF readers aren’t hard to find these days, from the built-in viewer in your web browser to the open-source tool Sumatra PDF (www. snipca.com/47029). PDF editors, on the other hand, tend to be paid-for or freemium, and we even have doubts about our new favourite free PDF software PDFgear (see box on page 57). The best entirely free way to edit PDFs, which you’ll never have to pay for, is using the open-source vector-graphics editor Inkscape (https://inkscape.org). Although it’s aimed at illustrators and web designers, this powerful program allows you to delete images and text from PDFs, and add your own. Install and launch Inkscape, click Open on the welcome screen and select a PDF. Leave the import settings as they are, then click OK. When the PDF opens, click the Selector Tool (the arrow icon) at the top of the left-hand toolbar ( 1 in our screenshot below), then select an object or block of text in the document. Right-click and choose Cut or Delete 2 to remove the selected element, or left-click and drag it to a different position. You can’t edit existing text but you can replace a deleted section with a new text box by clicking the Text Tool (A icon) in the toolbar. To insert images, click the File menu and choose Import. Inkscape’s busy interface can feel overwhelming, but you’ll find plenty of help in the Beginners’ Questions section of its community forum (www. snipca.com/47030). PhotoDemon is free and easy to use, and has lots of useful image-editing tools JPEGView provides a simple free way to browse and adjust your photos Inkscape lets you edit PDFs by removing text and images and adding your own 2 1 You’ll NEVER Have To Pay For SOFTWARE BEST PC

56 INTERNET TOOLS YOU’LL NEVER HAVE TO PAY FOR Monitor your Wi-Fi network for intruders Fing Desktop (www.snipca. com/47032) offers a simple way to monitor your home network and ensure that unknown devices aren’t piggybacking on your Wi-Fi connection. Sadly, many of its best features are limited to its paid-for plans, which the free version (that you need to register to use) constantly reminds you about. To monitor your network for free, without being nagged to upgrade for extra tools, download Wireless Network Watcher from NirSoft (www.snipca. com/47033) – click the ‘wnetwatcher_ setup.exe’ link below the Feedback section two-thirds of the way down the page. This tiny free tool is only 512KB in size, compared with Fing Desktop’s bloated 96MB download, but gives you all the information you need to identify Wi-Fi intruders. Wireless Network Watcher lists all the devices connected to your network, including their names, IP addresses and the times and dates they were first and last detected. Usefully, you can set it to alert you when a new device hops on your Wi-Fi – click the Options menu and select ‘Beep On New Device’ (see screenshot below left). See the opposite page for more brilliant free tools from software genius NirSoft. Download online content without a browser Download managers such as JDownloader and Internet Download Manager are often bundled with junk or charge you to use them. Most of us now stick with our browser’s built-in downloader, but this compromises your privacy – even in incognito mode, Google can see which files you download in Chrome. DownZemAll (www.snipca. com/47039) is a free, open-source download manager that lets you grab anything you want from the web, without using your browser. To save an individual file, right-click its download link and choose ‘Copy link address’ then click the blue plus sign on DownZemAll’s toolbar. The program will automatically read the link from your clipboard, so you just need to click ‘Start’ (see screenshot above right) to download it. You can download YouTube videos and other audio and video content by clicking the red Download Audio/Video Stream button, then clicking the yellow Download Page Content button to detect and download all the files on a web page – or just specific file types. DownZemAll is faster and more private than using your browser, and lets you compile a list of download links to save all their content in one go. When you install DownZemAll, tick the box to allow an exception in the Windows Firewall to prevent it from being blocked. Protect your passwords for free Even the best password managers, such as Bitwarden (https:// bitwarden.com), restrict some features to their paid-for versions, and there’s always the fear that – like LastPass – they’ll change their business models to force free users to upgrade. You can be assured that will never happen with KeePass (www.snipca.com/47040), which makes a virtue of the fact it’s been free for the last 20 years. Far safer than storing website logins in your browser (see our ‘How not to save your passwords’ feature in Issue 662, page 62), this open-source tool stores all your passwords in one offline database, which is locked with your master key and secured using powerful encryption. It’s worth printing an emergency recovery sheet should you forget your master password – click File, Print then select Print Emergency Sheet (see screenshot below). The latest version of KeePass (2.54) fixed a vulnerability that could allow hackers to see part of your master password (see Issue 661, page 11). Sadly, it didn’t improve the program’s rather dated interface. If you find this off-putting, consider using the forked version, KeePassXC (https:// keepassxc.org), which has a smarter design but the same tight security. 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 We’ve deliberately not recommended open-source security software in this feature, even though there’s plenty available. It’s one area where it’s better to have the program maintained by a reputable and well-funded company, rather than an independent developer, to ensure it’s regularly updated to combat the latest threats. Reliable anti-malware protection uses virus definitions hosted onlne, which most GitHub projects won’t be able to afford. The best-known open-source antivirus, ClamWin, doesn’t even scan files in real time, and its website now displays a security warning, suggesting it’s been discontinued. Additionally, hackers can analyse the publicly shared code for open-source software to identify and exploit security flaws. Your antivirus should protect you against this danger, but if the program itself is compromised, your PC will be at serious risk. Avoid open-source security tools Wireless Network Watcher monitors your Wi-Fi and alerts you to intruders DownZemAll downloads files quickly and privately outside your browser Store all your passwords securely in KeePass – but click this to avoid getting locked out

