Blog Archives

• Has MS cleaned up its Win10-update mess? (Spoiler: No!)

  Posted on September 23rd, 2019 at 01:15 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  WOODY’S WINDOWS WATCH

  By Woody Leonhard

  Give Microsoft some credit: it keeps trying to improve patch quality.

  But in spite of two significant improvements to the patching infrastructure, it looks to me as though the process is getting worse, not better.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.34.0 (2019-09-23).

  Windows Patches/Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, patching, Windows 10

• How to block malware with Windows’ built-in security

  Posted on September 9th, 2019 at 01:00 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  SECURITY

  By Lance Whitney

  For years, it seems as though Microsoft gave little thought to malware protection. But the latest tools in Win10 are robust and comprehensive.

  These days, malware comes in many forms: viruses, rootkits, ransomware, phishing, and others. More than ever, you need to ensure your personal computer is protected. Until recently, your best bet was to use a full-time, third-party anti-malware product. But if you’re running a current version of Windows 10, the tools built into the OS are now probably all you need.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.32.0 (2019-09-09).

  Antivirus apps Anti-malware, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows 10, Windows Defender

• Deciphering Task Manager’s App History

  Posted on July 22nd, 2019 at 01:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  WIN10 TUTORIAL

  By TB Capen

  The most recent versions of Windows 10 feature a Task Manager with new capabilities.

  But some of these new features are, unfortunately, poorly documented. One example is the App History tab, which provides interesting and potentially useful information about system-resource use.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.27.0 (2019-07-22).

  Windows 10 App History, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Task Manager, Tutorial, Windows 10

• Taking control of default apps in Win10

  Posted on July 22nd, 2019 at 01:00 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  CONQUERING WINDOWS 10

  By Lance Whitney

  As with most things Windows, there’s more than one way to control or customize something — your preferred default applications, for example.

  It’s also true that some Windows settings can be less than intuitive — or occasionally downright annoying. Here’s how to take full control over Win10’s default applications — or, when needed, select the best app for the task.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.27.0 (2019-07-22).

  Windows 10 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Default apps, Using Win10, Windows 10

• Create an MS Family to share your computing resources

  Posted on July 15th, 2019 at 01:15 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  WINDOWS 10

  By Lance Whitney

  Setting up a Microsoft Family lets you easily give others access to your Windows computer, Office 365 subscription, and shared Outlook calendar.

  We tend to be very protective of our computers. We’re often reluctant to let others use our personal machines because, well, we each have things we want to keep private. But Microsoft and Windows give you an option have it both ways: privacy and sharing.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.26.0 (2019-07-15).

  Windows 10 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, child security, Microsoft Family, sharing, Windows 10

• Putting June’s updates behind us

  Posted on July 1st, 2019 at 01:05 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  By Susan Bradley

  Spring has given way to summer in the northern hemisphere. For those of us enjoying the change in season, let’s not forget some important maintenance on our Windows systems. It’s time to deal with June updates.

  Along with the usual patches, Microsoft posted standalone updates for Win7 and Win8.1 to fix Viewer Console crashes when you open custom views (more info). The patches are available only through Microsoft Update Catalog and, in any case, the chances are good most of us won’t be impacted. My home and office systems successfully swallowed the June updates with no ill effects.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.24.0 (2019-07-01).

  Patch Watch, Windows Patches/Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Office, Win10 1903, Windows 10

• Really useful Windows 10 features

  Posted on July 1st, 2019 at 01:00 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  WINDOWS 10

  By Amy Babinchak

  When Microsoft releases a new version of Windows, I’ll bet lots of users don’t bother to investigate the changes and new features — unless Microsoft moved the users’ cheese.

  Then I hear from clients, complaining that something in the UI is different and they’re not happy with the change. After upgrades, most Windows users tend to just continue doing what they’ve always done. And that’s too bad, because some of the new features are truly useful.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.24.0 (2019-07-01).

  Windows 10 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, clipboard, fonts, night light, security, Windows 10

• Optane disappointment leads to a ‘Plan B’

  Posted on June 24th, 2019 at 01:10 Tracey Capen Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  LANGALIST

  By Fred Langa

  I was in a bit of a pickle: The performance of my brand-new PC was awful — it simply couldn’t handle my peak workloads!

  Worse, it was my own fault: I’d spec’d the wrong drive setup for my particular computing needs!

  Here’s how I got back on track with a hardware/software combination that’s blazingly quick on both hard-drive reads and writes!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 16.23.0 (2019-06-24).

  Buying New Hardware, LangaList AskWoody Plus New, Buying a PC, Optane, performance tuning, Windows 10
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