Blocking Windows 10, Again

I know I have written on this topic before, but Microsoft has once again gotten more aggressive in forcing people to upgrade.  If you are using Windows 7, 8, or 8.1, Microsoft is trying to force you to permit an upgrade to Windows 10.

Last week, Microsoft began a new trick.  For some time, you may have been receiving pop up messages asking if you want to upgrade now or later (no option for never).  If you pick later, Microsoft scheduled a time and just upgraded without further input.  Many people had been using the X to close the Window without selecting either option.  Last week, Microsoft changed the menu so that closing with the X would result in the same thing as selecting "later."  I.e. Microsoft would upgrade you to 10 at some future time without asking anything further.

Blocking Upgrade Attempts

Some of our work computers are on a domain.  In those cases, you should not be getting pop ups about an upgrade.  Others are not on a domain.  If you are getting messages about upgrading to Windows 10 on your computer, you can run GWX Control Panel.  This program will allow you to disable all requests to upgrade to 10.

You can call the help desk for assistance if you need it.  The process only takes a few minutes.

You may also use this program on any home computer that you do not want to upgrade.  It will simply block any of Microsoft's "reminders" to upgrade your computer and will not allow the computer to upgrade on its own.  If you decide you want to upgrade at some later time, you can use the program to re-enable the prompts.

Rolling Back an Upgrade

If your computer has upgraded to 10 against your will, you have the ability to take it back.  Simply say "no" to the license agreement the first time your computer starts.  This will force Windows to go back to the earlier version.  Once rolled back, run the GWX Control Panel to prevent future upgrade attempts.

If you have upgraded to 10 against your will and have already signed in, you can still roll back for up to 30 days.  Click on the Start menu, select "settings" then "update and security" then "recovery".  Click the button to roll back to your earlier version and then wait for it to complete.  This may take quite a while.

After 30 days, Windows deletes the old backup files and you cannot go back.  At that point, you would need to use your old installation CDs that came with the computer to restore your computer to factory default settings.  This wipes out all programs or documents that have been added since you first purchased the computer.

Future Plans for Windows 10

The firm has no intention of moving to Windows 10 anytime soon.  Windows 10 does not really offer any new features we need.  Any upgrade carries the risk of some incompatibility with existing hardware or software.  Further, Windows 10 seems to have a great many privacy issues that we are still evaluating.

We may end up purchasing new computers with Windows 10 pre-installed in 2017, as Windows 7 may become unavailable at that time.

If you want to upgrade a home computer to Windows 10, it does seem to work with most of the firm's systems.  Microsoft says its free upgrade is ending in July.  After that time, you will have to pay to upgrade to Windows 10.  Keep in mind that the IT department cannot help you with any home computer problems that may arise as a result of an upgrade.

Secure Your Email With Two Step Verification

Occasionally hackers are able to take control of an email account at the firm.  Typically, the hacker will send emails to everyone in the user's address book, trying to get them to click on a link that will infect the user's computer or steal that user's password.  A hack also gives the hacker the ability to read and delete all of your existing emails.

Basic security requires that you should never share your passwords with anyone outside the IT Department.  Your password should ideally be at least eight characters, contain both letters and numbers (and other types of characters if you wish), and should not be the same thing you use on all your other accounts.  You should never enter your Gmail password on any site that asks for it outside of Google.  If a site looks suspicious and asks for such information, you can always check with the help desk for a second opinion.

Caution alone, however, may not be enough.  To better secure your Google data, you may want to try using Two Factor Authentication (2FA).  Google make 2FA available to all of our users.  We have not made it mandatory because it can result in some rather significant inconveniences.  If, however, you wish to add this extra level of protection, you may do so.

The 2FA protocol essentially blocks hackers from accessing your Gmail account or other Google features by requiring a second step beyond entering your password.  You can associate a telephone number with your Google Account.  After you enter your Google name and password, Google will call or text your phone with a second random six digit number.  You must then enter that number in order to access your Google account.  

