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| PC World - 5 hours ago (PC World)I’ve been covering smart home and security products for years, and I’ve written about and reviewed scores of smart devices. Yet I can count on one hand (plus an extra finger or two) the number of smart devices that my family and I actually depend on.
Sure, I have plenty of smart gadgets in my house that are nice-to-haves. I like the air quality monitor in our finished basement, good for keeping tabs on the VOC and CO2 levels in our downstairs living room. There’s also a Google Nest Hub in our kitchen that displays family photos, while an Amazon Echo Dot in my daughter’s bedroom occasionally blurts out the weather.
But while those devices certainly come in handy, they’re also expendable. If something went wrong with the Google display (which we really only use for its photo frame abilities), we could probably live without it. Same goes with the air quality monitor (our iPhones can tell us the outdoor AQI), and the voice assistants on the smart speakers are so flaky, we barely talk to them anymore.
On the other hand, there are some smart gadgets in our apartment that would trigger a minor crisis if they failed, not to mention an immediate trip to Amazon for replacements.
Here are the smart devices that I absolutely, positively depend on, starting with…
Smart lights
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Well, yeah, lights are essential in any home. But over the years, I’ve created a fairly complex Philips Hue setup with dozens of bulbs, and a few free-standing lamps that switch on, turn off, fade, brighten, and change colors according to a multi-layered series of automations.
It’s refreshingly rare for any of my Hue bulbs to fail, but when they do, they don’t stay failed for long. Just a week ago, one of the overhead Hue bulbs in our kitchen conked out and within 48 hours, I’d replaced it. Can’t have a dead Hue bulb marring my kitchen lighting scenes!
We also just added a pair of battery-powered Hue smart lamps to our dining room, which we move from the sides of the room to the dining table for meals. (We live in a Brooklyn rental, so replacing our ugly overhead lights with pendants isn’t really an option for us.) The portable lamps have changed the whole complexion of the room, especially at dinner time, and we can’t live without them now.
Related: Best smart lighting 2025: Smart bulbs, string lights, outdoor, and more
Video doorbell
Ben Patterson/Foundry
This battery-powered Ring Battery Doorbell Plus sits in a stick-up mount on our front door (again, as apartment dwellers, we can’t drill into the door), monitoring the comings and goings at our doorstep and in our shared hallway.
Not only does the doorbell alert us to visitors (we get alerts from the Ring app when someone presses the button, and we can even see and speak with them remotely), but it also keeps an eye on general activity outside our apartment. That became essential after we noticed someone had been splashing olive oil on our front door. Thanks to our Ring video history, we managed to catch the culprit in the act.
As it stands, I can’t imagine life without having eyes on our doorway.
Related: Best video doorbells 2025: Reviews and buying advice | PCWorld
Door and window contact sensor
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Speaking of doors, I installed a contact sensor on our front apartment door some years ago, and it’s become another must-have smart device.
This Philips Hue Secure contact sensor is perfect for letting me know any time someone opens the door, either via mobile alerts (which also pop up on my Apple Watch) or through light automations (which, in my case, pulse the lights in my downstairs office).
Besides warning me while I’m at home that someone’s opened the door, the sensor also gives me peace of mind when I’m away that nobody’s entering the house when they shouldn’t be–a key issue, given that a certain teenaged family member keeps forgetting to lock the door when she leaves.
I’m actually on my second door sensor now after the first one became glitchy. I ultimately settled on the Hue Secure model, but there are plenty of other great options available.
Related: Best DIY home security systems of 2025: Reviews and buying advice
Apple TV 4K
Wait, isn’t the Apple TV 4K a streaming box? It is, but it also doubles as an Apple HomeKit hub, complete with a Thread border router that enables Matter-enabled smart devices to connect to the internet.
With my Apple TV 4K on the case, I don’t need to worry about using a smart speaker or display as my smart home hub, and as a bonus, it excels as a video streamer, delivering impressive 4K video quality along with Dolby Atmos and Vision support.
I actually did have an older model Apple TV 4K go glitchy on me a few years back, but after some with some subpar experiences with other streaming players, I went right back to Apple, snapping up a next-gen version of its streaming box. Since then, it’s been smooth sailing.
Related: Best streaming devices of 2025: Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, or Google TV?
Harmony universal remote
Logitech stopped manufacturing its once-popular line of Harmony remotes nearly five years ago, which is why I’m treating my Harmony Companion (which comes with its own wireless hub) like a precious jewel.
Universal remotes like those from the Harmony brand can control multiple A/V components at once such as TVs (smart or not so much), Blu-ray players, audio receivers, game consoles, and other home theater components.
Backed by a massive database of A/V equipment (which, impressively, Harmony parent Logitech still maintains), a Harmony remote can control other devices besides home theater gear, meaning you can press a single button on the wand to turn on your TV, streaming box, and receiver; set your components to their proper inputs and outputs; and even turn your smart lights off or trigger a particular lighting scene.
Of course, more and more consumers are simply using their smart TV remotes (which have becoming increasingly sophisticated over the years) to control their home theaters, leading Logitech to eventually throw in the towel.
Still, there are some things my Harmony remote can do that a smart TV remote can’t, which is why you’d have to pry my Harmony from my cold, dead hands. (You can still buy Harmony remotes on eBay, but be prepared to pay through the nose for one.)
Smart plugs
Ben Patterson/Foundry
We live in a century-old Brooklyn brownstone that lacks central air, and our downstairs frequently turns into a sauna thanks to an exposed hot water pipe. That’s why we have a network of fans constantly whirring away in our home, and smart plugs are essential for controlling them.
With three Matter-enabled smart plugs (one from Eve Systems, and another two from Meross), I have our fans set to turn on and switch off at certain hours, and I can control them manually with shortcuts on my iPhone. I can also say “Hey Siri, turn kitchen fan off” to stop the fan while I’m cooking.
Fans aren’t the only things I use smart plugs with. I also have a quartet of dumb clip-on Ikea lights downstairs that I control with Philips Hue smart plugs, perfect for use with the Hue Bridge.
Related: Best smart plugs 2025: Transform your dumb outlets into smart sockets
Smart water leak detector
Ben Patterson/Foundry
Here’s something that used to drive me crazy: Coming downstairs in the morning and stepping on a soaking wet carpet.
Our downstairs basement used to be prone to flooding during heavy rains, and if the rainstorms hit in the middle of the night, I’d be clueless until the next day, when the damage had already been done.
Ultimately, we did two things: First, we called the landlord and demanded some gutter and drainage repairs (which, thankfully, we got). Second, we installed a smart water leak detector in the area of the office where the water usually seeped in.
There are several excellent makes and models of smart water leak detectors available, some are battery powered, allowing you to drop them here and there as needed, while others are tethered to a power cord. I went with the latter, settling on a Matter-enabled leak detector from Eve Systems.
Fortunately, we haven’t had any leaks downstairs in more than two years—but if we did, the Eve detector would sound an integrated alarm, trigger alerts on our phones, and turn our bedroom lights all the way up, ideal for waking us up in the event of a late-night flood.
Related: Best water leak detectors for smart homes Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 7 hours ago (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Solid antivirus protection
Comprehensive protection against online threats
Cons
Notable performance impact on some PCs
User interface is a little scattered
Many of the tools and services feel a bit underbaked
Password manager is difficult to use
Our Verdict
McAfee+ Ultimate offers strong antivirus protection and a vast array of online protections, but its apps, services, and tools could use more polish. Its scans also can tangibly decrease performance on mid-range and budget PCs. As attractive as this comprehensive all-in-one package is, it’s currently a hard sell.
Price When Reviewed
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Among the top-tier antivirus software plans, McAfee’s version is an especially loaded offering—and less common in how it bundles together an extraordinary number of online protections.
Many rivals have a premium antivirus suite, then offer services like a VPN, password manager, and identity protection and recovery as separate subscriptions. McAfee instead stuffs everything into one package. This simplifies how much you have to think about, of course, but there’s just one problem—this security suite lacks the polish you’d expect of such a premium product.
Further reading: See our roundup of the best antivirus software for Windows PCs to learn about competing products.
What does McAfee+ Ultimate include?
The full list of features in McAfee’s flagship subscription is exhaustive. Antivirus, link screening, and firewall protection are just the start. You get other major online protections as well—password manager, VPN, web link screening, identity monitoring on the dark web, tracker removal, and if you’re signed up for a family plan, parental controls.
McAfee next throws in its Social Privacy Manager, which offers privacy settings suggestions for social media services; Scam Protection, an AI-powered tool to help screen for risky links in text messages; Online Account Cleanup, which helps you find and delete unused accounts; Personal Data Cleanup, which scans data broker sites and helps you remove yourself from them; and live assistance in setting up your plan’s privacy and identity protections.
McAfee+ Ultimate’s list of online protections is exhaustive.
Finally, on top of all that are financial protections. McAfee+ Ultimate will keep tabs on your bank and credit card transactions, investment and loan account activity, potential bank takeovers, possible payday loans taken in your name, and your credit reports and score. It also offers a centralized interface for locking your credit and placing security freezes on credit, banking, and utilities. And the company provides direct assistance with identity theft restoration, as well as up to $25,000 of coverage for losses related to ransomware and up to $2 million related to identity theft losses and restoration efforts. McAfee even helps with replacing identification, credit, and debit cards for a lost wallet.
Family plans allow you to share these benefits among a maximum of six people—two adult accounts and four child accounts. Each adult account gets its own loss coverage, for a total of $50K ransomware and $4 million for identity theft.) And only adult accounts have access to the data broker and financial protections.
How much does McAfee+ Ultimate cost?
When you buy McAfee+ Ultimate through the McAfee website, an individual subscription is $200 for the first year, then goes up to a full price of $280 afterward. A family plan costs $250 for the first year, and then reverts to $425 per year thereafter. Plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee. Be aware that McAfee enrolls users into auto-renewal by default—and charges for the next year a whole 30 days before your current subscription ends.
McAfee+ Ultimate (Unlimited devices)
$200 for the first year (Individual plan)
$280 per year thereafter (Individual plan)
$250 for the first year (Family plan)
$425 per year thereafter (Family plan)
All McAfee+ Ultimate plans let you protect an unlimited number of devices, with software support for Windows, Windows for Arm, macOS, ChromeOS, iOS, and Android. (Not all features are multiplatform, however.) Family subscriptions offer up to six seats, split between two adult and four child accounts.
Unfortunately, you can’t bring down the cost of a McAfee+ Ultimate plan further by purchasing it from an online retailer. You can only get it through McAfee.
Key features of McAfee+ Ultimate
Installation and user interface
The McAfee app has a clean and modern look, but it feels oddly disorganized despite its simple aesthetic. On the home screen, you get just four shortcuts to main features—antivirus, VPN, Tracker Remover, and Personal Data Cleanup. A fifth helps you add McAfee to more devices, and the sixth leads off to McAfee’s protection score, which rates how completely you’ve set up your plan’s protections.
The main menu for accessing most of McAfee+ Ultimate’s features.
To access all of McAfee’s major features, you must use the left navigation bar. Clicking on the icon with four squares opens a slide-out menu with scanning and web protection options; access to the VPN; firewall info; shortcuts to tools; and links to identity and privacy monitoring, as well as the password manager.