57 NEXT ISSUE Subscribe to Computeractive at www.getcomputeractive.co.uk PLUS ON SALE Weds 30 Aug We’re currently anxious about the free PDF software PDFgear (www.pdfgear.com). This fantastic new program (see Issue 656, page 18) offers so many useful tools for free – including editing, converting, splitting, merging and annotating PDFs – that it surely won’t do so forever. Indeed, the company says that “as we continue to innovate and develop advanced features, we will offer these at a reasonable price, ensuring PDFgear remains accessible to everyone,” which has ‘freemium’ written all over it. Hopefully, it won’t lock any of the existing options behind upgrade buttons. Another likely candidate for freemium status is Icecream Photo Editor (www.snipca.com/47053). It’s now the developer’s only tool not to have a paid-for Pro version, so it’s only a matter of time before a watermark or other restriction is imposed on the free program. We’re more confident that PowerToys (www.snipca.com/47054) will remain free. Although Microsoft likes to lure users with free trials before enticing them to subscribe, the fact it’s made PowerToys open-source on GitHub (www.snipca.com/47057) suggests you’ll never have to pay for the systemutility suite. 5 BEST FREE TOOLS FROM NIRSOFT We’ve covered software from lots of independent developers in this feature, but none are as industrious or ingenious as Nir Sofer – better known as NirSoft (www.nirsoft.net). This prolific Israeli developer has created hundreds of tiny free tools for performing specific tasks on your PC, which contain no junk, ads or upgrade nags. In our Workshop in Issue 661 (page 38), we explained how to use NirLauncher (www.snipca.com/46479) to run all NirSoft’s tools from a USB stick, but here are our five favourite programs. Recover lost Wi-Fi passwords WirelessKeyView (www.snipca. com/47048) reveals all the Wi-Fi passwords stored on your PC, which is useful if you’ve lost the written record of those details. You can copy individual keys to your clipboard (see screenshot below) or export them all as a text file. To extract the program from its ZIP file, enter the password WKey4567# when prompted. Detect nearby Bluetooth devices BluetoothView (www.snipca. com/47041) monitors the activity of nearby Bluetooth devices such as phones, earbuds and laptops. As with Wireless Network Watcher (see opposite page), you can set it to beep when it detects a device, which NirSoft suggests could alert you to the impending arrival of a family member or neighbour. Which free tools may become freemium View your complete browsing history BrowsingHistoryView (www. snipca.com/47049) displays the history from all your browsers in one place. Click the Visit Time column to sort the list of web pages chronologically, or Visit Count (see screenshot above) to see which sites you’ve been to most often. The tool was recently updated with the option to generate scannable QR codes for pages in your history. Finely control your PC’s sound SoundVolumeView (www. snipca.com/47050) lets you view and easily adjust the volume levels of different components on your PC, including the speakers, webcam microphone and system sounds. You can increase or decrease their volume by one, five or 10 per cent; and mute or unmute specific devices with a single click. Monitor your USB stick activity USBDriveLog (www.snipca. com/47052) lists all the USB sticks that have been inserted in your PC, including their models, manufacturers and capacities, and the date and time they were plugged in (see screenshot above). This lets you see when you last inserted a specific device, and spot unauthorised use of your PC – including potential data theft. Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 WirelessKeyView reveals forgotten Wi-Fi passwords stored on your PC BrowsingHistoryView lists pages you visited in all browsers, giving totals for each page USBDriveLog reveals which USB sticks have been plugged into your PC You’ll NEVER Have To Pay For SOFTWARE BEST PC £499 • Stop using credit cards online It’s safer to use virtual cards • Don’t bin your DVDs Make them last for years On sale Wednesday 30 August NEVER PAY FULL PRICE Your complete guide to buying refurbished devices For PCs, laptops, phones & tablets

60 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 Cover sensitive details with blocks of colour in MS Paint …then export to LibreOffice Draw and let it finish the job Select words in LibreOffice Writer you want to redact… Stop blurring and pixelating your info Blurring or pixelating your personal information is normally good enough to hide it from human eyes, but not from advanced software. All you’re doing is rearranging the data, not actually removing anything. Studies have shown that AI tools can be trained to decipher details that have been obscured in this way (see www.snipca.com/47108 for proof). Cybercriminals will be delighted that they have another weapon with which to scam victims. Another technique to avoid is scribbling over text using digital marker pens. These tools simulate actual markers or highlighters, so the ‘ink’ is applied with less than complete opacity. Anyone seeing this image could download it, drag it into an image editor, and use brightness/contrast controls to see the text pixels underneath. Redact screenshots with blocks of colour The safer way to conceal details is to redact them using solid bars of colour. This doesn’t expose anything that software could use to ‘read’ what’s really there. You don’t need sophisticated image editors to do this – something as basic as MS Paint will do. In our example above right we’re using Paint to block sensitive data in a screenshot of our bank account. Open the tool, then insert the image. Click the Home tab, then select a shape that matches the area you need to obscure – a rectangle in our screenshot above right 1 . Now click the Fill dropdown menu, select ‘Solid colour’ 2 , then click the Colour 2 box 3 and select a colour for your blocks. Now draw over the details you want to hide – we’ve obscured our bank account details and our current balance with red blocks 4 . Make sure you save the redacted image in a format that doesn’t have the option to see the edit history, and is ‘flat’ – meaning it doesn’t support layers. Both PNGs and JPEGs are fine. You can also remove the pixels from your image, so the details disappear completely. You can do this quickly online by uploading an image to Inpaint (https://theinpaint.com). Click the lasso icon on the left, then draw around what you want to remove and click the green Erase button at the top. Inpaint is fast and easy to use, though you have to buy credits to download in high resolution. Redact multiple instances of the same word LibreOffice Writer lets you redact multiple instances of the same word in a document, then download it as a PDF. This is handy if you need to redact a piece of information that appears many times, such as a name, address or phone number. Open a document in Writer, then click the Tools menu at the top and select Auto-Redact. Click ‘Add Target’ in the box that appears ( 1 in our screenshot below left), then give the redaction a name, or just leave it as ‘Target 1’. Leave the Type set to Text, then enter the word you want to redact in the Content box 2 . Click OK, then OK again, and 1 2 3 1 2 3 2 1 4 AI tools are now so powerful that they can reveal blurred and pixelated information. Daniel Booth explains why you should redact your personal data instead HOW TO Personal Info.... Redact....Your..

Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 61 Blur your home on Google Street View PDF24 lets you redact PDFs online without any restrictions LibreOffice will open the document in Draw, its vector-graphics editor. You’ll see shaded boxes over your redacted words ( 1 in our screenshot below left), and a floating ‘Redaction’ toolbar. Click the black Rectangle Redaction icon in this toolbar 2 , then the ‘Export Redacted PDF (Black)’ button 3 . Now save your PDF on your computer, then open it to check the redaction has worked. Redacting in Microsoft Word is not as easy. Open a document, then press Ctrl+H and type the word you want to redact in the ‘Find what’ box. Next, in the ‘Replace with’ box, type what you want to appear instead, such as XXXXX, then click ‘Replace All’. You could leave it like this, but for the full redacted effect you’ll need to add coloured boxes. Click the Home tab at the top, followed by the Text Highlight Color dropdown menu in the Font section. Choose a colour (preferably black) and you’ll see a Highlighter icon next to your cursor. Move this icon across the XXXXXs and they’ll be covered in black. The reason you have to first change your text to XXXXXs is that it’s relatively easy to unmask words that have been covered by coloured bars in documents. Redact details in PDFs PDF programs all have tools for redacting text, but again there are websites that let you do this quicker. Many have frustrating restrictions, like Xodo’s Redact PDF (www.snipca.com/47109), which limits you to one redaction per day unless you upgrade to the paid-for version. But we’ve not faced any restrictions using the online version of PDF24’s tool, which is free to use at www.snipca.com/47110. Drag a PDF into the ‘Choose file’ box, then click the ‘Free drawing’ pencil icon ( 1 in our screenshot below). You now need to ‘draw’ over what you want to redact, though there is a way to make this appear as a block of colour. Keep the ‘Brush type’ as Pencil 2 , then choose a ‘Brush width’ (we increased it from the default 30 to 35) 3 , and a colour 4 . Next, select the ‘Straight line drawing mode’ icon 5 and draw across the text you want to redact. When done, click ‘Save PDF’ at the bottom, then click the Download button. Blur photos quickly using websites You can obscure faces using colour blocks, but this looks a bit ugly. Blurring a face looks nicer because it blends better with the background, though bear in mind that some software can reverse the effect to reveal the person beneath. Any photo-editing software worth downloading has a blur tool, but it’s quicker to use specialist websites. We recommend Blur Photo Editor, which lets you upload, blur and download photos in a matter of seconds. Visit www.snipca. com/47098, then browse and select your photo, or drag and drop it into the white ‘Choose photo to blur’ box. Now click the photo to add small black boxes that will connect to cover the area you want to blur ( 1 in our screenshot above). Make sure ‘Blur inside of selection’ is selected 2 , then move the slider across and decide how blurry you want the area. When done, click the Download Image button. Google won’t let you slap a coloured block over your home on Street View, so you have no choice but to ask for it to be blurred. The easiest way to do this is through a browser on your computer because it’s not an option in the Google Maps phone/tablet app. Visit https:// maps.google.com, then type your address in the top-left search bar and press Enter. Now click the photo of your home that appears and it’ll appear fullscreen in Street View. Check that it’s definitely your house and that it matches the address shown top right, then click the tiny ‘Report a problem’ link at the bottom right. On the next page move the photo so the part you want blurred is inside the red box ( 1 in our screenshot), zooming in if you need to 2 . Once done, select ‘My home’ 3 and tick the box to confirm you’re the owner or tenant 4 . Google reminds you here that all blurring is “irreversible and cannot be undone”. Then, in the box below, you need to add some information about what you want to blur so Google can check whether your request is genuine. It’s a good idea here to mention what you can see in the photo, such as gardens, walls, trees, cars and so on. You don’t need to select ‘What is wrong with this image?’, but you do need to enter your email address and tick the reCAPTCHA. Click the blue Submit button at the bottom. Google will now email you to confirm that it’s reviewing your request and will contact you again when it has made a decision. Make a note of the reference number at the bottom of the email. 2 Blur Photo Editor makes it easy to blur parts of a photo 1 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 5

62 Switch your ad blocker The problem of online ads is getting worse – and so are tools designed to block them. Robert Irvine reveals the best ad blockers to install in your browser, and which ones to avoid Ad blockers improve your browsing experience by removing annoyances from web pages and making them faster to load. Although some people say they’re unethical, because they deprive content creators of revenue, you’re more likely to revisit sites when you can enjoy them without being bombarded with distractions. Sadly, several popular ad-blocking tools are no longer very effective – they charge users for premium features and take ‘back-handers’ from companies to allow their ads through. Here, we recommend the ad blockers you should use (though you need to install only one), and those you should avoid. We tested the blocking efficiency of the extensions using the online tool Test Ad Block (www.snipca.com/47093), which attempts to load 150 different ads and trackers in your browser (you won’t actually see these). GOLD AWARD uBlock Origin www.snipca.com/47086 This ‘wide-spectrum content blocker’ goes beyond removing ads from websites to block other annoyances as well. These include hidden trackers, malicious domains, phishing scams, cookie-consent pop-ups, autoplaying videos, social-media widgets and analytics tools. Unlike AdBlock and Adblock Plus (see opposite page), uBlock Origin doesn’t allow ‘acceptable ads’ from companies who pay to be excluded from blocking, or nag you to upgrade to its paid-for version to unlock extra tools. It’s completely free to use (even refusing donations), it’s open-source to ensure bugs are quickly fixed, and it can be configured to block as much or as little content as you want. Click its toolbar button to see how many elements it’s blocked on the current page, and in total since you installed it. To improve uBlock Origin’s blocking capabilities, click the ‘Open in dashboard’ icon (see screenshot below) then click the ‘Filter lists’ tab. The extension’s built-in filters for blocking ads, trackers and ‘badware’ are enabled by default, and remove these elements from most sites – including on YouTube videos. When we first tested uBlock Origin using Test Ad Block, it blocked 74 per cent of all the junk the test threw at us. But after we enabled additional filters in the Privacy, Annoyances and Multipurpose sections, the extension’s success rate soared to an incredible 92 per cent. Other useful features in uBlock Origin include an ‘element picker mode’ that permanently removes specific elements on websites, such as distracting banners, pop-up boxes and fly-out videos. You can easily whitelist sites on which you’re happy to allow ads. Although it’s slightly more technical than some ad blockers, uBlock Origin works automatically and reliably, and looks set to survive Google’s proposed changes to how ad blockers work (see box on opposite page). SILVER AWARD AdGuard https://adguard.com AdGuard provides both a paid-for Windows program that blocks ads across your PC and a free ad-blocking extension for your browser. You don’t need the former (which costs £23.90 a year) to use the latter, though the add-on includes links to download the desktop app. Unlike uBlock Origin, AdGuard has a setup process that lets you choose what you want to block (standard blocking is enabled automatically). These options include blocking trackers, social widgets, malicious and phishing sites, adverts in search results and websites’ ‘self-promotions’ – such as promotional banners on Amazon. You can apply more filters through the extension’s settings, but AdGuard’s own extensive lists should be sufficient. We like that AdBlock tells you how many ads it’s blocked on the current page, the total number since you installed it and its blocking history over time. There’s also a useful option to check the security of a website, either by clicking the add-on’s toolbar button or by right-clicking a search result. With only its default settings enabled, AdGuard blocked a disappointing 38 per cent of ads and trackers in our Test Ad 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 uBlock Origin blocks ads automatically and can be configured to remove many other annoyances

