A Note About Windows 10 Upgrades

Clients in San Diego are constantly asking me about Windows 10 and the upgrade process on their Windows computers and laptops.  It's been out for a few months now and this is based on dozens of experiences with the upgrade process and the OS itself we have experienced out in the field, in the shop and on our own devices.

Windows 10 is lovely, when installed clean.  It's free until June 2016.  Clean meaning ALL settings and data is pulled off, backed up and reconfigured.  However, so far only about 85% of the upgrades go through successfully without a hitch and nearly 100% of the time an upgrade does not make the computer run better.  My own laptop when I upgraded from Win 8 to 10 and it worked, but not better.  I then later wiped it all out and did Windows 10 clean and it's great now!  But, that comes at a multi-hour cost.  My advice is this:  Windows 10 will not revolutionize anything you do, if you want it, great, we'll help you do it the proper, but more time-consuming way.  I'm on the fence as the owner of the company to nearly forbid anyone here to 'upgrade' existing computers without doing a fresh/clean install.  Once again, the odds of it being 'better' are low to none.  Sorry to jump around there, but Windows 10 should only be used on a new PC or if you are will to have your existing 2011 or newer PC wiped clean.  Either way, data, settings and config need to be backed up and restoration is required.  For some this is an hour, for others it's a few hours.  I hope that helps guide you!

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Microsoft Windows Update KB3097877 breaks Outlook

We have calls pouring in around the San Diego area on users running Windows PC's using Outlook.  Seems as though a Windows Update released Tuesday 11-11-15 breaks Outlook.  Specifically, it looks like KB3097877 is the problem.  Here's a link.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/482486ba-a378-4dcd-bd21-08ae19760b93/crashes-since-111115-updates-in-both-outlook-2010-and-2013-when-viewing-html-emails?forum=officeitproprevious

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Sony's Notifying Vaio Owners NOT to upgrade to Windows 10!

Here in our San Diego office, we have had quite a few people wanting to upgrade to Windows 10! We agree to do so, (with a little help from us) BUT  if you have a Sony Vaio, be aware. Apparently there is a substantial delay in releasing drivers for their products. It is model specific but this is straight from their website so check it out!



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Debra Fisher

Mobile Computer Wizard

619 255 1215 or 858 345 0382
deb@mobilecomputerwizard.com

San Diego Computer Repair

Differences between a Sync and a Backup

 A file/data sync is a process of ensuring that files in two or more locations are the same among different devices (via certain rules).

Some examples of syncing programs are Google Photos, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

***Please Note: Be careful while using syncing programs. When you delete from one location, it will delete in the other location, as well.***

Data backup is the physical copying of data files to a removable storage device or the cloud, that allows the data to be stored in another location. You can always access or restore these backups if need be (via certain rules).

Some examples of data backup programs are Mozy and Crashplan (our personal favorites) or Carbonite.

If you have any questions, feel free to call our San Diego office and we'd be happy to help!

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Debra Fisher

Mobile Computer Wizard

619 255 1215 or 858 345 0382
deb@mobilecomputerwizard.com

San Diego Computer Repair

Edge Browser Hijack Fixed

Here in our San Diego office, a few customers have run into this issue since the Windows 10 release. We are still doing some testing to see if there are other ways around clearing malware out of the Edge browser, but for now, this is the way to go! 

1) Close Microsoft Edge Browser

2) Navigate to the following directory

3) C:\Users\

<users>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_xxxxxx\AC\MicrosoftEdge\User\Default\Recovery\Active

4) Delete everything on that directory

5) Open Microsoft Edge

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Debra Fisher

Mobile Computer Wizard

619 255 1215 or 858 345 0382
deb@mobilecomputerwizard.com

San Deigo Computer Repair

Microsoft Fixit for Office 2013 and 2016 Office Install Problems

We ran into a glitch with a PC running Windows 10 in the San Diego area installing Office.  The PC seemed to be stuck on install and this utility really helped!

https://support.office.com/en-ca/article/Fix-Office-365-Office-2016-or-Office-2013-install-errors-54554BB8-AA94-43C7-A685-408DD9868C0B?ui=en-US&rs=en-CA&ad=CA

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

AT&T now offers LTE for Surface 3 tablets!

