UK Emergency Alert Test
Just a reminder, as we said last time, there will be a test of the UK Emergency Alert System on Sunday 7th September 2025 at 3pm. So, by the next meeting on 10th September, it should have happened. See last month’s blog for more:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2025/07/
GovWiFi
My thanks to Dave for letting me know about this service.
GovWiFi is available in 1000s of government buildings, including central government, local authorities, NHS trusts, UK embassies, police and fire, etc. Once connected in one building, your device will automatically connect in any other building with GovWiFi.
To set up this service, text “Go” to 07537 417 417
You will receive a text reply with your username and password.
Once you are in a building with GovWiFi, you can use these credentials to connect to the Wi-Fi. When you walk into any other building with GovWiFi, your device will just connect.
See this gov.uk page for more:-
https://www.wifi.service.gov.uk/connect-to-govwifi/
This is a list of organisations using GovWiFi:-
https://www.wifi.service.gov.uk/organisations-using-govwifi/
We had some discussion about the security of this service. It is an encrypted wi-fi connection, so should be secure. There is advice on the GovWiFi web site for the organisations who are looking to set up this service which talks about security and the equipment required. This is a secure virtual wi-fi using the same infrastructure as the local wi-fi, so this does not suggest adding significant costs. See this page if you want more technical details:-
https://docs.wifi.service.gov.uk/requirements.html#set-up-your-network-for-govwifi
Manage Subscriptions in Gmail
For anyone who uses Gmail, there is a new Manage subscriptions feature in their webmail service and in the mobile apps on both Android and iOS.
If you are ‘subscribed’ to receive regular emails from an organisation, you can, of course, look for the “Unsubscribe” link in one of their emails if you want to opt out. What this new feature does is list all the organisations you are subscribed to with the option to unsubscribe alongside each one.
To access this, click on the Menu (3-bars) icon at the top left, or just move your mouse to the menu bar on the left in web mail, and select Manage subscriptions. Here is what it looks like on my PC:-
Just select the Unsubscribe option on the right to unsubscribe from any of these emails.
This article in The Verge has more on this:-
https://www.theverge.com/news/701282/gmail-manage-email-subscriptions-unsubscribe
Spam Emails
Linda raised the issue of spam emails. While genuine organisations will include an Unsubscribe link in their email, allowing you to remove your details from their emailing list (which is what the above Gmail feature simplifies), malicious spam emails are unlikely to include this.
Your email provider should steer emails which it identifies as spam into the Spam/Junk folder. Some emails services (e.g. Google) are better at this than others. You can select and delete all the emails in the Spam folder periodically.
If you want to check if your email address has been found in a data breach, use the Have I Been Pwned web site at:-
https://haveibeenpwned.com/
In general, you can probably just leave the spam system to do its job and ignore the Spam folder. However, if you are expecting an important email from a new sender, then it could be worth checking if it has accidentally gone into the Spam folder.
iOS26 Preview
The next version of Apple’s iOS26 for iPhones will be released later this year. We mentioned the new numbering system and some of the features announced at WWDC at the Club in June:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2025/06/
Apple have now released a preview version of iOS26 which includes the new “Liquid Glass” design along with a number of new features. This video on YouTube shows the iOS26 beta version and demonstrates some of the new features including changes to the Lock Screen, Music, Battery, Screening in Phone and Messages, Photos, Games, Image Playground can use ChatGPT to generate images, etc:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V4-90gYHfg
Windows Birthdays
Windows 95 is 30 years old. It was released on 14th July 1995 to manufacturing and to retail on 24th August 1995.