63 Block test. However, once we switched on all its recommended options (see screenshot above) this increased to match uBlock Origin’s 92-per-cent score. BRONZE AWARD Ghostery www.ghostery.com Ghostery combines a strong set of features for blocking online annoyances with a friendly design. Its Simple View tab shows you the number of ads and trackers it has blocked on the current page, and lets you easily whitelist sites, temporarily disable its protection and choose whether to allow cookie-consent pop-ups (see screenshot below). For more information, click its Detailed View tab, which tells you exactly which advertising and tracking networks Ghostery has blocked. Annoyingly, the Historical Stats option, which tracks the number of elements blocked over time, is only available when you sign up for a paid-for Contributor account, which also unlocks other tools. Ghostery doesn’t have additional filter lists to install, but instead lets you customise its built-in tracker database. You can either choose which companies to block, or select all the entries in a category – such as Customer Interaction, Social Media or Telemetry (advertising and analytics are blocked by default). This system isn’t as comprehensive as uBlock Origin, but because Ghostery is open source its lists are constantly updated by members of its community. In our test, Ghostery blocked 63 per cent of ads and trackers. It also works well on YouTube, though some users have recently reported a number of ads slipping through. AD BLOCKERS TO AVOID AdBlock https://getadblock.com With more than 60 million users, AdBlock is one of the most popular ad-blocking extensions, but it has far fewer settings than uBlock Origin. By default it uses only three filter lists, though you can enable more and subscribe to custom lists. Sadly, in the last few years, AdBlock – which is now owned by Eyeo, the company behind AdBlock Plus – has gone downhill and is more concerned with making money than blocking online annoyances. It allows ‘acceptable’ and ‘non-intrusive’ ads, unless you disable those options (see screenshot above right), and prompts you to “pay what you can afford” when you install the add-on (close the payment tab to use it for free). Worst of all, AdBlock displays ads of its own, for its Premium plan and VPN. Premium costs $20 (£15.60) a year or $2 a month, and includes extra options such as Distraction Control, which blocks newsletter pop-ups, floating videos and survey requests – a feature available for free in uBlock Origin. AdBlock generally does a good job of removing ads from web pages, including most within YouTube videos, but its default policies make us suspicious about what happens in the background. When we tested the extension using Test Ad Block, it blocked a paltry 29 per cent of ad networks and trackers. Adblock Plus https://adblockplus.org Once the best-known ad blocker, Adblock Plus now makes you upgrade to its Premium plan to get many essential features, including blocking distractions such as newsletter pop-ups. Acceptable and non-intrusive ads are permitted by default, its settings offer little scope for configuration, and it uses a lot of system memory. Like its stablemate AdBlock, it only blocked 29 per cent of ads and trackers in our test (suggesting they use the same data), though it blocked most YouTube ads. Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 Will Google stop ad blockers working? Despite widespread opposition and numerous delays, Google is pressing ahead with its plan to drop support for Manifest V2 extensions in Chrome and other Chromium browsers. From early next year, it will insist that add-on developers use its new Manifest V3 system, which will stop many ad blockers working properly. Instead of being able to block whole categories of unwanted web requests, extensions will be limited to targeting a blocklist of specific URLs. They’ll also be restricted to using 30,000 filtering ‘rules’ – most content blockers use at least 300,000. This means you’re likely to suffer more ads and hidden trackers. To prepare for the change, our Gold and Silver award winners have created Manifest V3 versions of their ad-blocking tools: uBlock Origin Lite (www.snipca. com/47094) and AdGuard AdBlocker MV3 (www.snipca.com/47095). You can try these now, but they’re no substitute for the full versions. Hopefully, Google will modify its plan to address the problem. Ghostery blocks ads, trackers and cookie-consent pop-ups on websites AdBlock allows ‘acceptable ads’ on websites unless you disable the option Switch on AdGuard’s recommended filters to boost its blocking capabilities

64 PROBLEM OF THE FORTNIGHT Problems Solved Our experts solve all your tech problems Why is Thunderbird forcing me to use Gmail? Click ‘Create account’ followed by ‘For my personal use’ Q I wanted to set up a new email address, distinct from my Gmail account, but Thunderbird insists on using my current Gmail address. Initially, I thought this was for Mozilla to contact me if needed, but it seems I can’t have a different email address without paying for one endorsed by Thunderbird. I prefer to keep Gmail and Thunderbird separate. I also have a TalkTalk email address, but to use that I need to first sign into the TalkTalk website and then sign in again on the email account. Imagine doing all that in Android just to send or read a onesentence email. It was my fault originally for putting a name in my Gmail address that’s not my real name, so it seems I am condemned to use it for the rest of my life! I also have an old Hotmail address, but I’m unsure if it’s a web-based or a standalone service, like I assumed Thunderbird would be. Things seem to get more complicated when you get over 80! I have tried to set up an email account with Mailbird (www.getmailbird.com) and others, but they all demanded my Gmail address. What happened to freedom of choice? Jack Woods A There’s a lot to unpack here, but we’ll start by outlining the difference between email services and email ‘clients’ – as this seems to be causing you some confusion. There’s plenty of overlap between these two concepts, but suffice to say that Google (with Gmail) and TalkTalk are email services. That means these companies run server computers that administer the emails you send or receive. Now let’s consider email clients. These are the programs or apps that interact with the email services. In this context, the web interfaces you use for both Gmail and your TalkTalk account could be considered email clients of those services, albeit integrated ones. However, you are not limited to using these integrated web clients. You can use standalone email clients such as Thunderbird or Mailbird. It’s essential to understand that these programs are not themselves email providers – they’re email clients. Thunderbird does muddy matters by offering options for buying a new email address from a selection of providers (see screenshot 1 ). But if you don’t take up that option, then Thunderbird (or any other email client) will ask for the email address that you do want to use. With Thunderbird, you can synchronise messages from any email provider, whether it’s Gmail, TalkTalk or even Hotmail (or Outlook.com, as it’s now known). You could even set up a brand-new Gmail account that reflects your real name, and then use Thunderbird with this new, preferable address. We think that’s actually the right outcome for you, but that you didn’t realise it was an option. To do that, first visit www.gmail.com and click ‘Create account’. If you don’t want to sign out of your existing Gmail account in the Gmail web client, even temporarily, then you’ll need to do this in a private tab – meaning Incognito mode in Chrome, an InPrivate window in Edge or Private mode in Firefox. Click ‘Create account’ followed by ‘For my personal use’ 2 and then follow the prompts, clicking Next at each stage. With that done, you can set up Thunderbird afresh with your new, name-corrected Gmail address – and it will operate separately from your existing Gmail account. Thunderbird has the option to buy a new email address from a selection of providers 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 2 1

