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You can automate a host of time-consuming tasks via macros. Do you find yourself running the same laborious and repetitive commands and tasks in Microsoft Word or Excel? There must be a better way, you say to yourself. And there is: With macros. Through a macro, you can record or create a series of commands and tasks in a Microsoft Office application. Then, whenever you want to run those commands, you just trigger the macro. You can create macros to automate just about anything in a program like Word or Excel — apply special formatting, change the layout, insert objects.

Macros can sound intimidating if you’ve never ventured into their territory. They’re stored as mini programs using the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) language. But you don’t need to be a programmer to use macros. You can record the macro by performing the various commands step by step. You can then edit the macro to make any changes. Let’s check out how to use macros to save time in Microsoft Office.

Macros are available in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The process for creating a macro is the same across all three applications. So once you master macros in one program, •.

I read this week that Apple has decided to bring together their mobile and desktop platforms into a single app store. Will Microsoft being doing this too? Actually, Microsoft laid the groundwork for this idea in 2015 with what was then called the Windows Store. The concept is the same: Give developers the tools to write one set of code and maximize the platforms they can target with that code, including the HoloLens, mobile devices, laptops, desktops, and the massive Surface Hub. Although this approach has not always enjoyed tremendous success, it is starting to gain a foothold and the results of that are showing up in the Microsoft Store with popular apps making their way onto the ecosystem of Windows 10 devices. Today I wanted to share some tips with you for managing apps on your Windows 10 device because there are ways to deal with any challenges that might crop up with some of these apps as you use different hardware. Everything app related on Windows 10 begins in the Microsoft Store.

This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-12-19 •. You can squeeze a lot out of Google Chrome by tweaking its various features and settings. Microsoft wants you to use its Edge browser in Windows 10 as the replacement for Internet Explorer. But instead of using a Microsoft browser, you have another option, namely Google Chrome.

From its third-place status a few years ago, Chrome has risen to become the most popular and dominant browser in Windows. And it’s no wonder. Chrome offers a clean, mean look and performance.

But there’s more to Chrome than meets the eye. To get the most out of Chrome, you’ll want to tweak its array of features and settings. You can import and manage your bookmarks. You can control your privacy and security.

You can sync your passwords and history across different devices. You can add more functionality through extensions. And you can install web apps and games to work and play with in Chrome.

Let’s look at how to use and customize Google Chrome. If you don’t already have Chrome, open your current browser and download it from its Google page. After the installation complete, you’re asked if you want to make Chrome your default browser. You can choose to do that • = Paid content • 2017-12-14 •. For those running the Windows 10, version 1709 release, it appears that the unusual use of AMD in the naming of the updates has been fixed and they are now listed again as X64 in the naming.

It also appears that the Feature update deferral bug has been fixed as noted in the MSpoweruser site, but I’ve not seen authoritative release notes posted to know whether the issue was fixed on Microsoft’s side or if it was fixed in the November patch of KB4051963. But you can now safely defer feature updates without impacting security updates as well. What to do: Be assured that version 1709 now properly defers feature updates. Adobe Released Updates to Flash Player For Windows 10, and 8.1, expect to see KB4053577 that should be installed as soon as possible. For Windows 7 machines, if you have flash installed, expect to see a standalone update offered from Adobe Flash addressing this Adobe issue.

What to do: Check your Flash and expect an update for Windows 7 machines. Got a keylogger? This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. “I recently upgraded to Windows 10 and the sidebar on the right side of the screen gets filled up really fast. How can I take control of what appears there?” A.

That “sidebar” is officially called the Action Center on Windows 10 and, just like the name indicates, it is the main focal point for notifications and other alerts. It was introduced as part of the initial Windows 10 release. By default, all freshly installed apps, Microsoft Edge, and even some desktop software will push their alerts and other notices to the Action Center. That sounds like a lot. However, Windows 10 is a very customizable operating system.

You have complete control over if these items and how they are presented in the Action Center. Right now, you must go into these settings to tweak Action Center notices after a new app is installed. The settings for adjusting what apps can push alerts to your Action Center and the types of alerts which can be used are all located in the Windows Settings app under System>Notifications & actions. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber?

Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-12-12 •. Why type when you can speak?

You can click on commands and type text in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Edge, and other Windows applications. Or you can speak what you want. Speech recognition can be especially helpful for people who can’t use the keyboard or mouse. But it’s available to anyone who’d like to try talking to Windows instead of typing and mousing. Windows offers its own Speech Recognition tool through which you can dictate text and speak commands in different applications. The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update expands on the voice recognition by allowing you to more easily dictate text in your Office applications and other programs. And you can always ask Cortana to run a variety of commands and tasks.

But there’s more to voice dictation than just talking to Windows. You have to train your voice to ensure that the dictation is as accurate as possible. And you must know what you can say and what you can’t say. Let’s look at how to dictate your text and commands to Windows. Whether you’re running Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows 7, you can tap into the built-in Speech Recognition feature.

To access this, open Control Panel in icon •. You can often best proofread your documents by hearing them spoken.

You try your best to proofread your Microsoft Word documents, even tapping into the Grammar and Spelling checker to look for typos or other mistakes. But mistakes invariably sneak through. What is a good way to move beyond reading and re-reading? One handy trick is by hearing your document read aloud to you.

Hearing a document often catches mistakes that the eye misses. And if you’re writing an article, a paper, a speech, or another document that needs to be just right, listening to that document can help you better refine and revise it. To hear your documents read aloud, you can call on the built-in Windows Text-to-Speech (TTS) feature. This feature lets you change the voice, control the volume, and select what you want to hear. Open a document in Microsoft Word that you want to hear read aloud. Click on the Review tab to display the Review Ribbon. Position your cursor at the top of your document or a specific spot where you want the speech to start.

Click on the Read Aloud icon on the Ribbon. The Speech feature begins reading your document aloud, highlight each • = Paid content • 2017--12-07 •. You can protect your email messages from prying eyes via a digital ID.

You need to send someone personal documents or information, such as financial account details, your social security number, or your income tax numbers. You don’t want to or can’t fax or snail mail the information. Email is the quickest and easiest mode of transportation. But email by itself is not secure. How can you tap into email but at the same time make sure your message doesn’t get intercepted by the wrong people? One solution is to use a digital ID.

Through a digital ID, your email is encrypted and certified as coming from you as the sender so that you and your recipient can be assured that no one tampered with it. For this to work, however, your recipient also must have a digital ID. On its webpage to “Find digital ID or digital certificate services,” Microsoft describes the benefits of a digital ID as follows: “Digital IDs, also known as digital certificates, help to validate your identity, and they can be used to sign important documents electronically. They can also be used to help protect messages by adding a unique code to the message called •. As more data breaches result in more of our personal information being leaked or stolen from the various websites we use, data privacy is becoming a growing concern for everyday computer users.

Your information and habits are the currencies used to pay for many services that you get for free or at a reduced cost. But as security breaches rise, more people are rethinking whether they want to pay that cost. And that means more users are looking to exercise increased control over that information across the web. In response, some tech firms are looking into ways that they can offer you more control over the delicate exchange of data for goods and services. In past Ask @WinObs articles here on Windows Secrets, I have also written extensively about the new privacy controls Microsoft has introduced with Windows 10. These controls, which have been updated in each subsequent feature update that has been released over the last two and a half years, give you access to view an delete information that is used by Microsoft.

That Microsoft Privacy Dashboard has become quite extensive over the course of the last 11 months since it was introduced by Microsoft. That is • = Paid content • 2017-12-05 •. Your smartphone and PC can be on better speaking terms courtesy of the Windows 10 Fall Creators update. You use Windows 10 and you use an iPhone or Android phone. How can you tag team your Windows device and your smartphone? The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update can help. The latest update to Windows brings with it a new relationship between Windows and your smartphone.

You can open a web page on your phone and then send it to your PC to pick up where you left off. With an Android phone, you can also send a photo, video, or document to your PC. And you can run the new mobile version of Microsoft Edge on your smartphone so your favorites and passwords are synced between your Windows PC and your phone. Let’s check out how to link your smartphone with Windows 10 courtesy of the Fall Creators Update. For the linking to work as I describe here, you’ll need an iPhone or an Android phone and you’ll need to have the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update installed on your PC.

Note: If you’re not sure whether you have the latest Windows update, here’s one way to check. Open Settings •. Since Windows 10 was introduced to the world in July, 2015 with version 1507 named for the year and month of its release, there have been four successive versions: 1511, 1607, 1703 and 1709 –the Fall Creators Update. For some users, this writer included, upgrading from an early version to the newer, more improved versions has proved problematic. Periodic updates – not upgrades– happen with the regularity of the ocean tides but they are exclusive to your currently installed version. After some online digging, here’s how I finally figured out how to move from early versions to the latest available version, the Creators Update, 1703.

What Do Windows Updates Actually Update? I think it was easier upgrading from Windows 7 to Window 10 than it was upgrading from Windows 10 version 1511 to 1703. But in my attempts to move to the latest version of the OS, I learned how Microsoft has been updating whatever version currently installed on your computer. It’s important to understand the different between update and upgrade.

Microsoft describes Windows 10 as “Windows as a Service.” With previous versions of Windows, we had the ability to turn off automatic updates. Windows 10 service updates are, by • = Paid content • 2017-11-30 •.

I keep hearing about smart assistants eavesdropping on your conversations and reporting them back to big tech companies. So I’m nervous about using Cortana on my machine. Just how much privacy control do I have when it comes to Cortana? More than you used to. The recently released Fall Creators Update, aka Windows 10 Version 1709 recently bulked out the Windows Settings app with a new area for managing what Cortana knows about you and your activities. The new Activity History tab under your Microsoft Account gives you full control over all the data that is used with Windows Timeline including voice, search, browse, and location. The new addition to the Privacy Dashboard gives you granular control over all of this data with options to clear everything or remove all of it or individual items.

Although there are no options on Windows 10 Home or Pro used on a standalone machine to opt out of providing at least a basic level of telemetry to Microsoft, you can opt out of using Cortana. Of course, there are consequences to making that choice according to Microsoft and it will limit Cortana’s ability to provide you with timely suggestions and other • = Paid content • 2017-11-28 •. By now you know what Trello can do for you when it comes to organization and project management, and you’ve learned the basics of setting up Trello for your own personal needs. You’ve also read an overview of Trello for teams, including how the application can facilitate better communication and collaboration.

You can use Trello well, even effectively, with just that information. But to really become a Trello power user you’ll want to step up your game with keyboard shortcuts, application tie-ins, and automation.

Here are the tips and tricks you need to know to upgrade Trello from convenient to life changing. Learn the Keyboard Shortcuts There are a variety of keyboard shortcuts that can be used within Trello to save you time and clicks.

“Trello’s system can have a learning curve for new users,” says Brad M. Shaw, president/CEO of Dallas Web Design Inc. Learning keyboard shortcuts changed this for him, and therefore changed his relationship with the app. “Doing simple things like using the space bar to assign the card to yourself, pressing D to open the due date menu and L to add a label saves valuable time,” Shaw says. Here are some of the most valuable •. This month, there are three twisty new products that just might jump-start your workflow. We’ll start with a keyboard that’s got a twist: It lets you concentrate on creating documents and illustrations without having to stop in your tracks to remember how to call up frequently used functions in different applications.

Next, a twist on Internet security: a tiny desktop box that lets you see and control who is using your network and on what devices. And finally, a power play: a portable power outlet to charge mobile devices and even your laptop. Logitech Keyboard Lets Us Dial in Frequently Used App Functions This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-11-21 •.

Trello can be a powerful project management tool for your teams, if you use it effectively and implement it properly As we discussed in “How to Get Started With Trello,” the project management application functions well as a tool for personal planning. But one of the main advantages of Trello for organization is that it has several features designed to make teamwork convenient, collaborative, and easily tracked. Everything that an individual user can do in Trello can also be done on boards that have multiple members because they are part of a designated team: create lists and cards; move around or archive inactive lists or cards; link files, photos, and websites; set due dates and assign tasks via a checklist; and add comments to cards. A team also allows its users to view all associated boards and their members in one place. Team members can be designated as admins, or as regular members; with a business-class Trello account, team admins have admin control over any board in a team whether or not they’ve been invited to a particular board by its admins. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber?

Click here to login. Office has long been used as a means to infiltrate our systems a means by which attackers get into our systems. Every month Office is patched for remote code execution attacks. Microsoft patches what vulnerabilities it can. Take the November Office updates that fixed issues with older obsolete components in Office 2016 that impacted ODBC drivers.

But as pointed out in this research blog post, mitigation in addition to patching is probably wise. The view that mitigation may be better than patching is reinforced with the disclosure of another Office vulnerability that won’t be patched.

It can’t be patched, as it impacts functionality of your system. You have to make the determination of how much at risk you want to be. Called the DDEAuto attacks allows the execution of malicious code on an email without the use of attachments or macros. These macro-less attacks have been used in various attacks such as malware campaigns such as Vortex ransomware and Hancitor. In the example noted in the Sophos blog, an attack can come from in the form of a calendar invite instead of an email.

The attachment is in the form of a RTF – or rich text format – and • = Paid content • 2017-11-16 •. Are these new smart/secure routers the kind of thing I can give to friends and relatives for the holidays? I’m really tired of doing tech support. Let me begin the answer to this question by telling you about CES 2017, way back in January. As I was attending walking the show floor, one of the trends I noticed was home-based devices that are usually referred to as smart or secure routers. They’re supposed to help provide security not only for existing computing devices in the home, but also the growing number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that are becoming common place in the home.

Many of IoT devices include connected home appliances and adapters, and while some of these devices have built in security, many do not. Enter the secure routers, developed to add a layer of security between those devices and the Internet. These new home routers and firewalls add that later of protection to IoT devices by learning the devices’ normal traffic patterns in and out of your home network so they can alert you if and when there’s a deviation from the pattern. You can then decide if there’s a security breach or not. For those running the Windows 10 1709 release you will note that you will receive two unusually-named updates.

The first, as observed by several posters in the Microsoft user forums, is that the Malicious Software removal update is labeled “Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool for Windows Insider Preview and Server Technical Preview (KB890830)”. All of the impacted folks have never installed the insider preview versions. It appears that someone at Microsoft merely named the update incorrectly.

The second naming problem also shows up only on the Windows 10 1709 release. For those running the 64-bit operating system, you will see is that the patch is named with the AMD64 name in the patch naming causing many to question why it’s being offered to their Intel 64 bit machines. AMD64 is the official name for the 64-bit platform and does not mean that it’s only applicable to AMD processor chips and not Intel chips. Normally the naming of the patch is merely “64-bit” and does not refer to either Intel or AMD.

Bottom line: It’s merely a naming issue and the updates are safe to install. What to do: Install these updates at this time.

Late Breaking Dot Matrix Issue This • = Paid content • 2017-11-14 •. When there are so many productivity and organization applications available, it can be hard to know which one is the right choice–especially when all of these apps do not necessarily play well with each other, or work across platforms. Fortunately, one of the best–and most versatile–productivity apps is available for Windows and Mac users, on Android and iOS, and for desktop and mobile devices. But while this cross-platform fluidity is an important part of Trello’s appeal, the real secret of its success comes in the way it mimics a very low-tech organizational method: index cards on a corkboard. What Is Trello? Essentially, Trello is an online corkboard. You create boards, which contain lists, which hold individual cards.

The user gets a visual view of their projects or information, with the ability to easily add cards and lists and move them around as necessary. Your boards can be private, or you can invite other Trello users to see and collaborate on them–handy for group projects or other situations where you need to share information. Project management is the primary function of Trello, and it does that well, but the app is versatile and intuitive enough to be also be used in •. You can remotely connect to any type of computer via TeamViewer.

You want to be able to remotely access computers, not just Windows computers but also Macs and even Linux machines. Microsoft’s Remote Desktop program can help but it can only connect to Windows computers.

For a more versatile experience, take Microsoft’s TeamViewer application for a spin. With TeamViewer, you can connect to any computer – Windows, Mac, and Linux, and to most mobile phones and tablets. You can see the online status of computers to which you want to connect. You can remotely reboot a computer. You can connect to more than one computer at the same time and switch among them all.

And you can easily connect to computers behind firewalls. Under what scenarios would you want to access a computer remotely? Maybe you have a computer at home that you want to be able to use from another spot. Or perhaps you serve as unpaid tech support for family and friends who call you with computer problems and you need a way to access their machines remotely.

Whatever the reason, let’s check out how to use TeamViewer to remotely connect to any computer. TeamViewer was designed as • = Paid content • 2017-11-09 •. Having trouble copying and pasting in Word? Here’s how to get better control of the feature. How much time do you spend copying and pasting content in Microsoft Word?

And how often does the pasted content not turn out the way you wanted? Yes, copy and paste is a time-honored and helpful Windows feature, but it doesn’t always work right, or at least not the way you expected. Sometimes the pasted text has the wrong formatting; other times it inadvertently affects surrounding text. The secret behind using copy and paste in Microsoft Word is to configure it properly either on the spot or ahead of time so you get what you want. Copying and pasting (and cutting and pasting) is built into Windows, so all Windows programs tap into the feature, including Microsoft Word.

You can copy and paste text, images, and other content within Word as well as between Word and other programs. You can even link your pasted content back to the original source. For example, you can copy a bunch of cells from Excel to Word. Change the content of those cells in Excel, and those changes propagate to the pasted cells in Word. Yes, copy and •. I heard that Microsoft Windows 10 will copy everything from my clipboard to the cloud? Is that true?

If I upgrade, will anything I cut and paste be uploaded to the cloud? You’re thinking of Cloud-powered Clipboard — a feature that was going to rely on the Microsoft Graph to help users move data from one of their devices to another so long as they’re using their Microsoft account on each device. (You’ll remember that the Microsoft Graph is a developer platform, building on the Office 365 APIs, that is aimed at encouraging cross-app integration and connectivity.) Cloud-powered Clipboard was demonstrated during the Build 2017 keynote earlier this year, along with a feature called Windows Timeline, and the allure of both features was how the combination of a Microsoft account (which is backed up in the cloud) and these particular abilities would let a user start working on a desktop machine, then move to their Windows 10 tablet. Activities could be picked up across devices no matter where they were started which would then, according to Microsoft, result in better productivity. However, announcing a feature is no longer a confirmation that it will see the light of day • = Paid content • 2017-11-07 •. Rules can keep your inbox better organized by overseeing each new message. Your Microsoft Outlook inbox may keep growing with dozens or hundreds of emails going unattended and unanswered.

Perhaps you get so many emails that they’re hard to handle. And maybe you sometimes miss important emails because so many messages are cluttering your inbox. If only you had a way to manage all your incoming mails! In Outlook, you do: Creating a rule.

A rule automatically handles an incoming message based on certain criteria, such as the sender, recipient, or subject line. The rule can delete the message, put it in your spam folder, or send it to a specific folder based on the criteria. For example, emails from a mailing list can be sent to a folder dedicated to that list. Junk mail with a certain subject line can be banished to the spam folder. And email from your boss or an important client can be sent to a folder for emails of high importance. By using rules, you cut down on the clutter of your inbox so you can focus on and respond to the most critical messages. Let’s check out how to create and use rules •.

Distribution lists can help you connect with multiple people in one shot. You’ve set up a list of contacts in Microsoft Outlook. Now you want to work with several of them instead of each one separately. Perhaps you have an email you want to send to them all.

Or maybe you want to invite them to a meeting or other event. How can you cover multiple contacts without having to manually add each one to your email or meeting invite?

That’s where a distribution list (now known in Outlook as a contact group) comes in handy. You can add several or even all of your contacts to a single distribution list. You can create multiple lists, each one for different people — one for friends and another for colleagues.

You can even forward your lists to other people to incorporate into their email program. Let’s look at how to create and use distribution lists in Outlook. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.

• = Paid content • 2017-11-02 •. I’m thinking about a smart speaker for my house? Does the Harman Kardon Invoke make sense if I have a Windows 10 machine? Well, let’s see how it fits into the overall smart speaker picture first. The Invoke is the first smart speaker to include Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant, and retails for about $200 at places like the Microsoft Store and Harman Kardon’s website. This speaker is an entry into the same market occupied by Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. Amazon already has a significant lead in this area with a reported 70% of the market share and a library of over 20,000 skills for users’ benefit.

In comparison, Cortana’s Skill Library lists approximately 220 skills. Not helping: many of them appear to be low quality and Microsoft is listing standard Cortana skills you can already access within Cortana on any device that you have the assistant installed. So if you’re thinking, “The Invoke can go toe-to-toe with Amazon’s Echo,” we’re not quite there yet. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. Track Changes can help you modify a document while preserving the original. Maybe you’ve played around with Track Changes in Microsoft Word but bumped into difficulty with it. Or perhaps you’ve never used the feature but could benefit from it.

