Category: Tips

When was the last time you checked your website to be sure it is online? Virus free?  Software on latest release?  Backed-up?

If you have not done this recently (or ever) you need to start treating your website, like you do your other IT devices as websites go down, get infected, and can infect computers accessing it.  A good way to start is to install uptimerobot.com.  This program checks your website every 5 minutes to be sure it is online.  If you want to learn more, call me, happy to discuss how to keep both your computers and websites healthy.

On your laptop or mobile device, running the professional version of Windows 7 and above, click on the start button, then select Devices and Printers.

Click on one of the printers, which will enable more buttons on the toolbar at the top of the screen. Now you can select the “Manage default printers” button.

In here you can change the radio button to “Change my default printer when I change networks”.

Select a network in the first drop-down, and then select the printer you want to assign to that network in the drop-down box. The neat trick is to select the “No network” item in the drop-down box for anytime you aren’t connected, so you can assign a print-to-PDF as default when offline.

Now as you move about — your default printer changes with you.

If you used the favorite folder feature in Windows 8 and below know that while it looks almost the same in Windows 10 – it is different. Windows 10 replaced the Favorites list with the Quick Access (i.e. pinned folders) list. Windows 10 now automatically adds frequently used folders to this list, to help Windows users who never customized the Favorites with their most-used folders. This has caused frustration for several clients. To make it function like the old favorites (and give you back the control over your favorite folders), please do the following:

Click on
• Start,
• File Explorer,
• File (upper left corner of the screen),
• Change folder and search options
o Under Privacy at the bottom of the window, uncheck “Show frequently used folders in Quick access.”

Also, you will notice that the File Explorer (aka Windows Explorer) now shows the Quick Access view, which provides access to frequently used folders and recently used files. But you might want to see the “This PC” view instead — it’s more like the traditional My Computer view on older versions of Windows that displayed connected devices and drives. It also displays your user account’s folders — Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos. To make File Explorer open to the This PC view, click
• Start,
• File Explorer
• File menu (upper left corner of the screen),
• “Change folder and search options.”
• Click the “Open File Explorer to” box at the top of the window and select “This PC” instead of “Quick access.”

If someone calls you claiming to be “Microsoft” – hang up. If you are connected to the Internet and get a message on your screen (possibly accompanied by flashing lights and beeping) saying that you have viruses (or other bad things) on your computer and to call “Microsoft” — this is a scam – do not call, just end the task. Know that if you subscribe to a PCs: Soup to Nuts monitoring package – Malwarebytes scans daily and lets us know if you have malware. We will also know if your virus scan is up-to-date. Not sure? Subscribers feel free to call me so you don’t get scammed.

Don’t overlook the importance of backing up your data. A rule of thumb is 3-2-1. Always keep 3 copies, on 2 different media, with 1 stored off site. It is your insurance policy that your data is safe. Set a monthly backup schedule. If you have trouble remembering, program a calendar alert or subscribe to an automatic backup service. [Thanks to my client Mariposa for posting this in her June newsletter.]

Many people have asked my thoughts and advice on Windows 10. With Microsoft’s recent aggressive push to roll out the their latest operating system, I know this is  something of great interest to my clients (and to all Windows users).  If you have already upgraded to Windows 10, wondering about it, or giving it serious consideration, please read my Windows 10 advice

The United States Department of Homeland Security issued an alert advising people running Apple’s QuickTime program on Windows computers to immediately uninstall the software. QuickTime was once a popular package for playing video and audio clips on computers, but it has since been eclipsed by other technologies.

Unfortunately, security vulnerabilities continue to be discovered in the QuickTime software — including two critical ones announced just this past week that could allow criminals to hack into computers with QuickTime installed if the devices’ users either run malware or visit a malicious webpage (which a criminal can induce via phishing, offering some “great deal” and spreading word of it on social media, etc.). Without security patches being issued by Apple, QuickTime software poses a serious danger to those running it.

For more information, please read http://www.inc.com/joseph-steinberg/why-you-must-remove-quicktime-from-your-windows-computer-right-now.html

Using a scrolling mouse (wheel between the buttons), hold down the CTRL key and scroll to a more comfortable font size.  NOTE: this will also enlarge the printed font when printing from your browser… so minimize the font size before printing anything.

To automatically add holidays to your Outlook Calendar:

On the Tools menu, click Options, click Calendar Options, and then click Add Holidays.