Going Google (apps), Part 2: Move your docs

Going Google (apps), Part 2: Move your docs

In Part 1 of this series on Google apps, I covered the relatively simple process of moving all your mail to Gmail.

Part 2 covers why and how you move Microsoft Office documents to the cloud and to Google apps.

It started with a practical need — and Gmail

The premise of this series — going Google — is relatively simple. Although Office has been for years the de facto productivity app for Windows (and, to a lesser extent, Mac), it’s become rather bloated. The recently released Office 2013 also adds changes to Office’s look and feel that a significant number of users find off-putting. And Office can be expensive — especially for small businesses with more than two or three employees who must use the suite.

Let me state at the start that Office is still the go-to suite for both corporations and individuals who need a high level of document compatibility and collaboration. But for the run-of-the-mill document creation needs of many home/small-business users, Google apps offer a fast, free/inexpensive, and mobile alternative to Office.

After the publication of Part 1, a small number of Windows Secrets readers complained that I was unfairly bashing Microsoft. Not true! Computing has always been about using the best tool for the job.

Moving from Outlook to Gmail. As I noted in last week’s Top Story, “Going Google (apps), Part 1: Move your mail,” I started with mail because it’s an application I use heavily every day — and moving from Outlook to Gmail was surprisingly fast and painless. I didn’t need to change my existing email address — Gmail handles just about any type of address (and mail server). That saved me the work of retraining the hundreds of business and personal contacts I communicate with. I now do all my email correspondence through Gmail, and it takes me considerably less time than it did on Outlook.

In Part 1, I didn’t go into the details of migrating Office Contacts and Calendars to their Google counterparts. I’ll return to those topics in a later article. For now, I’ll just state that, for my purposes, Google Contacts and Google Tasks (the calendar) run rings around Outlook’s analogous apps.

Moreover, all that information — mail, contacts, calendar — is now easily accessed on a variety of mobile devices. That’s not just my Windows machines, but also my Galaxy smartphone, iPad, Mac, and even my wife’s iPhone. When a new message comes in, my phone buzzes; there’s no hassle and no technological “glue” required. As a long-time (in fact, original) Outlook user, I’m not used to things just working — the change is breathtaking.

Google Drive vs. Google Docs vs. Google Apps

It’s easy to get hung up in Google’s terminology. Google used to have a separate product called Google Docs. Google then incorporated it into Google Drive and added new capabilities (more info). Think of Google Docs and Google Drive as one and the same. (To make things even more confusing, “Docs” might also refer to Google’s version of MS Word.)

The term Google apps is somewhat ambiguous. Google Apps — with an uppercase A — refers to the paid service that includes everything in Google Drive, plus much more: more storage space, the ability to manage accounts with central administration, and so on. Google apps — with a lowercase a — are the programs Google offers to handle common office needs: Google Documents for word processing, Google Sheets for spreadsheets, and Google Slides for presentations.

Also keep in mind that businesses use Google Apps for Business (site), at U.S. $50 per person per year. For personal use, a simple, free Google account lets individuals set up storage space, upload and manipulate documents with the various Google apps, and share documents with others. (If you work for an educational institution, you can also sign up for the free Google Apps for Education [site]).

Whether personal or for business, the first 5GB of storage in Google Drive is free. If you exceed the free allocation, you currently pay $2.49 a month for 25 GB or $4.99 a month for 100 GB (more info).

If you’re not going to store data on the Web, you don’t even need a Google account to work with Google documents. If a Google account holder shares files with someone who doesn’t have an account, that person can still access files stored on Google Drive and use Google apps to edit the files.

Moving Office documents to the Google format

As stated at the top, the theme of this article is moving and converting simple Office docs — Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations — to Google Docs. Note that word “simple”; I’ve had plenty of problems converting complex documents and spreadsheets from Office to Google Docs.

I don’t recommend converting any documents with complex formatting, pivot tables, fancy graphics, and the like. The results are unpredictable and often difficult to correct. You run into a point of diminishing returns.

And, as noted in Part 1, putting information into the cloud has other drawbacks. You should never put extremely sensitive information (no nuclear launch codes) onto Google Drive — or any other cloud-based storage service.

Why convert your documents to Google format at all? Because, once converted and stored in the cloud (in Google Drive), the files can be viewed and edited with all those aforementioned devices — PCs, Macs, tablets, smartphones, etc. — through any installed browser. No software installation needed (though you can, if you wish).

What’s more, you can have one file open on several machines simultaneously. Google keeps the various iterations of the file synched — there’s no Dropbox-style “conflicted copy” problems as the document is updated. You also don’t need to remember to save your changes because Google Apps does that continuously.

