Fake Microsoft Support Services

The experts in computer security say that the thieves are ramping up criminal activity these days and that the users may be seeing new scams in their area very soon. You may have already heard of the scammers posing as IRS agents, who claim to be from Microsoft. They call you and say that they have discovered issues with your PC and if you give them access to your computer, they will be able to fix it.

This type of scam is generally called as the ransom scam and it involves a program that freezes the screen of your PC, blocking all the access until you pay many hundred dollars in ransom to get a password to unlock the computer. Recently, these scammers tried to run the scam on Rick Winter, who is a software developer who is working out of Niwot. The scammers told Winter that he had some important issues in his PC, but Winter says it is very common to have errors in the event viewer of the PC and that it does not mean that there are any serious issues in the PC.

"The next thing they'll do is point you to a website where you download software that gives them control over your computer," Winter said. They will send you a legitimate website that is often used by the tech support service firms to work on the remote terminals. "It does give them full control over your system," Winter said. All of the personal and banking information of the users will be exposed in an instant and they can prove to be really aggressive when you try to hang up. "They were very insistent that you have a problem and that you need to get it fixed," Winter said.

Winter says that is when they get to the matter of payment. "Once you buy into the idea that you have a problem, then they say now you have to pay $200 to $300 or whatever it is to fix it," he explained. If you pay these scammers, they will be taking your identity and your cash. The FBI says that if someone calls you and says they are from Microsoft, you should just hang up. Microsoft does not make it a practice to call their customers until and unless you have called them.

If you wish to know more on this news, you can contact our Microsoft fix it team. The Microsoft fix it technicians will be able to help you further regarding this.

Know About Windows Anytime Upgrade

Windows Anytime Upgrade is a program that helps the user, who is planning to install a non-ultimate edition of Windows vista or Windows 7. Like every other feature there were some improvements made in this program in Windows 7 operating system. One of the most important improvements made is the upgrade time, which is considerably reduced to 10 minutes. While the upgrade license can be purchased from any online retail store, DVDs for anytime upgrade were available only with Windows vista operating system.

Windows-anytime upgrade in Windows vista took ample time to complete and it required a DVD, to carry out the process. These DVDs needed to be the original copy containing the same SP level as that of the current Windows operating system. While Windows vista required an original DVD to carry out Windows-anytime upgrade, Windows 7 did not require any physical media to do the same. The extra components of Windows 7 is installed from a service called component-based servicing. This is stored in the computer.

According to the Microsoft marketing sites, it says that almost all the installation media will have the entire functionalities of the highest SKU or the Stock Keeping Unit. Through pidgen.dll and winlogon.exe, the higher-level functions of SKU will be disabled, which differentiates between Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional. This practically means that the license purchased online will be able to tell you, which operating system the user can upgrade from and to which different editions.

Some of the advantages of using Windows Anytime Upgrade are that you need not request for a separate installation-media, you need not re-install the operating system. You will be able to perform a complete upgrade even without the installation media.

When it came to Windows 8, the name of this feature is changed to ‘Add Features to Windows 8’. This allowed the users to upgrade between two of the consumer-oriented editions of Windows 8 and include Windows media center to their installation as well.

Therefore, WAU is used to add more features to the current operating system and check if they are compatible. When you do this, you will be provided with the information about the price separately for different editions. You need to click on the Start button, from where you will be able to access WAU. You need to follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process. An important point to note is that you only be able to upgrade from a 32-bit OS to another 32-bit operating system.

About The Windows 8.1 Update Errors

Microsoft update errors have now become fairly common. Many Windows users these days think twice when it comes to installing any new updates released by Microsoft. They first wait for a few days and then go through the reviews on Microsoft help forum to see if there are any reported errors. Interestingly, there are quite a few defining the issues allied with the particular patch.

Fixing the Windows 8.1 update errors

One such recently reported Windows update errors was about Windows 8.1 OS. Though Windows 8.1 is marketed as a different version of Windows 8 in the market, it is available to Windows 8 users as a free upgrade. However, as it turns out that some of the Windows 8 users face many technical issues when upgrading to Windows 8.1.

