Newsletter Archives

• Back to School, Back to patching

  Posted on September 20th, 2021 at 02:39 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  September is the month for in-the-wild patching.

  September is a month of change. From going back to school here in the United States to seasons changing all over the world, one thing remains constant: we have to patch. No matter what technology we have or use, it seems like this month, we’re patching it.

  From Apple devices that are getting a fix for the targeted attack that allowed journalists to be spied upon, to Chrome’s several vulnerabilities that have already been used in targeted attacks, to Microsoft’s ActiveX and Office bugs that have already been seen in active attacks, you will probably be patching sooner versus later.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.36.0 (2021-09-20).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Tuesday

• Judge halts over-the-air TV streaming by Locast

  Posted on September 13th, 2021 at 02:45 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.35 • 2021-09-13

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A nonprofit organization that uses the Internet to stream live, over-the-air television signals to digital devices has suspended its service throughout the United States after a federal district-court judge ruled that the offering didn’t fully comply with an exception Congress wrote into the US Copyright Act.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.35.0 (2021-09-13).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.35.F (2021-09-13).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Jud, Public Defender, streaming media

• Where OneDrive really (really!) shines

  Posted on September 13th, 2021 at 02:44 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  AskWoody’s recent coverage amply illustrated OneDrive’s drawbacks and hassles, but there are instances where OneDrive (and similar cloud-based apps) are truly spectacular aids.

  For example, OneDrive can speed some setup and reinstallation chores by a literal order of magnitude, cutting down to mere minutes some tasks that used to take hours!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.35.0 (2021-09-13).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive, Windows

• Still emailing documents?

  Posted on September 13th, 2021 at 02:43 Peter Deegan Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Online collaboration with Microsoft 365 is a lot easier — and faster, too.

  Document collaboration is now possible and practical in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. By “practical,” I mean that the features work well in the real world, not just in Microsoft marketing’s fantasyland. Let’s look at the basics of using Office sharing with other people and, especially, with yourself.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.35.0 (2021-09-13).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Collaboration, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Office

• The Windows Start menu: Trials and tribulations

  Posted on September 13th, 2021 at 02:42 Lance Whitney Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  WINDOWS

  

  By Lance Whitney

  Don’t get me started: Windows 11 saddles us with yet another major change to the always vital but never quite right Start menu.

  Another version of Windows, another version of the Start menu. With Windows 11, Microsoft has unveiled its most dramatic change in years to a feature that’s always been a core part of Windows. Instead of the traditional vertical list of all the apps installed on your PC, we get a sparse, boxy window with links only to pinned and recommended apps. Getting to all your apps requires an additional step.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.35.0 (2021-09-13).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter AskWoody Plus Newsletter, History, Start menu, Windows

• PrintNightmare still a nightmare for patchers

  Posted on September 13th, 2021 at 02:41 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  As we start to ready ourselves for the September updates, we’re still haunted by the PrintNightmare issues from the August updates.

  The good news for home users and consumers is that we haven’t seen the August updates triggering side effects with printers. For business users, there are still issues requiring vigilance.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.35.0 (2021-09-13).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch, Printer Drivers, printing

