Special Alert: do not install Latest Windows 10 Update. Microsoft halts rollout.

Microsoft has halted the rollout of it’s latest Windows 10 October update, dubbed version 1809.  It was originally released to the public this past Tuesday, October 2^nd and was scheduled for automatic rollout this starting this week.  It has been halted after reports of data loss.  In the statement Microsoft says ;

“We have paused the rollout of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809) for all users as we investigate isolated reports of users missing some files after updating.

If you have manually downloaded the Windows 10 October 2018 Update installation media, please don't install it and wait until new media is available.

We will provide an update when we resume rolling out the Windows 10 October 2018 Update to customers. “

During the beta stage, there was one report in a feedback hub “Files Deleted” 3 months earlier about the Documents folder having been replaced by a new Documents folder.

However, within hours of the latest release to the public last week reports from users started coming in.

“I'm on a Dell Precision. This happened to me as well! The contents of the Documents folder totally disappeared. All the other folders for my user profile such as Desktop, AppData, etc are intact. Fortunately, I had a backup from the summer. I have been a loyal Windows user since Win95, and I've never had a Windows update single out my Documents folder for deletion. Very disappointed today.”

Several commenters who updated multiple machines have reported that the issue affected only one device:

“I have had the same issue happen. I updated two computers last night. One computer Documents and Pictures are there and everything is good on the second computer my Documents and Pictures folder is now empty, all files that were in these folders are gone. I can confirm that the other files in my Users folder are still there, it appears that only Documents and Pictures where deleted.”

The author of the story I am citing here is suspicious of a new Auto Save capability that has been added to OneDrive allowing Windows 10 users to link the Local Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders.

To read the complete article, click on the link below;

  

https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-halts-rollout-of-windows-10-october-2018-update-what-happens-next/?ftag=TRE-03-10aaa6b&bhid=2219791

Phil Gilbert

Free Radical, Ltd. dba Driving Force Software

http://drivingforce.net

( Phone: 404-728-0353

@  email:  dforce@drivingforce.net

Why Spam gets through, Office 365 Scams, threats. Intel 8th Gen Processor Shortages

Why spam gets through

"Spammers and phishers create malware and send spam because it is profitable. They are always working up new ways to work around spam filters and get messages delivered to user inboxes. Because of the number of unique spammers in the world and the rate at which they create new content, the spam you see in your inbox today is new. It is different than what it was yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that. It looks similar, and may use the same technique, but it is not the same message. It is slightly (or greatly) different and has been designed to evade filters."

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/tzink/2014/09/12/why-does-spam-and-phishing-get-through-office-365-and-what-can-be-done-about-it/

Office 365 users should be aware that they are increasingly being targeted by criminal hackers trying to gain access to their account.  They are employing a variety of phishing emails to trick you into revealing your access information.

The first trick is an email purporting to be from Microsoft saying that something is wrong with your account and it will be de-activated unless you take action.  There will be a link that will take you to a site that looks exactly like the Microsoft Office 365 portal but it's not.  Sometimes the email/ID will be prefilled and all you have to supply is your password.  Once the criminal has your info they can log on to your Office 365 portal.  You may keep personal info in the cloud that could cause harm enough by itself but oftentimes they will use your email/ID to attempt to fool your contacts with the same or other schemes.

However, that is not all they can do.  The end game is not to steal your account by changing the password to your Office/email account.  They want to discretely monitor and control your financial and other business info.   Once a hacker has your info they can create email rules that will prevent you from knowing what activities they are up to.   For instance, they can identify your bank information and create a rule that will forward emails/responses to and from the bank to a 3rd party email and then delete the email so you don't see it and know what is happening.  They will issue a "Forgot Password" request to your banks, credit cards. receive the password reset and set the password to take charge of your accounts.  It would not take very long before significant damage is done and too late when you discover that something is wrong.

Office 365 users, just beware that Microsoft will not contact you directly about issues such as over the storage limit, unprocessed emails and other email problems.  If there is an issue your Admin will be contacted, not individual users.

Examples;

In each case, the links are to Office portal look-alike pages or to a scam site.  It is easy to mimic the portal page.  All one has to do is right click, select view source.  Copy the code and then upload to a webpage and code it to do perform as you wish.  Any website can be duplicated and published to a scam website by using this simple technique.

Other attempts I've seen are emails received from UPS or a trusted (compromised) contact that has an attachment which when you attempt to open takes you to an Office portal screen (above) and asked you to log in to the portal.  It's a scam, don't.

All email users should beware of the above because you may receive these emails and think you should log in with your email password.

Submitting spam back to Office 365
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/tzink/2014/09/12/submitting-spam-back-to-office-365/

Shortage of 8th Gen Intel Processors Is Causing Price Hikes Worldwide

I have been touting the benefits of Intel's new 8th Generation, Coffee Lake processors.  Recently I wrote about PC sales being up for the first time in 6 years,  https://dforceatl.blogspot.com/#!/2018/08/pcs-sales-up-macs-are-down-apple-first.html

Now there due to rising demand and Intel's failure to keep up with this demand there is a shortage of Gen 8, Coffee Lake processors.  Prices on all Gen 8 processors across the board have risen significantly, the Core i7 8700K by as much as $70 if you can find it.

https://www.technadu.com/8th-gen-intel-processors-shortage-price-hikes-worldwide/40917/

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-coffee-lake-shortage-cpu,35632.html

https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3063533/novatech-intel-cpu-shortage-will-hit-9th-gen-core-processors

I currently have some Core i3s in inventory at the pre-shortage costs.  Generation 8 processors differ from previous generations in the number of cores/processor greatly increasing performance and capabilities.

Core i3 increased from 2 to 4 cores (processors).
Core i5 and i7 from 4 to 6 cores (processors).

Get some today!  Call for pricing and availability, 404-728-0353