Newsletter Archives

• Planning ahead for migration

  Posted on March 24, 2025 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  TAME YOUR TECH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  March 20, last Thursday, was the spring equinox. For me, that means I start planning ahead for gardening season.

  I’ll review seed catalogs and study how things worked out last year. Making a plan well ahead of turning that first bit of soil is essential for me, and I put it all on paper. From determining how much fertilizer and mulch I need to computing compost density and selecting the best seeds for this year, I want that plan.

  Okay, I know that as Will was editing this column, he was asking himself, “What the heck is she talking about? This is a tech newsletter!” I’ll explain.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.12.0, 2025-03-24).

  Tame Your Tech Apple, Business insurance, Cyber insurance, Linux, Migration, Mint, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, PC Upgrades, Windows 10, Windows 10 ESU, Windows 11

• To reboot, or not to reboot

  Posted on March 3, 2025 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Why do we need to reboot our computers?

  Why can’t they just run 24/7 without issue? And why is Windows more likely to require rebooting than other systems?

  Normally, I take rebooting for granted, as a matter of fact. This dates very far back. I remember tech support agents on the phone, asking whether I had rebooted a PC and then — regardless of the answer — asking me to reboot again. Recently, I stumbled upon a bug that was interesting enough to cause me to raise this question.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.09.0, 2025-03-03).

  Patch Watch Linux, macOS, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Rebooting, Windows

• Linux — it’s all about the apps

  Posted on January 15, 2024 at 02:43 CST by Chris Husted • Comment in the Forums

  LINUX

  

  By Chris Husted

  I always get strange looks from people when I tell them I use Linux on my laptop at home, as if I were some techno-nut who feels compelled to tell the world how important open-source software is.

  I’m not, but it is. There is one simple reason I have stayed with Linux for the past five years: it works.

  I am currently using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, one of the world’s most popular Linux distributions, nicknamed “Jammy Jellyfish.” Linux “distros,” as they are called, tend to have colorful names. I started using Ubuntu in 2018, when the latest version was called “Bionic Beaver.” Feel free to giggle. I am sure the creators did.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.03.0, 2024-01-15).

  Linux Linux, Migration, Mint, Newsletters, Ubuntu

• Hard-drive imaging — AOMEI Backupper Standard

  Posted on October 23, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  At OlderGeeks.com, we test a lot of software. Sometimes we do so in a virtual machine that we can reset when things get out of control.

  But a lot of software deals with the actual hardware in a computer, so we must use our test system to assure that a rogue app does no harm. In that case, we make a drive image before we experiment.

  There are many free and open-source backup programs out there. Some do just file backups, and some also do total hard-drive imaging. That means they take a snapshot of your entire hard drive and save it as a single file, or perhaps a few files. In this article, I will concentrate on my favorite program in this class.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.43.0, 2023-10-23).

  Freeware Spotlight Backup, Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, Drive Imaging, Linux, Newsletters, USB drives, Windows PE

• Vulnerabilities everywhere

  Posted on August 14, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.33 • 2023-08-14

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Another month, another series of updates for seemingly everything on the Windows platform.

  But this isn’t just any month. Patch Tuesday once again coincided with the week of the annual security conference, Black Hat. The Windows-based topics range from “Hacking Bing.com (and much much more) with Azure Active Directory” to a briefing titled “Defender-Pretender: When Windows Defender Updates Become a Security Risk.”

  In addition, there is a talk called “Single Instruction Multiple Data Leaks in Cutting edge CPUs aka Downfall.” Better known as CVE-2022-40982, the flaw is a transient execution side-channel issue and impacts all processors based on Intel microarchitectures from Skylake through Ice Lake. Not to be left out, Apple and Android bugs have their own talks.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.33.0, 2023-08-14).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Patch Watch Canon, CVE-2022-40982, CVE-2023-21709, HVEC, Linux, Mint, Newsletters, Office 2013, Outlook, Patch Lady Posts, Ubuntu

• AltSnap — A little bit of Linux in Windows

  Posted on June 12, 2023 at 02:44 CDT by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  If you are a dual operating system user, specifically Linux and Windows, you know how frustrating it is to hold down the Alt key in Windows to move or resize a window — and nothing happens.

  If you have never used Linux, today’s free software will make you Linux-curious.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.24.0, 2023-06-12).

  Freeware Spotlight Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, Linux, Newsletters, Windows

• “What can I use my old computers for?”

  Posted on January 23, 2023 at 02:45 CST by Randy McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.04 • 2023-01-23

  SUPPORT

  

  By Randy McElveen

  I will be the first to admit that I have a problem letting go of things. I just cannot throw things away, especially electronics.

  In this article, I will give you some “tips for pack rats” about how to repurpose old computers. I’m sure I will get around to doing these things with my basement full of computers — someday.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.04.0, 2023-01-23).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Support Hardware, Linux, Newsletters, Older PCs, Randy's Remedies

• The state of Linux in 2022

  Posted on August 29, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Sandra Henry-Stocker • Comment in the Forums

  LINUX

  

  By Sandra Henry-Stocker

  Linux continues to play a major role in a number of market segments, from everyday embedded devices to supercomputers.

  While it is used on fewer than 3% of desktops, it dominates supercomputing, web servers, the cloud, smartphones, and more. Linux-supported systems have even helped in the successful completion of 65 SpaceX missions. The fact that Linux is open-source means that it can be optimized for many different purposes and, looking at the Linux roadmap, it has.

  Let’s take a stroll through Linux and see where it stands in 2022!

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.35.0, 2022-08-29).

  Linux Linux, Newsletters

• Linux malware is on the rise. What should you do?

  Posted on March 7, 2022 at 02:43 CST by Sandra Henry-Stocker • Comment in the Forums

  LINUX

  

  By Sandra Henry-Stocker

  Threats to Linux systems used to be relatively mild because Windows was such a larger target, outnumbering Linux systems by a huge percentage.

  Not any longer. Linux has become a much bigger target due to its increasingly significant role on Internet of Things (IoT) devices, virtual machines, containers, cloud services, and supercomputers.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 19.10.0 (2022-03-07).

  Linux Linux, malware, Newsletters

• Preparing for your move to Linux

  Posted on October 11, 2021 at 02:43 CDT by Sandra Henry-Stocker • Comment in the Forums

  LINUX

  

  By Sandra Henry-Stocker

  For most of us, our Microsoft Office suite is far from the only thing we use on our Windows computer. What about email, messaging, screen captures, password safes, tax-preparation software, calculators, image-manipulation tools, video players, backup tools, and such?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.39.0 (2021-10-11).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Linux AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Linux, Migrating

• Breaking and entering with Linux: What you see

  Posted on September 27, 2021 at 02:42 CDT by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE

  

  By Ben Myers

  In my first “Breaking and entering” article, you saw what to do step-by-step to get an unbootable system into legacy boot mode and how to prepare a UEFI USB stick with Linux Mint.

  Now, boot your system with that Linux USB stick.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.37.0 (2021-09-27).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Diagnostics, Hardware, Linux, Repairs

• Breaking and entering with Linux

  Posted on August 30, 2021 at 02:41 CDT by Ben Myers • Comment in the Forums

  HARDWARE

  

  By Ben Myers

  Use Linux on a USB stick to diagnose a Windows system.

  My working premise here is that your Windows system will not boot, not even in safe or any other degraded mode. You have no idea what’s going on, and it is premature, time-consuming, and sometimes futile to rip a computer open to see what is inside. The solution is to boot another operating system from a USB stick and use it to explore and diagnose problems.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.33.0 (2021-08-30).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Hardware AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Diagnostics, Hardware, Linux, Repairs
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