We fix readers’ computing problems
APC and its readers can be one giant helpdesk. If you have a technical problem, chances are one of us can solve it.
WINDOWS STRANGE ENTRIES APPEAR AT STARTUP
I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon at startup – command-prompt windows briefly flash up and disappear. I ran AutoRuns and have discovered a long list of entries marked ‘Uninstall 17.x.x.x’ listed as ‘Windows Command Processor’. What are these, and is it safe to delete them? Jackie Kent They’re all linked to OneDrive. They’re small scripts designed to clean up old versions of OneDrive after it’s updated. They’re supposed to delete a redundant folder, then remove themselves from startup, but often they get left behind and the entries start to mount up.
This is a bug with OneDrive itself, but despite several references online, there’s no definitive way to stop it happening. Thankfully, you can at least clean them out periodically using AutoRuns or a similar tool such as CCleaner (look under Tools > Startup where you can select all the offending entries and delete them with one click). Nick Peers
NETWORKING ADD NETWORK IP TO WINDOWS TRUSTED ADDRESSES
How do I stop a ‘These files might be harmful to your computer’ message appearing when copying files across my network? I trust the PC in question. Jack Quince This happens when you type a networked PC’s IP address into the File Explorer address bar to connect to it rather than clicking (or typing) its computer name – which is sometimes the only way it’ll enable you access it. If you are unable to connect to the PC using its name, open the Internet Options Control Panel – in Windows 10, type ‘internet options’ into the search box to access it. Now switch to the Security tab, select ‘Local intranet’ and click Sites followed by Advanced. Add ‘192.168.0.*’ to the zone, replacing ‘192.168.0’ with the first three digits of your network’s IP address. Click ‘Close’ > OK > OK. Restart your PC and you should find the warning no longer appears. Rob Mead-Green
EMAIL MIGRATING TO A NEW EMAIL ADDRESS
After ten years of having to change email address whenever I’ve moved to a new Internet provider, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and get a single Gmail address that I’ll be able to take with me. The problem is, I’ve got around 60 contacts to tell about my new address. What’s the best way to do this without causing them (or me) too much disruption? Martin Oldfield There are two ways to help nudge people towards your new email address. The first is to ensure any replies you send to emails that have been delivered to your old address automatically go from your new
address. With Gmail this is simple enough if you’re now using your web browser to collect your mail.
If you’ve not already done so, route your old email address through Gmail by clicking the Settings button and choosing Settings > Accounts and Import, then clicking ‘Add an email account’ under ‘Check email from other accounts’. This means all emails to sent to your old address will show up in Gmail and when you click Reply, Gmail is the account used to carry the conversation on going forward.
If you’re using a different email client – Mozilla’s Thunderbird, say – then assuming both accounts are set up, right-click your old account in the Folder Pane and select Settings. Simply enter your Gmail address into the ‘Reply-to’ address field and click OK.
If people persist in using your old address, go back to your old account’s settings in Thunderbird and add a signature gently reminding them to update their records. Alex Cox
MAC BLUETOOTH CRISIS
Whenever I use my new MacBook Pro near my iMac, the latter’s Bluetooth starts to play up. At first, it loses its wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2, which then reconnect. It often worsens to the point where I have to plug them both in, using their charging leads. The iMac is running macOS 10.12.6 and uses an Ethernet connection, with Wi-Fi turned off. The MacBook Pro runs 10.13.4, connects over Wi-Fi, and carries on working fine. Harry Rich What’s most likely to be happening is that the MacBook Pro is trying to talk to your iMac due to their close proximity. That behaviour is extensively employed by the Continuity set of features; these are intended to make it easier for you to use multiple Apple devices together – for example, Handoff for moving a task from your iPhone to your Mac (or vice versa), and AirDrop for sending files or other info directly between devices, even when there’s no local area network available to facilitate this.
These features use Bluetooth to detect the presence of nearby devices, and establish a direct connection between them using Wi-Fi. As your iMac has its Wi-Fi turned off, this can’t function fully, causing the connection to drop, then start all over again.
This combines with a long-standing problem with some Macs running El Capitan or Sierra, whose Bluetooth has never been entirely stable: many people still suffer from sporadic spontaneous disconnect-reconnect cycles. When that wobbly system is then bombarded with proximity-based attempts to connect, it can be sufficient to break its Bluetooth service altogether.
Hopefully, Apple will fix this in a future update. Until then, you have a choice between turning off Bluetooth on the MacBook Pro, or turning on Wi-Fi on the iMac, which may allow the two computers to connect fully for Continuity features and for everything to settle down again.
WINDOWS SYSTEM RESTORE POINTS TAKING DRIVE SPACE
I’ve started getting low drive space errors on my laptop with a 128GB SSD. I scanned the drive using TreeSize Free and it reveals that half of my drive space has been taken up by the System Volume Information folder. Can you explain what this is, and whether or not it’s safe to delete? John Cotterill The System Volume Information Folder is where all your System restore points are kept. In this case, it sounds as though it’s been configured to take up to half your drive space, which is obviously a problem when you only have 128GB of storage on your laptop to start with – you can verify that this is the case by typing ‘system restore’ into the search box, then clicking ‘Create a restore point’. Select your C drive and click Configure. We suspect the slider there is set to 50 percent or more.
The obvious solution is to reduce this – you shouldn’t need more than 5-10 percent of drive space reserved for System Restore since older restore points aren’t reliable and you only need to keep a handful in case of disaster.
To free up space on your laptop, nudge the slider back down to no more than ten percent and then click Apply – the oldest System Restore points will now be removed, and you’ll get 50GB of storage back, and no more low drive space errors! Rob Mead-Green
WINDOWS COPY DIRECTORY LISTING TO TEXT FILE
What’s the simplest way to output the filenames inside a folder to a text file? Lynda Franklin You could use the ‘dir’ command via the Command Prompt, but a much more user-friendly and configurable solution lies with Karen’s Directory Printer, which you can download and install from www. karenware.com/powertools/ptdirprn – read on to find out how to use it. 1 Once you’ve installed Karen Directory Printer, type ‘directory’ into the search box and click Directory Printer to launch the program. Switch to the ‘Save to Disk’ tab and use the ‘Select a Folder’ box to choose the folder you wish to output to text. 2 Use ‘Save Options’ to choose whether to include folder and/or file information, along with the contents of sub-folders as well as hidden and system files. Use the File Info and Folder Info tabs to select which items to include in the text file. 3 Use the File Filter drop-down menu to include only certain file types in your list – click ‘Edit…’ to see what’s included or to create your own filters. Use the ‘Sort Files By’ option to set an order for the files. We also suggest ticking both ‘Omit…’ options. 4 When you’re ready, click ‘Save to Disk…’ and choose where to save the text file. Wait while the list is generated – when you’re done, browse to the folder you created and double-click the file to view your file list (and copy it to another document). Cat Ellis