Windows Vista support is ending

/0 Comments/by

After April, 11 2017 Windows Vista will be unsupported forever.

Windows Vista customers will no longer receive new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content updates from Microsoft.

As Microsoft notes, however, running an older operating system means taking risks—and those risks will become far worse after the deadline.

Vista’s Internet Explorer 9 has long since expired, and the lack of any further updates means that any existing vulnerabilities will never be patched—ever. Even if you have Microsoft’s Security Essentials installed—Vista’s own antivirus program—you’ll only receive new signatures for a limited time.

If you continue to use Windows Vista after support has ended, your computer will still work but it might become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses. Internet Explorer 9 is no longer supported, so if your Windows Vista PC is connected to the Internet and you use Internet Explorer 9 to surf the web, you might be exposing your PC to additional threats. Also, as more software and hardware manufacturers continue to optimize for more recent versions of Windows, you can expect to encounter more applications and devices that do not work with Windows Vista.

Can I upgrade my computer?

Unfortunately, most Vista computers are older than the 5-year average life span of a computer, so upgrading to a newer version of Windows on that computer may not prove to be good value for money.

Get a new PC

If your current PC can’t run Windows 10, it might be time to consider shopping for a new one.

If you decided to buy a new computer, we can transfer your data (documents, photos, videos, music) to a new computer.

Not sure what to do or need a help? Give us a call today!

Microsoft Support Phone SCAM!

/0 Comments/by

phone-iconMicrosoft will never call you to let you know your computer is having problems.

These scammers are saying “we are from the Windows team” or “We are Windows Support” or something like that, to scare you into letting them into your computer.

  • Be careful when you Google for help, be sure the companies are reputable and be sure you are calling the right companies. Nowadays, you can Google “Microsoft support” and get a fake company! This is VERY common.
  • Do not call the numbers on pop up ads when you are browsing the internet, these are fake alerts that you have a virus.
  • Never let anyone remote in your computer that called YOU. If you called me for an appointment, this is ok or calling a local computer repair store, but just someone calling you out of the blue is NOT OK.
  • If you called them and are not sure, just hang up and call us and we will let you know if it’s a scam or real. 838-4477
  • If your guts says no or you feel weird, hang up or turn off your computer immediately. Even if you allowed them in your computer, they will say things to scare you into paying. Turning off the computer and calling a professional IT company or us immediately is what we recommend. Remember, if they are in the computer and you don’t pay, this is when this happens… Destruction and deletion of data, Computer inoperable
  • Do they steal your data? From what we have heard… this is not common but a maybe, they mostly want to get your credit card number and charge you for fake services. If you did this, you can call your credit card company and they should charge back that service. Remember if they are remoted in and you don’t pay, it is TOO LATE. They will destruct data or lock you out of your computer!
  • Do they destroy your data? Usually this happens if you ask for your money back and they are remoted in.
  • Do they lock you out of your computer? Yes, and sometimes they put a virus on your computer if you don’t pay or say you want your money back.

Please share this with your parents, friends and family. Anyone that you feel will benefit from this information.

Windows 10 upgrade guide

/0 Comments/by

For users who are running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, Windows 10 is available as a free upgrade for the first year after it was released on July 29th. However, if you don’t upgrade within that first year, you will have to buy the operating system if you decide to upgrade.

If you haven’t registered for the upgrade yet, do so from the upgrade tool available in the lower-right corner of your screen — click the Windows icon and perform the necessary steps. During the procedure, you’ll also be told whether your computer can handle the upgrade.

However, you may want to wait, or at least be very careful, before you make the jump to Windows 10.

If you do decide that you want to upgrade, here are some things that you will need to do first:

    • Install the latest updates on your operating system
    • Make a backup of everything on your system. The easiest way to do this is to use built-in tools with Windows 7 or 8.1. If something goes wrong during the upgrade process, you want to have a way to restore your computer to way it was before the upgrade.
    • Be sure to backup your data (documents, pictures, videos, music, etc.), create a separate copy of your data on external drive prior to upgrading.
And if you decided to go back to your previous version of Windows (7 or 8.1) you have only 30 days to do this, according to Microsoft.

If you feel that this is beyond your technical ability, we encourage you to give us a call.