In short, putting your docs into the cloud and into Google Apps format takes you from a desktop-bound view of the world to a mobile environment where you can, for example, update the latest sales numbers on a spreadsheet from your phone, make a quick correction to a presentation on your tablet, or edit a marketing plan from a borrowed computer.

For example, I’m converting simple spreadsheets used in my wife’s bakery business from Excel’s .xls format to GSHEET, Google’s standard spreadsheet format. This move will let her employees update the spreadsheets via their smartphones — no more Excel, no more emails with attachments.

These conversions are, at this point, still a proof-of-concept test. So I’m currently using the free-for-personal-use Google Docs. When these spreadsheets are migrated into the bakery’s production system, my wife will sign up key employees for their own Google Apps for Business accounts.

Moving files between Office and Google Docs

The bakery’s stores use .xls spreadsheets to send monthly sales reports to an accountant who has a massive .xlsx spreadsheet containing sales data going back years. The stores’ sheets are relatively simple; they report total sales by date, contain tax and percentage calculations, and also show a few miscellaneous text entries.

The accountant’s spreadsheet, on the other hand, includes pivot tables and charts, conditional formatting, bunches of tabbed worksheets, and pages-long macros. I didn’t even try to put that massive file into Google Docs.

If the stores were to use Google Docs, I assumed, I would need to round-trip their sales reports — i.e., convert them from Office to Google formats, have the stores do their updates, then convert the files back to .xls so the accountant could use the data provided by the stores. Fortunately, I soon discovered that this multistep process wasn’t necessary.

When I showed the accountant what I was trying to do, she showed me a much easier way to convert the sheets — simply copy the data.

• To start, she created a new worksheet in her big, Excel-based spreadsheet.
• Next, she opened one of my Google Docs–based sample reports and entered Ctrl + A to select everything on the sheet.
• She entered Ctrl + C to copy the sheet, moved back to Excel, and typed Ctrl + V to paste it. Ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom: the transfer brought over the data and the simple formatting. Everything lined up nicely.

As long as you don’t need to bring anything fancy over from the GSHEET to the XLSX, the whole process works without a hitch and takes just seconds.

I tried the same trick with simple expense reports, petty-cash reports, inventory forms, and payroll sheets. In every instance, converting from GSHEET to XLSX was as easy as copy-and-paste. Whether the same trick works with your spreadsheets will, of course, depend on their complexity. The only way to know is to test them. But I bet you’ll find that getting most of your everyday Word docs and Excel data to and from Google format is surprisingly easy.

Some people state that, once they’re through editing and collaborating in Google Docs, they need to produce DOCX, XLSX, and/or PPTX files for use by others. Google Docs can create those formats easily enough: right-click the Google Docs file, choose Download, and pick the format.

However, in my experience, saving to these other file formats frequently mauls documents. Embedded pictures and graphs, for example, often don’t come through well, and slideshows end up mangled. So if you intend to run a round-trip from Office to Google and back to Office, test thoroughly before committing to the process.

Putting documents into the Google Drive cloud

Here’s another easy way to translate simple Office documents into Google Docs:

Step 1. Download and install Google Drive for PC (site). When you’re done, you’ll have a new Google Drive folder in Windows Explorer (or File Explorer, in Win8).

Step 2. Using Windows/File Explorer, add as many subfolders to the Google Drive folder as needed. Keep in mind that each subfolder can be shared independently of the others. For example, the bakery might create a subfolder for each of its shops; you might keep subfolders for docs received, those to be edited, and those sent.

Step 3. Drag to the appropriate Google Drive folders all Office documents (DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, HTML) you want to convert. Note: Drag-and-drop will move files, not copy them. Use copy/paste if you want to keep the original copy of the file in its original location.

By default, Google Drive (somewhat like Dropbox) keeps a local copy of your Office documents. They’ll also show up on your other Google Drive–connected devices as complete files. Google application files, on the other hand, are stored only in the cloud. The files listed in Google Drive are simply pointers to their online versions. However, with a bit of setup, there is a way to work with Google files offline, as detailed in a Google Drive help page.

Step 4. Open a browser window, go to the Google Docs site, and sign in. Open one of your new folders in the online version of Google Drive; you’ll see that each file within the folder has its original Office filename extension (.doc, .xlsx, etc.). If you don’t see the file just yet, be patient. Sometimes it takes Google a while to upload files from your PC.

Step 5. Right-click on the file you want to convert, choose Open with, and then select the appropriate Google program — Google Docs, for Word files; Google Sheets, for Excel spreadsheets; Google Slides, for PowerPoint presentations. Open the new Google file and check for any formatting problems.