The bottom-most icon in the left navigation bar leads to subscription info, general settings, app updates, help, and privacy and legal terms. These are very simple, and there’s not much you can configure.
Frustratingly, the most premium parts of the McAfee+ Ultimate subscription are nowhere to be found within the app. Instead, you must to head to the McAfee Protection Center portal site (protection.mcafee.com). There you’ll find the links to financial transaction and credit monitoring, parental controls (if you have a family plan), and the Social Privacy Manager browser extension.
The McAfee Protection Center website.
Until you’ve poked around thoroughly, remembering if a feature is located in the McAfee app, a separate app, one of three McAfee websites, or a web browser extension can take a while. The apps and the websites don’t always behave quite as expected, either. When I set up Identity Monitoring, adding a second email address triggered new findings (alas), but those results wouldn’t show until I’d refreshed the website. Nothing was wrong, per se, but the experience lacked the kind of polish I expected from an expensive, top-tier security suite.
Unfortunately, this vibe extends through much of McAfee+ Ultimate’s features—not just the methods that you access them through.
Virus, malware, and threat protection
Real-time protection
As you use your computer, McAfee+ Ultimate continually evaluates the files you open and also monitors apps for unusual behavior. While the program does a good job on this front (it earns high marks in independent testing—more info on that below), you’re largely removed from the process, as you never get to see behind the curtain.
Unlike with major rivals, you can’t do things like specifically select folders to protect from ransomware, change settings related to email attachment and script scanning, choose which apps have access to your webcam, or see how external drives are handled. The interface is so simplified that you only have the choice of leaving real-time scanning on, or turning it off. (Presumably only for troubleshooting purposes—otherwise, you lose much of the software’s point.)
For protection while surfing the web, you must install the McAfee WebAdvisor browser extension, which scans for dangerous links and content as you browse online. It gives search engine results safety ratings, warns you about clicking on a possible bad site, and blocks malicious content on compromised but legitimate sites. It works well enough, but oddly, Bing is not on the list of supported search engines. (Sorry, Bing fans.)
The McAfee WebAdvisor extension in action—those green checkmarks are its safety ratings.
Scheduled and manual scans
By default, McAfee+ Ultimate scans your system once a month, during the wee hours of the morning. You can change the day to another of the three presets, or create your own custom schedule that runs weekly, every other week, or the first week of the month.
If you want to run a manual scan, you get just two options: Quick and Full. Quick focuses just on PC locations typically targeted by threats, while Full examines all the drives and folders on the PC (except for network drives). You can also scan individual files and folders by right-clicking on them and choosing Scan in the context menu that appears.
Firewall
Rather than replace Windows’ built-in firewall, the Advanced Firewall feature works alongside it. It lets Windows screen incoming connections, while McAfee evaluates outgoing connections. If an app tries to connect to what McAfee believes is a bad site, it’ll put it on the block list—at which point you can leave it there, or choose to allow the connection.
Scam Protection
McAfee recently launched a new AI-based tool to help screen text messages for fraudulent links. For it to work, you have to install the McAfee Security & Wi-Fi Privacy app (iOS) or the McAfee Security: VPN Antivirus app (Android). Afterward, it runs in the background, screening messages. To see any that are flagged as dangerous, you’ll have to go to your filtered messages for iOS. On Android, you can see reports about questionable text messages within McAfee’s app.
Scam Text Protection in the Android app.
VPN
On PC, you can access McAfee’s VPN in two ways—through the McAfee app, or by separately downloading and installing McAfee Safe Connect. The main difference between them is their interfaces.
In the McAfee app, the controls are consolidated onto one screen. You can turn the VPN on or off, select or change your location, choose auto-connect settings, and turn on the safe reconnect feature (aka kill switch—it automatically shuts off the internet if your VPN connection is disrupted).
If you instead use the McAfee Safe Connect app, it separates VPN use from the settings, putting them on different screens. You can view usage stats and help files related to Safe Connect as well. The Safe Connect VPN works on PC, Chromebooks, and smartphones, with a limit of five devices connected simultaneously.
When using the Safe Connect app, I ran into some bugs. After I installed it and connected to a server for the first time, I couldn’t disconnect afterward—it was only fixed after a reboot. Safe Connect also behaved erratically if I tried starting it before my Wi-Fi finished connecting. A pop-up notification appeared saying I had to upgrade, and then wouldn’t clear. I had to force-quit the program and restart to resolve the issue.
The VPN interface within the McAfee app is cleaner and more modern.
This VPN offers servers in 47 countries, which span Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Password Manager
McAfee’s password manager, True Key, covers the basics and not much more. Presumably, the company kept things simple on purpose, but it’s at the expense of better security. For example, your two-factor authentication methods are limited—there’s no way to use OTP software codes, much less a hardware key.
More damningly, True Key’s login protections are flawed. New devices require verification through an emailed link before you can log in. However, McAfee doesn’t always send that email before the login request expires, which happens after about a minute. Sometimes the email wouldn’t hit my inbox until ten minutes after the login attempt. I almost gave up at one point, and then the system worked for a brief moment and I managed to successfully complete the process. This isn’t a new issue, either—look at McAfee’s forums and you’ll see complaints about this dating back years.
McAfee True Key is a simple, basic password manager, but its weaknesses make it feel unreliable.PCWorld
You’re also only able to use True Key through a web browser extension or a mobile app (iOS and Android). If you’re ever in a position where you can only log into a website for access, you’re out of luck. Plus, when you first setup the service, you have to manually enter an activation code—and if you can’t find the email with that information, you’ll have to dig into McAfee’s account portal (head to Downloads & devices) or McAfee’s Protection Center (My protection) to find it.
All this to say, True Key doesn’t feel like a reliable feature. You’re better off using a standalone service—even a good free password manager outperforms McAfee’s offering by a lot.
Parental controls
Parental controls are managed through a separate piece of software called Safe Family. You install it on the device(s) used by the child, but also on a device managed by the guardian—no web interface exists for monitoring your kid’s usage.
Each child gets their own profile, so you can tailor your restrictions based on age and needs. Safe Family automatically applies default rules based on the stated age of the kid—for example, the app automatically blocked my (imaginary) 13-year old from viewing dating, gambling, and sexually explicit sites, but let them use search engines and view streaming, entertainment, and shopping sites. You can further refine (or overhaul) the default settings, though.
McAfee’s parental controls may look a bit outdated, but they’re easy enough to navigate.
App rules can be created as well, which let you allow or block specific apps on Windows, Android, and iOS. (These are the only devices compatible with Safe Family.) Screen time limits can also be put in place, though you only get two different rules. One’s meant for the weekdays and the other for the weekends, but you can adjust as you see fit.
You can track device location for phones as well, including visits to known places (as set in the app), though I had trouble getting it to work consistently on Android.
Identity and financial protections
McAfee+ Ultimate’s premium features—that is, the reason you pay so much more for this plan compared to the others below it—lie in its identity and financial protections, and they cover quite a bit of ground.
Identity Monitoring scans data from breaches and leaks for your personal information. You have to provide your details to McAfee, which allows you to add credit cards, bank accounts, email addresses, usernames, and phone numbers (up to 10 each); tax IDs, passports, driver’s licenses, and health IDs (up to two each); and your social security number (SSN) and date of birth. The results aren’t always as helpful as they could be; for one email address, several of the listed breaches didn’t give the name of the breach or circumstances, making it harder to know what specific follow-up steps to take. McAfee only gives general advice on how to protect yourself, which is helpful for security newbies but less so for more seasoned internet users.
Personal Data Cleanup helps you find which data brokers have you in their system, and assists with removing you from those sites. Data brokers comb public records and other databases to collect info like your name, current and past addresses, birthdate, phone number, and the names of your relatives. In order for the scan to work, you’ll have to provide your name, birthdate, and full physical address. (You can also optionally add an email address and up to three phone numbers.) McAfee will send removal requests on your behalf, too, but the results can take anywhere from 30 to 45 days. However, for some data brokers, you may have to still follow up on your own.
McAfee’s identity monitoring helps keep track of your leaked personal data on the web.
Investment, 401(K), bank, and credit card transaction tracking is done through Envestnet Yodlee, which handles this monitoring for McAfee. It centralizes the types of alerts you may already be receiving (provided you set them up) from your financial institutions. You must log into your accounts via McAfee’s Protection Center portal to link them to Yodlee.
Credit monitoring keeps track of changes to your credit reports at the three major bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax). McAfee also gives you access to your daily credit score, lets you lock and unlock your credit, and helps set up security freezes for credit, banking, and utilities as desired.
Identity theft coverage includes the previously mentioned $2 million to cover losses and restoration expenses, as well as $25,000 for losses related to ransomware. (Again, the family plan offers this coverage to each adult account, for a total of $4 million identity theft coverage and $50,000 ransomware coverage.) Identity theft assistance includes access to “identity restoration experts,” or agents who help clean up the aftermath of identity theft. (Note: You must grant a limited power of attorney to McAfee in order for agents to act on your behalf and handle the bulk of the work.) McAfee also offers lost wallet protection, where the company helps cancel and replace identification, credit, and debit cards that are lost or stolen with your wallet.
Additional features
Browser extensions
McAfee+ Ultimate isn’t complete if you don’t install its affiliated browser extensions—though arguably, only one of them is vital.
As mentioned above, McAfee WebAdvisor scans for risky links and content while you browse online, though it won’t evaluate Bing search results. You won’t see a safety rating for any of the links, the way you would for a search through Google. (Yahoo and AOL are still supported, though.) You also won’t immediately see them for the Chrome extension—I had to go into the extension’s settings, scroll down to Secure Search, and choose Tell me if a search result is safe in any search engine.
In Chrome, I had to manually change the extension settings to show the safety ratings for search engine results.
Meanwhile, McAfee True Key—the password manager in the security suite—won’t work on PC unless you install the extension. You can’t log via a website, as you might another service. That said, True Key isn’t my pick for a good password manager, as explained above. I recommend going with a different password manager and installing its browser extension instead. (It makes using a password manager less cumbersome.)
For strengthening your online privacy, you can also install McAfee’s Social Privacy Manager extension. It screens the privacy settings for Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google accounts, then suggests improvements. McAfee’s findings are pretty decent—but asking the extension to apply the changes doesn’t always work.
File shredder
To prevent someone from recovering a deleted file, McAfee offers a built-in tool called File Shredder, which overwrites the data using the Department of Defense (DoD) standard. You can use the tool to blanket-erase whole batches of files at once (Recycling Bin contents, temporary internet files, or a custom folder of your choosing), or individual files.
However, this tool comes with one big caveat—you should only use it for files and folders stored on a hard-disk drive. This method of secure erasing doesn’t work as well on solid-state drives (SSDs), which are found in most modern laptops and desktops. It can also shorten their lifespans. You’re better off using other methods for securely wiping an SSD.
Online Account Cleanup
Unused online accounts can hold data you might not want to leave on file—like your credit card details or home address. Data breaches are just too common these days, and when they happen, you could end up losing sensitive data. It can be hard to keep track of the riskiest sites to leave unattended, though.