Either way, you can tap into Track Changes to keep track of any modifications in your documents, whether you’re working on them by yourself or collaborating on them with other people. The feature comes in handy if you want to edit a document without losing the initial version of it. But sometimes Track Changes can be confusing. The trick is to enable Track Changes at the right time and then bounce back and forth between your original and revised document. You can also tweak what you see and what you don’t see when you enable Track Changes. How can you benefit from Track Changes in Word? I’m using Word 2016 on my end, but the process is the same for any of the past few versions of the program.

Launch Word and open a document you want to revise. Click on the Review menu to display the Review ribbon.

From there, either click on the top half of the Track • = Paid content • 2017-10-31 •. You can create and add contacts in Outlook using a few different methods. You may already have a few contacts in Outlook or you might have an empty list. Either way, using a contact list is a helpful resource for keeping track of all the people who send or receive your email. With a contact list you can easily email someone by typing or selecting that person’s name.

You can also refer to the contact list if you need someone’s mailing address, phone number, or other information. But how can you effectively and easily create and add new contacts to Outlook? You have a number of options.

You can manually create a contact with all the necessary details. You can sync your contact list with a list from Gmail or another online service so you don’t have to manually add all your contacts. And you can select someone’s email address to add that person as a contact. Let’s check out the ways to set up your contacts in Outlook. I’m using Outlook 2016 via my Office 365 subscription, but the steps are the same for Outlook 2013 and similar for the previous couple of versions of Outlook. It used to be the only data we saved on our desktop computers were Office documents and an occasional photo. Now, thanks to the rise of smartphone photos – easy to take, tough to store on a machine with only 32 GB of memory — PC hard drives have become by default overstuffed repositories for all our digital detritus.

Coming to the rescue: versatile storage drives which can add up to six terabytes for an all-you-can-eat media dump, may include multiple ports and even offer the DVD read/write drive most PCs no longer include. We check out a trio of these drives. NewerTech MiniStack Max Offers Four-in-One Solution When I purchased my light, thin Windows 10 Pro laptop, I knew its smaller size meant giving up the DVD read/write drive my previous doorstop-cum-notebook included. I knew that USB peripherals were the assumed replacements most PC manufacturers were relying on. I knew I could easily get an external, USB DVD drive if I really wanted one.

But I am glad I waited. NewerTech’s MiniStack Max supplies not only my coveted DVD (and Blu-ray) drive but also: a 7200RPM hard drive, an SD card port, three USB ports, and a couple of • = Paid content • 2017-10-26 •. You don’t necessarily need Excel to run calculations. Here’s how you can do it in Word. Microsoft Word doesn’t offer the level of formulas and functions found in Excel. But it’s not exactly a slacker when it comes to calculations.

Yes, you can set up formulas in Word to add, count, average, and perform other mathematical wizardry on numbers. You start by creating a table of figures. You then add fields to perform calculations on the numbers in that table. And you can choose from an array of formulas.

Why would you opt to use Word instead of Excel? Maybe you already have a table of numbers in Word and don’t want to move it to Excel.

Or perhaps the table is part of a larger Word document that you need to use. For example, I keep my invoices in a Word document and use calculations to display the total amount each month for all projects for each client. Let’s check out how to perform calculations in Word. For this article I’m using Word 2016 as always, but the process works the same in the previous few versions of Word. In Word, you create a formula in a table cell •. You can beef up Excel through a host of free and effective add-ins. Microsoft Excel boasts a hefty number of features and functions on its own.

But it can always use a helping hand. And that helping hand comes in the form of add-ins.

An add-in enhances an Office program by offering greater functionality and flexibility. You’ll find a variety of add-ins for Excel at Microsoft’s Office Store. But here are some particularly helpful ones. XLTools.net Calendar lets you easily insert dates from an interactive calendar. Read My Document reads aloud selected cells in your spreadsheet. Symbols and Characters serves up special characters that you can insert into your spreadsheets.

Merge Cells offers more options for combining cells than does the merge feature built into Excel. Stock Connector helps you keep track of any stock. And Excel Training and Tips provides videos, text, and quizzes to help you learn the program.

I’m using Excel 2016 from my Office 365 subscription, but these add-ins also work with Excel 2013. Some add-ins support the free online version of Excel as well as Excel on the iPad. You can browse and search for an array of Excel add-ins at Microsoft’s Office store, some • = Paid content • 2017-10-19 •. These Windows-compatible productivity apps that will help you get things done effectively. If you’re feeling increasingly digitally distracted, you aren’t alone.

Students check their smartphones in class for non-school purposes about a dozen times a day, according to one 2016 survey. And a 2014 survey from Salary.com found that 89% of respondents admitted to wasting time at work. But our computers, smartphones, and tablets aren’t just distraction machines: when used effectively, they can also help us tackle our daily lives more efficiently or collaboratively. A variety of apps available for the Windows OS, both desktop and mobile, provide powerful productivity features including cloud-based document sharing, collaborative project planning, and online time tracking. And many of these apps are designed to work together, allowing you personalize a suite of products that help you complete your tasks, on time, in the way that works best for you and your team.

These 15 applications address all stages of productivity, from cutting out online distractions and tracking your time to employee collaboration and high-level project planning. Note-Taking Applications This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber?

Click here to login. You may find the Outlook app more efficient and effective than your default email app. Maybe you use Microsoft Outlook on your computer. But what do you use on your mobile phone or tablet? You can use the built-in email app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device.

Another option is the Microsoft Outlook mobile app. The Outlook app supports Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and other services so you can set up and access multiple email accounts. You can choose what happens when you swipe a message. You can attach files from a variety of sources. And you can view and work with your calendar. Let’s check out how to use the Outlook app on your mobile device. For this article, I’m using the Outlook app on my iPad, but it works similarly on an iPhone, iPad, and Android device.

If you don’t already have it, you can snag the app for iOS from Apple’s App Store and for Android from Google Play. After you launch the app the first time, tap on the Get Started button. The app may suggest an account to add.

You can add accounts for Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Outlook.com (including • = Paid content • 2017-10-19 •. These Windows-compatible productivity apps that will help you get things done effectively. If you’re feeling increasingly digitally distracted, you aren’t alone. Students check their smartphones in class for non-school purposes about a dozen times a day, according to one 2016 survey. And a 2014 survey from Salary.com found that 89% of respondents admitted to wasting time at work.

But our computers, smartphones, and tablets aren’t just distraction machines: when used effectively, they can also help us tackle our daily lives more efficiently or collaboratively. A variety of apps available for the Windows OS, both desktop and mobile, provide powerful productivity features including cloud-based document sharing, collaborative project planning, and online time tracking. And many of these apps are designed to work together, allowing you personalize a suite of products that help you complete your tasks, on time, in the way that works best for you and your team. These 15 applications address all stages of productivity, from cutting out online distractions and tracking your time to employee collaboration and high-level project planning. Note-Taking Applications This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.

You may find the Outlook app more efficient and effective than your default email app. Maybe you use Microsoft Outlook on your computer. But what do you use on your mobile phone or tablet? You can use the built-in email app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Another option is the Microsoft Outlook mobile app.

The Outlook app supports Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and other services so you can set up and access multiple email accounts. You can choose what happens when you swipe a message. You can attach files from a variety of sources. And you can view and work with your calendar.

Let’s check out how to use the Outlook app on your mobile device. For this article, I’m using the Outlook app on my iPad, but it works similarly on an iPhone, iPad, and Android device. If you don’t already have it, you can snag the app for iOS from Apple’s App Store and for Android from Google Play. After you launch the app the first time, tap on the Get Started button. The app may suggest an account to add. You can add accounts for Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Outlook.com (including • = Paid content • 2017-10-17 •. You can tweak the ribbon for quick and easy access to your favorite commands.

The ribbon in Microsoft Office offers a way to run commands and tap into various features in any Office program. The ribbon changes its buttons depending on what you’re doing and where you are.

Don’t like the ribbon because it doesn’t offer your favorite commands? You can customize it to remove buttons you don’t use and add buttons you want to use.

Ultimately, you can fashion the ribbon so it’s populated with those commands you use the most often. And once you get the hang of tweaking it in one Office program, the process is the same for the rest of the suite. How can you master the ribbon in Office? For this article I’m using Office 2016, but the information here applies to the past several versions of Office as well. I’ll enlist Word as my guinea pig, so launch Word to kick things off.

You can open any accessible document you like. Right-click on any empty area on the ribbon. From the popup menu, click on the command to Customize the Ribbon. The Customize Ribbon window pops up. On the left side •. Your favorite commands can be just a click away. The Quick Access toolbar in Microsoft Office offers you an effortless way to access different features and commands.

The Quick Access toolbar (which we’ll call QAT through the rest of this article) is always there and always available no matter where you are or what you’re doing in any Office application. By default, the QAT comes with just a few icons, so you may not find it very useful at the start. However, by adding icons you need to the toolbar and removing the ones you don’t need, you can customize it to your own tastes. You can pack it with a couple of dozen icons, which means all your favorite commands are just a click away.

And once you know how to modify the QAT in one Office program, you can do the same in your other Office programs. Let’s look at how to tweak the Quick Access Toolbar. Note: As always, I’m using Office 2016 as my test subject, but the steps apply equally to the past few versions of Office. I’ll use Word as my guinea pig though the process of tweaking the QAT is the same across the • = Paid content • 2017-10-12 •. Adobe released an update to flash that appears to be bug fixes.

The update in the form of an October update. This monthly update addresses functionality bugs but does not fix any security issues. Adobe released an update to flash that appears to be bug fixes. The update in the form of an October update. This monthly update addresses functionality bugs but does not fix any security issues. It appears at this time that because this is merely a bug functionality fix, that it won’t make it into this month’s Windows 10 release. However you may see the update released for Windows 7 as a standalone update.

What to do: Check your Flash and expect an update for Windows 7 machines. Office Click-To-Run Side Effects The October click-to-run release is causing a side effect with some add-ins.

Outlook 2016 on Windows 10 version 8431.2107 removed the Home page from Folder Properties. Prior to version 2107, if you right-clicked a folder under Inbox in Outlook and chose properties, there was a tab for “Home Page” and you could display an HTML file instead of an Outlook folder’s contents. Some add-ins need an HTML home page there; if it’s not there, the buttons on Outlook won’t work. You can quickly create entire documents using Word’s built-in templates. Do you sometimes struggle to format your Word documents a certain way? Maybe you’re trying to create a resume or a report or a brochure but are having trouble with the design.

Well, here comes Word to your rescue. The software offers one key feature that can help you in your goal, namely templates. Templates give your documents a certain look and layout right from the get-go.

By using a preformatted template, all you need do is add your text. Let’s check out templates to see how they can enhance your documents. I’m using Word 2016 as my test base, but the steps I cover in using templates also apply to the past few versions of Word. The purpose of a template is to provide you with the necessary layout and design so you can more quickly and easily create a specific type of document. Word comes with several templates, including ones for resumes, cover letters, blog posts, reports, flyers, brochures, and thank-you cards. Each template contains certain design and layout elements already created.

You can leave the existing elements in place or tweak them to your own preferences. You • = Paid content • 2017-10-10 •. Here’s how you can set up and work with one or more calendars in Outlook. You use Microsoft Outlook for your email.

But do you also use it for its calendar? Perhaps you do, perhaps you don’t. Either way, you can take full advantage of the calendar feature in Outlook to manage your scheduled appointments and events. You can add an event to the calendar and share it with other people. You can invite people to meetings and other events. You can juggle more than one calendar. You can share your calendar with others.

And you can tweak your Calendar settings. Let’s look at the process for creating and maintaining calendars in Outlook. For this article, I’m using Outlook 2016 via my Office 365 subscription, but the process works virtually the same in the prior few versions of Outlook.

Launch Outlook. Click on the calendar icon at the bottom of the pane to switch to calendar view. You can now manually add an event.

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As noted in Richard Hay’s recent article, on October 17, 2017, Microsoft will be releasing the Fall Creators Update. Just like Richard, I’m going to urge you now to take steps to push off installing the 1709 release, but I’ll be honest, I’m looking forward to the security enhancements that are included in this release.

If you have a home version of Windows 10 I’ll first urge you to do an easy upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. It’s an easy upgrade but unfortunately not free. The reason I’m recommending that you upgrade to Pro is that it gives you the ability to push off feature releases. Once you get up to the Pro release, you’ll need to take steps to defer within the next couple of weeks prior to October 17. Recently the Defense Department sent out a notification that the end of life for various releases of Windows 10 is as follows: Windows 10 version 1507 – May 9, 2017 Windows 10 version 1511 – October 10, 2017 Windows 10 version 1607 – Tentatively March 2018 Windows 10 version 1703 – Tentatively September 2018 So if you have stayed on 1511, it’s time to get ready to upgrade and move off of • = Paid content • 2017-10-04 •. You can choose to use a third-party utility that adds a Start menu to Windows 8.1.

If you’re running Windows 8.1 and you miss the good ol’ classic Start menu, you’re not stuck. You can recapture the goodness of the traditional Windows 7 Start menu through a Start menu program.

Such software as Classic Shell, Pokki’s Windows 8 Start Menu, Start 8, and Start Menu X bring back or approximate the look and feel of the classic Windows Start menu. And they offer other advantages. You can typically customize the Start menu in these programs to alter their layout and appearance. And you can usually create, move, and delete folders and shortcuts to organize and manage your Start menu.

Let’s see how you can use and tweak these programs to evoke the traditional Start menu. Classic Shell Created by developer Ivaylo Beltchev, this free Start menu replacement is one of my personal favorites.

After you install the software in Windows 8.1, click on the Start button. The program asks you what type of Start menu you want to see. Choose your option, such as the classic Windows 7 style with the familiar two column layout. In the left column, you can •. Microsoft’s fourth Windows 10 iteration, which will begin its global roll out via Windows Update, will also make this the first time Microsoft has released two feature updates in the same calendar year. This is inline with their announced plans for Windows as a Service (WaaS) and their long term update cycles — but we know the pace can seem dizzying. Note: The Anniversary Update from August 2016 and the Creators Update from this past April were both released within the same 12 month period but it crossed year lines between 2016 and 2017.

The Fall Creators Update officially began its development back in April. Just 23 builds and 174 days later Microsoft released Build 16299 as the final full build in the Fall Creators Update dev cycle. This week, they released a Cumulative Update to that build to push it up to 16299.15 and Windows Insiders in the Fast and Slow Rings now have access to this build for their devices. Back in the days before Windows 10 we would call this the Release To Manufacturing (RTM) build and that would trigger a sequence of events to sign the final code and declare it gold and complete. Then it would begin • = Paid content • 2017-10-03 •.

You should take steps to reduce the size your Outlook mail file if it’s ballooned too large. Do you use Microsoft Outlook and find that your mail file, aka the PST file, keeps getting larger and larger? Yep, that happens as you accumulate more and more email. With lots of mail, your PST file can easily grow to become many gigabytes in size. And why is that a problem? A larger PST file can slow down Outlook.

PST files can also become corrupted, a potentiality that increases if the file grows too big. Fortunately, there are ways you can reduce the size of your PST file. Microsoft Outlook uses a PST (personal storage table) file to store not just your email but also your calendar events, tasks, and other items. The PST file is a convenient way to house such information as you can move the file to a different drive or computer, back it up as one single entity, and export items from one PST file to another. The major drawback with a PST file is that the file can easily get very large very fast, especially if you have a habit of not deleting your incoming messages. Yes, you can add, remove, and maintain your Windows fonts. Click on the font menu in one of your Office applications or another Windows program, and you’ll likely see a cavalcade of fonts, most of which you probably will never use.

Other times, you may need a specific font only to discover that it’s not on your system. Whatever your beef with the fonts in Windows, you can get a better handle on them. Managing your fonts is accomplished through the Windows Fonts screen accessible from Control Panel. There, you can view and preview your existing fonts, remove fonts you don’t want to use or see, and view new fonts that you can find online and install in Windows. Let’s look at how to manage and use your fonts in Windows.

Windows comes with several fonts already built into the operating system. Certain applications also add more fonts to your collection. Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, and other products come packed with their own fonts. Most fonts come in families that include assorted styles. So, for example, an Arial font will be available in regular, black, bold, italic, and bold italic. Viewing, adding, removing, and managing your fonts involves the • = Paid content • 2017-09-28 •. Here’s how you can get Windows 10 to play nice with your convertible or 2-in-1 machine.

You’ve got a Windows 10 laptop that can convert into a tablet or a tablet that can function as a laptop with help from an external keyboard. Cool — but how can you best tweak and use your device to take advantage of Windows 10? The OS does offer a few features and options that can help you work better in both laptop mode and tablet mode. You can set the device to automatically switch from the Start menu to the Start screen or vice versa. You can manually make those changes yourself. And there are other ways to benefit from Windows 10 based on which mode you’re running. Let’s check out how to best use Windows 10 on your hybrid machine.

First, let’s go over the types of devices that qualify as hybrids, convertibles, or 2-in-1 machines. For our purposes, all those terms mean the same thing. The first entry is a laptop that can double as a tablet. These devices typically are outfitted with a lid that is foldable or a keyboard that is detachable. By folding the lid all the way •. Windows 10 began its s-l-o-w gradual release on July 29, 2015, with the version numbered 1507. Since then, there have been a handful of updated releases, each with a different version number, based on the date they were released with first two numbers representing the year and last two for the month.

And each of those different versions come with a series of automatic, cumulative updates of their own. This leads to some obvious questions about each: So how do you tell which version you have? And are the ostensible improvements in higher number versions actually all that different from earlier versions?

And if you want to upgrade to a different number version can you even do that? Read on for the answers. How To Tell Which Version of Windows 10 is Installed With the vagaries of Windows Update mechanisms, it can be difficult on the surface to figure out which version of Windows 10 is currently on your machine and, for that matter, which build of that version is installed? No doubt, Microsoft knew there might be confusion, what with all the different version and build numbers, so it offers two ways to find out quickly. This article is • = Paid content • 2017-09-26 •. Hold Off Before You Update Your iPhones On Tuesday, Apple released iOS 11, a major upgrade for its mobile platform. The update’s new features include the following: A lock screen and notification center are combined, allowing all notifications to be displayed directly on the lock screen.

The various pages of the control center are unified, gaining custom settings and the ability to 3D Touch icons for more options. The app store receives a visual overhaul to focus on editorial content and daily highlights.

A “Files” file manager app allows direct access to files stored locally and in cloud services. Siri can now translate between languages and use a privacy-minded “on-device learning” technique to better understand a user’s interests and offer suggestions. The camera has new settings for improved portrait-mode photos and will use new encoding technologies to reduce file sizes. Messages is integrated with iCloud to better synchronize messages across iOS and macOS devices; a later point release will support person-to-person Apple Pay payments. The operating system also introduces the ability to record the screen and a drag-and-drop functionality.

It also introduces a big change that causes issues with Office 365. As noted in KB4043473, you will have issues using an iphone and •. Running low on disk space?

Here’s how you can conjure up some more. Your hard drive may be hundreds of gigabytes in size, but it’s easier than you may think to fill up that space. Photos, music, and especially videos can eat away at your hard disk space, leading to a dearth of real estate for your other files and any applications you want to install.

Sure, you can always buy another drive. But before you go through the hassle of installing a second drive or replacing your existing one, you can take certain measures in Windows to free up space. There are several initial steps, such as emptying your Recycle Bin and uninstalling applications you no longer need. But in Windows 10, you can also tap into a feature called Storage Sense, which automatically removes content you don’t need or want. Let’s look at the various ways to free up disk space in Windows 10. Before we proceed, let’s cover a couple of options available to you.

Beyond adding a second or new hard drive to gain space, you can connect a USB drive or other external storage to your PC and move files to that drive. The only • = Paid content • 2017-09-21 •. Though Edge is the default browser in Windows 10, you can still use Internet Explorer 11. Here are some ways to customize IE in Windows 10 to make it work your way.

Yes, Internet Explorer is still alive and well in Windows 10 despite Microsoft’s efforts to push everyone toward Microsoft Edge as the default browser. Edge has its advantages, but IE isn’t down for the count just yet.

As always, the key to using Internet Explorer is to tweak the browser so it works just the way you like it. Toward that end, you can opt to display or hide toolbars, turn on various privacy and security settings, control your add-ons, and pin websites to the desktop or taskbar. Let’s go through the different steps for customizing and using IE 11 in Windows 10. First off, where the heck is Internet Explorer in Windows 10? Nope, you won’t find it on the Taskbar any longer since Edge has muscled its way into that spot.

And you won’t see IE in the Start menu or Start screen, at least not unless and until you put it there. Here’s how to snag it. Click on the Start button and then scroll •. Privacy has been one of the top issues for many users (and potential users) of Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system. Admittedly, the software company was very reluctant to go outside the box in those early days to address privacy concerns that accompany Windows 10’s uses of telemetry and the mandatory updates.