Interestingly, it is clear from the reports that not every Windows 8 user, who made the upgrade, faced issues. The Windows 8 machines that were affected reportedly displayed an OS crash, and there was no way out of this error, except to completely reinstall Windows 8 platform, or going for a full OS recovery. As you can imagine, this led many users to lose their valuable data stored in the system hard drive.

As always, Microsoft was quick to respond to these reported errors, and released some useful tips and fixes to deal with the problem. If you are one of the affected users, just visit the Microsoft help forum and search a solution for the error code displayed during your computer crash. You will find the solutions for many complex issues there, along with the necessary steps to execute them.

Keep in mind that such OS updates are not that big problem, if you take the necessary precautions before the upgrade. For example, Microsoft clearly asks Windows OS users to backup all their important data and create a system restore point before going ahead with the update.

However, the system restore point becomes useless if the OS completely crashes, as it did in the case of Windows 8.1 upgrade. So, the best step is to create a recovery disc for your OS before you go ahead with the upgrade. This recovery disc and backup files will come handy in the event of any OS errors in the future. Also, make sure that you update all the Windows 8 drivers before you install the Windows 8.1 upgrade file.

Procedure To Create Personal Folders In Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is probably one of the most useful email management software for business and home purposes. There are a wide range of features available in the mail client, enhancing the user’s emailing experience. Apart from the usual email send/receive features, there are many other useful features allowing users to allocate tasks, schedule meetings, organize and synchronize emails. This amazing email client also functions as a help desk applications or an Outlook help desk. Another great Outlook feature is the ability to create Personal Folders in Microsoft Outlook.

Personal Folders can be created in Microsoft Outlook for storing, managing and archiving your email on your local computer’s hard disk. With the help of personal folders, you will be able to reduce the amount of space used on the central mail server, and avoid receiving warning messages indicating that you are crossed the allotted data storage limits.

You need to check the amount of space you are using in Microsoft Outlook. Thereafter, you need to right-click on the Mailbox ‘Lastname’, ‘Firstname’ and select ‘Data File Properties’. Then, clicking ‘Folder Size...’ will show the amount of space you are using on Exchange.

Here is how you create Personal Folders in Outlook 2010:

• First, open the ‘File’ tab.
• Then, you need to click on the ‘Accounts Settings’ button and select the ‘Account Settings’.
• You need to click on the ‘Data Files’ tab.
• Then, click on ‘Add…’
• In the New ‘Outlook Data File’ window, you need to select ‘Office Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst)’ and then click on the ‘OK’ button.
• Thereafter, in the ‘Create or Open Outlook Data File’ window, you need to navigate to the folder where you would like to store the personal folders file. Then, click on the ‘OK’ button.

For using your ‘Personal Folders’ you need to select the messages you wish to move and then click and drag them to your Personal Folders within the ‘Folder List’ pane.

For creating New Folders within Personal Folders for organizing your messages, here are the instructions to follow:

• First, you need to right-click on ‘Personal Folders’ in the Folder List pane.
• Then, you need to select ‘New Folder…’
• For creating new folder window, you need to enter the name of the folder in the Name field and then click on the ‘Ok’ button.

If you have any doubts regarding this, contact our Outlook help desk personnel online.

Manually Updating Your Copy Of Global Address List In Outlook

Global Address List or GAL is a term used to define groupware software and it means that the addresses are shared among the employees working within an organization. The GAL feature is not accessible by the users, which remains a read only feature. However, only the administrator has the privilege to make changes like add or delete a contact.

One of the most common use of a GAL or global address list is that when you are in an organization, and when you are about to send an email to one of the colleagues, you can still manage to send him or her email. You just need to type the recipient’s name, with the help of the GAL, you would be able to look for the email id with the name and then send the email.

When there are changes made in the Exchange Server, computers that have Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 will not receive updates automatically. While this happens, there are chances that you miss on a few things. Here are some of the fixes for different Outlook versions from Microsoft.

Microsoft Outlook 2013

• Open the software, from the Ribbon, click on the Send/Receive tab. 
• Next, you need to click on the Send/Receive Groups after which you need to click on the Download button. 
• Click on Ok. 

Microsoft Outlook 2011 For Mac

Since Outlook 2011 does not use Exchange Cached mode and connects to the Global Address Book directly, the global Address Book refreshes every time the Send/Receive button is clicked.

