Every second Tuesday of the month, Microsoft makes a batch of updates available for all their products.  If your computer is set up properly, these updates will trickle down to over the course of a week.  You will be notified that they’re either available to download, downloaded and ready to install, or downloaded and installed automatically.  You will be asked to restart your computer, and there may be more updates after the restart.

If you haven’t been notified of updates, it could be that your computer is not set up to receive automatic updates.  This is a serious problem, as many of the updates are to patch security vulnerabilities (solve security problems), which should help protect you against viruses, trojans, and hackers.  If you want help to make sure you’re getting updates, please contact me.

I’ve been busy over the last couple of days doing three Windows Reinstalls.  By far the most time consuming part is bringing Windows up to date afterwards; Windows Vista takes a day to update, and all versions of Windows need multiple reboots during the update process.  While I’ve been doing these reinstalls, my own PCs have been getting automatic updates too.  I’ve probably done close to 100 restarts this week!

Beware though, sometimes you could get pop-ups saying you need to update something, especially video players, which are actually viruses trying to infect your computer.  It’s pretty hard to tell the difference, so if you want to check with me before saying ‘yes’, then please do.  Sometimes, if you click ‘no’, that can still infect you with a virus.

If you’re a CBits subscriber (ie paying monthly for my services), you can ask me to log into your computer (if you give me the password) and check any messages to make sure they’re genuine.  10 minutes of care can prevent hours of work sorting out a fake update virus.  If you’re not a subscriber, please ask for details of becoming one; it’s pretty cheap, great value for money, and could save you a lot of hassle and expense.

Colin.

This recent visit was just a quick maintenance visit. The clients are going on holiday, and would have a 24 hour window in which to print their boarding passes before flying off. They were worried because their old Windows XP computer and printer had been acting up lately. It turned out that they had bought two new, identical laptops and a new wireless printer a few months ago, but hadn’t even opened the boxes yet because they wanted me to sort it all out and set them up after their holiday.

I tested the old PC and printer and they appeared to be working. I told them that if they have a problem on the day they need to print the boarding passes, they should call me and I will come to sort it out. In view of the short time window, I will take my laptop and portable printer to make sure I can get things printed in time.

On a previous visit, I had shown them how to backup their documents by dragging a copy of the documents from their PC to the memory stick. They couldn’t remember how to do it and hadn’t backed up since. This is often a problem for people, even though the process of doing a backup only involves a few steps, it’s a problem to remember how to do it, if they remember to do it at all.

I showed them one of the new backup devices I recommend, and explained that once the software is installed, all they have to do is plug the device into the computer, and press the button on the device marked ‘Backup’. Their backup would complete automatically and tell them when it’s finished. That ‘one-click’ backup solution appealed to them very much.  Although I explained that one device could backup both their new laptops, they ordered one for each laptop ready for my visit after their holiday. Just for their peace of mind, I did a backup for them to their existing USB memory stick.

They signed up for the CBits by Subscription service too, and we arranged an appointment in March for me to set up their new laptops and transfer their documents from the old PC.

These new backup solutions are proving very popular with my clients.  If you would like to know more about them, or have anything else you need help with, please leave a comment.  Personal details are extracted from the comments by me before any comments are published, so feel free to leave your contact details.

Remember, I provide remote support over the internet too, so contact me even if we’re miles apart.

A couple of days later I arrive to do the set-up.  The installation went well, but the initial backup got stuck on one file and wouldn’t continue, and wouldn’t even respond to the ‘stop’ command.  We restarted the computer to try again.  Yes, I am aware of the cliché about turning it off and on again, but it does often solve such problems.  In this case, it didn’t solve the problem and the backup got stuck again on the same file.  The client then informed me that the backup method he previously used had also got stuck on that file.  This meant that the problem wasn’t being caused by my backup method and device, and pointed towards the file itself being the problem.  Anyway, a few troubleshooting steps later and the file was fixed.  The next attempted backup went perfectly.

Teaching him how to do future backups was very easy; “Plug the device into your laptop and the program will automatically start.  When you see the backup program screen, just press the button on the backup device marked ‘Backup’.  Job done, get 0n with something more interesting!”

Fixing the problem with the file took quite a while.  For the techs amongst you, we had to do multiple reboots due to lockups, and he’s on Windows Vista with only 1gig of RAM so it took a while; I told him that if he finds his computer too slow we can get more RAM, but it’s his first computer and he finds it works well enough for his needs.

Due to the file problem, the fairly large amount of data, plus the initial work to establish the amount of data to backup, the whole process took about 90 minutes.  I only allocated 60 minutes against his Subscription account though.

If you want information about my recommended backup devices, or any other services, please leave a comment and I will get back to you.  Personal information will be extracted from any comments before they are published, so feel free to leave contact details in the comment.  Thanks.

I am sad to say that the New Look is here to stay on Google Documents (and Google Reader by the looks of it). I prefer the ‘classic view’ of gDocs but they’ve taken away that option. How very Apple of them.

It looks like there’s no way to get back the old interface of gReader either, although I haven’t thoroughly researched that point as I don’t use gReader at the moment.

Regarding cached results in Google searches, there used to be a link just under the search result for the cached copy, but now you have to hover over the double arrow to the right of the search result, wait for the page preview to load, then select ‘cached’ from the link at the top. Considering Google’s efforts to make search quicker, this change seems counter-productive.

It seems that Google has moved it’s focus from functionality to appearance.