In September 2015, Terry Myerson, the guy in charge of the entire Windows and Devices business within Microsoft, talked about privacy and Windows 10 but it did not go into great detail about what user data was collected; he mainly focused on how the data was used to maintain Windows 10. Nearly two years later, a few months prior to the release of the Creators Update, Myerson once again took to the official Windows Blog and shared about privacy and Windows 10. This time he gave details about a new Privacy Dashboard as part of your Microsoft Account.

The dashboard gives you more control over your data that Microsoft has access to, from the operating system to assorted Microsoft products and services. Myerson also detailed changes that were made to put privacy choices front and center when you upgrade to the Creators Update, minimizing the amount of data Microsoft collects at its most basic option. • = Paid content • 2017-09-19 •.

You can give Microsoft’s newest browser an edge by using extensions. The standard lineup of browsers – Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox – all support loads of extensions that enhance their features and functionality. Great, but what Microsoft Edge, the newest browser on the block? Well, Edge has been slow to support extensions, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find several that do work. What extensions are available in Edge, and how can they help you use the browser? You can take advantage of extensions for password managers RoboForm and LastPass, Microsoft Translator, AdGuard’s AdBlocker, Office Online, and Microsoft Personal Shopping Assistant.

And more are slowly being released as time goes on. Microsoft added Edge to Windows 10 to take over as the default browser for the aging Internet Explorer. IE is still around in Windows 10 (you can access it from the Start menu in the Windows Accessories folder). Edge offers a more streamlined and cleaner look than its older brother but doesn’t provide quite as many built-in features. If you are an Edge aficionado, you can get a helping hand from a range of freely available and supported extensions.

To install an extension, first fire up Edge. Windows Defender will feature a full suite of products in the October update, but it still might not be a one-stop shop for security. For the Fall Creators Update, the security focus is squarely on Enterprise and Windows Server users.

But while the “creators” in the update name are the primary focus for this update, thanks to an expanded suite of protective features, security hasn’t been completely left out of the picture. Microsoft’s threat-busting service, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection, is the site of most of the security changes you’ll find when the Fall Creators Update begins to roll out on October 17. Those changes came about in part because of a European antitrust complaint launched against Microsoft by Kaspersky in June; Kaspersky withdrew the complaint in August, satisfied that the changes in the next Windows 10 update would address its concerns. An expanded Enhanced Alert view provides a wider range of information on threats. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber?

Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-09-14 •. You can get a better handle on the amount of spam invading your Outlook inbox. Do you receive annoying spam messages in Microsoft Outlook? Junk mail has been a persistent problem for years. And although progress has been made in the fight against spam, we continue to get unwanted and potentially dangerous junk mail.

Your email provider should already have a junk mail filter to block out spam, but some of it is still going to reach your inbox. How can you combat and manage the spam you get in Outlook? Microsoft’s email program offers its own junk mail filter, which you can customize to help stop spam while allowing legitimate mail to come through. You can click on a spam message to mark it as spam or click on a legitimate message falsely labeled as spam. You can also add email addresses and domains to your Safe Senders list and your Blocked Senders list.

Let’s look at how you can manage your spam in Outlook. For the purposes of this article, I’m using Microsoft Outlook 2016. But the steps apply equally to the past few versions of Outlook. Before you even open Outlook, sign in to your email provider’s •. This month’s patch watch includes one area to keep a vigilant eye upon. There are issues with Outlook KB4011086 being tracked at this time.

See the Office patch section below. Adobe Flash at a Priority 3 Adobe released updates to Flash, RoboHelp, and Adobe Connect and categorized the updates as “Priority 3.” Given our recent Hurricanes in the news, I honestly had to look up what “Priority 3” meant in terms of Adobe patches. In weather-speak, a 3 storm still packs a heavy punch. In Adobe-speak the updates “resolves vulnerabilities in a product that has historically not been a target for attackers. Adobe recommends administrators install the update at their discretion.” For those on Windows 10 and 8.1, as usual you will receive the flash update in the form of KB4038806. Recently I’ve been having to install the Firefox Flash update on my Windows 10 machines in order to watch some Flash-based videos. Even though I had Flash enabled on my Chrome and Edge browser, the video would not play.

So all Flash versions are not created equal and you may need to download a few more to get things to work as they should on Windows 10. What to • = Paid content • 2017-09-12 •. Windows remains the most popular end-user operating system in the United States; according to the Federal Digital Analytics Program, 46.2 percent of users who visited federal government websites in the last 90 days did so on a Windows OS.

But Windows is well behind the pack when it comes to mobile browsing, with data from Statistica showing the OS with only a fraction of the users Android and iOS devices enjoy. Microsoft-watchers have watched Windows Mobile flicker feebly, then die, in real time. For the majority of users, their mobile devices–on which they’re increasingly reliant (one in ten adults is a smartphone-only user) –aren’t on the same operating system as their desktop devices. The soon-to-be-released Fall Creators Update for Windows 10 tries to make that reality more workable, or even desirable, with updates that aim to make movement between a Windows desktop OS and any number of mobile OS options more seamless than ever before. As someone who carries both a Windows phone and an iOS phone in order to do everything he needs to for his business in a mobile environment, improved integration between Microsoft and other devices and operating systems is welcome, says Todd Pekats, VP of Microsoft Services for •. Yep, you can run Android apps in Windows via an emulator. Is there a cool Android app or game that you’d like to check out, but you don’t have an Android device?

You can run that app in Windows courtesy of an Android emulator. Such programs as Andy, BlueStacks, Droid4X, KoPlayer, and Memo emulate the Android operating system on your Windows computer so you can run Android games and other apps designed for Google’s mobile OS. Some emulators offer more features than others, while some are simpler to install and use than others. Once you get the emulator installed, how can you find, download, and install your favorite Android apps? Let’s check it out. You’ll find several different Android emulators floating about in cyberspace.

Some are geared more toward Android developers; others are geared more toward consumers interested in playing Android games or using Android productivity apps. Some are free, others will cost you some cash. Some run one of the newer flavors of Android; other run older versions.

Here, I’ll look at several free Android emulators designed for those of you who want to run mobile apps and games. Andy This free emulator starts you off with • = Paid content • 2017-09-07 •. The Windows firewall can be your friend. Here’s how to get along with it.

The Windows firewall is around to protect you against malicious apps and other content from the Internet aimed at infecting your PC. Assuming you’re not running a third-party security program with its own firewall, then the Windows Firewall should be active on your machine, looking out for threats. A firewall doesn’t just block malicious applications from hitting your computer but prevents potentially malicious content from being sent from your computer. But the firewall sometimes gets in your way, blocking legitimate content that you want to run and use. You can tweak and fine-tune the firewall so it filters out real dangers while allowing safe content to pass through. Let’s check out the Windows Firewall to see how you can use it and control it. In this article, I use Windows 10 as my client, but the examples you’ll see with Windows firewall works the same in Windows 10, 8.1, and 7.

The only differences you’ll see are in the wording of certain features and settings. The Windows firewall supports private networks, such as your home network, as well as public networks, such as ones in a library, •. When I store things on my hard drive, I feel secure — I can make sure that drive and the computer it’s associated with are disconnected from a network.

But with things stored in the cloud — Windows Live Folders, Windows Live SkyDrive, SkyDrive, and OneDrive? Where’s the assurance that my files are secure? Before I answer that question, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane. Microsoft’s cloud based file sharing and syncing service, now known as OneDrive, is available to anyone with a Microsoft Account, and typically provides 5GB of cloud based storage. (The only exceptions:You have an Office 365 subscription or you have been grandfathered as storage allowances changed over the past few years.) I was recently asked just how secure are the files which users store in OneDrive and I can answer this questions from a couple of perspectives. First let’s talk about the physical security of your files on OneDrive. To answer this part let me quote something from Microsoft about access to their data centers where your OneDrive files reside in the cloud: “Microsoft’s datacenter personnel must pass a background check.

All access to our datacenters is strictly regulated and every entry and • = Paid content • 2017-09-05 •. Sound not working in Window? Don’t despair.

Let’s see if we can fix it. Uh, oh, Windows has suddenly stopped talking. Maybe you can no longer hear the usual beeps, chirps, and other sounds or there’s no music coming from your favorite music software or website. Houston, we have an audio problem. For whatever reason, the audio in Windows seems to like to conk out every now and then.

So, what can you do if Windows refuses to say anything? You can run a special troubleshooter designed to track down and fix audio problems. You can also access the Windows Sound panel where you can check or change your default playback device, run an audio test, and modify different properties of your default audio. Let’s go through the steps for resolving audio problems in Windows. Okay, so your audio has crapped out. You’ve made sure your sound isn’t set to mute. You’ve checked the volume levels.

If you’re using external speakers on a desktop PC, you’ve made sure the audio cable is plugged in and seated properly and that the speakers are functioning. You’ve rebooted your PC. And still no sound. First up, let’s try one of the built-in Windows •. If you subscribe to Microsoft Office 365, you already have a full terabyte of data in the cloud. And thanks to some recent changes to OneDrive, it’s now a usable place to back up to. I wrote an article in 2014 on using sync services, such as Dropbox and Google Drive, as backup, and I disqualified Microsoft’s OneDrive because it only versioned Microsoft Office file types instead of all file types.

Versioning – a necessary feature for a decent backup system – allows you to recover not just the most recent version of a file, but also any reasonably recent version. You’d want this feature in case the most recent version of a file was corrupted or if you had to walk back some of your work.

Because OneDrive limited this feature to Microsoft’s own formats, it didn’t cut the grade until this summer. Now Microsoft is rolling out a OneDrive update that fixes the problem. When the feature hits your PC (I got mine weeks ago), you’ll not only be able to recover last Thursday’s version of your Excel spreadsheets, but your Photoshop files, as well. I tried recovering old versions of files in eight different formats —.pdf,.kdbx,.zip, • = Paid content • 2017-08-31 •. The grammar checker tries to be helpful but sometimes falls down on the job. Here’s how you can use and tweak it to make it more effective.

Microsoft Office comes with a grammar checker to help you proofread your documents and correct any mistakes and typos. But sometimes the grammar checker gets in your way.

The grammar checker may be set to automatically flag words and sentences it thinks are flawed, a visual style that can become obtrusive. At times, the grammar checker seems off-base, trying to fix things that don’t need fixing. Thankfully, Office includes a variety of settings and options for the grammar checker so you’re the one in the driver’s seat. You can turn the automatic checker on or off, tell the checker to always ignore certain items, and add words to Office’s dictionary so it won’t flag them in the future. Let’s look at the Office grammar checker to see how you can control it instead of the other way around. The main features of the Microsoft Office grammar checker are shared across all the individual applications.

So, you’ll find most of the same capabilities, options, and limitations whether you run the checker in Word, Excel, •. The word “safety” can imply different kinds of judicious personal protection. Safety definitely is the obvious benefactor with these disparate devices: From an external hard drive that has a double layer of security and a USB fingerprint dongle that makes Windows log in a touch easier to computer eyeglasses which cut out the blue and a pen you can’t lose thanks to Bluetooth, these hardware picks make it clear your personal safety is designed to come first. Keeping Your Data Doubly Safe with Pin Pad Log-on and Hardware Encryption With no software or drivers required, iStorage’s diskAshur external hard or SSD drives all but scream data security.

What’s not to like? I just plugged in the integrated USB 3.1 cable into my laptop and was ready to backup my precious data. Well, almost ready. First I had to create a 7 to 15 alphanumeric PIN on the topside keypad.

Without your personal PIN – just like the one you use at an automated teller machine—there is no way to read or write your data. Only after tapping in the right PIN does the drive get recognized by the computer.

And that is just the first indication of how security minded the diskAshur • = Paid content • 2017-08-29 •. The side effects of August updates aren’t quite over yet. Windows 10 1703 release of KB4034674 is not installing for some – but not all – Windows 10 users. In my personal case where I had an issue installing this update, I solved it in two ways to work around the issue. The first way was to manually install the update from the Microsoft catalog site, downloading the update to the computer and then letting it install. Another method: go into the control panel, then to services, stopped the Windows update service and then drilled down to the following folders and deleted the contents: C: windows SoftwareDistribution DataStore C: windows SoftwareDistribution Download Reboot the computer which in turn will restart the Windows update service. Now attempt to install the update again.

You can see others having this same issue in this thread. If you’d like a graphical view of what to do, I would follow this guide and stopping at the second step. I’m unsure if Microsoft is aware of this issue, but in the meantime we can get these updates installed and work around the issue. I will be monitoring and see if Microsoft follows up with any fix for this issue.

What to do: Attempt to •. Yes, you can keep your favorites and bookmarks in check courtesy of a free third-party program. Do you use multiple Web browsers across multiple PCs? Maybe you use Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Firefox on your Windows desktop, laptop, and tablet. Perhaps you also have a Mac on which you browse the Web.

If so, one of the challenges is keeping your favorites and bookmarks in sync. Add, delete, or change a bookmark in one place, and you have to manually make that change everywhere else. Well, not if you have a utility that can automatically sync your bookmarks across multiple browsers and computers. And for that, you can tap into a helpful and free browser extension called Xmarks from LastPass. Yes, Firefox and Chrome both offer their own features to sync your bookmarks across different devices.

But those features work only in that browser, not with other browsers. By installing Xmarks for each browser across your various PCs, any changes you make to your favorites and bookmarks automatically propagate and sync with the other browsers on your other devices. To sync your favorites and bookmarks, Xmarks maintains an encrypted master list on its website, accessible only through your username • = Paid content • 2017-08-24 •. I do family tech support – would Windows 10 S be a good OS option for my relatives? As advanced users, many of you are likely on speed dial for some members of your family whenever they’re confounded by computer issues.

Previously I had discovered that Windows 10 itself can help control many of the routine issues everyday users experience plus the Quick Assist Tool in the operating system makes it easy to connect with a remote system. Although Windows 10 itself has good security — and you can force a user to use Microsoft Edge to prevent random toolbar installs since all Edge extensions must be installed from the Windows Store — you can still experience some issues such as drive-by downloads of malicious software. In addition, how about those fake pop-ups asking a user to update their Flash install? Your relatives may still click on those. Microsoft’s Windows 10s — launched as a variation of Windows 10 for educational institutions– can be used in situations where you want to prevent malicious software from entering and executing on the system from any avenue. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber?

Click here to login. These add-ins can beef up and enhance the Outlook web client so you can do more with the program. Do you ever use Outlook.com for your email? The web-based version of Outlook offers a healthy array of features. But it can always stand sprucing up. And one way to do that is through an add-in.

An add-in compensates for the limitations in a Microsoft program or other application. You’ll find a variety of add-ins for Outlook.com at Microsoft’s Office store. But I’ve gathered what I think are three helpful and free ones. Email Translator can translate the text of an Outlook email into the language of your choice. Send Anywhere for Outlook lets you send large file attachments. And PayPal for Outlook lets you send money to someone directly within Outlook.com using your PayPal account.

Before we go further, notice I said Outlook.com and not Microsoft Outlook. And here’s the major hitch with Outlook add-ins. Beyond supporting Outlook.com, most support the Microsoft Outlook desktop client but only if you connect to Office 365 or Microsoft Exchange on the backend. Most add-ins won’t work with the Outlook desktop program if you connect to your ISP’s email or another mail service, such • = Paid content • 2017-08-22 •. An image file can restore a sickly Windows 8.1 environment back to a healthy state. Your Windows 8.1 computer is acting funky.

Maybe certain Windows features aren’t working properly. Or perhaps Windows is freezing or blue screening. Are you up the creek?

Not if you have an image file that you can use to recover Windows. In Windows 8.1, you can use a special command-line utility called recimg to create an image file of your entire Windows environment. Then if something goes kerflooey, you can restore that image file to get Windows 8.1 up and running again. For that reason, you can and should run the command on a regular basis so the image file is always up to date. How can you create this image file and then use it to recover Windows 8.1?

Let’s take a look. Since the recimg utility in Windows 8.1 is a command-line utility, it can be quicker to use versus a full GUI program where you must go step by step. Further, simply refreshing your PC without specifying an image file retains your Windows 8.1 apps, your personal files, and customized settings. But it does not retain your desktop applications or your PC •. I have a phrase I often use with technology: Keep the children on the playground the same age. This means not mixing older and younger groups; they have different skill levels and abilities.

The same goes for.NET 4.7, applications and Windows 7. If you dig into various locations on the web you will see post install side effects such as the following: Impacting Autocad and earlier versions as noted in a forum.NET 4.7 crashing Quickbooks as noted on a blog Possible issues with Arcgis Pro May have issues with touchscreen inputs as notes in this post Techsmith Snagit impact with.NET 4.7 as noted in this forum I’ll be investigating and see if the 4.7 update is the trigger for these issues but in the meantime if you are impacted and want to block.NET 4.7 you can use a registry key as noted on the Ghacks site.

Tap on the Windows-key, type regedit.exe, and hit the Enter-key on the keyboard. This should start the Windows Registry Editor. Go to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE Software Microsoft NET Framework Setup NDP Right-click on NDP and select New >Key.

Name that key WU. Right-click on WU, and select New >Dword (32-bit) Value. Name • = Paid content • 2017-08-10 •.

Surprisingly, there’s nothing to worry about as of right now. So let’s assess what patches you should look. Adobe Flash and Reader Review A priority this month should be to prioritize the August Flash update.

Adobe has released the August flash update so expect updates to Chrome to support the Flash update. For Windows look for KB4034662 to update the Flash in Windows 10 and 8.1. I still use and see many sites that use flash, and thus it’s still wise to ensure flash is up to date before doing any major surfing in any browser. Also expect an Adobe reader update in the form of an Adobe patch fixing 43 critical issues. What to do: Check your Flash and Adobe reader versions and review your browsers to ensure they are up to date.

Do you need SMBv1? Included in this month’s updates for all versions of Windows is an issue with Windows Search.

With this bug a malicious attacker can come through a smb connection and take control of a system. In a network this could lead to ransomware attacks like we’ve recently seen so if you are in a firm, please either review if you’ve disabled SMBv1 •. The answer is, “Sort of.” Before I explain, here’s a brief reminder of what that feature is, why it was so well-loved in Windows 8.1, and what aspects of it have come back now. An extremely popular feature of Microsoft’s consumer cloud storage offering in Windows 8.1, OneDrive Placeholders allowed a user to view all of their files stored in OneDrive on any device that used their Microsoft Account to log in. When a user viewed their OneDrive files locally, every folder and file in the OneDrive account was displayed in File Explorer. It was a nice way to see what files you had stored.

There were options to choose which files to download and store locally; a user had to make sure they did this for any files they would need offline access to. You could select individuals files or entire folders to make sure they were stored on the physical hard drive.

As development of Windows 10 was nearing its initial release in June 2015, Microsoft announced that this feature would be deprecated and removed from OneDrive. Instead, Windows 10 users would be able to see their OneDrive contents via a process called selective sync. Windows 10 users were not pleased • = Paid content • 2017-08-08 •. You can hunt down and often resolve glitches in Office, either by repairing it or by running a special Microsoft utility. Is one of your Microsoft Office applications giving you trouble? Maybe certain features aren’t working properly, or the application itself is freezing or crashing. What can you do to find and fix the problem?

One option is to run a repair of Office, which you can do through the Programs and Features screen in Control Panel. If that doesn’t work, then reinstalling Office may be necessary. But Microsoft might also be able to help in the form of a free program called the Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer Tool. This utility can scan your Office configuration and list any known problems along with links to Microsoft Knowledge Base articles on how to fix those problems. Let’s go through the different ways to resolve problems in Office. I recently bumped into trouble with Microsoft Outlook in which the search index wasn’t working. At another time, I ran into a problem with Word in which the program would randomly freeze or crash.

So, like any piece of software, Microsoft Office can misbehave for one reason or another. In the event of a •.

Styles can help you more easily and quickly format your text. If you’re a Microsoft Word user, you may spend a lot of time formatting your text a certain way, carefully applying different attributes and making sure the formatting is consistent. And sometimes the formatting doesn’t turn out the way you want.

Seems there’s got to an easier way to format items in Word, whether a single piece of text or an entire document. And there is, through styles. Styles help you format chunks of text, anything from a single word to an entire paragraph. Word comes with several built-in styles, but you can create your own based on existing text and then apply those styles anytime you want, saving you time and effort.

Let’s go through the steps for using, creating, and applying styles in Word. I’ll use Word 2016 in the form of Office 365 as my test bed.

But the steps I cover here pertain equally to the past several previous versions of Word. Styles apply various attributes to anything from a single word (or even a single character) to an entire paragraph. For single words or paragraphs, those attributes can be a specific font, point size, • = Paid content • 2017-08-03 •.

The command prompt is still alive and well in Windows 10, and here’s how you can use and control it. Yes, Windows 10 is packed with lots of GUI features, but that doesn’t mean the command prompt is a has-been. Even in Windows 10, the command prompt remains an effective tool for running certain commands and accessing certain features.

