News

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.

"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.

There is a new product available that looks promising. It is able to monitor and/or protect data leakage via email, USB backup drive, cloud uploads and also monitors other undesirable activity's using the organisations computers that can be indicative of an emerging problem.

If this is something that you are concerned about please let me know and we can discuss further.

Laptop purchase price vs satisfaction index; Although this *is* an accurate indication of my experience in terms of feedback received, this information is meant to be taken as tongue-in-cheek. Make your own investigations and consider your own unique needs and preferences and don't rely on this information for your purchasing decisions.
 

If you receive an unexpected support request or offer for help from "Microsoft" its probably a scam. Here is one of the more sophisticated ones, so much so that I cant tell without detailed digging if it is or isn't a scam (well I have a pretty good idea). This content was contained in an attached PDF.

If in doubt don't click, so I have taken my own advice.

The Windows 10 Fall creators update is available now if you don't want to wait for the staged automated install .

For a single PC just go to the following web site and click "update now". If you have multiple PCs you can also create an install disk either on USB or ready to burn to DVD.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

This will need to be done from an administrative account and I suggest you plan to let it run overnight. As always make sure you have good backups if you store data on the PC that's getting updated.

Worth mentioning a couple of important security practices:

• DON'T REUSE PASSWORDS for different services, otherwise if www.sarahsmuffins.com.au gets hacked because Sarah doesn't know much about security then the bad guys will get access to all your accounts on the entire internet. Consider a password manager like LastPass or RoboForm.
• Don't just click on links in emails, at least hover first to see where the link goes, if its an email from Telstra and the link is to www.getyourvirushere.com then don't click. If you are unsure just don't click it at all. Phone or email the sender from a new clean email seeking more details.

Details are here:
https://www.troyhunt.com/inside-the-massive-711-million-record-onliner-spambot-dump/

 "Telstra" phishing email. don't click. ALWAYS "hover" before you click...

 When you log on to work remotely and your connection speed is 34 times faster than it was yesterday you know its going to be  a good day...

Good quality 100/40 speed FTTN NBN is a wonderful thing even if you are a long way out of a metro area. (Exetel in this case)

Just like the IT crowd (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2F1rFmyQmY) sometimes the solution *is* turning it off and on again and that applies to the modem router as well.

We sometimes use various phrases to say shutdown and restart, phrases like; Reset, restart, power cycle or reboot. What is meant by all of these is restart or, shutdown wait a few seconds and then start-up again.

What we DON'T mean is reset the device to factory defaults either via a hardware button or via the web interface.
By the way even if Telstra tells you to do a factory reset don't do it then either unless the helpful level 1 Telstra tech support person is planning to drive to your home or office to re-set it up for you.

Metered connections on Windows 10 post Creators update install:

For Windows 10 Users on tablets and laptops that connect via phone hotspot or other "low download quota" services you need to be aware that there has been a change in the way that Microsoft handle windows updates over "metered connections"

This page tells us that: 

"A metered connection is an Internet connection that has a data limit associated with it. Cellular data connections are set as metered by default. Wi-Fi and Ethernet network connections can be set to metered but aren't by default. Some apps might work differently on a metered connection to help reduce your data usage. Also, some updates for Windows won't be installed automatically." 

As you can see by the description and by the screen shot below, some updates will still be downloaded even over a metered connection. This is a change from previous versions of Windows and may cause you consume more data than expected especially if you use multiple PCs connected to your "low download quota" service. 

You need to be aware of this and ensure that you have enough download quota to cope with the demand.

If you use Office 365…. and a perpetual (rather than subscription based) licence, Microsoft has announced some coming changes with the "supported version" of MS Office. 

Firstly if you don't use Office 365 for mail or SharePoint/OneDrive professional this does not affect you. 

MS has made this statement:
Effective October 13th, 2020, Office 365 will only allow Office client connectivity from subscription clients (Office 365 ProPlus) or Office perpetual clients within mainstream support to connect to Office 365 services. (Please refer to the Microsoft support lifecycle site for Office mainstream support dates.) https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Office-365-Blog/Office-365-system-requirements-changes-for-Office-client/ba-p/62327 

What this means is that from 2020 onward you will need either a subscription based version of MS office (Office 365) to be able to use it with "cloud based services" or you will need to update (and keep updated) your current version of MS office perpetual licence as the Office 2016 "mainstream support" ends on October 13th, 2020. All previous versions will be in the same situation at this point also. 