McAfee tries to speed up the process of cleaning up dormant accounts with its Online Account Cleanup tool, which you’ll use through the McAfee Protection Center portal. It scans one email address from Microsoft, Google, or Yahoo for associated online accounts, then flags the ones it thinks are vulnerable. If you no longer need the account, you can have McAfee delete it for you—or at least, try to. I found that, like McAfee’s other privacy tools, Online Account Cleanup is helpful for pointing you in the right direction, but doesn’t always eliminate as much work as it’s supposed to.
Social Privacy Manager
The Social Privacy Manager actually suggests useful changes to privacy settings.
If you need help locking down your social media accounts—that is, keeping your private life out of the hands of advertisers and random snoops—McAfee offers a browser extension that scans five different services (Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google), then suggests privacy changes. The proposed changes are generally good, but the issue I ran into was having the extension automatically make them. I also had some problems manually finding the settings in order to do the updates myself.
Customer support
If you need help with McAfee+ Ultimate, you can find it on McAfee’s support website (either through the knowledge database or the virtual assistant), community forums, social media (Facebook, X/Twitter, and YouTube), or by contacting the company though chat or phone. You can reach out to McAfee at any time of day, though the support pages are generally an easy place to start.
However, one problem with McAfee’s support is that their help files can be out of date—some don’t accurately reflect how the interface looks and behaves now, making it harder to figure out what’s a currently available feature (and how to access it).
Updates and maintenance
By default, updates run automatically in the background. For best protection, it’s best to leave this setting as-is. However, if for some reason you’re on a limited internet connection, you can also choose to tweak the settings so that updates are downloaded automatically but not installed automatically, or only be notified when updates are available.
You can also perform a manual check for updates by heading to Help and then Update App.
Performance
For online protection, McAfee performs well in tests performed by leading security research institutes. In AV-Test’s zero-day attack and malware tests for November and December 2024 (the most current results released by the organization), McAfee’s engine caught 99.5 percent of the 389 zero-day malware samples. For widespread and prevalent malware, it caught 100 percent of the 12,159 samples.
In AV-Comparatives’ real-world protection test for July through October 2024, McAfee detected 99.8 percent of the 471 test cases, with 10 false positives. (A false positive is when the antivirus software blocks a legitimate website or download.) The samples cover exploits like drive-by downloads, malicious web addresses, and URLs linking directly to malware. The software performs similarly in AV-Comparatives’ September 2024 malware protection test, which tests the ability to detect and block malware locally on a PC. When connected to the internet, McAfee does a good job of on both fronts, with a 97.1 percent online detection and 99.94 percent online protection rate of the 10,078 samples.
AV-Comparatives’ real-world test results for July through October 2024.
AV-Comparatives
However, McAfee’s weakness is its offline detection rate in the same malware protection test—it caught threats only 68.4 percent of the time. Put another way, McAfee won’t protect your system well without an active internet connection, and it has a slightly higher chance of mistakenly detecting a threat. For comparison, Microsoft’s Windows Defender (which is free) has an offline detection rate of 68.8 percent, while the top performers clock in at 94 percent and above.
In AV-Comparatives’ October 2024 Advanced Threat Protection Test, McAfee scored an 8 of 15—meaning that it’s currently weaker than rivals like ESET and Bitdefender against targeted threats like fileless attacks and malicious scripts. While none of the antivirus software evaluated in this test hit perfect marks, you’ll have to still tread a bit more cautiously online and not trust McAfee to save you from everything. (Which, in fairness, is a smarter attitude to take in general.)
AV-Comparatives’ malware test results for September 2024.
AV-Comparatives
When running heavy scans, McAfee can notably affect performance on mid-range and budget PCs. Running a continuous full scan during PCMark 10’s benchmark, which simulates web browsing, video chatting, gaming, and editing in open-souce programs like GIMP and LibreOffice for images and documents, dropped the test scores by about 21 percent.
More dramatically, our UL Procyon scores dropped by 41 percent. This particular benchmark simulates using Microsoft Office apps—constantly working in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, with a fair amount of editing and updating multiple documents. Meanwhile, in Handbrake, the time it took to encode a large video into a smaller 1080p30 file increased by almost 29 percent.
That’s not the whole picture, though. McAfee isn’t a complete killer of performance. When the app was quietly hanging out in the background, watching for threats, benchmark scores in PCMark, Procyon, and Handbrake were virtually the same as before McAfee was installed. And these numbers don’t show how McAfee usually handles full scans. After an initial thorough examination of all files on a PC and any attached external drives, subsequent ones look for new or altered files, which speeds up the scan time considerably. (That then reduces the impact on system resources.)
All this to say, if you don’t transfer or update a ton of files on your system often, you won’t see as much of an effect. But if you do, and you’re running mid-range to budget hardware, then you could feel the impact of a scan while working. McAfee does schedule its full scans for off-hours by default, though.
This error window popped up randomly and frequently enough to be irritating.
Instead, I’d say McAfee’s biggest performance issue is a bit different right now—and relates to how it behaves in Windows. After completing my hardware benchmarks, a Windows error notification began to pop up periodically (“mc-wns-client.exe – This application could not be started”) while I evaluated the software features. The steps suggested by McAfee’s help forums—updating the Windows App SDK, uninstalling and reinstalling McAfee+ Ultimate, and manually downloading and installing the latest Windows App Runtime package—did not solve the problem, either.
When I spoke to the company about the issue, McAfee said it was still working with Microsoft, and that a resolution was expected in “early 2024.” That’s a long time to wait for a pretty annoying issue to go away.
How private is my data when using McAfee?
With the amount of sensitive details McAfee asks for—social security number, addresses, birthdate, etc—you might wonder how safe it is to hand over the whole set to one entity. McAfee outlines how it handles your info in its privacy and legal terms, but I also asked the company who specifically sees the data and the protocols used to safeguard it.
McAfee says that it partners with Transunion (one of the three major US credit bureaus) for matters related to identity theft and power of attorney, and Yodlee for transaction monitoring. As for the data itself, McAfee says AES-256 encryption is used, and the engine that monitors for threats keeps only a hash of the values. (That is, it stores the result of encrypting your social security number or full name, etc, rather than the details themselves.) It’s only decrypted when a user views reports related to these sensitive pieces of information. McAfee says those unencrypted, plaintext versions of the data is only ever kept on the backend server, and “never exposed to the front end.”
While this methodology is reasonable enough, you’ll have to decide for yourself how comfortable you are with it—as well as the general principle of having your most sensitive info so centralized.
Conclusion
With more polish, McAfee+ Ultimate would be an ideal security suite for someone who wants an easy-to-understand yet still comprehensive set of online protections. Its interface has a look and feel that’s friendly toward people less familiar with online security; the antivirus protection is solid; and its features span everything you’d want to safeguard. But until its tools and services can nail their promises, and the performance glitches are resolved, McAfee+ Ultimate is a hard sell right now—especially at full price.
Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 8 hours ago (PC World)I’m a standing desk evangelist. I believe in standing desks so much that if you and I were to meet and get talking and I were to find out you work at a desk, I’d try to convince you to stand at it instead.
I stand almost all day, swaying and rocking on my two feet like a silly person to keep my posture upright and to keep my deep veins from thrombosing. You’d never find me in an office chair, let alone one of those premium office chairs that cost upwards of a grand.
So, when Sihoo asked me to check out their Doro C300 Pro office chair with a $700 MSRP, I told the lovely PR rep not to bother. I wouldn’t use it, I told them. But they insisted, so I acquiesced… and now here I am.
I’m sitting in Sihoo’s Doro C300 Pro as I write this. A chair I said I’d never use, one that I never even would’ve considered paying up for. And yet, now that I’ve actually tried it, I think I probably would. And it’s all because of one standout feature that I didn’t realize was missing from every other cheap office chair I’ve tried.
A history of useless office chairs
Like I said, I’ve mostly eschewed office chairs. Not sofas, mind you, and I love a good chaise lounge when I’m off the clock. But for office work? They always seemed more trouble than they’re worth.
I’m a short man — measuring up at a diminutive 5’4? — and so most chairs are a tricky fit for me, let alone office chairs. They’re typically too tall, both in terms of distance from the floor and in the length of the upper back portion. So even when I sit in an office chair with lumbar support, it’s usefully fixed and woefully out of reach of my actual spine. Meanwhile, my feet are left dangling and scrabbling for a footrest.
I’ve tried a few of those “gaming” chairs over the years with their silly lumbar pillows, but they’ve never provided enough actual support and those constantly shifting pillows worsened my ADHD-driven fidgeting.
Ella Don / Unsplash
Worst of all, office chairs have always led to me sitting with poor posture, which led to back pain, which made my hours in front of my computer unbearable with aches, pains, and general fatigue.
I’ve tried firmer chairs, too, with more rigid components and utilitarian designs that force me to sit properly. But those chairs often left me with pressure aches and other pains. Without getting too much into the weeds here, I’m sure you know the soreness that can come from sitting too long on a surface that’s far too hard.
All of which just drives me back into the open arms of my standing desk. If nothing else, it at least encourages me to keep my upper back straight and my arms away from slouch-inspiring armrests. It’s one of the main accessories that have helped alleviate my back pain.
reallywellmadedesks/Pixabay
After years of success with standing desks, I had resigned myself to staying vertical while I work. These days, I even use a balance board (among other essential work-from-home accessories) while I work to get some extra core exercise in. I stand while I work, I stand while I game, and sometimes I even stand to eat. It’s just easier and better for me.
I always thought office chairs weren’t worth their trouble or price tags. How much better could a $700 chair actually be over a $200 chair, anyway? Turns out, that extra money is worth it.
A begrudging office chair review
The Sihoo Doro C300 Pro arrived in a truly gigantic box and with some of the most robust cardboard packaging I’ve ever seen. It was heavy. My kids made forts out of it for days afterwards, and it withstood their consistent battering better than most toys and games I’ve gotten them.
That sturdy packaging protects this surprisingly heavy chair. The base of the Doro C300 Pro is made of mesh, but the internal construction makes up the majority of its overall weight, so putting it together by myself proved to be quite the challenge. (Be sure to have some help if you aren’t willing to grunt and sweat your way through it solo.)
This guy’s posture might be good, but wait ’til he leans over that terrible laptop desk setup.Sihoo
The hefty weight ultimately leads to an impressively sturdy chair. Sure, the plastic arms and headrest are less premium and they have a bit of flex to them, but they’re comfortable and have just enough give.
That positional flexibility doesn’t extend to the seat itself, though, which is extremely robust and load-bearing but edged with hard plastic all around. This immediately put me out because I couldn’t tuck my leg under myself as I’m want to do in office chairs.
But it did force me to sit up straight and properly. Huh… Maybe an office chair can encourage better posture without being stiffly uncomfortable?
The Doro C300 Pro’s dynamic lumbar support is the real deal.Jon Martindale / IDG
But what about my back? That’s where all my issues have always lain. I’ve had office chairs with fixed lumbar support before, and they’re always out of reach. Surely this would be the same?
Actually, no. This one has a built-in lumbar support that can shift up and down a couple of inches as you lean into it, and you can manually adjust the back of the seat, too. Doing so moves the lumbar support with it, giving it greater flexibility. I also found the ability to adjust the depth of the seat helps a lot in lining up everything just as I need it.
