Virgin Media’s Email Robots!

Virgin Media have introduced an extra level of security for those who use their webmail service. When you sign in, you are now faced with the statement “I am not a robot”.  It has a tick box by the side. (see picture). Tick the box, and if you are lucky you get to see your email.  If you are unlucky, you get a further box with a number of pictures. You are asked to “tick all pictures with airplanes”, for example (or pasta, or cars, etc).  Tick the right ones and they let you in to see your email.

 

Needless to say, a lot of users are a bit annoyed about this.  see the user forum here.

The idea is that it is an extra layer of security designed to protect you, and stop unwanted automated logins by hackers.    Apparently some users have been hacked in recent days, hence the change.

Virgin also say, in a separate development, that they are planning to change how their webmail service looks, so stand by for more confusion!

All this does not apply to customers who use a program like Windows Mail, thunderbird or Outlook for their email.

 

For information and computer support, contact me at PC Care

Windows 10 gets closer…

If you are a Windows computer user, you may have noticed a new little “icon” has appeared in your “tray” – on the bottom right of the screen, near the time and date.  It looks like this: See the square icon on the left?  Microsoft has put this there to encourage you to register to download Windows 10. Windows 10 is due out later this year, and it promises to be much, much better than the ill-fated Windows 8 (later 8.1). Upgrading from Windows 7 or 8 (8.1) will be free for the first year. What should you do? There’s no harm in registering – you will be notified when the download is available.  You can download it, but I would not advise installing it right away. With all new systems there are “teething problems”, and it would be wise to wait a month or two before jumping in. If you currently have Windows 8, or 8.1, there is every reason to then install Windows 10 and enjoy the ease of operation it offers.  However, if you are a Windows 7 user, there is no compelling reason to upgrade as yet. Windows 7 works well, and you are familiar with it.  Windows 10 will be similar, but invariably there will be new things to get used to.  It looks like this: Note the “tiles” on the right of the start menu. These are modified from Windows 8.1, but we have the start button back, and a much more familiar desktop. Windows 10 will hopefully be a vast improvement on 8.1. It may not be much of an improvement on Windows 7, but at least you will have longer life.  Support for Windows 7 ends in January 2020. Apparently There will be no Windows 11, but Microsoft will update Windows 10 as it goes along.  We shall see how it all turns out. For more details and advice, and to help install Windows 10 when the time comes, contact me at PC Care

Help! My internet’s not working!

It’s happened to all of us – you switch on your computer or laptop, eager to get on the internet to book your holiday or check the price of peas at Tesco. But it all grinds to a disappointing halt as the message comes up “Cannot connect to the website”. Then you try to check your e-mail, only to find the same problem – your internet has stopped.
As with most computer problems, there may be a number of reasons why this has happened. But here are some of the most common issues, and how to solve them.
1. Firstly, check your router. This is the little box which plugs into the wall somewhere, and actually connects your computer to the internet. It should have a number of lights on, some solid, some flickering a bit. If all the lights are off, check that it is plugged in to the mains correctly. If that is the problem, plug it in properly and give it a few minutes to for the lights to settle down. Try the internet again.
2. If that’s not it, switch off your router, by taking the mains plug out of the wall. Also switch off your computer. After a few minutes, plug the router back in, and restart the computer. Wait a few minutes for the lights on the router to settle down. Now see if your internet is restored. A lot of problems will be solved in this simple way.
3. If you still cannot connect – pick up your landline phone and see if you can get a dial tone. If you hear nothing, check that all the leads are plugged in securely, If they are, and you still hear nothing, then the problem may be with your phone line provider, eg BT, Talktalk, etc. They may sort it out themselves within a few hours, but if not, you will need to report the fault to them.

4. If that is not the problem and you still can’t get online, it may be that the website you are trying to reach is notworking. Try a different website.

5. Try a different “browser”. Many computers have more than one program to access the internet, called “browsers”. Common ones are Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Firefox. These all do basically the same thing, and it is useful to have more than one in case you have a problem. If you cannot connect with one browser, and you have an alternative, try it.

If you still cannot get online, then give me a call on 01903 533586, or send me a message via my contact page.

The end of Windows XP?

Word is getting out that After April this year, Microsoft will cease to support their Windows XP operating system. What does this mean? Will you need to buy a new computer? Here’s my advice..

First, some background. The Operating System is the program which runs your computer. It can do nothing without the Operating System (or OS). It is, if you like, the backbone, while all your other programs (Microsoft Word, etc) are the bones connected to it. If we had no backbone, we would collapse!

Windows XP was launched in 2001, so it is quite old now. But about one-third of the world’s computers still use it. If you bought your computer more than, say 6 years ago, the chances are you have XP.

What happens after April? Well, your computer will carry on working. Until the other day, Microsoft were saying that they would stop issuing “security updates”, so that your computer would soon become more prone to viruses and less stable generally. Microsoft have now announced that they will continue issuing security updates for another year. See this BBC article here.