If you don't upgrade your $265 MS office home and business perpetual licence from Harvey Norman or Officeworks, you won't be able to connect to office 365. As you are probably aware the MS Office 365 subscription version is continually updated and you are always provided the latest version as part of your subscription. 

For business, the Office subscription is currently $10.50 per month extra for Office 365 (A total of $17.50 per user per month vs. $7.00 per user per month for just mail) https://products.office.com/en-au/compare-all-microsoft-office-products?tab=2 Over a 3 year period your MS office costs you $360 but you have the benefit of installing it for you to use on 5 different devices, for example your desktop PC, your laptop, your tablet and your phone. What you are not licenced to do is install it on another PC for another user to use, the 5 licences are for the single user account. 

In the past you have been able to effectively half the cost of MS office for your organisation by purchasing and then skipping the next version. For example purchase 2010 and (when there is a need) purchase 2016 (skipping 2013). However this appears not to be a viable option any longer and you will be required to update each version anyway which makes the subscription model better value. 

I would expect that there is a new version of Office to be released in 2018 based on the normal 3 year cycle from the last MS office release date which was September 2015. 2020 seems like a long way off but you need to be aware to be able to plan for moving to the subscription based version of MS office, knowing that you would be required to upgrade your MS office perpetual version anyway. 

This probably means any new users/PC should go on the subscription model from now onward.

ESET /NOD32 have released a small utility which you can use to check if you have the appropriate Microsoft updates that protect you from the NSA EternalBlue Windows vulnerability which includes WannaCryptor and any future copycat malware that uses this vulnerability. 

You can download at the link below and just double click to run. 

It only takes literally a second to do the check. 

https://help.eset.com/eset_tools/ESETEternalBlueChecker.exe

Over the weekend, news broke of a new ransomware threat called WannaCryptor. 

WannaCryptor is a worm that was developed thanks to the release of a hacking tool developed by the US NSA in the called EternalBlue. 

If you PC becomes infected, normally by one of the common methods, opening an infected email, an infected USB disk, or an infected website the worm will infect any PC on the network that does not have the appropriate security patch installed. The end result is that all your files will be encrypted and you will have to undertake a massive clean-up and restore from backup or consider dealing with the ransomware creator (with no guarantee of getting your files back). 

Microsoft patched that vulnerability in March this year in supported systems. But PC's and servers that are not patched either automatically or manually will be vulnerable including (and of particular concern) is always those operating systems that are no longer supported. Microsoft has released a one-time update for Windows XP, Server 2003, and Windows 8 even though these operating systems are no longer supported and are in most cases well over 10 years old: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/msrc/2017/05/12/customer-guidance-for-wannacrypt-attacks/ 

Nod32/Eset antivirus provider have provided this brief statement: "ESET products can detect and block this malware" (http://support.eset.com/alert6442/) However, there will be new variants released over the coming weeks so you should have multiple layers of protection. 

The usual security precautions apply to try to prevent getting this (or any other) virus or malware: 

• Don't open attachments from email where you don't know and trust the sender and be careful what links you click on 
• Have a good antivirus product and make sure its up to date
  
• Be carefully when browsing the web and don't browse to unscrupulous websites 
• Ensure that your PC's and servers are patched/updated (normally PC updates should be automated and servers are manually updated on a schedule) 
• Don't be an administrator on your own PC for everyday use
• Have a good backup that is rotated off the PC or server so that there is always a backup not connected to your server or PC 
• Don't use outdated and unsupported versions of Windows 
• Have a disaster recovery strategy

Microsoft had a big product launch in the US overnight I haven't had time to fully digest it yet but here are some of the highlights: 

