Computers | The Apheus Blog

How COVID-19 Has Changed the World of Technology

27Oct

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet, Tech News, Tech Talk, Technology

How COVID-19 Has Changed the World of Technology

You can listen to Tech Talk on WTCA AM 1050 and FM 106.1 in Plymouth, Indiana, every Tuesday morning at 8:30 am. Join Bob and Rusty and they discuss the latest technology news and whatever else comes to mind. It's been less than a year since COVID-19 hit the United States and it has left lasting effects on almost everyone. Those of us who work in the information technology fields know how difficult it has been to adjust, innovate, and deploy. In fact, our industry has changed so quickly it has been difficult to come up with solutions that meet the needs of our customers. The biggest change has been how most customers now realize how important technology is to their daily operations. Remote Work Many of our customers, particularly local municipalities, have never given remote ...

Can’t Log In to Windows 10 with Your Password? It Could Be an Update…

5Oct

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers

Can’t Log In to Windows 10 with Your Password? It Could Be an Update…

Twice within the last week, customers have brought me their laptops with a curious problem: they couldn't log in to Windows 10 after an update. In both cases, the customer had a single local account on the machine. Neither of them was using a Microsoft account. Neither customer updated or changed their Windows 10 password. In fact, one user didn't even have a password. It was and odd problem and the fact that two completely different users came in with the same problem in such close proximity is definitely worthy of a blog post. Activating the Administrator Account On most Windows 10 computers, the administrator account is present on the machine but is more than likely deactivated. In order to reactivate the account and gain access to the system, you'll need to use some s...

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, September 8, 2020

8Sep

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet, Tech News, Tech Talk, Websites

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, September 8, 2020

You can listen to Tech Talk on WTCA AM 1050 and FM 106.1 in Plymouth, Indiana, every Tuesday morning at 8:30 am. Join Bob and Rusty and they discuss the latest technology news and whatever else comes to mind. Adobe Flash Player is Going Away Finally. After many years of disgust on both sides of the spectrum (IT and web design), Flash is finally going away. Flash was great for doing certain things, but it really caused more problems than it was worth. Flash is destined to cease existence in December 2020, but Microsoft (for some reason) if offering extended support for some enterprise users. For some reason, movie studios really latched onto the software to build websites for their upcoming releases. I'm grateful that it's going away. Although I will soon expect a sl...

FIXED – Windows 10 PC Waking Up Due to “PCI Express Boot Port”

4Sep

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers

FIXED – Windows 10 PC Waking Up Due to “PCI Express Boot Port”

I feel bad for my intern. He recently built a Windows 10 PC after exclusively using Apple products for basically his entire life. You have to give him mad props for making such a bold move. Deep inside, I did chuckle a little bit because I knew how things would go. Moving from an Apple iOS ecosystem to Microsoft Windows isn't easy. In fact, it can be downright frustrating at times. As I like to say, Microsoft keeps me busy. His most recent puzzle was that his computer kept waking up from sleep mode for no apparent reason. What I really mean is that the computer would go to sleep and then wake up in a few seconds. It did this every time it went to sleep. Every. Time. The poor guy couldn't get any sleep with his computer fans constantly turning on and off. I knew that I had to help and I...

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, September 1, 2020

1Sep

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet, Tech News, Tech Talk

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, September 1, 2020

You can listen to Tech Talk on WTCA AM 1050 and FM 106.1 in Plymouth, Indiana, every Tuesday morning at 8:30 am. Join Bob and Rusty and they discuss the latest technology news and whatever else comes to mind. Windows is Killing SSDs So as you know, you probably shouldn't defrag an SSD. Defragging has been around a long time and is a process used to improve the performance of an old spinner-type drive. Modern SSDs really don't need to be defragged. In fact, you could potentially damage an SSD by performing the defrag operation. A report came out this week that says that the latest version of Windows 10 is actually defragging your SSDs every time the system boots up. Well, that's really not how it supposed to work. In fact, Microsoft is apparently working on a fix for...