Windows 10 is 10 years old. It was released to manufacturing on 15th July 2015 and to retail on 29th July 2015. As we have mentioned before, Windows 10 will reach its planned end-of-support on 14th October this year, but you can extend support for another year in one of three ways. Either by paying $30 (approx £23), using 1000 Microsoft Reward points, or using Windows Backup to sync your settings to the cloud. See last month’s blog for more on this:-
https://computerclub100.blogspot.com/2025/07/
Linda asked how to access the Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 10. I suggested that a wizard would pop up after the latest update. However, since the meeting I have found this Microsoft article which states that you can enrol in ESU by going to Settings, Update & Security, Windows Update where you will see a link to enrol if your device meets the prerequisites:-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-consumer-extended-security-updates-esu-program-33e17de9-36b3-43bb-874d-6c53d2e4bf42
AOL Dial-Up Ends
George mentioned that AOL Dial-Up is being disconnected on 30th September this year. In the late 90s and early 2000s it was one of the first ways that many people connected to the Internet. Free CDs used to be mailed out to allow you to install the software that enabled data to be sent and received via a standard landline using a simple modem. This BBC article is one of many covering this story:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj0yy3e6z4zo
Patchs
Tony mentioned that his GP practice now offered Patchs. This is a secure online messaging system allowing you to communicate with your GP Practice, as an alternative to phoning them. This web site explains a bit more and includes an explanatory video:-
https://hub.patchs.ai/gp/patients
Scam Analysers
It can sometimes by tricky to know if an email, message or web site is a scam or whether it is genuine. There are now some AI tools that can analyse these messages and sites and give you a second opinion on their veracity.
Snitcher Space
You can forward an email to Snitcher Space for analyse just by forwarding the email to:-
scan@snitcher.space
After a few minutes, you will receive an email back with an analysis of the email. It is a free service, seemingly financed by adverts. You can read more about it in this article from The Intelligence which includes an example of the sort of analysis you would receive:-
https://theintelligence.com/39970/email-scam-detector
Ask Silver
This tool works via WhatsApp. You first need to go to their web site at:-
https://www.ask-silver.com/
You will be asked to sign up by entering your name, email address and mobile number. Scan the QR Code that pops up and you will get a WhatsApp message on your phone. Just send the pre-filled message that says “Hello Ask Silver” and you are all set up. You will also be sent an email, so if you are using the web on your phone to set this up, click the link in the email.
Once set up, you can send a screen shot of any email, message or web site for analysis.
To take a screenshot on an iPhone, simultaneously press and release the Power button and Volume Up button. If your iPhone has a Home button, use the Power button and the Home button,
To take a screenshot on an Android phone, simultaneously press and release the Power button and the Volume Down button.
You can read more about the Ask Silver scam checker tool at the Get Safe Online web site at:-
https://www.getsafeonline.org/asksilver/
We can probably expect to see more AI tools of this nature appearing.
Google Storage
Google accounts all include 15GB of free cloud storage. This has to accommodate photos saved with Google Photos, emails in Gmail, files stored on Google Drive, backups of your Android devices, etc.
If you want an easy way to check how much storage you have and are using, and how much each individual Google service is using, you can go to:-
one.google.com
Click the Storage tab to see your detailed usage. If you are running out of space, click on Get more storage to purchase more. For example, £15.99 a year gets you 100GB of space.
You can use the Clean up space tab to help you delete some of your files, photos or emails, although I would use this with caution.
Linda asked about Google Photos using your space allocation. It used to be that photos saved to Google Photos in High Quality did not count towards your Google Drive usage. Note that High Quality was the lesser of the 2 options with the other being Original Quality. On 1st June 2021, they changed the rule and all photos uploaded since that date do use your space allocation. High Quality photos uploaded before 1st June 2021 will still NOT count towards your usage.
Also note that, if you delete photos or other files, these will first go into the Bin, which is still using space on your Drive. To completely remove them, you need to go into the Bin and select Empty Bin - they will get deleted automatically after 30 days.
What To Do If Your Email Is Hacked
We have talked before of the importance of having a strong, unique password for your email account(s) and using 2FA to prevent your email account from being hacked. If someone gains control of your email account, they can potentially use it to access other accounts (e.g. shopping sites) by using the “Forgot my password” link.
This recent Which? article takes you through steps you can take if your email account has been hacked:-
https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/what-to-do-if-your-email-has-been-hacked-aQag71v05nMN
Dave pointed out that using the email service provided by your ISP is generally not the best idea. If you subsequently change ISP, you could lose access to the previous emails. Much better to using an independent email service such as Google's Gmail, Microsoft's Outlook or Apple's iCloud, which tend to be superior to the ISP's services.
John questioned whether Outlook Classic, Microsoft's desktop email client app, was being retired. After the meeting, I found this article from Bitrecover which indicates that it will be supported until Q2 of 2029:-
https://www.bitrecover.com/blog/outlook-classic-end-of-life/
However, I haven't found a definitive statement from Microsoft.
Next Session
Wed 10th September at 2pm by Zoom
