remote-support

digitalwelcomemat has not set their biography yet

Digital Pacific Phishing attack underway, do not click

 Digital Pacific Phishing attack underway, do not click (see image below)...

  1877 Hits
  0 Comments
1877 Hits
0 Comments

Another 2 Seagate hard drives failed....

Another 2 Seagate hard drives failed.... what, again? I hear you ask

  2154 Hits
  0 Comments
2154 Hits
0 Comments

Older Office apps accessing 365 services

In the continuing saga of older "perpetual license" MS office apps accessing Microsoft 365 services here is a good article:

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3569435/microsoft-points-to-october-end-of-support-for-older-office-apps-accessing-365-services.html

Some points from the article:

"Microsoft has long played with the support of Office applications connecting to Office 365 services. Three years ago, the company said that perpetual-license versions of Office would be able to connect to Microsoft's cloud-based services only during the first half of their 10-year support lifecycle. It set Oct. 13, 2020 as the date when the new policy would take effect."....

......Mcrosoft softened the blow considerably. "We won't take any active measures to block other versions of the Office client, such as Office 2013, from connecting to Office 365 services, but these older clients may encounter performance or reliability issues over time," the Redmond, Wash. developer stated in the support document."

  2505 Hits
  0 Comments
2505 Hits
0 Comments

Best video editing software?

UPDATE: If your planning to edit AVCHD files i.e. files in the .MTS format you may be in for a bumpy ride, Resolve 16 doesn't seam to support these files very well and they may need to be "re-wrapped" or converted before editing. This is more of an issue with the AVCHD format itself and they way it encodes the video file (read here https://bit.ly/2Q0AkUB if you want the long story) having said that Adobe premier worked perfectly fine with these files.
After a fair bit of struggling I found that converting the files to .mov (QuickTime format) completely resolved the issues I was having but that is an extra step in workflow and extra storage. 

A while ago someone asked me to look into a good product for video editing for low cost or free, my choice is:

DaVinci Resolve
https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/

Its history is that it used to be a $150,000 "colour grading" program for feature films and TV but has since morphed into a full function video editing program.

I have been using Adobe premiere for the past few years as this has been the gold standard in editing for some time. However due to Adobe's "you-can-never-own-it-only-rent-it-for-the-rest-of-you-life" pricing strategy I have been looking for an alternative.

That alternative is DaVinci Resolve and the price… Zero

I wouldn't call it an easy program to use but its hugely powerful and will serve you from beginner to wherever you want to go, even if that is a full feature movie editor. That said you can churn out a basic cut of a movie fairly quickly if you are familiar with the process of editing. If you are prepared to invest the time it seams like a great product, only took me a week to be editing at the same level as I was with Premier.

The only catch to it is that although they say it can run it on a relatively low specification PC, their idea of low spec might be different to ours, however at $0 it's not a lot to invest to try it out.

This blog post has been provided for the benefit of digitalwelcomemat IT customers.

Treat this information as informative only and do not take actions or make decisions on the basis of the information contained here. All IT decisions and actions should be made after consultation with your chosen IT professional taking into account all the of the relevant factors.

  4000 Hits
  0 Comments
4000 Hits
0 Comments

Hard drive monitor software

Yes, your hard drive will fail and all the data will be lost, it's just a matter of time.

Based on my experience, hard drives are the component that fails the most out of all the internal PC components (second would be the internal power supply) especially older style platter hard drives, imagine an old record player spinning the and playing the same record for 3 -5 years 24 hours per day that's essentially what the hard disk has to do. 

You should assume that your disk will fail "at any moment" and strategize your backup, duplication or redundancy strategy based on that assumption.

However even with good strategies in place it can still be still painful and expensive when a drive fails. I have recently added hard drive monitoring software to my standard recommendation for mission critical systems and really any other PC that can't be replaced by a simple reimage, "the accounting lady's PC" is a good example of a unique complex system where a disk failure can be very painful and costly.

My recommended software for this purpose is HD sentinel (https://www.hdsentinel.com)

See the screen shot below for an example of the display you can opt to have this open at startup and or monitor and email is there is any issue. Note also for server's its able to "see through" the RAID array and monitor the disks directly*.

