My Web Site
As many of you may know, I have a web site which provides links to all my documents. You can access this web site using this short URL:-
bit.ly/rogersdocs
Incidentally, I included this short link in my email to you on Monday about today's Computer Club. Those of you using Gmail found a warning message at the top of this email - this was because Gmail was suspicious of a short URL. Gmail tries to check web addresses in emails to ensure they are not on it's blocked list. As short URLs redirect to the actual destination site, Gmail cannot check that final address, so puts up a warning.
I have added a new Tech Hints & Tips tab on my web site which links to a number of short documents, some of which are based on topics we covered at the Computer Club. For example, Backup & Control Your Google Data covers Google Takeout (13th Nov 2019 Club) and the Inactive Account feature (22nd July 2020 Club).
You can also find documents on connecting PC, iPhones/iPads and Android tablets to wi-fi.
iPad/iPhone
Control Centre
We
mentioned the Control Centre briefly at the 10th June 2020 Computer
Club. Accessed by pulling down from the top right of the screen, the Control
Centre allows you to adjust the Brightness and Volume, Mute, Lock Rotation,
adjust the Text Size and lots of other things.
You can re-arrange the icons in the Control Centre and add or remove them by going to Settings, Control Centre.
I have explained this in more detail in a new brief document in the Tech Hints & Tips section of my web site (see above). You can use this link to go directly to the document:-
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z4uzilvlwjcjoeh/iPad%20Control%20Centre.pdf?dl=0
Removing Downloaded Files and Cookies on iPads
Cherry raised this issue. With regard to cookies, as on any device, each browser stores its cookies separately. So, for Safari, you would go to Settings, Safari and then, on the right, scroll down to Clear History and Website Data and tap Clear.
To remove cookies from Chrome on an iPad, this is similar to a PC. Open the Chrome app and tap the 3-dots and select Settings, Privacy, Clear Browsing Data. Select Cookies, Site Data and tap Clear Browsing Data.
To remove downloaded files, use the Files app - if you do not have this app, you can download it from the App Store. Open the Files app, use the menu on the left to select a location. If necessary, tap on subsequent folders to open them. When you find the file you want, tap Select (top right), tap the small circle on the required file to tick it, then tap Delete (at the bottom).
Windows 10
– 5 Years Old!
Windows 10
was first released on 29th July 2015, so it is now 5 years old –
somehow, it feels a lot longer. That was version 1507 – version numbers are
based on the month and year.
The latest version is 2004, although this may not yet have reached all PCs. If you check for updates (Settings, Update & Security, Windows Update), you may see this notice:-
If so, you
can click on Download and install to perform the update at a convenient
moment.
The next update in Autumn, currently code-named 20H2, will be relatively small and will be delivered as a Cumulative Update (CU). CUs are the way the regular monthly updates are delivered.
Phil queried what would happen to machines that have still not received 2004 by the time 20H2 is released later this year. My advice would be to leave it for now, at least until 21H1 is released in Spring 2021 and see what happens then.
Cherry had mentioned that her PC had taken a very long time to start up. This usually implies that Windows is completing an update. The screen can show the 'spinner' or just be blank for a long time. Be patient and allow it to complete the process.
Margaret had a pop-up after an update telling her to call 'Microsoft'. Of course, she was smart enough to realise this was a scam. Restarting or just closing the browser can remove this. Alternatively, download and run Malwarebytes (from https://www.malwarebytes.com/) and run a full virus scan to find and remove any malware. Uninstall Malwarebytes when complete.
Phil asked about removing previous versions of Windows after a major update (to save space). This should happen automatically. After the meeting, I found this Microsoft site that tells you how you can easily remove the old Windows sooner, if you wish:-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4028075/windows-delete-your-previous-version-of-windows
Disk Clean-up
Phil raised this. If your system is short of storage space, you can run the Disk Clean-up ultity. Just click Start and begin typing Disk Clean-up. When you see the app highlighted in the search results, press Enter. You can select categories of files to delete. If you first click Clean up system files, you will have the option to remove additional files.
