Computeractive

Group Editor in Chief Graham Barlow Group Editor Daniel Booth Deputy Editor Robert Irvine Production Editor Graham Brown Art Editor Katie Peat Contributors Keumars Afifi-Sabet, Judith Batchelor, Dinah Greek, Jonathan Parkyn, Nik Rawlinson, Andy Shaw

It might sound impressive that nearly 79 million people use Brave, but it barely registers on the global browser league table. Look at this chart from StatCounter (www.snipca.com/50742) and you’ll see Google’s Chrome way out in front, followed by App

EBay will stop accepting American Express cards as a direct payment method from 17 August. It said it was making the change due to “the unacceptably high fees American Express charges for processing credit card transactions”. You’ll still be able to

Manhattan has released its T4 and T4-R Freeview Play boxes, to fill the gap left by the T3-R, which it stopped making last year. Both contain UK-based services like BBC iPlayer and ITVX, though only the T4-R lets you record shows. The T4 costs £70 (w

Microsoft has warned that Russian hackers will target the 2024 Summer Olympics with a campaign of misinformation on social media. The company’s Threat Analysis Center says that Russia-based groups called Storm-1099 and Storm-1679 will try to discredi

Scammers are tricking Android users with fake Google Play Store updates that contain malware. Installing the update gives the attackers access to the victim’s phone or tablet. First, the scammers send an email or text message claiming to be from Goog

I have McAfee on my PC, so when I received an email claiming my subscription “has expired in 24H”, it caught my attention. I wasn’t sure what it meant – perhaps that McAfee would expire in 24 hours? The message said my PC would be “susceptible to man

You’re probably right to say that the decision to extend the copper network switch-off deadline to January 2027 was “inevitable” (Issue 685, page 6), but the more important point you made was that the network is “crumbling” and needs to be replaced.

LEAD CASE Q In August 2022 I bought a £34.99 Kolink power supply unit from Currys. It stopped working in March, since when I’ve been ping-ponged between Currys and Kolink in Germany. It’s still under warranty, but Currys says this has nothing to do w

You’ll soon be able to cancel a rolling subscription simply by telling the company in an email, under a new law that significantly boosts your consumer rights. Previously, you had to follow a company’s process for cancelling, which was often difficul

Before the middle of the 19th century, most people suffering from mental illness were cared for by their families or the local community, though wealthier families could pay privately for their relatives’ treatment at so-called ‘madhouses’. Despite t

www.snipca.com/50749 What you need: Windows 10 or 11 Back in Issue 676 (page 19), we reported that Glow had reached its final version, but the popularity of the program has persuaded its developer to keep it going. That’s good news for us because the

I read with interest James Deviner’s case asking whether Hughes or Amazon was responsible for dealing with his broken TV (Consumeractive, Issue 684). If my experience is anything to go by, he’ll be well served by Hughes. I bought a TV from the compan

www.snipca.com/50763 Price: £10 per year Free trial: N/A What you need: Windows 10 or 11, macOS or Linux As we explained in our ‘Ditch your old passwords now’ Cover Feature in Issue 685, Bitwarden’s free plan offers “everything you’re likely to need”

Q Can you recommend a free and simple tool for encrypting files and folders? I’m not talking about national security levels, but AES 256-bit standards for personal use. Dr Mark Cutaneous A Give VeraCrypt a go – it’s free from www.snipca.com/50354. La

Microsoft’s switch-to-Bing repair ‘tip’ Looking for a reliable PC-cleaning tool can feel like sticking your hand in a hornet’s nest. I’ve been stung enough times by tricks and junk from CCleaner, IObit and Auslogics to be wary of any new program offe

The idiot pictured here is Russian social-media ‘influencer’ Mellstroy, who it’s claimed challenged his followers to invade Wembley’s pitch during the Champions League final on 1 June. It seems he promised 30,000,000 rubles (around £260,000) as a pri

If you’ve ever used an ebook reader you’ll be familiar with E Ink screens, though most up to this point have been mono panels. These have low refresh rates, so are ideal for showing static information, such as a page from a book. They are not suitabl