Though the command prompt has remained more or less the same over the years, you will find some new tricks up its sleeve in Windows 10. So, what can you do with the command prompt and how can you manage and control it to make it easier to use? Let’s look at how to tame the command prompt in Windows 10. First off, the command you use to open a command shell from the Windows Power Users menu (the menu that appears when you right-click on the Start button) differs based on your version of Windows 10. In the original version and the Anniversary Update, the command is known as Command Prompt.

And launching that command places you at the familiar prompt that’s been around since the early days of Windows. In the Spring Creators Update released in April 2017, Microsoft •. So did you end up with Windows 10, version 1703 installed on your machine last week? Or did you have a computer where it attempted and failed? Were you as surprised as I was by the installation? Am I admitting that I, Susan Bradley, the Patch Watch lady, was totally caught off guard that last week 1703 was declared Current Branch for Business (CBB) and thus would be widely released to everyone who chose to defer the feature release?

Am I admitting that I, Susan Bradley, the Patch Watch lady, was, or rather, still is confused about the new updating cadence, new name for the feature releases and new patching options? I’m still trying to figure out the new normal for patching Windows 10.

Let me tell you what I am sure of: Microsoft loves to keep changing the rules, we need to roll with the flow and hopefully this will be the last major change in updating naming and timing. The names and timing we used to have was called Current Branch (what Home version computers are on) or Current Branch for Business (what Pro versions can opt to do).

Last week if you had Windows 10 • = Paid content • 2017-08-01 •. You can free up memory and boost performance by putting the kibosh on unnecessary startup programs. Every program that automatically loads when Windows starts up chews up more of your PC’s memory. The more programs that muscle their way into your startup routine, the less available memory you have to run your applications.

And many programs that start up automatically don’t necessarily need to do so. How can you control your Windows startup programs? In Windows 7, you can use the System Configuration tool.

In Windows 8.1 and 10, you can use the Task Manager. But if these built-in tools aren’t sufficient, you can turn to a third-party utility. Such tools as Sysinternals AutoRuns and Autorun Organizer can help you determine which programs you can kick out of your startup routine and how to give them the heave-ho. Let’s see how you can get a better handle on your Windows startup programs. Many Windows programs like to climb onboard your startup routine.

Some programs do legitimately need to launch at startup, such as anti-virus software and backup software like Microsoft OneDrive. But a lot of programs insist on starting up automatically whether or not they need to. That may be •. There are a handful of ways to get around logging on to Windows 10 without having to use the default password method. In fact, you can even skip using a password altogether with some minor tweaks. Although some of the alternative log-ons require using touch screen tech, there are mouse and keyboard roundabouts are built into the OS, too. Let’s survey how you can circumvent the password log-on.

But First, an Explanation for Why There Are Passwords on Your Machine If you’re going to use Windows 10, Microsoft requires a Microsoft account. There’s no way around this. That’s because Microsoft wants to be tethered to your PC for security updates, password resets, online connection, access to the Microsoft Store, and for automatic updates. But Microsoft knows passwords can be troublesome (some of us have memory issues, for example), so they have built half a dozen different ways to log on to your PC beyond the traditional password. Some of these require your PC or laptop have integrated biometric hardware such as fingerprint readers, camera-based facial readers or eye scanners. If your computer has any of this special hardware you will be able to set up a sign-in using Windows Hello. For • = Paid content • 2017--07-27 •.

It’s the end of July and we finally have some out of band fixes for the issues introduced by the June updates. I’m using the Office known issues page to keep track of issues. To remind you the following problems were introduced by the June updates: Issues opening attachments When you open an attachment in an email, contact, or task formatted as Rich Text you get the following error: “The program used to create this object is Outlook.

That program is either not installed on your computer or it is not responding. To edit this object, install Outlook or ensure that any dialog boxes in Outlook are closed.” Both Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007 still has no workaround or patch at this time.

The underlying issue was caused by the following updates: KB3191898 Outlook 2007 KB3203467 Outlook 2010 This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. These utilities will beef up Windows so you can work more smoothly and effectively. Windows comes packed with a host of features and programs that try to ease your life in front of the computer. But even after all these years and all these versions, Windows still lacks some key features that would make your work go even easier.

That’s where third-party utilities come into play. Many such utilities compensate for the weaknesses or limitations in Windows. One such utility is ClipX, which can store multiple items at a time via the Windows clipboard. Another utility is EditPad Lite, which is more robust and flexible than Notepad or WordPad. And a third is VirtuaWin, which lets you create and bounce among multiple virtual desktops.

Let’s look at some of my favorite utilities and see how they can help you. ClipX The Windows clipboard, which stores items you’ve cut or copied so you can then paste them, has been around since the beginning.

But even after all these years, the clipboard is limited. The major limitation is that you can only copy or cut and paste one item at a time. Add another item to the clipboard, and the previous item • = Paid content • 2017-07-25 •. The latest financial reports showcase that Redmond’s bet on the cloud is paying off. But there’s one place that I think Microsoft could do better: Selling subscriptions to small businesses.

I’ve personally found that buying various different cloud subscriptions can be confusing and in some cases, if you buy a cloud service from one vendor it may impact what you can buy from another vendor. Recently I wanted to buy a single copy of Windows 10 Enterprise including the Advanced Threat Protection service.

But before I get into the particulars of my story, let’s step back a bit and explain what these new additional services do and why I wanted to purchase them. Microsoft has added to Office 365 and to Windows 10 desktops services that allows a savvy end user or a small business to have some interesting forensic tools at their disposal in the form of advanced threat protection service. When it’s added to Office 365, it allows the Outlook user to have additional protections from malware, ransomware and other targeted attacks. It filters urls in messages and filters email attachments. As noted in the literature, it can be added to the following products: Exchange Online Plan 1 Exchange •. You can check out Office for free to help you decide if you want to buy it. Interested in using Microsoft Office — either the one-time purchase Office 2016 or the subscription-based Office 365, but not yet sure you want to shell out the money?

Well, don’t open your wallet just yet. There are ways you can check out Microsoft Office for free to see if you like it before you spend your hard-earned cash. Here’s how to get started: try out the free Office Online version, which offers Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and more. Though this version lacks the set of features of the desktop edition, it will at least give you a taste of the full suite. You can check out a free 30-day trial of Office 365 to see what you think of it. Alternately, At Microsoft’s TechNet Evaluation Center, you can access and use an eval version of Office 365 for up to 30 days. And if you’re a student or teacher at a qualifying school, you may be able to snag Office 365 for free.

Let’s look at the different ways you can take Office for a free spin. A Look at the free Office Online • = Paid content • 2017-07-20 •. Want to get more out of Microsoft OneDrive or just customize some of its settings?

You may already be running Microsoft OneDrive and hopefully find it an effective way to back up and synchronize your documents and other files. But what if you want to make changes to your OneDrive configuration? Maybe you want to add or remove folders to sync via OneDrive. Perhaps you want to change the location of the local folders that you sync with OneDrive. Or maybe you’ve accidentally deleted a folder or file in OneDrive and need to recover it. (Hint: OneDrive offers a Recycle Bin through which you can often recover deleted files).

Yep, you can do all this by tapping into OneDrive’s settings on your PC and your online storage space. Let’s look at how to customize and manage your OneDrive configuration. We’ll be using the regular desktop version of OneDrive to start. The software is already baked into Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. Windows 7 users running OneDrive should already have downloaded the OneDrive application from the home page of the OneDrive website and used it to set up the service. Okay, let’s say you’ve been using OneDrive and now •. Many of us use some form of cloud storage these days and if you are in the Microsoft ecosystem that means you are more than likely to be using OneDrive for that option.

OneDrive is a sync-based cloud service: That means if you change, delete, or move a file on one device where you access those files then that action will be duplicated across all of your OneDrive access points. It does not make for a very good backup option compared to more traditional backups. However, there is a feature available that provides a short-term option to recover previous versions of your files, if you need to return to older editions to check revisions you made or reverse them. As of right now, OneDrive only supports Office documents for this Version History feature.

However, this week Microsoft announced a change that will roll out to consumers by the end of summer: Instead of being able to retrieve only older Office documents, you’ll be able to recover previous versions of any file type you can store on OneDrive — so long as those previous file version are less than 30 days old. With all that said, let’s walk through how the version-history feature works in OneDrive. • = Paid content • 2017-07-18 •. You can beef up Microsoft Word with the right add-ins. Microsoft Word packs a lot of features and functionality into one single application. But there’s always room for more. Perhaps you wish Word included a built-in dictation feature that converted your speech into text.

Or maybe you’d like a Word feature that reads your documents aloud to you. Or perhaps you’d like a built-in translator that can translate your text from one language to another.

Well, Word may not include these items, but you can tap into them by installing an add-in. Add-ins provide greater functionality and flexibility to an Office application so you can do so much more with the program. You’ll find an array of Word add-ins through Microsoft’s online Office Store, but I’m going to highlight what I think are some of the top and most interesting add-ins to give you a head start.

We’ll look at Dictate, an add-in that lets you dictate your documents directly into Word; TextAloud, an add-in that reads your text aloud to you; Read My Document; another add-in that reads your text to you; Translator, an add-in that can translate text in your document between different languages; Collins Dictionary; an add-in •. So you want to get rid of all those browser cookies that track your every move online and result in annoying, targeted Web ads. So you open up your browser settings and delete all or some of the cookies that have accumulated. But the targeted ads keep coming. So what’s up?

What’s up is a little Flash quirk that allows sites to store bits of code called “super cookies,” “persistent cookies,” or “zombie cookies.” No matter how you refer to them, their source is Adobe Flash which saves its version of cookies independent of any web browser functions. The possibly insidious nature of Flash cookies containing personal information and then directly or indirectly sharing it with abandon became quite the brouhaha in 2009 and 2010.

Because Adobe Flash, too often needed for playing videos and audio, also became a favorite carrier of malware, Adobe was compelled to repeatedly patch and update to ward off real and potential security threats. So although the current versions have mostly cleaned up the malware intruders, Flash still permits sites to add tracking and other miscellaneous cookies.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown in how it works, using common sites as real-life examples. Let’s say Yahoo sells an ad to DoubleClick. This means when you • = Paid content • 2017-07-13 •. Included in the July 2017 cumulative update are several fixes precipitated by last month’s June updates.

The 1703 release of KB4025342 includes the following fixes: It addresses an issue introduced by KB4022716 where Internet Explorer 11 may close unexpectedly when you visit some websites – this issue introduced by June’s security updates. It addresses an issue to improve MediaCreationTool.exe support for Setup Tourniquet scenarios. It addresses an issue with CoreMessaging.dll that may cause 32-bit apps to crash on the 64-bit version of the Windows OS. It addresses an an issue where Visual Studio or a WPF application may terminate unexpectedly (stops responding, followed by a crash) when running on a pen and/or touch enabled machine with Windows 10 Creators Update. It addresses an issue that causes the system to crash when certain USB devices are unplugged while the system is asleep.

It addresses an issues with screen orientation that stops working after lid close and lid open transitions. It addresses an issue that causes.jpx and.jbig2 images to stop rendering in PDF files. It addresses an issue where users could not elevate to Administrator through the User Account Control (UAC) dialog when using a smart card. It addresses an issue where input using •.

Is that file you permanently deleted gone for good? Not if you have the right software to bring it back to life.

You’ve deleted a document or other file in Windows — only to realize you need that file. What can you do to get it back? Naturally, the first place to look is the Windows Recycle Bin. To check for the file, double-click on the Recycle Bin icon, which should be nestled on your desktop. You’ll see all the deleted files in the Recycle Bin folder. If you spot the file you want to recover, great.

Just right-click on it and click Restore from the popup menu. The file is restored to its original location. The same holds true for a folder. Right-click it and click Restore, and the folder is returned to its original locale. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-07-11 •. Windows 10 works on desktops, laptops, tablets, and laptops that can turn into tablets (sometimes called convertibles or laplets).

But its touchscreen interface is far from perfect, especially when you compare it to Android or iOS. There are good reasons to use a Windows 10 laplet instead of a dedicated tablet with an Apple or Google operating system: You have access to more powerful applications, you have a real, user-controllable file system, and most Windows 10 tablets can turn into full-fledged laptops. But when you remove your keyboard and mouse, and depend entirely on touch, Windows 10 turns clumsy.

I’ll describe some of Windows 10’s worst touch UI problems, and hope that someone at Microsoft reads this article. I’ll also provide the few fixes and workarounds I could find. The Big Tiny Problem Consider selecting a folder from a dropdown menu in File Explorer. It’s easy with a mouse.

But when the only pointer available is your finger, you have a good chance of selecting the wrong folder. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. Though you may already use a program like Microsoft Outlook, the Windows 10 Mail app can prove useful.

The Windows 10 Mail app may seem lightweight, but it’s still useful. You can use it to access your Web-based mail (such as Gmail or Yahoo), an email account through your Internet provider, or an Office 365 email account. The app itself may lack the bells and whistles of a Microsoft Outlook, but it’s easy to access and can smoothly juggle more than one email account. Sometimes, no-frills is just what you need. Let’s go through the steps for setting up and using the Windows 10 Mail app. First, open the Mail app by clicking on its icon on the taskbar or clicking on the Start button, scrolling down the Apps list, and clicking on the shortcut for Mail.

The first time you launch it, the app prompts you to set up an account. Click on the link to Add account. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-07-06 •.

In Windows 7, you can create and customize accounts all from Control Panel. Adding user accounts in Windows 10 is a relatively straightforward process. You can add and manage accounts from the Accounts screen under Settings. In Windows 7, the process isn’t difficult but it is different. You create and modify accounts from the good, old-fashioned Control Panel. You can add new accounts, change their names, change their passwords, change the account type between a standard user and an administrator, and create a password reset disk for your own account. For those of you still running Windows 7, let’s go through the steps for creating and tweaking user accounts.

Creating multiple user accounts is a convenient option if you’re sharing a single PC among different people. Those of you in the same household or small office can sign in with your individual account and create your own individual desktop, wallpaper, color scheme, and other settings. Windows 7 supports three types of accounts: Administrator, Standard, and Guest. With an administrator account, you can create and modify other accounts and change virtually all system settings in Windows. With a standard account, you can modify your own settings but you can’t create or •. Still running Windows 7 but have never used the Media Center?

Here’s how it works and what you can do with it. Microsoft put the kibosh on Windows Media Center as a built-in application in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. But those of you running Windows 7 can still tap into the Media Center program. With Media Center, you can access your videos, music, photos, and more.

You can play DVDs and view slide shows. You can even watch live TV and record TV shows. So, how can you get Media Center up and running to view your multimedia content? Let’s check it out. First, if you’re running Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate, then Media Center is automatically baked in and accessible. If you’re running Windows 8.1, you could access Media Center by purchasing an add-on program called the Windows 8.1 Pro Pack.

Microsoft stopped selling the Pro Pack back in 2015. But you may still be able to find the program from third-party resellers via Amazon. And what about those of you running Windows 10? Are you out of luck as far as Windows Media Center? Officially, yes. Unofficially, no.

Microsoft doesn’t make a version of Media • = Paid content • 2017-06-29 •. Ransomware Hits the Same Vulnerabilities Keep calm: While the news is grim over the latest ransomware, the steps we’ve taken earlier will most likely keep most of us secure. It’s key that you have March’s Windows updates installed to protect from the SMBv1 vulnerabilities and April’s Office updates installed to protect from the RTF (Rich Text Format) vulnerability being used in the attacks. In addition, the vulnerability is specifically targeting networks and using some additional tricks up their sleeves as noted in PTSecurity blog post. The attackers are utilizing various network tools such as Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and PsExec to distribute the ransomware throughout a network. It further uses password retrieval tools to gain the local administrator passwords on the workstations in the network.

For home and small businesses the best protection is to be vigilant in not opening suspicious emails, and to ensure the March and April updates are installed. What to do: Ensure your systems have the March’s Windows updates installed to protect from the SMBv1 vulnerabilities and April’s Office updates installed. Windows Fixes for IE Printing and Indexing Microsoft has released updates to Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 to fix issues introduced by the June 13th Windows •.

You might think that there is not much more you could do to improve the capabilities of computer keyboards and mice. And really, what much more do you need to type and point, right? I have been reviewing input devices since the days of Windows 3.1. Sure, there have been many technological improvements, as we might expect over the last 25 years since Windows 3.1 was launched.

But what’s amazing that in just the last year alone advancements in keyboard and mouse technology tweak what I thought was already the best. Say Hello to the Mouse Master For example, just about two years ago I praised Logitech’s MX Master mouse [link] for its various, robust features that extend mouse calisthenics beyond just navigating and clicking. Back then I thought this was about as far as a pointing device could reach. But now Logitech has indeed upped its game with the MX Master2 [link]. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.

• = Paid content • 2017-06-27 •. NOTE: For the second time in two months, Windows users are susceptible to a global malware attack. To protect yourself against this one, called Petya, I recommend reviewing my articles “What You Need to Know to Protect Yourself from Ransomware” and “When You Should Disable Server Message Block v1.” Signs You’ve Been Hacked It’s either easy or hard to determine if you’ve been hacked. In the case of ransomware, it’s extremely easy to know when you’ve been hacked: You get a request for money. However, the goal of most of the best hackers is to leave you blissfully ignorant of any wrongdoing.

This way, your machine and your network access remains a resource for them to exploit. For example, the NSA tools that were recently released to the public were designed to allow for silent access to a system.

The exploits released back in April have been patched by Microsoft, but they point out the goal of these nation-state attackers is to be stealthy and covert. So then if the goal of these tools are to be silent, how can you then know when you have been attacked? This is often the hardest of all – often you only know if •. You can set up a dual-boot scenario to run both versions on the same machine.

Do you want to check out Windows 10 but continue to run Windows 7? Or maybe you’re already using Windows 10 but want to be able to still use Windows 7? You can juggle both flavors of Windows by setting up a dual-boot system.

Assuming you’re already running Windows 7, you can steal a chunk of its partition space and use it to create a new partition to house Windows 10. Alternatively, if you’re running Windows 10, you can snip off a portion of it to add a new partition for Windows 7.

Once both operating systems are up and running, you can choose which one you wish to use each time you fire up your computer. All you need is a healthy amount of hard disk space to make it all work. How do you prep your PC to run both versions of Windows? Let’s check it out. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-06-22 •. Outlook Updates Are Causing Multiple Issues I’m tracking several issues with the June Outlook updates that were released last week. Unfortunately I don’t have a fix for these issues, just a lot of recommended workarounds from Microsoft. The known issues have been documented in a web page showcasing the Office known issues, which also showcases that there will be an update expected on June 27th fixing the issue.

If you are impacted by the issues noted, try any of the below solutions. Issues opening attachments: When you open an attachment in an email, contact, or task formatted as Rich Text you get the following error: “The program used to create this object is Outlook. That program is either not installed on your computer or it is not responding.

To edit this object, install Outlook or ensure that any dialog boxes in Outlook are closed”. To work around the issue, save the attachment to your local drive and open it from there. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. Have a second hard drive and want to move your personal Windows files and content there? You have a PC with two hard drives. And you want to move your personal files and certain content from your C drive to your D drive to keep them separate from your Windows system files. Yep, that’s doable, though it does involve a few steps. You have to redirect each folder to its new location so Windows knows where you’ve put it.

And you have to tell your various applications, such as Microsoft Office, that your documents and files will be housed in different default folders. But if you follow the right steps, your personal files will rest soundly in their new location, and Windows and your applications will know just where to find them. Windows creates a Users folder to store subfolders for anyone who has an account on a PC.

The folder for your account is home to an array of files and other data, including your contacts, your desktop icons, your favorite webpages, your downloads, your documents, your music, your pictures, your videos, and more. By default, your Users folder is created on your C drive right off • = Paid content • 2017-06-20 •. No results coming up when you run a search in Microsoft Outlook? Here are several ways you can troubleshoot and hopefully fix such a problem. Are you coming up empty when you search for messages in Microsoft Outlook? The search feature does have a way of going on the fritz every now and then.

The issue sometimes lies within the Windows search indexing, which sometimes stops working properly. But other factors can impact Outlook searches. The problem becomes obvious when you run a search for messages that you know are in your mailbox, but Outlook says it couldn’t find anything. You may not be able to find the specific cause of the glitch, but there are several ways you can try to resolve it. You can remove Outlook from the search index and then add it back.

You can rebuild the search index. You can scan your PST file for errors. And if all else fails, you can create a new PST file. I recently bumped into search problems in Outlook. When typing the name of a person or subject or other criteria in the Search Current Mailbox field, I’d get nada in return. And I knew I should be •. Here are some tips and tricks to help you Microsoft Word users get your work done more quickly.

If you use Microsoft Word as your core application for creating and editing documents, you may find that performing certain tasks takes too long or is too awkward. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to enhance Word to make it faster, more powerful, and more efficient. You can save time creating a new document by starting with one of Word’s built-in templates. You can record a good, old macro to automate different actions. You can customize the Ribbon to add commands and features you frequently use.

