If I block someone on Facebook or Instagram, will they be informed that they have been blocked?

Aloka Bhowmik

Facebook and Instagram do not explicitly alert users when they have been blocked. Instead, they hide you from the person you want to ignore. The user won’t be able to find you, no matter how hard they look.

Twitter shows an explicit message when you visit a profile that has blocked you. You will not be able to contact this user or access their content in any direct way.

Automatic to manual

The proxy settings on my HP laptop turn to manual from automatic on its own preventing me from connecting to the Net. How do I get rid of this irritant?

Partha Dasgupta

This normally happens when the computer is infected with a virus or there is a problem in the Windows registry. First, scan your computer with Microsoft Safety Scanner, which should get rid of viruses, spyware and other malicious software. You will get it from https://bit.ly/3EggFGF.

This scanner expires after 10 days. If you need to scan your computer after that, download the latest version once again.

Try disabling the proxy. Open Settings and go to Network & Internet. On the left, click on Proxy. Turn off “Automatically detect settings”.

If this does not fix the problem, you will have to make some changes to the Windows registry. Press Windows Key+R. Type regedit and click on OK. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings. Right-click the right pane, choose New–DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it ProxySettingsPerUser. Double-click it and set its value to 1.

Restart your computer and things should work fine.

Files app

How best can I use the Files app on my iPhone?

Rudrajit Saha

With the Files app on your iPhone, you can access files not only on your iCloud drive but also on Google Drive, Microsoft’s OneDrive, Dropbox and Box. To get the new features of the Files app, you need to upgrade to iOS 15. To do this, go to Settings–General–Software Update. The latest version of iOS is 15.2.

Open the Files app and tap on Browse. You will have to connect to the cloud services. Tap on the three horizontal dots on the top right and choose Edit. This will display all the file storage services on your phone. Tap on each and sign in.

There will also be a Downloads folder that will show pictures and documents downloaded using

Safari. You will then be able to access an external drive and its contents through Files too. For this, connect your iPhone to a USB stick, SD card or external hard drive with an adapter.

Save SMSes

I am paranoid about losing some of my SMSes on my Android phone. Is there a way to save them so they do not get lost when I change phones?

Rohini Chopra

For Android, SMS Backup & Restore by SyncTech Pty Ltd is a good option. Get it from the Play Store. When you run the app, it creates a local backup in XML format of the messages and call logs on your phone. You can run it manually or schedule recurring backups automatically. You can then save that backup to Google Drive.

Download and launch the app and grant the necessary permissions. Tap Set Up a Backup. Keep Call logs to On if you want to back that up. Tap Next. Select your cloud storage, such as Google Drive, and log in. When you are ready, press Save. Select your upload options and backup frequency, then press Back Up Now.

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