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, August 25, 2020

25Aug

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet, Tech News, Tech Talk

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, August 25, 2020

You can listen to Tech Talk on WTCA AM 1050 and FM 106.1 in Plymouth, Indiana, every Tuesday morning at 8:30 am. Join Bob and Rusty and they discuss the latest technology news and whatever else comes to mind. Zoom Service Disruption Many Zoom users experienced major disruptions on Monday, August 24, 2020, after the service went down. Given that many people are still working from home or remotely, a disruption of this type surely made plenty of people upset. According to an email sent to customers, Velchamy Sankarlingam, President of Product and Engineering said, "We always take very seriously our responsibility to keep you connected, and we know that you are relying on us during this particularly challenging time. We deeply regret this incident and sincerely ap...

CISA Issues Warning About Malware Phishing Attack

17Aug

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet

CISA Issues Warning About Malware Phishing Attack

On Friday, August 14, 2020, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a part of the Department of Homeland Security, issued a warning about a new phishing attack. Attackers are sending emails containing a Microsoft Word document with a malicious Visual Basic Application (VBA) macro code to deploy KONNI malware. KONNI is a remote administration tool (RAT) used by malicious cyber actors to steal files, capture keystrokes, take screenshots, and execute arbitrary code on infected hosts. Phishing attacks are typically designed to collect user data (such as usernames and passwords) and transmit that information back to the attacker. However, in this situation, the attacker is also sending malware to your inbox. CISA is recommending that all users maintain "situ...

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, August 11, 2020

11Aug

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet, Tech News, Tech Talk

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, August 11, 2020

You can listen to Tech Talk on WTCA AM 1050 and FM 106.1 in Plymouth, Indiana, every Tuesday morning at 8:30 am. Join Bob and Rusty and they discuss the latest technology news and whatever else comes to mind. Toshiba Leaves Laptop Business Toshiba had been in the laptop business for over 30 years, but they sold the majority of their business to Sharp in 2018. In an announcement on August 4th, Toshiba said that the remaining shares of their personal computer business have been transferred to Sharp and the deal brings an end to their PC business. The renamed division is called Dynabook. Questions Surround Trump's TikTok Ban Trump gave Chinese company ByteDance 45 days to sell off their TikTok app and U.S. business or face an internet blockade from the federal government. Cit...

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, August 4, 2020

4Aug

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet, Tech News, Tech Talk

Tech Headlines for Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Tech Talk show notes for Tuesday, August 4, 2020. Listen live Tuesday mornings on WTCA FM 106.1 and AM 1050 in Plymouth, Indiana. This is a new technology news feature we hope to continue on every Tech Talk show starting on August 4, 2020. It will be a quick overview of the latest technology headlines in the week leading up to the show. Trump Warns that He will Ban TikTok President Trump said last Friday night that he will ban the popular app TikTok because it poses a national security risk. The app is owned by a Chinese software company. Some claim that the app is piping personal information directly to the leaders of the Communist Party in Beijing. Microsoft Tries to Buy TikTok Microsoft is apparently reopening negotiations with the Chinese owners of TikTok...

Ransomware is Still a Threat and Even the Big Guys Can Get Hit

2Aug

By Bob BarcusNo Comments

Computers, Internet, Tech Talk

Ransomware is Still a Threat and Even the Big Guys Can Get Hit

Tech Talk show notes for Tuesday, July 28, 2020. Listen live Tuesday mornings on WTCA FM 106.1 and AM 1050 in Plymouth, Indiana. Sorry for the late post, but this past week has been a busy one! Usually, I try to get my Tech Talk info on the blog information posted the same day, but sometimes work gets in the way. Go figure! But I digress. On the show this week I talked about how Garmin got hit with a ransomware attack. Garmin is well-known for its GPS devices, but they also make a broad assortment of other tech items, particularly wearables. Last weekend, the ransomware attack took down some of Garmin's services and impacted an unknown number of customers. Thankfully, Garmin says that they don't believe any of their customer data was compromised. So when a multi-million doll...