SMART TV | £125 from Amazon www.snipca.com/50707 US company RCA is a newcomer to the budget smart TV market, but if this space-saving set – which costs just £125 and uses Roku’s excellent interface – is anything to go by it’s a very welcome entry. At

MP3 PLAYER | £35 from Amazon www.snipca.com/50654 These days many people listen to music by streaming it via their smartphones, but it’s not always practical to rely on a single device and an internet connection for all your digital needs. Also, you

German company Machdyne has developed a USB stick that it claims can survive for decades. The Blaustahl Storage Device (pictured) costs around £26. The stick uses FRAM (Ferromagnetic RAM) rather than standard RAM. Regular RAM needs refreshing every f

Kobo’s 6in ebook reader gets a new mono screen with better contrast and a faster refresh rate An affordable Chromebook you can use as a laptop or tablet These and much more… Subscribe to Computeractive at www.getcomputeractive.co.uk ■

Find out which other products we liked. Buy our 2023 Back Issue CD: £18 from www.snipca.com/48860 PRICE DROP Dell Inspiron 14 Plus £849 from www.snipca.com/50079 Tested Issue 683 Has the same processor (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H) as our previous favour

Twelve South’s HiRise 3 Wireless Charging Stand is a space-saving wireless charger that offers luxury charging for your iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods. Place your iPhone on the MagSafe charger and adjust the angle of the screen to see notifications

What you need: Smartphone, tripod, GIMP Time required: One hour Photographs usually capture a single moment in time, but that doesn’t always tell the whole story. If you want to present before and after shots, illustrate how something’s grown or show

I find composite images particularly useful to show how things have changed. When you create them as described here, the two photos remain independent. If I ever want to recover the upper image, I can simply remove the mask I applied at the end of th

Email us your tips: letters@computeractive.co.uk I agree with your assessment that all the recent changes to Google Maps have made it worse (Issue 684, page 63). I switched to Here WeGo (www.snipca.com/50387) a while ago and haven’t regretted it. I p

It’s hard to remember a time when Google presented its search results in a clean, minimalist way. Search for something these days, and your results include sponsored links, ads for related products on online stores, ‘people also ask’ suggestions and

The YouTube Music app for Android (www.snipca.com/50640) has added the useful ability to identify songs by humming, whistling or singing them. Tap the search button and press the new waveform icon that appears in the top-right corner. Give YouTube Mu

With the update KB5035942 in March Microsoft added widgets to the lock screen in Windows 11, showing information like weather forecasts and stock-market prices. You can disable these if you don’t want them. Press Windows key+I to open Settings, then

A wiki is a website that invited users can add content to. This makes them a convenient and engaging way of presenting club news or reaction to a recent event. One of the easiest ways to run a wiki is with the help of Notion (www.notion.so), which we

Last year, Brave added a VPN and firewall to its desktop browser (the feature was already available in its mobile app). Unlike the VPNs in Edge and Opera, which are really proxies, Brave’s tool encrypts everything you do online across your entire dev

Brave’s free apps for Android (www.snipca.com/50673) and iOS (www.snipca.com/50674) offer the same features and protection as the desktop browser, including AI tool Leo and the optional VPN and firewall. Some of its tools are actually more beneficial

Find them on secret websites you’ve never visited before • Stop using weather apps We reveal what to use instead• What not to say to chatbots Stay private when chatting online Subscribe to Computeractive at www.getcomputeractive.co.uk ■

Q I’m trying to increase the size of my C drive. Recently, I had to upgrade my Elite Dangerous Odyssey game with an update that was 30GB. I managed to complete the installation by deleting parts of the game I didn’t use. The size of my C drive is 237

• Why can’t I connect to 5GHz Wi-Fi?• Can I clone just my apps?• Where’s my Recycle Bin gone? …And many more Subscribe to Computeractive at www.getcomputeractive.co.uk ■

Q In Issue 681’s Cover Feature on removing junk safely, you mentioned the WINDOWS.OLD directory (page 53), which is created after a re-installation. I’d counsel caution in deleting this until you’re happy with your new Windows installation and progra

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. 720p A r