Ask CyberGuru Archives

Ask CyberGuru: Should I set up my new computer “for personal use” or “for an organisation”?

cyberguru Consulting September 9, 2019September 16, 2019account, Ask CyberGuru, Microsoft, Microsoft account, organisation, personal, Windows 10, work or school

When setting up a new computer, a question often arises by clients as to whether they should set it up for “personal use” or “for an organisation”. The question comes down to how which accounts you have a “work or school” or a “personal” account.

By setting it up for your personal use, you will be logging in using your own Microsoft account. This generally is created by you using Hotmail email addresses such as yourname@hotmail.com or yourname@live.com, but they may be also using other accounts such as Gmail and Yahoo. Previously, these were Windows Live accounts, and used for services such as Hotmail (now Outlook.com), OneDrive and Xbox. Microsoft do not allow Microsoft accounts to be using work email addresses these days, and if you do have one they will recommend changing your email address on your Microsoft account to someone else.

Alternatively, by setting it up for an organisation, you will require a work or school account which was set up by your organisation that uses Microsoft’s cloud services, such as Office 365, Microsoft 365 or Azure. The work account is generally based upon the organisation’s domain name and work email address, eg. username@domainname.com.au. As a result of this, when a user logs to their computer they are connecting into their organisation’s resources such as their email, network and apps. Further, allows the organisation’s administer to also be able to control their computer.

There are various benefits of doing one or the other, however which one to use will dependent on your situation, including who owns the device, and type of your computer may have. We are happy to assist you to make a decision on this. Please contact us for more information.

Ask CyberGuru – Should I purchase a claimed domain name?

cyberguru Design June 27, 2019July 1, 2019Ask CyberGuru, claimed, domain, domain name

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked, “I’ve been advised that my domain name has been claimed and offered to purchase a domain name from someone who had advised that they have a statutory obligation to offer me the first right of registration. Should I purchase this domain name?”.

Upon review of various examples we have seen of this, the email in question is reportedly from an Australian business claiming there is an application for a similar domain name using the .info domain name extension. In these cases, we have seen the business is seeking a significant amount of money for the registration purchasing such the said domain.

We have reviewed the company as well as other examples reported online, and based upon our knowledge and research, we don’t recommend going ahead with this via the organisation in question to do this.

However, should you wish to purchase the domain name, we would suggest going through a suitable domain name registrar to do this. If this is something you are looking to do, we can assist and advise accordingly.

If you have a question you would like to Ask CyberGuru, please feel free to contact us.

Ask CyberGuru: Do I need to read the Office 365 Message centre emails?

cyberguru Support April 29, 2019April 24, 2019Ask CyberGuru, Message Center, Message Centre, Microsoft, Microsoft 365, Office 365

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked “Do I need to read the Office 365 Message centre emails?, I seem to get them all of the time and they have no relevance to me?”.

As part of your Office 365 subscription, there are often changes, including new features, updates and products during the year. As part of this service, Microsoft send regular updates via email and through the Office 365 Message Centre. This message centre is to provide you with awareness of new features before they are introduced. You can read about these and correlate these to the roadmap, as well as how it will impact you, as well as what you can do to prepare for the change.

One of the recent emails sent referred to the new Microsoft 365 admin center becoming the common entry point for managing all your Microsoft 365 services. It makes mention that it is applicable to all clients. Depending on the feature, you may not be affected, or required to take any action but would recommend reviewing these briefly and contacting us if you have any questions or concerns.

As many of clients would be aware, we provide updates through our newsletter, blog as well during onsite or remote visits with you. We are always happy to be your reference point for new Office 365 features, however, Microsoft share these with you so that you can prepare for these if required. If you have too many emails, you can choose to set a rule to move these to a folder for later reference or unsubscribe altogether.

If you have a question you would like to ask CyberGuru, please contact us.

Ask CyberGuru: Can I buy a similar domain name that is owned by another organisation?

cyberguru Design January 29, 2019January 29, 2019Afilias, Ask CyberGuru, AuDA, domain, domain name, domain name registration, domain names, domains

Ask CyberGuru

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked the question, “Can I buy a com.au domain name that is similar to a org.au domain name owned by another organisation?”.

In terms of your question, a com.au domain name needs to be resemble your Australian business name or trademark. The auDA or Afilias (the name of the .au Domain Administration registry), the organisation is responsible for .au domain names, advises that com.au are for commercial organisations and org.au are for not-for-profit organisations. They advise that Australian domain names must have a “close and substantial connection” to the person or business intending to use it.

If this is the case, then you can likely purchase the .com.au domain name you are seeking, and you are welcome to do so through our CyberGuru Domains website. Upon registering you need to provide your Australian Business Number (ABN), which needs to be associated to this.

However, please be mindful that if another organisation is the has a similar domain name as yours, it may lead to confusion for your visitors and also be difficult to have a good search engine ranking in place if both organisations have similar domain names, so it may be better to consider choosing another name.

If you have any question that you would like to Ask CyberGuru, please contact us.

Ask CyberGuru: What is the difference between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home?

cyberguru Support November 27, 2018November 26, 2018Ask CyberGuru, Windows 10, Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Home vs Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Pro

CyberGuru is asked, “I am looking a new computer and the different options. I was wondering what the difference is between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Home?”

Generally, Windows 10 Pro devices are designed for business use whereas Windows 10 Home is for personal use. This means that Pro devices often have higher specifications than Home devices.

Oftentimes, Windows 10 Pro devices are used for PC-based servers or advanced needs as they allow for. Windows 10 Pro allows for you to set up Remote Desktop to connect to your computer remotely BitLocker disk encryption, the ability to connect to a domain and Client Hyper-V, allowing you to run “virtual machines” on your computer.

Depending on your set up and requirements, you may not require these functions, or you may already have alternatives in place, so you can use Windows 10 Home. If you already have or decide to buy a device with Windows 10 Home, you can generally upgrade to Windows 10 Pro should your needs change in the future.

For more details on the features and differences, please visit the Compare Windows 10 editions page.

If you have any questions we can answer for you, please contact us.

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