Got some calls and email that some google services are down right now. So far it seems that Maps and Calendar are the most affected. Google knows about the problem and it seems to be happening international.
The new Microsoft tech support scam
By now many have caught on to the Microsoft tech support scam. This is the scam where you get a phone call from “Microsoft” and they claim they have detected a “problem” that has to be fix ASAP, such as a virus.
Now that many know about this scam they have switched it up a bit and the phone call now says your IP address is about to expire. It is designed to play on the fact that most computer users have no idea what an IP address is or how networks assign your IP address.
Simply put, when you get a modem from your ISP it has to connect to its servers so that you can than be directed to the larger Internet. The fact that most people don’t know is your modem is assigned an IP address (sort of like a phone number) as soon as it connects to the company you get your service from.
This IP address is different every-time the modem reconnects to the company’s servers and is assigned dynamically and is included with the service package you buy from your provider. If an IP does expire they automatically assign you a new one. This is part of what your modem does and needs not help on your part.
So in short your IP address never really expires and you don’t need to do anything to keep it going as it is all part of the service you already pay for. If you should get this call just hang up and don’t worry.
Stay safe!
Google to try new NeverSlowMode
Google is working on the next update to the chrome web browser and it seems that they are shooting for a much faster user experience.
The new code won’t really speed the rate your data downloads from the internet. But instead, it speeds up the user experience by blocking the biggest data hogs, namely – images, videos, and code such as javascript.
This new mode would (if it works) make the internet a more enjoyable experience by budgeting system resources and render a “quick view” that would limit things from load such as…
Images over 1MB
Stylesheets over 100KB
Scripts over 50KB
The main idea is that page execution beyond these limits would stop processing until a user interacts with the webpage. (Thus a faster load time) Only time will tell if this works in the real world and if such a major change would be long lasting. As most google product seem to suffer from “Code creep” that may add too many exceptions or options to make it useful in the long run.
Windows 10 October Update Issues
This week, Microsoft started pushing it’s latest update, (1809) to end users that manually check for updates. This update has now been put on hold after reports that the update is causing the O/S to delete documents and in some cases pictures and even whole folders. Microsoft has issued a statement asking users not to install the update if they already downloaded it.
The reasons for the data loss are not known just yet. Microsoft has started an investigation to find the cause and develop a fix. This will be a bit late for people that already had their files destroyed. Hopefully most of these users will have a backup of their files.
This will be too late for anyone that’s suffered data loss; although file recovery/undelete tools might be able to salvage the deleted files, the only reliable way of recovering them is to restore from a backup.
Just one more reason RenoGeek has always promoted a regular backup plan for all computer users.
Avast Antivirus update causing issues
It seems that the newest version of Avast (ver 18.6.2349) has been having issues with Malwarebytes. And the WebShield component of Avast maybe blocking all websites or at least causing connectivity issues that seem (to the end user) that their connections are down when trying to access websites.
The malwarebytes/avast issue has been reported to cause malwarebytes to crash when malwarebytes is running in “Real Time” protection mode.
At first Avast tried to blame the problem on Malwarebytes, but reversed their statements after the Malwarebytes team issued this statement…
“Upon first discovering the conflict between Malwarebytes and Avast, Malwarebytes reached out to a product manager at Avast, who put us in contact with one of their Real Site feature developers. This developer initially indicated that there was a problem with Malwarebytes Web Protection driver implementation. After cooperation and receiving detailed analysis from our lead driver developer, Avast determined there was a flaw in their driver implementation. They have indicated they have a fix and plan to release an update, but they did not provide any timing. In the meantime any Malwarebytes users experiencing these issues are advised to disable Avast’s Real Site feature.”
And with my own customer base… I have a system in the shop that crashed one customers laptop after he ran the update and his issue was resolved after removal of Avast.
I found the recommend fix to turn off the Avast webshield component or Malwarebytes real time protection, to be a useless workaround because in essence they are telling their customers to turn off their antivirus products. So what’s the point of having an antivirus program?
While some long time fans of Avast may wish to wait it out and see if they can fix the problem. RenoGeek recommends that Avast be removed from systems having these issues and be replaced with a stable antivirus product.
Windows 10 version 1809 comes out next month
Microsoft has announced that the new update to Windows 10 will be coming out in September.
The new version “1809”, will have a number of improvements and security fixes. One of the new promises from Microsoft is that after this update, future updates will be much smaller then in the past.
Quoting from Microsoft…
“We’ll be bringing a new design for quality updates to the next major versions of Windows 10 and Windows Server,” wrote Maliha Qureshi, a Microsoft program manager. This design creates a compact update package for easier and faster deployment.”
As we all know Microsoft has a habit of falling behind on update releases. But even if they miss the reported date, it seems a safe bet that consumers should be seeing this update sometime this fall.
Update: 9/3/18
Seems as par for the course that Microsoft has pushed the date back for this update till Mid October at least.
Gmail rolling out updates.
Reports around the internet show that google has started their gmail update. With some new features like a brand-new sidebar, snooze and Smart Reply, Confidential mode. And more obvious security warnings about suspicious emails added and redesign of the user interface. Initial impressions are overall good. But it might throw few people off when they log in and see the new look.
What did you backup today?
One of the most common themes I cover on all the blogs I have kept is making backups. Almost any computer disaster can be recovered from with a good set of backups.
Unfortunately, I see customers daily with bad or non-existent backups. Some have installed backup software and then never checked that it was working. Others are backing up to full hard drives or even worse to the drive they are trying to backup from.
And many forget that in today’s modern world, it’s not just the computer that has to be backed up. Phones, tablets and other devices may also need to be backed up.
Backing up is not just the pictures you have taken and documents you have created. It’s downloaded software you use everyday, your copies of the install programs you have on CD’s. It “ALL” your passwords and product codes. The list goes on and on.
So when I ask the question “What did you backup today?” I am asking what have you done to protect your digital life from the next hardware failure, ransomware attack, bad relationship or disgruntled employee.
If you don’t have an answer to this question then you need to contact RenoGeek to setup a real plan that protects all the data you need to keep safe.
Spring Creators Update Delayed
Windows 10 Spring Creators Update seems to have missed it’s April 10th tentative release date. Rumours indicate a bug has stopped the update from being release to the general public.
When Microsoft was asked about the delay they replied in typical CORP-SPEAK with…
“We’re excited to release the next update to Windows 10 and we’ll share more when we’re ready.”
So in other words you will get it when you get it. lol 🙂
But at least it gives end users a bit more time before the next major slowdown of their computers.
Office 365 is down
As of this writing Office 365 seems to be down for most people worldwide. Microsoft confirms via twitter, but no ETA about when it will come back.
Time to start looking for that Office XP install disk, lol.