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Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly Issue #1065 Volume 21 Number 20 March 8, 2024 Dear Friends, Welcome to Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly Issue #1065. Thank you very much for subscribing and for being a part of our Cloudeight family. We appreciate your friendship and support very much! Please share our newsletters and our website with your friends and family. If you're not getting our InfoAve Daily newsletter, you're missing out on a lot of good stuff! It's free and it only takes a few seconds to sign up. We'd love to have you with us. Visit this page to sign up for our Cloudeight InfoAve Daily Newsletter.
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Pam tried to transfer files from
her old Windows 10 laptop to a new Windows 11 laptop I got a new Windows 11 laptop on Friday. I transferred things from my almost 8-year-old laptop running Windows 10 and did the choose what files you want to move/copy ( I think that is the right wording for what I chose). None of my pictures transferred except the pictures from my phone, I assume because I picked to communicate with other devices in the house. I have checked every place & folder I can find and none of the pictures on my old laptop were transferred to the new laptop. Anyway, I found your email from last year about transferring things the right way. I ordered an external drive from Amazon that will arrive tomorrow, but will wait to hear from you 2 beautiful humans!!! before I proceed. Should I leave what is transferred to the new laptop & then use your instructions to copy my documents, pics, etc., to the new laptop, or do a reset and then follow your instructions? Sorry for the long email. Many thanks for all you do for so many of us day in and day out. Pam Our answer We never recommend directly transferring files from one computer to another; it usually ends up in a mess and many times some files don't get transferred. When you get your external hard drive, follow the instructions on this page to transfer your files. Since you did manage to transfer some files you will get a lot of "This file already exists" and you'll have several choices such as replace, ignore, etc. You can choose "Ignore" since that will save you time over choosing "Replace". If you really want to save time though, do a reset and remove everything and start over. A reset will get rid of anything you transferred and give you a fresh start and no interruptions during the transfer. Here's our tutorial on resetting your PC, but instead of choosing to keep your files, choose the option to "Remove everything". I hope this helps you, Pam. If you need more help, just let me know.
Imogene gets a
warning message when she tries to start her PC
Our answer Make sure the power cord/adapter you're using is not damaged and that you're using the original adapter that came with your computer. Computers come with special power cords with a power adapter specifically designed for that computer brand and model. If you're using a third-party adapter, make sure it has the same wattage and voltage output as the original. You can check with your computer manufacturer to see if you can still purchase the correct power adapter/power cord for your computer brand and model number. It's important to note that has nothing to do with a Windows update or the version of Windows you're using. Since this is a hardware problem this is something we cannot fix remotely. But we hope this helps you better understand the problem. Sandy says her
Gmail always goes to the wrong account
Our Answer
Hi Sandy. Gmail allows you to choose what accounts you want to use. You can log out of the one you don't want to use and log into the one you do want to use. Make sure that the account you want to be your default is listed and that you're logged into it.
Open Gmail and click on your account picture or
initials in the top-right corner. If you don't
see the account you want to set as your default
Gmail account listed, click on "Show more
accounts"
If you see the account you want to use as your main Gmail account listed, make sure you're signed into it. If you don't see it listed...click on "Add another account" and add d*********@gmail.com, and then sign into it.
Now you should see both Gmail accounts listed.
Sign out of the one you don't want to check
automatically. Or leave both signed in and when
you go to www.gmail.com to
check your email, you can click on the account
you want to use and/or check.
I hope this helps you, Sandy.
-------- Sandy wrote back..."Wowie, you guys are FAST. Thank you for the help. Again. God bless you two. You sure help a lot of us."
Sidney has a question about Windows 11
Memory Integrity
My Windows Security shows that the Memory
Integrity is Off. The problem seems to be my
Brother Printer. It has not given me any
problems. What happens if I turn it on? Will
my printer be disabled? You have always given
me good advice and I don't understand the
information I have found on this. I need your
advice. Thank you.
Our answer Keep in mind, that Windows 10 had the same settings options, and Core isolation/Memory integrity was turned off by default. So, since Microsoft is supporting Windows 10 until 10/14/2025 and since there are hundreds of millions of Windows 10 users, Microsoft may be (again) blathering. As I said, my settings are the same as yours and I’m just going to leave them alone. Everything on my computer is running fine and I’m not going to mess with deleting drivers just to turn on Memory integrity. Why risk a hardware device (printer, etc.) not working just to turn on Memory Integrity which is turned off by default in Windows 10?
We hope this helps you – or at least gives you some peace of mind.