The latest Operating System, Windows 8 (and its recent predecessor Windows 7) are certainly better than XP.  They run more smoothly and are more stable and secure, which is important in an age when many of us are so dependent on our computers.

So what are your options?

1.  Do nothing.  OK, your computer will continue to work, and be safe, at least until 2015.

2.  Upgrade your Operating System to Windows 7 or 8, while keeping your computer itself.  This may be a good option, depending on the age of your computer. It involves taking a copy of all your documents, pictures, emails etc, to keep them safe, then deleting everything and installing the new Operating System,  Then  copying back all your documents and reinstalling any programs.  it’s quite a performance, very time consuming, and hence expensive.  If it’s an old, PC (say 6 years or more), it may be more economical to…

3. Buy a new computer.  This is the safest option, but also the most expensive.  If you would like to buy a new one, O can supply it and set it all up for you.  Visit my website at www.pccare.me.uk.

Beware the scammers!

With computers being quite complex affairs, liable to go wrong, run slow, and be generally frustrating, there are those who take advantage of the unwary.

I have recently been contacted by a number of customers who have had phone calls from someone purporting to be from “Microsoft”, “Technical support” or some such plausible title.  This person tells you that your computer has a problem.  Either someone has ‘hacked into it’, or it ‘has a virus’, is ‘running slow’ etc.  Because at some time most people have trouble with their computers, you answer “oh yes, that’s true.”  Then they invite you to view certain files on youir computer which they say “prove”  it has major problems.  A favourite is called the Event Viewer.  This is a standard part of the Windows system which shows hundreds of apparent errors, “warnings” and “critical failures”, etc.  In reality very few of these are of any significance at all, but it can scare the daylights out of you if you don’t know.

The scammer then offers to sort this out.  He asks you to go to a certain web page and allow him to take control of your computer. At this point the motives of the scammers seem to vary.  Some will download free software on to your PC, and charge you for it.  Others may put a virus on your computer which may start sending them information – bank details, passwords etc. – and charge you for it. Or both.
If this happens, your computer will need checking by a reputable local computer engineer to make sure anything nasty is removed.

The way to avoid all this grief is to put the phone down if you ever get such a call – and they are incredibly common.  I have had several such calls. Just don’t get involved.  And don’t be tricked into thinking that anyone on the phone can see that your computer has a problem.  They can’t.  Simple.  Unless you tell them!

For help, advice and support, visit my website at www.pccare.me.uk

Windows 8 revisited

Windows 8 has been around for a little while now, so I thought it was time for an update, see how it is being received, and what people are saying.

Well, mostly the response has been quite negative.  Users are confused by its so called “Modern” display, which consists of “tiles”, taking you to programmes which don’t work as well as they used to.

For some people, touch screen users in particular, the tiles will offer a great new way of interacting with the computer, but for many, they really are not very helpful.  Add to that the absence of the traditional Start button, and it’s a recipe for customer dissatisfacttion.  However, all is not lost, and buying a Windows 8 machine need not be the disaster you fear.

On the plus side, Windows 8 is stable and reliable – unlike the old Vista, which was retired early due to numerous instability issues.  By all accounts Win 8 works well.  It’s just working with it that’s a problem. However, some of Win 8’s quirks can be overcome.

The first thing is to know that one of the tiles says “desktop”.  Clicking on this tile will take you to a more traditional screen from which to load your programs, surf the web, send emails etc. There are a number of helpful programs you can use so that it automatically opens here, and gives you a traditional Start button as well.  See for instance Classic Shell.     Avoid all the tiled programs and go straight to this.

Stunned by the negative customer response to Win 8, Microsoft have now launched Windows 8.1.  But beware, although this addresses some of the issues, it doesn’t solve everything, and the so called Start button it provides is not the same as the traditional one.

Windows 8.1 has made some things easier, but the much vaunted replacement of the Start button is not really all it seems.  All it appears to do is toggle between the Desktop and “Modern” views.  Back to Classic Shell then.

The upgrade process from 8 to 8.1 is not without its problems.  First, the upgrade is only available in the Windows Store (Modern mode), and only if your PC is ready for it, with all Updates in place.

Next, in 8.1, Microsoft really want you to have a Microsoft Account.  Such an account enables you to sync data between devices and download apps, but many will not want this – it also allows Microsoft to track your activity! In Win 8, it was possible to set things up without an account.  In the upgrade process to 8.1 this is still possible, but very hard to find.

I have recently discovered that, at the moment, Microsoft are only offering 2 years support for Windows 8 if you do not upgrade to 8.1.  This is disgraceful, especially with the upgrade process so opaque. Hopefully, at some point they will put 8.1 as a routine upgrade in the regular updates process, rather like what happened with Windows XP service Pack 3.

Finally, back to the Microsoft Account controversy, and the new MS Office 2013. The latest version of Office requires you to have a Microsoft Account.  I have not found a way of setting it up without one.  So, again I would not necessarily recommend Office 2013 for domestic users, as free alternatives like Libre Office are available. Pre 2007 versions of Office will not work with Windows 8, although they do work with Windows 7.