• MS-DEFCON 2: September – here we go again

  Posted on September 9th, 2021 at 02:45 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.35.1 • 2021-09-09 By Susan Bradley It’s time to start getting ready for Windows 11. The countdown is on to the release of Windows 11 on October 5, and it’s the time of the month when I urge you to take actions to ensure you are ready to install updates when you want to. The security updates this month begin the process of introducing group policy settings to control Windows 11, as well as Intune policy settings. But never fear — we will provide you all the information you need to either avoid or embrace Windows 11, as you see fit. Consumer and home users First, and as I always recommend when we get close to the second Tuesday of the month (now infamously known as Patch Tuesday), make sure that your backup is working properly. Open whatever backup software you use, and review the log of recent actions to confirm that the backup is running and backing up as it should. At a minimum, browse your backup location to see whether the file dates in that location are recent. Next, decide what type of patcher you are. If you have spare machines and know you have a solid backup, you could actually be in the patcher category “Extreme” — because you let Windows install updates on its own terms and you simply review for side effects afterward. There are quite a few AskWoody Plus members who do exactly this, because they know that a good backup allows them to recover from updates, just as it protects them from ransomware. The next patcher category is “Deferral.” Go into Start, Settings, Update &  Security, Advanced options and choose September 28 as your deferral date, the date when you allow Windows to do its thing. Next? “Cautious.” For this group, I recommend the use of WUMgr to control updates. You can review how to use this tool in the forums. Business users I predict that I’ll be urging business patchers to install updates no later than September 21, 2021. For now, I don’t anticipate that Microsoft will be providing solutions to the mess that they introduced with the PrintNightmare patches, so we’re still going to have to deal with the fallout and side effects of the August updates. I’ll be recapping these known issues in the September 13 AskWoody Plus newsletter. We’re soon going to be adding the ability to get text alerts sent to you when the AskWoody MS-DEFCON level changes. You can follow the alert account on Twitter now, but soon you can sign up for text alerts as well. You’ll need to be an AskWoody Plus member in order to receive texts to your phone when we send out alerts; look for more information soon. Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Alert 18.34.1 (2021-09-09).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts

• iPhone/iPad users of Teams and To Do need to keep up to date

  Posted on September 6th, 2021 at 02:45 Peter Deegan Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.34 • 2021-09-06

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  There are critical changes coming to the Teams, To Do, and Outlook mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android.

  Recent announcements from Microsoft mean some updates are necessary for Teams and To Do apps, and some Outlook mobile users are in for a nasty surprise within the next few weeks.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.34.0 (2021-09-06).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.34.F (2021-09-06).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, iOS, iPadOS, Microsoft 365, Teams, To Do

• How you might install Win 11 on older PCs lacking TPM 2.0

  Posted on September 6th, 2021 at 02:44 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Microsoft officially announced last week that it will offer Windows 11 in a phased release between October 5, 2021, and “mid-2022” — but techies are already finding ways to install the new OS on older PCs that don’t implement TPM 2.0, a chip the Redmond company says is required.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.34.0 (2021-09-06).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, security, Windows 11

• Why does this PC shut down at about 80% charge?

  Posted on September 6th, 2021 at 02:43 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  Lithium-ion batteries wear differently from classic dry- and wet-cell batteries, leading to some behaviors that seem, well, odd.

  But it also could be a matter of poor thermal management — simple overheating! Today’s column covers easy ways to investigate and cure either type of trouble.

  Plus: Recurring bank-account password problems lead a subscriber to ask about using a free password manager app.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.34.0 (2021-09-06).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Battery charging, hardware, LangaList

• Safely retiring a device

  Posted on September 6th, 2021 at 02:41 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  When and how should you get rid of a computer or device?

  Microsoft came out with new news about supportability of Windows 11 on older platforms. The news about Windows 11 hasn’t changed much, so most of us will need to purchase new hardware to run it.

  Microsoft’s updated guidance suggests that those who install an ISO image configured to avoid the stringent hardware requirements will not be supported. It’s not yet clear whether that unsupported state means no security updates. If so, and if your device is not on Microsoft’s approved hardware list, I recommend sticking with Windows 10 and not upgrading to Windows 11. Security trumps modern.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.34.0 (2021-09-06).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, Patch Lady Posts, Recycling, security

• The basics of security

  Posted on August 30th, 2021 at 02:45 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.33 • 2021-08-30

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  What are the basics you need to secure your computers and devices?

  The needs of consumer and business users are different, but the foundation of security is the same for both. We all need an operating system we can trust, a means to surf the Internet in a trustworthy fashion, and a way to save and store passwords securely. And I’ll add a fourth to this list, increasingly important: we need an application or device to allow us to effectively and efficiently use multi-factor authentication.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.33.0 (2021-08-30).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.33.F (2021-08-30).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, security
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