The one formatting problem I hit, over and over again, is Google Sheets’ inability to overflow text from one cell to the next. In Excel, excess text automatically flows to the next cell if the cell is blank. Google Sheets doesn’t do that. If you want text to span two or more cells, you have to merge them. Google users have requested automatic text overflow for years, but it’s never been fixed. The problem might be caused by the limitations of HTML page rendering — i.e., getting data to automatically flow from cell to cell in HTML is a bear.

Notice there’s no save button in Google Sheet? Google saves all changed documents automatically. To see how this works, make a small change to the file you just created — add a space somewhere or change a bit of formatting. A few seconds later, you’ll see (to the right of the Help menu) the notification: “All changes saved in Drive.”

Now hover your cursor over the area to the left of the document’s filename (top-left corner). A left-arrow will appear; clicking it takes you back to Google Drive.

If your new Google document looks OK, you can now delete the original Office file. You won’t be needing it any more.

After you’ve converted your files, you should be able to view or edit any of them using any device with a browser. Or you can install and use the Google Drive app on Android or iOS phones or tablets. As long as your files are simple, that’s all it takes.

As someone who has used Windows from day one, I find this new freedom breathtaking.

In my next column, I’ll show you how to share your new Googlefied docs with other people — and how they can access the docs with their PCs, Macs, smartphones, and tablets.

One way to catch your own mistake: Describe it

You might not be surprised by the number of times Lounge members figure out what’s wrong with a spreadsheet or database almost all by themselves.

Jacksonmacd provided a case in point when he posted his bewildering DLookup problem (that brought an Access 2003 VBA project to a halt) in the Databases forum. Shortly after he elicited help from his fellow forum members, he wrote back to identify his own error. He’s congratulated, of course. And he succeeds in increasing knowledge generally, as you can see by reading the thread.

The following links are this week’s most interesting Lounge threads, including several new questions for which you might have answers:

Office Applications
General Productivity	Office 2013 now transferable
Word Processing	Importing data from Excel to Word via Mail Merge
Spreadsheets	Exporting from Adobe produces wrong date format
Databases	DLookup failure in Access 2003
Presentation Apps	Capturing screenshot of PowerPoint ribbon
Visual Basic for Apps	DoClick method for wdFieldRef type?
Microsoft Outlook	Outlook 2007 PST files gone after computers left domain
Non-Outlook E-mail	Sorting in Gmail
Other MS Apps	Using Office 365
Windows
General Windows	Question on an update
Windows 8	Workarounds for missing Advanced Appearance Settings dialog box?
Windows 7	Collapsing Explorer command line
	BSOD at boot time, Code=F4/03, no minidump: failing CPU?
	Unable to get Aero features
Windows Vista	Windows Mail problems: Address book (Contacts)
Windows XP	XP shuts down on startup
Internet/Connectivity
Internet Explorer	Java stays disabled in IE 9/Win7
Third-Party Browsers	Looking for safest browser
Networking	LaserJet printer won’t pull IP address
Other Technologies
Security & Scams	ZoneAlarm free installation
Maintenance	EaseUS Todo Backup Free 5.8 problem
Hardware	Function keys differ on laptops/notebooks
Other Applications	Secunia PSI flags Acrobat Standard 9: Security risk?

starred posts: particularly useful

If you’re not already a Lounge member, use the quick registration form to sign up for free. The ability to post comments and take advantage of other Lounge features is available only to registered members.

If you’re already registered, you can jump right in to today’s discussions in the Lounge.

The travails of a good-sport fisherman

Bill Dance’s website calls him a Southern gentleman angler as well as America’s most-loved TV fisherman. Even if you never see his show, you’ll at least appreciate these outtakes for his sense of humor. It seems that almost all that can bedevil a man in a boat happens to Dance. He’s joined by leaping fish, flying snakes, falling trees, and sound booms; he’s snagged by hooks and upstaged by swimming dogs. He’s a good sport — enjoy his company. Play the video

Tools for creating a bootable flash drive

Alternative software (and perhaps some hardware juggling) can often resolve problems that interfere with making a USB device bootable.

Plus: Interpreting the results of a deep malware scan, a free tool for alphabetical-order file copying, and another noncompressing backup tool.

When ISO-to-USB drive conversion fails

Reader Bud Lewin ran into an all-too-common snag when trying to create a bootable, USB flash drive. Bud had trouble installing the .iso file for the free Windows Defender Offline (WDO; site) malware tool, but you can have similar difficulties when trying to create any bootable flash device.