That little slider is the winning piece. It allows the otherwise fixed lumbar support to adjust to my own frame, supporting my back in ways I haven’t gotten from other chairs.Jon Martindale / IDG
And my goodness! What a difference that makes. Is this what I’ve been missing all these years? The ability to sit in a chair without it hurting my back? Who’d have known.
The backup I didn’t know I wanted
Until I tested this chair, I figured I’d be standing for the rest of my days during PC-based activities, at least until my knees gave out when I reached geriatric status. But now, I’m not so sure.
Standing at my desk is still better for my posture and energy levels than sitting. But with the Sihoo Doro C300 Pro, I have another option for when I get tired or when my feet start to hurt. This chair gives me the support my ailing back needs while helping me maintain good posture.
It isn’t perfect, of course. I removed the headrest because I felt it encouraged me to lean my head forward more than was comfortable. And the armrests can’t fold away entirely, which gets frustrating at times. For its solid design, the hard plastic everywhere doesn’t have the premium feel that its price tag would suggest.
There’s also the specter of Herman Miller and Steelcase chairs that my cash-rich colleagues sit on like thrones. Those promise even-more premium chair experiences — at even-more premium prices — that perhaps now I’m more tempted by than I was before.
All that aside, the Doro C300 Pro is proving an excellent companion. I now have something I’d gladly fall back on when I don’t want to stand anymore but won’t also destroy my back and counter all that hard work I do flamingo-legging throughout the day.
I wouldn’t have bought it. But now? I’d likely pay to replace it if someone stole it away. So, please don’t. It’s still very expensive. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 12:35AM (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Great keyboard
Respectable battery life
Strong build
Cons
Chunky bezels take up a lot of screen real estate
Blah design
Only one charging port
Our Verdict
The Acer Chromebook Spin 315 delivers reliable day-to-day performance as well as a comfortable typing experience, but there are a few things holding it back.
Price When Reviewed
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For a day-to-day machine, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 does a lot of things right. It chews through daily web applications and lighter workloads, the display produces crisp-looking images, and the keyboard is comfortable to type on and the keys have a nice clicking sound to them.
But is it enough to justify the full retail price of $449, a higher price than most Chromebooks? Keep reading to find out more.
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Specs
The Acer Chromebook Spin 312 appears to have just one configuration, which comes with an Intel Core i3-N305 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of flash storage. The specifications are the same as the ones seen in the Chromebook Plus models–a curious thing as to why the word “Plus” was dropped from the Spin’s name. I’ve reached out to Acer to ask if this was intentional.
Model number: CP312-1HN
CPU: Intel Core i3-N305
Memory: 8GB
Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics
Display: 12.2-inch 1920×1200 touch enabled, 60Hz
Storage: 128GB eMMC
Webcam: 1080p, physical privacy shutter
Connectivity: USB Type-C, USB Type-A, HDMI 1.4, 3.5 mm headphone/speaker
Battery capacity: 50 watt-hour
Dimensions: 11.41 x 8.07 x 0.78
Weight: 2.84 lbs
MSRP: $449
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Design, build quality
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
As far as design goes, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 doesn’t stand out in any meaningful way–it’s just a light gray rectangle. The only splash of color is the Chromebook logo at the top left hand corner on the lid. That’s not a bad thing, especially if the subtle design is your cup of tea, but it’s definitely not a head-turner. Still, it’s meant to be affordable and functional, so a snazzy design isn’t necessarily expected here.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 312 is a solid laptop, full stop. The keyboard is easy to type on, the build feels rugged (despite it being all plastic), and, on a performance level, it breezes through day-to-day tasks.
The build quality is surprisingly good for an all-plastic machine. The hinge feels strong and firm, and there isn’t much flex around the display area. The keyboard deck is especially strong, I couldn’t get it to bow even when pressing down with both hands. I wasn’t able to open the lid with a single finger, though–a crumb-sized nitpick coming from me. The laptop also feels equally strong and firm in tent mode.
I was a little taken aback by the weight of the Acer Chromebook Spin 312, especially upon first handling. It’s not the heaviest laptop I’ve ever used, as it weighs just 2.84 pounds, but I expected it to be lighter than it was. It’s not going to break your back or anything, but you can really feel the weight of it in your hands.
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Keyboard, touchpad
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
I adapted to the keyboard straight away, which surprised me because I consider myself a clumsy typist. The second my fingertips touched the keys, I was typing away at my usual speed with minimal typos. This is likely because it’s a smaller laptop with a smaller keyboard–the keys aren’t too spaced out, either. It’s just better suited for smaller hands, which I conveniently own. The keys themselves also have a nice clicking sound to them.
The touchpad is equally easy to use, I was able to click and swipe to my heart’s content. It’s not a haptic touchpad, which uses miniscule vibrations to simulate the feeling of a click, but that’s totally fine. Personally, I prefer a touchpad that sits parallel with the display (aka center aligned) and that’s exactly where it is on the Acer Chromebook Spin 312.
It’s a smaller touchpad but that makes sense because it’s a smaller laptop (the display measures just 12.2-inches). If you’ve got bigger hands, the touchpad might feel a bit cramped.
One cool thing about the touchpad is that it contains ocean-bound plastic (otherwise known as OceanGlass tech), which makes the surface of the touchpad feel as smooth as glass. Not only does it feel great on my fingertips, but it’s also more sustainable. I’ve become more invested in the sustainable laptop movement as of late, so I’m pleased with Acer’s choice to make this machine more environmentally friendly.
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Display, webcam, speakers
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
The 1920×1200 display is sharper than I expected (yay for more vertical pixels!). When I was watching a streamer play the new Civilization VII game, the viewing experience was comfortable and smaller details like city spires and temples looked crisp. My only issue is that the display isn’t that bright, which isn’t surprising given the affordable price of this machine. Not official data on the nit level, but to my naked eye it looks about 250 nits. That said, it’s not a bad display–I just expected slightly better for a MSRP of $449.
I should also mention that it’s a touchscreen, though it doesn’t come with a stylus. I found that it registered my swipes and taps without fuss. This is a pretty common feature now on 2-in-1 laptops (like the Acer Chromebook Spin 312!), but there’s something nice (and kind of luxurious) about being able to navigate the content on your screen with a single finger. It’s a good touch (literally!).
What I like best about this display is its taller 16:10 aspect ratio. The taller screen makes it easier to scroll through documents, navigate spreadsheets, and so on. I’ve always got PCWorld’s homepage open and I find it’s much easier to scroll through all of the newly published stories on a taller screen. The bezels are thick and do take up a lot of the screen, which bugs me. I know it’s an affordable Chromebook and not a souped-up content creation laptop with 4K resolution, but I expected a bit more screen, especially as measures a small 12.2-inches.
The webcam is usable, but nothing special. The 1080p resolution is what I’ve come to expect from most laptops now no matter the price or form factor. I look fine on the webcam camera, but it’s nothing miraculous. It’s about as good as you can get for a Zoom meeting, but I was surprised by how well the webcam handled natural light.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 312 has both downward firing and side firing speakers. If it weren’t for the side firing ones, the audio would probably sound more muffled, as downward firing ones yell into whatever surface they’re on. I tend to crank up the volume when I watch videos on laptops, especially if I’m watching something in the kitchen with my husband. With that context in mind, the speakers were loud enough to fill a medium(ish)-sized kitchen/dining room area.
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Connectivity
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
The connectivity selection on the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 will satisfy most people. You’re getting one USB Type-C, two USB Type-A, one HDMI 1.4, and one 3.5mm headphone/speaker. That’s pretty run-of-the mill as far as ports go, yeah?
But I’m frustrated that only one side supports charging (via USB Type-C), and I know I’m not the only one that feels that way about laptops in general.. This makes it annoying to use the cable, as you can only use it one way really. It’s not a huge gripe of mine, but it’s there and it’s hard for me to forget that it’s there. Other folks may not be as bothered.
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Performance
The Acer Chromebook Spin 312 handles lighter workloads just fine. I was able to jump from tab to tab with no noticeable lag and bootup times were pretty fast. Performance-wise (in terms of numbers), it sits squarely between the Lenovo Chromebook Duet ($359) and the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus ($699.99). It scored better than the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, which features a MediaTek Kompanio 838 processor, but it fell behind the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, which features a more powerful Intel Core 3 100U processor.
CrXPRT 2: 140
Speedometer 2.0: 201
Basemark Web 3.0: 757.51
Kraken: 710.9ms
Jetstream 2: 206.055
The Intel Core i3-N305 processor inside of the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 is fine for light tasks, but it will likely struggle with heavier workloads. It has eight efficiency cores and can boost up to 3.8 GHz. It’s designed with energy-efficient performance in mind, so that might explain why it has better battery life than the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus.
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Battery life
The Acer Chromebook Spin 312 ran for almost 14 hours during our standard battery test, which continuously loops videos and various tasks until the laptop runs out of juice. That’s a respectable result. In fact, it outpaced the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus ($699.99), which lasted about 12 hours on a single charge. With the Chromebook Spin 312, you don’t have to go hunting for an outlet.
Acer Chromebook Spin 312: Conclusion
The Acer Chromebook Spin 312 is a solid laptop, full stop. The keyboard is easy to type on, the build feels rugged (despite it being all plastic), and, on a performance level, it breezes through day-to-day tasks. That said, the display could be brighter and the chunky bezels take up a good amount of real estate. In addition to the single charging port, the aesthetic isn’t that exciting either.
So, the question remains. Is it worth buying? If it’s on sale, then sure. The chunky bezels on the display, the single charging port, and the blah design are enough to give me pause at its full $449 MSRP. Fortunately, as of this writing, the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 is currently on sale for $379 at Amazon. That’s a more reasonable price for a solid Chromebook like this.
Further reading: Best Chromebooks 2025: Best overall, best battery life, and more Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 12:35AM (PC World)The notorious “Blue Screen of Death” — or BSOD for short — is the biggest disaster that can befall a Windows user. The system shuts down with a cryptic error message on a blue background and is only ready for use again after a restart.
Unsaved data is lost. After the restart, Windows runs for a while until the error occurs again. In some instances, the BSOD can re-occur immediately and perpetually every time Windows is started. The system is then unusable and repairs are only possible via a second or rescue system.
This article shows several ways to access a system that no longer shows a desktop.
The causes of the complete crash are varied and not always easy to discern. We describe how the error can be investigated in more detail and what measures can be used to repair a defective Windows system.
1. Why a blue screen occurs
A Windows system crash with a blue screen is always due to a driver or the hardware.
It can also be a driver that is not directly related to the hardware, such as a virus scanner component. Drivers run in a privileged mode and have direct access to main memory areas and hardware interfaces.
If a serious, unavoidable problem occurs, the system is stopped with a stop error to prevent damage, for example to the file system. In such cases, the Windows kernel displays an error message on a blue background with white text — known as a blue screen. The system is then restarted automatically.
In some cases, the message contains the name of the driver that caused the crash. While drivers that are supplied with Windows are rarely affected, such errors occur more frequently with subsequently installed third-party drivers. This can happen immediately after installing a new driver or after an update.
Changes made by Windows updates can also lead to a crash, especially if important system functions are customized. An incompatible driver that cannot cope with these changes can then work incorrectly and bring the system to a standstill.