65 Email us your problem and we’ll try to help: [email protected] Can I make Google’s map scales always visible? To make the Google Maps scale permanently visible (1), go to Settings (2), then Scales (3) Q Having retired, I find myself using Google Maps quite a lot. On my Windows 11 PC the scale bar is always displayed at the bottom right. I find this useful when zooming in and out for keeping, well, a sense of scale! However, I’ve noticed that on Google Maps on my shiny new iPhone 14 the scale bar only shows for a few short seconds and then disappears. I can get it to reappear by adjusting the zoom a fraction, but sure enough it vanishes again soon after. Is this a bug? Or a feature? Or am I doing something wrong? Whatever the cause, I find it really annoying, and it makes Google Maps less useful when I’m out and about. Do you know if there’s a fix? Ronald Bennett A It’s a feature, not a bug – so no, you’re not doing anything wrong. Fortunately, it can be remedied so that the scale is always visible (see screenshot 1 ). However, settings for Google Maps aren’t the easiest things to find, let alone navigate. First, at the right-hand side of the Google Maps search bar, tap your user icon. It’s here that the Settings option lurks 2 , so tap that now. Next, under the ‘Using Maps’ heading, tap Scales 3 . Finally, under ‘Map scale’ tap to switch from ‘While zooming’ to ‘Always’ and your little ruler will now always be there. What’s this ‘IGCCTray.exe’ error message on my laptop? By the Intel Graphics Command Center entry, click Uninstall (1). If you want to reinstall it, download IGCC from the Microsoft Store (2) Q Starting a few weeks ago, every time my Windows 10 laptop boots up a strange error message appears on screen, referencing a file called IGCCTray.exe – saying it had an ‘incorrect function’. I just close the message and continue using my computer and I’ve encountered no problems, but it is annoying that I can't get rid of this error. I’ve searched for the file but can’t find it, even with hidden files made visible. Do you know what this is and how to resolve it? Allan Stapleton A Yes, this is related to the Intel Graphics Command Center (IGCC) app, which almost certainly came pre-installed on your laptop. It’s not essential but does offer some functions that are useful when adjusting your the output of your machine’s Intel graphics. We don’t know what caused this particular hiccup, but uninstalling and reinstalling the app should fix the problem. First, click Start followed by the Settings cog, and then click Apps. Next, on the left, click ‘Apps & features’, and then, on the right, scroll through the list of apps to find the Intel Graphics Command Center entry. Click the Uninstall button (see screenshot 1 ) and then confirm by clicking Uninstall again. Restart your PC. The error should now be gone. As noted, it’s not required, so you don’t have to reinstall it. But if you wish to do so, it’s a free download from the Microsoft Store, at www.snipca.com/46784 2 . Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 1 2 1 2 3

66 Problems Solved Buy it from www.snipca.com/44660 Q: Can a Kindle Fire battery be replaced? A: Issue 629, page 65 – find it on our 2022 Back Issue CD To get Windows 10, click ‘Download tool now’ (1), then ‘Upgrade this PC now’ (2) Navigate here in the registry to fool Windows 11 into thinking your PC is compatible Should I force Windows 11 on to my incompatible laptop? Q I am a new subscriber to Computeractive, so you may have covered my question previously. Issue 659’s ‘Problem of the Fortnight’, regarding reader Alistair Bee’s problematic Windows 11 upgrade, prompted me to wonder if I can update my HP ProBook 470 G4 laptop. The Microsoft PC Health Check app (www. snipca.com/46934) shows it passes everything apart from the processor. Performance is good and I don’t want additional Windows 11 features, but I’m concerned about security updates after Windows 10 support ceases. I have seen registry hacks to fool Windows 11 into thinking a PC is compatible, but I’m not sure that is a sensible route to follow. Should I do nothing? Or force my laptop to install Windows 11? Robert Woolley A We have answered this plenty of times, but many millions of Windows 10 users are in the same boat as you, and the same questions keep bobbing up – so we’re happy to recap. Yes, you can use a registry hack to force Windows 11 to install. You sent us a detailed list of specifications for your laptop. Microsoft states ‘eighth-generation’ processors are the minimum supported for Windows 11, but your machine’s seventh-generation Core i7 processor should run the latest operating system just fine. However, the setup will never be officially supported by Microsoft, so you would proceed at your own risk – and, as Alistair discovered, hiccups can occur. Support for Windows 10 officially ends in October 2025, but we’re confident that unofficially Microsoft will maintain it for a while – even if it’s just for urgent fixes. As you don’t feel the need for Windows 11, you shouldn’t be in a rush to upgrade. If you do decide to proceed, then first press Windows key+R to summon the Run menu, then type regedit and press Enter. Next, use the left-hand pane to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ Setup\MoSetup ( 1 in our screenshot) and then, in the right-hand pane, right-click the ‘AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU’ value 2 , and choose Modify. Note that if this value doesn’t exist, first create it by right-clicking on a blank part of the right-pane and choosing New, followed by ‘DWORD (32-bit) Value’. Now set the ‘Value data’ field to 1 and press OK. Restart your PC and Windows 11 should install without complaint. Can I still switch to Windows 10 for free? Q Microsoft says it’ll stop updating Windows 10 with anything other than security updates until support ends, in October 2025. I use Windows 8.1 and would like to update to Windows 10 (I’m not interested in Windows 11). Can I can update free of charge? Are there installation discs or can Windows 10 be downloaded safely? If so, from where? Oliver Rogers A We guess you’re aware that Windows 8.1 is itself out of support, having ended in January of this year – hence your desire to upgrade. But to answer your question, officially, the opportunity to get a free upgrade to Windows 10 ended several years ago. However, as we’ve mentioned in these pages, unofficially Microsoft has never stopped anyone from doing so. So, the answer is yes, you can upgrade. Just download Windows 10 from Microsoft, at www.snipca. com/46785. Click the ‘Download tool now’ button (see screenshot 1 ) to get the media-creation tool, launch it, choose the ‘Upgrade this PC now’ option 2 and follow the prompts. 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 1 2 2 1

67 Should I phone 159 to report scams? If you suspect you're being scammed, hang up and dial 159 to report it to your bank Q I’m 85 now, have subscribed to your excellent magazine for almost 20 years and have just renewed for a further two years – hopefully, I will live that long! I’ve been watching a BBC show called Scam Interceptors (www.snipca.com/46786). Towards the end of one programme they advised victims to inform their banks about scams by dialling 159. Can you explain how this system works? I presume it might work on a mobile phone, if you use one for banking, but how about traditional landlines? I cannot see how it would work by pressing 1 or 2. Doug Makinson A The 159 service is actually a very simple idea that’s easy to use, regardless of the kind of phone you have. It was set up and is funded by an outfit called Stop Scams UK (https://stopscamsuk.org.uk), which is a broad coalition of big-name banking, telecoms and technology companies. It is entirely trustworthy – and worth using. The idea is that if you suspect you’re being scammed during a call, you hang up and then dial 159 (see screenshots). Then, you do exactly what you consider isn’t possible: press numbers on your mobile or landline phone’s keypad to navigate to a menu system that will put you through to a verified phone number for your bank. There’s really little more to it than that, but the idea is that by going through 159 you’ll definitely end up at your bank. Of course, you could just dial your bank directly on its known number. However, 159 helps to prevent people being further scammed when using the likes of Google to search for correct contact numbers – as scammers regularly try to manipulate search results in an effort to get scam sites near the top of the list. How do I reset the Windows registry? Click the ‘Get started’ button (1), then ‘Remove everything’. Next, select ‘Cloud download’ to download and reinstall Windows (2) Q My PC has gone through numerous versions of Windows, up to Windows 10. It’s been a good companion. I tend to try most of the programs and ideas from your magazine. These trials are mostly removed when I have satisfied my curiosity, but they tend to leave a lot of bits about the place. I’ve used cleaning tools and formatted the disks a few times, but I always seem to get fragments popping up. I’m wondering if it’s possible to return the computer back to its original state, when it was first built, with a clean registry? Memory is another problem – does it accumulate bits and pieces? Is there any way of cleaning it? S Barbero A There’s only one way to ensure a completely clean, or ‘factory fresh’, Windows registry – and that’s to reinstall Windows. Literally everything on the PC will be wiped, and you’ll have to start over. This includes all your personal files and folders, incidentally, so back them up first. This is a ‘nuclear’ option, but anything less will leave remnants in the registry. You can do this from within Windows. First click Start, followed by the Settings cog, and then ‘Update & Security’, followed by Recovery and then, under the ‘Reset this PC’ heading, click the ‘Get started’ button (see screenshot 1 ). Next, click ‘Remove everything’, followed by ‘Cloud download’ 2 and then follow the prompts. As for your computer’s memory, nothing is stored by it long term and simply switching off your PC at the mains will ‘clean’ it completely. Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 1 2

