Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Microsoft has announced that as of today they’re no longer be supporting Windows 8 with Security patches and bug fixes.
In essence, the folks in Redmond are abandoning Windows 8 and leaving its users to fend for themselves in the wild, wild west of the Internet.
This essentially means if you’re running still running Windows 8 on your PC you’ll need to upgrade to either Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 ASAP in order to keep your PC safe from future malware attacks. [Read more…]
In the past, I have typically recommended having automatic updates enabled on Windows machines, for one reason: Protection against recently discovered security threats.
I still believe that to be the best course of action for most Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users.
That being said, a recent string of bad updates have created serious problems on some Windows 10 PCs, prompting me to start recommending that you disable automatic updates on your Windows 10 machine for the time being. [Read more…]
When Microsoft first announced that Windows 10 was going to be free for people who are currently using either Windows 7 or 8.1, lots of folks did the happy dance.
After all, for the first time ever, a major new Windows upgrade was being released to the masses for free.
I still think the free Windows 10 upgrade offer is awesome, but I also believe taking advantage of it should be optional. But as it turns out, Microsoft apparently doesn’t agree with me. [Read more…]
Microsoft really wants you to upgrade your computer that’s running Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10. In fact, they want you to upgrade so badly that they’re literally offering you the upgrade for free.
Personally, I really like Windows 10, and getting it for free was like getting a Christmas present in July. But others aren’t that keen on it, and that’s fine.
Plenty of peole are perfectly content with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, and they have every right to keep using them as long as they can.
If you happen to like what you’ve heard about Windows 10 and you’re planning to install it on one or more of your machines, I believe you’ll probably be glad you did after all is said and done. And if you aren’t, you’ll be able to roll your Windows 10 installation back to the previous version (as long as you do it within 30 days).
All of that being said, if you’re planning to update your machine to Windows 10, there’s something that you really need to do first. You need to create a System Image backup of your current Windows installation!
If you’re wondering why you would need a backup when you can always simply roll back to the previous Windows version if you find that you don’t like Windows 10, here’s why: [Read more…]
Question from Todd J.: My company has just informed us that they’re going to replace all of the 3 year old Dell XPS 15 laptops in our division with new machines by the end of the year.
They’re going to remove the hard drives from all the old laptops and destroy them, then give the laptops to us to keep.
I’ve been told that computers running Windows 7 qualify for a free Windows 10 upgrade, but only if Windows 7 is currently installed on the hard drive. The problem is our IT guys are going to remove the hard drives before they transfer ownership of the laptops to us employees.
My question is will I be able to install a replacement hard drive and then download Windows 10 and activate it using the Windows 7 product key that’s printed on the bottom of the machine?
From what I’ve heard it sounds like I’m going to have to buy a copy of Windows too, but I’d like to know for sure so I’ll know what all I need to do in order to get the laptop back up and running again.
Rick’s answer: [Read more…]