Microsoft Archives

Ask CyberGuru: Do I need to upgrade to Windows 10?

cyberguru Consulting May 27, 2019May 27, 2019Microsoft, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 7 end of life, Windows Update

In this month’s Ask CyberGuru, we are asked, “I am running Windows 7 and I have received a notification that Microsoft is ending updates and technical support for it. Is this legitimate and do I need to do this?”.

Yes, this is a legitimate notification which has been delivered as part of Windows Update recently. The message would look similar to this:

As noted in the support notification, after 10 years of service, Microsoft will no longer offer security updates for computers running Windows 7 from 14 January 2020. As part of Microsoft’s Support Lifecycle, only its Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 operating systems will be supported from this date. Any computers running Windows 7 after this date will pose a significant security risk.

Given Windows 7 is used in a significant number of computers today, Microsoft is providing early notification to users to ensure that appropriate measures are undertaken to upgrade to a later operating system. Windows 10 has been on the market for almost four years and become an increasingly secure and stable operating system, making it the ideal replacement for Windows 7.

It is strongly recommended that you upgrade as soon as possible to ensure you are provided with the necessary security updates and technical support from Microsoft as required.

Depending on the age and type of computer, you may be able to upgrade to Windows 10 successfully without issues. If the computer is three or less years old, it is likely it will be able to be updated to Windows 10. Some older or custom-build computers, however, may need to be upgraded or replaced.

Unfortunately, the free upgrade offer which was available when Windows 10 was introduced is no longer available, with Windows 10 Upgrade media costing between $225 to $339 depending on the edition.

CyberGuru can assist through our Consulting solution by reviewing your computer equipment to provide the best advice for your needs, as well as providing any necessary training and support to assist you and your organisation make the change.

For more details, please see this Microsoft Support article (link opens in new window) or feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

Upgrading from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams

cyberguru Training May 7, 2019May 6, 2019Microsoft, Microsoft Office 365;, Microsoft Teams, Office 365, Skype for Business, Teams

Microsoft Teams, reportedly the fastest growing app from Microsoft, has been around for nearly two years now. It is known as the hub for teamwork in Office 365 providing call, chat, videos and meetings, Microsoft Teams is the integration of a number of Microsoft Office programs, including OneDrive for Business, SharePoint, and OneNote. It is replacing Skype for Business. It is sometimes referred to as a simplified SharePoint.

Microsoft Teams allows you to manage your organisations’ communications through:

Share and collaborate on files.
Messaging including persistent 1:1 private and group chat.
Provide voice and video calling.
It also closely integrates with other programs, including Outlook, Planner and third-party products.

If you are currently using Skype for Business, you will receive a message that “Your upgrade to Teams is scheduled” to Microsoft Teams. Generally, you receive a few weeks’ notice. If you have been using Skype for Business as part of a standalone subscription or as part of Office 365 Business Essentials, Business Premium, Enterprise E1 or Enterprise E3 subscription, you will receive the message in the coming months.

We strongly encourage beginning preparations to move to Teams as soon as possible by:

having Microsoft Teams installed on your computers and devices (as after the upgrade, Skype for Business no longer will operate)
provide your staff training on how to use Teams.

If you are in need of assistance to undertake this upgrade, or are not already using Teams and would like some training, CyberGuru can provide help with this as well. Please contact us for more information.

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.

Reporting spam email to Microsoft with the Report Message add-in for Outlook

cyberguru Support April 8, 2019April 8, 2019junk, Microsoft, Microsoft Office 365;, Microsoft Outlook, not junk, Office 365, Outlook, phishing, Report Message add-in for Outlook, spam

Whilst the inbuilt spam and malware filtering built in to Microsoft Office 365 has considerably reduced the amount of unwanted spam email you receive in your email account, a small amount spam can still arrive, or an email may be mistakenly marked as junk when in fact it is legitimate. Fortunately, Microsoft has an addon you can use to further reduce the amount of spam or stop legitimate emails from being marked as junk by reporting this back to them.

Known as the Report Message add-in for Outlook, it enables you to report emails using one of three categories:

Junk is generally referred to as spam and are unwanted senders that may be advertising their products or services to you.
Phishing is a person or organisation claiming to be someone else to seek your personal information. The email may appear to be legitimate but in fact is not.
Not junk is a legitimate email which has been misclassified as Junk.

The Report Message add-in for Outlook can be used on both Outlook and Outlook on the web and enables you to report a message as either junk, phishing or not junk. You can also choose to report the message to Microsoft for further review and investigation.

We encourage our clients who are experiencing spam issues to look at implementing this as part of their cyber security strategy.

For more information and how to set this up, please feel free to contact us.

CyberGuru attends Microsoft Ignite | The Tour in Sydney

cyberguru Consulting March 10, 2019March 10, 2019conference, Ignite, Microsoft, Sydney

In February, CyberGuru attended Microsoft Ignite | The Tour in Sydney. Microsoft Ignite | The Tour is where tech professionals are able to learn alongside the experts on topics such topics as Windows, Office and Azure. Throughout the event, we were fortunate to share experiences, engage and learn from such experts.

In addition to lecture “break-out” style sessions covering Some of the sessions we attended allowed us to participate through “hands-on labs”, allowing us to experience some of the changes and explore the new technologies coming through. Using a range of virtual environments to experiment with to learn how to further enhance Windows 10 and Office 365 for our clients.

We were able to also continue to grow our skills in Windows, Office and hear of the new developments and upcoming changes first hand as many of the presentations are from the experts who build and run Microsoft’s cloud services. Some of the speakers included the Windows as a Service Evangelist John Wilcox, self-described as the “IT admin” of more than 600 million consumer Windows devices, discussing the Windows update processes and changes, and a Senior Program Manager for Microsoft 365, Amisha Bhatia, discussing the new Microsoft 365 Portal.

We also were able take advantage of the opportunity to catch up with meet our suppliers and clients whilst were there and hear about their new offerings. We look forward to sharing our new knowledge and skills with you over the coming months ahead.

By attending ongoing professional development events, CyberGuru ensures it is up to date with industry best practice, which we implement in our own business and those of our clients.

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