68 Problems Solved Why won’t my Sainsbury's Nectar card scan? The Tesco Clubcard app uses a QR code, which can be displayed on an Apple Watch Q I’m very far from a computer whiz, but I feel reasonably confident with technology, such that over the years I’ve managed to set myself up with an Apple iPhone and Watch, which I find invaluable. Recently, I decided to take my digital adventures one step further by enabling Apple Wallet. I was pleased that this was pretty easy, and I’ve even added my Tesco Clubcard and Sainsbury’s Nectar loyalty card (because I’m so loyal I need different cards for different shops!). However, while the Tesco tills will recognise my Clubcard when I hold my Watch to the reader, the Sainsbury’s machines will have nothing to do with the Nectar card. Do you know why this might be? Robert Mason A This is down to the different ways the apps operate. The Tesco Clubcard app uses a QR code, such as the one pictured far right, which can be displayed on either an iPhone or a Watch. By contrast, the Nectar app uses a barcode. The Nectar app will show this on an iPhone but not on an Apple Watch, presumably because the app designers have decided the screen is too small for the barcode to be clearly deciphered. In both cases, this is a choice made by the app developers. Clearly, Tesco’s choice of QR codes is better functionally because the two-dimensional nature of this system means the codes can be read on a smaller screen, such as an Apple Watch. Until such time as Nectar changes its approach, the only solution is to open the app on your iPhone – as the barcode will be displayed on its larger screen. In your Word 365 account (1) you can select Dark Gray (2). You can also select Dark, Light or Custom for Windows 10 (3) and different modes for apps, such as Dark for Word (4) Can I darken Microsoft Word? Q Would you be able to answer me a (hopefully) quick question? I’ve been using Word 365 more at night on my Windows 10 PC, as part of an evening class I’m taking. As such, I’m wondering if there’s any kind of ‘dark mode’ for this program? I know lots of smartphone apps have them these days, but I have no idea if that applies to Windows programs. Any ideas? Alice Evans A Yes, all the Microsoft (originally Office) 365 apps have a dark mode. Indeed, so does Windows itself if you wanted to go the whole hog! But let’s start with Word 365. First, click File followed by Account (see screenshot 1 ). Next, under the Office Theme heading, click to open the dropdown menu and then choose either Dark Gray 2 or Black, with the latter being the darkest. Alternatively, you can choose ‘Use system setting’ to have Word adopt the settings we’re going to explain next. To set dark mode in Windows 10, first click Start, followed by the Settings cog, and then Personalisation, followed by Colours. Next, in the right-hand pane, under the ‘Choose your colour’ heading, click to open the dropdown menu and choose Dark 3 . If you want fine-grain control, then instead choose Custom, and then use the options below to define how Windows itself should look, and apps independently (so you could use the Light theme for Windows, for example, and Dark for apps, including Word 4 ). 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 1 2 3 4

69 Next Issue Subscribe to Computeractive at www.getcomputeractive.co.uk ON SALE Weds 30 Aug WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN... Want to know the difference between technical terms? Email noproblem@ computeractive.co.uk ? ? QR codes produced by different sites? • Is my password method foolproof? • How do I access old network-drive photos? • Can I switch off my Wi-Fi? ...And many more Q I treated myself to a new Amazon Echo Dot because I like the ball shape of the latest design. Setup was easy and so I packed away the old one. Now I’m wondering how to erase any personal details it contains, so I can pass it on. Could you advise? Sid Foster A Yes, deregistering your old Echo Dot from your Amazon account will have the effect of factory resetting it – wiping all memory of you. You can do it from the Alexa app or the ‘Manage Your Content and Devices’ page at www.amazon.co.uk/mycd. In the app, tap Devices, followed by the relevant device name. Next, at the top right, tap the Settings cog. Finally, scroll down to the ‘Registered To’ heading and tap Deregister, and confirm by once again tapping Deregister (see screenshot). On the website, the process is essentially the same, but you need to click the Devices tab, followed by the device name. There’s no need to click a Settings cog. How do I wipe my old Amazon Echo Dot? Q Is there a way of examining a QR code’s contents? I notice that QR codes I had created in the Edge browser look different from ones produced in LibreOffice, even for the exact same website URLs. I wonder why? This difference makes me concerned that hackers will add malware to codes. Alan Thomas A Yes, you can decipher QR codes. Any modern smartphone has this facility built in. Just point the camera at a code and you’ll get a summary of the its content. In some versions of Android, you need to tap the shutter button to capture the QR code. If it is a URL (they often are), tapping the displayed link will open the destination in a web browser (see screenshot 1 ). However, it sounds like you want to scrutinise QR codes on your PC. This can be done with an online analyser, like the free ZXing Decoder Online at https://zxing.org. You can paste a link to a website that’s displaying a QR code, or click the ‘Choose file’ button to upload an image of the QR code. You’ll then be shown a table of the results 2 , the content of which depends on the content of the QR code. The reason tools produce different QR codes for the same website URL is because the standard allows for 40 sizes (resolutions), and four different errorcorrection levels. Two QR codes for the same content could be generated in 160 different ways. As long as all the ‘modules’ (pixels) are in the appropriate places for the code to be recognised, the designer of a QR code is free to apply styles and colours to the way it’s presented. Finally, QR codes are ‘containers’ for alphanumeric data, and can’t themselves be malicious. However, they can contain malicious URLs, so always think before tapping. Click ‘Deregister’ to confirm that you want to erase everything on an Amazon Echo Dot You can use a smartphone to read a QR code and display its web link (1). ZXing Decoder Online will also scrutinise a code's content (2) Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 2 1