Windows Account Types
Brian raised this query. There are 2 types of user accounts in Windows - Administrator and Standard. The first user account set up on the machine will be an Administrator, meaning they have the rights to add/remove apps, change security settings, etc. Subsequent users set up will be Standard by default. This can be changed by going to Control Panel (use Start search to find it) and select User Accounts.
Users, either Administrator or Standard, can log in with either a Local Account or a Microsoft Account. You can read a little more about this on my Windows 10 - In Depth document (page 2):-
bit.ly/CE-Windows10
Brian referred to the status of Organiser. This is a category of user in Microsoft's Family Safety. This is designed to limit the activities of certain users, especially children. An Organiser can change these Family Safety settings. You can read more here:-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/12417/microsoft-account-add-members-to-family
You can also go to Start, Settings, Accounts, Family & other users. If you click Add a family member, you are then asked if they will be a Member or an Organiser. Those new users will need to have, or a create, a Microsoft Account.
Note that to add another user, you would not normally do this. Confusingly, even though you might be adding an actual 'family member', you only use the "Add a family member" if you are configuring the Family Safety options, typically to set parental controls on child accounts. Instead you would click on Add someone else to this PC.
Updating
Phil pointed out that most Internet connected devices need to be updated to maintain their features and security. This includes smart TVs, IoT devices, satnavs, etc. Fortunately, more devices are automating this process.
Freeview Re-tuning
John raised the fact that Freeview TVs and digi-boxes all need to be re-tuned as the transmitter frequencies have changed. This is because some frequencies have been re-allocated from Freeview to the mobile telecoms companies, probably for expanding 5G mobile. I think this process is happening at different times in the various regions.
Some TVs may re-tune automatically, but some users may need to do this manually through the menu system.
In some cases, viewers have found they have considerably fewer channels after re-tuning - see this BBC News article:-
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53752063
Coronavirus
Stats
Back at
the 8th April Computer Club, I mentioned two sites providing global
Covid-19 statistics:-
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ and
https://bing.com/covid
For UK
data, the Government provides figures on their site at:-
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
For
example, if you select Cases, you will see a graph of daily cases by
date reported. If you select Data (just above the graph), you will see a
table of daily case numbers.
At the top of the page, next to “Case in United Kingdom”, the drop-down arrow allows you to select data by Nation, Region or Local Authority.
LibreOffice
John raised the fact that LibreOffice version 7 is now available. LibreOffice is an office suite that includes a word-processor, spreadsheet and presentation app. These are equivalent to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The functionality of LibreOffice is very similar to Microsoft Office, but has the advantage of being completely free.
There is a free version of Microsoft Office which you can use within a web browser by going to:-
www.office.com
This free version has fewer functions than the paid-for version.
LibreOffice sprang out of OpenOffice in 2010 when Oracle effectively abandoned the OpenOffice project. OpenOffice still exists and is currently owned by Apache, but I feel it is less well developed than LibreOffice and not fully compatible with the latest Microsoft file formats.
LibreOffice can open Word files and create and save files in Word format. To get the full version of Word, you either have to purchase MS Office Home & Student for £120, or subscribe to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) for £60 or £80 p.a.
Video Editing on iPad
Tony was looking for ways to edit video on an iPad. I had suggested iMovie, which is a free app on iOS and MacOS. In particular, Tony wanted to be able to zoom in on an image. This article suggests that is possible:-
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/tips-to-become-an-imovie-master/
However, this may only be possible with iMovie on a Mac.
Rob suggested Movavi as a possible video editor:-
https://www.movavi.com/ios-video-editor/
Google Sign-In Page - Language
When you choose an account to sign back in to Google, the language always
shows as "English (United States)". Even if you change this using the
drop-down menu, it always reverts back. Linda asked if there was a solution to
this. I'm afraid I don't know.
Next Session
Wed 26th
August 2020 at 2 pm by Zoom.