The blue screen often only displays a general error message that cannot be assigned to an individual driver (see point 11). An error code is also displayed, which can help to analyse the problem.
See also: Deep clean your Windows PC: 10 professional tricks and tools
2. Prevent restart
By default, Windows is configured so that the blue screen only appears very briefly and is barely legible. To keep the message visible for longer, adjust the configuration. You should take this preventive measure with every Windows system to be prepared for problems.
If Windows still starts and only crashes after some time, call up the “Settings” (Win-I) and go to “System > About” (otherwise continue reading in point 3). Click on “Advanced system settings.”
You will find the link in Windows 11 behind “Related links” under “Device specifications,” in Windows 10 on the right-hand side of the window under “Related settings.” The “System properties” window opens. (A quick way to get here is via the “Run” dialogue (Win-R): Type SystemPropertiesAdvanced and confirm with “OK.”
In the “System Properties” window, go to the “Advanced” tab and click on the “Settings” button under “Startup and Recovery.” Remove the tick next to “Perform automatic restart.”
Under “Save debug information,” select “Small memory image (256KB).” In the event of a crash, a file with the extension “.dmp” is now created in the folder “C:\Windows\Minidump,” which can be analyzed later (see point 13).
Display errors: Deactivate “Automatic restart.” Otherwise the blue screen will only appear briefly and you will usually not be able to read the error message.
Foundry
3. Fix problems with on-board tools
If Windows crashes repeatedly and shortly after starting with a blue screen, you cannot change the setting as described in point 2. However, Windows has set up a minimal Windows on a separate partition (WinRE, Windows Recovery Environment) during installation on the hard drive, which you can use for repairs.
If access to WinRE fails, continue reading in point 5.
To access the repair system: Switch on the computer using the power button, wait briefly until the Windows logo appears and Windows starts to load. Switch the PC off again by holding down the power button a little longer.
Repeat the process several times until Windows starts the automatic repair. This is usually the case after three false starts. You can recognize the mode by the message “Automatic repair is being prepared.”
Windows will attempt an automatic repair and there are two options once it is complete: The system restarts on its own and you find yourself in the same situation as before.
In this case, switch the PC on and off again repeatedly until the automatic repair starts. After several attempts, “The PC did not start correctly” appears with the “Advanced options” button. However, it is also possible that this button is already visible after the first auto-repair.
After clicking on “Advanced options,” go to “Troubleshooting > Advanced options > Startup settings” and click on “Restart.” The “Advanced startup options” menu appears, in which you use the arrow keys to select “Disable automatic restart after failure” and confirm with the Enter key.
Windows will now not restart automatically in the event of a blue screen and you can read the messages. You can also use the menu to start Windows in safe mode, which can be used to rectify errors (see point 8).
Important note: If you have encrypted the system partition with Bitlocker, you must have the recovery key ready and enter it when you are asked for it. You saved the key when you activated the encryption.
This applies to this tip, but also basically to all accesses to the installed system, which we describe in the following points. It does not matter whether you start a rescue system from the hard drive or a USB stick.
In the Windows Recovery Environment you can select to disable automatic restart after failure.Foundry
4. Advanced start options
In previous versions of Windows, you could use the F8 key to call up the advanced start options or safe mode. This no longer works with Windows 10 and 11.
Due to the fast start mode, Windows starts so quickly, especially from SSDs, that it is almost impossible to find the right time to press the F8 key. Microsoft has therefore decided to no longer query the key at all. However, if you want to be prepared for an emergency, you can change this. The trick is to reactivate the menu of the classic boot manager.
To do this, use the tool Bootice tool, which you unzip and then start the file BOOTICEx64_2016.06.17_v1.3.4.0.exe.
Step 1: Go to the “BCD” tab and click on “Easy mode.” The option “BCD of current system” must be activated.
Step 2: After clicking on “Add,” create a new boot entry with the name “Windows secured.” Customize the options so that they correspond to those of the existing entry for Windows 10 or 11.
Step 3: Deviating from this, select the entry “Safe Mode w/ Network” after “SafeBoot:”. Click on “Save current system.”
Step 4: For both boot menu entries, remove the tick in front of “Metro Boot Manager (Win8)” and click on “Save current system.” Under “Global settings,” tick “Display boot menu” and click on “Save global settings.”
When you restart Windows, the classic boot menu appears on a black background. Press the F8 key to access the menu with the advanced boot options: “Repair computer” (WinRE), “Safe mode,” “Disable automatic restart in case of system errors”.
Or you can directly select the new entry “Windows secured” in the boot menu.
Edit boot menu: Use the Bootice tool to add new entries to the Windows boot menu, for example for safe mode.
IDG
5. Start repair system
Defects in the file system, an incorrectly configured boot manager or dysfunctional drivers can prevent the automatic repair from starting and the “boot settings” from being called up (see point 3). You should therefore always have a rescue system ready for system repairs.
Ideally, you already have one if you have installed Windows yourself from a USB stick. If not, create a USB stick for the Windows installation on another PC, which also contains repair tools.
To do this, use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool for Windows 10 or for Windows 11. Alternatively, download the ISO file for Windows 11 directly (under the heading “Download Windows 11 drive image (ISO) for x64 devices”) and create the USB stick with Rufus. The system can also be used to repair Windows 10.
Reading tip: 10 things I’d never, ever do as an IT professional
If you are using a Windows 10 ISO or Windows 11 prior to version 24H2, proceed as follows:
Step 1: Boot the PC from the installation stick. You may need to change the boot sequence in the firmware/BIOS setup under “Adjust the boot sequence.” When starting, the message “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD” appears. Press any key to activate the start of the USB stick.
Step 2: Click on the “Next” button and then on “Computer repair options.”
Step 3: Go to “Troubleshooting” and then to “Startup help.” Select the target operating system and wait for the startup repair to complete. Click on “Shut down” and switch the PC back on.
Windows should now start again from the hard drive, but this measure does not usually resolve the cause of the blue screen. However, the repair system offers further options for repairs (see points 6 and 8).
Windows 11: Since Windows 11 version 24H2, the setup tool looks slightly different. It greets you with the “Select language settings” window and you click on “Next.” You can then adjust the keyboard settings if required and click “Next.” Then select the “Repair my PC” option and click “Next.”
On the next screen, click on your preferred language for the keyboard layout. Then continue with “Troubleshooting” and “Startup help” as described in step 3 above.
Tip: “Computer repair options” or “Repair my PC” only provide a few tools. A self-created Windows rescue system offers significantly more options.
It starts from the USB stick and can be operated in almost the same way as you are used to with Windows. You can use the system for repairs, but also for data recovery and searching for malware, for example.
Using the rescue system: The system starts from the installation medium and offers a “Startup help” option that can be used to resolve some startup problems.
Microsoft
6. Deactivate auto restart
The installation and repair system started from the USB stick (point 5) does not offer the option of calling up the advanced start options. Microsoft does not intend to switch off the automatic restart from here when a blue screen occurs. This is only possible if the rescue system was started from the hard disk.
You can still prevent the restart using a trick:
Step 1: Start the repair system from the USB stick. When the window with the title “Windows 11 Setup” appears (Windows 10: “Windows Setup”), hold down the Shift key and press the F10 key.
Step 2: Type regedit and confirm with the Enter key. The registry editor displays the registry of the repair system. To change this, go to the registry branch “Hkey_Local_Machine” and then to “File > Load structure” in the menu. Navigate to the “Windows\System32\config” folder on the system drive, click on “SYSTEM” and then on “Open.”
The system drive may be located under a drive letter other than “C:”. Under “Key name,” enter the letter Z and confirm with “OK.” This mounts the registry of the installed system under “Hkey_Local_Machine\Z.”
Step 3: Go to the key “Hkey_Local_Machine\Z\ControlSet001\Control\CrashControl.” After double-clicking on “AutoReboot,” enter 0 under “Value” and click on “OK.”
Step 4: Go to “Hkey_Local_Machine\Z” and then to “File > Remove structure” in the menu. Confirm with “Yes.”
Step 5: Exit the registry editor and the command prompt. Close the setup window and confirm the cancellation of the installation with “Yes.”
If Windows restarts now, the blue screen will remain visible until you switch off the computer.
Note for Bitlocker users: You can only gain access to the system drive if you unlock it in the command prompt. To do this, use the command
manage-bde -unlock C: -recoverypassword [recovery key]
Prevent automatic reboot: In the rescue system, you can switch off the reboot by making an entry in the registry. “AutoReboot” is given the value “0”.
IDG
7. Start repair system directly
You can access the repair system from the running Windows as follows: Click on “On/Off” in the Start menu, hold down the Shift key, and click on “Restart.” Windows will restart and you will see the “Select option” screen.
After clicking on “Troubleshoot,” “Advanced options,” “Startup settings,” and “Restart,” you will be taken to “Advanced startup options” and you can select “Disable automatic restart on system errors” or “Safe mode.”
However, if Windows crashes immediately after starting, this option is blocked and you must use the rescue system as described in point 6. As an extension of point 4, you have another option to prepare for this situation in good time.
If you include the rescue system (WinRE) directly in the boot menu, you do not have to take the diversions via the “boot settings.” However, this requires that the hard drive is accessible and that there is no hardware defect. Otherwise, the rescue system cannot be started from the hard drive and you should try the method described in point 5.
Set the Bootice tool to create a start menu entry for WinRE:
Step 1: Go to “BCD” in Bootice, leave the option “BCD of current system,” and click on “Professional mode.” Under “Application objects” you will see that there is already an entry labelled “Windows Recovery Environment,” but it is not displayed in the boot menu. It is called up via the Shift-“Restart” combination.
Step 2: Right-click on “Windows Recovery Environment” and select “Duplicate this entry” from the context menu.
Step 3: For the new entry, double-click on “Description” and enter “WinRE” as the new name, for example. Close the window.
Step 4: Click on “Easy Mode” and check the settings for the new entry “WinRE.” The entry after “Partition” must refer to the recovery partition, for example “GPT3.” Behind “Boot file:” is “\Recovery\WindowRE\Winre.wim” and behind “SDI file” something like “(hd0,3)” and “\Recovery\WindowsRE\boot.sdi.” Below “Options” behind “Boot file:” is the entry “\windows\system32\winload.efi.” If the configuration on your PC is different, correct the information.
Step 5 (optional): Remove the tick in front of “Metro Boot Manager (win8)” from all boot menu entries. This activates the classic boot manager on a black background, which displays its menu before the operating system starts.
The new Metro Boot Manager first activates the standard system in the background and displays the system selection in a graphical interface. This means that the standard system is ready for use quickly, but it takes a little longer to start WinRE.
If you restart Windows now, the installed system will be loaded automatically after a timeout of 30 seconds. Select the new boot menu entry “WinRE” to start the rescue system directly.
8. Faulty updates
Irrespective of the error message in the blue screen and without knowing the exact cause, simple measures usually help to eliminate the BSOD problem.
We assume that Windows was running correctly immediately after the computer was reinstalled or started up for the first time and that the error was only triggered later by a change to the system. Recent Windows or driver updates, the installation of new software, or even a software update are suspected.
If Windows is still starting: In the “Settings” (Win-I), go to “Apps > Installed apps” (Windows 10: “Apps > Apps and features”). Under “Sort by,” set “Date of installation.” The most recently installed programs will then appear at the top of the list.