In haste,

Colin.

If you have more time, read on….

I couldn’t play media (podcasts or music) on my Android phone through either of my two Bluetooth headsets. I had been able to do this with my Windows Mobile phones using an app called ‘BT Audio’.  I wanted to make this work so I can listen to podcasts while carrying my baby without her pulling on my headphone wires and eating my earbuds.

I spent way too long looking into this online and found that stereo headsets can do this, but the sort of headset you use in your car (the type that fits on one ear) don’t usually do this on Android.  What you need as an A2DP enabled headset, but these are usually the stereo ones.  It’s very hard to find out online whether any particular headset is A2DP enabled.  I even bought a new cheap Bluetooth headset in case my existing ones we’re too old, but the new one didn’t work either.

I saw a couple of people online had had success with the Jabra Extreme, so decided to buy it from Amazon; it’s worth the extra money!

As you can see from the first paragraph, it’s very easy to set up; you don’t even have to charge it first. It looks good, appears well made, comes in lovely packaging, and has good accessories; a selection of ear hooks, mains charger, in-car USB socket, and a brilliant hinged USB to Micro USB adapter.

The sound quality is good, and so is the range.  You can pair it with eight devices, and have any two connected at the same time (ie work and home phone).  It has two microphones so it can cancel out background noise so people can hear you better.

Just goes to show, if you spend a little more, you get a lot more value.  Go on, treat yourself!  Jabra Extreme Bluetooth Headset.

This is another post made on my Android phone while feeding baby.

Anyway, I found the answer to my problem.  On the Android phone, go to the Home Screen, Menu, Settings, Applications, Manage Applications, Calendar Storage. Then select Clear Cache.

If you found this useful. Please leave a comment or link to this site from your site.  Thanks.

I own a HTC Wildfire, an Android phone.  I added my Google account to it and it all synchronised well.  Although there is an option to add another account, after the entering the details it would say “Signing in”, and:

“Your phone is communicating with Google servers and setting up your account. This may take up to five minutes.” 

Well, it would rarely get to five minutes before reporting:

“Can’t establish a reliable data connection to the server. This could be a temporary problem or your SIM card may not be provisioned for data services. If it continues, call Customer Care.”

I finally found a solution:

Go to the phone’s YouTube app

If you have an account, sign in.  If not, create an account using your Google username and password.

That’s it!  The phone now has the new account.  You will probably want to go to settings, Syncing and Accounts, and set it to sync automatically.  You’ll then get your second or subsequent gMail accounts in the gMail app.

If you found this useful, please let me know with a comment.  I might start posting tech-related stuff again in 2011, but want to know if anyone is interested before I spend time on it.  Thanks.

Tesco replied:

I am sorry to hear that you feel our advertising for the unlimited tariff is misleading.

Unfortunately, as with every network, there is a fair usage policy on the tariff, which has been set at £500.

I have replied to that:

Regardless of what other networks do and say, the fact is that you state that the tariff includes “Unlimited calls, texts and browsing” but it is limited; it’s limited to £500.  To say it is unlimited is not true.

I’ll post what they say next.

The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) recently said that telecoms companies can call their plans ‘unlimited’ even though they’re limited by the companies’ “fair use” policies.  This just does not make sense.

If the regulators can’t protect the consumer against such an obviously misleading practice, we can’t trust them to protect us against other bad practices.  It’s quite simple, you just ban the use of ‘unlimited’ if there are any limits at all on the tarrif.  If they don’t take action on this, the Regulators are either in the pockets of the telecoms companies or they are impotent and need reform; there’s no other explanation.

We as consumers need some sort of campaign for fair and honest treatment from these companies.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments.

I’ve been looking into a new mobile phone and contract, and mobile phone companies keep telling me that they have ‘unlimited’ internet. Tesco told me this in person last week, and T-Mobile told me this over the phone today. But these ‘Unlimited’ deals are not unlimited. Here’s an example:

Despite the big print saying “£30pm for unlimited calls, texts and browsing”, the small print says “subject to a fair use limit of £500″.  So, it’s not unlimited, it’s limited to £500.

T-Mobile said today that I (currently) have unlimited data allowance on my £15pm SIM cards.  I said “It’s limited to 3GB, so how is it unlimited?” and he replied that if I exceed 3GB, I still have unlimited data but I’ll be charged for anything above the that.  I don’t think he’s right there either, but it does illustrate how these companies are trying to mislead people.

I just sent this email to Tesco Mobile and should receive a reply within 24 hours.

Subject:  Complaint about misleading advertising

Body:  Your advertising states “£30 per month for unlimited calls, texts and browsing”, then in small print states “Unlimited calls, texts and browsing subject to a fait use limit of £500″.  How can it be unlimited, and limited, at the same time.

I’ll let you know what they say.

I’ve just opened a letter from First Direct Bank.  “If you had a cash machine that was guaranteed to print money over the next 25 years would you insure it?”  This is a sales pitch I first heard heard over 15 years ago, but it’s still in use today.

Their point is that you are that cash machine!  Every month you go to work and make money to support your family.  The point is that you should insure that money-making machine to make sure that if you die or fall ill, your family can get the money from the insurance policy instead.

I’m not a big fan of ‘clever’ sales pitches like that, they seem a bit immature.  I’m usually dealing with an existing client or one who has been recommended by an existing client so I have their attention already.  But now I’m looking for a few new clients to work with, maybe I should be using those tried and tested methods.

Back to my tax return.