• MS is doing a big push on the education market 
• A new [additional] version of Windows 10 will be available, Windows 10 "S", its normal windows that is locked to only Windows store apps only, (I'll be checking the fine print!). However, this can be upgraded to Windows Pro which will run all apps. https://tinyurl.com/kos5hmb 
• MS Office will soon be available as a Windows store app (as well as current options) to suit the scenario above. 
• MS has released a Surface laptop in a traditional "clamshell" design, 13.5" screen, very slim and excellent battery life (Up to 14.5 hours of video playback!). https://tinyurl.com/ldkbgnn. This fits in alongside the surface tablet (with magnetic clip-on keyboard and kickstand) and the surface book (similar thing but with a "hard" connection between the 2 removable parts) and the surface studio an all in one desktop PC. Note that all of these products are *premium* products incredibly sleek sexy and expensive.
• No new Windows phone release this time, this is expected next year. Rumour has it that this will be very close to a full PC in your pocket that acts like a phone when it's handheld but acts like a full PC running all PC apps when docked with your keyboard mouse and big monitor.​
  

[Updated 26/05/17 this still works]

Reportedly you can still get a Windows 7 (or 8) - Windows 10 free upgrade the following way: 

(Requires **erasing your PC** and some advanced knowledge of boot selection and install procedures, only for power users and make your own investigations before attempting this) 

• Ensure that you have your Windows 7 install product key, normally on a sticker on your PC or laptop case 
• Download the Windows 10 Creators edition install disk image here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10 (make sure you get the correct version based on the version that you are upgrading from Pro or Home for example) 
• Make the DVD or USB boot device using the tool that you downloaded above 
• Boot from the DVD or USB Erase the drive and Install Windows entering your Windows 7 product key when prompted 
• When windows finishes installing Windows 10 should activate with the windows 7 key 

I expect this opportunity will only be for a limited time MAKE YOUR OWN INVESTIGATIONS BEFORE ATTEMPTING THIS. 

THIS INFORMATION PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTY OR OFFER OF FREE SUPPORT.

Congratulations Hills Street Sports Medicine on launching your new website http://www.hillsstreet.com.au/

Physiotherapy, functional exercise centre and gym, orthopaedic surgeons, clinical psychologist, massage therapy, room rental, wellness products store and more.

Takeaway message: ALL PC's on a business network should have a UPS, as well as the servers and network hardware (such as network switches).

ALL PC's on a business network should have a UPS (uninterruptible** power supply) as well as the servers and network hardware (such as network switches). 

A workstation or PC UPS will help to protect against hardware failure, database & file corruption and lost time due to unexpected workstation power off events. Additionally (although not really measurable) a UPS can also significantly extend the life of the PC by reducing the voltage fluctuations that come in from the energy company, and the negative effect that low voltages or "sags and brownouts" have on the PC electronics. 

[Edit: Prices updated for Australia 03/2023]

This is the least expensive item I can find from a reputable supplier: 

[Edit: Recommendation removed, the cheap units are just as expensive as the option below]. However my experience with those cheap ones is that they last for the duration of the warranty but not much more, I have had to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the past on support costs for "cheap" UPS units that were purchased to save money. 

A better quality unit entry level unit would be something like this: 

Socomec NeTYS PE Tower Line Interactive UPS, 650VA $115.00 at last check (plus about $30 freight) Link

** The word uninterruptible, is a little misleading. Yes, a correctly functioning UPS will prevent interruptions in the event of a short power outage, if the correct size of UPS is purchased you can expect about 20 minutes of battery backup. Before that time the PC needs to be shut down automatic or manually. The higher the overall "load" the less time you have, or, to put it another way the bigger the UPS (measured in "VA") the longer you will have on battery backup.

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.

To change the default program in Windows 10 that opens a particular file type, follow the instructions below. In this example Windows 10 defaults to opening PDF files in Microsoft edge browser which significantly reduces your functionality when working with PDF's here is how to change it to Adobe PDF reader . 

• Locate a file of the type you want to change, right click on the file and select "open with" then "chose another app" (see points 1-3 below). 

• When the dialog box comes up to make the selection, chose the app that you want to use (see 4 below), tick the "always use this app…" checkbox (see 5 below) and then press OK
• From that point on this file type will open by default with your preferred program.