Reader Support
Having a problem with our recommended software or expert tips? Email editor@computeractive.co.uk and we’ll do our best to help
Did I install a Windows 10 timebomb?
Why can’t I hide my number?
QI followed Nik Rawlinson’s advice in Issue 544 (page 37), to withhold my phone number when making calls. However, it doesn’t work for me. When I dial 1471 before the number I want to call I hear a long tone, as though the person on the other end has hung up. However, the call never connected or rang. Could you tell me where I’m going wrong? Alice Manford
AWe’re afraid that a momentary lapse of concentration manifested itself on the page as an error. Can we blame our New Year hangovers? No? Okay… well, instead we’ll just apologise and tell you that the correct code to dial to hide your outgoing number is 141.
As other readers emailed in to point out, 1471 is in fact the number to tap on your telephone keypad when you want to hear details about the last person who called you. Punching 1471 and then attempting to dial a number will result in a dead tone, as you experienced.
Did I install a Windows 10 timebomb?
QIn Issue 532 you answered my question, on your Reader Support page, about how to update my 32bit Windows 10 to the 64bit edition. Well, I’ve just got around to doing that, by downloading the ISO file. This went without a hitch. However, I was surprised to find that my new system is now at level 1809, whereas my old one was 1803. So, given what’s been written about 1809, am I sitting on a timebomb? Roy German
ANo – your system is exactly where it should be. Microsoft did halt the roll-out of the October Update (1809), because it had discovered some serious bugs. This is most likely what you read about, and what is causing your concern. However, Microsoft has now fixed those problems and resumed the distribution of 1809.
The Windows 10 ISO files that Microsoft makes available for download, at www.snipca.com/30249 (see screenshot below left) always reflect the latest available version of the operating system. If you’d attempted to download during the pause of 1809’s roll-out you would have received 1803; after that you’d have downloaded 1809.
In the unlikely event that you downloaded the ISO during the brief period that the bugged version of 1809 was available then your system will by now have patched itself – so there’s no timebomb waiting to explode.
Did you recommend malware?
QI wanted to download Mitec Task Manager, as recommended in Issue 543’s Best Free Software. However, when I tried the provided URL ( www.snipca.com/29899) my Norton security software stepped in saying that I should not not visit this “known malicious website”. I then went to Major Geeks ( www.majorgeeks.com) and clicked ‘Download’ there, but Norton stepped in again to cancel the “malicious download”. Is this a false positive, or did you recommend a dodgy tool? Frank Prendergast
AMitec Task Manager is a legitimate tool that does not contain malware. The link we published is also correct, and takes you directly to the developer’s website. So, assuming you typed it in correctly, there would be no reason for Norton or any other security tool to kick up a fuss.
To double-check, we used a test PC protected by Norton. Both the developer’s website and the program file itself were given clean bills of health (see screenshot above), as we would expect. We also visited the relevant download page at Major Geeks: no alarms were raised there either.
So something else went on here. Some readers mistakenly type our snipca URLS into a search engine like Google, rather than into the address bar at the top of the browser. Doing so will sometimes kick up links to fake websites or dodgy programs. However, if you click such a link then your security software is likely to step in, so make sure you’re typing web addresses in the correct place – right at the top of your browser window.
Similarly, the content of the adverts displayed by third-party download sites like Major Geeks are often beyond the direct control of the website publisher. Sadly, rogue adverts do occasionally slip through the net. As many of these masquerade as download buttons it’s all too easy to be fooled into clicking a fake link. On Major Geeks specifically, always click the links under the Download Locations banner. Any other Download button is likely to be a fake, concealed within an advert.