• “The offline version of Defender sounds like an elegant solution to malware infestations. However, I encountered the same problem on two different Windows 7 computers and three good, working thumb drives: the software tries to format the thumb drive prior to installing the downloaded software. I then get an error indicating the thumb drive can’t be formatted. At that point, the process halts.

  What do you think is the problem? (The thumb drives format fine when using Windows File Manager.)”

In theory, you can create a bootable USB flash drive from almost any .iso file designed for bootable floppies, CDs, or DVDs.

But in practice, USB ports, cables, drives, and software are highly variable in build quality — and in how well they adhere to standards. This can lead to unexpected outcomes and lots of frustration.

An example: I have an external drive that prematurely enters sleep mode and becomes unresponsive when connected to a USB 3.0 port on one of my PCs. But the drive works perfectly when attached to the 3.0 port on a different PC. I’ve accounted for all user-configurable factors, so there must be a problem with the hardware or drivers — beyond user control. The two machines’ nominally identical, theoretically “standard” USB 3.0 ports should work the same way, but they don’t.

Another example: My PC won’t recognize my smartphone when I use the USB cable that came with the phone. But the connection works perfectly when I use a (visually identical) USB cable made by another vendor. Again, two seemingly identical USB components; two different results.

“Standards?” Ha!

Because USB failures have many causes — cables, ports, drivers, etc. — it’s best to isolate and change each possible variable, one by one.

In your case, Bud, there are four things to consider: the thumb drive, the software used to make the drive bootable, the PC’s USB port, and the WDO software. (If your setup used a USB cable, there’d be a fifth factor to consider.)

You’ve already tried different USB drives, so that’s probably not the source of the trouble.

As a next step, I suggest you try different ISO-to-flash conversion software. There are numerous such tools available online; here are some sites with free apps:

• Rufus
• Passcape ISO Burner
• Universal USB Installer
• UNetbootin

(Note: Those last two products are multi-OS tools; their interfaces emphasize Linux, but they also work with Windows-based .iso files.)

If those tools don’t help, try one or more of these tools on a different PC — one with a different USB subsystem and ports.

Still no dice? At this point, you might have to abandon WDO and try a different .iso-based malware scanner, such as those discussed in the April 11 Top Story, “A dozen tools for removing almost any malware.” Choose a different ISO file and work through the preceding steps again.

If your PC has an optical drive, you might also consider giving up on the flash drive option. Make a bootable CD or DVD instead. Bootable CD/DVD tech has been around long enough that it almost always works.

But if you must use bootable flash media, you’ll need to experiment with various combinations of USB drives, conversion tools, PC ports, and .iso files until you hit the right combination. With persistence and luck, the USB gods should eventually smile upon you.

Good luck!

Deep scan reports malware — but is it real?

Robert was understandably concerned when a deep scan by an anti-malware tool found suspicious files.

• “This past week, I felt like something was stealing CPU cycles from my PC. So I ran a complete scan with Microsoft Security Essentials (which I do every Friday). No problems detected. I then ran ESET Online Scanner, which reported 16 threats.

  “Are these threats legitimate? And if so, how could MSE have missed 16 threats?”

Robert included a copy of his ESET report, which included multiple items such as these:

• C:Program Files (x86)UniblueRegistryBoosterrbmonitor.exe
• C:UsersRobert…NeroInstallFiles… askToolbarToolbar.exe
• C:UsersRobertAppDataLocalTemp7938A16.tmp

ESET is highly regarded in part because it’s extremely thorough. You’ll rarely go wrong following its advice — or allowing it to delete or quarantine files it flags as suspicious.

Your ESET report shows that the majority of the flagged items fall into three categories. The largest group is related to the Uniblue Registry Booster. I assume you must have installed this app or allowed it to be installed at some point.

I’m not sure what ESET was detecting as malware in Registry Booster. It could be something in the software itself or in unrelated bits of malware that arrived along with Registry Booster. But either way, why take a chance?

(Registry Booster gets a low, 2.5-star (out of 5) user rating at CNET (although it also received an Excellent editor’s rating) and earned just 40 votes at MajorGeeks. There are many other Registry tools available with higher ratings and larger user bases. If you feel you really need a Registry cleaner, I suggest you uninstall what’s left of Registry Booster and find a replacement tool that doesn’t trigger malware warnings.)

Another cluster of ESET items involves the Ask Toolbar, which looks like it arrived with your copy of a Nero CD/DVD burning tool. Most likely, an “Install Ask Toolbar?” query was buried in a dialog box during installation of Nero. The Ask toolbar is not malware, but it is typically unwanted.

