Tuesday 26 March 2013

Create A Windows 8 Recovery USB Drive



If you've just bought a Windows 8 laptop, you might have noticed that it does not come with a COA (Certificate Of Authenticity). That's the blue sticker on the bottom of the laptop with the Windows key printed on it.

The authenticity key for Windows 8 is now more commonly encrypted on the recovery partition, which is usually hidden to prevent accidental deletion.

This state of affairs can have serious ramifications should the hard drive fail  terminally. If it does, the key is lost along with the recovery partition and the user will have to buy a fresh copy of Windows 8. Good news for Microsoft but very bad news for the user.

Luckily, Windows 8 allows the user to back-up the operating system and the recovery partition on to a USB memory stick. We recommend all users carry out this procedure as soon after buying a new Windows 8 laptop as possible.

Here's how to do it :-

1) In the Search utility type: create a recovery drive  and click on the result.

2) Say 'Yes' to the User Account Control warning.

3) Make sure 'Copy the recovery partition from the PC to the recovery drive' is ticked and click Next -


4) At the next screen, you will be advised how large your USB drive should be (usually about 8Gb).

5) Insert a USB drive of the recommended size and once recognised, click next


6) You will be warned that everything on the USB drive will be deleted. Click Create -


6) Copying will now take place. Do not disturb the computer during this time.



7) Click finish, DO NOT DELETE the recovery partition if offered, remove the USB drive, label it, and store it in a safe place.

8) You can make as many Recovery USB Drives as you wish, BUT each one is matched to the computer you created it on. Do not try to use it on another computer.

Friday 22 March 2013

Turn Off Data Harvesting in Outlook.com

Microsoft have recently been complaining publicly about Google's practice of gathering data from Chrome and Gmail so that advertising can be targeted for  the individual user preferences. How noble.

Wait a minute, not so noble. Guess who's now doing exactly the same thing? Yep, Microsoft!

With the transference of Hotmail accounts to Outlook.com, Microsoft has turned on all the data harvesting tools by default.

But, at least this can largely be disabled by the user, even though the link to the menu is tiny and most people would miss it altogether.

We're going to tell you how to turn off nearly all the data tracking -

Open your account in Outlook.com. In the bottom right-hand corner, you will see a tiny cogged wheel. Click on that and you will be taken to a page called My Data.

Click the link at the top of this page called My Choices. All the data gathering tools will be turned on as indicated by a green tick. If you click on the top tick, you will change them all to a red cross.

However, if you click on the More Services link, you will see that Microsoft are collecting even more data on you through Windows, MSN and XBox.

This does not mean you will be advertising free on the Outlook.com site, just that your browsing data, email content, etc., will not be collected...for the time being anyway!

Check these settings regularly as they could easily be turned back on by an Outlook.com update.


Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition Retired for Windows 8

If you are running Windows 7 or Vista, you may be using Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition. Briefly, it gives you a fully featured Word and Excel package in return for a small square of advertising. All for free.



This has proved very useful for ordinary folks who want to write the occasional letter or create a small speadsheet without having to pay huge amounts of money for the full edition of Office.

But this small act of generosity is against all that Microsoft believe in and the bean counters at MS have decided that they can bear it no longer and Office Starter Edition for Windows 8 has been withdrawn. Microsoft cite incompatibilities with Windows 8; which is strange as the full edition of Office 2010 works just fine with the latest operating system.

So, if you're running Windows 7 and Office Starter Edition, do not be tempted to upgrade to Windows 8, or you will lose your Starter Edition and have to find an alternative.

Talking of alternatives, why not try Open Office. It is fully functional and compatible with all the MS Office incarnations. We highly recommend it. You can download it Here.


Saturday 16 March 2013

The Memory Stick Massacre


Many of our customers have accumulated a drawer full of USB memory sticks, most of them broken. When I say broken, I mean they no longer function as they should, rather than being simply smashed to bits.

Is this memory stick massacre necessary? Are they of such poor design that they inherently stop working after a few weeks?

The answer to both questions is no. By taking a few simple precautions, you could extend the life of your memory sticks considerably and save some money into the bargain.
Memory sticks require power (5 volts) and it gets this from the USB slot. Each time the stick is inserted and withdrawn, a tiny arc of current is formed across the contacts. Under normal circumstances, this has little effect on the electronics within, but when the stick is withdrawn whilst being written to, the arc is powerful enough to short across the neighboring contacts. The result...a blown memory stick! 

If that last paragraph made you glaze over, it doesn't matter. Just follow these few guideline for extended memory stick life:

1) Always use the 'Safely Remove Hardware' feature on the bottom right of the screen, near the clock.

2) Never remove a memory stick whilst it's still writing or receiving information.

3) Never use a faulty memory stick after it has failed. It could kill the USB socket. Throw it away.

4) Always make sure the memory stick is pushed fully into the socket.

5) Blown USB sticks will rarely work normally again. Don't collect them, recycle them responsibly at your local recycling facility.

6) Always make a backup of your memory stick information.

7) And finally, if you have a faulty memory stick with information on it that needs to be recovered, don't keep putting it into different pc's or laptops to see if it might magically spring into life....it won't, and you might destroy the information beyond recovery. Take it to a reputable Data Recovery company like PC Partners to be assessed.