Should you give Microsoft all of your passwords?

PUBLIC DEFENDER

By Brian Livingston

A new feature of Microsoft’s Edge browser is causing our readers to ask, “Is this MS initiative going to place our account info at risk?” Should Web users allow their browsers to store usernames and passwords for sites they must sign in to?

You’re not going to like the answer, but it’s: Yes and No.

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.18.0 (2021-05-17).

Welcome to beta testing of Outlook

PATCH WATCH

By Susan Bradley

By the time you read this article, the desktop version of Microsoft’s Outlook application will have returned to its normal behavior — being only slightly annoying.

But on Tuesday, May 11, its behavior was downright obnoxious. Our own AskWoody forums started lighting up with users complaining about their inability to read messages in Outlook. Later in the day, Microsoft’s 365 Twitter account lit up with the same complaints. The only remedy was a roll back to a prior version, which, if you’ve never done it before, is hardly obvious.

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.18.0 (2021-05-17).

Tasks for the weekend – May 15, 2021 – Squirrel away time

Youtube video here

If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to go to the Microsoft download site and download a copy of Windows 10 20H2.

21H1 will be coming out shortly and I always like to keep a copy each release of Windows 10.  While there are now ways to get the older versions that don’t involve having access to business licenses, I still find that this is the easiest way to ensure you have a ISO in case you need to reinstall the operating system – or – my typical need – to do a repair install over the top.

Another tool that my fellow geeks use to install to a flash drive is Rufus. You can use it to make a bootable windows 10  – or other platforms as well.

DarkSide ransomware servers taken down

After reportedly receiving $5 million for the pipeline and $4 for another victim, the DarkSide servers have been shut down per Bleeping computer.

Note that I’ve heard that the de-encryption tool was so slow that the Pipeline Company kept on with the recovery process. I can’t stress it enough.. make sure you have a backup. Ransomware is not fun.

New forum opening up

We just officially opened up the May 2021 Windows 10 feature release forum.

Since the official release date is coming soon we wanted to open it up a smidge early in case you had any questions.

We know you </sarcasm on> can’t wait for it to be released to your computer </sarcasm off>, so if you have any questions please feel free to ask away!

…..annnnnd they are out – Patch Tuesday for May 2021

As usual we will be watching for the issues.

Businesses:  If you are a small to med business with Exchange – you have work again as there’s Exchange bugs being fixed including one that’s been publicly disclosed.

Consumers and home users – obviously too early to tell if there are side effects this month. All of the documented known issues at this time are “leftoverisms” from prior months or only impact Enterprises. I’ll be starting my personal testing on my spare machines and will report in.

There are some patches impacting wireless networking and bluetooth that I will be keeping a close eye on to see if they cause any interactions.

Remember 1909 has reached it’s end of life, when we flip back to Defcon 4, you need to take action to be on 20H2 as soon as the all clear is given.

While you are in wait and see mode, don’t forget to update your iphones and android phones and tablets. As always let’s be extra careful out here as we wait to see the impact.

Outlook click to run is the first having issues. Microsoft is aware and investigating. Note I am on the semi-annual channel and not seeing this.

MS-DEFCON 2: Pause on patching

ISSUE 18.17.1 • 2021-05-10 By Susan Bradley It’s time for both business users and consumer or home users to pause Windows updates. Accordingly, I’m changing the AskWoody MS-DEFCON level to 2. Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don’t do it. Consumer and home users If you are a home/consumer user, I recommend two actions to ensure you do not get inadvertent updates. First, select Start, Settings, Network & Internet, and then Wi-Fi or Ethernet (whichever connection you are using). Next, click Manage known networks; click on the network that you use, click Properties, and turn on Set as metered connection. This “tricks” the computer into thinking that your Internet connection is not unlimited (i.e., you might incur charges) and thus will download patches only after you approve the process. The second action is picking a deferral date after May 11, when Microsoft will push out the next Patch Tuesday security releases. Click on Start, Settings, Update & Security; then click on Advanced Options. Pick a date far enough in the future to give you comfort. I always wait at least a week, usually more. I’ll be re-evaluating the update situation closer to the end of the month, but for now choosing May 28 should be safe enough. For those of you with an Office click-to-run (CTR) edition, I strongly recommend that you change to the semiannual channel rather than the monthly one because it will keep you from the Autocomplete bug. Business users Coming this month in the May Security releases, Microsoft will be including a new “News and Interests” taskbar item featuring items of interest to your users. Remember, if you want to proactively block it, there are registry keys and group policy to control it. References AskWoody Master Patch List Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Alert 18.17.1 (2021-05-10).

Anatomy of a malware

ISSUE 18.17 • 2021-05-10

SAFETY

By Ben Myers

Things are not always as they seem. What might appear to be a devastating, PC-destroying piece of malware can sometimes be a spoof.

Recently, a client gave me his laptop, which displayed a frightening message as soon he logged in. This variety of malware is all too popular. Here is a step-by-step process to remove it, expecting that the antivirus software installed in the computer cannot do its job. Along the way, you will see where malware is often hidden.

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).
This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.17.F (2021-05-10).

Buy the drives you need before ‘chia’ gets them all

PUBLIC DEFENDER

By Brian Livingston

Prices of high-capacity solid-state drives (SSDs) have almost doubled at the producer level just in the past few weeks — and shortages are already affecting us. The cause is a new kind of cryptocurrency that demands vast amounts of disk space around the world for its financial network to function.

The new digital coins, which began trading only a week ago, bear the odd moniker of “chia.”

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).

From bad to worse: A repair goes awry

LANGALIST

By Fred Langa

Sometimes, well-intentioned repairs can actually make things worse than before. That’s what happened to a reader who was trying to correct a Windows login error but ended up with a completely unbootable PC!

Is it possible for him to get Windows running again with its already installed software still intact and working? Or is a full reinstall in his future?

Plus: The care and feeding of that little coin-cell battery on your PC’s mainboard.

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).

Freeware Spotlight — O&O Lanytix

BEST UTILITIES

By Deanna McElveen

When showing up at a new client’s small business, the first thing you need to know is where the heck everything is. Or maybe you just want to take inventory of your home network.

How many routers are there? How many computers? How many people are using the company Wi-Fi for their personal phones? Is your kid using his/her laptop at 3 a.m.? What are the IP addresses and MAC addresses?

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).

Is the cloud unsafe?

ON SECURITY

By Susan Bradley

Using the cloud isn’t always a bad thing.

During this year of the pandemic, we’ve pivoted from doing many things in person to many things online. In my industry, one of the key changes is moving from in-person meetings to online meetings via services such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. Another is doing more and more financial transactions online, including accounting for them.

Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).