We've helped hundreds and hundreds of you with your computers since we started our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Service! If you're having computer problems - we CAN help you! We all know that sooner or later our computers are going to start having problems. We can help you with any computer need -- from diagnosing and fixing Windows problems - to setting up a wireless network for you - to safeguarding by creating an image-based backup (the only kind that really works when you really need it to work) - to cleaning up your computer and optimizing it -- and more. We can do almost anything you need done and we guarantee our work - you're either satisfied or we'll refund your money. We connect to your computer and fix it while you watch We will connect to your computer via the Internet and fix any problems you may be having. You can watch us work and chat with us while we do. If you have any computer questions you'd like to ask we'll be glad to answer them for you. We don't just fix your computer, we explain what we're doing and why we're doing it and we are right there with the entire time. Since we've started we've helped hundreds of you with your computer problems and we've received dozens of referrals and testimonials from our readers and customers. We offer many other computer services too! If you have a problem with your computer - we can fix it! Get more information about Cloudeight Direct Computer Care and or get your repair keys here.
Judy has to change internet providers; what
happens to her email addresses?
Our answer
Hi Judy. If you no longer have AT&T service then you will no longer be able to use your BellSouth email addresses. Yours is an example of why we keep recommending everyone get a Gmail or Outlook.com/Hotmail.com email address. When you use Gmail, Outlook.com. or some other webmail service, you are not bound to any ISP. If you change ISPs, your email address continues to work.
The best time to switch is while you still have access to your BellSouth
email accounts so you can notify all your important contacts of your change
of email addresses.
Please see our article "Why
You Need More Than One Email Account" here.
We hope this helps you, Judy.
Sharon can't
find Desktop in her list of folders and also
says her PC does not have "Print to PDF"
As always thanks for your help. I have lost "Desktop" in the list with Downloads, Documents, etc. Also, I do not have Microsoft Print to PDF on my PC. Can I download it? I thought I looked in the Microsoft store and could not find it. Sharon Our answer
As far as your desktop, what do you see when you
open File Explorer and go to C:\users\you
username? What happens when you open File
History and paste this %userprofile%\Desktop in
the address bar at the top of File Explorer? Do
you see your desktop then? Also, make sure you
have File Explorer set to open to Quick Access.
To do this, type FILE EXPLORER OPTIONS in the
taskbar search and press Enter when you see File
Explorer Options appear in the search results.
Under the "General" tab, next to "Open File
Explorer to:" Make sure it says "Home". If it
does not use the tiny down arrow to select
"Home" from the available options - then click
"Apply" / "OK" at the bottom of the File
Explorer dialog.
I hope this helps you, Sharon. But if you need
more help, please let me know.
Leslie wants to know more about Windows Clipboard
Hi, TC. You asked me to check in
from last Friday's Cloudeight
Direct computer care session.
All seems to be good now. I even
used the built-in zip program.
Now I have another question: How
do I open the Clipboard and how
does it work? I have no idea
after all my computer years.
Would you explain it, please?
Thanks, Leslie.
Our answer
Hi Leslie. You don't "open"
the Clipboard, You copy
things (clips) to it by
using CTRL + C and you paste
by using CTRL + V. With the
standard Windows Clipboard
you can only save one "clip"
at a time. If you have a
clip on your clipboard and
do another clip it
overwrites the prior clip.
If you want to save multiple
"clips" and "open" the
Clipboard to see what's on
it you have to enable
Windows Clipboard History.
After you turn on Windows
Clipboard History you'll be
able to save multiple clips
and view them all whenever
you want. You can also pin
some clips permanently - for
instance for email
signatures - while deleting
other clips. You can also
clear the entire Clipboard
history.
Hope this answers your
question and gives you some
ideas, Leslie.
Windows Tricks Using the
Run Box The Windows Run Dialog… which in our vernacular is called the Run Box, is still a very useful tool even in Windows 10 and Windows 11 where it has largely been supplanted by taskbar search. But some of these more “geeky” commands must be run from a Windows Run box… but then again, not all of them. Let’s open a Run dialog (or Run box as we call it): Right-click on the Windows 10 or Windows 11 start button and click “Run”. Or press the Windows key + R Now that we have that out of the way, let’s do some geeky stuff! Open the C: Drive 1. Open a Run box (Windows key +
R)
Open the Users folder 1. Open a Run box (Windows key +
R) Check your PC for performance issues 1. Open a Run box (Windows Key +
R)
(Hey, you’re right! You can also type this in the taskbar search and run it.)
Search directly from a Run box using Chrome 1. Open a Run box (Windows Key +
R)
You can also use Microsoft Edge and its default search engine Bing to search from a Run Box. Just type MSEDGE “? and whatever you’re searching for” in the Run Box. In this case, we’re searching for the date of Easter this year (2024).
We’re not sure how useful these are, but you can dazzle your friends, confound your enemies, or just have fun playing around with them. Who knows? You might even discover your own geeky Run Box trick. One more geeky trick for Windows 11 only… Did you know you can open Windows 11’s volume control by using the keyboard shortcut CTRL + Windows Key + V?