Once you have done this on a computer, you can tell Google to trust that computer for 30 days, meaning you will not have to go through that second step every time, just once per month.  You will also need to set up a special App Password on any device you use, such as a phone, tablet, or third party software package that accesses your Google account.  The App Password is a long randomly generated password from Google, a unique one for each device you use, in order to access your Google account from that application.

This additional security makes it virtually impossible for a hacker attempting to log into your account from another location.  It does, however, make life more complicated for you, since it regularly requires you to take extra steps to verify that you really are you.

I have been using myself as a test case for 2FA on my own account.  I find it mildly annoying to go through the extra steps on occasion.  Every time I log in from a new computer, I need to have my phone handy for authentication.  That said, it has not been a major problem or impediment for me, and seems to work as advertised.

The important thing to remember if you turn on 2FA is that you will need your phone with you at all times in order to receive a text message with the random pin number.  If you are one of those people who does not view their cell phone as an appendage which never parts from them, then 2FA may become a real impediment to getting to your email.  If you are on the road and lose or forget your phone, you will not be able to check messages through some other place, such as a hotel computer.  Also, if you plan to use other programs to access your mail, such as Outlook, or the mail program that came with your iPhone or Android (something other than the Gmail App) you will need to go through a separate setup process for each of these applications.

If you find  yourself unable to get into your account after turning on 2FA, please note that the help desk will not be able to help you gain access to your messages, nor check  your messages for you. The IT Administrator will need to go through a more cumbersome process of turning of 2FA which is not an easy or immediate thing.

With all that said, if anyone is interested in turning on 2FA on your Google account, you may do so via this site:

https://www.google.com/landing/2step/

Using Gmail Categories

Many months ago, Gmail rolled out "categories" to the Gmail inbox.  I have not written about it sooner, because I did not particularly like it myself.  But some users have found it useful, so I thought I should discuss it further.

Categories tries to to organize your inbox better into up to five separate categories.  Instead of a single inbox, you will see up to five tabs at the top: Primary, Social, Promotions, Updates, and Forums.  You do not have to select all five, but you don't have the ability to change the names or do much else to control them.

Once enabled, Google will decide on its own what incoming emails belong in which categories.  The idea is that less important email, e.g. stuff from vendors, newsletters, notifications from Facebook or Linkedin, will not clutter your inbox (which is the "primary" tab).  Instead, such items will go into one of the other tabs.  These are emails that you don't consider spam, but don't also consider a top priority.

I am not a fan of categories, primarily because I don't have much of any control over what Google considers important.  As a result, I just have to spend more time going through all five tabs rather than looking at everything in one place.  You do have the ability to create filters, i.e. rules that will force an incoming email into a particular tab.  They work pretty much the same as using filters to force mails into a particular label (i.e. folder) rather than going into your inbox.

Another limitation of the Categories is that if you use another program, say Outlook on your computer, or the built-in mail program on your iPhone or Android, then Categories will not work in those places.  All the stuff is dumped into your inbox.  Therefore, your Gmail inbox and the Gmail inbox on your phone may have different contents.

If, however, you get a great deal of automatic mail that is not quite spam but also is not as important as other things, you may find Categories useful.  You can set it up in Gmail simply by going into "settings" then "inbox".  Select the categories you want to use, and then save.  Gmail will take it from there, auto-sorting all the messages in your inbox.  If you decide you don't like it, just turn it off and everything returns to one inbox.

Office 365

The firm is planning to start a pilot group of users for Office 365.  The Pilot will likely last for about a month.  We are only looking at the component that uses MS Office, not the component that works with MS email.

For the pilot, we are looking for people who

1. are already experts in use of MS Office (at least MS Word and Excel, possibly Powerpoint)
2.  have a need to use MS Office for work when outside the office. 
3. tend to use their phones or tablets for a great deal of their work
4. are willing to experiment with the MS Office cloud platform, and
5. are willing to take the time to provide me with feedback about your experience.

