July 29th, and Windows Ten

Folks, many of you (well, any Windows user, really) will ‘need to know’ the following…

* What happens to those free Windows 10 upgrades after July 29, 2016?

“We’re nearing the end of Microsoft’s unprecedented free upgrade offer for Windows 10. The offer officially expires July 29, 2016, on the one-year anniversary of the operating system’s initial release. But what happens then?” [Updated] Read more..

Once you’ve understood that, you may next want to refer back to the article I posted the other day: How to lock in your free Windows 10 upgrade and keep using your old Windows version

* * *

Today’s quote: “The wise does at once what the fool does at last.” ~ Baltasar Gracian

Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Windows 10 “Upgrade” Nag – Disabled!

Folks, those of us who do not want Windows X (like, if you, mistrust “cloud” privacy invasions, enjoy Windows Media Center, or Hearts, or Spider Solitaire, or Chess Titans..) will want to read (and download) the following:

First, I wrote an article on KB3035583 and gwx.exe, here: GWX.EXE (Or, How To Remove the Windows 10 Upgrade Nag)

Next (and more importantly): Microsoft takes the gloves off, pushes Windows 10 upgrades even harder

“When Microsoft announced that Windows 10 would be a free upgrade for Windows users who had genuine copies of Windows 7 or 8, many praised the move as a smart way to ensure users, enthusiasts, and gamers would get the latest OS version. Since this spring, the bloom has been coming off that particular rose. The company’s invasive GWX application pesters users to upgrade, downloads the upgrade without your permission, “accidentally” forced some users to upgrade without recourse, announced that this program would be returning in near-term future, and now, is attempting to convince people they simply have no option but to upgrade.” Read more..

I have downloaded the standalone installer, and am keeping my fingers crossed it will keep me from having to repeatedly perform KB3035583 uninstalls… but I am keeping ‘ghost’ images of my machines stored just in case. Hey, Microsoft? Get the clue. These are our machines. And taking advantage of user cluelessness is a vile policy – shame on you – stop it!

Today’s quote: “If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.” ~ James Herriot

Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Warning: Critical Patch for Windows Issued

Oh, yes.. more of the same. Act now and protect yourself. * Microsoft releases emergency patch for all versions of Windows

“The flaw, affecting Windows Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1, can allow a hacker to take over a machine.” Read more..

And when I went to Start>Windows Update, I saw this new item..

No, thanks. I never want the first version of any thing.

Other news: More Items Like This * UCLA Health hit by hack; medical data on 4.5 million people exposed

“The LA-based university health system says the data stolen was not encrypted.” Read more..

[Silly me! I thought there were laws making such PII mandatory-encrypted.. ]

*     *     *

Today’s quote: “Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.” ~ Robert Green Ingersoll Copyright 2007-2015 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories. Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

How to get Windows 7 cheap (or even free)

For those of you disinclined to get Windows 8… (and can’t delay until Windows 10 arrives…)

* Perfectly legal ways you can still get Windows 7 cheap (or even free)

“Windows 7 is more than five years old. Most of the cheap upgrade offers that were available when it was fresh and new are long gone. But if you prefer the familiar Windows 7 interface (or need it for testing and evaluation) you can still find great deals. Here are all the details you need.” READ FULL STORY

Friday Fun Video:

Today’s quote: “The catch phrase for the day is ‘Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile.” ~ Harvey Ball

Let’s all do our part, okay? Make the world a better place.

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.
Find a way to make someone’s day today.
(Best advice I ever heard? Don’t sweat the small stuff.)

This Week’s Items of Interest

Here are a few items for your consideration.

* How Ordinary Skills Led to an Extraordinary Life for ‘Dilbert’ Creator

“While there is a continuous stream of articles toting the amazing qualities of entrepreneurs, the secret traits of successful people and tricks for making it to the top, Scott Adams, the creator of award-winning comic series Dilbert, thinks it’s hogwash.” Read more..

* The First 100% Free Mobile Phone Service

“If you’re shackled by an unwieldy wireless plan that’s costing you an arm and a leg each month – FreedomPop is here to change all that. Unlimited voice, text, and 500MB of data on a 4G network is unheard of – but how can you make history if you don’t break boundaries?” Read more..

* Massive German hack sees one fifth of population’s passwords stolen

“The passwords and other details of 16 million email users in Germany have been stolen- the equivalent of almost a fifth of the German population being at risk.” Read more..

