Protect Your PC With A Sandbox

Sandboxing is a great way to keep out malware and prevent bad software ruining your PC. Roland Waddilove digs deep into the subject

Sandboxing is a way of protecting the computer from viruses, trojans, spyware, adware and badly written software. All these things can seriously damage your computer, with the effects ranging from relatively minor freezes, crashes and changed settings to malicious applications that delete files, encrypt them using ramsomware and more.

The word ‘sandbox’ is said to come from the idea of a children’s sandbox, an enclosed area where kids can play with sand without causing a huge mess of your garden, house or classroom. The sand stays in the box, and everywhere outside is clean and tidy.

Can You Replace TV With The Internet?

With so many options for watching programs and movies online, can you finally ditch your TV and/or cable subscription?

If, like many people these days, you’re tired of complaining about how poor TV is, filled as it is with reality TV programs, cooking shows, decorating guides and repeats, you may wonder why on earth you bother with your TV licence or your cable subscription, if you have one. Even freeview, which is, erm... free, costs some money up front and also requires the aforementioned TV licence. Like it or not, in some fashion, you’re paying for TV, even if you don’t like what’s on it. It’s not great, and we’ve all wondered if it’s worth it at some time or another. Well, what if you could do away with TV altogether? With the internet and the vast growth of streaming and download services, this must surely be an option, right? Let’s have a look and find out if you really could ditch the boob tube and get your televisual entertainment online. First, a very brief history.

The making of Firewatch

How a pioneering team broke all the rules to tell a new kind of adventure story

Back in 1999, Cabel Sasser and Steven Frank, founders of Portland-based Mac software developer Panic Inc, decided they could do a much better job of designing the Mac’s interface than Apple had managed thus far. As part of their grand vision, the pair created Audion, a tool for playing CDs and MP3s that was originally intended to be just one component of a suite of focused apps, but which ended up being released in standalone form. The app took off and attracted developers keen to customise it, one going on to create skins that caught the attention of the Panic team. After reaching out, Sasser discovered that he and this accomplished designer shared other common interests – including an obsession with LucasArts adventure games – and through infrequent contact watched as his career developed. Fourteen years later, Sasser found himself listening to a videogame pitch from the guy whose Audion skins had triggered their friendship. The man was Jake Rodkin, and the game was Firewatch.

Watch Dogs 2: Renegade Master

Ubisoft Montreal calls on the power of the crowd as Watch Dogs 2 heads out west to San Francisco

Ubisoft is rarely topical. This is a company that prefers to safeguard its future by borrowing from the past, be it the historical tourism of an Assassin’s Creed or the prehistoric stylings of Far Cry Primal. Where it does dip a toe in more modern waters, it either does so by escaping the trappings of 21st-century civilisation, as in Far Cry 3 and 4, or by simply destroying it, as in The Division. Yet in 2014’s Watch Dogs the company was almost achingly current, its tale of surveillance paranoia launching mere months after Edward Snowden had laid bare the shocking extent to which modern governments spy on their citizens. The intervening two years have  yielded the Panama Papers, the mass sharing of celebrity photos that were meant to remain private, and the rebirth of the Snooper’s Charter. Drone warfare is ever more prevalent, while the rise of the Internet Of Things means that everything from smartcars to children’s toys are susceptible to attack. As our relationship with technology becomes ever closer and more complex, so too grows the likelihood of it being exploited. The more connected we are, the more vulnerable.

Chillblast Fusion Nitro Family PC

A nice-looking, good all-rounder

The Fusion Nitro is a good example of an affordable desktop PC, with its own particular set of benefits and compromises. Its tower case is eye-catching, with Star Wars styling and the obligatory LED-lit window in the side. Chillblast – one of the leading system builders in the UK these days – has filled it with components that will satisfy a tight budget and broad requirements.