For those who may have missed this:

A few of our customers here in our San Diego shop, have asked if there was any way yet to use a Surface 3 tablet without a wifi! connection? Well, here's something to look into if you have AT&T! Much more convenient and you do need to rely only on wifi any longer! 


http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/21/surface-3-lte-for-att/

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Debra Fisher

Mobile Computer Wizard

619 255 1215 or 858 345 0382
deb@mobilecomputerwizard.com

San Diego Computer Repair

Brother IS052 InstallNetworkDriver Error on Multifunction Printer Scanner

Sadly, I recently got this error on a brother printer and was not able to resolve it.  The Brother website reads...

In the event of the "IS052 InstallNetworkDriver" error still occurs, the Brother machine should still be able to print. This issue only affects the scanner driver installation.

Which is completely true.  I was forced to reload the computer and it all worked fine.  Hopefully this saves someone the trouble of the endless searching.  If I'm wrong, humble me with what you found!  Yes, that's a really annoying solution, but I exhausted 6 hours into trying everything and I found zero folks able to resolve this on many various Brother multifunction printer/scanners.

It prints, but it won't scan!  Bummer!

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Internet Explorer Proxy Server Settings Won't Save

Several infections will modify Internet Explorer to try to force browsers to use a bogus proxy in order to keep the user from going online. Many anti-malware or anti-virus softwares will overlook these settings as they could be legitimate in the right circumstances.

I've seen this keep you from changing the "Use a proxy server for your LAN" check box. You can modify it, but the changes won't save. Since most browsers lean on Internet Explorer for these type of options, it keeps other browsers from working.

You can manually change these settings in the registry so the options will save properly. 

1) Open Regedit and navigate to: 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

2) Set ProxySettingsPerUser = 1

Greg Wilson, Office Manager

Mobile Computer Wizard

Fast, Friendly, and Affordable Computer Repair

San Diego, CA

MobileComputerWizard.com 

Malwarebytes for Mac is Here!

The beloved anti-malware program used for Windows has arrived to OS X. It scans quickly and efficiently to remove the most common infections including: Genieo, VSearch, and Vidx


​

If the interface looks familiar, it is similar to the program Adware Medic. They were acquired by Malwarebytes on July 15th. This sounds like a great match for both companies and we look forward to seeing where Malwarebytes takes it. 

Greg Wilson, Office Manager

Mobile Computer Wizard

Fast, Friendly, and Affordable Computer Repair

San Diego, CA

MobileComputerWizard.com 

Pandali Folder Master

Many of our San Diego clients are requiring full synchronicity between all of their devices, especially for their contacts and calendars.  If they use Outlook, the best solutions to achieve this are either a free Outlook.com account or a Microsoft Exchange account.  While Outlook.com is free, it does require more time to import previous data into it.  Exchange accounts, however, are much easier to work with from a technician's standpoint.  Migrating into an Exchange account is much easier with the use of the Outlook addin, Pandali Folder Master.  You can shift-select a group of folders to move around or copy.

http://pandali.com/pfm.html

Brett Kline, Onsite Technician

Mobile Computer Wizard

Fast, Friendly, and Affordable Computer Repair

San Diego, CA

MobileComputerWizard.com 

email: brett@mobilecomputerwizard.com

cell: 858-876-2278

Maintenance Tips - Removing Dust From Your PC

Computers over time will gather dust. This is mainly because of the vacuum type of effect the air flow systems create. Desktops kept on the floor have a tendency to collect more dust and households with pets will gather fur. We recommend cleaning the PC once every couple months and can be done with a can of compressed air.

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For Desktops, you will need to open the side panel and look for fans. They are the biggest culprit of caked on dust. Blow these off, and be mindful not to touch the fan blades while they spin. They probably won't hurt you, but they could break.

Notebook computers usually have 2 or 3 fan intakes and exhausts. Blow into these with your compressed air and remember not to turn the compressed air container upside down!



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If you own a household air compressor, this will work very well and again, be careful not to obstruct the fans when they spin. For a professional touch, bring your computer into our office in Kearny Mesa and we will be more than happy to clean it out.

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Greg Wilson, Office Manager

Mobile Computer Wizard

Fast, Friendly, and Affordable Computer Repair

San Diego, CA

MobileComputerWizard.com 

Yahoo drops all phone support

We try to get many of our San Diego clients off of Yahoo mail and onto something more modern that syncs with Outlook, etc.  Yesterday I learned another good reason to do this.  Yahoo no longer has any phone support, even for it's paying customers with small business accounts.  This means that if your email gets hacked or you forget the password and none of your recovery options work (email or text) then you are locked out of the account for good.

