Wednesday 13^th September 2017

10^th Anniversary iPhone

Apple held a big event for technical journalists at Apple Park, their new HQ in Cupertino, California yesterday (Tuesday 12^th September) on roughly the tenth anniversary of the launch of the original iPhone back in 2007. They announced:-

• The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
• The Apple Watch 3
• The anniversary phone, the iPhone X (pronounced “iPhone ten”)

They all have wireless charging capability. The iPhone X introduces “Face ID” to unlock it. It is the first iPhone to have no Home Button. There is no fingerprint reader, so Face ID replaces the previous Touch ID which used your fingerprint. Will Face ID be secure and practical in the real world? Time will tell. The iPhone X will be available in November and will cost £1,000 or more.

The new Apple Watch has its own SIM, so it can make phone calls, even if you don't have your iPhone with you. It uses the same phone number as your iPhone.

The new phones will feature iOS11 which will be available to older iPhones as an update in the near future.

You can read more about these new products and services here:-

https://www.cnet.com/uk/products/apple-iphone-x/preview/

Edge Problem After 1703 Update

Following the 1703 update to Windows 10, some people are finding that Edge will close immediately after opening. Brian G found that this was caused by Trusteer Rapport/End Point Protection, the IBM security software recommended by many banks.  Disabling the Trusteer software allows Edge to work normally. This has since been confirmed by Rob, one of our other volunteers, who was experiencing similar issues with Edge. Where updates are failing, it might be worth disabling or even removing all third-party security products before updating. If the update is then successful, you could try re-installing/re-enabling the security products if you want to keep using them.

PC Switches Itself On
Linda has a tower PC system which switches on intermittently all by itself! This is possible, as the PC still is powered at a very low level, even when it is shutdown. A tiny bit of voltage leaking across a component, most likely in the Power Supply Unit (PSU) could cause this. The first stage to diagnose this would be to replace the PSU in the tower.

Disabling TrackPad
Margaret found that she is brushing against the Trackpad on her laptop when typing - this is a common problem. There is usually some way to disable the Trackpad, perhaps with a Function Key or a dedicated switch. See this article for more information:-
https://www.pcworld.com/article/241048/how_to_disable_your_laptop_touchpad.html

Keyboard Problem
Tony has a few keys on his laptop keyboard which seem to stick down slightly so that the key repeats a few times when pressed. This sounds like a mechanical keyboard problem. Try blowing compressed air to dislodge any debris. You could also try an Isopropyl Alcohol Spray. If the keyboard is faulty, it is relatively simple to replace it. Search for a YouTube video on replacing a keyboard for your particular laptop model. You can also find practical repair guides on:-
https://www.ifixit.com/

Switching To Fibre Braodband
If you have non-fibre broadband, this is known as ADSL. If you switch to fibre broadband, this uses VDSL. A lot of modern routers are ADSL/VDSL compatible. If you have an older ADSL router and you switch to fibre, you will need a new VDSL router; alternatively you may be able to add a VDSL modem and connect this to your old ADSL router.

All the ISPs offer fibre broadband, so it is worth shopping around to see which service looks best for you. 'Fibre' means 'Fibre To The Cabinet' (FTTC) where the fibre goes to the green box in the road and the last few hundred yards from the green box to your house is still the old copper wire.

W10 Fall Creators Update (1709)

With many users only just getting the 1703 “Creators Update”, we now have the next big update being released from 17^th October – see this article:-

http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-windows-10-fall-creators-update-rollout-to-kick-off-october-17/

This site lists some of the main changes in 1709:-

https://www.windowscentral.com/fall-creators-update

Once I have the 1709 update on my system, I will update my Windows 10 and Edge documents to reflect any significant changes.  You can find the latest version of these documents at:-

bit.ly/CE-Windows10, and

bit.ly/CE-Edge

(Note: these ‘Bitly’ links are case sensitive)

Reinstalling Edge

Edge is an integral part of Windows 10, so, if Edge has a problem, you can’t uninstall and reinstall it like you can with other apps/programs.  However, according to this article, it can be done, but it is not for the faint-hearted and I have not tried it:-

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-reinstall-microsoft-edge-in-windows-10/

Personally, I would suggest that if you are having problems with Edge, reinstalling Windows might be a better option (see below). 

Reinstalling Windows 10

If you have to resort to re-installing Windows 10 to resolve a problem, or because you have had a malware infection, you can use the Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB installation drive. This site takes you through the process:-

https://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

Provided you previously had an activated copy of Windows 10 installed on the machine, you do not need to enter a Product Key - click on I don't have a Product Key. Once installed, the new copy of Windows 10 should automatically re-activate.

You can ‘Reset’ Windows 10 by going to Start, Settings, Update & Security, Recovery and clicking on Get Started under Reset this PC. (Note - you must be logged in as an Administrator to do this). You can choose whether to keep your files or to remove all your data. This will re-install Windows from a Recovery partition on the hard drive so it is not as 'hygienic' as installing from the Media Creation Tool.

With either of the above approaches, you will have to reinstall all your apps and reconfigure settings. If possible, backup your data before you try to reinstalling W10 and make sure you have access to all the software and licence keys that you will need to re-install.

Next Session

Wed 11^th October 2017 1:30 to 3:30pm.