You can tweak the Quick Access toolbar to also add often-used commands and features. You can create and apply styles and themes to content in a Word document to quickly format it the way you want. And you can use the “Tell me what you want to do” feature in Word so the program can help you find and run specific commands. For this article, I’m using Word 2016, but the steps here apply to Word 2013 and Word 2010 as well. So, let’s dive right in. Use a Template This article is part of our premium content.

• = Paid content • 2017-06-15 •. In an unprecedented move from Microsoft, more XP patches were released to prevent attacks from Nation states. You’ll need to go to the download center to get patches for these older versions. This is a serious issue and a sign that cyberwarfare is getting serious. Older Operating Systems Get Patches Too In an unexpected move, Microsoft released several updates for older computer systems due to current or expected attacks from nation-state actors according to a Microsoft blog post. The post went on to urge us to still update these older platforms to supported operating systems but it’s good that Microsoft has made the decision to update these unprotected systems nonetheless.

Microsoft deems that we need these updates due to a “heightened risk of exploitation due to past and threatened nation-state attacks and disclosures”. For Windows XP make sure you have the following updates installed: KB958644 — a 2008 update that you should already have installed. KB2347290 — a 2010 update that may already have been installed back then. KB4012598 KB4012583 KB4022747 KB4018271 for IE8 KB4018466 KB3197835 KB4024323 KB4025218 KB4024402 KB4019204 For Server 2003 sp2 (64bit) please make sure you have the following updates installed: KB958644 — a 2008 update that you should already •. These days I do not need a full FTP client as much as I used to several years ago.

Part of this is just because we now tend to access everything over the Internet through websites instead of downloads from FTP servers. Remember getting some big updates from a company by downloading from their FTP server? Anyway, while there are plenty of fully equipped FTP clients out there to download, sometimes we just need a quick connection to grab some files – in my case for my website maintenance – and need something straight forward and simple. Well did you know that there is an FTP client built right into the Windows File Explorer? It has actually been there through the last few versions of Windows and is very easy to setup and use for these infrequent FTP sessions. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-06-13 •. PDF documents are commonplace today: paper manuals for software and hardware have mutated into online links for do-it-yourself PDF downloads. Read Me files, brochures, and other documents are also pervasive as downloadable PDFs.

Entire websites exist to help liberate you from the tyranny of keeping paper documentation on hand. So it’s just a hazy memory for most of us to recall the days back in the early 1990s when you could only read PDFs if you had Adobe Reader installed, and if you wanted to create PDF files, you had to have Adobe Acrobat. Known by its full name, portable document format, the PDF was Adobe System’s proprietary format until 1993 when the company made the file specification available for free.

It actually wasn’t until July 1, 2008, that the portable document format was released as an open standard for all to use. That’s when the floodgates opened to the dozens of third party PDF readers, viewers, creators, editors, and converters—both as free and paid versions. But what’s so special about PDFs anyway? First: They are compact files and can be viewed on just about any platform – create it on Windows and easily opened on Macs, Android, iOS, you name it. You can share and collaborate on your Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with other people. Microsoft Office 2016 offers an array of applications and features. But perhaps one of the most helpful benefits is the ability to share and collaborate on your documents and presentations with other people.

By storing your files on your OneDrive online space, you can share them with other users. And you can collaborate on the same documents and presentations in real-time with others. How can you share and collaborate on your Office files? Let’s take a look. Some of the steps I discuss here work with previous versions of Office, such as Office 2013.

But I’m using Office 2016 as my test bed. The steps also work whether you’re running the packaged version of Office 2016 or the subscription version of Office 365. It’s the same product, just sold differently. You’ll need a OneDrive account to store your files online so other people can access them.

If you don’t have one, you can sign up for it at the OneDrive website. And to use OneDrive, you’ll need a Microsoft account, which you register for through Microsoft’s “Sign up for a Microsoft account” webpage. To start, • = Paid content • 2017-06-08 •. Interested in trying out the mobile version of Office on your phone or tablet?

How do you know which edition to pick up and how to get it and use it? Microsoft Office is first and foremost a desktop application for PCs.

But it’s also a mobile app, or series of apps, accessible on Windows phones and tablets, the iPhone, the iPad, and Android devices. Beyond the various editions for each operating system, you can snag either a free or paid flavor of Office Mobile. But how do you know which flavor to pick, where to find it, and what you can do with it? Let’s see how you can snag the mobile software for different devices and what you’ll find in the program. Geared toward smartphones and tablets, Office Mobile includes at its core Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Microsoft also offers mobile versions of related apps, such as Outlook, Sway, OneDrive, and Skype. Versions of each app that allow for basic editing are free for devices with screen sizes smaller than 10.1 inches.

So, you can edit documents on smartphones, on smaller Windows and Android tablets, and on the 9.7-inch iPad and the iPad mini. An ongoing challenge for every computer user is how to maximize their effective use of an application while minimizing the time spent getting to prime performance. A few time-tested methods: Making use of templates, finding ways to automate some tasks, and thinking of ways to eliminate repetitive tasks. In this article, we look at eight ways of refining your daily experience in Microsoft Word 2016. Customize the Ribbon One way to increase your productivity is to set up your programs with the settings you use most. Being able to customize the ribbon — or row of icons and customizable options at the top of the application — is a good place to begin.

For example: in Word 2016, you can find and customize the ribbon the Quick Access Toolbar. Go to File: Options. In the Word Options dialog box, click on Quick Access Toolbar. You can then select the formatting options you use the most. Increase Security by Disabling Macros As useful as Word is, it’s also the target of ransomware authors who use macros to sneak malevolent programs on to your computer. If you’re genuinely worried about this, disable all macros so they don’t launch if you are foolish enough to download and open a Word • = Paid content • 2017-06-06 •.

Has your Windows 7 Start menu become too disorganized? Then let’s organize it. Your Windows 7 Start menu can get messy. The more applications you install, the more folders and shortcuts that squeeze into the menu.

At some point, the menu just becomes too crowded and cluttered to easily navigate. Can you clean up and streamline the Windows 7 Start menu so it’s better organized? Yep, you can, and you have a couple of options: You can access the menu directly to move or delete shortcuts and rename folders. You can tap into your Start menu Programs folder from Windows Explorer.

You can create and delete folders and more easily move shortcuts from one folder to another. Let’s see how we can clean up your Start menu. But before we do, a look at how the Windows 7 Start menu gets so disorganized. Every application you install sets up its own shortcut and in many cases its own folder, even if to store just a single shortcut. As you install more and more applications, your menu gets filled with more and more shortcuts and folders, sometimes with names that don’t have much meaning. For example, a Start menu folder may •. While Microsoft is preparing the next update to Windows 10, you might want to see if your current machine is ready for Version 1703, also known as the Creators Update.

Downloading the ISO The first step to check to see if your machine is ready for theCreators Update is to actually download the ISO onto your computer or flash drive. It’s relatively easy to download the ISO: First off go to the web page and click on download tool now to install the download tool on your computer. Once it’s installed, accepted the end user license agreement and then choose to create installation media. You can then choose to prepare a usb flash drive or an ISO. Once the ISO is downloaded, click on it to mount the iso. Now comes the fun part where we run a routine to test the install before actually installing the Creators Update.

Browse to the drive letter that the iso has been mounted. In my case it mounted as an E: drive. To check to see if your system is ready for 1703, launch a command prompt and type in setup.exe /Compat scanonly. Note this will not install Windows 10 1703, merely • = Paid content • 2017-06-01 •. You can split, merge, and otherwise manage your partitions in Windows via the Disk Management tool.

Your Windows PC may have come with one hard drive and partition or it may have come with a couple of drives and partitions. No matter the original configuration, you may want to manage and modify your disk drive arrangement. Maybe you’d like to create an extra partition to install and run another operating system. Perhaps you want two partitions to separate your personal files from your Windows system files. Or maybe you already have two partitions and now want to remove one of them.

You can do all this through the built-in Windows Disk Management tool. Available in all the current and most of the past versions of Windows, Disk Management lets you shrink, create, and delete your partitions. You already know a hard disk is a single physical drive: it’s either a conventional mechanical drive that magnetically stores your data on platters, or a solid-state drive that houses your data on flash memory chips. Computers usually come with a single hard drive, though you can always add a second one. Most vendors offer an option to outfit a desktop with two mechanical •. Q. Can I run more than one anti-virus/malware scanner on my Windows system? Should you? It depends.

Everything you install on your Windows-based system take up resources. Everything that runs on your system, either actively or in the background, also take up system resources. The CPU, memory, and hard drive space on your device are commodities and they have physical limitations. All of this comes into play when answering the question about having multiple anti-virus/malware scanners installed on your device.

Before we get into the question of “How many anti-virus scanners should you have?” let’s make sure we all understand one truth: You should have at least one anti-virus/malware scanner on your system that performs real-time scanning of files, downloads, and other activity on your device to prevent any infections from occurring. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-05-30 •. It’s not that I am lazy but I do like shortcuts that will speed up launching tasks.

Many of the shortcuts are not routinely documented. In fact, to find them on Microsoft’s website can take more drill downs than finding oil in the ground. As I have found shortcuts in Windows 7 to 10, I have kept a list of my favorites – the ones I ended up using most often. I don’t want to come across as long-winded about shortcuts, so here’s my top 7 for cutting to the chase in Windows 7 and 10. How to Adjust Window Size In many apps you can magnify or decrease the size of image or text by moving the mouse scroll wheel forward or back while holding down the Control (CTRL) key on the keyboard.

If you have other windows open they will not change, only the current active window adjusts accordingly. It is also possible to change the size of the display in some app windows by holding down the Control key and pressing the plus and minus keys on the number keypad. Where this will not work is with apps such as word processing and spreadsheets which use process these •. Need to migrate your documents, files, and other personal stuff from a Windows 7 computer to one running Windows 10?

Do you have a brand new computer running Windows 10? Cool, but what about your old computer, possibly a Windows 7 PC? Maybe there are specific personal files and settings that you want to transfer from your old computer to your new one. With Windows 7 on both ends, you could’ve used the built-in Windows Easy Transfer tool, which migrates your entire user profile and all its files and settings. But Windows 10 doesn’t support Easy Transfer. (Thanks Microsoft!) So what are your options?

Microsoft offers a free utility called the User State Migration Tool (USMT). However, USMT is a command-line utility designed for IT professionals and isn’t very user friendly. A few developers make graphical interfaces for the USMT, which you can try. But you may find a third-party utility the easiest way to migrate your profile. Zinstall Easy Transfer is one such migration program, though it’ll cost you $59.

Another is EaseUS Todo PCTrans Pro with a price tag of $49.95. A more affordable option is Laplink’s PCMover Express.

PCMover Express normally sells for $29.95 but • = Paid content • 2017-05-25 •. You can bring encryption to your hard drive and USB flash drives using the Windows BitLocker tool. Concerned about someone accessing your PC’s hard drive or flash drives and reading the information on them?

You can add an extra layer of protection to all your drives with the Windows BitLocker feature. Designed to work on both internal and external drives, BitLocker encrypts your drives to prevent unauthorized access. As such, BitLocker is especially useful on a laptop or on flash drives that may get lost or stolen and fall into the wrong hands. BitLocker is not a substitute for your regular Windows password or other means of authentication. Rather BitLocker detects if someone tries to use your hard drive or flash drives on another PC or tries to boot up your PC using a DVD or flash drive. In that event, BitLocker prevents access to your encrypted drive.

So, you should still have a Windows login password or other security method to safeguard your operating system. BitLocker has been around since Windows Vista days and continues to be an option with Windows 10. BitLocker is automatically built into Windows as part of the operating system, though it’s turned off by •. The recent ransomware attacks have had a inadvertent side effect at my home and office: It has pointed out to me how much I’m still dependent on Server Message Block v1 (SMB v1).

Microsoft’s workaround for the recent ransomware attacks have recommended the following workaround as noted in KB2696547: disabling SMB v1, and leaving SMB v2 and SMB v3 alone unless you need to troubleshoot your security settings. As noted in a September 2016 blog post, SMB v1 is a 30 year old protocol that has seen better days. The recent ransomware attacks using this protocol to amplify their mayhem have some security researchers still unsure of exactly how the initial attack vector took place.

It’s unclear at this time if this ransomware came through targeted email attacks (like many other ransomware attacks), or, if this was a unique attack that possibly infected a workstation, which then brought the attack into the impacted networks through some network access point previously used to bring in other worm like attacks. While it’s unclear how the initial infection started out, it’s clear that once the infection got into the network, it relied on vulnerabilities in SMB v1 to basically run rampant through the network.

This is why so • = Paid content • 2017-05-23 •. How can you clear up the clutter in your Outlook email folders? Here are some tips and tricks. Are your Microsoft Outlook email folders overflowing with hundreds or thousands of unorganized messages? Are you unsure what to do with a new email when it arrives, thereby cluttering up your inbox?

That’s a common malady, but one for which there is a remedy, or rather several remedies. By following some helpful tips and tricks, you can make your Outlook inbox much more manageable. In this article, we’ll review the following skills: You can create Quick Steps that can put new email in the right folders at the click of a button.

You can create rules that determine what happens with a new email based on subject line, sender, and other criteria. You can clean up a conversation thread so that extraneous and redundant messages are deleted or moved.

You can archive your older messages so they’re forgotten but not gone. Let’s look at each of the tips and tricks to see how you can better organize your mail in Microsoft Outlook. A Quick Note: When I say Microsoft Outlook, I’m talking about the full email client that’s part of Microsoft Office, not •. Microsoft is still slowly releasing the Creators update, and the WannaCry Ransomware is pointing out that some people don’t patch well. We finish the month with the optional preview updates that will come out next month. Have You Received the Creators update yet? I feel like a little kid in the back of the car jumping up and down and pestering Mom and Dad asking them if we are at our destination yet. On a test laptop I have here at home, I am still awaiting the Creators update.

It has yet to be installed on my relatively new Lenovo Thinkpad laptop. I’ve already been tracking a few known issues such as Network printers failing due to machines having less than 4 GBs of memory. There’s also a known issue when certain antivirus is installed while the creator’s update is installed as noted in the Answers forum. To work around this issue, make sure you update the antivirus or remove it and reinstall it. Because the Creators Update is heavily reliant on 3D and video enhancements, I’m seeing that video drivers are the key item that may need to be updated. In fact a known issue with Nvidia video drivers, as noted in the • = Paid content • 2017-05-18 •.

Ransomware was once again in the news. This time it was due to WannaCry, an attack that stretched across 150 countries and nearly 57,000 countries. The attackers used a Windows vulnerability only recently patched (March 2017), formerly used by the National Security Agency to secretly take control of computers. Determine If You Are Protected First off, check and make sure you are protected. If you are running Windows 10, click on Start, then Settings, click on Windows Update, click on Update History. If you have installed either the May 2017, April 2017 or March 2017 cumulative update for any of the Windows 10 that is in the market today, you are protected.

If you are running Windows 7, click on Start, then Control Panel, then on Windows Update. Now click on View Update History. Scroll down and look for either March 2017, April 2017 or May 2017 updates to have been installed on your machine.

If any of these monthly rollups have been installed, you are protected from this vulnerability. What If You’re Running Windows XP and Server 2003? For businesses still running XP in critical locations that did not have a custom support agreement from Microsoft, this attack brought them to their knees. The WannaCry ransomware attack made massive headlines, and with good reason.

But who’s to blame? As I see it, four separate entities caused the disasters: the criminal hackers, Microsoft, the NSA, and the victims.

If any one of them had acted as they should have, the disaster would never have happened. Appearing on Friday, May 12, WannaCry – also known as WannaCrypt, WanaCryt0r, and Wanna Decryptor – infected nearly a quarter million computers in a very short time. And it didn’t just hit hapless users in one or two countries. Victims included Britain’s National Health Service (NHS), FedEx, and Deutsche Bahn. According to Wikipedia, the worst-hit countries were Russia, Ukraine, India and Taiwan. Let’s take a look at all four of the culprits, and one important hero. Culprit #1: The Hackers These are the culprits who belong in prison.

They’re criminals, using their computer skills to extort money from people and organizations. Like all forms of ransomware, WannaCry is basically an extortion racket. When the malware infects a computer, it encrypts all data that it finds. Then it pops up a message demanding a ransom payment in untraceable bitcoin. If you don’t pay up in time, you lose family photos, business records, • = Paid content • 2017-05-16 •. Yes, you can refresh or restore Windows 7 if you bump into problems.

Having difficulty with your Windows PC to the point where the OS itself isn’t behaving. Windows 8.1 and 10 offer options to refresh or reset your PC, which can usually clear up even the most vexing problems. But what if you’re still running Windows 7? There is no similar refresh or reset option. Are you out of luck?

No, not if you’ve taken the necessary precautions. Windows 7 offers a System Restore option, which can return your PC back to an earlier point in time before the trouble occurred. What if you can’t even boot up your PC? Windows 7 also provides its own Backup & Restore feature. Through this feature, you can create a startup and repair disc that boots up your PC if Windows 7 becomes unbootable.

And by applying a system image from a disc or USB drive, you can restore Windows 7 back to its full glory. Let’s go over the steps for using the Windows 7 System Restore and Backup & Restore features. System Restore A system restore is a snapshot in time of your existing Windows environment. Windows itself •. Considering Microsoft released the first version of Windows 7 in October, 2009 and its first and last Service Pack (#1) the following March, this OS can be considered, shall we say, mature. But the old boy still has plenty of kick left and Microsoft will not abandoned its support for it until January 14, 2020.

While Windows 10 is generally considered more secure due to its better architecture and continuous updates, the reason many people stay on 7 is its less cluttered and frankly easier to use Desktop, well-supported hardware drivers, and lower memory and power requirements. And, hey, with properly maintained security software, 7 is still safe without the Microsoft-imposed, mandatory updates in Windows 10. With all the hype and push to Windows 10, you might think that you can’t still purchase a Windows 7 laptop or desktop. If you try at a brick and mortar retailer this is true. But online there are actually multiple choices.

Both HP [site] and Dell [site] continue to do a brisk sales with Windows 7 Professional systems. The trick to finding them is to search their sites for business products. Many companies, quite happy with their existing Windows 7 PCs are still • = Paid content • 2017-05-11 •. For those of you with Intel processors, it’s time to see if you are vulnerable. Meanwhile we’re business as usual for Windows updates and Flash updates. And if you use Microsoft’s native antivirus protection, be sure that you’ve received the latest engine update to fix a critical flaw.

Intel’s Processors May Need Fixing Intel’s processors are vulnerable to a flaw in Intel’s Active management technology, Small Business Technology or Intel Standard Manageability software, and although I read that this “did not impact consumer PCs” I honestly ignored the warnings: “I follow security best practices. This can’t impact my workstations.” And then I used the Intel Detection Tool and determined that many of my workstations – especially in my office – did have the vulnerable code in my systems. So much for best security practices! Fortunately, while I may have the vulnerable code, the Active management technology is and was not ever enabled, and I don’t have it set to be accessible from outside of my office. Thus I am not vulnerable to attack even though I may have the vulnerable code on my system.

Nevertheless, I recommend that you scan your own system and see if it can detect what chipset you have and •. Yes, you can set up OneDrive in Windows 7, though you’ll have to go through a few steps to get it cooking. Microsoft’s OneDrive is baked into Windows 10. You’re asked to set up the online service during the Windows 10 installation, and the OneDrive program is already accessible if you want to make any changes. That’s fine, but what if you’re still running Windows 7 and you want to tap into OneDrive to store and sync your files in the cloud? Then you’ve got to go through the steps to set up a Microsoft account and download, install, and tune up the OneDrive software. How can you set up and use OneDrive in Windows 7?

Let’s go through the process. First, here are some details on OneDrive. With a OneDrive account, you get 5 gigabytes of online storage space for free. For $1.99 a month, you can boost that amount by ten times to 50GB. If you have an Office 365 subscription, you’re granted a total of 1 terabyte of space per user. And what exactly do you do with all that space? OneDrive serves as a backup service.

You can back up documents, photos, and other types of files • = Paid content • 2017-05-09 •. Yes, Windows offers its own built-in troubleshooters. Here’s how to tap into them. Oops, you’re bumping into trouble with Windows. Maybe you can’t connect to the Internet. Perhaps your audio has stopped working. Maybe your PC is blue screening.

Or perhaps you’re not sure of the cause of the problem but just know that your PC is acting funky. Where can you turn for help? You can turn to Windows itself.

The OS offers its own built-in set of troubleshooting tools designed to scan for, analyze, and hopefully fix specific problems. The troubleshooters are available in Windows 10, 8.1, and 7. But whatever your flavor of Windows, the troubleshooters are usually a good first step when you’re bothered by a persistent problem. In some cases, a Windows troubleshooter will pop up automatically if you experience a glitch in Windows. For instance, if an application crashes or your screen display suddenly goes on the fritz, then the appropriate troubleshooter may appear to try to save the day. In other cases, you’ll have to manually trigger the right troubleshooter depending on the nature of the problem.

