We’ve all heard of it – me probably more than most. Usually I get a call from a concerned reader or customer to tell me that they have just had a “strange phone call” from someone at Microsoft to tell them that their computer is sending out loads of viruses and would they like help in fixing the problem. Of course you say “yes” (who wouldn’t be impressed to receive a phone call from a software company as huge as Microsoft offering to help fix problems with their computer?) Read this entire article »
I’ve had more emails in the past month about the above topics than anything else, so I thought I would dedicate some time explaining what Microsoft seem incapable of doing in words that we can all understand!
So in the best interests of the plain English campaign here goes…
Hotmail > Outlook
This is probably the one change that will affect most of us here on the Costas. If you have an email address ending @hotmail.com, @hotmail.co.uk, live.com, msn.com (and a whole bunch more – essentially any address that you use at the current www.hotmail.com website) then you will be affected. Read this entire article »
It’s something I’m being asked time and time again and it’s a difficult one to be honest. I hope this month we can shed some light on when you should say “yes” when your computer asks you to update something and when you should be wary.
Patch Tuesday…
Microsoft tries to release its new updates on the second Tuesday of each month. It is generally referred to as ‘patch Tuesday’, so you can expect your computer to prompt you to install updates around this time. Sometimes there is an extraordinary ‘patch Tuesday’ 14 days after the normal event. Operating system patches are created to plug holes in the programming code that runs your computer, most of them are written for specific purposes and it’s always a good idea to install these patches and updates as they are one of the best ways to keep your computer both up to date and safe from problems. Read this entire article »
Nowadays it seems that we have to be “the amazing memory man” to survive in the modern world. Everything we use seems to need at least one set of characters or a password in order to operate or access it!
We have pin numbers for bank cards, a pin number for our phones, passwords for our email, Skype, social network accounts not to mention Facebook, our online bank accounts and probably so much more. We all know that its best to use a different password for each thing as we understand that using the same password for everything leaves us open to a world of hurt if we fall foul of hackers, but the fact that we have so many different passwords means that we invariably end up writing them down in some way which is just as bad as having the same password for everything! Read this entire article »
I’ve recently bought an SLR camera and of course I have been taking pictures of anything that moves – and most things that don’t! Over a very short period of time I have managed to build up quite a large collection of some very badly taken pictures, however, hidden in the dross are a couple of gems; coincidences of good subject matter happening at the same time as the correct settings being loaded on the camera – certainly nothing to do with my skill anyway! Read this entire article »
A number of people this month have asked me how they can get Internet when they are out and about; these are either people who work away from home where their “normal” Internet is located, people who don’t have access to a land line and therefore can’t get the usual type of Internet connection that most of us enjoy or simply people who are on holiday that have brought their laptop with them and want to get access to the Internet whilst here. It seems that we find it more and more necessary to be ‘connected’ nowadays – I’m not sure that such a healthy thing but then this is 2012! Read this entire article »
Over the past few months I have seen a marked rise in the number of emails being forwarded about various things from the “next big virus” to how “Bill Gates is sharing his fortune”, I find that the large majority of them are simply hoxes but I am constantly asked by customers how they can tell whether an email they receive is legitimate, well this month we have help for you. Read this entire article »
9th July – put this date in your diary – the FBI could stop your computer from working!
It sounds like something out of a Holywood film or the title of one of those “dodgy” emails doesn’t it – well this time it’s true and I’ll explain why.
There is a virus that has been flying around the Internet for the past four years that has been silently hijacking people’s computers – some 4 million computers to date. The virus is called DNSChanger and it has managed to alter the DNS (Domain Name Server) on the computers it has infected. Read this entire article »
I am regularly being asked whether there is an easy way to access the TV on demand services that are so useful in the UK. Understandably people want to be able to download their favourite programmes and then watch them when they want – rather than having to tune in at a certain time and date in order to catch the latest episode. Read this entire article »
Or more to the point, how much do you want Google to be able to store about you? Since March 2012 Google have started to store much more information about how you use your computer and if you haven’t opted out of their new privacy policy then you might want to consider doing so.
Google stores information about you based on the pages that you search the Internet for and from your use of Gmail if you use that as an email account. Historically it has used this information to provide targeted advertising to you based on your search terms on the Google website. Read this entire article »