The following MyAnswers solution 2269 is now available:
Tested Windows Remote Assistance under Windows 8 to TeamViewer under Windows 8 running the local machine on ADSL and the remote machine using a 3G service.
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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)
Many businesses do not have a web presence and it is my belief that every business should have at a minimum a single page site to promote their business on the internet. Whilst many people will charge many hundreds of dollars to develop a site with no guarantee the site will generate any revenue, that approach I take is very simple and cost effective. Build minimal presence and then as you find the site is generating revenue, reinvest in your site.
There are three elements to having a site. You need to have a web site address which reflects your business name or business activity. This is called a domain. The domain for International WISE COUNSEL is wise-counsel.com.au and so people can find International WISE COUNSEL at www.wise-counsel.com.au. The second element is the page or pages others will see on the internet. The third element is you need a company to host the page. There is a fourth element which is separate from the site but should be considered at the same time. This is your email hosting. Make sure you can use your domain name for your emails as well. Many people miss this important marketing opportunity. An email address using your domain reinforces you brand and people will check out your site when they receive an email. A Gmail or Hotmail email account makes your business look unprofessional and small. An email in your business name promotes your business and not the email provider’s business.
International WISE COUNSEL already had the domain which was being used for their emails. The hosting was set up which included their email accounts they required. The page for the site was developed based on an existing promotional document. The trick in keeping your costs low is to use material you already have. I used the existing material and reproduced the document on the internet. For a basic page you should allow one to two hours. The total cost including setting up a single page site including setting up the hosting should be around two to three hours. In addition you may need some time to set up your email accounts on your computers.
I then promoted International WISE COUNSEL’s site and within a day the site was on the front page of Google. As International WISE COUNSEL have others link to their site over time, their site will gradually replace other sites in Google search results which refer to International WISE COUNSEL. International WISE COUNSEL’s site will then enable their customers to see the information they want them to see.
One aspect people often don’t consider when setting up their internet presence is who has control of their site. Many people make the mistake of allowing their web developer/designer to set the site up for them and often the business doesn’t even own the content or even their domain. A big mistake in my opinion. My approach is to work with the client. I assist them to purchase the domain in their name. I help them set up their hosting in their name. The page created is a once off page unique to them and I assign copyright to them. This means the business is free to use whomever they wish to in the future to support them and are not tied to me in any way. The client retains control and ownership over all aspects of their site. The client only uses my services because they chose to, not because they have to.
If you would like a site to promote your business and don’t want to pay a fortune, then give Online Connections a call on 0415 910 703. Whilst I generally promote my business locally, I can assist people with their online presence no matter where in the world they are located.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer advice and support.
The following MyAnswers solution 2268 is now available:
Windows 8 Mail application has a serious limitation with attachments which means it may not be sufficient for business use.
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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)
The following MyAnswers solution 2267 is now available:
Windows 8 runs OzEfilter (which was developed using VB6) but OzEfilter does not completely work. OzEfilter is not able to check the email server and thus effectively from a functionality point of view OzEfilter does not work under Windows 8.,
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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)
I decided to buy the Windows 8 Pro upgrade from the Microsoft Online Store this morning. I have an older development machine I’d like to install Windows 8 Pro on. The machine is currently running the trial version of Windows 8 Enterprise Edition which expires after three months. I opened my notebook and went to download. From the first screens presented on the Microsoft Online Store I couldn’t just buy and download Windows 8 Pro and then burn it to a disk. The screens take me through the steps of checking my machine and at this point I decided I’d rather go to Officeworks and buy Windows 8 Pro on special for around $9 more. I’m hoping the special also includes the DVD so I don’t have to spend the time downloading and burning a DVD.
The problem I find with downloading programs is things can and do go wrong. When I support people I take into account people have a range of skills. If things go wrong for me, then they’ll go wrong for others and really, I want people to have the best experience they can, given what technology often puts us through. On a number of occasions when I’ve assisted people who have downloaded their software, they don’t have a copy of their software to reinstall when there is a major problem. This means to fix the problem they have had to buy the software again. In other situations people have lost their product key, or the product key is in their emails on their computer which is no longer working. People should have a copy of their software and their product key stored separately to minimise the chance of having to incur additional costs and delays.
One big surprise for me was the following statement on the Microsoft Online Store.
“If your PC is running Windows 7 Home Basic or Home Premium, your files, programs and settings will easily transfer to Windows 8. If your PC is running Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, Windows XP or Windows Vista, you will need to reinstall your programs. Some features such as touch may require a new PC. To check compatibility, visit your PC manufacturer’s website and check out www.windows.com/upgrade to run the Upgrade Assistant to check for compatibility and get more details on system requirements.”