HP Elite x2 1012

Yet another Windows 10 hybrid

Every PC manufacturer wants to compete with Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4, arguably the best example of a Windows 10 tablet that you can also use as a laptop. HP are so keen that they’ve done it twice. We reviewed the Spectre x2, a 12in Windows 10 tablet with a detachable keyboard. The Elite x2 is the ‘business’ version, with more attention to security and maintenance, and less to features like the cameras.

Sony Xperia X

Flagship phone lacks firepower

We’ve had the Xperia Z3, Xperia Z4 and Xperia Z5 – so what has Sony called its latest Android smartphone? Xperia X. Yes, just X. We don’t yet know if there’ll be an X2, but there’s already an XA (which is cheaper) and an XA Ultra (which has a bigger screen).

Vodafone Smart Prime 7

An Android Marshmallow phone for £75

It’s not quite as cheap as the Smart Speed 6, but the Smart Prime 7 is strikingly affordable for a smartphone with all the features you’d expect, including the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system. One of the best things about Marshmallow is that – unlike earlier versions – it lets you store apps (and their associated files) on a microSD card (available online from around £10). This means the meagre 8GB of internal storage on the Smart Prime 7 is no great problem.

Memory Cards Fast Fixes

Recover lost files, revive AutoPlay pop-ups and remove write-protection

‘Property loss’ warning when copying files

If you’re copying content from your PC to a memory card, you may see a ‘Property loss’ message. This is because memory cards and hard drives tend to have different formats. For improved compatibility, memory cards are usually pre-formatted using the older FAT32 file system, but newer Windows hard drives use a system called NTFS. NTFS stores more metadata than FAT32, and the message is warning that you may lose some.

Create a hack-proof password

As Microsoft bans commonly used passwords, David Crookes reveals how you can create the most secure passwords ever

You should think of passwords in the same way as you think of the locks on your front door. Using a simple one is like leaving your door on the latch, while the most complex are comparable to a five-lever mortice deadlock. But with so many passwords for so many accounts to remember, there’s a temptation to either keep things short and sweet, or plump for a memorable skeleton key for the lot… but that’s where trouble can start.

Smart Locks Explained

Bring your home security into the 21st century

One of the latest security gadgets to make its way into the home is the smart lock. Using connected technologies, smart locks allow you to open doors without the need for keys. But how do they work? Are they safe? And what are the benefits? Here, we’ll tell you.

Intel Core i7-5930K 3.5GHz

Toward the end of 2014, Intel released a trio of fourth-gen Extreme processors: the i7-5820K, the i7-5930K and the i7-5960X. These are the premium end of the processor scale, so you can expect to pay a pretty penny to get your hands on one.

The i7-5930K is a beast of a CPU. A six-core, 12-thread powerhouse, with a base clock speed of 3.5GHz and an oddly meagre turbo boost of just 200MHz to 3.7GHz.

Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz

This i7-4790 is a fourth-gen Intel Hyper-Threading processor, having been released around mid-2014. It features a base clock speed of 3.6GHz, a turbo clock speed of 4GHz for one of the cores and 3.8GHz across all four cores.

The TDP is a little higher than the sixth-gen i7 processors, those being around 65W as opposed to this model's 85W. The integrated GPU in this case is an Intel HD 4600, which manages a base clock speed of 350MHz and a turbo boost speed of 1.2GHz – exactly the same as the i5-4690K that came out at around the same time.

Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz

Pitched at a point above the i5-6400 is the i5-6500, another sixth-gen Intel processor that takes the benefits offered by the more entry-level i5-6400 and adds a couple more enticing elements to the mix.

This is a 3.2GHz 64-bit processor, with four cores, 6MB of L3 SmartCache and a turbo frequency of up to 3.6GHz. Since it’s a sixth-gen model, there’s support for DDR4 memory up to 1866/2133MHz, a TDP of 65W and an integrated Intel HD 530 GPU.

Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz

The i5-6400 was released toward the end of last year and sits neatly in the mid range of Intel’s desktop processor series.

