Steve Litchfield

It's new phone time! Typically a couple (or three) years after you bought the last one. And, happily, the transfer of your data to your new iPhone or Android device went well, using the manufacturer's suggested method (e.g. wirelessly, using a cable, or via the Internet). Most things came across, your homescreen is back to your preferred normal, and all that's left to do is sign into the likes of WhatsApp and any banking apps again. Phew! All done, so you put your old phone on eBay or sell it in some other way. Wrong!  Or at least that's my contention.  Because however well the transfer process (iPhone to iPhone Samsung to Samsung, with Smart Switch, or just things restored from the cloud via your Google account) went, it will only have transferred 99% of your data at best. There are ALWAYS things that get missed. Trust me. In my case, this very year, I was two weeks into my new phone (iPhone 17 Pro Max) ownership when I realised that over 100 photos hadn't come acr...

NB: With my web site being deprecated - or at least moved - at the end of 2026, I wanted to get this information up on my blog too, for easy linking, and passing on to others. I have no plans to stop offering the service below! Now that COVID-19 lockdown is lifted, have you had your eyes opened to a whole new world where your computers and other technology will play a larger part in your working and home life going forwards? The Internet means that all of us have a chance to at least step back partly from the rat race and work from home. Or perhaps it's your life-line to distant family and it needs to be smoother and more reliable?   Which is where I offer my computer help services in the  Reading ,  Woodley ,  Earley ,  Twyford, Caversham , and  Wokingham  areas.  If you've ever thought: 'that's not right, surely?' or  'I wish someone could sit beside me and show me how to do this properly!' or  'do I need a faster laptop or phone ...

This might just be me. Or it might be something you've been wondering about as well. Over the last 25 years or so, I've amassed a number of folders of audio book MP3s. Some bought by me, some grabbed during special offers, some acquired by - well, I'll don't always know(!) But I do know that they're on my laptop's (in this case a MacBook) internal disk and what I really want is them on my phone, to listen to on long journeys over Bluetooth headphones or car speakers. The quick and dirty solution here does work - but it's not elegant or intuitive. What I'd done in the past was drag and drop all the MP3s into Music (née iTunes) and hey, presto, they're listed under the author's name in amongst all my music artists. Messy, but at least they get synced over to my iPhone and I'm done.  Or am I? It's a real pain, not just to find these audio books (having to remember the author's name, for a start), but also because Music on the phone or la...