Most of the remaining ESET detections are files in your temp folders. These are likely to be minor annoyances at worst — they’re transient items that will be flushed automatically from time to time and can be removed on demand with any decent cleanup tool such as CCleaner (free and pro; site).

Although none of these items appears to be an all-hands-on-deck malware threat, you’re probably better off with that stuff off your system anyway.

You asked how MSE could have missed 16 threats. Keep in mind that MSE’s primary mission is blocking severe and immediate malware infestations. It’s probably not going to raise red flags for the types of software listed above.

More importantly, MSE is not going to override your decisions. If you click past security warnings raised by Windows, your browser, and/or MSE itself (in effect, you tell Windows, “Yes, I want to install this app”), MSE will let the app install — even if it contains malware. You can see a real-life instance of this in the April 7, 2011, Top Story.

Because a few suspicious apps did make it onto your system, you might want to go a little slower when you’re installing software; be sure to read every part of every dialog box, and don’t allow things such as extra toolbars to be installed.

You might also want to try a different full-time, anti-malware tool. Use an application that will block malware, even if you unintentionally click “Yes,” giving it permission to install. A web search on the term anti-malware will turn up dozens of options.

But remember: No tool is perfect. Keep doing periodic scans with standalone tools, just as you did this time. That way, you’ll be sure your PC is clean!

Seeks alphabetical-order copy command

John Knight’s audiobook chapters are getting scrambled out of order when he copies them. The same thing can happen when you copy MP3s or any group of files.

• “Fred, I copy my audio books from CDs to USB sticks so I can listen to them through the sound system in my car. I discovered long ago that I couldn’t use the Windows copy command to transfer audio files because it seems to copy them in random order.

  I discovered a utility called XXCOPY [free for personal use; site] that will allow me to copy the files in alphabetical order. It works great, and I’m happy to have it. However, it can be run only as a command line from a DOS box.

  “I wonder if you know whether there’s a way to get Windows to copy a group of files or directories in alphabetical order? Surely I’m not the only one that has this problem!”

There’s a free, point-and-click, graphical-interface tool that might help. As noted on its download page, CopyInOrder does one thing: “This is a program for copying files and folders in alphabetical order.”

There are other tricks and workarounds, too, that enthusiasts have developed for copying and playing audiobook chapters, MP3s, or other media files in a specific order. For example, see the AnandTech forum thread, “Tell Windows the order in which to copy files?,” or the MurrayMoffatt.com article, “Sort MP3 files on MP3 player.”

It’s likely the free tool will be just what you’re looking for!

Another free, noncompressing backup tool

David Parker offers this suggestion.

• “In [the April 3 LangaList Plus item], ‘Software that backs up but doesn’t compress data,’ Fred gave a couple of good suggestions. Here’s another one. FreeFileSync is an open-source program that does exactly what’s needed: sync files on different devices.

  It’s extremely flexible, can be run manually or automatically as a batch job, and lets you see in detail what will be done before it runs. It’s also been fast and 100 percent reliable for me. If it sounds like I’m gushing over it, it’s because I was burned by a previous, paid synching program that I used for a long time. This one is free and works much better.”

FreeFileSync looks great — fast, functional, zero cost, and open-source. It’s available from many major download libraries as well as its SourceForge home page.

Thanks, David!

How to reduce SkyDrive synching problems

Although SkyDrive is a big part of Windows 8 and Office 2013, Microsoft’s online data-storage service falls somewhat short of its potential.

Fortunately, you can work around some of SkyDrive’s shortcomings. Here are some tips for living with SkyDrive.

SkyDrive promises run up against reality

I’ve recently completed three books on Windows 8 and Office 2013. Right from the start, I liked the save-to-the-cloud concept that is so much a part of the new OS and suite. During a typical work day, I move among a variety of computers and devices. I thought SkyDrive would provide a storage space for my documents that was simple to use and easily accessed from all my computers and devices. And I thought I could be sure I was always working with the latest version of a file and could also easily share those files with others as needed.

That was the promise of SkyDrive. Reality was something else.

For example, synching files between devices: It seemed I was spending far more time than I should, waiting for SkyDrive to sync the files produced on those various computers and devices. Different computers have different upload speeds. Surprisingly, my phone seems to be the fastest uploader of them all (though a phone is not ideal for managing files).

Frustrated by my SkyDrive experience, I was curious whether other SkyDrive users were troubled by similar problems. This article shares what I learned.