Or if you’re not sure what’s causing trouble, you can run through the entire array of •. If you’re like me (and a whole lot of other people), you have Android as your mobile operating system and Windows as your desktop OS. In fact, recent stats show Android is the dominant operating system for getting online — 38%, edging out Windows by 1%. And that’s with Windows still commanding the leading place in desktop operating systems, with an estimated 84% of all desktop PCs running Windows. So you’re a mixed-OS household, using both Android and Windows. You need access to your files, your notes, your photos, and even your music on both devices.

But sharing all this information between two very different machines with two seemingly incompatible operating systems can be tricky. Here are five ways you can get Android and Windows 10 cooperating nicely. One caveat: There are a lot of versions of Android around, and they all behave differently.

Your phone may not behave exactly like mine, but it should be close. For what it’s worth, I have a Nexus 6P running on Android Nougat 7.1.2. Cooperative Tactic #1: Transfer Files Via the Cloud Somewhere along the line, some genius at Google decided to discourage transferring files from computer to phone via cable. You must find • = Paid content • 2017--05-04 •. I wanted to look at which consumer versions of Windows are currently supported. It is very important to understand when the operating system you are currently using will no longer receive updates of any kind.

That will give you an idea of when you need to decide on migrating to a newer version of Windows in order to stay up to date and supported. However, first let me explain the two five year support cycles Microsoft uses with its operating system.

Cycle One: Mainstream Support: Mainstream Support is the first phase of the product lifecycle. At the supported service pack level, Mainstream Support for products and services includes: Incident support (no-charge incident support, paid incident support, support charged on an hourly basis, support for warranty claims) Security update support The ability to request nonsecurity updates This support cycle lasts for a minimum of five years. Cycle Two: Extended Support: The Extended Support phase follows Mainstream Support for business, developer, and desktop operating system products.

This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. You can connect to another PC or let someone connect to your PC to troubleshoot a problem.

Do you play the role of tech support for your family and friends, trying to help them when they have a problem in Windows? Or do you sometimes bump into trouble on your own PC and need to rely on someone else to help you through it? Either way, one handy feature you can use in any version of Windows from XP to 10 is Remote Assistance. Through Remote Assistance, you can connect to someone else’s PC (with that person’s permission, of course) and you can allow connections to your own computer.

The goal is to let you or another person connect to another PC in an attempt to diagnose and fix whatever is troubling it. But since Remote Assistance requires the permission of the PC’s owner, it’s a safer option to use over the standard Windows Remote Desktop feature. Let’s go over how to set up and use Remote Assistance. First, sign into the computer on which you want to allow Remote Assistance connections.

Open Control Panel. Type the word remote in the search field in the upper right corner. From the • = Paid content • 2017-05-02 •.

Don’t throw in the towel just because your Windows PC has gotten slow. Here are ways you can speed up its performance. Is Windows feeling a bit slow and drowsy lately? Are you constantly yelling at your computer, telling it to hurry up? Then it’s time to check your Windows setup. You’ll be able to see if something is troubling it.

— you may be able to squeeze more speed out of it. Several factors could be causing your PC to behave more slowly. We’ll look at them and see what you can do in response. Culprit Number One: Low Disk Space Despite today’s large capacity disk drives, you may be surprised how quickly space can fill up, especially on laptops or tablets where real estate is often more limited than on a desktop. Windows needs space not just for itself and your applications and files but for a page file that’s used for swapping data between memory and your disk drive.

So, Windows can get cranky if it doesn’t have enough room to play. You can check your available disk space by opening File Explorer in Windows 10 or 8.1 and Windows Explorer in prior versions. When I mentioned to a friend that I just purchased a new Windows 10 Pro laptop, he asked how much memory did it have. I replied that it had 16GB RAM. When he retorted in shock that 16GB RAM was an awfully small hard drive, it quickly became clear that like a lot of folks he was confused between the different types of memory – the “live” Random-Access-Memory which allows data to be read or written versus the direct-access data storage such as hard disks, CDs and USB flash drives.

I thought it would be a good idea to set the memory matter straight, so I wrote this backgrounder to explain the different types of memory, their use, and some of the built-in Windows features created for each of them. Unless otherwise noted, all details explained apply to all versions of Windows from Windows 7 through Windows 10. Remembering memory types won’t make you a certified geek but hopefully it will clear up the confusion of the legion of different memory types and it will help you understand the pile of sales jargon thrown at you when purchasing a new computer. Random access memory (RAM) is the workhorse of a computer, allowing • = Paid content • 2017-04-27 •. As more and more Internet connected gadgets are introduced, our need for ever-stronger Wi-Fi connections becomes essential. Whether it is for our mobile phones and computers, the latest in smart HDTVs, networked set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, or voice-activated digital assistants like Amazon’s Echo, wired connections are so yesterday.

Yet there are situations where a Ethernet cabled connection is still the best choice to achieve the fastest, uninterruptible bandwidth. So here are some new devices that show off the best of wired and wireless service. Zyxel’s PLA5236 Extends Wi-Fi Both Wired and Wirelessly My new Sony Smart HDTV was occasionally dropping its Wi-Fi signal – usually at the most suspenseful moment in the movie I was watching on Netflix. But Zyxel Communications hybrid Powerline and AC900 Wireless Extender solved not only the TV connection issues but spread my router’s wireless signal to all parts of the house and even beyond. Powered by the Home Plug AV2 and 802.11ac technologies, the geeky-named PLA5236 [site] extends powerful Internet connections by using the electrical wiring in your house as if it were actual Ethernet cabling. But unlike the other, similar powerline extenders, this devices also has a built-in Wi-Fi extender that operates separately •. You can use Group Policy to administer your Windows 10 computers, even in a small office.

Managing your Windows devices through Group Policy is a task usually reserved for large organizations with domains and Active Directory. But you can also use Group Policy to control one or more computers for a small office if you want to apply the same settings throughout.

Group Policy isn’t the most user-friendly tool, but it is effective in that it can display all the key settings and features in Windows, giving you the ability to enable or disable them individually. Certain settings apply only to enterprise-scale organizations, so you wouldn’t touch them. But there are more than a few settings you can tweak for Windows 10 devices used in a small office. Group Policy can be a helpful way to lock down or disable certain settings if you don’t want people in your office to change them.

Through Group Policy, you can alter the settings on one computer and have them apply to anyone who uses that computer. You can also export the settings from one computer to another as a way of handling them all. You can use Group Policy no • = Paid content • 2017-04-25 •. Use Microsoft Office? You should check out the suite’s security and privacy settings, if only to be aware of them. Microsoft Office has always been susceptible to viruses and other malware, often delivered through macros in Word. As a response, Microsoft Office disables macros by default when you open documents that you receive from others.

But even without macros enabled, Word users can still be exposed. A nasty zero-day vulnerability recently documented by McAfee and since patched by Microsoft could have infected your system if you opened the wrong file attachment. However, this piece of malware would not have unleashed its payload if you had enabled Protected View, which opens documents in read-only mode. Office users should also be on the lookout for potential privacy issues. Through a feature called Intelligent Services, Microsoft can gather the contents of your Office files in an attempt to offer ideas and help improve your writing. This feature is turned off by default, so fortunately you don’t have to hunt around to disable it. But it’s still a feature that exists and that you may want to keep disabled.

So, between these two issues, Office users need to check their security and privacy settings •. The Windows 10 creator’s release is off to a slow start. But that’s a very good thing. This slow release means we’re not getting updates once a week. Windows 10 Creators Update I’m an unusual guest. Invite me for the weekend, and I often poke under the hood of any Windows 10 machine at my hosts to see how well-patched it is and if it needs any maintenance. One thing I’ve been surprised by is how slowly and carefully Microsoft is pushing out the Windows 10 Creators Update.

In fact, in my anecdotal review of home PCs, I’ve come across very few that have actually received the update. Those that have received it, in fact, most have requested the update directly. It hasn’t been pushed on them. That slowness has a good side effect: We’re not getting the once a week updates that 1607 was subject to when it came out.

As I said earlier, so far I’ve seen several reports and blog posts of issues with Internet access, missing Power options and issues with Logitech webcams, especially the Brio range of webcams, but nothing majorly trending that I can see. I’m still watching various locations such as reddit forums to follow what post-release issues folks • = Paid content • 2017-04-20 •. Earlier this month, Microsoft made available to mainstream users the third major feature update for Windows 10, known as the Creators Update. Normally the Windows team at Microsoft will take a couple of weeks after releasing the latest feature update to get their new development branch builds in place. It’s a breather for everyone before launching into the next round of work on the next major feature update.

However, in the case of the next feature build, Redstone 3, the developers have already released three PC testing builds to Windows Insiders. That is a faster pace than testing build releases following the initial release, November Update, and Anniversary Update of Windows 10. What’s notable: The major feature/under the hood enhancement around which these initial builds have been focused is a new option called Power Throttling. (Note that this may not be the feature’s final name.) Technically, this is not a new thing for Windows 10; in the late development stages of the Creators Update, Microsoft tested a power slider feature that would allow a user to set their system anywhere between “best battery life” or “best performance.” The data collected from that testing shows users wrung out an 11% battery savings.

Back in July 2015, the Windows 10 upgrade became available to the general public, and I was excited about the possibilities for a new user experience. I looked forward to being able to upgrade my laptop, a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge. Before running the installation, I made use of the compatibility checker, which gave my computer a clean bill of health. Unfortunately, when the time came, the Windows 10 installation failed and rolled back to Windows 7. Each time that happened I received a message which read something like “hardware error CO 13.” Googling told me nothing useful. Even calls to Microsoft didn’t help. I was on the phone for four hours and in the end, they told me I was dealing with a hardware error, but they couldn’t tell me what it was.

Fast forward two years, when I was able to get in touch with Microsoft MVP Richard Hay, who spends a lot of time troubleshooting and exploring Windows 10 for SuperSite: Windows. He was going to troubleshoot the installation process to see what was going on. What follows are the steps we took to try and troubleshoot why my Lenovo Thinkpad Edge would not upgrade to Windows 10. For • = Paid content • 2017-04-18 •. You’ve probably seen the confusing, contradictory headlines: There was a rule that was set to go into effect by the end of the year that would require ISPs to get our approval before they used or sold our usage history, location information and browsing history. There are rules permitting ISPs to use and sell our Social Security numbers. ISPs indicate that they already give us the option to opt in or out of the information they collect!

With all this contradictory coverage, one thing is clear: privacy as a user perk — or right — is becoming big news. Given the changes and the improved disclosure that Windows 10 Creators Update is bringing to privacy options, it’s clear that it’s not just the ISPs that need to be more transparent with what they do with their collected data. We all want our vendors to tell us what they are doing and what they are collecting. I disagree with the articles and headlines that infer that ISPs can sell our Social Security numbers. In the United States, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers are considered PII or Personally Identifiable Information. This is normally an item that is legally protected — and safeguarding that data •.

You can review and modify several of your security settings from one spot. Are your Windows 10 security settings as tight as they should be? How can you check to make sure?

Microsoft now offers a built-in tool called the Windows Defender Security Center, courtesy of the Windows 10 Creators Update. Whether you use Windows Defender or a third-party antivirus program, you can tap into the Security Center to review and change your security settings. The feature covers several different areas of security. It checks to make sure you’re using antivirus software and gives you the option to run Windows Defender for periodic scans. It provides health reports on your security. It helps you enable and adjust the Windows firewall settings if needed.

It can turn on SmartScreen to protect your system from possible malware. And it shows you how to create family accounts so the adults in your household can make sure the kids stay safe and secure. Let’s take a tour of the Windows Defender Security Center to see how you can view and adjust your settings. First, you’ll need to make sure you’ve installed the Windows 10 Creators Update. You can check this and access the Windows • = Paid content • 2017-04-11 •.

With more and more of my household devices needing wi-fi, I needed a better way to provide wi-fi in my house. After trying several solutions I decided on Mesh technology Needing Wi-Fi All Over the House It all started last year during the drought in California: I wanted to better control my sprinkler system, and to better manage the amount of water I used at my house. I went through several steps to solve this problem. First, I went looking for devices that would be smarter at using water: devices that would alert me when plants needed water so I could only water when the plants really needed the drink.

I found several watering systems that fit the bill, but all of them had a slight problem: they needed wi-fi in an area of the house that normally have wi-fi coverage: the garage in the front of my house. So I tried to solve this problem with additional repeater devices that would broadcast the wi-fi signal to various locations in the house. I found that these repeater devices often would need rebooting, and were not often self-fixing when they failed.

I spent too much time walking all over the house, unplugging and replugging in •. You can turn to free third-party tools to control your privacy in Windows 10. Microsoft offers you a few ways to take charge of your privacy in Windows 10. There’s the Privacy page under Windows 10 Settings. There’s a new Privacy dashboard.

But you may find it more useful and effective to tap into a free third-party utility. These tools can help you view and manage all or most of your privacy settings in one shot, so you can control what information is collected by Microsoft in Windows 10. Such programs include Blackbird, O&O ShutUp10, and Privacy Repairer. By default, Microsoft collects certain information about your use of Windows 10, Edge, Cortana, and other features and applications.

In most cases, that data is used to help personalize your experiences in Windows and other software and improve the performance of Microsoft products. But it’s still in your best interest to review the data being gathered and decide what tidbits Microsoft can collect about your use of its products and what you want to keep private.

Let’s look at the three free third-party privacy tools to see how each one can help you regulate your privacy. Blackbird This article is part of • = Paid content • 2017-04-06 •. If you work a lot with spreadsheets, you know how difficult they can be once you get beyond simple tables and equations.

And you know that data entry can be boring beyond belief. The more complex the table, the more confusing it is to evaluate. Shouldn’t there be quicker and easier way to do some of these tasks? Microsoft Excel has a lot of nifty shortcuts that can help relieve the tedium of data entry and provide clarity with complex tables. Here are six features built into Excel 2016 that can ease creating spreadsheets and understanding the ones you (and other people) create.

And after those six, I’ll treat you to 20 keyboard shortcuts that – if you can memorize them – will make your jobs lighter. Some of these tricks will be found in earlier versions of Excel; others are exclusive to Excel 2016. Remember that if you subscribe to Office 365, you currently have Excel 2016.

Tell Me What You Want To Do Do you always remember how to create a pie chart, freeze the left-hand column, or name a range? I didn’t think so. Excel’s “Tell me what you want to do” can help you complete a chore even •. Not fully happy with the Windows 10 Start menu? You may want to try out a Start menu alternative. The Window 10 Start menu is a welcome addition for those of us who missed the menu in Windows 8 and 8.1.

But it may not be the perfect solution for everyone. The new Start menu marries the traditional column of applications with the tiled approach of the Start screen. Those of you not too crazy about tiles might not care for this arrangement. Sure, you can unpin all the tiles from the Start menu but then you’re limited to just the single All Apps column, which doesn’t seem ideal either. Further, the Start menu’s All Apps list contains folders or shortcuts for every single program you install. That approach can easily lead to a long and crowded list of apps that becomes cumbersome to navigate. Yes, you can edit and rearrange the Windows 10 Start menu to some degree by opening the Programs folder in File Explorer.

From there you can create and delete folders and move shortcuts into other folders. But you can’t create subfolders and you can’t move Windows 10 apps into folders. Okay, so let’s say you’re • = Paid content • 2017-04-04 •. “I hate printers, but I love what they can do!” That’s the mantra recited by just about anyone who has a printer attached to their computer. Of all the peripherals that connect to our PCs printers seem to be the number one troublemaker.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Paper jams, overpriced ink, print spooler logjams, wasted paper – these are just a few of the hassles whose remedies will be addressed here.

If your love/hate relationship with your printer is more hate than love, read on as maybe, just maybe, we can switch that around with these eight printer tips and tricks. How to Print With an ‘Empty’ Inkjet Cartridge When my six page document stopped printing after page three, the reason was an empty blue ink cartridge. I was surprised since I hardly ever print in color and in fact generally print in draft mode with black ink only. So why the hell did the blue ink disappear? The answer is relatively simple and applies to almost all brands of inkjet printers. You are probably well aware of the mechanical noise the printer makes each time you turn it on or right before it processes a print •. You can add and maintain more than one email account in Microsoft Outlook and easily bounce from one to another.

Do you use Microsoft Outlook but have more than one email account? Instead of separately checking your messages from your primary account and your Gmail account and any other mail accounts, you can add them all to Outlook and access each one from the same application. The process of adding multiple accounts isn’t difficult, and once you’ve set them up, you then have a single spot in which you can check all your email. I set up my primary email account, my Gmail account, and an account for one of my clients all under the umbrella of Outlook. That gives me easy access to all my email and allows me to use Outlook’s robust, built-in features with each account. Let’s say you haven’t yet configured Microsoft Outlook with any accounts.

Open Outlook. Click Next to get past the intro screen. Then answer Yes to the question: Do you want to set up Outlook to connect to an email account? Next choose the option for Manual setup or additional server types.

Outlook asks if you want to use an • = Paid content • 2017-03-30 •. The Creators Update release for Windows 10 is right around the corner. Before it is available to the general public, there are a couple of steps you (and I) need to take to prepare our computers for the release. Let’s walk through them together. The first step is to take stock of of your system. Look back over the past several months of installing updates.

Has your computer had any issues installing prior updates? Have you had issues installing any of the Windows 10 patches? Have there been any consistent error messages you received? Have you been unable to install a previous update? If any of these things have occurred, you need to review why your machine is not successfully installing updates, then fix that problem before considering installing the Creators Update. Windows 10 has a lengthy list of update errors and ways to work through them and fix them. There is one more tip I’d like to recommend before the feature release comes out: Review your choice of antivirus software.

Some of the very software that is there to protect us can lead to issues when installing updates. Computer security should be a top priority, so this is why I still believe that feature •. In the pre-Windows 10 days, the general consensus was that you did not upgrade to a newer edition of Windows until the first Service Pack was being made available. That first year let you listen to other people’s horror stories and evaluate whether or not you really wanted to upgrade. But what do you do with Windows 10, since it is supported with monthly cumulative updates and bi-annual feature updates? The Windows as a Service (WaaS) method of maintaining Windows 10 has been a learning experience for both Microsoft and its users, because it is so different to what we are used to with the normal annual Service Pack. Now that we’ve had nearly two years to assess how Windows as a Service is working, does it still make any sense to avoid upgrading and avoid the WaaS experience? WaaS has hit a few bumps in the road with updates that break things.

And yes, one entire month’s Patch Tuesday was postponed for a reason that remains unknown to the general public. And WaaW introduces new glitches: last year, with the release of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, nobody knew the update would break popular webcams and Kindles until users began installing it.

Ten million Windows Insiders • = Paid content • 2017-03-28 •. Here are some ways you can resuscitate your Windows 10 PC should it ever appear to kick the bucket. You just set up a new Windows 10 computer. You’ve installed all your applications and have placed all your documents and other files in the proper folders. But what would happen if your hard drive crashed or Windows became unstable and inaccessible, and you couldn’t retrieve your applications or files? Well, before such an event potentially occurs, there are steps you can take to prepare your Windows 10 PC to survive a disaster.

Using the System Image Backup tool, you can create an image file of your computer that can be restored if your Windows environment goes kaput. Using the System Repair Disc feature, you can create a bootable disc to use if Windows itself ever becomes unbootable. And using File History, you can back up your key documents and other files to an external source where you can recover them if the originals ever get lost or corrupted. Let’s look at each of these Windows saving features. System Image Backup This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber?

Click here to login. We’re still following some post patching issues that cropped up after the March patches were released. Some, like the interaction with CRM 2011, have been fixed. Others impacting Outlook 2016 searching need a rollback.

March Office Click-to-Run Causing Issues For those with Outlook 2016 and click to run (retail)installations, you will probably note that searching in Outlook is broken after the March click to run release. At this time there is no other workaround other than to roll back to a prior version of Office click to run. As noted on the Microsoft forum this is a known issue as noted by a Microsoft staff. If you connect to a POP account or you are searching PSTs there is a bug in the latest updates. To roll back to a prior release do the following steps: Open a command prompt and run the following commands in order: cd%programfiles% Common Files Microsoft Shared ClickToRun officec2rclient.exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.7571.2109 Open Outlook and click File, Office Account and set Update Options to Disable Updates Add an appointment on your calendar for a month or more out to remind you to re-enable updates.

What to do: Roll back to a prior release if you are impacted. • = Paid content • 2017-03-23 •. Every file and folder on your computer possesses digital DNA – file format, creation date, author, modification date, descriptive tags, etc. These inner attributes follow a file and folder. It doesn’t matter where it moves on your system, or whether it’s copied and forwarded elsewhere — those attributes are coming along with it. The attributes are stored in each file or folder’s Property Manager; that can be accessed by right-clicking on the file name or its icon. Most of time we have no need to examine a file or folder’s properties.

