Wednesday 8th November 2017
Updated 03/05/2023: Amended the description in the section "Can You Spot A Scam?" due to change in the Take Five website.
Defective Laptop Keyboard
Tony still has the defective keyboard on his HP Pavilion laptop which we discussed back at the September session. If he can purchase a replacement keyboard, I can replace this at the next session as a demonstration of laptop repair.
Can You Spot A Scam?
Linda
brought this web site to my attention. Take Five is a campaign to raise your
awareness of frauds and scams. In addition to advice, there is a very good test on their web site to
see if you might fall for a scam. Go to https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/ and click
on Let's go under the heading Are You Scam-Savvy?
A fake versions of WhatsApp was temporarily available in the Google Play Store. It showed messages promoting scam vouchers for various supermarkets. You can read more in this BBC News article:-
What’s New In Windows 10 1709
You
can find my updated Windows 10 guide
and a What’s New in 1709 at:-
I have also updated my Microsoft Edge document in line with the 1709 update and you can find this at:-
(Note that these ‘Bitly’ links are case sensitive).
I issued a paper copy of the What's New in 1709 document which we discussed, making the following points:-
Windows Defender Security Centre:-
New features are being added by each major update to Windows 10 which enhance the protection provided by Windows Defender. This update has added Exploit Protect which is ON by default and gives extra protection without you knowing. Controller Folder Access has also be introduced and is OFF by default. This latter feature could be an excellent defence against crypto-malware. However, it is currently quite difficult to set up, but my guess is this will improve in the next big update in Spring 2018.
People Button
This new little button appears on the Taskbar after the update. You can read more about this in my notes, but I doubt many users will find this useful and I would suggest just removing it from the Taskbar.
OneDrive
There is a new feature called Files-on-Demand which is OFF by default. If you use OneDrive and want to access it via File Explorer, I would suggest turning this feature ON. Basically, it means that File Explorer will show all your OneDrive Files/Folders, but only Files/Folders that you access will be sync'ed to your hard drive. Remember, you can ignore the process of syncing to your hard drive and simply access OneDrive directly by going onedrive.com in any browser and signing in with your Microsoft credentials.
Storage Sense
This feature was already there. It helps to clean up your hard drive by deleting unwanted temporary files and emptying the Recycle Bin. A new feature in 1709 now allows it to delete files from the Downloads folder if they haven't changed for 30 days. This is OFF by default.
Link Android Phone
You can now link your Android phone to your Windows PC. Reminders in Outlook on your PC can then appear in the Cortana app on your phone. Also notifications from your phone can pop up on your PC.
Private/Public Network
Previously, once a network connection was set up it was very difficult to change it from Public to Private or vice versa. 1709 has introduced an easy way to change this.
Edge
There are some changes to the layout and Settings which are covered in my Edge document. Two new features are:-
- You can now pin a web page link to the Taskbar, and
- Edge now has a Repair/Reset feature if it stops working correctly.
Getting The 1709 Update
This question was raised, but I didn't have time to answer it. If your Windows 10 system has not yet done the upgrade to 1709, you can try to perform the update by going to:-
This is the site where you can use the Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB stick with the latest Windows 10 installation files for performing a clean install. However, you will see at the top of this page "Windows 10 Fall Creators Update now available". Click on the Update Now button to download and run the Update Assistant. This will check that your system is compatible with the 1709 update and allow you to proceed if it is.
Next Session
Wed 13th December 2017 1:30 to 3:30pm.