It's based on the Skylake architecture, so this particular 64-bit chip uses a 14nm manufacturing process, together with other such features as 6MB of L3 SmartCache, 1MB of L2 cache, support for DDR4 1866/2133 memory and an integrated Intel HD 530 GPU, which runs at a base frequency of 350MHz and a boost frequency of 950MHz.

What to do if your PC gets stolen

What are your next steps if thieves strike?

If the worst happens and your PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet gets stolen, you might wonder what you can do. Well, how you get it back is outside the realms of advice we can reasonably give you, but what we can tell you is what to do if and when the nightmare becomes a reality. Take it from us, in case someone takes your system from you.

How To Access The Dark Web. Step By Step

We delve into the hidden parts of the internet

The internet is a modern phenomenon that has grown well beyond the imagination of those who first envisioned it many years ago. On one hand, it’s the world’s most valuable resource – an incredible learning platform where, altruistically speaking, we can learn from each other’s cultures, discover new areas of research, share ideas and knowledge and become better, more worldly people. You could look it as the gateway to the next step of human evolution.

Books, Websites & Apps For Aspiring Coders

If you’re trying to get into programming and need a hand, there’s plenty of help available if you know where to look

Programming is seen as a very highly specialised job and, to some degree, that’s perfectly accurate. To become a professional coder, you’re required to take on board a huge amount of knowledge. You’re not only learning one or multiple new languages, but also logic, design, planning and much more. It’s a complex and varied role, and depending on your sphere of expertise, be it web development, productivity and business applications or games, you’ll have to learn totally different  skills. There’s no such role as a simple programmer in truth, and jobs vary wildly in skill and experience, and budding coders often need to pick an area to focus on, often learning even more skills throughout their career, but what’s the best way to begin down this road?

Protect Your Android Phone From Malware

Security software for Windows is now on Android, but which apps are best, and what are the risks? Roland Waddilove investigates

Is your Android phone or tablet at risk from malware? There are frequently reports of viruses, trojans, spyware and other security flaws in Android, but just how bad is the situation really? If you’re worried about the security of your Android device, there are a wide range of apps that aim to protect you from the ever increasing variety of malware that is spreading around the world.

Life After Office 365

If you wish to move away from Microsoft’s Office 365, what are your options? We have a look.

Once upon a time, Microsoft’s Office was found on a disc and was installed locally on your PC. Considered by many to be the best and most powerful office suite around, the Office series was hugely popular and was found in both homes and offices around the world. It pretty much set the standard for office suite features and design, and has introduced much more power and flexibility into the genre of software than mere word processing and spreadsheets.

Best free iOS keyboards

Google, Microsoft and others are muscling in on Apple’s iOS devices with keyboard apps that offer more tools than the standard one. Andy Shaw finds out whether they’re good enough to justify making the switch

Download any video from the web

Torrents aren’t all dubious, dangerous downloads – they have many legal uses, too. Wayne Williams explains everything you need to know about downloading videos using BitTorrent

Today there are more ways than ever to stream and download videos from the internet, but BitTorrent is still one of the easiest no-cost options. The peer-topeer file-sharing protocol has been helping web users grab films, TV programmes and other large files since 2001. Despite court orders making torrent sites harder to access, ISPs throttling download speeds and some BitTorrent software bundling nasty extras (uTorrent once included a sneaky Bitcoin-mining tool), torrenting is still incredibly popular, with an estimated 250 million users worldwide.

DVBLogic TVButler

Andy Shaw tests a USB dongle that lets you record Freeview TV programmes and watch them anywhere, on any device

There are all sorts of devices for recording TV programmes, from Sky Plus to Freeview boxes with hard drives. The problem is that you still need to sit in front of your TV when you want to watch what you’ve recorded. Wouldn’t it be far more convenient to be able to stream your recorded programmes, and even watch live TV, wherever you are and on whatever device you have to hand?