To me an upgrade is you insert the disk, run the program, the upgrade occurs and you continue working. This is generally relatively easy for anyone who is comfortable working with technology. Having to reinstall all your programs is much more time consuming. You never know if you’ve got all the disks, the licence numbers and even if some of the programs such as drivers will even work. Reinstalling your software can often wipe existing data for some applications and that is pretty scary if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’ve often reinstalled Windows and then spent hours downloading and updating drivers for sound cards, video cards and other devices in the computer. An upgrade to a new version of Windows can mean some of your peripheral devices don’t work and may never be able to be used again with your upgraded computer.
What surprised me and I didn’t know, even though I’ve spent numerous hours researching, installed Windows 8 Release Preview, installed Windows 8 Enterprise Edition, and attended a Microsoft day-long seminar, that the upgrade will only work easily with Windows 7 Home Basic or Home Premium. I mostly now support micro and small business clients (as well as home users) and for business I’d always recommend the Pro version of Windows. People buying Home editions would often bring a computer into a large business or government environment wanting to use their computer for work, but couldn’t because it couldn’t connect to their network at work. There were also other features missing in the Home edition. Thus it was safer to purchase the Pro edition of Windows.
Now every one of those computer running the pro edition of Windows 7, will now effectively have to do what is nearly a complete reinstall of their computer. That is a very costly exercise if you are using an IT consultant to upgrade your computers. I wouldn’t upgrade a machine without first doing a review of the machine, determining what programs and data the user has on their machine, performing a backup of their hard disk, and then installing the new operating system, reinstalling all their applications, bringing across their data and then fixing any issues that have been created, such as drivers for hardware or peripherals not working. This could easily be a $300-$500 (or more) cost per machine. I personally find it hard to justify putting that amount of money into an older machine.
Windows 8 is not a simple upgrade anymore and it is now an upgrade you need to think seriously about. If you have to pay $300-$500 to upgrade an older machine, that sum of money could easily go a long way towards the cost of purchasing a new machine. With a new machine at least you know the machine has been designed to run the new operating system. You don’t have to try to fix things that didn’t work in the upgrade. Because your data is still on your old machine you can take your time to migrate your data and applications. I often leave the old decommissioned machine with the client for two weeks just in case something they hadn’t realised the was something on their old machine they needed to be migrated and now doesn’t work on their new machine. Then after that period the old machine can be cleaned and reused in another part of the business.
As an extra tip I don’t generally buy the Office software licence with the machine as that software can only be used with that machine. I purchase the more expensive stand-alone version of the Office. That enables me to use the software on two machines (a desktop and a notebook) and to transfer the software to a new machine. (I’ll need to recheck the licence to see if this still applies.) I’ve had clients who have had their computers stolen. The insurance companies won’t pay for the software and the software is only licensed for the machine that was stolen. The client can’t use the software on the new replacement machine and are thus out of pocket hundreds of dollars. I’ve also confirmed this with Microsoft.
Until today I didn’t realise that only the Home editions of Windows 7 will be a relatively straight forward upgrade exercise. That means for me, the majority of machines could potentially be equivalent to a reinstall and that is a much more time consuming and thus expensive exercise. Many of those who purchased a machine recently running Windows 7 with a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8, will probably now be regretting they didn’t just wait and buy a new computer and save themselves the time and energy required to upgrade. I’ve recommended that my clients defer purchasing machines until after Windows 8 ships. Retailers who just wanted the sale would have been pushing out machines and not advising clients of the time and effort to upgrade. Consultants who have advised clients to purchase a Windows 7 machine and then to later update may get some agro from their clients. Some consultants would have done this knowingly to obtain additional support work and others would not have known the upgrade wouldn’t be a simple upgrade.
I’m posting this article to all my blogs including my Online Connections blog (www.blog.onlineconnections.com.au) and also each of the JustLocal postcode blogs I maintain, to ensure people I support now know if they are thinking of upgrading to Windows 8, there is more work involved than previously anticipated.
If you’d like to be kept informed with technology related news, most news is posted to my Online Connections blog (www.blog.onlineconnections.com.au). For clients I also provide the MyAnswers solution database where I post problems and solutions I find when working with clients. This enables me to share solutions between clients reducing the costs overall for all clients. You can keep updated on new solutions on the MyAnswers site (www.MyAnswers.biz) by looking at the Recent solutions posted. I expect to post quite a number of issues and solutions relating to Windows 8.
Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer advice and support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham, Templestowe Lower, Lower Plenty, Doncaster East, Montmorency, Bulleen, Warrandyte and Research with no travel or call-out fee. For suburbs outside this area travel time is chargeable.
I’d advise clients looking to purchase an Windows RT tablet computer to seriously reconsider the purchase. The version of Office 2013 which comes with the Windows RT is not licensed for use for any commercial purpose. People bringing their own equipment into the office, or using the tablet whilst mobile or home for business purposes could easily be in breach of the licence conditions.
I think this is a very serious marketing mistake on the behalf of Microsoft. Their software is called Office and it would be reasonable to expect you could use the software in an office. People will buy a Windows RT tablet expecting to be able to take it to work but the included version of Office is only licensed for home and student work.
The Microsoft site states “Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview and the final version are not for use in commercial, nonprofit, or revenue generating activities. Commercial license options available (sold separately)”. You should also check the definition of commercial licences which are sold separately. To my knowledge you cannot get a single user business licence to use with the Windows RT device.
Based on the licence conditions of Office 2013 RT the Windows RT Surface tablet is a device which I’d find it hard to recommend.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer advice and support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
Windows 8 Pro upgrade is now available for download from Microsoft’s Online Store for $39.99. There are a number of things you should keep in mind.
1. Whilst at $39.99 the Windows 8 Pro upgrade is a bargain compared to previous upgrades, if you have an ageing computer think about whether it is best to save the money and put it towards a new computer, or to install Windows 8 Pro to keep your existing computer going and use the latest version of Windows.
2. Keep in mind Windows 8 is very different from what you are used to. At first this will be frustrating for most, but as with all past changes, once you get used to it, it won’t really matter.
3. Around 10% of older computers I’d estimate won’t be able to be upgraded. I estimate there will be over 100 million computers currently being used worldwide which won’t handle the upgrade. Check Microsoft’s refund policy, or the policy of the store where you purchase the software. The system requirements stated on the Microsoft web site do not take into account many computers which exceed the minimum requirement cannot install the Windows 8 upgrade. This is based on testing the Windows 8 Preview Release and I don’t believe this has changed.
The Microsoft Online Store provides a link to the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant which you can use to test if your computer can install Windows 8. I’d recommend running the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant before purchasing the Window 8 Pro upgrade. On the netbook computer I use (it is around three years old) 11 issues were found and one was quite serious.
4. Keep in mind only upgrading from Windows 7 is what we’d normally consider a real upgrade. Windows Vista and Windows 8 will require reinstallation of your applications and isn’t an upgrade to me. My concern here is people running the upgrade on a Vistra or Windows XP machine will end up with a machine where there programs won’t run if they don’t understand how the upgrade works. I’d suggest Windows XP and Windows Vista users consider the upgrade to be like a fresh install. If you had to do a new install of your computer what do you need to save first.
5. You should perform a backup of your data (including programs you may have download and any settings your programs may store) before you perform any upgrade to your computer.
I’m suggesting to my clients they should purchase the upgrade to Windows 8 Pro even if they don’t install the upgrade right now. Until January 31st 2013 you’ll be able to buy Windows 8 Pro via download for $39.99. After that date the price will most likely revert to the very expensive upgrade prices of past, which means it may no longer be worth upgrading an older machine. This of course may change and Microsoft may decide to keep the upgrade prices at a reasonable level, but I wouldn’t count on it. Based on what I’ve read the upgrade to Windows 8 Pro on DVD could cost as much as $290. To me it doesn’t make sense to pay that much money to upgrade an older machine when that money could go to a new and faster machine.
You can buy Windows 8 Pro upgrade from a retailer, or save some money and download the upgrade from the Microsoft Online Store. The upgrade from a retailer will cost around $20-$30 more. I’m not sure at the moment, but I suspect the retail version may include a DVD. You should check if the DVD is included in the purchase from a retailer.
As I find issues with Windows 8 I’ll add the issues and solutions to MyAnswers for clients. I’ve already identified and documented a shortcoming of Windows 8 Mail which largely stops me from using Windows 8 Mail and may stop others.
Most importantly, do run the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant first to make sure upgrading your computer won’t cause you any grief. Well, no more grief than normal.
If you forget where you can download the Windows 8 upgrade, the Microsoft Online Store is available on the main page of JustLocal (www.JustLocal.com.au). JustLocal is an advertising service I’ve created to help local businesses advertise cost effectively.
Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.
NOTE: The link to the Microsoft store above is an affiliate link. Purchasing using this link means I receive a commission but does not affect the price you pay.