But when viewing or editing attributes are required –be it for security or personal reasons– that’s when we need to be our own property manager. Metadata: Exploring the Inner Workings of Files If Groucho Marx was to jokingly refer to metadata he would probably exclaim “I never metadata I didn’t like,” or something like that.

But seriously, metadata is usually defined as the data that provides information about other data. In other words metadata is the instruction manual that tells a computer what’s up with a particular file. When security cops are called in to examine, say, a politician’s deleted emails, they can actually glean the origins of the message, •.

You can adjust and strengthen Windows 10 security settings through Group Policy. You want to tighten the security features and policies in Windows 10 but you’re not sure where to go. Well, there is a Settings screen where you can enable or disable several privacy settings. But if you want to manage and maintain the security settings in the OS, one method is through the Group Policy Editor.

Using this tool, you can control settings for anyone who uses the same computer. You’ll find settings for password length and complexity, the account lockout policy, the Windows firewall, and the audit policies. Though Group Policy is typically used in an organization, it can also be recruited to tweak settings on an individual computer, whether that PC is used by one person or by multiple people in a home or small office.

The local security policies for Windows 10 are contained in a Group Policy snap-in called secpol.msc. By opening this snap-in in your Group Policy Editor, you can tweak each individual setting. This gives you the power to set security policy for any Windows 10 computer in your home or office. Anyone who logs into a computer for which • = Paid content • 2017-03-21 •. Personal computers make our lives easier. Typos fix themselves and numbers recalculate as you change individual figures to be added, subtracted, multiplied or divided. But PCs never really seem as easy as they should.

Here are eight small programs, most of them free, that simplify common tasks and ease your burden. You probably won’t want all of them, but some will almost certainly be useful. None of these utilities come with potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) hiding in their installation routines. Install any of these, and you’ll only get the programs you want. Just remember: A few choice tools can ease the chores. But too many tools can slow down Windows. Pick the tools that seem most useful to you, personally, and let the others slide.

Remove Formatting Quickly and Easily with PureText We all copy and paste text from one place to another, and when we do, the formatted text appears in its new location. But sometimes, you don’t want the italics, the special font, or the link; you just want the text. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. Microsoft Edge already has some security tricks up its sleeve, but you can beef up the browser still further. Windows 10 users, you’re probably using Microsoft Edge to surf the web.

But how secure is the newest browser on the block? And how can you tweak it to make it more secure? Edge already includes or takes advantage of several features that enhance your security.

But it also offers several options that you can enable or disable to better protect your privacy on the web and ensure that you’re practicing safe surfing. You can make sure the SmartScreen filter is turned on to protect you from malicious websites. You can use InPrivate browsing so no cookies or other data are collected. You can opt to block cookies, especially ones from third-party websites. You can choose to clear your browsing history, especially whenever you shut down Edge.

And you can remove your Bing search history. First, let’s go over the security features already built into or used by Edge. One item is SmartScreen. Initially developed for Internet Explorer 8, SmartScreen checks each webpage you visit and each file you download to make sure they don’t contain malware. The feature works by • = Paid content • 2017-03-16 •. You can use a password manager to generate, store, and apply your website passwords.

Here’s how to set one up for each browser and device you use. Managing the passwords for all your websites is a challenge. Not only are you supposed to come up with a complex password that can’t easily be guessed or hacked. But you’re supposed to employ a different password for each website you use. Some require both upper- and lowercase letters, others require that plus a number and a special character, some grade your password on degree of difficulty to crack, forcing you to break away from any tricks you’ve used to generate passwords you can remember. And now, we all live in a world where we are hitting the same websites and services across a broad array of devices, from desktop computers to mobile phones.

You’ll want to manage your passwords on all your web browsers on all your devices. And you’ll want to sync your website passwords across all your browsers and devices. How is all that possible? We have a two-word answer for you: password managers.

Such tools can conjure up complex passwords for each website and then automatically apply those passwords every time •. The lack of patches in February means that March’s updates are numerous.

Not helping the situation: While Windows 10 updates are cumulative, Office updates may not be depending on your install. Thus we are getting an extra set. It’s a lot to sort through.

Microsoft finally got back to a bit of normal with this month’s release. Windows 10, 8 and 7 all received their normal large cumulative updates, most with a security bent. For Windows 10, the cumulative update also included many fixes for other issues on that platform. And in a bit of trivia only patch-a-holics like me love to keep track of, we have now jumped to Knowledge Base articles that begin with 4. For example, the Windows 10 1607 update is KB4013198.

In addition we received double the amount of Office updates, but remember, if you are running any of the Office 365 versions that support click-to-run, you won’t see the masses of Office updates, you’ll merely get the click to run update dribbled to you over time. March also meant changes to Microsoft’s communication regarding security bulletins, with the all new Security Portal as the new location for security guidance and information. However, they are still • = Paid content • 2017--03-14 •. You can rely on password managers to automatically take care of your website passwords, but there are a few hurdles you’ll have to overcome. Password managers provide an effective means of cooking up and controlling your website passwords so you don’t have to deal with the hard part of creating them, using them on the Web and — this is key — remembering them. Such tools offer several benefits, including the ability to generate complex passwords, store and remember your passwords, and automatically apply them at their respective websites.

But you still need to be aware of potential snags when using a password manager. For example, you have to create and remember a complex master password that can protect all your other passwords, otherwise there’s the possibility of someone gaining access to your passwords. Your passwords are typically stored on a server maintained by the vendor, and we know that servers can be hacked. Plus, password managers are only good on the devices on which they’re installed. Use a friend’s PC or a computer at the library, and you’re stuck because you don’t have access to the passwords for your sites.

How can you benefit from the pros of password managers •. Faster boot times and power downs are yours — and all you have to do is open the Control Panel System and Security menu, then configure the Power Options settings.

Let’s look at them one by one. Turn off your PC with touch of a button, not a bunch of clicks Pop quiz: How many clicks does it take for you to shut down Windows?

If it is any more than one, that’s a waste of clicks – and your time. Whether your PC is a desktop or a laptop, Windows Shutdown default has always been a multi-click affair. In Windows 7, you had to open the Start menu by either mouse click or pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. Then you have to click the Shutdown button. In Windows 8 to 10, it is a three click Cha-Cha-Cha: click or press Start, click Power, click Shutdown. There are a couple of ways you can optimize your computer, no matter what the version of Windows, by changing the Power settings with Power Options. With a laptop, type lid in the Start search bar.

On a desktop PC, type power but in the Start search bar and select Change what the • = Paid content • 2017-03-09 •. Last month, for the first time since Microsoft started Patch Tuesdays in the early 2000’s, the software company delayed issuing patches and updates for its software products that were scheduled to be updated on February 14, 2017. While the specific reason was not officially provided by Microsoft, according to some reports, it was either an issue with a particular patch or the system that prepares the monthly collection of updates for distribution.

A couple of days later Microsoft officially announced that those patches would be rolled into the March cycle of Patch Tuesday updates and those are scheduled to arrive next Tuesday. Yet this past Tuesday, patches for Office were pushed out to users over Windows Update, so that shows the delivery mechanism itself is working fine. There are no indications from Microsoft that we should not see a normal Patch Tuesday next week.

I am sure if I asked many of you about Microsoft, Windows Update, and system patches most of you would not use the word normal to describe that process. In fact, over the years there have been many issues with patches that gets issued each month. This has become an even bigger concern for end users as Microsoft •. I’m a sucker for a free software utility. I love discovering programs that can make my computing life easier. Microsoft offers an array of useful and free utilities, and some of my favorites fall under the umbrella of a group known as Windows Sysinternals.

Created by Microsoft Azure Chief Technology Officer Mark Russinovich, Sysinternals consists of utilities that can enhance Windows, gather useful information, and troubleshoot specific problems. What’s cool about the Sysinternals tools is that they run the gamut from simple to complex, are well-designed, and don’t require an installation. I’ve used several of the Sysinternals tools over the years and have come up with some favorites that I think would help many Windows users. Let’s look at each tool. Autologon Windows 10 and 8.1 force you to enter your password at the sign in or lock screen as a means of security. If you’re working in an office or other public place and step away, you wouldn’t want someone to be able to access the information on your computer.

But if you’re at home or another private place, entering your login credentials isn’t as necessary since no one else is around to peek at your data. In this • = Paid content • 2017-03-07 •. Since we have been using computers, we have been looking for a way for each machine’s administrators to better control the machines and take care of them. This is how we got PowerShell: Microsoft gave admins a command line tool that would be able to automate more and more tasks, from scripting across a network to fully deploying and managing a server with no graphical user interface.

Of course, with every good thing comes attackers that abuse it, and PowerShell is no exception. A recent attack that utilizes a malicious word attachment also used PowerShell commands to put a back door in the system, then used DNS TXT record queries and responses to create a bidirectional Command and Control (C2) channel. While this process is not new, the recent headline use of PowerShell has led to some question if one can block PowerShell on their machines.

The first thing to know is that one truly cannot uninstall PowerShell from a system. Think of PowerShell like the DOS command line that is still hiding under the hood of the operating system: it’s a deep, embedded part of the operating system. However, that doesn’t mean you aren’t without options to better prevent the use of •. It’s a multiplatform world: You can be a Windows user on your desktop or laptop, yet still be happily carrying an iPhone or using an iPad. Now, say you use Microsoft Outlook on your Windows machine and you want to synchronize your calendar appointments in both Outlook and on your iOS device. How can you do this? Well, if you run Microsoft Outlook on the same PC on which iTunes is installed, the operation is fairly simple.

You can use either iTunes or iCloud to perform the synchronization. But what if your Outlook and iTunes computers are different? For example, I run Outlook on my laptop and iTunes on my desktop.

The sync procedure becomes a bit more challenging but still doable. One option is to set up a sync between your Outlook calendar and a Google calendar and then between your Google and iPhone calendars. Sounds tricky, but it works. Let’s go over the different ways you can accomplish your calendar synchronization. Sync Through iTunes This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content • 2017-03-02 •. Whether you are rooted to your home office, using your kitchen table as home base, or doing your job while on the road, keeping your computer and mobile devices fully powered is like oxygen — necessary for life. And in our increasing reliance on multiple digital devices, having multiple power outlets has become essential. Here are a couple of indispensable solutions.

IClever’s BoostStrip Takes on 12 Devices At Once – Wow! With its six 3-prong electrical outlets and six USB ports, iClever’s BoostStrip Series IC-BS03 provides more than enough juice to handle our various power and charging needs. Built-in surge protection for both computers, appliances, and mobile devices makes the $26 price tag a bargain compared to other power strips on the market. But this power maven has other capabilities that make it stand out for me. Compared with ordinary power strips – you know, the kind you can get for a few bucks at Home Depot, Target, and hardware stores – this one eases the concerns of anyone who’s worried about electrical fires.

It has a 1875 watts maximum load, and it’s made with fire proof materials which can handle temperatures up to over 1300 degrees Fahrenheit. This article is part •. Is Windows misbehaving on you? Blue screening? Problems like that can be tough to troubleshoot. They could be hardware-related.

They could be software-related. How can you tell?

Well, one step you can take is to run two commands in Windows to check for disk or memory issues. The chkdsk command can scan your hard drive for trouble. And the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool can scan your memory for any glitches. These tools have been around for years and are still available in Windows 10 as they still get the job done.

Check for Disk Errors with Chkdsk Let’s try out the chkdsk command first. Your hard drive, whether it’s physical disk or a solid state drive, uses a file system to keep track of all its data.

Sometimes that file system can become corrupted with errors that affect its performance and reliability. Your disk drive can also develop bad sectors, which are small areas of storage that take up a certain amount of space.

These problems often result in unreadable files, among other problems. In both cases, the chkdsk command can reveal errors with your file system or hard disk and hopefully fix them. You can trigger the • = Paid content • 2017-02-28 •.

Are you familiar with Microsoft Sway? If not, don’t panic. It’s one of those applications that isn’t exactly a household name. Part of Microsoft Office, Sway allows you to create interactive reports, presentations, and personal stories, in a fresher visual style than PowerPoint. Students, business professionals, and everyday folks can build a presentation using text, graphics, videos, charts, maps, tweets, and other media. The software is available as a downloadable Windows app and as a component of Microsoft’s Office Online suite. So is the program worth trying?

And should you bother using it when you’re already rocking PowerPoint? I used Sway to create an interactive presentation to try to answer those questions. You can snag Sway one of a few ways: You can download it as an app from the Windows Store in Windows 10, or use the online version. Both offer the same features and functionality; there is no advantage to selecting one option over the other. The downloadable app, however, is available only for Windows 10, while the online edition is accessible in prior versions of Windows, including Windows 7 and 8.1. You’re not limited to creating your Sway on a computer. You can cook a Sway up on an iPhone •.

March’s updating appears to still be in limbo. No previews of February updates means a smaller expected update for Windows 7.

The Patch Day That Still Wasn’t Microsoft still seems to be recovering from whatever caused them to skip releasing Office and Windows security updates on the second Tuesday of the month. Normally on the third week of the month they will release a preview of the following month’s non security updates. This time they only released the overdue Flash update that Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 machines need to be protected as Flash is embedded in that platform. Remember that Flash for Windows 7 is an independent update that comes directly from Adobe.

For Windows 8.1 and 10, Flash has to come from Microsoft’s updating mechanism for those platforms. March will also mean changes to Microsoft’s communication regarding security bulletins, with all new Security Portal will be the new location for security guidance and information. What to do: Look for more changes to updating to come. Sha-1 Changes This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.

• = Paid content • 2017-02-22 •. Your PST file contains all your Outlook email, so you need a safe and reliable way to back it up on a recurring basis. A little backtracking, for those of us who haven’t run across this term before. If you use Microsoft Outlook for your email, your PST files contain all your messages, calendar events, contacts, and other data. As the PST file is critical, you need a way to back it up on a regular basis in case something goes kerflooey with the live file.

You can then always retrieve the backup, whether to locate an individual e-mail that’s been lost or deleted or to recover the entire PST file in case it gets corrupted. Outlook itself offers no way to back up the file, but you can turn to a couple of free utilities to do the work.

Microsoft provides a free program called Personal Folders Backup, which sets itself up as an add-in for Outlook and can automatically back up your PST file at regular intervals. The drawback with Personal Folders Backup is that it works only with older versions of Outlook up to the 2010 edition. But no cause for worry. Those of us who run Outlook 2013 •. Last week, in part one of this two part article, I discussed the current state of affairs when it comes to Microsoft, Windows 10, and Privacy: Microsoft’s recent efforts in the upcoming Creators Update, and the first half of the 16 privacy settings categories in the operating system.

Windows 10 and privacy concerns have once again garnered headlines because the European Union is concerned that the new efforts in the Creators Update do not go far enough to give users full control over their data and privacy settings in the operating system. Their biggest concerns are around the user not having more control over the default privacy settings when Windows 10 is installed or the users lack of control relating to the personal data that Microsoft collects and uses. As I explained last week in part one, Microsoft has made changes in response to privacy concerns including a new central privacy portal for everything relating to data collection and privacy plus they have established a new Privacy Dashboard to give users the ability to see what data is being collected and delete it at their discretion. It seems these efforts are not enough according to the EU: “Microsoft should clearly explain • = Paid content • 2017-02-21 •. Here’s a morsel of what I learned about Web security at this year’s RSA Conference in San Francisco. It’s just another tale of the good, the bad, and the ugly 1.Security in Windows 10 is better than any version before it. That’s because unlike previous versions which had user customizable settings to control how your PC received updates and patches, updates in Windows 10 are by default automatic.

Ostensibly this means that Microsoft is staying one step ahead of malware hackers. There’s just one problem with this assumption. Unlike the dozens and dozens of anti-malware/virus software companies which update their malware definitions 24/7, Microsoft offers its updates just once a month on its Patch Tuesday which means any Windows 10 is vulnerable to new malware for possibly a month in between. So installing third party anti-malware/virus software is probably still advisable.

2.Nothing is necessarily safe on the Web even if you have anti-malware installed because the hackers are changing their sinister codes virtually every few seconds. You read that right: every few seconds in a lousy game of digital whack-a-mole. And the bad guys are ever finding new ways to infect your system. Then there’s the increasing rise of •. All other Microsoft updates are still on hold at this time, but we may see some non security preview updates for next month. While Microsoft isn’t saying anything public at this time, several reputable sources have informed me that Microsoft will release the overdue Adobe flash update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 on Tuesday, February 21, 2017. I will recommend that you go ahead and install this as soon as possible due to the potential for web based attacks from Flash.

While Chrome is deemphasizing Chrome in recent browser releases as noted in the Chrome blog, Windows 10 and 8.1 still have flash as part of the operating system. In the creators release expected this spring, Flash will become of less importance in the operating system. Until then we need to update our browsers with any Flash update as soon as we can. It’s unclear if we’ll see any other non security preview updates for the Windows operating system on Tuesday. If you do I’ll recommend you do not install these updates at this time. Microsoft is still not releasing any security updates that we expected in February and will wait until March to do so. Keep in mind •.

Recently a WordPress attack led to defaced web sites. WordPress is an easy web platform to use and one used in many attacks. Here’s why — and what you can do to protect a WordPress site.

Why WordPress Is Attacked WordPress is a very powerful platform. It makes it easy for novices and non web developers to build their own customizable web sites that are easily updated and very social.

But that ease of use can also mean ease of being used in attacks. The core of WordPress is augmented by any number of third party plug ins and thus to patch and maintain WordPress sites can be pretty tricky. Recently, several security issues caused many sites to be defaced. The update, released on January 26th, fixed several issues the worst of which caused an “unauthenticated privilege escalation vulnerability was discovered in a REST API endpoint.” The bottom line? Attackers could take control of a site and post whatever content they wanted. As soon as the patch was released, sites came under attack. So why didn’t all of us running WordPress sites immediately update?

Well, for the same reason we don’t immediately update Windows patches – we fear new releases will • = Paid content • 2017-02-16 •. Here’s the challenge: You use both Microsoft Outlook and Google for your calendar appointments, and you need a way to keep both of them in sync. Google once offered a free utility to sync your Gmail calendar with your Outlook calendar, but that tool has since bit the dust. So does that mean you’re out of luck?

Nope — you can accomplish the same trick with help from a couple of third-party utilities. One free tool called Outlook Google Calendar Sync can keep your Outlook and Google calendars on the same path. Another utility known as Calendar Sync can also synchronize both calendars. Before we look at both tools, let’s just clarify one item. When I say Outlook, I’m not talking about the Outlook.com email service; I’m referring to the full version of the Microsoft Outlook email client that comes with Microsoft Office. Outlook currently is part of Office 2016 and Office 365.

I’ve run Outlook for years and currently use the 2016 version through an Office 365 subscription. I also use Google for Gmail, as well as for my calendar appointments and contacts.

So I’ve always needed a way to keep my Outlook and Google calendars in sync. Even before Windows 10 first became available back in 2015, concerns about privacy and the operating system have gotten play on different tech sites and in forum comments. Initially, it seemed as if Microsoft avoided addressing those concerns and stayed quiet, choosing not to get specific about privacy on their new OS. This, of course, ramped up users’ concerns and it was up to Microsoft to work on addressing those concerns. That resulted in Microsoft creating a new, extensive privacy portal that contained a statement from CEO Satya Nadella, as well as information about the data Microsoft collects. Microsoft’s privacy approach is based on six principles as laid out by Satya Nadella in his letter about privacy: Control – We will put you in control of your privacy with easy-to-use tools and clear choices. This article is part of our premium content.

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In a very unusual move for Microsoft, they held off on releasing updates on Tuesday, February 14th. As noted in their MSRC blog, something happened to cause them to hold off on releasing updates on Patch Tuesday. There was no word if the underlying problem was due to something in the updates or something in the delivery service. Not only were there no Operating system updates released, there were no Office security updates released as well. As a result of this very unusual move, this will be a very abbreviated Patch Watch column for this week.

If the updates come out between now and when this newsletter gets sent to you, I’ll be recommending that you hold off on updating just until we get more information as to what the root problem was. For those still suffering from the Windows 10 1607 bug that causes the workstation to hesitate when making new folders on file servers, as noted in this blog post, the good news the fix is in a hotfix available via the Microsoft catalog site. The bad news is the fix was supposed to be in Tuesday’s releases which got delayed.

If you go to the catalog site, • = Paid content • 2017-02-14 •. What a week for security news! Microsoft did not provide its usual Patch Tuesday update today, citing “a last minute issue that could impact some customers and was not resolved in time for our planned updates today,” and not posting an expected date for the latest security updates. And RSA 2017 is taking place in San Francisco this week.