A (very!) short history of the SkyDrive service

SkyDrive has been with us for longer than you might think. Released in 2007, it was known — for about a week — as Windows Live Folders. It was then abruptly renamed Windows Live SkyDrive. In those days, when the cloud was still a novelty, remote-file storage was limited — both from a technology standpoint and in available space. In the ensuing years, as cloud storage has evolved, so has SkyDrive. Available storage space has increased and is now built on HTML 5. Also, its ability to connect to various apps and devices and its file-sharing capabilities have improved.

In 2012, Microsoft added a SkyDrive desktop application that let users more easily sync their files between devices. Now, for example, you can use SkyDrive to remotely fetch a file from any SkyDrive-enabled, Internet-connected computer. That’s handy if, while riding the train to work, you suddenly remember that the only current copy of that all-important presentation is still sitting on your home PC. Using SkyDrive, you can still grab the presentation — as long as you remembered to leave your home computer turned on and active.

Today’s SkyDrive gives new users 7GB of free storage space, and you can purchase up to 25 GB. (If you were using SkyDrive prior to April 2012, Microsoft allowed you to upgrade to 25 GB of storage for free.)

The most recent SkyDrive update arrived late last summer; Microsoft gave its cloud-storage service a makeover more in line with the new look of Outlook.com. Microsoft also invited Mac, iOS, and Android enthusiasts into the SkyDrive fold, giving it cross-platform compatibility rarely seen in Microsoft products. (SkyDrive is automatically included as an app on the Win8 Start screen.)

Sign in to any SkyDrive-enabled device using your Microsoft account, and your settings for that account — as well as SkyDrive preferences — travel with you from device to device. Office 2013 users also find SkyDrive prominently featured in the Open and Save As screens, where you can save a document to SkyDrive as naturally as you would to a folder on your hard drive.

Confronting — and solving — SkyDrive realities

Microsoft’s SkyDrive marketing messages, of course, paint an idyllic picture of anywhere, any-device file access and seamless integration with Office Web Apps. But as I’ve said, the SkyDrive synching is haphazard and sometimes unthinkably slow. For example, after saving a file to SkyDrive on my office system and then waiting for it to show up on the PC in the family room, I’ve sometimes resorted to emailing the file to myself so I could work on it immediately.

If you’ve had similar problems, try some of the following fixes to help your SkyDrive files sync a little faster.

• Start by adjusting your settings. The first step is just finding the settings. Go to the Windows notification area and click the small up-arrow. Right-click the SkyDrive (cloud) icon; a list of options will appear. Click Settings (see Figure 1), and the dialog box shown in Figure 2 opens.

  

  Figure 1. Click the notification arrow and right-click the SkyDrive icon to display a list of options.

  

  Figure 2. The Microsoft SkyDrive dialog box

  Under the SkyDrive Settings tab, make sure Use Office to sync files faster and work on files with other people at the same time is checked. If you’re working with SkyDrive and Office 2013, SkyDrive uploads only the changes you make to the file — not the entire file itself. Depending on the size of the file you’re synching, this feature should help uploads go faster.

  Next, under the Performance tab, confirm that Improve upload speed by uploading files in batches is selected. If you have a reliable Internet connection, this option groups and uploads files together rather than synching the files one at a time. Click OK when you’re done, to make the settings stick.

• Check SkyDrive status and your upload speed. If your settings seem correct, you can check whether SkyDrive is having problems by going to the SkyDrive Service Status page. If you feel the service isn’t functioning properly and want to bring it to Microsoft’s attention, click the page’s report it link. (You can also click the History link to see what problems have already been reported.)

  You can also use a free online tool — Speedtest.net — to evaluate your network’s upload speed. Click the Start Now button; the site measures your download and upload speeds and displays the results within a minute or so.

  If your upload speed is what you expect but your SkyDrive sync time is especially slow, Microsoft suggests you try uploading the file after traditional business hours to see whether the load on the servers is the problem. If this still doesn’t fix the problem, try posting a query on the Microsoft Answers forum for SkyDrive.

• Save and close the file; let the app work. Some of my early frustration with SkyDrive came from not understanding how the software operates. I thought because it worked in the background, files would continue to upload even when my computer was in sleep mode. Not true, as I learned the hard way. My PC will automatically go to sleep, even while SkyDrive is uploading. At that point, synching stops.

  So if SkyDrive seems to be synching slowly and you’ve run through the aforementioned solutions, check your Power Options in the Windows Control Panel. You might want to extend the time allowed before Windows puts the system to sleep (see Figure 3).

  

  Figure 3. Try extending the Put the computer to sleep time, to give SkyDrive sufficient time to finish synching.

