Whether you are a help seeker, or a helper, please be polite.

Help seekers:If a particular device or operating system (Windows 10 etc, Mac etc.) is the subject of your post, put this at the beginning of the title of your post, so that other members can see if they can help, or if it interests them. If it concerns a phone or tablet, give the make and model number, and, if you can, the Android version (if appropriate) Always give full details of the problem to avoid too much toing and froing, thus, hopefully, giving you a quicker solution. Don't forget to thank helpers, and please don't post a problem and disappear.

Before posting, use the group search box (on the right on a PC), to see if it has been discussed before.

Helpers:
Please check that your help/advice is correct and up to date, and please bear in mind that this group is to help non-techies. If possible, provide a link to a suitable website explaining it in simple terms, and/or screenshots. Please be polite, but if you feel like swearing, turn the keyboard off!

In the last 2 days lots of ads have been coming straight into my inbox instead of junk and I cannot block them.
This is in Outlook.

Just been told by my supplier [Talk talk] that if I change from FTTC to FTTP my landline will not work and I would have to use a mobile phone.
is this right and the same for all suppliers ?

Please read this link first. Click here, or the image at end of this post : https://bit.ly/3wHX9CB

Mojeek is based in Brighton, and was the first search engine to not track searches. Its features are:

1. Results are based solely on the words you enter.
2. Does not store personal information.
3. Ranks pages by relevance using its own 'algorithms', rather than those of Google and Microsoft
4. Finds results ignored by other search engines, and places popular sites further down the results.
5. Faster than Google.
6. Does not autocomplete entries.
7. Searches must be spelt correctly.

Address is: www.mojeek.com

Please read this link first. Click here, or the image at end of this post : https://bit.ly/3wHX9CB

Ecosia is "The search engine that plants trees". They donate all the money they make from adverting to climate action, 80% of which finances tree planting. To date, they have funded the planting of more than 151 million trees. Its features are:

1. Searches are anonymous.
2. Data not collected to create an advertising profile.
3. Search results are basically the same as other 'Bing'-powered search engines.

Learn about Ecosia here: https://bit.ly/3sMOiNB

Please read this link first. Click here, or image at end of post : https://bit.ly/3wHX9CB

Startpage, "The world's most private search engine", was given third place in a recent review. Its advantages are:

1. It uses Google's search results, but not its tracking.
2. Does not store your searches or 'IP address'.
3. Does not put a 'cookie' on your device.
4. Does not share your personal information.
5. Searches are anonymous.
6. Does not use a 'filter bubble'.
7. Does not manipulate/prioritise search results.

It has 'add-ons' for Chrome, Edge and Firefox.

It address is www.startpage.com.

This group is invaluable for those who know about it and has potentially a very wide reach, which I hope will expand ever more over time.
Many older people find face-to-face support with unfamiliar IT a pleasanter experience than confessing to all one's ignorance in a public forum, however. So I was delighted to find that the perpetually-changing system of local digital support seems to be going from strength to strength. I hope that other areas are able to offer similar support, too.
The problem has always been the wildly fluctuating availability of funding but perhaps political appreciation of the need for facilities that promote such inclusivity has become normalised. This new backer is a charity that I hadn't heard of before, which doesn't mention anything about how it's funded, but maybe it's relatively new.
https://50pd.uk/

Please read first: https://bit.ly/3wHX9CB

Brave Search was launched last year. It has its own search index, and only uses other search engines when it cannot find the required information in its own index. If you click Info at the top right of the search results, it will tell you where the results came from.

Brave search does not collect information about you, your searches, the links you click, and does not share any data with advertisers. Unlike Google, it does not manipulate the search results. Included in the results, you may see 'Discussion' highlighted, these are results concerning conversations which have taken place about your searched subject.

Brave Search is currently in 'Beta' and does not have adverts, but when out of 'Beta' it will. These will not be based on personal information. You will be able to pay to avoid seeing adverts, this already happens with catchup TV and YouTube. Many websites rely on income from adverts and donations to survive.

