Wednesday 10^th May 2017

Updated 18/05/2023: Changed the two product links in the section "Extending Your Network" as the original products are no longer available.

News

Windows 10S

On 2^nd May, Microsoft announced a new version of Windows 10 for education. Windows 10S is designed to compete with Chromebooks which are currently dominating the education market in the States. W10S will only be able to run Store apps – you cannot run traditional desktop apps. This should prevent malware getting installed.

The default browser is Edge and this cannot be changed. The default search settings within Edge are also fixed as Bing. W10S can be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro for $49 in the USA. In fact W10S has some of the features of W10Pro such as the BitLocker whole-drive encryption system. At this stage, I don't know if or when W10S machines will be available through retail outlets in the UK.

There are a number of articles about about this new version of Windows including this one by Tom Warren of The Verge:-

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/3/15530588/microsoft-windows-10s-features

Windows 10 1703 Update

Some people had received the 1703 update, but most had not. You can check your current version by going to Start, Settings, System, About. Here you will see the current version of Windows which will either be last year's 1607 or this year's 1703. If you are still on 1607 and you click on Start, Settings, Update & Security, Windows Update, you may see something like this:-

If you click on Yes, show me how, this will take you to a web page where you can download and run the Update Assistant which allows you to upgrade to 1703. Otherwise you can just wait for it to arrive through the automatic update process.

Anti-Virus

We briefly discussed the issue of new PCs having trial versions of anti-virus pre-installed. These usually provide 30 days free updates, after which you would need to pay for further updates. I would advise removing such trial versions when initially setting up the system. Windows Defender will re-activate after you remove the other anti-virus program.

While anti-virus used to be essential in the early days of Windows XP, it has gradually become less important as the intrinsic security of Windows itself has improved over the years. The most important action to keep your system secure is to keep it updated. With Windows 10, the update process is completely automatic and cannot be disabled, so this ensures your system always has the latest security patches installed.

You can find a number of articles which discuss some of the negative issues associated with anti-virus programs such as this one by Sebastian Anthony in Ars Technica UK:-

https://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2017/01/antivirus-is-bad/

Q & A

Clearing Cookies

Linda asked if there was any point in regularly clearing cookies. Unless you are having some particular problems, I would say there is little to be gained by regularly clearing cookies. Cookies are small files, each relating to a specific web site and browser. They are stored on your hard drive, but only take up a tiny amount of space. After clearing cookies, web sites will no longer 'remember' anything about you - it will be as if you are visiting them for the first time. Also note that each browser stores its own cookies, they are not common across browsers. In effect, just using a different browser is like using a completely different machine.

To clear cookies in Chrome, for example, click on the 3-dots, More tools, Clear browsing data. Here you can delete cookies and other browsing data, either completely or just those stored over a recent period.

Browsers also let you block "third-party cookies" - these are cookies stored, not by the main site you have visited, but by other sites that are linked to it, mainly advertisers. In Chrome, for example, you can do this by clicking on the 3-dots, Settings, Show advanced settings and click on Content settings under the Privacy heading. I would advise doing this.

You can google for how to access these features in other browsers.

Dual Band Wi-Fi

In response to a question from Arthur, we discussed dual band Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is a way of connecting our devices to our router. The alternative method of connecting to your router is with an Ethernet cable. Many devices, e.g. phones and tablets can only connect via Wi-Fi. The original frequency used for Wi-Fi was 2.4Ghz. Virtually all Wi-Fi devices can use this 2.4Ghz frequency. This frequency is also used by other things, such as wireless intruder alarm systems.

As we all have many more devices these days, the 2.4GHz band is getting increasingly crowded. You can ease this crowding by connecting devices by an Ethernet cable where this is possible - this will generally give you the fastest and most reliable connection to your router. Some years ago, a 5GHz frequency band was introduced for Wi-Fi and this is gradually appearing on more recent devices. Obviously, to be able to use the 5GHz band, this must be supported by both your router and the device. This higher frequency 5GHz band will generally be less crowded, but the signal cannot travel as far as the lower 2.4GHz.

An emerging Wi-Fi technology is known as a mesh system. This uses multiple Wi-Fi nodes positioned throughout your house giving greater coverage and the ability for your devices to seamlessly switch between nodes as you move around. Here is an article which discusses this in more detail:-

https://www.howtogeek.com/290418/what-are-mesh-wi-fi-systems-and-how-do-they-work/

Extending Your Network

If you are having problems with Wi-Fi reaching some areas of the house, there solutions which don't require the expense of a mesh system.

One solution is a Wi-Fi Extender (e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/RE220-Universal-Extender-Broadband-Indicator/dp/B07ZWBBPQN/). These are a cheap solution, but they basically reduce your speed by 50% as they have to receive the signal and then retransmit it and they cannot do both these things at the same time.

A better solution is to use Powerline Adapters. This is an example of a pair of Powerline Adapters with Wi-Fi capability:-

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/tplink-tlpa7017p-powerline-adapter-kit-twin-pack-10218370.html

Powerline adapters use the mains wiring within your house to carry the network data. You need to install one of these near your router and then others wherever they are needed.

Lock Screen Pictures
Arthur asked how to delete a Lock Screen photo in Windows 10. If you go to Start, Settings, Personalisation, Lock Screen and select Picture under the Background heading, you can choose from one of the pictures or browse to select more. The pictures shown are in C:\Windows\Web\Screen. So, to delete any of these photos, use File Explorer and go to this folder where you can delete any photo by right-clicking on it and selecting Delete.

Desktop Slideshow Problem
You can set your Desktop to show a series of photos from a chosen folder. You do this by going to Start, Settings, Personalisation, Background and select Slideshow under the Background heading. Click the Browse button to select the desired folder of pictures and set the time interval for them to change.

Linda found that the Slideshow did not show all the pictures in the specified folder. I don't know why. I would expect it to cycle through all the pictures in the folder. Any feedback of other people's experiences with this would be welcome.

Windows 10 Updates Failing
Margaret has an issue where her W10 laptop fails to install Windows Updates and reports a problem relating to her HP Photosmart 5520 printer, error code 0x800F020B. Googling suggested checking Device Manager (you can right-click on Start to get to Device Manager). We found and removed an "Unknown Device" under the Printer heading. This may solve the issue.  If not, try removing all the HP Photosmart software in Programs and Feature (again, you can right-click on Start to access this). After this, reboot and try updates again.

File Explorer Randomly Opening
Brian G had an issue where File Explorer opens randomly. He suspected this was associated with his external hard drive. If the system sees the external drive disconnect and reconnect, the AutoPlay function may be responsible for this. You can go to Start, Settings, Devices, AutoPlay. Here you can disable AutoPlay for all devices, or select what happens when a removable drive is connected. These options include opening File Explorer, Ask Me Every Time and Take No Action.

Next Session
Wednesday 14th June 2017.
Topics may include:- Google Photos and Editing PDFs.