This is the promise of the DVBLink TVButler – a USB dongle that plugs into myriad devices, records Freeview TV programmes to them, then helps you stream the recordings to all sorts of other devices, so you can watch live and recorded TV even when you’re away from home.

Remembering… MS QBasic

This week we go back to basics

Despite having dreams of wanting to program my own games, with an aim to one day become a developer, I never really progressed much past BASIC.

While BASIC is fun, it’s not exactly something that many software houses look for when considering a CV. I eventually found tinkering with the hardware and playing around with batch files more fun, but there’s still a little part of me that wanted to reach the heady heights of z80 assembly or even C programming.

Parrot Zik 3.0 Wireless Headphones

Parrot launches some of the most desirable wireless cans yet

At the very moment I unpacked Parrot’s Zik 3.0 wireless headphones, there came the realisation that these were something special, and that’s even before I discovered how much they cost!

Everything about them is lovely. From the bone-like elegance of the metal support arms, to the sculpted ear cushions finished in leather. The review models even had a new ‘croco’ effect leather, if they weren’t sumptuous enough already.

Zotac Sonix PCIe 480GB SSD

Buckle up, because Zotac just found the loud peddle for PC storage!

For a long, long time there was only one significant way to connect storage to a PC, and that was SATA. But these days we’ve got that option plus various M.2 choices, mSATA, SATA Express and PCIe.

I suspect that M.2 will win out ultimately, but in the meantime, if you’d like to have some of the fastest storage around, then Zotac has this Sonix PCIe solution.

Samsung 750 EVO SSD

Samsung consolidates their SATA SSD range with a new model

As a rule, the numbering of technology parts goes up, inferring better performance or a higher spec. When it goes down, as it has with the new Samsung 750 EVO, then usually a lowering of expectations is in order.

As I’ve referred to before, SATA SSDs have run into a cul-de-sac performance wise, as they’ve hit the ceiling of what bandwidth SATA-3 offers. That leaves price as one of the few differentiating factors that hardware makers can easily adjust.

AOC C3583FQ

Curvaceous and colourful – just how we like our monitors

We’ve had a number of great examples of curved monitors through our door in recent months. Both BenQ and Samsung have produced some excellent displays with curved panels, including an array of screen enhancing technologies.

Now it’s AOC’s turn with the C3583FQ. This is a 35" VA panel with a 160Hz refresh rate, contrast ratio of 2000:1, dynamic contrast ratio of 50,000,000:1, a response time of 4ms and, of course, the icing on the cake, a large screen curve of 2000R.

Things We’ve Stopped Doing On The PC

Mark Pickavance looks at a collection of once-common activities, which have now been all but abandoned

Being along for the ride, it’s often difficult to appreciate the sheer amount of change that has occurred over the past 30 years or so. Larger storage, faster processors and better technology have all come along and rewritten the PC playbook, along with the internet.

Because of this, there are activities that many PC owners did that they no longer do – and I’m not just talking about loving the colour beige.

Do you remember doing any of these, or are there some you’re sheepishly still doing?

Remembering… Horace

We recall a strange blue character this week

There are numerous famous characters in gaming that are recognisable no matter where you travel in the world – with the exception of some of the more farflung destinations, of course.

Lara Croft, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Q-Bert and countless others have left their mark on society. For those of us of a certain age though, there’s also Horace. That strangelooking blue creature, with haunting large eyes, lack of facial features and hand-less arms that seemingly grow from the top of his/her/it’s head.

Papa’s Got A Brand New Laptop Bag

Carry your notebook PC around in comfort and style – without breaking the bank

There’s no doubt we live in a world of smartphones and tablets, but there are still plenty of reasons to buy a laptop for your mobile computing needs. Whether you want to write a few letters, create some PowerPoint presentations or just make things blow up in the latest videogames, you’re better off doing it with a full-size keyboard and a decent-sized screen. And you’ll also find it easier to play non-standard media files that aren’t necessarily supported by operating systems like iOS and Android.