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Reader Support Problems Solved Issue 664 • 16 – 29 August 2023 71 Having a problem with our recommended software or expert tips? Email [email protected] and we’ll do our best to help or contains an incorrect value. To fix this, first search for regedit and open Registry Editor. Now navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ ContextMenuHandlers\New – or copy it from www.snipca.com/47006 and paste it into the address bar at the top ( 1 in our screenshot below left). Now look in the pane on the right, and check what’s in the Data column 2 . It should be {D969A300-E7FF-11d0-A93B00A0C90F2719}. If it’s different, rightclick Default and type it into the ‘Value data’ box (or paste it from www.snipca. com/47007) 3 . Now click OK, restart your laptop, and hopefully the ‘New’ option would have returned. Is there a problem unzipping Winget? Q I enjoyed Robert Irvine’s column on using Winget to install software using PowerToys (Issue 662, page 74). However, try as I might, I can’t get Winget to install. I’ve directed it to be unzipped to the Plugins directory, but Windows says I’m not allowed to unzip it there. If I unzip it elsewhere and try to copy and paste it, it doesn’t appear in PowerToys. It feels like I’m overlooking a simple solution. Martin Clift A We’re not entirely sure what’s causing this problem, though as you suggested there might be a quick fix. The Plugins folder is listed alphabetically, so it’s possible that you haven’t scrolled right down to the bottom, which is where you’ll find Winget – below Window Walker in our screenshot above right. Alternatively, try dragging and dropping the Winget folder from the extracted ZIP file to the Plugins folder, rather than copying and pasting it. If neither of these work, let us know and we’ll reinvestigate. Why can’t I launch DuckDuckGo? Q Reading Issue 662’s Cover Feature, I tried to download the DuckDuckGo browser from the link you gave (www.snipca.com/46663). However, whenever I try to run it I see an error message saying “the app didn’t start”. I still use Windows 10, so perhaps this is too old. Do I need to upgrade to Windows 11 to run the browser? David Edwards A DuckDuckGo’s new browser definitely works in Windows 10 and 11, so that’s not the problem. Instead, we think you might be missing Microsoft’s App Installer tool, which makes it easier to download certain programs. Install this for free from the Microsoft Store (www.snipca.com/46967). Now restart your computer and attempt to run DuckDuckGo once more. Where’s ‘New’ in my right-click menu? Q I’ve been trying to create the shortcut to boot into the BIOS, as explained in Issue 662 (page 46). However, when I right-click my desktop the context menu does not show the ‘New’ option. This means I can’t then click the ‘Shortcut’ option needed. Is there something missing from my Windows 11 laptop? Cyril Killen A The ‘New’ option can disappear from right-click menus when your registry has been corrupted Can I view recommended videos in SmartTube? Q Many thanks for the recent feature about blocking YouTube ads using SmartTube (www. snipca.com/46308). I followed the instructions and it worked exactly as detailed – brilliant! Just one question – YouTube seems to know my preferences and recommends similar content whenever I open it, which is very useful. Is there any way of configuring SmartTube to do the same thing, please? I’ve had a look through the settings, but couldn’t find anything that might enable that. Mark Dawson A To view personalised recommendations in SmartTube, you’d need to sign into your YouTube account. This would also mean losing the privacy benefits offered by SmartTube as Google will be able to track your viewing habits. SmartTube’s developer confirms this in the FAQ section of its GitHub page: “Recommended videos are defined by YouTube and not by the app, we cannot change the algorithm. If you are logged in, they are based on your watch history, user profile data and whatever else Google might use.” However, he also suggests that a future SmartTube update may find a workaround for this problem. Scroll down to the bottom of PowerToys’ Run Plugins folder to see Winget Try this registry tweak to add the ‘New’ option to your rightclick menu 1 3 2

1080p Of the common types of high-definition video, this is the best quality: 1920x1080 pixels. 32bit/64bit A measure of how much data a PC can process at once. Most older computers are 32bit, more modern ones are 64bit. 3G/4G/5G Technologies that deliver faster mobile broadband. 4K Video with a resolution of at least 3840x2160 pixels. AI Artificial Intelligence. Intelligence demonstrated by a machine rather than a human being. Alphanumeric Data that uses both letters and numbers, such as ‘1a2b3c’. Recommended in order to create secure passwords. AMOLED Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. An alternative technology to LCD for creating flat-panel displays. Aspect ratio A measurement of the shape of a display. Traditional computer screens are 4:3. Widescreen displays are 16:9 or 16:10. AVI Audio Video Interleave. A type of video file. AVI is known as a container format, as it can hold many types of audio and video. Benchmarking Comparing software and products with an accepted standard. Beta A version of software that’s being tested. BIOS Basic Input-Output System. Software built into every PC that connects the vital components. It’s visible for a few seconds when the PC starts. Bootable Describes a device or disc with system files on it so it can be used to start up your computer. Cache A temporary space for storing information. CAPTCHA Distorted text you have to type to prove you’re a human. cd/m2 Candela per square metre. Standard unit of brightness. Chatbot A computer program designed to simulate conversation with human users. Client A program that acts as an interface between PC and server. Codec Short for Compressor/ Decompressor. A file that tells a computer how to record or play a type of media file. Colorimeter A tool for measuring the colour accuracy of a monitor by calibrating its brightness, contrast and colour. Command line A way to control a computer by typing instructions one at a time. In Windows this is called the Command Prompt. Cookie A small text file stored on your computer by a website. Used to store browsing preferences, website log-in details and so on. Cyanotype Photographic technique that involves laying an object on paper coated with a solution of iron salts before exposing it to ultraviolet light. Dark mode Showing white text on a black background. DCI-P3 A colour space that has a wider spectrum than sRGB. Used by US film industry. Deepfake A video that superimposes a fake voice over a clip of someone talking, a fake face on someone’s body, or makes a static photo move. Defragment To reorganise the data stored on a hard drive so files are stored in one piece and can be accessed quickly. Sometimes shortened to defrag. DISM Deployment Image Servicing and Management. A commandline tool that can perform tasks on a Windows installation image. Dolby Vision Dolby’s HDR (High Dynamic Range) screen technology. Domain These are used to identify one or more IP addresses. Driver A file that tells Windows how to work with an external device. Dual-band router A Wi-Fi router that operates on two bands: 2.4 and 5GHz. End-to-end encryption (E2EE) Ensures that messages that can be seen only by the sender and recipient. EXE A program file designed to run in Windows. EXIF Exchangable Image File Format. A method for storing extra information inside photo files. Expansion card A card that can be fitted inside a desktop PC to add extra functions or sockets. Factory reset Restoring a device to the manufacturer’s default settings. Far-field Audio technology that picks up sound further away from the microphone, so you don’t have to be sitting right next to it. FAT32 An old system used for formatting hard drives, and still used for some portable drives. Forked When developers take source code from software to make another related program. GHz Gigahertz. A measure of how many instructions a chip can process per second. 1GHz is equal to 1,000MHz. GIF Graphics Interchange Format. A type of image file often used on the web, but now largely superseded by PNG. Graphics card A component in a computer that produces the image shown on the monitor. HDMI High-definition media interface. A type of connection that transmits high-definition video and audio signals. HDR10/10+ High-dynamic range 10. Current industry standard for TVs. HLG A new high-definition TV format jointly developed by the BBC and Japanese broadcaster NHK. HLS streaming Apple’s streaming technology for delivering live and on-demand multimedia content over the internet. Hyperlink A clickable link that takes you to a new document or website. Hz Hertz. Measures the frequency something happens: 1Hz equals once a second. Incognito mode A browser mode that doesn’t save your internet history, so other people using your computer can’t see which sites you’ve visited. IP address Internet Protocol address. A unique set of numbers used to identify computers and websites on the internet. ISO file A type of image file that contains all data from a CD or DVD. JPEG Joint Photograph Experts Group. A common type of image file created by most digital cameras. Memory module A narrow circuit board that holds memory chips. MicroSD card A small type of memory card. Can be converted to SD size using an adapter. MKV Matroska. An open-source type of video file. Matroska is a container format so it can contain many types of audio, video and even text for subtitles. MP4 A type of digital movie file often used for portable players. NAS Network-attached storage. A hard drive attached to a network that can be shared with other PCs. NTFS New Technology File System. A file system used by all recent versions of Windows. OLED Organic light-emitting diode. A thin-film organic lightemitting diode used in computer displays and television screens. Open source Software that can be modified by anyone, rather than just by the employees of the company that created it. Overclock Make a processor work faster to boost performance at the cost of it getting hotter and requiring more power. 72 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 Jargon Buster

