Computer Shopper - UK (2019-10)

LETTERS

ISSUE 380|COMPUTERSHOPPER|OCTOBER 2019 7

to no avail. Ithen downloaded an image file
forthis update, which Iburned to aDVD,and
tried installing from this, but always with the
same result: 0xC1900101 –0x30018 “The
installation failed in the FIRST_BOOT phase
with an error during SYSPREP operation”.
Again Itried all the recommended fixes
forthis error code,including uninstalling all
anti-malware software except the Microsoft
one,again without success. The latest was to
unplug the external USB DVDdrive and to
disable the Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections.
My tablet is afairly old Lenovo Thinkpad
X230, which was working fine under
version 1803, so unless Microsofthas done
something fairly drastic with support for
driversinversion1903,you’d expect it
wouldstill work with thelatestversion.
Ilike to think of myself as reasonably
tech-savvy,but I’m totally at aloss how to
proceed with this after many hours wasted
so farinattempting to resolve this issue.I’m
hoping Microsoftisworking on afixfor it, as
Iknow I’m not alone in experiencing these
problems. If Ibitethe bullet and do aclean
install of Windows it will work, but I’m
reluctant to do this as Iwould have to
reinstall apps and files from scratch.
RichardNajduch

We’re running an in-depth guide to tuning up
your PC in the next issue,which will include an
investigation intogetting the best from the
latest Windows 10 update. Hopefully,we’ll be
able to identify your problem and suggest a
workaround as part of that feature.

Mind thegap

What acomprehensive and articulate

assessment of the problem by Mel

Croucher (‘The Great Digital Divide’,

Shopper377). It brought back memories of

the first inklings that afriend of mine was

starting to lose his short-term memory.

On amore general level, you are

absolutely right about the plight of

those who are unable to connect to

the modern world whatever their

reason (or lack of reason).

Well said –Ihope you

disseminatethat article beyond the

readership ofComputerShopper.

Steve

Thanks, Steve. On the basis of the

feedback we’ve had to Mel’s excellent

column, we’re planning afollow-up

article on the digital divide,including

talking to people in aposition to effect

change,and looking at things we can

all be doing to help close the gap.

States of decay

Following on from the statement from

Google not to supply Huawei with

updates to its Android operating system, is

this going to affect the other Chinese

smartphone brands such as Xiaomi,

OnePlus, Vivo and Honor? Perhaps these

will become the latest pawns in the trade

war between the US and China.

This could become apowerful weapon to

force other countries to accept atrade deal

with the US or risk damage to their own

manufacturing. Atop Chinese diplomat has

already warned the UK that banning Huawei

from 5G could have repercussions on future

investment in the country.

However,there is abigger picture here.

There are,asofNovember 2017,2.3 billion

smartphones using the Android OS out of a

total of 3.1billion smartphones around the

globe.What if Google is forced by

the US government to insert some

‘additional’ code in the Android OS to

give it access to users’ smartphones

and all their personal data?

This is exactly the same worry

the US has about Huawei and the

Chinese government. Also,with

about 400 million active users of

Windows 10, would Microsoftever

be pressurised by the US to add

some code to Windows 10 or even

restrict the updates of its OS?

However,weonly have to look

back to early 2018, when Cambridge

Analytica harvested the personal data of

millions of users of Facebook without their

consent forpolitical advertising. No such

extra clandestine code had been added to

Facebook or Android to gain access to the

data. Most apps downloaded on

smartphones require access to your camera,

microphone,contacts list or contents of

your SD card as payment forthe ‘free’app.

Perhaps we should worry more about the

internet rather than the 5G network.

DaveSheppard

Inthenextissue

COMPUTERSHOPPERISSUE381ONSALEINNEWSAGENTSFROM12thSEPTEMBER

❰❰Speed up

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Theessential

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softwaretweaks

that can make

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run like new

❱❱Full control

If This Then That is a

fantastic tool for

controlling your

devices. We show you

how to set it up,which

apps to use and how to

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❱❱Perfect

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We put office

and gaming

monitors to

the test to see

which provide

the best view

❰❰Data

preservation

Data mightbeavaluable

commodity,but it’s

remarkably easy to lose

or forothers to get their

hands on. We show you

how to preserve,recover

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explore the technologies

involved