The address of Brave Search is: https://search.brave.com/

I've been using this year-old Dell laptop to attend Zoom classes with no connection issues, but trying to attend meetings held via Microsoft Teams is a disaster.
The connection drops as soon as the meeting formally begins and I end up spending the whole time struggling to renew the connection and rejoin the meeting, while auditing the meeting by telephone - unaware who's talking, since I don't know this large group. It means having to be muted whenever the connection is restored, and to turn the volume on my laptop right down, to prevent feedback, when I'm asked to speak by telephone.
The weird bit is that yesterday's disastrous Teams meeting was at exactly the same time as I normally have a Zoom class - so it's not just the awkward time of day/internet traffic locally that's causing these problems.

Is there a substantial technical disparity between the two platforms? Does Teams (in meeting mode) perhaps demand radically more bandwidth, or something like that, than Zoom does?

Please read first: https://bit.ly/3wHX9CB

A recent survey named DuckDuckGo as the best way to search the web anonymously. Its advantages are:

1. It does not share details of your searches.
2. It does not collect personal data.
3. It does not manipulate the search results.
4. It does not store cookies on your devices.

DuckDuckGo receives its income from advertising, but you can turn this off in its menu which is top right on its search window: Click Menu, then All Settings, then Advertisements, then click ON to turn adverts OFF.

DuckDuckGo gets its results from its own 'Web Crawler', 400 other sources; the main one being Bing, Microsoft's search engine.

Instead of changing your browser's search engine to DuckDuckGo, you can access it and any other search engine from your bookmarks bar. If you want to have access to more than one search engine, you can put the links in a folder on your bookmarks bar. DuckDuckGo also has 'Browser Add-ons'.

DuckDuckGo has a special feature called 'Bangs', see the comment below for details.

The next search engine will be Brave Search.

As mentioned, please do not comment about other search engines in this post.

Please read this first: https://bit.ly/3wHX9CB

Google search is not what it used to be. It gathers more data than other search engines and manipulates the results of searches. The results you see are based on what it knows about you, and manipulation of the results by 'SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)'.Someone else performing the same search will get different results, this is achieved by putting you in a 'Filter Bubble'.
When you perform a search, at the top of the results you will see the number of results it has found. These results aren't available, here is an example you can try: search for Windows 11. I got 5,270,000,000 results, but there were only 10 pages of results available, giving 91 results.
Google now has new and currently trending information at the top of the results, and puts older articles and less popular sites lower in the results, even though they may be more relevant to what you are looking for. You can also find lower quality results near the top of the results because the designers of the website have used 'SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)' to improve their rating.
Another method that Google is using, to manipulate what you see, is 'AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). They use 'AMP' links in their results to show you their own ads. The results give you no indication that you are vising an 'AMP' site, and not the original source. Web designers are forced to create their sites in accordance with Google's specifications, or they will be moved down the search results.
Google is well known for the amount of data it collects from its users, and the ads that you see on millions of websites are based on this.
If you have a Google account, visit https://myaccount.google.com, and you will see what Google knows (or thinks it knows) about you, such as location, gender, hobbies, and interests, etc. Here you have some control over what Google can do.
In a recent survey of search engines, DuckDuckGo was rated the best. This will be the subject of the next search engine post.
As mentioned, please do not comment about other search engines in this post, you can do that in a coming post about that search engine.

https://bit.ly/3lFjYjM

I shall soon be posting information about various search engines one at a time. As this is a non-techie loop, I shall not be explaining any technical terms. If you wish to investigate them, I have put them in inverted commas, so that you can google them!
Please do not comment about other search engines in the posts, otherwise, they will be hidden in another search engine's post; you can do so when I post about that search engine.

If you use services such as Amazon/Paypal/Google, you will have met up with 2FA. This involves receiving a text message or email containing a code that you must enter in order to complete whatever you are doing.
If you currently receive this code by phone, then it is important to set up an alternative method* to receive it, in case your phone is not available, working, or receiving a signal. You can sometimes tick a box to say 'Trust this browser', but if you are in the habit of 'cleaning' your device, then that may not work.

*Look at the settings of your account.

