Computer Shopper - UK (2020-10)

LETTERS

ISSUE392|COMPUTER SHOPPER|OCTOBER 2020 7

Ihad the misfortune the other dayof
assisting alady in setting up her new
Windows 10 machine.Ihopenever to do that
again. Ihearditwas agoodidea to use an old
version of the Windows 10 install disk and
disconnect from the net while installing it.
However,you will not get me doing that. Iam
acomputer tech: Windows 10 is forpeople
who know nothing about computers. You
would have to paymetoput Windows 10 on
any of my machines. Basically,ifitisn’t broke
then don’t fix it. Security lies
between the ears of the operator,
as do most computer problems.
John

HelloVera
I’m writing in reference to
your recent ‘How To’article
on turning aUSB flash drive intoan
encrypted vault (Shopper390). This relies on
VeraCrypt, the encryption application, being
installed on the PC you plug your USB flash
drive into, whichisprobably not always the
case.Hereisamethod I’ve used forsome
time to run the portable VeraCrypt on the
USB flashdrive itself,which doesn’t rely on
the VeraCrypt app being installed on aPC.
Basically,download and place the portable
version of VeraCrypt on to the USB flash
drive.Then createapassword-encrypted
volume on alarge portion of the USB flash
drive using the on-drive VeraCrypt.
Youcan now plug the flash drive intoany
Windows PC, run the on-drive VeraCrypt
application, and use the password-protected

In the next issue

COMPUTERSHOPPERISSUE393ON SALE IN NEWSAGENTS FROM 10th SEPTEMBER

In search

of reality

From vision to sound

and touch to smell,

we explore the

technologies that

make our computing

experience ever more

like the real world

Smartphones

Weput the latest and best

smartphones tothe test to

see which isworthan

upgrade,and also outline

howtointegrateyour

mobile with your PCso

you canmove seamlessly

between the two

Payup

Inthe secondinour

seriesofarticleson how

tosell online,wetakea

look at thepayment

optionsavailable and

how togetthem working

foryour business

Master

PowerPoint

Digital presentation

skills have never been

more important, so

we show you howto

master PowerPoint

encrypted volume.Ialso put abatch (.bat)

fileon tothe routeofthe USBflash drive,

which, when run, provides the options to

mount the encrypted volume,dismount the

encrypted volume,hideall other files on the

flash drive,see all other files on the flash

drive,and finally Exit the routine.

The batch file alsoprovides avisible

warning to dismount theencrypted folder

before removing the USB flash drive from a

PC in the normal manner.

Full instructions can be found

attinyurl.com/392letters.

Gareth Williams

Lowoverhead

Powerline

Your recent feature (‘Better

Broadband Made Easy’,

Shopper390) covered broadband extenders

and Powerline adaptors. However,you didn’t

mention that there are Powerline adaptors

available that provide both Ethernet and

Wi-Fi access points.

This is the best of both worlds. Most

people require good Wi-Fi connections for

90% of their devices; Ihavetwo TP-Link

AV600 slaves, with one plugged in next to

the smart TV connected by Ethernet and the

other near the outside patio to extend the

Wi-Fi intothe garden. Total cost about £70.

My broadband connection speed is

39Mbit/s and Iamgetting about 35Mbit/s via

Wi-Fi. Initially it wasn’t very good, since the

master was plugged in upstairs next to the

router and the slaves are both downstairs on

adifferent circuit. The upstairs units are next

to the consumer unit so Iswapped the supply

forthe master to the downstairs ring.

PeterBradshaw

Notsogoldenoldies

JustreadthemoanbyRGWillisin

Letters,Shopper 389 (Iknow,Iam

behind the times). Ifully sympathisewiththis

position. We went intoCurrysthe otherday

and even John Lewis forareplacement

gramophone to playour 78s without success.

And later,wepopped in to Halfords fora

new crank handle to use on the car,and

again, no joys.

And now it seems CDs and DVDs are

going out of fashion on computers. No idea

what the world is coming to.

Next, you will be telling me Ican’t get an

8-track player in hi-fi stores when ours stops

working. Thank goodness you can still buy or

rent plenty of video cassettemovies from

high street stores, and Our Price have stocks

of music cassettes to choose from.

Chris