For HD sentinel professional:

  • A 5 computer license is USD $53 (lifetime license)
  • or USD $29.95 for a single PC/server

As always investigations will need to be made about licensing and general suitability for your environment.

This blog post has been provided for the benefit of digitalwelcomemat IT customers.

Treat this information as informative only and do not take actions or make decisions on the basis of the information contained here. All IT decisions and actions should be made after consultation with your chosen IT professional taking into account all the of the relevant factors.

  2359 Hits
  0 Comments
2359 Hits
0 Comments

Recovering a deleted file

Every now and then I get asked this question:

I deleted my file can I get it back?

[For traditional drives not a SSD with TRIM...] When you delete a file it doesn't actually delete it at all, it just removes the bit of information from the storage "Index" or "table" that records where the file is located and that it exists.

Theoretically if you use some special undelete software straight away and nothing else has happened on the storage device you can get your file back 99% of the time*. 

HOWEVER: as soon as the bit of info in the storage "Index" or "table" is deleted, that also marks that space free and available to be overwritten with data again. Unfortunately that "nothing else has happened on the storage device" scenario seldom exists so there is only a chance that you will be able to reasonably recover the file. As soon as data is written over that spot on the storage it's a LOT more to get the original file back.

So if you want to recover a deleted file it needs to be done ASAP preferably before you start to write more data files to that storage drive.

There are a million undelete software programs out there some are outright virus\malware, some say they are free but aren't, some you have to pay for, and a very few are legit and free. I suggested testing any new and unknown software in an isolated environment before you start installing random internet software in your everyday PC.
  2341 Hits
  0 Comments
2341 Hits
0 Comments

Covid-19. IT support as usual for now...

Digitalwelcomemat continues to provide IT support as usual, there is currently no change to support services. As usual I try to minimize onsite support. This is because, remote support is significantly more timely efficient, which means a better service and more cost effective for everyone but also has the added bonus that it helps with social distancing. However as usual I am available for onsite support as required.

Should this situation change I will let you know.

  3039 Hits
  0 Comments
3039 Hits
0 Comments

Remote Desktop Gateway

Distributed remote desktop, where each remote user connects directly their PC is a great option for providing remote desktop for a large number of users without having to invest in complicated infrastructure and a dedicated/duplicate system to handle remote desktop service it allows you to utilise PC's that you already have in place that would otherwise remain idle while users are outside the office.


Providing remote access for users direct to their PC is as simple as setting a fixed IP address for that PC then opening a firewall port (specifically for that user) and they can logon.

However scaling this solution up does present some challenges the first challenge is that the router will only support a certain number of port redirections and one has to be set up for each PC that needs to be accessed remotely In addition it becomes quite cumbersome to manage the fixed IP addresses for all the PC's and confirm that the right user has the right port number, record all that information and make sure that that information gets passed onto the user.

I've been looking for a better solution for this for some time Microsoft offer a product called remote desktop gateway which is very complicated in cumbersome to manage an I have been looking for a solution which provides the same functionality but is a lot less complex and onerous to manage plus be cost effective.

Today I have evaluated TSX gateway by thinstuff.com I have been aware of these guys for several years but haven't had a specific requirement to use any of their products.

The way that this product works is you install it in one location on your network, on an existing server and then all of the users connect from outside the network to that one [gateway] server, authenticate to that server and then connect to their own PC based only on the PC name. this means that no specific port number and no set of remote desktop icons is required. Also if user needs to use another PC or gets a new one it's just as simple as them using the other PC name that they would like to connect to and so long as I have given them access to that PC they can connect without further requirement for support or interaction with me.

There are another couple of benefits to this product as well:

  • A reduction in support costs to manage this scaled out remote desktop solution
  • The data is now transferred over the web using HTTPS (Port 443) which should allow users to connect from locations that would normally block traditional remote desktop connections. This is because HTTPS is the same protocol that the normal modern internet web pages use. For example if you are connecting from a library, a coffee shop or McDonald's hotspot you should be able to connect as usual without impediment.
  • Closing port numbers 3389, 3391, 3392… etc should also reduce hammering attacks (where someone on the internet constantly tries to connect to your PC using usually random names and passwords) this will offload this task from the PC meaning that each PC no longer needs a product such as https://rdpguard.com (approx. US$50-70 *per PC*) plus install and maintenance costs associated with that. Base in mind that any hammering would now happen at the gateway.
  • Additionally, the software allows [requires], for creation of one central SSL security certificate to identify the gateway server end. Once all the PCs are aware of this certificate it is probably not feasible for a hacker to "pose as" your remote desktop PC, intercept your password and store that to allow connection later. Although that would be a very unusual and quite complex thing to do under normal/current circumstances it's a benefit to be able to secure the system with a certificate. This does mean that you require a basic certificate in place for this purpose. You have 2 options for the certificate:

The free included certificate which the gateway software creates itself. This needs to be manually (but easily) installed on each PC that will connect remotely.