After a plausibility check, uninstall the most recently installed program(s). Programs that start automatically and use system services or drivers are possible sources of error.
Proceed in the same way with Windows updates. Go to “Windows Update” in the “Settings” (Windows 10: “Update & Security > Windows Update”). Set a longer period behind “Suspend updates,” for example “Suspend for 4 weeks.” This will prevent a faulty update from being reinstalled immediately.
Windows 10 users click on “Advanced options” and set a date in the future under “Suspend until:”.
Click on “Update history” or, for Windows 10, on “Show update history.” Under headings such as “Quality updates” and “Driver updates,” you will see chronological lists of installed updates with the corresponding KB numbers.
Clicking on an entry takes you to a Microsoft page with further information on an update. An internet search for the respective KB number can provide information on whether errors or crashes are already known in connection with this update.
Which updates have just been installed? The “Update history” shows the Windows updates in chronological order. The KB number can be used to search for information on the internet.
Foundry
Click on “Uninstall updates” below “Related settings” (Windows 10: “Uninstall updates” link at the top of the window) and remove the update that is causing the blue screen.
In Windows 10, the link in the Control Panel leads to “Uninstall updates.” However, not all updates can be removed because they build on each other. Windows 11 therefore only shows the latest updates that you can uninstall. Windows 10 also shows older updates, but the “Uninstall” button only appears if you click on one of the newer entries.
If Microsoft has corrected the error in the Windows update, the update can be reinstalled. The set update delay should provide sufficient time for this.
Carry out repairs in safe mode: If Windows does not run stable enough in standard mode, try safe mode. To do this, call up the “Startup settings” as described under point 3 or 4 and select “Enable Safe Mode.” Windows will then only load the most necessary drivers, which makes a blue screen less likely.
Windows updates and programs can be uninstalled in safe mode in the same way as in standard mode. You can also call up System Restore (see point 9).
Uninstall updates via the rescue system: If Windows no longer starts and even safe mode does not help, boot the PC from the installation disc (see point 5) and start “Repair my PC” (Windows 10: “Computer repair options”). Click on “Troubleshoot” and then on “Uninstall updates” in the “Advanced options” window.
As a rule, select “Uninstall the latest quality update,” which will remove the latest Windows update. Click on “Uninstall the latest feature update” if you installed it shortly before the blue screen first appeared.
Under “Advanced options” you can also click on “Restore system” and select a previously saved restore point (see point 9).
Remove updates: If a recent Windows update is suspected of causing a blue screen, it can be uninstalled.
Foundry
9. Use recovery
Windows and some setup programs create a restore point before making major changes to the system. The prerequisite for this is that System Restore is activated (see box “Using restore points for a backup”).
In Windows 11 from 24H2, press Win-R, type rstrui and click “OK.” In the “System Restore” window, the option “Recommended restore” is preset, which displays the date of the last restore point.
As a rule, select this if the date is shortly before the first occurrence of the blue screen. Otherwise, activate the option “Select another restore point.” After clicking on “Next,” select the desired restore point.
In the “Confirm restore point” window, click on “Search for affected programs.” System Restore will now show you programs, drivers, and Windows updates that were installed after the restore point was created.
Make a note of the contents of the list so that you can reinstall these programs later. However, this could also include the software that caused the problem. Personal documents are always retained during the restore.
Back in the main System Restore window, click on “Finish.” Confirm the process with “Yes.” Windows will begin the restore process and then restart.
The process is similar for older Windows 11 versions and Windows 10. After clicking “Next” for the first time, you will see a list of restore points from which you can select the desired entry. Tick “Show more restore points” to see older versions. Then continue as described for Windows 11.
10. Eliminate driver errors
The measures described under points 8 and 9 can be used to remove drivers or undo driver updates. If the error message in the blue screen refers to a specific driver, this can also be dealt with specifically. If you do not know which device a driver belongs to, search the internet for the name of the driver.
While Windows is running, open the Device Manager, for example by pressing the Win-X key combination or right-clicking on the Start menu, which will take you to the menu for administrative tools.
Go to the affected device, right-click on the entry, go to “Update driver” and then to “Search for drivers automatically.” If an update is available, install it. Alternatively, you can also go to the hardware manufacturer’s website and check for updates.
Undoing an update: If a newly installed driver does not work properly and causes a blue screen, restore the previous version of the driver via the Device Manager.Foundry
Use older driver: If a driver has become unusable due to an update, revert to the previous version. In the Device Manager, go to “Properties” in the context menu of the affected hardware and click on the “Driver” tab.
Click on “Previous driver” — if available — and select a suitable option under “Why do you want to revert to the previous driver?” Click on “Yes” and the driver will be replaced.
Use the rescue system: If Windows no longer starts, boot the PC from the installation medium (see point 5). As soon as the window with the title “Windows 11 Setup” appears (Windows 10: “Windows Setup”), hold down the Shift key and press the F10 key.
A command prompt opens, in which you type notepad and confirm with the Enter key. Go to “File > Open” and select “All files” after “File type.” The “Open” dialogue can now be used as a file manager.
Go to “Windows\System32\Drivers” in the system drive and search for the problematic driver. Use the “Properties” context menu item to display the manufacturer of the driver on the “Details” tab.
As a rule, you should not do anything with a Microsoft driver unless you know exactly what the consequences are. If it is a third-party driver, rename the file, for example from “Driver.sys” to “Driver.sys.bak.”
Windows will then be unable to load the driver and the system should boot without errors. However, the associated device will no longer work. For a permanent solution, install an updated driver or search for a solution in the manufacturer’s support forums.
Use restore points for a backup
To be prepared for an emergency, you should check whether System Restore is active. You can find the options in the Control Panel.
For a quick call, press Win-R, type SystemPropertiesProtection and confirm with “OK.” Go to the “System Protection” tab. If the value “On” is shown in the “Protection” column under “Protection settings” for the system drive, the backup function is active.
Otherwise, click on the system drive and then on “Configure.” Activate the “Turn on system protection” option. Use the slider under “Disk Space Usage” to specify how much space the operating system should reserve for backups.
Select a two-digit gigabyte value and confirm the change with “OK.” Back in the previous window, click “Create” to create a first backup.
Windows sometimes creates restore points automatically, for example before updates or when installing new software. However, you cannot rely on this. You should therefore create restore points manually before making major changes.
Turn on System Protection in Windows before making changes to your system, so you can revert to the previous state if something goes awry.
Foundry
11. Unspecific errors
Sometimes the blue screen displays error messages that do not specifically refer to a driver. An example of this is “IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL,” which indicates an incompatible or outdated driver.
However, you often do not find out which driver it is. “UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP” can occur when PC components overheat. You should therefore check the fan performance and clean the fans if necessary. The blue screen may display “DATA_BUS_ ERROR” or “PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_ AREA” if the RAM is defective.
Eliminate a serious boot problem: The message “INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE” (stop error 7B) occurs when Windows cannot access the system partition. Faulty updates or drivers as well as defects in the file system or a damaged drive may be the cause.
In the rescue system (see points 5 and 10), use Notepad to test whether access to the hard drive is still possible. If not, check in the BIOS/firmware setup whether the hard drive or SSD has been recognized. If this is not the case, check the data cable and power supply to the drive.
If the drive cannot be put into operation, it is probably defective and you will need to replace it.
To confirm the diagnosis, you should use an independent operating system to check whether the drive can be accessed. A Linux live system such as Ubuntu, which you can run with Rufus onto a USB stick and then boot. You can also access Windows drives via the Linux file manager.
If access to the hard drive is possible, try the “start help” via Windows in the rescue system (see point 5). If this does not help, check and repair important system files. In the rescue system, run the following at the command prompt
sfc /scannow /offbootdir=C:\ /offwindir=C:\Windows
The drive letter may differ in the rescue system. Determine it via the “Open” dialogue of Notepad. If this does not work either, start the following two command lines in the rescue system one after the other
Dism /Image=C:\ /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
Dism /Image=C:\ /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
If one of the commands reports an error, use the following command line
Dism /Image=C:\ /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Adjust the drive letters for your system.
“Blue screen of death”: If Windows shows the error “INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE”, the boot manager is incorrectly configured or the system drive is defective.
IDG
12. Repair Windows startup files
The “Startup help” attempts to repair the boot environment, but this is not always successful. A manual repair is more likely to be successful. To do this, start the command prompt in the rescue system. Type in diskpart and confirm with the Enter key.
Use list disk to display the drives and select the system drive with sel disk 0, for example. Use list vol to display the volumes. The EFI partition is formatted with the “FAT32” file system and is approximately 100MB in size.
If the EFI partition is called “Volume 2,” for example, mount it as drive “B:” with the following two commands:
sel vol 2
assign letter=b:
Press Esc to leave Diskpart. Execute the following four command lines on the command line
cd /d b:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot
bootrec /fixboot
ren BCD BCD.bak
bcdboot C:\Windows /l de-de /s b: /f UEFI
Replace the drive letter “C:” with the letter previously determined for Sfc. Restart the computer. The UEFI boot environment should then work again.
Boot repair: To repair the UEFI boot environment, you must first assign a drive letter to the EFI partition (FAT32) in the command prompt using Diskpart.IDG
Restore Windows to factory settings
Microsoft offers several seemingly simple solutions for serious Windows problems. In “Settings” (Win-I), go to “System” and click on “Recovery” (Windows 10: “Update & Security > Restore”).
After clicking on “Reset PC” (Windows 10: “Let’s go”), select “Keep my files.” Installed programs, drivers and Windows settings will be deleted, but personal files will be retained. Windows will show you which programmes are affected after clicking on “Show apps that will be removed”.
The second option – “Remove everything” – corresponds to a new Windows installation. The personal files are lost and must be restored later from a previously created backup.
Windows 11 also offers the option “Reinstall now” under “System -‘ Recovery”, below “Fix problems with Windows Update”. Unlike “Reset PC”, Windows does not use the files saved on the hard drive, but downloads the current Windows version.
The advantage: You no longer have to install many updates and the system is up to date. However, the download takes some time if you have a slow internet connection.
If Windows no longer starts and the “Settings” can therefore not be called up, reinstalling via a Windows installation medium (see point 5) is the final solution. You must back up your own files beforehand.
Before resorting to these radical and time-consuming methods, you should consider the other measures described in this article.
Restore factory settings: The reset function replaces system files with the original version. This can rectify many errors, but you will have to reinstall all programs.Foundry
13. Error analysis tools
The cause of a blue screen, be it a faulty driver or a problem with a Windows update, cannot usually be rectified directly. Instead, the problem can often only be circumvented. However, there are various tools that can analyze the crash and the generated memory image in more detail.
Although these tools are primarily intended for developers who want to check their own drivers, they can also be helpful for normal Windows users. The information provided can be used to search the internet for possible causes and solutions to the error.
The tool Who Crashed. After clicking on “Analyze,” it searches for .dmp files (point 2) and displays descriptions.
The Microsoft tool Windbg (via Microsoft Store app) can open .dmp files via “File > Open Dump File.” In the “Command” area, click on “!analyze -v”. Windbg then displays extensive information, including the name of the driver concerned.
