Newsletter Archives

• 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

• 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

• The new PC Health Check app is here (almost)

  Posted on August 30th, 2021 at 02:44 Will Fastie Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Will Fastie

  Hallelujah!

  Sorry. That might be a little over the top. Rejoicing may be too early. And maybe unjustified.

  On August 27, Microsoft posted an article titled Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements and the PC Health Check app to its Windows Insider blog. The article covered two topics, as its title suggests.

  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, Windows 11 AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows, Windows 11, Windows 11 compatibility checker

• Say hello to these new Windows 11 features

  Posted on August 16th, 2021 at 02:42 Lance Whitney Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Lance Whitney

  The next flavor of Windows kicks in several new features, some interesting and hopefully helpful, and others not so much.

  Just when you’ve gotten comfortable enough with Windows 10, Microsoft unveils a new edition of its core OS with fresh and supposedly improved features to figure out. Adapting to a new operating system is always a chore, and that promises to be true with Windows 11. But what new features does the next generation of Windows offer, and which ones might actually be worth the upgrade?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.31.0 (2021-08-16).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows 11 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows, Windows 11

• Windows 11 announced

  Posted on June 28th, 2021 at 02:45 Will Fastie Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.24 • 2021-06-28

  Watch for our special issue on July 5!

  MICROSOFT NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  Why this? Why now? And what the heck is going on?

  On June 24, 2021, Microsoft announced Windows 11. I have no idea why. It is surely not for the cobbled-together reasons the company gave during its rather brief briefing on Thursday.

  Visit our new Windows 11 section in the forums and these topics: Questions about Windows 11 Hardware questions relating to Windows 11

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.24.0 (2021-06-28).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.24.F (2021-06-28).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft News, Windows 11, Windows News AskWoody Plus Newsletter, security, Windows, Windows 11

• The confusion of .NET

  Posted on June 28th, 2021 at 02:40 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Recently I’ve noticed that some folks are getting a bit confused about my recommendations regarding .NET updates.

  If you are a regular follower of my Master Patch Lists, you know that I don’t always recommend installing .NET updates right away, in the months they are released. Why? Because I’m trying to encourage the “business-style” of patching, in which you focus only on the offered security updates and skip the non-security fixes. By configuring your systems this way, the automatic patching process approves and installs only the security-related patches, not the quality fixes.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.24.0 (2021-06-28).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch .NET Core, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, Windows

• Reminder: What’s next for Windows?

  Posted on June 22nd, 2021 at 11:50 Will Fastie Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  Microsoft’s live event entitled “What’s next for Windows” is set for Thursday, June 24 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Watch here. You can also visit that page to get a reminder.

  Microsoft News, Windows News Windows

• Getting rid of local administrators

  Posted on June 21st, 2021 at 02:41 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Administrator rights are easy to set up but hard to remove.

  Once upon a time, we always configured Windows computers with full administrative rights. We thought nothing of it; it was an expected and a normal part of getting a computer system ready to go. We took being an administrator for granted because we needed to install software and run programs that required administrator rights.

  Then people — attackers — began to realize that user accounts with administrative rights were the keys to the kingdom, making it easier for them to gain access to a system and do their dirty deeds.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.23.0 (2021-06-21).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security Administrator account, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Lady Posts, security, Standard account, Windows

• Targeted zero-day vulnerabilities; will more attacks be seen soon?

  Posted on June 14th, 2021 at 02:42 Susan Bradley Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  Solutions for six exploited vulnerabilities are included in this month’s patch releases.

  Months like these always leave me in a quandary. Sometimes fixes appear before anyone in the wild has been affected, but sometimes there are users who have been impacted. Should I urge everyone to immediately patch without testing? Or should I keep with my tried-and-true recommendations — don’t panic, and wait to ensure there are no side effects with these updates.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.22.0 (2021-06-14).

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

• The Next Windows

  Posted on June 7th, 2021 at 02:44 Will Fastie Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  MICROSOFT NEWS

  

  By Will Fastie

  What is it? We don’t really know.

  By now, the news is out that Microsoft will host a livestream event on Thursday, June 24, 2021, at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The event does not have a title; the livestream page on Microsoft’s site just says, “Join us to see what’s next for Windows.”

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.21.0 (2021-06-07).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.21.F (2021-06-07).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft News, Windows News AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft, Microsoft News, Windows

• Win7 to Win10 activation trouble

  Posted on May 24th, 2021 at 01:03 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  LANGALIST

  

  By Fred Langa

  A subscriber lost his Win7 product key and wonders what will happen if his free Win10 upgrade fails to properly activate, especially now that the old, manual “get a replacement key” methods no longer work!

  Surprisingly, the original product key might still exist in several unusual locations, even after the upgrade — but digging it out could take some doing. Here are the options, with additional information about what happens if you don’t activate!

  Plus: More on OneDrive’s permanent vs. impermanent local copies.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.19.0 (2021-05-24).

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

• From bad to worse: A repair goes awry

  Posted on May 10th, 2021 at 01:04 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  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).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, LangaList, Repairs, Windows
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