I was at Microsoft president and chief legal counsel Brad Smith’s keynote speech this morning, where he made the salient — if unsettling — point that the rise of nation-state hacking has put private citizens at risk in so many ways, from email phishing to utility grid shutdown, and as of right now, the first line of defense civilians have against nation-state hacking comes from the tech industry. Smith is calling for the tech industry to stand together and recognize that global cyber warfare is not only bad for nations, it’s bad for business and bad for users. He sees tech companies as becoming “an industry that, even in an age of nationalism, is a neutral digital Switzerland upon which everyone can rely.” He also outlined the argument that there needs to be a new Geneva Convention, one which addresses state-sponsored hacking •. Not a day goes by that I don’t see some sort of scam or attack. Awareness of the latest scams it key to staying safe — here are some new scams you should be aware of. Ransomware’d Printers The latest in ransomware techniques is to target vulnerable printers inside networks. As noted in a recent article, the attack takes advantage of a network if port 9100 is open.

While in a small network behind a router provided by your Internet Service provider, the chances are small that port 9100 will be open if you’d like to make sure you can perform the following steps. From a computer inside your network go to the ShieldsUP website. Click on proceed to begin the process In the box, enter 9100 Click on user specified custom port probe The test will indicate if the port is open or closed. Chances are very good that the port will be closed.

If so, you will not be at risk to this attack from external sources. However, I have seen several firms impacted by this attack because the malware entered into the network into a workstation and was able to attack vulnerable printers. In one case it • = Paid content • 2017-02-09 •. Windows 10 comes with a couple of features built into the operating system that lets you easily install a fresh clean copy of Windows 10 to remove OEM clutter or to simply reset your current installation to resolve ongoing system issues. I previously shared with you details about the Refresh Tool for Windows 10, which downloads clean install media for your Windows 10 system, then installs a clean copy of Windows 10 without the extra OEM software and settings overlays — you know, things that can clutter up a Windows system straight out of the box. This week, I want to tell you about the other option that comes in Windows 10 called Reset this PC. This option is similar to the Refresh Tool, except it uses the installation media provided by your device manufacturer, which is normally stored on a recovery partition on your system, and it will also contain all of those OEM programs and other helper tools that are typical on most OEM systems.

Call it clutter, bloatware, or junk but it is integrated into the recovery media so it gets reinstalled each and every time you reset your system back to its original out of the •. Move over, Internet Explorer: Microsoft Edge is the default browser in Windows Ten-town.

Although IE is still around — the shortcut is buried in the Start menu under Windows Accessories — Microsoft clearly wants Windows 10 users to adopt Edge as their favorite new browser. Assimil Francese Perfezionamento Pdf Creator. After all these years, Internet Explorer has grown long in the tooth, especially compared with rival browsers such as Google Chrome.

Edge is a more streamlined browser, one that dispenses with the menu bar, favorites list, and other items that clutter up the screen. But as the new kid on the block, Edge might feel alien to longtime Windows and IE users.

The lack of toolbars and other familiar features can be off-putting. In some ways, Edge is also a work in progress. Whereas IE supports virtually all types of extensions and add-ons, Edge currently handles only a select few. You can still install and use Firefox and Chrome in Windows 10. However, you may just want to give Edge a whirl to see if you like it or at least can grow comfortable with it. And one way of getting comfortable is by tweaking the browser with your favorite features and options so it works the • = Paid content • 2017-02-07 •.

At my office, I’ve been rolling out Windows 10 machines to replace our older Windows 7 models. In installing these Windows 10 machines, I’ve found several tweaks and adjustments that make my machines behave more nicely and ensure I’m not bothered by apps I don’t want or need.

As I’ve said before, the key thing anyone running Windows 10 Home version needs to do is upgrade to Windows 10Professional. This is the easiest step of this process. Of course, you need to purchase a Windows 10 Professional license if your machine came with Windows 10 Home version. This can be easily done from inside the system section of your Windows 10 Home machine: Merely scroll to the about section, click on change product key or upgrade your edition of Windows, and launch the wizard to upgrade to Windows 10Professional. It will take a bit of time to upgrade the computer to the professional version, and it requires a reboot. Once you have upgraded to the professional version, there are a few patching changes I’ll urge you to make.

First up: Go into Settings: Update and Security, and then click on Advanced options. In this section, choose to defer feature upgrades so that •. OneDrive is Microsoft’s solution for backing up and synchronizing your folders and files both in the cloud and across all your Windows 10 devices. But OneDrive isn’t limited to Windows. You can employ it to make your files accessible across other types of devices, including your iPhone, your iPad, your iPod touch, and your Android device.

Your synced files stay up to date and within easy reach no matter which device or operating system you use. So you enjoy the advantages of OneDrive via your mobile devices as well as your Windows PC or tablet. First, what do you need to do in Windows 10 to make OneDrive come to life? Well, the desktop version of OneDrive is built into Windows 10, so you don’t need to install any special software. The task of setting up OneDrive in Windows 10 is described in the Windows Secrets article “Make OneDrive Play Nice with Microsoft Office in Windows 10.” But we’ll sum it up here.

In File Explorer, first move the folders you wish to back up and sync into the OneDrive folder. Then right-click on the OneDrive icon from your system tray and choose the Settings command. At the Account tab • = Paid content • 2017-02-02 •.

My old password just got a promotion. The password I used, since deleted, was ‘passw0rd’.

Yeah, I thought I was being so clever making the letter o into number 0. No hacker could figure that out, right? It ends up that passw0rd was the 24th most used bad password according to SplashID.com”s worst passwords of 2015, and in 2016 it moved up six slots to number 18 on the top 25.

Obviously I am one in a crowd of people creating easily guessed/hacked passwords SplashID [site]offers a free and premium password manager for major browsers so it can easily calculate the easily hacked passwords that its customers are using. Each year it releases is Worst Passwords list and the 2016 list (see below) shows that the problem with hackable passwords is us. But there are quick and easy (okay, easy is open to debate) ways to wrangle the ocean of passwords we all need to log on to the various sites we visit regularly. SplashId and a host of other password managers offer tips to wreck the hacks. So do a bevy of security experts. And so do a host of companies with free and paid security workarounds. Credit card numbers, Social Security Numbers, scanned passports, plans for world domination — these are only a few of the items that you may be tempted to send in an email.

But unless you have encryption, you shouldn’t hit “send” on any of them. A message can pass through numerous servers on its journey and can be read on any of them. Encrypting a message can be much more complicated than encrypting a file or even a drive. There are other people involved. And they may not be as tech savvy or security conscious as you. So you need encryption that won’t confuse someone who panics at the thought of downloading a file. Another issue you need to consider: Just how much security do you need?

It’s one thing to protect your information from run-of-the-mill cybercrooks. It’s another to keep your private words from the government. And remember that there is no perfect security. Even the best encryption algorithm can be cracked if someone uses a password like 123456. The goal is to find something both practical and sufficiently secure.

The Weak Encryption You Probably Already Have Your messages probably already travel encrypted from your email client to your email provider’s server, • = Paid content • 2017-01-31 •. Many of you may be building your own computers these days, but just as many computer users buy their next device right off the shelf of their favorite box store or from an online retailer.

If you are purchasing a device built by one of the many OEMs, it is very likely that device is going to arrive with a lot of extras pre-installed that come from the company who initially built the device plus some additional overlay style software/controls from the OEM themselves. Of course, as long as you have drivers from the OEM for your device, and most are made available through the products support page, then you could always do a clean install of the operating system and have a pristine image ready for your own software and customizations. Microsoft is also working closely with many manufacturers to include hardware drivers right out of the box to avoid needing to track them down elsewhere. In fact, any OEM devices sold in Microsoft Stores come in this configuration and they call it their Signature Edition PCs. This means they meet all the Windows hardware requirements and contain zero bloat from the manufacturer.

If you already have your device or purchased •. What’s more expensive: a Windows PC or a Mac? The answer seems obvious: When you compare price tags to power and features, PCs almost always win. But when you consider costs of use as well as costs of purchase, Macs appear to be cheaper. At least that’s the conclusions found by both IBM and computer repair company RESCUECOM (website). Using a computer costs money, especially in the workplace. Long learning curves cut productivity.

When an employee must figure out why their computer isn’t behaving as it should, that employee is not being productive. If he or she is forced to call IT for advice or, worse, a visit, two people are taken away from their other chores. What’s more, if employees are frustrated by the tools given to them, morale drops.

According to IBM, Macs are easier to learn and cause fewer problems than Windows PCs. And according to RESCUECOM, they need fewer repairs. That’s less downtime, fewer helpdesk calls — and therefore smaller overhead. IBM’s experience Fletcher Previn, IBM’s VP of Workplace as a Service, spoke last October at the jamf Nation User Conference (webpage) and said, “Every Mac we buy is in fact continuing to make and save IBM money.” This • = Paid content • 2017-01-26 •.

You probably use Windows 10’s File Explorer a hundred times a day. You already know how to use it to move around your hard drive. Why bother to learn it better? Because you’ll work more efficiently.

This truly excellent file manager has little-known tricks that makes it even more powerful and convenient. You can control what folder the program opens to. You can hide and unhide the ribbon. You can make your favorite File Explorer tools more readily available. And you can use keyboard shortcuts to make everything easier. I’m not going to tell you how to use File Explorer.

I assume you already know the basics. But I’ll take you to the next level, and make File Explorer easier and faster for you. The Many Ways to Open File Explorer Of course you know how to open File Explorer. But do you know the fastest and simplest way to do it? Or how to control what folder it opens to?

The fastest and easiest way to open File Explorer doesn’t involve your mouse or touchscreen. Simply press Win-E and up comes a File Explorer window. If you’re already running the program, it opens another File Explorer window. This article •. OneDrive and Office can work together as a team in Windows 10 to simplify the process of saving and syncing your documents online and across other computers.

OneDrive is Microsoft’s go-to service when you want to back up folders and files in the cloud, as well as synchronize them across multiple Windows devices. OneDrive can play an especially helpful role if you’re running a recent version of Microsoft Office, such as Office 2013 or 2016. In this article we will cover how to make OneDrive and Office “play nice” in Windows 10. There are a lot of good reasons for using OneDrive and Office together. For example, you can set up OneDrive so that any Office documents you save are stored not just locally but also in OneDrive–at virtually the same time. If you don’t want to clutter up your hard drive with hundreds or thousands of documents, you can opt to store them just in OneDrive and not on your PC.

If you’re collaborating on the same Office documents with other people, you can choose to be alerted whenever those documents are being editing by another person. But what if you don’t have Office? Then you can use the • = Paid content • 2017-01-24 •. There’s no shortage of technology bloggers who are quick with “best” product badges. I make the distinction myself, calling out certain laptops, routers and other computer hardware.

But it’s important to know what’s behind the “best” label. Here’s how I make the determination, based on decades of journalistic and user experience, as well as deep exploration of digital devices. I’m outlining how I devise my criteria and why, so that you can apply this sort of assessment to your own technology options. Step 1: Find Possible Review Candidates Each day, I swim through a sea of public relations pitches and new-product news releases. I go to trade shows and sit through vendor demos.

And then there is my daily monitoring of the Web for new products, and my incessant visits to product retailers such as Best Buy and Costco. From all these sources, I compile and evaluate the items I think are worth checking out, and then request review samples.

Most are sent as loaners, with the expectation that I will conduct hands-on testing within a certain period of time. Some products are sent to me with no expectation that they be returned.

At this stage, I eliminate many products. Microsoft has announced that the original release of Windows 10 will fall out of support on March 26, 2017 Meanwhile, those that deferred 1607 should be seeing that update being offered up and trying to install if you have not installed it already.

January’s lack of non-security updates means that February won’t have any non-security releases. NEW: Critical Update KB3211320 for Windows 10 Version 1607 On Tuesday night (January 24, 2017), Microsoft released an out-of-band patch for PCs running Windows 10 v. The Windows 10 build number will remain the same after installation. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. You need to access your Windows 10 PC, but you’re in one place and it’s in another. Perhaps you’re relaxing comfortably in your living room, iPhone or iPad in hand, but you need to view a file on the Windows 10 PC in your home office. Or maybe you need to access more than one computer at the same time and want to connect to them all from one single device.Tough luck? Not necessarily.

Using Microsoft Remote Desktop and an iPhone or iPad, you can view files, open apps and control Windows 10 as if you were physically at your PC. Microsoft Remote Desktop is a simple and reliable remote control tool that can be run on an iPhone or iPad. With that said, the experience will be faster and smoother on an iPad since the iPhone is a bit too small to function as a remote control gadget. Setting up Your Remote Desktop Connection Before you install a remote control app on your Apple device, you need to set up your Windows 10 computer to accept remote connections. To do this, right-click on the Start button. From the popup menu, click on the command for Control Panel.

At the • = Paid content • 2017-01-19 •. First, the big news: Due to unanticipated circumstances, this is the last LangaList Plus running in this newsletter for a while. Fred Langa will return to Windows Secrets when he’s able to — and here’s hoping that’s sooner rather than later. His writing combines two admirable and helpful traits in tech journalism: The ability to explain how something works and the ability to teach readers how to take charge of their own troubleshooting ventures.

We’ll be looking for substitute writers who can field user questions about their own misbehaving systems and take a crack at answering them. When we have someone, I’ll let you all know to whom you should be directing your questions. Until I found out about Fred Langa’s unexpected leave of absence on Wednesday, my biggest news for you all was going to be the addition of Richard Hay to the Windows Secrets writers’ roster.

Rich has been a Microsoft MVP since 2010, first as a Windows Operating System MVP, then for the Windows and Devices for IT category, and in July 2016, he was also named a Windows Insider MVP. He combines an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the operating system with a real love of hands-on demos •. It can happen in any Windows version: Instead of shutting down promptly, your PC stays on and unresponsive for several long minutes. Here are some easy fixes for shutdown delays. Plus: Information about HerdProtect, an anti-malware meta-scanner that employs 68 different anti-malware engines.

Win10 shutdowns taking far too long Under ideal conditions, a clean Windows setup can shut down in seconds. But out here in the real world, shutdowns can take longer — sometimes, far, far longer!

Some shutdown delays creep in bit by bit, accumulating over time. You can prevent this type of slowdown with good routine maintenance. (See the January 10, 2017, Best Practices, Top Story, “Start 2017 right with a clean Windows PC.”) This article is part of our premium content. Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login.

A little over seven years ago, Windows 7 was released to the general public. As of January 14, 2017, it’s been in extended support for two full years. That means there are just three years left for the popular operating system to be supported by its creator, Microsoft. It is never too early to plan for that next operating system upgrade. In fact, a Microsoft employee from Germany made that pitch this week as reported by ARS Technica, recommending that users plan their move early rather than later. If you’ll excuse a little inside baseball, here’s why you Windows 7 users should consider it. Microsoft breaks their lifecycle support down for Windows into two key periods – Mainstream and Extended support.

Each period runs for five years each for a total of ten years of product support from Microsoft. The biggest difference between the two support periods? Only during the first five years can product design and feature changes be made. Security updates are provided throughout the entire ten year period. Of course, any company willing to pay can contract Microsoft to provide support beyond those ten years, but as the military learned last year, that is a very expensive • = Paid content • 2017-01-17 •. If you pay attention to the tech news, it’s not hard to pick up a vague sense that the goal of every person, product and company we cover is to render human work obsolete.

Some work, I’m glad to see go — scanning in receipts to email to Accounts Payable is a far sight quicker than painstakingly arranging a collage of paper scraps and putting it in the interoffice mail for a three-week turnaround. That’s why I was heartened to read Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s recent comments, where he made the distinction between artificial intelligence tools meant to replace human interaction and artificial intelligence meant to enhance human productivity. As he said during the DLD conference in Munich, “The fundamental need of every person is to be able to use their time more effectively, not to say, ‘let us replace you’.” There a few notable ideas worth unpacking in that quote. First, Nadella is advocating for people to get the most out of their time. Without falling into a debate about “productivity” and who benefits from it — though that is a topic well worth revisiting soon, especially in light of Microsoft’s multiyear focus on AI as a productivity booster •. As Microsoft releases a new Windows 10 beta, we get a patching break.

Windows 8.1 in fact only has a Flash update to install. Meanwhile, Redmond has been busy with changes to the upcoming Creator’s release.

Upcoming Windows 10 changes Dona Sarkar announced a beta release that makes quite a few changes to Windows update. As she noted on the blog site, the following changes are expected in the next large feature release expected around April of 2017: A feature in the GUI to pause updates for 35 days. We’ve added an option that will enable you to pause updates on your computer for up to 35 days. While this feature already exists for Windows pro and above now, it’s only available via group policy or the registry. This capability will unfortunately only be available on Professional, Education, and Enterprise editions of Windows.

A feature to allow you to decide whether or not to include driver updates when you update Windows. Once again, this capability will be available on Professional, Education, and Enterprise editions of Windows. A new icon to the Windows Update Settings page to make easier to see your update status at a glance. Improvements to the logic • = Paid content • 2017-01-12 603 •. Optimizing your Windows set-up is one of the most useful and productive things you can do.

These quick how-tos can help you tweak your daily computing experience so it’s more convenient. Tip #1: Push your Android phone notifications to Windows 10 with Cortana An update to the Cortana app on Android now allows you to only push those notifications to your Windows 10 desktop and tablet based devices, and fully customize them just like Windows 10 Mobile users can. To get started just install the Cortana app for Android on your device from the Google Play store. Once it is installed, you can open the app and it will ask you to sign in with your Microsoft Account. Make sure you use the same one as your other Windows 10 devices if you want to sync notifications from one system to the others. Once you are logged into Cortana she will of course have access to your Notebook on your Android device and be able to set reminders, provide tips and look up other information for you.

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• = Paid content • 2017-01-10 602 •. One of the biggest tech events of the year, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), takes place in the beginning of January. As an attendee, I’ve always thought there was a certain pleasing symbolism to the scheduling: It happens on the cusp of the western new year, right as casinos are gearing up to celebrate the lunar new year at the end of the month. And as with new year celebrations, CES is all about embracing the possibilities of the very near future. It’s easy to make fun of the more ridiculous tech offerings at CES — I’m still marveling at the hairbrush that makes product recommendations — but a deeper point remains: We tend to turn to technology to make our very near future — and our present — better.

As I was looking at gadgets that turn your Windows 8.1 laptop into a touchscreen device and admiring small handheld scanners, I was also thinking about this newsletter and how it embodies the idea of helping readers improve their lives by improving the experience they have using the tools in their lives. As we move into 2017, Richard Hay and I will be sticking to Windows Secrets’ core mission: to •.

A little time spent now on preventive maintenance can save hours of system troubleshooting later. It’ll also provide better computing all year long.

This article is something of a Windows Secrets tradition: We update, refresh, and then publish a new version of this story in the first issue of each new year. In this iteration, you’ll find more references to top-notch, detailed PC-maintenance how-tos and related information than ever before! Undo a year’s worth of wear and tear This past year was tumultuous for Windows — and most likely for your PCs, too. To start, Windows Update released hundreds of new patches (see list), some in a new cumulative/ roll-up format. And along the way, you’ve probably installed some new third-party software, uninstalled other programs, and upgraded or patched apps and utilities.

You may have also altered, tuned, and tweaked various aspects of your system’s user interface, and software and hardware settings. And you’ve undoubtedly created and deleted myriad emails, documents, photos, MP3s, videos, spreadsheets, and so forth. You might even have upgraded your Windows 8, 7, or Vista system to Windows 10. And if you were already using Win10 at the start of last year, you hopefully survived •.

A dual-boot PC has 32GB of RAM, but the 32-bit Win10 partition sees only a paltry 1.6GB — far below the expected 4GB. Here’s why and a fix. Plus: Win10 steals an apps’ F1 key function, and how to stop Windows Groove — or any other default Win10 app — from automatically launching. Win10 PC has a ‘Hardware Reserved RAM” problem Reader Alvin Davis’ wonders why his 32-bit version of Win10 sees only 1.6GB of memory — on a system with 16GB of installed RAM. “I have been a Windows Secrets subscriber for a number of years.

I finally have a question that I’d like to ask. “It’s about Win10 x32 assigning too much memory to ‘hardware reserved.’ “I built a computer system with a Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7 motherboard, Intel 6700K processor, and MSI Geforce 1060 video card with 6GB of RAM. I also added 16GB (two 8GB sticks) of system memory. “The machine is a dual-boot system; it’ll load 64-bit Win10 from a hard drive or 32-bit Win10 from an SSD. This article is part of our premium content.

Join Now.Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. • = Paid content. Trademarks: Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The Windows Secrets series of books is published by The Windows Secrets Newsletter, WindowsSecrets.com, WinFind, Windows Gizmos, Security Baseline, Patch Watch, Perimeter Scan, Wacky Web Week, the Logo Design (W, S or road, and Star), and the slogan Everything Microsoft Forgot to Mention all are trademarks and service marks of iNET Interactive. All other marks are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.