Bluescreen View automatically opens all .dmp files from the folder “C:\Windows\MiniDump.” The name of the driver that caused the crash appears first in the “File name” column. You can perform a Google search for error messages and drivers via the “File” menu. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 16 Feb (PC World)SSDs are finely tuned, blazing-fast storage devices that can take more advantage of the high bandwidth of PCIe 5.0 than even the fastest graphics cards. But like all instruments of performance, you can’t treat them poorly and expect them to last forever.
There are some real mistakes you’re probably making that will cause your SSDs to die sooner than they should. Here’s what you need to know if you want them lasting long and performing well.
Letting your SSD overheat
Excessive heat isn’t good for electronics in general, but especially so for internal PC components like SSDs.
SSDs are built to operate within certain safe operating temperatures, and going too hot (or too cold) can lead to performance degradation and permanent damage. Modern SSD controllers have the ability to throttle performance if they get too hot, which can help mitigate some damage, but then you aren’t getting the full power of your SSD.
And even if you don’t actually exceed the maximum temperature, operating close to that upper limit for extended periods of time will still wear down the memory cells and other components of the SSD, hastening its inevitable demise.
Even some of the fastest SSDs don’t need heatsinks if they have adequate airflow — but a heatsink certainly wouldn’t hurt.Samsung Memory / Unsplash
In most desktop PCs, the ventilation provided by system fans is typically enough to keep most SSDs cool enough to enjoy a long and happy life. However, higher-speed PCIe 4.x and PCIe 5.x SSDs do output a lot more heat than their older counterparts, so equipping a heatsink can help dissipate that heat. It’s particularly worth doing if you have a smaller case or you’re upgrading the SSD that came with your laptop.
And, of course, avoid leaving your laptop sitting in the sun or in an otherwise hot location, especially if the laptop is on. That’s a quick way to overheat your SSD and everything else, like the battery and display.
Writing data excessively to your SSD
Before any SSD can read the data on it at blazing-fast speeds, it needs to first write that data to the memory cells. Any time you install an app, download a video, save a document, or even scroll through social media feeds, you’re writing data to the drive.
In an SSD, memory is written to cells, which are organized into blocks. For data to be written to a block, the entire block has to first be erased — and this continuous cycle of erasing and writing eventually wears down the cells on a physical level.
Fortunately, most modern SSDs aren’t so fragile that you have to fearfully micromanage your data. Cells can withstand thousands and thousands of write-erase cycles before running into issues… but at the end of the day, the more you write to your SSD, the quicker you’ll churn through its lifespan (which is known as its terabytes written (TBW) rating).
Related: Why two SSDs are better than one in your PC
Repeatedly zero-filling your SSD
One of the best ways to permanently erase data from your SSD — good to do if you ever sell your laptop or drive — is to fill it with empty zeros. This takes all the memory cells and turns them into zeros, essentially blanking the entire drive and rendering it void.
However, in doing so, you’re effectively writing to the entire drive, and most zero-fill processes actually do it multiple times to truly ensure that all of the existing data has been wiped out. This, too, will burn through the drive’s TBW rating and hasten its demise.
Using your SSD for the wrong tasks
Excessive writing doesn’t just come from transferring files or wiping the drive. It also happens when you use the SSD in ways that it wasn’t meant to be used, for tasks it isn’t suitable for.
For example, SSDs are perfect as boot drives and game library drives. Apps and games are installed once and then only occasionally updated, which limits the amount of data writing. And it makes sense to do all that on an SSD because you benefit from the super-fast random access times that tangibly boost app load times and system boot-up times.
But if you’re using your SSD as a dumping ground for documents, photos, videos, and all other files before moving them over to long-term storage, then you’re unnecessarily writing them to the SSD and wasting write-erase cycles, shortening its lifespan.
Or if your PC doesn’t have enough RAM to multitask all your open apps and browser tabs, your operating system will be forced to spill over from RAM to the SSD’s page file — and constantly writing data to and from the page file is going to wear down those cells.
Overfilling your SSD to max capacity
SSDs work their best when they have a bit of space to work with. That’s because the controller likes to shift data around in order to maximize performance and longevity.
If you completely fill an SSD — or close to it — then the controller has to work much harder to shuffle that data around because there aren’t enough spots. Plus, it can’t prioritize the memory cells that have the most longevity, thereby reducing the overall lifespan of the drive.
Although all SSDs have an overprovision of a few percent of their capacity so that there’s always some room to shunt files around, you can help the controller do its job by leaving up to 20 percent of the total capacity empty. If you start eating into that, consider deleting larger files or applications to free up some extra space.
Related: Simple tweaks that maximize SSD performance
Skipping firmware updates on your SSD
We all know it’s best to keep graphics card drivers and operating systems up to date. You might even update your BIOS firmware on occasion. But have you been updating your SSD’s firmware?
Manufacturers periodically release firmware updates for their SSDs, and these updates can improve performance, increase stability, and fix issues with uneven wear and tear that can lead to faster drive failure.
Try to keep up with those updates like you would with various other parts of your PC or laptop to make sure your drives are working at peak performance and durability.
Physical damage to your SSD
Just because some SSDs are rugged and durable doesn’t mean they all are.Samsung Memory / Unsplash
SSDs don’t have moving parts like traditional hard drives do. With HDDs, an unfortunate drop could dislodge bits, cause scratches, or bend parts that made the drive no longer functional.
While SSDs are safe from those sorts of risks, that doesn’t mean they’re completely immune to physical and environmental damage. Indeed, most modern SSDs are in the NVMe form factor, so they don’t even have the physical shell of a SATA SSD to protect them.
I don’t need to tell you not to drop your expensive, thin, and lightweight laptop. Doubly so for your desktop PC. But do look after your SSDs, especially portable ones. Just because it has a protective shell doesn’t mean it’s totally waterproof, weather-proof, or accident-proof.
Related: Warning signs your SSD is on the verge of dying
Buying a cheaper SSD than necessary
Have you heard the adage that it’s more expensive to be poor? According to boots theory, poor people are forced to repeatedly buy cheaper goods that need to be replaced more often than quality goods, so they end up spending more over time.
That’s certainly the case with SSDs. Cheaper drives are built with cheaper flash memory modules that don’t last as long. Quad-level cell (QLC) memory is what’s often used in cheaper SSDs, offering more affordable capacity at the expense of lower performance and poorer longevity.
While QLC SSDs aren’t going to fizzle out the first time you turn them on — or even the 100th time — the fact is they just don’t support the same number of write-erase cycles, leading to swifter performance degradation and earlier deaths with typical use.
Want to improve the longevity of your SSD? Make sure spend a bit more for one that has a high TBW rating. Drives with higher capacities tend to last longer as well because there are more overall memory cells and each individual cell is written and rewritten less often.
Further reading: The best SSDs worth buying right now Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | BBCWorld - 15 Feb (BBCWorld)The Attorney General said there was `no realistic legal basis` for an appeal over the sentence. Read...Newslink ©2025 to BBCWorld |  |
|  | | PC World - 15 Feb (PC World)At a glanceExpert`s Rating
Pros
Unique dual-lens design
Stellar low-light capabilities
Excellent 4K images
Lengthy USB-C cable
Great value for the money
Cons
No laptop clip or mount
Tripod-only Construction
Utility software needs tweaking
Mics and audio filtering are subpar
Our Verdict
eMeet’s Piko+ webcam delivers excellent 4K image captures at literally hundreds of dollars less than an ultrapremium webcam. If it had a laptop or monitor mount, it would be nearly perfect.
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Not all of us prefer or have the opportunity to work in a spacious, well-lit office. And if you don’t, you’ll need a webcam that compensates for that. eMeet’s Piko+ 4K webcam does, and does so marvelously.
It was a cold, dark February day when I unboxed the Piko+ webcam. I bought my home in California for many reasons, but none of them included the amount of light in the spare bedroom that serves as my office. In winter, not a whole lot of sunlight reaches my desk. Add rain to the equation, and my office was just plain gloomy.
But when I plugged in the Piko+, I actually swore. This 4K webcam’s capabilities, especially in low light, are revelatory. I just wish it came a traditional webcam clip.
But at about $90, wow! That’s a fantastic price for everything that the Piko+ gives you. And if that’s too much, you can opt for the basic Piko, a $69.99 version of the 4K camera with a smaller 1/2.8? sensor instead.
Mark Hachman / Foundry
eMeet+ Piko+ webcam: specifications and features
eMeet’s Piko+ boasts not one but two sensors: a 1/2.55? 4K sensor which rivals those in midrange smartphones, and a second, “portrait” sensor. This second sensor is designed to help quickly autofocus, but especially to detect and compensate for low light. Both work in unison, similar to how smartphone cameras can assist one another.
eMeet mounts the two sensors next to each other, like two eyes; the zoomorphic design is deliberate, and complemented by the magnetic webcam cover that has the appearance of a panda’s face. A small blue LED lights up, like a small mouth, when the camera is in use. While that didn’t make an impression, my wife told me that she found it adorable.
From there, I have to go on to what I don’t like about the eMeet Piko+. For one thing, there’s the box: it took me a minute to figure out how to get it open. Am I just dumb? Perhaps, but eMeet actually includes a slip of paper inside it with diagrams on how to re-box the camera and its tripod, which I’ve never seen before! If you have to explain how to get the box open and closed, perhaps it’s time for a different design.
Mark Hachman / Foundry
Otherwise, the Piko+ is simple enough: it measures a relatively tiny 5.83 x 3.94 x 2.2 inches, with a lengthy USB-C cable that stretches a bit more than a yard. The rear of the webcam has a USB-C connection. The other end of the cable has a dedicated USB-C connector as well, with a passive USB-A sleeve that can accommodate older laptops.
There’s one thing I truly hate about the Piko+, and that’s the fact that it has no laptop mount. Instead, the webcam screws in to a truly abysmal tripod that’s about five inches high, with an adjustable gimbal that can be loosened or tightened via a screw. The tripod isn’t extensible, meaning that you’ll have to prop it on something to get the height you want. The tripod legs do not extend with enough firmness to hold it in place, and the cord tends to overbalance the whole arrangement. Each axis of the camera must be finely adjusted to ensure that your image is properly aligned — and then any little vibration or swipe or wandering cat means that you have to start over from the beginning.
The eMeet Piko+ 4K webcam offers virtually everything a premium webcam does for hundreds of dollars less, and with excellent low-light capture capabilities that could sell this webcam on its own.
I don’t mind webcams with screw mounts to accommodate a tripod. I don’t mind a tripod-forward approach. But I’m also tempted to just close the tripod legs and duct-tape the whole arrangement to the back of my display or laptop instead of dealing with re-adjusting everything frequently.
Like most webcams, eMeet’s Piko+ is plug-and-play. But many of the configuration options are only unlocked by installing the company’s utility software, eMeet Studio. Most apps (I use Windows Camera for testing functions) allows you to adjust the resolution, from 4K at 30 frames per second down to 1440p30 to 1080p at either 60 or 30 fps. (Interestingly, I only saw the 60Hz option using the Windows Camera app.) If you dial down the resolution, you can also narrow the field of view by essentially zooming in, to 51 degrees.