Brett Kline, Onsite Technician

Mobile Computer Wizard

Fast, Friendly, and Affordable Computer Repair

San Diego, CA

MobileComputerWizard.com 

email: brett@mobilecomputerwizard.com

cell: 858-876-2278

Fax Testing Tools Without Leaving Your Desk

Over time, testing fax machines has become difficult when you are on-site working on the only available fax machine. Many people don't have access to another fax machine to thoroughly test incoming and outgoing faxes. Here are three on-line solutions to help ensure faxing is setup properly:

FaxZero is a service that will send a fax to a given number up to 5 times a day; 3 pages at a time. They only ask for a name and number to fax to. There can be a minor delay with this service, but does work well to test  incoming faxes.

The HP Fax Testing center is happy to receive and send back a reply fax  quickly. Setup your fax machine as normal and send an outgoing fax to 1 888 473 2963 and wait for a reply fax.

Faxtoy.net is a website that posts images of recently faxed items. Fax a 1 page sheet to 1 855 330 1239 or 1 213 294 2943 and wait for your fax to show on their main page.

Greg Wilson, Office Manager

Mobile Computer Wizard

Fast, Friendly, and Affordable Computer Repair

San Diego, CA

MobileComputerWizard.com 

iPhone, Android text message, content transfer utility program

If you're thinking about switching your cell phone from an iPhone to a Android, OR vice versa, check out this program that allows you to transfer text, contacts, pictures, videos, apps etc. from one platform to another!!! I was asked about this type of service by one of our customers, here in San Diego, and decided to do some research on some different programs. This program, Wondershare Mobiletrans, seems to work very well. Check it out!

http://www.android-recovery.net/transfer-iphone-sms-to-samsung.html

Debra Fisher
Mobile Computer Wizard

619 255 1215 or 858 345 0382
deb@mobilecomputerwizard.com

San Diego Computer Repair

ESET Antivirus when added to an Outlook Exchange account

Be informed that I had a user who needed ESET added to her computer near San Diego.  Small task, but her Outlook took hours to update the inbox as ESET needed to scan a few thousand email messages.  It was stuck on 'updating inbox'. I could flip her Outlook account back and out of cached mode, but then Outlook runs poorly.  Anyway, be patient with large Outlook exchange boxes when adding Eset antivirus.

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Weak Wireless and Poor WiFi Range for Arris DG860 Time Warner Modem Routers

We've now seen this a few times in San Diego.  This is a modem slash router that Time Warner sells and the output of the wireless is shockingly weak.  It's good for a room or two.  In both cases I added a separate Asus router with a real antenna.  If you are stuck with one of these, there's hope!

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Backing Up Sticky Notes In Windows 7 & 8

Sticky Notes are the helpful (and generally temporary) way to give yourself simple reminders. Like real sticky notes, we don't recommend keeping sensitive information on them as it is easy enough to accidentally delete their information.

Warning aside, there is a way to back up their information. Sticky Notes keeps all currently open notes in a single database file located in: 

C:\Users\{Username}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Sticky Notes\StickyNotes.snt

This file can be backed up and restored from this location in the event that something critical happened to be there. The only caveat is that Sticky Notes must have been launched one time prior so that the correct directories were created.

Happy computing!

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Greg Wilson, Office Manager

Mobile Computer Wizard

Fast, Friendly, and Affordable Computer Repair

San Diego, CA

MobileComputerWizard.com 

email: greg@mobilecomputerwizard.com

cell: 858-224-3047

Using Powerful Filters in Gmail to Remove Old Emails with Switch and Label Selections

By now, folks around San Diego will start to run into possible Gmail email storage issues.  15gb is a lot of space, and for only $2 a month you can upgrade.  But all being said, zapping some emails that are unlabeled and a few years old can clear a ton of space.  Surprisingly, it's not that easy, but hopefully these will help

Searches like this will basically remove unimportant mail previous to 2014.  This is just an example, use at your own risk!

before:2014/1/1 has:nouserlabels -label:inbox -label:sent -label:chats -label:drafts -label:spam -label:trash -label:notes -is:starred

Conversation view MUST be off to use the above with the has:nouserlabels

Similar, if you had ATT mail forwarding in...

before:2014/1/1 label:ATT -label:inbox -label:sent -label:chats -label:drafts -label:spam -label:trash -label:notes -is:starred 

Kurt Rein

MobileComputerWizard.com

858-345-0382 Office

San Diego Computer Repair

Changes about iPhoto and Aperature for Apple Computers

On Mavericks, it's just called Photos now, just like on iPhones and iPads.  iPhoto and Aperture are not supported any more and have been removed from the app store on Macs.

