Monthly Archives: December 2024

• MS-DEFCON 4: The gift of patching

  Posted on December 24, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.52.1 • 2024-12-24

  

  By Susan Bradley • Comment about this alert

  ’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house and office, not a creature was stirring — except yours truly, because I was checking my systems to see whether they were all fully up to date.

  Seriously, I always find that the time around the holidays is a good moment to do your patching. After the holiday dinner has been served and everyone is in their holiday ham or turkey coma, I can sneak away to review my technology. The end of the year is just a week away, and as I always say, you should start the new year with everything polished and shiny. Therefore, I’m lowering the MS-DEFCON level to 4.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.52.1, 2024-12-24).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON Alerts, Crowdstrike, CVE-2024-49112, CVE-2024-49138, iOS 18, iOS 18.2, KB4484305, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 4, Outlook (new), Patch Lady Posts

• The state of Windows 11

  Posted on December 23, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Lance Whitney • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.52 • 2024-12-23

  WINDOWS 11

  

  By Lance Whitney

  With Windows 11 now three years old, where does it stand today?

  I’ve been running Windows 11 almost since its debut in 2021. At first, I limited it to just test environments. Slowly, I expanded its reach to my two main laptops and a couple of virtual machines. Only my desktop PC is still on Windows 10, mostly so that I can still easily access and use it. But when I replace my desktop next year, the new PC will be running Windows 11.

  Here’s my take, based on my own experiences with it — and how I think Microsoft has handled it.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.52.0, 2024-12-23).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Windows 11 Microsoft, Newsletters, Windows 10, Windows 10 End of Support, Windows 11, Windows 11 24H2, Windows Updates

• No, Microsoft isn’t stealing your data to feed Copilot

  Posted on December 23, 2024 at 02:44 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Social media “experts” are touting a false “fix” to stop Microsoft from using your Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files to train Copilot AI. Microsoft has only itself to blame for customers being suspicious.

  According to this rumor, Microsoft quietly turned on a way to scrape Word and Excel documents to train its Copilot AI system. It then suggests a way to “opt out” of this “new” intrusion. Supposedly, disabling the “Connected Services” in modern Office (File | Options | Trust Center | Trust Center Settings | Privacy Options) will stop Microsoft from spying on documents and using them to train Copilot.

  Not true.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.52.0, 2024-12-23).

  Microsoft 365 AI Training, Copilot, Microsoft 365, Model Training, Newsletters, Office

• FotoSketcher — Look, kids! Mom’s an artist!

  Posted on December 23, 2024 at 02:43 CST by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  I’m not. So finding a free tool that makes me appear to be an artist was very exciting. And a portable free tool — even better!

  FotoSketcher by French developer David Thoiron (all things artsy come from France) lets you load a photo so it can make art from it. Let me show you. Grab a copy of FotoSketcher from OlderGeeks.com, and we’ll play around with it.

  The file you are downloading is a simple EXE file that you just click on to run. There is nothing to install. It runs on any 64-bit (most common) version of Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10. or 11.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.52.0, 2024-12-23).

  Freeware Spotlight Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, FotoSketcher, Image Editor, Image Generation, Image manipulation, Newsletters

• Reviewing your subscriptions

  Posted on December 23, 2024 at 02:42 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  

  By Susan Bradley

  On an annual basis, I like to review those subscriptions and services that impact my bank account.

  Many times, vendors use the end of a year to change their focus or — as is apt to happen more recently — increase their prices. You should do the same. Review each and every subscription to make sure it’s delivering the value you expect.

  One recent announcement? YouTube TV just raised its price by $10 per month, a 14% increase.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.52.0, 2024-12-23).

  On Security Backup Software, Browser Protection, Endpoint Protection, Newsletters, Password managers, Patch Lady Posts, Software Subscriptions, VPN, Windows 10 ESU

• Reviewing the scams

  Posted on December 20, 2024 at 12:00 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  It’s the time of the year when I get spam phone calls as well as the ever-present spam emails and text messages. One I’ve seen lately is the “You paid a huge amount to…” or this one, asking for a large payment.

  Some are obvious. I know I never paid anything like this, and the 800 number for support isn’t an 800 number. But sometimes they get really good. So how can you protect yourself?

  First, never follow a link like this. Log directly into the site like Venmo or PayPal. Then, hover over the links and URLs.  See if they make sense, that they will go where you expect.

  Then look to see who the email is from and who it’s to. Sometimes it’s the from that makes no sense. In this case it’s the to. How did it get to me? A hidden blind carbon copy.

  

  Does that email address make sense?  This is, once again, a really bad example as it’s quite obvious from the nonexistent message that this is a scam. But the point is, take your time. Don’t overreact. Do your due diligence and check out the email. Be aware and question.

  Be extra careful this time of year because the scammers want to get you. Don’t make it easy for them.

  Security Patch Lady Posts

• The Millers at the museum

  Posted on December 19, 2024 at 03:00 CST by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  My recent article How the IBM PC changed my life generated many responses, most relating experiences with early personal computing. One Plus member, Jack Miller, got in touch because he realized we had a similar background, including Army service at about the same time. At some point during our exchange, I mentioned the Maryland Computer Museum and Jack mentioned that he had some things that the museum might want. I put him in touch with Bob Roswell, the museum’s founder and curator.

  Jack and his wife Jeanine then decided to take a road trip from Ohio to deliver some old computer magazines that the museum lacked. I appreciated the visit because AskWoody is not only spread over the US but also around the world. It’s not often that I get to meet a Plus member in the flesh. In fact, it’s never happened before!

  Jack and Jeanine enjoyed their museum tour, especially the moment Jack sat down in front of an IBM System 3, the computer that got him into computing for life.

  I thank the Millers for coming so far and for an enjoyable visit.

  

  Will Fastie, Jack Miller, and Bob Roswell, with Univac 490 in background. Photo courtesy Jeanine Miller. Used with permission.

  History Computers, History, Museums

• Does the no@thankyou.com still work?

  Posted on December 18, 2024 at 03:37 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  If you receive a brand-new Windows 11 24H2 for Christmas and you do not want a Microsoft account, there is still a way around the Microsoft account mandate. It’s a little trickier now but not impossible.  The old “enter no@thankyou.com” for a bogus email address trick no longer works.  What does work:

  Install Windows 11 24H2, or let it set up from the OEM setup. At the point in time where it demands you use or setup a Microsoft account, hit Shift+F10 and then type in oobe\bypassnro and hit enter. Pull your Internet connection at that point. If you have a wired connection, pull the ethernet cable. If you have a laptop with a Wi-Fi connection, look up the button on the keyboard and disable the Wi-Fi. The system will reboot and then ask to connect to a Wi-Fi to finish the setup. Indicate you have no Wi-Fi, and it will let you set up a username and a password without setting up a Microsoft account.

  Bottom line: you can still set up a Windows 11 Home without a Microsoft account, just with a slightly different process.

  Windows 11 Patch Lady Posts
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