The eMEET Studio app could use some polishing, from putting features front and center to general copy editing. Mark Hachman / Foundry
Although eMeet Studio’s version number indicates that it’s gone through a few revisions, a test laptop (using an AMD Ryzen 300 AI-class processor, if it matters) very slowly installed the software. Rebooting and disconnecting the laptop from external displays seemed to solve the problem.
The Studio app can’t be resized, and takes up a small window on your desktop. The UI could definitely be tweaked for those of us with glasses! Some of the options (such as changing the resolution, and some screen filters) are only available via a slideout extension to the window that’s triggered by a miniscule “Preview” toggle.
The app includes some nice options, including the ability to focus on your face, upper half, or full body. But I was unable to enable that option, and a couple others, such as the ability to lock on to your face — were apparently designed with Copilot+ PCs and their robust NPUs in mind. (The Ryzen laptop I used had the NPU chops to qualify as a Copilot+ PC, however.) An automated setting to detect and then optimize the image for backlighting arguably made the picture worse. There’s no HDR capability, either.
I think that while the eMeet Studio app does unlock some nice options, however, it’s not absolutely necessary. Some applications (such as Windows Camera) allow fine-grained controls, and Zoom’s video option allows you to select an “HD” feed. If you’re a Teams user, though, you’ll probably need the app.
eMeet’s Piko+ webcam: sample photos
The proof of a quality webcam, however, is in the images themselves. For years, I’ve regarded the webcams in Microsoft Surface webcams as some of the best, and I still think that holds true. But like other webcams, they operate best in bright light. Compare the shots captured by the Surface Laptop Studio 2 with the eMeet webcam, virtually side by side in dim lighting.
I think there’s a pretty noticeable difference between the two webcams. (By default, the eMeet webcam — the photo on the right — reverses the shot.)
I’m clearly not the most photogenic individual, but the eMeet webcam certainly captured the lighting almost exactly perfectly, with the fine detail of my face and shirt to boot. (One note: I do not use a ring lamp, nor am I using one here. I do capture photos with a camera app open in my monitor, but I usually have light projecting from a laptop.)
Weirdly, the webcam doesn’t do as well with a photo taken upstairs, in more natural but side lighting. I do like the detail, and I think the color is captured extremely well in both shots. I would have liked the eMeet Piko+ to do a bit better here, however.
Mark Hachman / Foundry
This isn’t always the case, but a larger camera sensor generally leads to better shot. Razer’s Kiyo Pro Ultra webcam is one of the best, if not the best, webcam for image quality. (The only reason that it doesn’t play into our picks for the best webcams is its $299 price tag.) Its 1/1.2-inch sensor certainly contributes. The OBSBOT Tiny 2 PTZ 4K, with its 1/1.5-inch sensor, also produces sharp, stellar images. You would think that the 1/2.55-inch sensor inside the Piko+ would lower the image quality, but it certainly doesn’t seem to. At all.
The audio quality is subpar. eMeet’s webcam includes three integrated sensors, which operate in one of three modes: normal, a noise reduction mode, and a streaming mode. The normal mode lets some background noise bleed in, like the background music I play to test the noise filtering.
The noise reduction mode allows background noise in if it plays first. After I began speaking, the mics would filter all of the music out entirely — until I began speaking, when it would record my voice as well as the music. The music was recorded at a lower volume. I’m not sure what the streaming mode is suppsoed to accomplish, but the filtering didn’t differ that much from the noise-reduction mode, but with the music recorded at a louder volume.
Conclusion
Should you buy the eMeet Piko+ webcam? Almost definitely. Compare the two webcams that I highlight above: the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra costs $300. SO does the OBSBOT Tiny 2. eMeet charges $90. That isn’t budget territory, with its $30-$50 price tags. But that’s miles away from the premium category, too.
I absolutely do not like the tripod setup, however. I’m sure those of you with neat and tidy desks will incorporate the Piko+ into your setup. I have too many cables snaking about, with changes made to my desk on the daily. I need a webcam that sits up and out of the way and that I do not need to be constantly readjusting.
This problem can probably be solved without a redesign, with a sleeve or pouch accessory that could be stuck to or otherwise clipped on to a laptop or monitor. I also think that the eMEET Studio app could go through another design iteration.
Otherwise, this is a slightly unpolished webcam that delivers premium capabilities for neatly $200 less than the “true” premium webcam vendors charge. That’s worth recommending, and it seems likely that I’ll add it to our list of the best webcams in the near future. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 15 Feb (PC World)The lifespan of data on a USB flash drive depends on many factors: Under ideal conditions, data should remain preserved on a high-quality USB stick for at least 10 years or even longer. But what exactly does that mean and under what conditions does this hold true?
USB sticks or flash drives store data using NAND flash memory, in the form of binary values (zeros and ones) in memory cells. Interestingly, it is electrons trapped in a kind of “floating gate” that represent these values. But these electrons can “leak” over time. This causes the data to degrade because it becomes harder to read whether the charge state represents a one or a zero.
Further reading: See our roundups of the best Windows backup software and the best online backup services to round out your data storage strategy.
USB sticks are ideal for storing data quickly and easily. For long-term archiving, they bring with them too many confounding variables. Tapes or optical discs are better alternatives. Kingston
There are several factors that can influence the lifespan of data on a USB drive: The quality of the NAND flash memory plays a role, as does the general workmanship of the stick. Cheaper models usually also have a shorter lifespan. Another factor is the number of write cycles, which describes how often data can be written and deleted.
With an increasing number of write cycles, the probability of data deterioration increases. Extreme temperatures as well as unfavorable storage conditions such as high humidity or dust can also damage the lifespan of your data on the storage medium. If the stick is exposed to high temperatures for a long time, this can cause the electrons to “leak” faster, which can damage the data and lead to its loss.
The “floating gate” has been used as a technique for flash memory for quite a long time. However, due to various conditions, the electrons can “leak” over time, which can lead to data loss. IDG
All in all, this does not make a USB stick the ideal storage medium for long-term storage of important data — certainly not as the only method. You cannot avoid regular backups on other storage media, such as an external drive. If you really want to back up data over a truly long period of time, you should even consider using archival tapes or optical media.
And remember: It’s never a good idea to store important data in just one place and on just one medium. Flash drives are best for nimble file transfers or for creating bootable media.
More questions answered: You’re using your USB flash drive wrong. Do this instead
use an external drive instead for long-term storage
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This article was translated from German to English and originally appeared on pcwelt.de. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
|  | | PC World - 15 Feb (PC World)Using a password manager is a smart move. So is protecting your primary email account with a strong credentials. Combining the two seems like an equally good call, but it’s actually dangerous—should you ever lock yourself out of your password manager, you run the risk of losing access to your email account. Also if your password vault is ever compromised, your email account becomes vulnerable to unauthorized access.
I wrote a warning last year about this hazard, and then again earlier this month. Lots of readers took notice. One in particular reached out to me with a very fair question: “You say one should memorize their email password. I use a 16-character random password. Not in 2 years can I memorize that. Any other suggestions?”
Fortunately, a few easy solutions exist for this problem. While not perfect, they’re secure and provide an escape hatch for the lock-out issue. We’ll start with the absolute simplest—in which you have to memorize absolutely nothing.
Option A: Add a passkey to your account
Unlike passwords, passkeys rely on small amounts of encrypted data to facilitate authentication. Part of the set gets stored on a device you own, while the other part is kept by the service or app you have an account with.
You don’t have to memorize anything at all. Even better, passkeys are stronger than passwords as well as being phishing resistant. They’re tied to the device they’re stored on. The one downside is that if your phone or PC becomes unavailable, you also lose access to any saved passkeys—but you can remedy this by creating more than one passkey on different devices.
By adding a passkey as an additional login method, you can keep your current password setup as-is. You won’t gain any extra protection against unauthorized access to your password vault (which is why two-factor authentication is a necessity), but you will have another way to log into your email.
Option B: Switch to a passphrase
Popularized by web comic xkcd, this variation on passwords mashes together unrelated words to create the necessary combination of randomness and uniqueness.
Combining multiple words in this way is simpler to remember than a random-generated password, especially if you can make up a story (or use another memory trick) to help with recall. And passphrases rely on the randomness of the word combination for their strength, so you don’t have to add special characters or numbers. In fact, you shouldn’t unless they’re also random insertions—which are harder to remember.
The comic that popularized passphrases.xkcd
For a truly effective passphrase, you can use a password manager’s generator, either in the app or through online tools. (Don’t have a password manager yet? We have recommendations, if you need one.) Aim for at least four words, with six words (or even more) as a beefier starting point. The longer a password or passphrase, the stronger it is.
(As a rough point of reference: If replacing a 16-character random password that contains capitalization, numbers, and special characters, a six-word passphrase provides roughly similar strength. A password’s advantage is that it can fit more entropy into shorter lengths, relative to passphrases.)
Option C: Use a memorable password
For most people, this option won’t count as easy—so memorable is a very relative term here.
Compared to the other methods above, this one requires a much higher level of memorization. But depending on how your brain works, you may find this easier than recalling a group of unrelated words. It can also be a necessary evil when passkeys aren’t supported and a passphrase’s effectiveness is blunted by character limits.
The general thought here is to create your own randomness by leaning on a sentence or long phrase only you know (and no one can guess), and then adding capitalization, numbers, and special characters. Avoid drawing wholesale from songs, movies, catchphrases, novels, and the like for your source material—someone could guess at your password if you use sections verbatim or even pull pieces from a popular quote.
You can use tools like Bitwarden’s password strength tool to get a rough idea of how strong your homebrew password is.Bitwarden
A rough example of this method is constructing a nonsensical sentence based on mundane things already in your memory, but would never mention in combination to anyone else. Example: Your commute often takes you by big piles of cardboard, a bunch of talkative pigeons always hang out at your bus stop, and the word “slurry” appears in your head a lot. (Humor me on that last one.)
From here, you could use just the sentence “Brown cardboard coos to the pigeon on the slurry” as your own passphrase. You could also slap in a number and a special character, picking them and their position based on other things in your memory, if you like complexity. (Goes against the point of this article, but who am I to keep you from your fun?)
For this example, I’ll choose a building number on the corner near my favorite ice cream store, and the % sign because I like how it looks. Then I’ll stick the special character at the start because I know it’s a less common spot, and the number after the second word, because this fictional email account is the second email address I ever created.
%Browncardboard355coostothepigeonontheslurry
This password is only 16 characters long, but it’s reasonably secure. (Again, these kind of evaluation tools are only rough estimators.)Bitwarden
For shorter passwords, you can use just the first character of each word (or last, or third, or etc). That’s not usually necessary nowadays, since major email providers let you create a password as long as you want. But let’s say I’m using this method for a bank account (rather than email), where I’m limited to just 16 characters.
As mentioned above, a passphrase won’t be as strong with just 16 characters, and few banks offer passkey support. If I snag the first character from each word of this made-up sentence, I get:
%Bc355cttpots
A little short, and thus notably less secure, so I’ll also add some spice and three more characters from “this bank sucks”
%Bc355cttpotstbs
And at long last, I have a strong password I should be able to remember… provided I type it enough times repeatedly so it sticks. We should all riot until passkeys are ubiquitous. Read...Newslink ©2025 to PC World |  |
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