From wikipedia (here):

On April 8, 2015, Apple released OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, which includes the new Photos app. iPhoto and Aperture were discontinued and removed from the Mac App Store.

Kurt Rein
www.MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office

Window 10 for Free!

Yes, it looks like users with Windows 7 or 8 will be able to upgrade for free. Thanks Microsoft!  Read more here.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/features

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

The Hybrid Exchange Walk-Through

It takes a little bit of doing but it isn't that bad!

http://community.office365.com/en-us/w/exchange/786.simple-domain-sharing-for-smtp-email-addresses.aspx

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Josiah Thomas
http://MobileComputerWizard.com

858-345-0382
San Diego Computer Repair

A great Spam program for Outlook

If you are at your wits end like many of you are in San Diego.  This plugin for Outlook works pretty well.  The free version does one inbox and the premium does multiple email inbox's.

http://www.cloudmarkdesktop.com/en/download

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Windows 7 Fails to Boot - "autochk program not found, skipping autocheck"

I ran into this issue when cloning a hard drive to solid state recently. This can be caused when cloning a drive with an EFI Windows Boot partition. 

Fixing the issue requires booting into the Windows Diagnostic and Repair menu (DaRT). From there, open a command prompt and type in "regedit" to modify the registry of the cloned Windows install. 

Navigate to HKLM\System\MountedDevices and rename the entire MountedDevices directory. This will cause Windows to reload these entries and your drive should boot into Windows.

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2 Google and Microsoft won't call you!

2

Many of our clients in San Diego report that they have been getting calls from Google or Microsoft.  Sometimes it's unsolicited and sometimes it's the result of a search for tech support and the bad guys post a fake number.  Bottom line, getting Google on the phone is a near impossibility and Microsoft also won't give you tech support for free.  If you wind up with a nice lady like this picture, it's not her and she's not nice! Hang up!

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Google and Microsoft won't call you!

Many of our clients in San Diego report that they have been getting calls from Google or Microsoft.  Sometimes it's unsolicited and sometimes it's the result of a search for tech support and the bad guys post a fake number.  Bottom line, getting Google on the phone is a near impossibility and Microsoft also won't give you tech support for free.  If you wind up with a nice lady like this picture, it's not her and she's not nice! Hang up!

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Quickbooks limit on the number of Names, Customers and Items

I had to check, because I heard this is bad and there's no warning, true!  It's easy to check where you are at by hitting F2 with Quickbooks open.  In 5 years, we are a third of the way there!

In QuickBooks Pro and QuickBooks Premier versions, you can't have more than 14,500 items or 14,500 names.

https://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/Articles/INF12412

http://blog.betterbottomline.com/scott_gregory_quickbooks/2014/04/14500-inventory-and-customer-name-limits-in-quickbooks.html

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

Crashplan Log About What's Not Being Backed Up History

To help understand what's not being backed up in Crashplan, you must go to a deep directory to view a log file.  I had a client in Point Loma San Diego running a windows PC who needed a few useless windows files trimmed from the backup so it would complete 100 Percent.

http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/Latest/Troubleshooting/Unable_To_Back_Up_Files_Mac

http://support.code42.com/CrashPlan/Latest/Troubleshooting/Unable_To_Back_Up_Files_Windows

Kurt Rein
http://MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
San Diego Computer Repair

How to fix broken computers

Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. 

Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. 

Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. 

Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. Plug them in and restrart and do it angian.

Plug them in and restrart and do it angian. 

See a pic.

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office
12312113123213

Incomplete list of Windows Program Files = CCleaner

In San Diego today I found a computer with this problem.  I've seen the Program Files list be shortsighted a few times now after a malware infection.  In this case, CCleaner had the full list of actual programs installed!

 - CCLEANER HAS a complete LIST of programs!

Skype was one program not listed.  Version 5 to 7 would NOT auto install until I uninstalled it with CCleaner's list of programs.

 

Kurt Rein
MobileComputerWizard.com
858-345-0382 Office

San Diego Computer Repair