When everything else fails, try this

If you have to resort to this next trick, SkyDrive really isn’t living up to its promise. This workaround is a bit clumsy — and it might seem chancy. But it might help if you’re pressed for time and SkyDrive does not seem to be finished synching your file.

As with most file-synching apps, SkyDrive puts a green checkmark on files and folders when they’re fully in the cloud and ready for access on other devices and for sharing. But sometimes, the checkmark doesn’t appear for an extraordinary amount of time. That can be a problem if, say, your editor is tapping her foot, waiting for that Word-based article you need to submit immediately.

I’ve tried emailing files stored in the cloud and lacking the checkmark; more often than not, the document was incomplete. But for some reason, if I copy and paste the file onto my local computer, the entire file is there! I assume this has something to do with the way SkyDrive saves and verifies files in the cloud.

If you’d like to try this trick, simply right-click the file in SkyDrive, click Copy, and then paste the file into the local folder of your choosing on your computer. Be sure to open the file before editing it or emailing it somewhere, just to make sure all contents are truly there.

SkyDrive will be a better product if Microsoft improves file synching. The easy integration with Win8 and Office 2013 makes it simple to save to the cloud, and the ease with which we can grab and share files among devices is something many of us need as we move from desktop to tablet to phone. But in order for all this magic to work, the files have to be available soon, not four hours from now.

Put problematic kernel updates and IE 10 on hold

After installing two recent Windows kernel updates, some PC users have been forced to reinstall their OS.

Plus: More problems for IE 10 for Windows 7, an update on Win7 SP2, and some updates that are rather special.

MS13-036 (2808735, 2823324, 2840149)

A Windows kernel update causes havoc for some

Windows kernel updates are always a bit of an adventure. They have a history of being troublesome, but they’ve also revealed malicious software installed on systems. Back in 2010, for example, when users installed KB 977165 (MS10-015) on systems infected by the Alureon rootkit (more info), they were rewarded with Blue Screens of Death.

This month, the kernel-mode driver update — KB 2823324 (MS13-036) — has caused a double whammy. First, some Win7 users in Brazil were hit with a STOP: c000021a error and were unable to boot their machines. Although users didn’t lose their data, the recovery wasn’t easy. MS Support article 2839011 recapped the issues and provided several options for getting affected machines back to working order. Those options range from using System Restore to removing the update using a DISM command (more info).

As if that weren’t enough, some Windows users running Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows Workstations or Kaspersky Anti-Virus for Windows Servers versions 6.0.4.1424 and 6.0.4.1611 got invalid-license messages after installing this patch.

On April 23, Microsoft replaced KB 2823324 with KB 2840149 to fix those issues.

I recommend keeping KB 2808735, also included in MS13-036, on hold, too. MS Support article 2808735 notes that after installing the update, some users might be unable to install certain Multiple Master fonts. The article, unfortunately, doesn’t say which Multiple Master fonts.

Over the past few months, kernel vulnerabilities have shown a pattern: they’ve been used in elevation-of-privilege attacks, but the attacker had to have direct access to the target machine. To exploit the flaw patched by the updates in MS13-036, the attacker uses a USB thumb drive to bypass system security and gain control. That type of threat is relatively easy to avoid, which makes this kernel update a low priority.

If you installed KB 2823324: Microsoft recommends that you uninstall this update. (It’s likely the update was installed if you have Install updates automatically selected.) If your computer is functioning, open Windows Update and click the View update history link. Next, click the Installed updates link. Scroll down to the Windows section and look for KB 2823324. If it’s listed, right-click the update and select Uninstall. Click Yes, as shown in Figure 1. Be sure to reboot your system afterward.

Figure 1. If KB 2823324 was installed on your system, use Windows Update to remove it.

If you didn’t install KB 2823324, you should not find it in Windows Update; Microsoft has pulled it from the list of offered updates. If you have Windows Update set to Download updates but let me choose whether to install them, I recommend clicking the Check for updates link to ensure KB 2823324 has been removed from the available-updates list.

What to do: Remove KB 2823324 if it was installed. Keep KB 2808735 and KB 2840149 (MS13-036) on hold until further notice.

947821

Internet Explorer 10 still causing difficulties

Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 has had a rocky launch. I reported on problems with this major IE update in the March 28 and March 14 editions of Patch Watch.

And now another problem: Last week, Internet Explorer 10 installed automatically on my test system. Then, KB 947821 — the System Update Readiness Tool (SURT) — was installed. Unfortunately, that installation threw up an error message (see Figure 2) indicating a system corruption.

Figure 2. A conflict between IE 10 for Windows 7 and the System Update Readiness Tool can result in this CheckSUR error.

