July '15
Opinions, suggestions, recommendations or ideas found on our site are applied at your own risk. More.
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly
being either proven right
or pleasantly surprised. - George F.
Will
Due to the increased popularity of the scam, this will be our newsletter header for a while: Sorry, but you are simply not important enough to have Microsoft, Adobe, Java or anyone else call you about your computer. If you get a call that your computer is infected, compromised or otherwise needing attention, just hang up the phone! More information here. So with that out of the way...
In this newsletter
With a lack of ideas, this is a somewhat truncated newsletter...
- Windows 10
- Before installing Windows 10
- Be forewarned!
The Internet will be flooded with all kinds of scams regarding the Windows 10 upgrade.
- Yet another browser
- Attachment reminder
- Quick links
- Welcome to the future
Windows 10
Windows 10 (available by the end of July) is a hybrid of sorts between Windows 7 and Windows 8. More the feel and operation of the familiar 7 but with the apps, features and security offered in 8. More Microsoft's overview is available here.
You have time but probably
should sign up for the free upgrade soon. If you are running Windows 7 or 8, you
should see the upgrade icon in your taskbar.
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You can reserve your installation copy without even giving Microsoft an email. Doing so should not commit you to actually installing when it is finally released. If you do not take advantage of the free upgrade and someday want Windows 10, according to this ZDNet article, (upgrade) will run $119 for the Home version and $199 for Pro. Note: Based on issues with previous versions of Windows, if the computer is networked, Pro is highly recommended and if connecting to a server it will be required. |
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Before installing Windows 10While Microsoft is indicating there will be no problem upgrading 7 or 8 to 10, you will want to be sure your applications and hardware will run properly by using the Check your PC option. In the Getting the upgrade section you will see Your PC is ready or you may see Check your PC which takes you to a test you can run on your computer. Check your computer by clicking the menu bars (upper
left corner)... Which opens this menu
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Articles of interest: Microsoft's Windows 10 Q&A. What is Windows 10? ZDNet article.
Very involved but this ZDNet article tells you how to make an ISO DVD so you can reinstall from scratch in the future if necessary. Without this ISO image you will have to reinstall Windows 7/8 and then upgrade again.
Microsoft's upgrade matrix
Be forewarned!
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The Internet will be flooded with all kinds of scams regarding the Windows 10 upgrade. Do not believe any upgrade offers found on any web page! If you are curious and do not see the notification
in your taskbar, run Windows Update from the Control Panel
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Yet another browser
Add to the growing list of browsers, https://vivaldi.com/ Kind of handy, it has its own notes pad built in where you can write reminders, drag and drop article links, etc.
We've installed and started looking at this. But so far we are finding nothing overly exciting about it.
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It is supposed to be "tab friendly" but we have yet to figure out why that claim is made. All of the browsers have tabs. By default, this thing remembers all of the tabs you last had open which could be a good thing, especially if you visit the same sites often. Perhaps that's the claim to tab friendly? But in the settings, we are seeing no way to turn that feature off. |
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Under the File menu you can import all of your data from the Internet Explorer, Chrome or other browsers.
Attachment reminder
Just a reminder to drag any suspect mail to the junk folder (Outlook) and inspect it from there. We've been getting one similar to this for a few days. Notice the attachment is a zip file!
Notice the sender's address is not FedEx. And why would you print a delivery label anyway?
Quick links
Microsoft finally has placed the Ask toolbar on the crapware list! The article.
'Your PC may be infected!' Inside the shady world of antivirus telemarketing The article.
No link just an interesting discovery: If your computer's date/time is off, it could result in network drops!
Rail damage in the area: http://www.bergesch.com/newsltr/raildamage.html
Welcome to the future!
Password site ​LastPass warns of data breach The article.
None of us are safe: Major cybersecurity company hacked - The article.
This terrifying malware destroys your PC if detected.. The article.
Thieves are stealing money from people's credit cards, banks and PayPal accounts -- by first tapping into their Starbucks mobile app. The article.
After finding that federal employees' Social Security numbers were stolen, the US government discovers another breach, which exposed data on intelligence agents and others The article.
Opinion
Hey Al... In fact, there were a total of 18 abrupt climate events during the past 68,000 years. The article.
Leaving you with
Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant?? I'm halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God...I could be eating a slow learner. --Lynda Montgomery
Remember...
SCAM: A "support" person asks you to allow
them to take over your computer and clean it up.
Just hang up! See our
October
newsletter for a bit more on this scam...
and
Thanks for all the help over these years, Jeff...