How to Find Your
Wireless Password It’s been a while since we covered recovering wireless network passwords. Christmas is coming soon and a lot of you will be getting a new computer, tablet, smartphone, smart thermostat, Roku player, smart TV, or another internet-connected device, you’re going to need to know what your Wi-Fi network password is so that you can connect your new device to your home Wi-Fi. If you’re like us, you set up your wireless network quite a while ago and don’t know what your Wi-Fi password is. So, if you get a new internet-connected device and you need to know your wireless password, we’re going to show you how a quick and easy way to find it in both Windows 10 and Windows 11. To find your wireless password in Windows 10 or 11, follow these simple steps. Type “Network connections” in the taskbar search and press Enter when you see Network connections appear in the search results In the Network connections dialog click, on your Wi-Fi connection.
Next, click on Status in the drop-down menu (see image below) which appears when you right-click on your Wi-Fi connection.
In the Wi-Fi Status dialog, click on the Wireless Properties button (see screenshot below):
In Wireless Network Properties, click on the Security tab at the top (see image below):
In the Wireless Network Properties Security dialog, tick the box next to “Show Characters” and your password will be shown to you unencrypted – in plain text.
And that’s all there is to it!
Our Ten
Commandments of Safe Computing We could write a book (you know us) about computer safety (and we have). But we wanted to pare down our list and create a Ten Commandments of Safe Computing. Our missions are to help you with your computer, help you safely navigate the web, and keep you safe from scammers and other online criminals. We want you all to enjoy your computers and your other internet-connected devices. Here are our Ten Commandments of Safe Computing 1. Fortify Your Defenses: Install strong antivirus/anti-malware software and keep it updated. We use and recommend Emsisoft. Emsisoft automatically updates and keeps your computer protected with a minimum amount of fuss. 2. Guard Your Gateway: Secure your home router with a unique password. Routers come with default passwords. Make sure you change yours to something strong and unique. 3. Think Before You Click: Always verify the legitimacy of websites and senders before clicking links or opening attachments. Hover over links to see the true destination URL. NEVER CLICK LINKS IN EMAILS UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU KNOW WHO SENT THEM. 4. Windows Updates: Don't Procrastinate: Update your operating system whenever updates become available to patch security vulnerabilities. 5. Craft Unbreakable Passwords: Create complex passwords with a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Make them unique for each account. And use a password manager. We recommend three. All have free versions. Bitwarden, LastPass, and RoboForm. There are others too. The important thing is to use one. 6. Beware the Online Phish: Be cautious of suspicious emails, links, and attachments. Don't fall for phishing scams or click on unknown sources. Again... NEVER CLICK LINKS IN EMAILS UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU KNOW WHO SENT THEM. 7. Backup Regularly, Breathe Easy: Regularly back up your important data to an external drive or cloud storage for peace of mind. We recommend OneDrive. For $6.99 a month, you get one terabyte of cloud backup & storage space plus you get the latest version of MS365 (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Outlook & more). Nope. Microsoft does not pay us to recommend OneDrive. We have been using it for years now and it makes moving to a new computer as easy as pie. 8. Be Wary of Public Wi-Fi: Avoid using public Wi-Fi for sensitive activities like online banking or entering passwords. If necessary, use a VPN for added security. 9. Privacy Matters: Manage Settings: Consider disabling unused camera and microphone permissions to prevent unauthorized access. 10. Scammers and scams are everywhere. If someone tries to pressure you or threaten you into acting immediately or paying with gift cards disconnect from the internet and wait a few minutes before reconnecting. If something seems too good to be true, there's a 99.9% chance it is too good to be true. Want more tips, tricks, and information?? We have thousands of Windows tips, tricks, and more on our InfoAve website.
Subscribe
to our free InfoAve Daily newsletter. We've helped hundreds and hundreds of you with your computers since we started our Cloudeight Direct Computer Care Service! If you're having computer problems - we CAN help you!! We all know that sooner or later our computers are going to start having problems. We can help you with any computer need -- from diagnosing and fixing Windows problems - to setting up a wireless network for you - to safeguarding by creating an image-based backup (the only kind that really works when you really need it to work) - to cleaning up your computer and optimizing it -- and more. We can do almost anything you need to be done and we guarantee our work - you're either satisfied or we'll refund your money. We connect to your computer and fix it while you watch We will connect to your computer via the Internet and fix any problems you may be having. You can watch us work and chat with us while we do. If you have any computer questions you'd like to ask we'll be glad to answer them for you. We don't just fix your computer, we explain what we're doing and why we're doing it and we are right there with the entire time. Since we've started we've helped hundreds of you with your computer problems and we've received dozens of referrals and testimonials from our readers and customers.. We offer many other computer services too! If you have a problem with your computer - we can fix it!!