Top 5 Internet Criminals

Causing mischief is what these guys are all about…

1 Kim Dotcom

Born Kim Schmitz, this Finnish and German internet entrepreneur has made millions from founding online services like Megaupload and, later, Mega. Of course, both of these are closely linked with copyright infringement, and this, along with accusations of money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering, is why the US Department of Justice is trying to have him extradited from New Zealand, where he currently lives.

From Bedrooms To Billions: The Amiga Years

From humble beginnings, a technical icon grew

The second documentary from Anthony and Nicola Caulfield of Gracious Films is now available. And instead of looking at the history of British influences on the gaming world and the technology behind it, it’s time for one of the most iconic home computers ever developed: the Amiga.

As with the original From Bedrooms to Billions, the documentary starts with the humble beginnings of what would become a machine far beyond its time. It opens with late Ralph Baer, inventor of the Brown Box and credited as the father of videogames, then moves on to interviews with Joe Decuir, Larry Kaplan and Trip Hawkins, providing the history of Atari and how the key players in the history of the Commodore Amiga found their place.

Corsair SF Series PSU 450W

Small system builders have a friend in Corsair

Many years ago, I owned a tiny Pentax Auto 110 SLR that looked like a 35mm film camera that had been shrunk in a crazy science experiment.

Opening the box to Corsair’s new SF Series PSU reminded me of the Pentax and how irresistibly cute miniaturised technology can be.

TP-Link Archer VR2600 VDSL/ADSL2 Gigabit Modem Router

TP-Link delivers a heavy duty AC class broadband router

However you look at TP-Link’s new flagship router, the Archer VR2600, it’s a monster. Being 263mm wide by 198mm deep and 33mm high, hiding this one could be a challenge even if it can be wall mounted.

This hardware isn’t all about aesthetics, thankfully. Instead it’s the rather special blend of wi-fi that’s the critical lure for those who want to revamp their router.

Asus Zenpad 10 (ZD300C)

Is this budget hybrid too good to be true?

If you’ve ever doubted the importance of shopping around, then may we introduce the Z300C from Asus. Comprised of a 10” tablet and detachable keyboard/speaker dock, this set sells for anything between £160 and £240.

We’re going to base this review on the lowest price, available from Amazon and the BT shop, and we wouldn’t suggest paying any more that, for reasons that we'll explain shortly. It’s also worth bearing in mind that you can buy the Asus Z300C for around £140, which is exactly the same tablet but without the dock.

Plustek OpticFilm 135

Digitise your 35mm slides

With the rise of do-it-all printer/scanner/toaster/hoovers, you don’t often see separate scanners these days. Something you can’t usually do with those you find on multi-function devices, however, is scan 35mm slides. This requires three special features: a way of getting the slides in accurately and efficiently; the ability to shine light through them (known in the trade as ‘transmissive’ rather than ‘reflective’ scanning); and a very high resolution, because you’re going to want to view and print the resulting digital images much bigger than the postagestamp originals.

EpsonExpression Home XP-432

A small all-in-one printer

From a distance, the XP-432 looks much like any other inkjet printer/scanner/copier. Then you realise you’re not seeing it from a distance – it’s just very small. That makes it an attractive option for a crowded desk. As with Epson’s other budget printers, the colour screen is tiny – even smaller than the one on the back of your average digital camera – which makes it less useful than it should be for previewing photos from the SD card slot.

Dell Optiplex 5040 Mini Tower

A PC that does the business

Look around any electronics shop, and you’ll find the computers they sell from the shelves aren’t the same ones they use on the counter. That’s because most big PC brands make entirely different ranges for consumers and businesses.