Partition A large hard drive can be split into two or more partitions. Passkey A method for signing into accounts by fingerprint, facial recognition or typing rather than a password. Paywall A system used by commercial websites that allows access only to people who pay a one-off fee or a subscription. Phishing A form of internet fraud that tries to trick you into revealing personal details. Plug-in A small program that adds extra features to software or to your web browser. PNG Portable Network Graphics. A format for images that shrinks file sizes using compression but without discarding any data. QR code Quick Response code. A barcode that can be read using smartphones. RAM Random-access memory. The computer’s working area, used for data storage while the PC is switched on. Refresh rate Measured in Hertz (Hz), the number of times per second that the image on your monitor is redrawn. Refurbished A second-hand device that has been repaired by its manufacturer so that it can be resold and reused. Roaming charge Fee incurred for using your phone to receive data via overseas mobile networks. SD card Secure Digital card. A popular type of memory card. SIM Subscriber Identity Module. The smart card used by all digital mobile phones. Social tariff Discounted broadband package available to customers on benefits. Spyware Software installed (usually surreptitiously) to monitor and report back on a computer’s use. sRGB A standard RGB colour space for use on monitors, printers and the internet. SSD Solid-state drive. Storage that uses no moving parts. System restore point The collection of system files stored by System Restore on a given date and time to which Windows can revert if a problem occurs. Two-factor authentication A system that uses two different means to identify the user. For example, a code sent to your phone in addition to a password. USB 2.0/3.0/3.1 Faster successors to USB. USB-C A new connector that’s reversible, letting you plug it in upside down. Vector graphics Digital images that can be resized without losing quality. VESA Video Electronics Standards Association. A standard mount for attaching monitors on to stands, walls and PCs. Virus definitions A database of known viruses and other malware used by an antivirus program when scanning your computer. WebM Video file format supported by major browsers and software. Whitelist A list of allowed websites, email addresses and programs used by security software to ensure you only visit safe websites and download safe programs. Widget A small program that runs on the Windows desktop. ZIP file A file that contains compressed documents or files.

KnowHow Easy when you 74 Next issue: Robert tries to fake his browsing history Need help ripping songs from your CDs? Let us know: [email protected] 16 – 29 August 2023 • Issue 664 Robert used the revamped Windows Media Player to rip tracks from his old CDs ‘Files by Google’ has its own music player and lets you set songs as your ringtone transfer’. This did the trick and my phone was now shown under ‘Devices and drives’ in File Explorer. I opened the Music folder where WMP had created subfolders for the ripped songs, and dragged and dropped its contents to the SD card drive on my phone. Usefully, this already had a folder labelled Music, which seemed the logical place to copy the tracks. Once the transfer was complete, I opened the brilliant ‘Files by Google’ app (www.snipca.com/46978) and selected my SD card. I then tapped Audio and was pleased to see all the songs from my CDs listed there. It then occurred to me that I didn’t have an audio-player app installed on my phone, having relied solely on Spotify for the last few years. I tapped a track anyway, to see (and hear) what would happen, and amazingly it started playing directly in ‘Files by Google’. It turns out the app has its own media player, complete with fast forward, rewind and playback-speed controls, and even the option to set a song as your ringtone (see screenshot left). Ripping old CDs and storing audio files on a phone may sound old fashioned in the streaming era, but if it saves me £132 a year then it’s groovy enough for me. Copy old audio CDs to his phone With rising costs making him question his need for a Spotify subscription, Robert Irvine tries to… About a year ago in this column (Issue 638 to be precise), I complained that my landlord had increased my rent by a ridiculous amount, forcing me to cancel my subscriptions to various streaming services. He recently did it again, which means I’m now paying 27 per cent more than before the cost-of-living crisis began. I’m sure I’m not the only person in this financially precarious situation, but I am the only one living in a draughty flat below a lead-footed neighbour who has a singing voice like a strangled parrot. So that’s it for me and overpriced London, I’m outta here, and it’s also the end of the line for me and Spotify. Rather than pay its new price of £11 a month for a Premium subscription, or suffer the ads and restrictions of a free plan, I thought I’d rip songs from my old audio CDs to listen to on my phone. Not only would this save me money, but it would allow me to bin the discs – or donate them to a charity shop – and have less junk to transport to my affordable new home (once I find one). Besides, Spotify has become very annoying, cluttering its app with autoplaying videos, relentless recommendations and stupid virtual DJ features. Although my PC doesn’t have a CD/ DVD drive, I’d fortuitously bought a cheap external one for a feature last year (it was this drive, in case you’re interested: www.snipca.com/42356). I’d also just installed the revamped Windows Media Player (WMP, www. snipca.com/46814), which offers audioripping capabilities. I inserted a CD in the drive, opened WMP and clicked ‘Rip CD’ (see screenshot above) to copy all the tracks to my computer. This slow but simple process made me feel pleasantly nostalgic, as if I were back in the Noughties when a pint of milk cost 35p instead of a quid. Once I’d ripped a few CDs to my PC, I needed to figure out a way to transfer the files to my Android phone. The easiest option was to connect the handset to my computer with a USB-C cable. At first, it wasn’t detected as a drive, so I swiped down from the top of the screen, tapped ‘Charging this device via USB’ and changed the ‘USB preferences’ setting to ‘File If ripping old audio CDs saves me money then it’s groovy enough for me

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