Ask CyberGuru Archives - Page 2 of 5

Ask CyberGuru: What is the D: drive used for?

cyberguru Support January 30, 2018February 1, 2018Ask CyberGuru, C:, C: drive, D:, D: drive, disk drive, drive letters, hard disk, hard disk drive, NAS, server, Windows

CyberGuru is asked, “I have noticed on my computer I have several hard drives appearing. I know that the C: drive is the main computer’s drive, what is the D: drive used for?”.

During the days of text-based operating systems such as Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) the use of drive letters helped us to navigate between drives on computers. In order to select a drive, we would often refer to it by its drive letter.

Modern computers running Windows have their drive letters begin at C: for hard drives. The drive letters A and B were reserved the floppy drives. Over time, as more drives are installed into computers, such as optical (CD and DVD), and USB drives, these are also using drive letters.

The C: drive is often referred to as the system or boot drive, which is used for the Windows as well as important system files and program files. If your computer has a second drive or the D: drive, it is often used stores your data and documents. Sometimes, system manufacturers such as HP and ASUS include Recovery partitions on the D: drive as well.

This drive, depending on your computer set up, may be an actual second physical hard drive (such as a solid state or hard disk drive), or a partition (division) of the first drive.

In addition, if you have a server or Network Attached Storage (NAS) connected, we often map network drives to drive letters also (such as N: drive for NAS or S: for Server) to make it easier to find their contents.

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

Ask CyberGuru: What is the difference between the desktop and web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint?

cyberguru Support September 28, 2017September 16, 2017apps, Ask CyberGuru, desktop, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Office 2013, Office 2016, Office 365, web applications, Web Apps, web versions

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked, “What is the difference between the desktop and web versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint?”.

Whilst Microsoft includes the desktop version of Office as part of both Office 2016 and most editions of Microsoft Office 365, if you are looking for an alternative, the web version may be a possible solution.

The web versions allow you to create documents in Word, Excel and PowerPoint and to save them in OneDrive. You can access these documents any time you wish to on practically any device and your work is saved automatically. You can also share and edit documents in real-time with others and they can see the changes you are making.

The web version is free if you have a Microsoft Account, although functionality is somewhat limited. Having an Office 365 licence gives you greater functionality and the feature set in the online versions is improving on a regular basis. However if you want the full functionality you have come to expect from Microsoft then the desktop versions of Office 2016 and Office 365 remain your best option.

If you need help with Microsoft Office 365 or Office 2016 products, please contact us.

Ask CyberGuru: Should I add the Norton add-ons/extensions to my web browser?

cyberguru Support June 26, 2017June 26, 2017add-on, add-ons, Ask CyberGuru, extension, extensions, Norton, Norton 360, Norton Security, Norton Security Premium, Symantec, toolbars

CyberGuru is asked, “We have recently upgraded to Norton Security Premium. When we installed it onto our computers, we received some messages about adding Norton extensions to our web browsers. Could you please advise whether or not we should add all the Norton extensions?”

In terms of the various Norton add-ons and extensions available as part of the Norton 360 and Norton Security software, previously I have generally advised against these as they slowed down computers and caused browsers to freeze or crash. However, more recently I have suggested these be added onto your browsers to help you protect you against phishing websites.

I would suggest adding the Norton Security Toolbar which provides an indication of websites that Norton believes are suspicious.

If you are often searching, you may also like to enable Norton Safe Search when you are searching using your favourite websites and as well as the Norton Safe Search as you can search with Norton as well.

If you would like to retain your passwords securely in Norton, you can use Identity Safe but I don’t usually enable this one as I am not a fan of password managers.

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

Ask CyberGuru – What is the difference between File History and Windows Backup?

cyberguru Support May 29, 2017May 29, 2017Ask CyberGuru, File History, Windows Backup, Windows Backup and Restore

In the latest instalment of Ask CyberGuru, we are asked, “I’ve looked on my computer and see different types of backup programs installed. What is the difference between File History and Windows Backup?”.

There is a history and a backing up (pardon the puns) of Microsoft backup products which have been included in Microsoft Windows over the past fifteen or so years. In order to accommodate the various needs of its uses, Microsoft has two products installed on Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 – File History and Windows Backup.

File History was introduced in Windows 8. Similar to Apple Time Machine, it takes a regular backup (typically hourly by default) of your desktop, documents, music, photos and videos and other files contained in your user folder. In Windows 10, it allowed access to add other folders. It allows you to easily revert to an earlier saved version of a particular copy of a file over time.

Windows Backup (also known as Windows Backup and Restore) has been included with most versions of Windows since the earliest versions of Windows. Windows Backup was removed in Windows 8 upon the introduction of File History, but then subsequently returned in Windows 8.1 as Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Along with backing up your files in your user folder, it has the ability to do system recovery, such as backup entire drives, create system images and repair discs should your computer stop working or not be able to start.

When developing a backup strategy, CyberGuru will consider your specific requirements when developing a solution for your data recovery needs, which may include Windows Backup and/or File History, along with a third-party product should your needs be further than what these products provide, such as providing the ability to backup to multiple destinations or email notifications of the success or failure of backups.

CyberGuru can work with you in determining the most optimal backup solution for your needs. If we can assist in any way, please contact us.

Ask CyberGuru: How should I handle suspicious ongoing emails?

cyberguru Support September 30, 2016September 30, 2016Ask CyberGuru, spam, suspicious emails

In this month’s instalment of Ask CyberGuru, we answer the question, “I have received a number of suspicious emails from organisations that I haven’t subscribed to and am wary of unsubscribing from them for fear of dire consequences. I simply view and delete them, and would never click on any links. What is the best course of action for dealing with these?”.

In terms of your question, it is a difficult one to answer but I appreciate the position you are in. If you know the source of the email (such as if you know the organisation), it would be generally possible to unsubscribe without an issue. Unfortunately, some irreputable companies use emails like these to determine if your email address is active, so if you click on the “unsubscribe” link provided you will not be unsubscribed. Instead they will send you more junk email and may even on sell your address to other scammers!

So how do you prevent your email address from becoming a target in the first place? This is a tricky one because you still want prospective clients to be able to find you. One common way spammers find your email address is by looking at your website. If they are coming via the email address on your website, you may be able to increase the filtering on your website hosting server to hopefully mark them as spam, or install the spam filtering plugin within your internet security product such as Norton Security.

There are other measures that can be undertaken such as finding out who sent it through the technical details, however it can be difficult to identify and verify the sender as these emails vary in numerous ways. As you have noted, I think the best course of action is not to open at all them and simply permanently delete them.

If you would like assistance with managing spam or any email-related activities, please contact us today.