* A few security lessons from the Target breach

“The Target breach points out some facts of life on the Web: We’re all targets (pun intended) of cyber thieves.

Fortunately, there are steps we can take to protect ourselves. Here’s how to protect yourself from the next big breach.” Read more..

* Can a Tweet Put You in Prison? It Certainly Will in the UK

“Tweeting racist or otherwise libelous bile can land you in jail in the UK, but the victim, as ever, is not the target of the tweet but free speech.” Read more..

* Where can you still find a PC running Windows 7?

“If you want a PC running Windows 7, where do you look? Skip your local office superstore or big-box retailer and go where the business buyers go. In those channels, you’ll find that Windows 7 never went away. In fact, it’s not just alive, it’s thriving.” Read more..

*     *    *

Today’s quote: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” ~ Mark Twain

Copyright 2007-2014 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
And please, never forget – one person can make a difference.

A couple of software reco’s

It’s kind of odd.. but since I went into semi-Retirement, I’ve been busier than ever.

I have been reminded recently that a couple of free software utilities I use, well, I cannot recall if I’ve ever mentioned them to you guys… as they are rather Geeky (aka not “for everyone”).

* First up is a file copy/transfer utility. TeraCopy isn’t anything fancy, it just makes Windows work like it should, when working with big copy/transfer jobs. It’s free for personal use.

“One of the most common complaints about newer versions of Windows is the slow copying speed, especially when transferring lots of files over the network. If you want to speed up your copying or if you regularly transfer large amounts of data and have to stop the process to perform some other disk-intensive task, this program may be just what you need.” Check it out here.

* Next up is a “boot disc”. Now, most of you will not ever have call for a boot disc, or need to know how to use one, but if you know what they are, and don’t know about UBCD4Win, well I suggest you take a look.

“UBCD4Win is a bootable recovery CD that contains software used for repairing, restoring, or diagnosing almost any computer problem. Our goal is to be the most complete and easy to use free computer diagnostic tool.” Check it out here.

One of the things I use the UBCD4Win most often is to make “images” (backups/”clones”) of a hard drive using DriveImageXML, but you do not need to use a boot disc to take advantage of this free disk imaging/archiving tool. (It is a ‘standalone’ app that’s been bundled onto UBCD.)

“DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives. Image creation uses Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe “hot images” even from drives currently in use. Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Never again be stuck with a useless backup! Restore images to drives without having to reboot. DriveImage XML is now faster than ever, offering two different compression levels. ” Check it out here.

Today’s quote: “Everybody ought to do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.” ~ William James

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Planet Earth Is Blue…

Folks, I am going to ask you to indulge me in one more video (I guess I am “on a roll”), but yes, there’s some tech, too (just scroll down). Today’s music video was sent in by a reader, who thought I might enjoy it. I did!

I have heard that song, oh, maybe.. 24,336 times in my life. But never quite like that!

Today’s Tech

* Build a complete Windows 7 safety net (by one of my fave tech How To writers, Fred Langa) Note: this is IMHO the definitive How To tutorial for disaster recovery — please read it!

“Every copy of Windows 7 includes a complete suite of backup tools. The suite contains everything you need to back up (and restore) your entire system.
What’s more, after you’ve set up your initial backup, future backups happen automatically.
In fact, Windows 7 makes it so easy to set up fully automated backups, it’s almost nutty not to do it.” Read more.. (please)

(‘Cuz it is nutty not to do it.)

* Cyberstalking Victim Wants LinkedIn to Do More to Protect Users.

“After being sexually assaulted at work, Anna Rihtar quit the job she loved to avoid her attacker. And, like many unemployed people, she turned to LinkedIn to find work. But Rihtar’s attacker followed her online. In addition to phoning, emailing, and pursuing Rihtar on Facebook and Twitter, he began cyberstalking her on LinkedIn, leaving messages that were alternately flirtatious and hate-filled…” Read more..

… 24 signatures on her petition..? What the ____ is wrong with people?!?!

Sigh. Oh, well. Have a great day everybody! (And thank you, Dear Reader.)

Today’s question: If April showers bring May flowers.. what do May showers bring?

Today’s quote: “If you’re in a bad situation, don’t worry it’ll change. If you’re in a good situation, don’t worry it’ll change.” ~ John A. Simone, Sr.

Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

---

>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

---

All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.