Sharing Wi-Fi Info
Last time I suggested a way of sharing your wi-fi connection data by using a QR code generated using a web site at:-
https://qifi.org/
You can do a similar thing by producing a QR code on your phone screen for the other party to scan – my thanks to Dave for pointing this out. This article explains the process for both Android and Apple phones:-
https://www.asurion.com/connect/tech-tips/how-to-share-home-network-info-with-qr-code/
AI Data Centres
My thanks to George for the link to this video which looks behind the scenes of cloud computing data centres and discusses the power and resource needs of AI:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJQIQJYxey4
Windows Safe Mode/CrowdStrike
As I am sure you all now know, an update from the security firm CrowdStrike to one of its security products issued on 19th July caused 8.5 million Windows computers (servers and workstations) to crash with a blue Recovery screen. This caused severe problems for thousands of companies and their customers world wide. While
CrowdStrike software is not something that home PC users would be
familiar with, it is a very powerful security product for large
corporate users which protects them against many forms of cyber
attack.
Arguably, CrowdStrike should have had better testing procedures to prevent such a faulty update being released! Because the issue prevented computers from booting up, the only solution was for technicians to physically visit each one of these 8.5 million computers, boot them into Safe Mode and delete the offending file. Clearly a very labour-intensive and time-consuming process!
So what is Safe Mode and how do you boot into it? Safe Mode is a simplified version of the Windows OS which has limited features and functions. Because of this, it can often be possible to boot into Safe Mode when the full OS fails to load.
It used to be that repeatedly pressing the F8 key as the machine booted up would access Safe Mode. With Windows 11, this does not work, and it may not work on Windows 10 either. This Microsoft page explains 3 ways to get into Safe Mode:-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234
However, the first 2 of these (from Settings, System on Win11 or Update & Security on Win10, Recovery and holding down the Shift key while selecting Restart) are clearly only available if the system can boot up, which machines affected by the CrowdStrike issue could not.
If the system tries and fails to reboot 3 times in a row, it will enter Recovery Mode, as the above article explains.
When the system can’t start up normally, you can boot from a Recovery Drive, or from the installation media. So, if you haven’t already done this, you might like to create a Recovery Drive. Just go into Settings and search for “create a recovery drive” and follow the on-screen instructions.
To create an installation USB stick, go to one of these sites to download and run the Media Creation Tool:-
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows11
If your PC currently won’t boot, you will have to access another PC to do this.
To boot from a USB stick, you will have to invoke the Boot Menu, usually by repeatedly pressing the F12 key at the beginning of the boot process. Then select the required boot drive. After booting from the installation media, first select the Language etc and press Next. On the following screen, select Repair Your Computer (Do NOT click on “Install now”). This Tech Republic site covers all these methods:-
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-7-ways-to-access-safe-mode-in-windows-10/
IMPORTANT
When you boot into Safe Mode, you will have to enter the Encryption Key for your drive if it is encrypted. Is your drive encrypted? Click on the Start button and type “Control Panel”, then click on the result to launch Control Panel. Click on Security and Maintenance (if in Category view), then look for either BitLocker Drive Encryption or Device Encryption and click on whichever you find. You will see the encryption status of your drive(s). You can select any encrypted drive to get the option to print or save the Encryption Key by selecting Back up your recovery key. Do this NOW before you need it!
The BitLocker key may also be saved online in your Microsoft Account – open a browser and go to:-
https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey
Only the Pro versions of Windows 10 and 11 have BitLocker, but Windows 11 Home has a simplified version called Device Encryption.
I demonstrated getting into Safe Mode on a virtual Windows 10 system. You can experiment with getting in to Safe Mode - make sure you have your Encryption Key if your drive is encrypted. Once in Safe Mode, you can just reboot to return to normal mode.
Browser Security Indication
Most web sites are encrypted these days. This means that the data passing between you and the web server is secure. Google, to its credit, has been a driving force in encouraging this for a number of years. This Google Transparency Report shows 96% encrypted traffic across Google:-
https://transparencyreport.google.com/https/overview?hl=en_GB
If you go back 10 years or so, encryption was much less common, and often only found on web pages where financial information was being entered, e.g. a credit card payment page. Then, is was important to look for indications of encryption such as a Lock Padlock symbol and the web address (aka URL) beginning with HTTPS://, rather than HTTP://.
If you want to understand more about the encryption process, I wrote a document a couple of years ago called “Web Site Encryption – How Does It Work” which you can find on my web site at:-
bit.ly/rogersdocs
Click on the Tech Hints & Tips tab.
Now, most web browsers will give you an indication on the rare occasions that the site you are going to is “not secure”, i.e. it is an HTTP page. The symbol usually appears to the left of the web address. Chrome and some Chromium-based browsers (e.g. Brave) have replaced the Padlock with this symbol:-
When you click on the Padlock or alternative symbol, you will see something like this:-
If you click on Connection is secure, then Certificate is valid, you will see details of the site’s security certificate, including the Public Key.
If you click on Cookies and site data, then Manage on-device site data, you will see the cookies relating to this site and you have the option to delete them – this can sometimes fix a site which is not performing correctly.
Clicking on Site settings will take you to a list of permissions for that site.
Note: Although the iPad shows a locked Padlock for secure sites, there is no way to get to certificate details as discussed above.
To see what happens in your web
browser when you go to an HTTP (i.e. “insecure”) site, try using
this site (which is perfectly safe):-
httpforever.com
Brian asked if a phishing web site can have a valid security certificate. The answer is "yes". The secure HTTPS certificate only indicates that the traffic between you and the web site cannot be intercepted. However, you could be directly in contact with a secure hacker's site!
Slow Windows Update
Linda had encountered a laptop which took about 16 hours to complete its updates. Obviously, this was a slow system, but it may have had a large number of updates to complete because it was normally only switched on for brief periods. It is probably a good idea to leave a system on for several hours from time to time to allows updates to be downloaded and installed.
Next Session
Wed 11th September 2024 at 2pm by Zoom