As noted in a BleepingComputer.com forum, there’s apparently a bug in how the System Update Readiness Tool handles the naming convention used by IE 10’s hyphenation and spelling packages.

What to do: Good news! If you see the corruption error in your CheckSUR log files after installing IE 10, you can ignore it. Microsoft reportedly plans to fix this problem with SURT, but when is still unknown.

Windows 7 SP2 — wondering and waiting

I received an email from a Windows Secrets reader, asking about Windows 7 SP2. Where is it? Microsoft has released a public beta of Office 2010 SP2, as noted in a Computerworld blog, but there’s still no sign — not even a hint — of a second service pack for Windows 7. In fact, there are rumors and indications that there will never be a Win7 SP2. The closest we’ve come so far is KB 2775511, a special hotfix rollup of post-SP1 performance issues that’s available only on the Microsoft Update Catalog site.

As noted in fellow Small Business Server MVP Kevin Weilbacher’s blog, you have to download the update from the Microsoft Update Catalog and manually install it — you won’t see it offered on Microsoft/Windows Update.

If you do install KB 2775511, be sure your Windows video-card drivers are up to date. When I installed it, I received a BSoD that pointed to my out-of-date NVIDIA drivers. Once past that setback, my system had faster boots.

What to do: Follow Kevin Weilbacher’s blog and then install KB 2775511.

2799926, 2800033, 2822241

Some end-of-the-month update odds and ends

As regular Patch Watch readers know, I recommend leaving nonsecurity patches until the end of the month. It gives time for those important Patch Tuesday security updates to settle in.

There are also patches that should not be installed until you really need them. For example, KB 2799926, which is required only if you enable BitLocker in Windows 7 — and then use BitLocker To Go on a flash drive. If you don’t use BitLocker To Go, skip this update.

Windows 8 users need to install KB 2800033 to prevent a potential problem with the operating system’s Windows Recovery Environment, as detailed in MS Support article 2800033. Without the update, you could end up unable to reboot your PC, and you’ll have to reinstall Windows 8.

Microsoft is finally providing some details about the patches included in its April 8 Windows 8 cumulative update. Based on that information, I recommend installing KB 2822241; it addresses several issues, including a feature that lets you change how Win8 forces restarts after important updates (described in MS Support article 2835627).

I’ll cover some of the problems with rebooting in Windows 8 in a future Patch Watch — and I’ll be interested to see how rebooting is handled in Windows Blue, the next version of the OS.

What to do: Install KB 2799926 if needed. Win8 users should install KB 2800033 and KB 2822241 soon.

A slew of unusual updates for MS Office 2013

Microsoft continues to roll out odd updates for Office. For example:

• KB 2760343 fixes an Office 2013 flaw that arises when you set the display language to Urdu. Without the patch, you can’t create a PowerPoint 2013 presentation.
• A related update — KB 2767860 — fixes a problem with Hindi characters when you enter text into a Microsoft OneNote Web App notebook and then display the text in OneNote 2013.
• KB 2810010, for Office 2013, looks like a widely applicable update. It improves English and German proofing and spellchecking tools.
• If you use Visio 2013, Microsoft’s drawing tool, KB 2810008 fixes an out-of-date Microsoft logo when you select one of the Link Data to Shapes options. (I plan to jump on that one immediately.)
• If you installed Visio from a retail or volume license, you’ll want KB 2768338, which is the usual “stability and performance” update. It does not apply to the Office 365 Click-to-Run installations (a version of Office that lets you download Office components on demand).
• KB 2768337 does fix a flaw in Office 2013 Click-to-Run. If an installation fails, the cause of the failure is not sent back to Microsoft.
• KB 2768007 patches Word 2013 Office Home and Student 2013 RT. Specifically, it corrects an extremely specific flaw that might occur if you use an Outlook.com account and a font or encoding other than UTF-8 (Japanese, for instance).

• KB 2738013 provides the same fix for Outlook 2013.

What to do: I’ve not heard of nor seen any problems with these updates. Although they all fall into the “optional” category, I recommend installing them to keep your copy of Office 2013 completely current.

Regularly updated problem-patch chart

This table provides the status of recent Windows and Microsoft application updates. Patches listed below as safe to install will typically be removed from the table about a month after they appear. For Microsoft’s list of recently released patches, go to the MS Safety & Security Center PC Security page.

Status recommendations: Skip — patch not needed; Hold — do not install until its problems are resolved; Wait — hold off temporarily while the patch is tested; Optional — not critical, use if wanted; Install — OK to apply.