Dell’s Optiplex 5040 series is definitely aimed at the office, not the home. But it’s cheap enough to consider for home use. The first thing we noticed was the quality of the case. Most affordable PCs come in a basic black plastic box that aims to keep costs down, or a curvy multi-coloured confection designed to catch shoppers’ eyes. By contrast, the Optiplex looks like a piece of serious industrial equipment.

Mesh Elite Inspire CA

A complete PC with good peripherals

There are two questions people always ask you when your job is writing about PCs. One is when's the best time to buy a PC, and the other is when's the best time to get rid of it. Well, here’s the answer to both: there is no right time. Whenever you do it, you might have got a better deal a month later. Sorry, we realise that’s not helpful. But the good news is, if there’s no right time, there’s no wrong time either.

Huawei MediaPad M2 10

A stylish Android tablet

The tablet market has gone a bit quiet in the past few months. Even Apple’s iPads haven’t been selling quite as well as expected. There’s a feeling that maybe everyone who wanted a tablet has got one and is quite happy with it, thank you. They don’t get broken as easily as phones, and we don’t rely so much on their cameras, so there are fewer incentives to replace or upgrade them.

Samsung LC27F591FDUXEN

Honey, I bent the screen

Once upon a time, TV sets bulged like fishbowls around the cathode ray tubes that fired electrons at the glass screen. Later, Sony’s Trinitron all but eliminated the curve from top to bottom, but not side to side. Only with the switch to LCD did we get completely flat screens. And finally, the electronic display was perfected.

HTC 10

You get what you pay for

It’s a cunning plan to call your smartphone ‘10’. Hmm, I wonder how many marks out of 10 we should give this? Well, sorry HTC, we only go up to five.

If only getting a positive review was as simple as sticking a number after the product’s name. In reality, the product has to impress us. That’s not something HTC proved very good at with last year’s M9, which was basically their previous phone with a different rubbish camera and the battery life of a turnip.

LG Stylus 2

A phone with a pen

Does anyone else remember PDAs, or did we dream them? Before there were smartphones, there were pocket computers from companies like Psion and Palm. And their black-and-white screens came with that essential accessory: the stylus.

It seems odd to feel nostalgic for something we were only too happy to give up. Glorified cocktail sticks are frustratingly easy to mislay, after all, but we can generally find our fingers.

Never download junk again

Downloading free software can be a minefield. If you don’t know which boxes to untick, your PC could end up riddled with junk. Here, Jane Hoskyn reveals how to install the best programs safely

You’ll already know your pups from your PUPs (one is a cute young canine, the other is a troublemaking program that sneaks into your PC along with reputable software, and can be a right old dog to remove). PUP stands for ‘potentially unwanted program’, a laughably polite term for unwanted junk that can cause great harm to your PC.

But you know how to avoid them, right? You choose safe, big-name software from trusted companies like VLC, Adobe and AVG, instead of junk-riddled nonsense like Free YouTube Downloader and “too good to be true” freebies like CamStudio, which claims to be a realistic alternative to the superb £250 screen-recording program Camtasia Studio. You probably also know that certain download mirror sites, such as Cnet’s Download.com pack their installers with dodgy extras that are easy to miss if you’re in a hurry or unfamiliar with the process.

Download everything in higher quality

Don’t put up with substandard quality in videos, music and photos. Robert Irvine reveals how and where to download the optimum versions of digital files

Stop Hackers Locking Your PC & Phone

The criminals behind ransomware are finding ever more devious ways to lock your files. Wayne Williams explains how to protect your devices from the latest threats, and recover from an attack

Ransomware first hit the headlines a few years ago as one of the nastiest types of malware yet, taking control of a victim’s computer, encrypting their files and extorting money to remove it. Sadly, in recent months, the threat of ransomware has grown worse – much worse, in fact. Not only has it spread from PCs to phones, tablets and Macs, but there has been a massive increase in the number of instances of ransomware detected. Moreover, the methods that hackers use have become more devious and more difficult to deal with.