You can read all about the subject here: https://bit.ly/3PBm4Pp

I've been doing the CovidenceUK survey for nearly two years with no problems but some use more difficult formats.
Those using Qualtrics - which seems to be much favoured by major academic institutional research studies - remained stubbornly impenetrable for months. Then someone to whom I'd rehearsed the whole problem suggested changing browsers and lo! that finally gave me access to the latest survey I wanted to take.
I had looked online in case this system were notorious for incompatibility problems but didn't spot anything this basic.

So, if anyone has a Qualtrics-based survey to do, then don't try to tackle it via Microsoft Edge. Google Chrome works - at least for me.

Deceptive design patterns (also known as "dark patterns") are tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn't mean to, like buying or signing up for something. The purpose of the following site is to spread awareness and to shame companies that use these practices: https://bit.ly/3Pk8nUW

* This 30 min BBC podcast gives examples of what to avoid: https://bbc.in/39qeQgG

I've seen it before but asked someone this morning why her comments kept being littered with tiny dotted boxes containing the letters OBJ. She has no idea - they're not a substitute for any emoticon that she intended to include, for instance - and she can't see them when she looks at the same conversation.
Does anyone know what might be causing this - and how to stop it happening?

I'm very happy not to have had to pay Microsoft a huge subscription for their Office suite when I don't need half of it, just simple word-processing and spreadsheet software, but this Word-substitute has a few tiresome aspects.
Even if I've created a new document in LibreOffice Writer, I can't then open it again directly by single-clicking on it. That triggers Word, which I (obviously) don't have, trying to force me to start a subscription in order to use my document. I can only open it from a file manager, using the "open with" option, which is tedious.
And Writer persistently displays every long document in a two-page wide format, which is much harder to use than a simple, single-page one that scrolls down (not across and then down).
Can these issues be prevented at all, please?

If you ever need to use accented letters, there is a much easier method than using the character map:
1. Right-click a blank area of the taskbar.
2. Click 'Show touch keyboard button'
3. The keyboard button will appear at the right-hand of the taskbar.

To add an accented letter, click the keyboard button. Then, on the on-screen keyboard that appears, click and hold the required letter. You will then see the different accents available at the top of the keyboard. Click the cross top right to close the keyboard.

If you are unfamiliar with the Character Map, which does far more, see here: https://bit.ly/3kYiDEl

I've been invited to become a guest on an institution's Microsoft Teams account but run into problems getting to use that. I don't think that I can ever have used this before.
Downloading MT onto this Dell laptop initially produced a different setup from the one which downloaded when I tried to use the guest account, so I deleted the first one in case they were incompatible.
But I couldn't log into the institution's account when invited to do so, because Microsoft identifies me by an ancient Outlook e-address which isn't, of course, the e-mail address by which the institution knows me. The institution's administrator must have put my everyday e-mail address into the invitation to join as a guest.
There's a long error message, quoting the ancient Outlook e-address, which I've sent to the administrator when asking her for help to get this guest status to work. Does she simply have to use that ancient e-address to issue me with a workable invitation? What role does one's e-address have in Microsoft Teams, other than for signing in to use the system?

Used to be that when I clicked on the shortcut for Outlook it went straight to the site, now since clearing the cache it goes to the Google search and I have to click on outlook login first.

How can I stop things I've Googled going to the clipboard ?
The only option I can see is to disable it completely but there is one thing I need it for

I've had this for a few years and always been OK with it. Now, after two weeks of many sites being blocked and 'greyed out' I have deleted it and things seem back to normal. It just seemed to start blocking everything, admittedly probably down to something I shouldn't have done - I don't know how as I have never really clicked on it in the past.
Should I look for an alternative, not bother with anything or re-install in a couple of days.
Thank you.

Keep getting these coming up across the screen - why and how to stop it ?

An elderly friend has been receiving calls from irritated strangers accusing her of having called them, which she hasn't done.
It sounds as if some nefarious person could have cloned her number and be making the nuisance calls, leaving her number to show up on the recipients' call logs. Is that possible?
I've advised her to register her telephone numbers with the Telephone Preference Service and shown her how to report nuisance calls, if she also gets those - but this is a different problem, which I can't think how to help her solve. Any brilliant ideas, you clever techie people?

