Ruddy Computer

  I'm going to paint a picture, nothing more.     It's a small picture, but as you will understand, it's representative of a much bigger picture.   Some may call it "scaremongery". I suppose it could be construed as such, but only in the same way they said wearing masks against COVID was "scaremongery".   Granted, for those who didn't/don't wear one, and were/are fortunate enough not to be visited by COVID, facemasks may still seem unnecessary, even paranoid, but for the many that find out the hard way that the risk is actually very real for them, whether surviving it or not, wishing they had listened sooner, is … too late.   Facemasks are a good analogy for our subject here, which also discusses balancing risk.   If you're familiar with the Chaos Walking books or movie, "Hide Your Noise" is also amusingly analogous, though the more ubiquitous "Shields Up" works just as well.   So, we'll star...

 Microsoft have made clear that, in future, when something goes wrong with your Windows installation that you can't easily resolve (even with solid advice from wherever), from a technical perspective, "the easiest thing" is often  to rebuild Windows and re-install your products. Certainly, this is something advocated by most IT technicians when you are hit by malware or virus, since, like "nuking from orbit", it's the only way to be sure .   Indeed, in the corporate world already, there's a limit to how much time a technician might be permitted to spend on your otherwise trusty Desktop/Laptop before it moves into "too expensive" in man-hours, and the nuke button is pressed. For many of at home, this can be an alarming prospect.  Indeed, for some, you may just as well be asking them to perform open-heart surgery on themselves, such is the level of "daunting" it appears to them. And, of course, people become used to how they have their ...

Passwords are so often a frustration. We all know they are completely necessary, just like your front door key, but we seem to have ever-growing key-fobs full of them. At work there's websites and databases, and similarly at home, with websites and streamed services…it never lets up. Change your job, or the job changes IT stuff, and look, yet more passwords to remember ! Part of my job has always included password resets for Users that forget their passwords at work, particularly in the week following an enforced "Change Password Today", when at the last minute they chucked something in there "to shut it up" so they could get on with x, y or z. It happens. We're all very busy. I'm entirely empathetic. And, I know, it's all something of a PITA, but, it is now effectively a legal requirement in many countries to enforce strong passwords within companies, and to change them regularly, not merely for the security of a company's Fileserve...

 

Of all the scenarios to befall any computer user, data loss is likely the worst. Even temporarily losing access can cause considerable anxiety, particularly if there are time constraints. Whether the drive has failed, Windows has "gone funny", or your little brother just emptied a litre of CocaCola™ over the laptop, no other issue turns up the anxiety dial quite as much as data loss. At work, your IT Department will have measures in place to ensure that core data is always accessible, always protected, and, a vital part of that protection element is Backups. It probably won't surprise you to learn there is a relevant rule. It's called 321 . 3 Copies (includes original) 2 Different Media 1 Offsite In practice, this means the original location as stated, a Backup to USB storage, or another server or a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device, plus a Backup to The Cloud. The Cloud backup, as you might imagine, requires secure access to an online storage resou...

I've had this account for years, sitting around doing nothing, but recently thought I'd start using it for posting PSAs of IT Support stuff I often find myself repeating on sites such as Reddit.     So it's not too dry, I'll throw in an occasional funny and/or home-made meme. Do come back for regular updates and new posts, there will be a new PSA at least monthly. Feel free to ask related questions in an articles Comments.   I will hopefully add Q&A pages later so you can ask me direct questions on other IT issues, though I'd encourage posting them on r/techsupport at Reddit if urgency is needed.