Or, alternatively you can purchase a public certificate for about $50 per year which means that any PC on the Internet (for example staff home PCs) can connect to your remote desktop PCs so long as they have the password without any setup requirement.

The software is US $259.00 for unlimited connections and can install on one of your existing servers.

This blog post has been provided for the benefit of digitalwelcomemat IT customers.

Treat this information as informative only and do not take actions or make decisions on the basis of the information contained here. All IT decisions and actions should be made after consultation with your chosen IT professional taking into account all the of the relevant factors.

  3862 Hits
  0 Comments
3862 Hits
0 Comments

Issues with Netflix performance?

Issues with Netflix performance? Check your internet speed direct from Netflix by using this Netflix tool:

https://fast.com/

  3836 Hits
  0 Comments
3836 Hits
0 Comments

Office 64 bit version

MS is pushing Office *64 bit* version as the default install now for office 365 installs and its creating havoc with many customers. A major software update is meant to be carefully planned and not just forced on us by Microsoft.. 

If you are looking for maximum compatibility install the 32 bit version of Office (regardless of your Windows version) details here https://digitalwelcomemat.com/index.php/how-to-guides/51-how-to-install-microsoft-office-from-the-web-office-365-version


  3992 Hits
  0 Comments
3992 Hits
0 Comments

URGENT ALERT: If you receive an email that links to this web page do not enter your details

URGENT ALERT: If you receive an email that links to this screen do not enter your details. A customer has reported that they have received an email containing a link which brings them to a fairly convincing but bogus Microsoft office 365 logon. Once they did that their email account was compromised and used to send spam.

  4262 Hits
  0 Comments
4262 Hits
0 Comments

Don't get scammed, hover before you click...

Don't get scammed, hover before you click...

  3804 Hits
  0 Comments
3804 Hits
0 Comments

MS Office 2019 released

Microsoft Office 2019 has been released and will be [may be] the default version that is installed if you do a new install from the Office 365 portal. Yesterday I had my first PC which automatically received the forced update from the 2016 version of office 365 to the 2019 version.For subscription based MS Office the startup splash screen has, for some time, just indicated that its "office 365" and not 2016 version or otherwise. This is the case with office 2019 as well, its "software as a service" and you just get the latest versions fixes, updates and new versions (regardless if you want them or not). So you may not initially notice much of a difference.


For Office 2013 standalone (perpetual license) applications you won't get upgraded at all, if you were to want to upgraded you would need purchase the next Office 2019 standalone package or more sensibly now subscribe to office 365. The reasoning for that recommendation is below.

Now that the new version is out, that pushes Office 2016 to the "old version" and 2013 to "the really old and nearly forgotten version". Microsoft has a habit of only supporting the current version and the one before only so I am expecting that at some point office (Outlook) 2013 will stop working with office 365 mail.

No action is required just now but any new installs, significant changes or investment in time needs to bare all of this in mind, its fairly complex once you start talking about MS office in a business environment.

Microsoft has said here: https://products.office.com/en-au/office-system-requirements

Office 365 is designed to work with the latest browsers and versions of Office. If you use older browsers and versions of Office that are not in mainstream support: Microsoft won't deliberately prevent you from connecting to the service, but the quality of your Office 365 experience may diminish over time.
Microsoft won't provide code fixes to resolve non-security related problems.
See the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy site for Office mainstream support dates."

Office 2013 *is* out of mainstream support.

However, as I have already blogged about here. In 2020, Microsoft has specifically said it will block non subscription based Microsoft Office products from accessing Office 365 mail.
I do notice that on this page https://products.office.com/en-au/office-system-requirements they appear to be saying that they will in fact allow office 2016 and 2016 perpetual (Non- subscription) to access office 365 mail. I don't know if that's a softening of their stance or not.