Space is limited in the pilot trial, so I cannot guarantee everyone who wishes can participate.  If you don't make the pilot, you certainly can get access once we go live, assuming the pilot is successful.

If you are interested in participating in the firm's pilot project, please send me an email.  If you want to help your chances, you can feel free to explain why your input would be particularly valuable based on how you plan to use the system.

If you want to learn more about Office 365 for Business, check out Microsoft's web site.

Thanks,

Mike Troy

Using Webview in Chrome

For many years now Elite has restricted Webview to use with the Internet Explorer browser only.  If you try to use Webview in another browser, you get as far as the login screen.  After that, your login information will not be accepted.

This limitation can be particularly annoying since we tend to use Google Chrome as our Internet browser of choice.  It is usually faster than IE and offers more security.  It also works better with some of the advanced options that we use in our Google Apps for Business.

Using IE can be annoying.  However, I found a shortcut into Webview that seems to work well in Chrome.

The Chrome Browser allows you to install add-ons to perform different functions.  One of those is called IE Tab.  This add-on uses your Internet Explorer engine as a virtual page within Google Chrome.  If you don't understand all that, the good new is you don't have to understand.  Just trust me that it works.  Install the add-on from this link:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ie-tab/hehijbfgiekmjfkfjpbkbammjbdenadd/related?hl=en-US

Clicking on the "add to chrome" button on this page will download a small executable program.  Run that to install the add-on.

Once installed, you will see an "e" logo on your Chrome toolbar.  When you have a web site open that requires Internet Explorer (e.g. Webview) click on that "e" in the toolbar to run the page in IE mode.  You should be able to open Webview and work as you always have.

I tested it on my computer and everything seems fine.  Different people may have different experiences though.  This is not something the Help Desk is familiar with and may not be able to support if you have trouble.  If it does not work for you, then you may be stuck opening IE the old fashioned way.  I just thought I would pass this along in case some of you found it convenient, and wanted to give it a try.  There are, of course, other sites that may restrict access to Internet Explorer. This trick should work on those sites as well.  You could also use it on a site that simply is not rendering properly in Chrome.

Also, to work properly, you must have Internet Explorer installed on the computer. Using this add-on with a Mac or some other non-Windows device is not going to work.

As always, if you want to enter time and not have the restrictions imposed by Webview, we continue to offer iTimeKeep as a much more flexible time entry method as well.  The iTimeKeep site: http://desktop.itimekeep.com will work with any browser and without any add-ons.  There are also apps available for your iPhone or Android device.  Just log in using your email address and Gmail password.

Bulk Export of Emails

I have been asked several times how we might share a folder in Gmail, or do a bulk export of Gmail messages for some reason.  Today's post finally provides a good solution to these problems.  Thanks to Mary McSorley for finding and testing this new add-on.

A third party has developed a free add-on for Google Drive.  It runs a script that looks for Gmail messages that meet certain criteria.  For example all emails with a certain label (which is what Google calls your folders in Gmail).  You can also create other rules, such as all emails to or from a certain person, emails with a certain subject line, which contain a specific word or phrase, or from a specific date period.

The emails will be saved as PDF documents in a folder on Google Drive that you select.  By default, emails are given a file name based on the subject line.  You can change that if you want.  It will also save any attachments that are attached to the selected emails.

Once you have created the rule, it will run every hour in order to keep your Google Drive up to date. Of course, if you just want it to run one time, you can run the program and then delete it.

This can be a convenient way to share an entire folder full of Gmails with other people in the firm.  Simply create a filter to sync a particular folder in your Gmail with a folder in Drive.  Then, simply share that Drive folder with others who need access to the emails.

