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Tag Archives: windows 10

Mobile working from a tablet

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Mobile working is great.  The ability to work from anywhere without needing an office and all the distractions it brings is priceless.  More and more people are jumping on the bandwagon and starting to use tablets specifically for this purpose.  They offer excellent portability, battery life and in the case of Windows  10 a “proper” operating system to run all your programs on.  One big drawback though is lack of storage space as most tablets are in the 16 GB – 64 GB range which for some people is fine and others not so.

This is where cloud storage helps.  You can store all your files on Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Onedrive etc and access them when required so long as you have wifi.  In Scotland though 3G coverage (and 4G) can be sporadic outside of the main population centres so accessing online data can be a problem.

So how do you cover all your options?

To increase your chances of actually getting online in the first place go for mobile broadband from either EE or Three (this applies to Scotland only) as these seem to have the best coverage.  I have used Vodafone and O2 in the past and really struggled to get online in large areas of Scotland.

For instant access to your files purchase an SD card for your tablet and in the case of Windows 10 install Dropbox on it which is exactly what I did for a client last week.  The new Windows 10 tablets are actually pretty good and run the full version of Windows.  My client now has all their Dropbox files synced to the SD card meaning they can access their files whether they have internet access or not. There were some teething troubles but this article should help anyone out who wants to set this up.

Sorry iOS and Android lovers (me included here) we have to make do with needing internet to access our files.  Boo hoo!!

About the Author

P1020114

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Cisco, Windows, OS X and Linux based IT Support to small businesses throughout Scotland.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

If you like your privacy don’t upgrade to Windows 10

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Unless you missed it Windows 10 came out last week. Overall it seems a good update but one thing that has risen to the forefront is Windows 10 privacy settings.  You see by default Windows 10 sends personal information to Microsoft, uses your bandwidth to upload data to other computers running the operating system, share Wi-Fi passwords with online friends and remove the ability to opt out of security updates.

If you login with a Microsoft account all of your data on your PC or laptop will be uploaded to Microsoft’s servers. Now call me old fashioned but that can’t be a good thing especially if you are a big multi national company.

Windows updates now work along the lines of torrents (think file sharing sites) so data will be uploaded from your system using your broadband bandwidth.  If you have a capped limit (eg 40 GB) you could rack up expensive broadband bills quickly as you go over your usage limit.  Forgot to mention you can no longer turn updates off either.  If Microsoft sends out a dodgy update which crashes systems you have to wait until they pull it from the updates rather than turn off updates. Don’t like the idea of that personally.

I have already covered Wifi – Sense in a previous blog but it needless to say I am not a fan.  My facebook friends don’t need to know the wireless key to my network!!

Of course you can turn off most (but not all) these settings but having them turned on by default is not a good thing.

About the Author

P1020114

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Cisco, Windows, OS X and Linux based IT Support to small businesses throughout Scotland.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

 

 

Windows 10 Wi-Fi Sense is not Microsoft’s best idea

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Been reading a couple of Windows 10 articles over the last couple of days to catch up on what to expect when it arrives later this month.  One of the things I came across is Wi-Fi Sense which in an ideal world would be very helpful but in the real world could be a security nightmare.

You see Wi-Fi Sense allows you to share your network key with your contacts – whether they are in Outlook or even Facebook!!! Now to me this is just plain stupid especially since Wi-Fi Sense is turned on by default. Microsoft has stated that your contact would only be able to use the internet connection and not access every other device on the network but I can’t see how they will enforce this.  A determined hacker once on a network will find a way to access anything they want.

Imagine the scenario where two people are Facebook friends but work for competing companies. You share the network key via Wi-Fi sense and the second person can sit in the corporate carpark and get onto your network without doing anything.  One silver lining is that your contact can’t share your network key with their contacts which is something I suppose.

There are two ways around this either turn Wi-Fi Sense off (it is on by default as mentioned earlier) or add _optout to the SSID (the name of your network) to prevent it from working with Wi-Fi Sense.

Remember this if you buy a nice shiny Windows 10 system.

About the Author

P1020114

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Cisco, Windows, OS X and Linux based IT Support to small businesses throughout Scotland.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

 

What happens if Windows 10 fails?

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I have been looking at the reviews of Windows 10 (preview) over the last couple of weeks and I must admit to being intrigued by Microsoft’s newest operating system.  If they can pull off the trick of having a different interface for different form factors whilst still keeping the functionality they could be onto a winner.  I can’t help but think though what happens if consumers and businesses alike do not take to Windows 10 the same as they didn’t to Windows 8?  So what might happen?

1. Windows 7 gets a stay of execution the same way XP did.  Windows 7 end of support is 2020 but if Windows 10 doesn’t catch on expect to see this extended.  I would also expect Windows 7 PC’s to remain on the market alongside the newer operating system as Microsoft would not want to risk losing market share.

2. PC makers might decide to stop making PC’s and move into different markets (eg tablets).  If consumers and businesses are not buying PC’s (and laptops) with Windows 10 why would manufacturers still make them? If they did decide to continue making them they might try alternate operating systems like Chrome OS in the same way some manufacturers are already doing.  This could seriously hurt Microsoft.

3. Windows Phone could fail to gain market share if Windows 10 fails.  If people don’t like it on PC’s, and laptops, then there could also be a perception they wouldn’t want it on the phone and turn to either Android or iOS instead.

4. People start turning to Macs? I can’t really see this happening as Macs tend to be at the higher end of the market while Windows covers the middle and middle sections.  If someone is looking for a cheap laptop they are not going to spend the extra on a Mac but rather they would buy a Windows laptop whichever operating system it is running.

5. Nothing changes. If Windows 10 fails so what? There will still be laptops and PC’s available, as long as manufacturers decide to make them, as for most people there is no real alternative to Windows (in their eyes).  They may not like the new operating system but there would be no choice but to purchase a system with it already installed.

Realistically I can’t see Windows 10 failing.  Microsoft knows that it has to get this right from the off after the failure of Windows 8.  If it doesn’t? Long live Windows 7!!

About the Author

P1020114

Hi I’m Chris Wakefield the owner of ComTech IT Support. I provide Cisco, Windows, OS X and Linux based IT Support to small businesses throughout Scotland.

Follow @Comtech247 on Twitter

 

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