Computeractive – 6 January 2016

Why won’t McAfee protect Microsoft Edge?
Q
Having updated to Windows
10, when I launch Microsoft
Edge, my McAfee security
software displays the message: “Edge
does not yet allow browser extensions,
which enable McAfee to protect your
personal information and identity. We
recommend using Internet Explorer so
McAfee can continue protecting you.
To help you we’ll unpin Edge from
your taskbar and pin Internet
Explorer”. Th e buttons are ‘Fix now’
and ‘Accept the risk’. Can you explain
what is going on?
Arthur A Dixon
A
Th is is McAfee warning you
that it can’t see everything
Edge is up to, because Edge
does not yet support extensions – and
McAfee uses these to connect with the
browser. Without this protection, you
might in theory be more exposed to
malicious websites and phishing
attempts.
If you click ‘Fix now’, McAfee
will delete the Edge icon from your
Windows 10 Taskbar to dissuade you
from using it, but Edge itself will
Use Edge with SmartScreen to remain protected from malicious websites and phishing attacks
remain installed on your PC. If you
click ‘Accept the risk’, Edge will remain
on the Taskbar. Either way, you’ll still
be able to use Edge, but without
McAfee’s protections.
Microsoft has said it’ll add support for
extensions to Edge at some point in 2016.
However, a built-in feature called
SmartScreen does much the same as
what McAfee would do, so if you want
to continue using Edge, just check that
it’s enabled. Click the menu icon (three
dots, top right), then click Settings
followed by ‘View advanced settings’,
scroll to the bottom, then fl ip the
SmartScreen Filter switch to On.
What’s the line in
your Command
Prompt tips?
Q
I’ve been following your series
of tips on using the Command
Prompt to make use of hidden
features. Some of the tips include a
symbol for which I don’t know the name
– it’s a kind of vertical line. I have no idea
how to type this. I’d give an example
command, but obviously I can’t type the
symbol. You used it for the fi rst time in
the second tip (in Issue 454, page 59).
What is this symbol and how do I type it
into a Command Prompt window? My PC
runs Windows 8.1.
John Bealey
A
Th is is commonly known as the
pipe symbol and, on many
keyboards, you’ll fi nd it above
the backslash key. Th at’s the key with the
‘\’ symbol, which is usually just to the left
of Z. To type the pipe, just hold down
Shift, then tap the backslash key.
Alternatively, some keyboards have
another key with a few weird-looking
symbols, which sits just to the left of
the ‘1’ key. If your pipe symbol is here,
type it by holding down the Alt Gr key
(to the right of the spacebar), then
tapping this key.
If your keyboard doesn’t have either
of these keys, then a third way to type a
pipe is to execute what’s known as an Alt
code: that basically means holding down
the left Alt key, while typing a number on
your keyboard’s numeric pad. Th e Alt
code for pipe is 124. So, make sure the
numeric pad is enabled (by pressing Num
Lock or NmLck), then hold down the left
Alt key and type 124.
The pipe symbol can be typed in various ways, including by pressing the left Alt key and typing 124
NEXT ISSUE
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