I'm trying to find something on Bromley Council website, no problem in getting there but when I click where I want to be it turns grey even after reloading. It's normal for a second then immediately turns grey again. Went onto tablet and have no problems on there.

Have I inadvertently put a block on the site on this desktop, please. Thanks.

We all know what WiFi is, but do you know what it stands for? Answer attached.
https://www.jottacloud.com/s/095e278eb5c8da24319a99f6e23c4732991

BT had planned to turn off its landline phone service by December 2025, but due to customers that rely on their landline not understanding the reason, and what they had to do, they have decided to delay their plans.
When this happens, you will no longer be plugging your phone into the wall socket, you will have to purchase a phone* that plugs into your router. Those that do not have the Internet, will have to use a mobile phone.

* An adaptor can be used, but this is far too technical, see the video in the comment below.
.
https://bit.ly/3ulpxci

If you are still using Internet Explorer, note that soon after 15th June, it will no longer work.

I've often had long periods when my wi-fi didn't work reliably and I had constantly to click to re-connect to it, to get rid of that annoying non-connection icon.
My supplier recently suggested doing a factory reset of the router, which they can apparently see has not been reset for some time. I
Their instructions are as follows:
"There is a small hole on the back of the router and next to this hole it says Reset. The hole is the size of a paper clip or the back of an earring.
If you can insert the paper clip into the hole until you hear it click or until all the lights come off.
Remove the paper clip.
Await all the lights to come on, this will reset the router."
This sounds very odd; should this a normal maintenance chore?

I periodically get so cross at the wi-fi that I just turn the router off completely, wait a while and then turn it back on again. Does that have a very different and less substantive effect than doing this factory reset?

It has been discovered that part of the program that runs Chrome, can be made use of by hackers. When such problems are found in programs, an update called a 'patch' is issued. Chrome, as well as other browsers*, updates when you open the program, so there is no special action required on the part of the user. Edge, which also updates automatically, may also have the same problem as Chrome,

*You may be able to turn off, or not accept updates in some browsers and programs, but this is not possible in Chrome without knowledgeable intervention.

The latest version of Chrome starts with 100. Similar to the Millenium bug, this can cause problems with websites that haven't changed to work with the new version. If you experience this, just change to using another browser.

My rarely used mobile is showing the time as before the clocks were changed even though it is set at automatic timing.
If i go into settings it shows the correct time but on returning to main screen still shows an hour earlier.

If I clear the cache will I lose all my saved passwords ?

Rewind to the beginning if needed.

https://bit.ly/3i4PCp1

Interesting and amusing information: https://bit.ly/3hGFMcV

Deleting your cookies can cause you to have to log in to a site every time you use it. When using cleaners, make sure you understand what is being deleted, and the consequences of doing so.

Vodafone will start switching off its 3G phone network next year. Popular phones such as the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 and earlier models will be affected. Details here: https://bit.ly/3v6KWXy

An investigation by Microsoft to discover why some computers are running out of date versions of Windows, concluded that half of them had not spent enough time connected to the Internet. The minimum amount of time to get an update is a total of 8 hours as follows: 2 hours to receive the update, the 6 hours to "reliably update". Their advice is to leave a computer connected to the Internet overnight.

https://bit.ly/3LNmdgS

https://www.scooploop.com/thread/are-you-still-using-physical-media-dvd-bluray-to-watch-movies

Just tried for the first time to scan something - total failure, any tips where I am going wrong ?

If you have or use CDs or DVDs for the storage of important photos/documents etc., be aware that due to the composition of the surface, their expected life is 2 - 5 years. Therefore, always rerecord them if you prefer to use CDs or DVDs, before this happens. As well as storing files on your PC, you can also backup files to the 'Cloud', i.e. Microsoft OneDrive or Google Drive. You can also back up to USB key drives* or external hard drives*. Never have important files in one place only. If something is really important, then have copies at another location (in case of fire/theft) for instant access, without having to download them from the cloud, which can take a long time.
*Both of these devices can fail.