"Effective October 13th, 2020, Office 365 services (e.g. Exchange Online, SharePoint Online) will only support Office client connectivity from subscription clients (e.g. Office 365 ProPlus), or the following Office perpetual clients: Office 2019 and Office 2016. See the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy site for Office mainstream support dates."

However regardless of the above statement being carried through or the policy being changed (again) I think it's time to move to subscription based. Say goodbye to 7-10 years of MS Office for $169 per PC, it will now cost you around AU$10 a month* (or AU$840 for 7 years) per user. On the flip side you do get 5 MS office installed FOR THE LICENSED USER (not purchase one user and install it for 4 of your other staff), so you can have full function MS office on your PC, laptop, phone, tablet and other PC.

One thing to bear in mind is that Office 2019 will only install on Windows 10, if you have any Windows 8.1 or 7 PC's the new 2019 version will not install, we had the same pinch point situation with Office 2010 and office 365 mail.

So that may mean a new MS office update, triggers a new MS Windows install, which may trigger a new PC as well depending on how sensible it is to invest time in an old windows 7 or 8 PC hardware. Roaming Windows profiles won't roam between Windows 7/8 either so that triggers a need to recreate and reconfigure roaming profiles for all staff if you upgrade windows version.

Roaming Windows profiles between different versions of MS office:
If you have roaming user profiles in your office to allow users to seamlessly move between PC's bear in mind that office (specifically Outlook) won't properly roam between different PCs that have different versions of MS outlook.

Microsoft access 2019 run time is now available free for those of you who have custom access databases I haven't invested any time in testing it yet but this open the gateway to being able to use the latest version of MS office *and* the access runtime.

This blog post has been provided for the benefit of digitalwelcomemat IT customers.
Treat this information as informative only and do not take actions or make decisions on the basis of the information contained here. All IT decisions and actions should be made after consultation with your chosen IT professional taking into account all the of the relevant factors.

  5009 Hits
  0 Comments
5009 Hits
0 Comments

Roaming user profiles known issue

There is a Roaming user profiles known issue that Microsoft describes as follows: 

On a computer that's running Windows 10 Version 1803, you experience logon or logoff delays when you use roaming user profiles. You also receive the following error message: Your roaming profile was not completely synchronized. See the event log for details or contact administrator".

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/4340390/roaming-profile-was-not-completely-synchronized-error-and-logon-logoff

If think you are experiencing this issue please let me know.

This blog post has been provided for the benefit of digitalwelcomemat IT customers.
Treat this information as informative only and do not take actions or make decisions on the basis of the information contained here. All IT decisions and actions should be made after consultation with your chosen IT professional taking into account all the of the relevant factors.

  4388 Hits
  0 Comments
4388 Hits
0 Comments

UPS?

 Today would be a good day to consider if all your servers and PC's are protected by an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), more detail here:

https://www.digitalwelcomemat.com/index.php/home/entry/every-pc-deserves-a-ups

No UPS = unmitigated serious risk of catastrophic hardware failure and data loss in the event of a power surge or sag.

  4513 Hits
  0 Comments
4513 Hits
0 Comments

MS Surface *Pro* with 4G

The Microsoft Surface Pro is now available with built in 4G as an option. Just grab an extra shared sim card and no more need to worry about shared Wi-Fi or hotspot when you're in and out of the office. This has been available on the low powered Atom based Surface [Standard] previously but this is new for the Surface Pro which is a full powered PC just like a laptop. (12.3" screen)

Although Surface starts AU$1,199.00 inc GST, sadly it's only the at AU$2,199.00 model that has 4G for now. (Special pricing for eligible students, parents and teachers is available on all models).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/surface/devices/surface-pro/overview


  4412 Hits
  0 Comments
4412 Hits
0 Comments

Microsoft office 2019

Microsoft office 2019 which will be released later this year, as the traditional one-off purchase model or via office 365, will require Windows 10. 

It won't install on Windows 7 or 8. 

  5190 Hits
  0 Comments
5190 Hits
0 Comments

Internet vs Local IP address

Normally I try to keep my posts here not too technical but I am getting this question a fair bit so here goes:

IP addresses on a local network vs "my" IP address on the internet simplified into one "easy to understand" diagram.