This tool can also be useful if you want to do a large dump of email messages from Gmail to another source.  Perhaps you want to save the emails as PDF files for storage in MDIR, or to transmit them to some other party.  Run this add-on, then take the PDF files that have been created and send them wherever you like.

The tool itself is fairly easy to use.  Here is how you use it:

1. Go to the Chrome Store and install the Add-on called "save emails and attachments" (here is the link):
   https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/save-emails-and-attachmen/nflmnfjphdbeagnilbihcodcophecebc
2. Once you have installed the add-on, open a spreadsheet in Google Drive (Google Sheets).  Give the spreadsheet a name like "Saved Gmails".
3. In the new spreadsheet, click on "Add-ons" then "Save Emails and Attachments" then "Create New Rule"
4. Select the criteria your script will use to decide which emails to be saved.  You can change the default names of emails and attachments, but I don't recommend it.  You can always rename the saved files later.
5. Select the folder in Google Drive where you want the PDF files to be saved.
6. That's it. The rule will run every hour by default.  If you prefer, you can run the rule once, then delete the rule or the whole spreadsheet.

When the script runs, it adds a line to the spreadsheet of every message that has been exported.  This gives you a list of your converted files.  It also adds a label to the email in your Gmail account called "saved."  This is necessary so that it does not export the same messages over and over each hour.  If, for some reason, you want it to export the same message again, simply remove the "saved" label in Gmail and it will be treated like an unprocessed message the next time the script runs.

Once you have the PDF files in your Google Drive, you can share the entire folder with others who need access to them.  You can also download the files to your local computer or the MDIR to organize as you wish.

I have tested the product, which seems to work well.  The free version is limited to two scripts.  That should be enough for most people.  Let me know if you think you need to create something more complex and need the deluxe version.

In reading the online reviews, some people complained that the program stopped syncing after a few months and needed to be synced manually.  I don't know if that issue has been fixed, but keep this in mind if you are planning to use as a long term sync.  You may want to check that it is still running properly.

This program can be a useful tool for anyone looking for an easy way to export their messages or to share the contents of a Gmail folder with others.

Stopping the Windows 10 Update

Microsoft has been pushing ever harder to get users to upgrade their Windows 7 or Windows 8 computers to the new Windows 10.  Most enterprise level environments have not yet made the move to Windows 10, which released last summer. Such an upgrade requires extensive testing needed to ensure it will work with legacy devices.

The IT Department has been testing Windows 10 since its release and find that it seems to work reasonably well with most of the software and hardware used by the firm.  That said, we have also found little reason to upgrade to 10.  Other than a new look, we have not found any feature of particular use to the firm that Windows 10 provides that Windows 7 does not.

By contrast, Windows 10 loses some functionality for some features,  notably its inability to play DVD videos.  I am also bothered by some of the privacy concerns in Windows 10. Add to that the user confusion of having to learn a new interface, we have not been in any hurry to standardize on 10.  Microsoft will continue to support Windows 7 until 2020.  At some point before then, the firm will begin deploying Windows 10 devices.  There is, however, no plan yet for when exactly such deployment will begin.

Even when we begin deploying Windows 10, it will likely only be on new computers.  Existing Windows 7 computers will likely stay Windows 7 computers for their usable life.  Upgrading can cause problems, such as hardware that is incompatible with Windows 10.  Since there is no practical benefit to the upgrade at this point, there is no reason not to continue using what works.

Many of you are getting annoying requests from Microsoft to upgrade.  I have created a registry edit that should kill these nuisances. You can download and run this registry edit on your Windows 7 computer if you like.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B82goF7NYtz1TzdBV0k3ZGZVWTA

In some cases, Microsoft has been more persistent in trying to get you to upgrade.  There is a freeware program called GWX Control Panel, which will help you to kill these reminders.  You can read more about the program at this link.  We have tested and used this program on several computers and find it helpful and safe.  Feel free to use it on either a work or home computer if you are tired of getting pop-ups on upgrading to Windows 10.