The next edition of LibreOffice 7.3 will have the addition of Klingon. It will also have Interslavic, which was created in 2006 as a way for citizens of Slavic countries to communicate with each other.
Here's some Klingon that will get you in the party mood: https://bit.ly/3AF0S49

Users in South Korea are being tricked in to installing ransomware*, by installing fake Edge updates, in response to a warning that Edge is not up to date. You will never see a genuine update warning, as Edge updates automatically. Security experts expect it to spread globally.

* https://bit.ly/3rbYkHw

A photo I had changed has disappeared from my folder - where could it have gone ?

I've been reading the digital version of our local independent newspaper for years but they've suddenly begun putting MailChimp Trackers onto use of all their "Continue reading" links, which upsets Ghostery and isn't as easy to get around as the warning page suggests.
Apparently I can't just stick in a screenprint but this link may show what I've been getting after clicking on such a link: extension://fclbdkbhjlgkbpfldjodgjncejkkjcme/app/templates/blocked_redirect.html

I don't care for my reading habits being tracked, let alone by MailChimp; on the other hand, I do like being able to read local news from this excellent source. What (if anything) can I do to achieve the latter without being stuck with the former? I've written to the publishers, in case they don't realise what's happening, but I hoped that someone here might have other ideas before they reply - if they ever reply!

I was automatically upgraded to "superfast fibre" broadband last February, which I hoped would improve the unreliable daytime internet connection that had been plaguing me worse than usual for months by then. It's been even worse recently but the supplier insists that these problems are due to wi-fi failures inside the house, not with their connections outside it. (Their connection records show only one 'drop' yesterday afternoon, but I spent the morning wrestling to get - and stay - online.) There's no problem in the evening but trying to stay connected in daytime (including weekends) is simply maddening.

They've checked and apparently I'm the only user of this internet channel; all my Sky and TalkTalk-using neighbours are on a different one, so it's not due to congestion. And their speed test unexpectedly showed a current speed of 40Mbps, even though I can't seem to watch more than a couple of minutes' recorded drama without it freezing.

The supplier has recommended that I install a powerline adapter (or booster) but the standard advice warns that that device has to be on the same electrical circuit. Since the router is downstairs and I work upstairs (where it's warmest), and I know that each floor of this small house has a separate power circuit, that sounds as if no such device would help me.
If only people living in single-floor flats (or bungalows) can benefit from using this device, hasn't anyone worked out a solution for those of us living on two or more floors? What about all those family houses with teenagers online in their bedrooms as well as adults downstairs?

I'm only using a Dell laptop PC, which is usually plugged in at my desk upstairs.

Any brilliant ideas for how to fix this maddening problem would be very gratefully received....

Any update on Windows 11? I am now getting the annoying window when l start my laptop telling me to update from 10 to 11. Lots of blah blah blah on what there isn't anymore and quite confusing. It took a lot of toing and froing to dismiss the screen,
l don't know if declining means more processes lost or not Could you explain if the update is worth it or not.thanks.

Gioacchino Gammino, a member of the Italian mafia who escaped from prison in 2002, was found by Google Street View. Italian police, who had already traced him to spain, suspected they had found their man when they spotted a grey-haired man outside a grocery shop near Madrid. The store was named El Huerto de Manu (Manu's Garden), and nearby they found a restaurant called La Cocina de Manu (Manu's Kitchen). One of the specialities was Cena Siciliana (Sicilian Supper). The restaurant had been closed for some time, but a photo on its Facebook page showed him working as a chef. The police recognised him from a distinctive scar on his chin. He was baffled how he was found; he had not even phoned his family for ten years. He is now serving a life sentence.

https://bit.ly/3KroQEe

Depending on the web browser and search engine you use, and the way the browser is set up, It may record every site you visit, and even your passwords. To be completely anonymous when surfing the web, you can use a browser that doesn't track you, or reveal your location.
A search engine that does not track you is DuckDuckGo, and a browser that does not reveal your location is Epic Privacy Browser.
The Epic browser can be installed here: https://bit.ly/3rnEk3x
You can install DuckDuckGo here: https://bit.ly/3KezxtY