Wednesday 14^th November 2018

Amazon Echo etc

We had a quick recap of smart home devices which we talked about last time - see last month's blog for more detail. One thing we didn't mention last time is that devices such as the Amazon Echo have Bluetooth capability. So while you can play music or radio on the device itself, you can also link it to Bluetooth speakers, perhaps to get better sound quality.

The Echo has a feature called Drop-in. This is similar to making a Call to another Echo device, but Drop-in does not require any action by the recipient to answer - it just connects. This has to be enabled for specific contacts only. It could be useful to monitor an unoccupied room, or to keep an eye on a vulnerable relative.

Google Inbox Closing

At the September Club I mentioned Google’s alternative to Gmail which is called Inbox and suggested you might like to give it a try. Well, sadly Google have announced that they will be closing down Inbox from March 2019. A number of the features which were first introduced in Inbox have now been added to the latest version of Gmail. So, Inbox was a 4-year experiment by Google which is now coming to an end.

Windows 10 Pro Activation Problems

Microsoft had problems with their Activation Servers around Thursday 8^th Nov which resulted in some Windows 10 Pro systems (including mine) suddenly de-activating. The problem was resolved within a day or so without any user action required.

Windows 10 Version 1809

As we mentioned last time, the 1809 Update was released on 2^nd October, but only to those who manually checked for updates. It had a bug which, in a few rare cases, caused files to be deleted. Microsoft suspended the update on 6^th October to investigate. Subsequently, a further bug which could cause ZIP files to be lost was also discovered. Microsoft have now fixed these issues and the 1809 Update was re-released yesterday (Tuesday 13^th November). It will still be called the “October 2018 Update”, even though its number implies September and it has now actually been released in November!

Your Windows 10 PC should get the update automatically in due course. You may get it immediately if you check for updates in Settings, Update & Security. Alternatively, you can download it from the Microsoft download site at:-

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

The above site allows you to install Windows 10 on the current system, or to create a bootable USB stick with an installable version of Windows 10. This USB stick can be used in two ways:-

1. Boot from the USB stick and install Windows 10 on the target machine. This will work, even if the machine has a new or re-formatted hard drive. An existing or new licence will be required to activate the new installation.
2. Boot the target machine normally and insert the USB stick. Locate and run the setup.exe file on the USB stick. This will allow the target machine to be upgraded to the version of Windows 10 on the USB stick.

I found the latter method useful to re-install Windows 10 on a PC while retaining all the installed apps.

A new version of my Windows 10 – In-Depth Guide and my Microsoft Edge notes covering version 1809, along with all my other notes, can be found at:-

bit.ly/rogersdocs [case sensitive]

The changes in Edge are fairly minor. Some customising of the Toolbar is now possible and the Settings menus have been re-organised.

If you want to know more about what's new in version 1809, look at:-
https://pureinfotech.com/windows-10-redstone-5-version-1809-new-features/

Backup

Brian was having problems with the old backup system on Windows 10 since the 1809 update which is saying that his external hard drive is write protected. I don't know the cause of this. If possible, it might be worth trying to use an alternative HD.

Margaret asked how to confirm that File History on Windows 10 is working. One way is to launch File Explorer and navigate to a backed up folder, e.g. Documents. On the Home tab, click on History. The File History window should open and you can navigate to a recently changed file to check it has been backed up.

File History is a totally automatic way to backup your data. To enable it, connect an external hard drive and go to Settings, Update & Security, Backup. When File History backs up, it retains any previous versions of your files.

HP Printer Bugs

HP recently introduced a “bug bounty” which pays hackers for finding errors in their printer software. This had the desired effect and a couple of security flaws came to light. HP has issued firmware updates to fix these. If you get a message on your printer control panel or on your PC saying that a firmware update is available, you should apply it. You can use the printer control panel to check for updates, and install them if available. For more information on how to upgrade HP printer firmware, see:-

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02919168

Windows 10 Troubleshooting
We briefly touched on troubleshooting in Windows 10. You can access the troubleshooting options by going to Start, Settings, Update & Security, Troubleshoot. There you will find options which might help to fix your Internet Connection, Printer, Windows Update and many other items.

Trusteer Rapport/EndPoint Protection
Trusteer Rapport (aka Trusteer EndPoint Protection) is a free software product from IBM which claims to improve your security when using online banking. It only works with banks that also use the Rapport software at their end. You will see the Trusteer icon in the toolbar of your browser (Edge gives a popup notification). The icon turns green when you visit a protected site (i.e. your bank). Rapport is designed to work along side your existing antivirus.

You can download it from here:-
https://www.trusteer.com/en/support/rapport-installation-links
Select your bank from the dropdown list and then click on Windows to download Rapport.

Trusteer Rapport has been known to cause one or two problems in the past, but it is simple to uninstall if it causes any issues.

AntiVirus
I recommend using Windows 10's built-in antivirus feature, Windows Defender. By their nature, antivirus programs can, if they have a vulnerability, provide a route for malware to attack the system. Being designed-in from square one, I feel Windows Defender is more secure in this regard than third-party antivirus programs. In addition, Windows Defender is introducing "sandboxing" which would protect your system if Windows Defender itself was attacked. It is believed to be the first antivirus program to do this. You can read more about it here:-
https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-defender-becomes-first-antivirus-to-run-inside-a-sandbox/

Find My Phone

If you have lost your Apple or Android phone or tablet, you may be able to use the feature to find where it is and possibly remotely erase it. We discussed this in more detail back in March and you can refer back to the blog post in March 2018.

Next Session

Wed 12^th December 2018 1:30 to 3:30pm.