  4162 Hits
  0 Comments
4162 Hits
0 Comments

"Microsoft is readying multi-session support for Windows 10"

 Tech journalists have been reporting in the last few days that:

"Microsoft is readying multi-session support for Windows 10 [for remote desktop/remote access]
Microsoft looks poised to add a new Multi Session option to Windows 10, likely this fall, which will allow IT to provide multiple users with remote access to desktops/apps without relying on Windows Server [for that role]…"

http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-is-readying-multi-session-support-for-windows-10/

More information as it comes to hand later in the year, at the end of the day its really all about the total licensing cost so we will have to see if there is any real change for business.

  4727 Hits
  0 Comments
4727 Hits
0 Comments

Migrate to the NBN then... snip

Take away message: Find out when your traditional phone services are being cut off due to the NBN and take some action well before then.

NBN Co which is (from my understanding) the new owner of the Australian cabling network that once was owned by Telstra have been saying as follows since the rollout of NBN has begun:

"Homes and business have 18 months to migrate to the NBN once it is available to them, after which traditional copper and cable services in the area are severed — cutting off fixed-line phone and internet access."
https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn-about-the-nbn/device-compatibility/services-that-will-be-switched-off.html

You can check your address here (https://www.nbnco.com.au/connect-home.html) and you may see advice similar to as follows:
"The disconnection process for the old phone and internet network in this area is scheduled to begin on July 2018"

You can also find additional information about timing via the Telstra wholesale website which has some downloadable spreadsheets searchable by suburb.
https://www.telstrawholesale.com.au/nbn/nbn-rollout-schedule.html

For some information on what will be turned off the following web sites list services that will be cut of or need to be considered:
https://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Phones/Landlines/The-NBN-and-you/phone-and-internet-disconnection-schedule
https://www.finder.com.au/nbn-copper-cut-off

What will be turned off?

  • Home/business PSTN landline phone services
  • All ADSL, ADSL2 and ADSL2+ Internet services from all providers
  • Telstra BigPond cable Internet services
  • Optus cable Internet and cable phone services


"As well as phone and Internet, it's important to consider other services running off the old copper-based network that will be affected after the switch-off date. These include:"

  • Medical alarms, auto diallers or emergency call buttons
  • Security alarms
  • EFTPOS or health-claim terminals
  • Monitored fire alarms
  • Lift emergency phones
  • Fax and teletypewriter devices


Of most concern for most businesses is the phone lines and existing phone system. Note that you almost universally do NOT need to purchase a new phone system or sign a new contract with Telstra to maintain your lines regardless of what Telstra the sales people may tell you. In fact with the Telstra demotion from network owner and maintainer to "Just another player in the marketplace" I would suggest that Telstra may not be the best provider for phone line services going forward (mobile services excluded from that statement).

Once the NBN has rolled out and your phone lines have been converted, phone calls will be made over the internet. In reality you should not notice any difference you can typically use the same phones or phone system that you have now.

For your existing phone system (PABX) you will need to look at getting a SIP gateway device, which is similar to a set-top box when we moved from analogue to digital TV. Once you have this in place, the new phone lines connected, and the number(s) transferred over. Your old phone system should be able to make and receive calls just as you always have but using SIP or Voice Over IP (VoIP) as the underlying technology.

If you do need or want a new phone system for whatever reason a more sensible approach to replacing a system where the concept hasn't really changed much since the 1970's, is a virtual PABX. There are a number of significant benefits to this and it will probably work out a *lot* less expensive upfront and ongoing.

I will be contacting all of my customers individually to discuss this further.



This blog post has been provided for the benefit of digitalwelcomemat IT customers.
Treat this information as informative only and do not take actions or make decisions on the basis of the information contained here. All IT decisions and actions should be made after consultation with your chosen IT professional taking into account all the of the relevant factors.

  5402 Hits
  0 Comments
5402 Hits
0 Comments

Welcome:

digitalwelcomemat now has a blog!

Subscribe for the news as it happens, call me for support on 0404 493 770 or access my remote support solution here: http://help.digitalwelcomemat.com/

Digitalwelcomemat provides IT consultancy and services for business customers on the NSW Central Coast in Australia.

Search

Articles

Contact:

Give me a call: 0404 493770

Go to top