Microsoft Outlook 2010

• Open the program, and then click on the File tab, then Account Settings, and then Download Address Book. 
• Make sure that the check box Download Changes Since Last Send/Receive is checked on the offline dialogue box in the address book. 
• This will make sure that the Outlook address book is updated.

Microsoft Outlook 2007

• Open the application Outlook 2007. 
• From the drop down menu of the Toolbar option, highlight the option Send/Receive and then click on the option that says Download Address Book. 
• You need to make sure to check the option The Download Changes Since Last Send/Receive that appears in the dialogue box for the offline address book. Click on the option Ok. 
• Your Outlook address book would be Updated automatically. 

Follow the above-mentioned methods to update the Global Address List in Microsoft Outlook.

Remove Yahoo Toolbar From Firefox

Yahoo toolbar can be a useful add-on if the user makes use of it; otherwise, it can just waste your browser space and can prove to be irritating for the user. The toolbar is much persistent and the steps to remove the Yahoo toolbar can be tricky. This toolbar can be installed by third party software or by an application without the knowledge of the user or while the user is not paying attention about the specific items, each application will install.

Some of the software includes different toolbars like Yahoo Toolbar, which can be installed on your PC (usually these software put a notice in the terms and conditions area, but often this will not be noticed). When the Yahoo toolbar is installed in Firefox web browser, Yahoo will become the default search provider. If you are trying to remove Yahoo toolbar from Mozilla Firefox web browser, you can follow the instructions that are shared below.

Instructions

• Turn on your computer, open Mozilla Firefox, move to Tools, and then select Add-ons. 
• Go to the Extensions tab.
• Select Remove and then restart the Firefox web browser. 

These are the steps for removing Yahoo toolbar from the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Now the steps to change the default search engine is explained below.

• If you wish to change the default search engine, click on the small arrow and then move to Manage search engines.
• Choose Yahoo and then select the Remove button. Go to Tools, select Options, and then go to the General tab. 
• In the General tab, click on Restore to Default or select a webpage from your bookmarks.

These are the steps to remove Yahoo toolbar from Firefox. You can notice that the top menu with Yahoo links is also removed by following these steps. You may follow these steps carefully for removing Yahoo toolbar completely from your PC. Even after doing these steps, some of the instances of the Yahoo toolbar may remain in the computer. You can make use of the toolbar removal programs that are available in the Internet to get rid of all the instances of the Yahoo toolbar.

If you need further assistance on removing the Yahoo toolbar, you can contact our tech support team. They will help you to finish these successfully without getting any Windows errors. Our tech support desk is available round the clock.

Fixing Outlook Express Problems With Computer Service

Outlook Express is the news cum email client application designed by Microsoft. Though popular for its ease of use, users come across some errors in the program all the time. The error 0x800ccc79 is one of the most common one that users experience while accessing their accounts in Outlook Express. When this error occurs, all the data saved in the program becomes inaccessible, and can eventually lead to serious data loss.

Experts say that the error can be fixed with the help of a registry cleaner program. These registry cleaner programs can help to recover the lost data as well. As the tech support team suggests, the issues in Outlook Express occur mainly due to problems in the Store folder and damaged files that your computer fails to read. If you do not know much about the technical details and want to keep your computer away from the technical issues, you can make use of the Outlook Express repair tool to get rid of the issues. The repair tool will process the .dbx files and convert the corrupt information into files with an .eml extension.

Many computer service providers and responsible tech support vendors provide security services for the Outlook Express account of the users. Your computer can easily become infected by a virus or other malicious programs even by opening an email message. Not only common people, but also the computer service specialists agree to the fact that if no download or file exchange is done over the Internet, the malware penetration into the system can be prevented to an extent. However, many virus and spyware codes created these days can get into your computer via emails and outbound links even though the user has not downloaded anything.

This means that the Outlook Express problems can also be caused due to a virus attack. Tech support experts have compiled a set of guidelines for the users to decrease the chance of getting sudden vulnerabilities. They always ask not to use the HTML format in messages. It is also advised to use plain emails. Users can also opt to change the security settings in Outlook Express, and install a potent antivirus program to decrease the possibility of a virus attack. If you wish to know more on the steps to minimize the chances of getting Outlook Express problems, contact our tech support team right away.