Get
more information about Cloudeight Direct Computer Care and/or get your
repair keys here.
Three
Excellent Free Alternatives for Microsoft 365
(Microsoft Office) We’ve picked our three favorite free alternatives to Microsoft 365 ( Microsoft Office). But you should remember that there are several online office suites such as Google Workspace or MS 365 online we could have mentioned but most of you have asked for an MS 365 (Microsoft Office) alternative you can download and use on your computer and not in the Cloud. LibreOffice LibreOffice is our top choice of free programs that can do just about everything MS 365 (MS Office) can do. This suite has alternatives for Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Access, The LibreOffice suite has six programs: Writer (Word), Impress (PowerPoint), Calc (Excel), Base (Access), Math, and Draw. The biggest drawback to LibreOffice is that you can’t pick and choose which of these you want to install – you have to install the entire suite.
All of the programs in the LibreOffice suite can open, edit, and save to all the newer MS 365 (Microsoft Office) file formats. You can read more about and/or download LibreOffice from here. OpenOffice OpenOffice has a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a presentation program, a graphics program, and a database program as part of its suite. The programs and their corresponding MS 365 programs are listed below: Writer (MS Word) The main drawback to OpenOffice is, that although you can save files in MS 365 formats, it does not, by default, save to these formats. Most MS 365 formats can be opened, edited, and saved with OpenOffice, including DOC, DOCX, XML, XLS, XLW, DBF, PPT, PPS, and POTX.
OpenOffice allows you to select which programs in the OpenOffice you want to install which gives you the option of which programs in the OpenOffice suite you want to install so you don’t end up installing programs you won’t use. You can read more about and/or download OpenOffice from the Apache OpenOffice website. WPS OFFICE FREE WPS Office Free is a trimmed-down version of WPS Office premium office suite, but it’s doubtful you’ll notice. WPS Office Free has three programs that look and work much like the latest versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint – and they have equivalent features. WPS Office Free supports MS Office file formats so you can save your work in native Microsoft Office formats for easy sharing with Office users. WPS Office Free also comes with an excellent free PDF reader. Please note, however, that If you need to use its advanced PDF editing features you’ll need to purchase a subscription.
On the downside, the program tries to prompt you into upgrading to the paid versions of WPS Office so there’s an occasional ad, but these are few and far between and won’t get in the way of your work. A small price to pay, we think, for everything you get in this suite is completely free. You can download WPS Office free here.
We gladly help everyone who writes every day by answering their questions and helping to solve their computer problems. Please help us continue to do that!! Make a small donation and help us help you!!If you don't need any of our products or services right now, please help us with a donation. Even the smallest gift is appreciated. Every donation helps us to provide useful information that helps you with your computer as well as helps us to keep you safe on the Internet. We offer free help to thousands of people every year... and we offer an honest and inexpensive computer repair service too. We do everything we can to help you with your computer and keep you safe too..So if you don't need any of our products or services right now,, please help us by making a donation right now. Interested in making a monthly gift? Visit this page. Thank you so much for your support!
A Daffodil in the Snow Nothing in this world of ours is more certain
than change. The circles and cycles of life are
never more prominent than when one season
reluctantly gives way to the next. Read the rest of this essay here.
THE ONLY CLOUDEIGHT-ENDORSED EMAIL PROGRAM OE Classic is the only Cloudeight Endorsed Email Program - Very Similar to Windows Mail & Outlook Express!! If you're looking for an email program that feels familiar and works much like Windows Mail & Outlook Express, OE Classic might be exactly what you've been looking for!! What the heck is obituary spam? Obituary spam is a deceptive practice that targets grieving families by exploiting information found in obituaries. Here's how it works: Scammers gather information: They scour obituaries posted online or in newspapers for details like names, dates of birth, locations, and family member names. Building a profile: Using this information, they build a profile of the deceased and potentially their surviving loved ones. Different scams emerge: This information can be used for various scams, such as: Identity theft: Using personal details like birthdays and locations, scammers can try to open new accounts, get credit cards, or commit other fraudulent activities in the deceased's name. Phishing scams: They might send emails or calls pretending to be government officials, debt collectors, or insurance agents, trying to trick grieving families into revealing personal information or sending money. Fake friend/relative scams: In some cases, scammers might pose as long-lost friends or relatives of the deceased, attempting to build a relationship with surviving family members for emotional manipulation or financial gain. Here's how to protect yourself: Limit information in obituaries: When placing an obituary, consider restricting the amount of personal information included, like full birthdates or home addresses. Be cautious of unsolicited contact: If you receive unexpected emails, calls, or messages claiming a connection to the deceased, be wary. Don't share personal information or click on suspicious links. Report suspicious activity: If you encounter obituary spam, report it to the platform where you saw it and consider notifying the authorities.
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