How is it that the largest software company in the world can get things so wrong after all these years? They had so much potential and opportunity to do better.
Many of the issues faced at our helpdesk are related directly to insane defaults, bad software and patches and poorly implemented security schemes - all courtesy of Microsoft and charged for by their technical toadies.
We see small business operators lumbered with hugely expensive servers and terminal services installations to cater for their tech person's latest "great solution" from Microsoft, be it Small Business Server 2008, death by VPN security and networking messes, or whatever.
Frankly, we're appalled by the lack of technical expertise and incompetence displayed by support staff across the country, and the seeming reluctance of these experts to embrace better solutions.
To help address the balance, we offer here a few tips to help make your computing experience easier (without actually ditching all your Microsoft products and getting into the future of computing via Mac or Linux systems or totally internet based applications - and yes, it's happening...not quickly enough, but it is happening)
This page isn't intended to rail against Microsoft per-se, but it does illustrate that knowledge out there is in limited supply, and that there are alternatives, efficiency and productivity gains and major savings to be had. These are not necessarily the only solutions, but they have been proven by time and experience.
We welcome any feedback and other suggestions.
The great Internet Explorer download mess - this file contains invalid data
Hello Microsoft! Your browser is broken!
If you're experiencing problems downloading updates (getting the message: this file contains invalid data), then the likely culprit is Internet Explorer (Note: this does sometimes affect other versions and other browsers too).
We’ve received a substantial number of calls recently from clients attempting and failing to update SmoothPay.
The problem appears to be with Internet Explorer caching downloaded files, and is especially problematic in IE7.
To eliminate the problem:
Another solution:
Note that if you use Microsoft's virtual VPN technology you will probably still need to use IE for your connection, as it's proprietary to Microsoft and it's the only tool that will work with it. Some internet sites are also designed to work only with Microsoft IE browser (though how they keep them going with the various bugs and non-standard implementation that changes every version is anyone's guess). However, for the most part, alternative browsers are better, faster and safer.
If you come across a website that only works properly with IE - complain.
Unable to run help files across the network - F1 not working
Hello Microsoft! Your logic is pretty flawed on this issue. In trying to stop a small-ish problem you've totally overlooked the obvious. If it's unsafe to open a compiled help file across the network, then might it not also be unsafe to run executable files across the network?
This is one of those "out there" software patches that left most software suppliers in the world scratching their heads in wonder.
To eliminate the problem:
Vista (and Windows 7) - the wonder of it all
This fluffed up version of Windows has provided us all with hours of entertainment.
Again, Microsoft have dressed up their chook of an operating system and changed a few rules, like protecting files installed in Program Files folder from being changed by anyone other than an Administrator - and preventing users from creating files in the root folder of their hard drive. Excuse me - just who's hard drive is it again?
We're dumbfounded - since Windows became a dominant desktop operating system, Microsoft have advocated installation of software into the Program Files folder and consequently we experienced DLL hell and all kinds of nasty problems - so, being slavish devotees to this mantra, all products install to Program Files by default. But then along comes Vista, and you can't run your accounting systems, payrolls etc if they have been installed to this folder - unless you run as administrator or turn off user access controls (not recommended), otherwise any data files, ini files etc installed in those folders are either "shadowed" or not able to be altered.
To fix this mess:
Security, permissions errors
It's a pity, but on peer-to-peer networks and client-server networks, Microsoft's security settings seem to have a mind of their own - and they certainly don't provide for application-centric security and file access privileges - you'd think a mature operating system would provide such features...
What this means is, that if a user with Admin privileges creates a file and moves it into a folder that has general user access, then ordinary users may not be able to access/update/delete the file so created - bit of problem if it's a data file!
To resolve the problem (every time it happens):
A better solution:
The dumbest defaults of all - hidden file extensions, and double-click
You mean...there's a better way?
Yep! This nutzoid logic means that files are unidentifiable (unless the little "Excel" icon beside a CSV file means it's a CSV - or is it an XLS file etc?) which causes problems when you need to identify such a file and upload it to the IRD, the bank etc.
And as for double-clicking an icon to make a program run - give your OOS a break.
The solution:
Keyboard shortcuts that everyone should know and use
Save yourself and those you know from the tedium and inefficiency of doing things the hard way! We're constantly amazed by how few computer users actually know these "secrets".
Note: where you see a key combination (such as CTRL+A), it means: hold down the CTRL (may be labelled Control on your keyboard - we use CTRL for short), then strike the designated key once, in this case the "A" key (big A, or little a - doesn't matter).
CTRL+A: Selects (highlights) all text, whether it's inside a document, or just one data entry field
CTRL+C: Copies selected text into the clipboard - you won't see anything happen, but the selected text will now be stored in the clipboard)
CTRL+V: Inserts (or replaces selected text with) the contents of the clipboard
WINDOWS+E: Opens Windows Explorer - you don't need to minimise or close any current windows, and you can access your drives and files instantly. The WINDOWS button isn't too hard to identify - it has a Windows Logo on it and is usually in the bottom left part of your keyboard.
ALT+TAB: Selects the immediate previous application you have running. If you hold the ALT key down and press TAB repeatedly, you'll notice the focus shift between each open application icon - let go when you are focused on the one you want to use. This is far quicker than stabbing around with the mouse, closing other windows and so on.
Double-click selects the word being clicked*
Triple-click selects the whole line (sometimes paragraph) or whole field being clicked*
Click once (and hold) and drag to highlight a selected amount of text*
*you can then use CTRL+C to copy the selected text, or CTRL+V to replace the selected text with whatever is held in the Windows Clipboard
These shortcuts are common to most computer systems, including Mac, Linux etc. (except for WINDOWS+C).
There are plenty more shortcuts - these are the greatest time-savers though and you should know them and use them.
To Microsoft Office, or not?
It's not a secret! There are viable alternatives to Microsoft Office, and many provide a good degree of compatibility with Microsoft's proprietary file formats - thankfully becoming a thing of the past.
One of the best is OpenOffice, which provides a complete word processor, spreadsheet, database, drawing and presentation solution - for free!
Given the expense of Microsoft Office, it's well worthwhile considering using an alternative - and it'll suit most user requirements.
The biggest change you'll experience is the need to use tables to get good layouts, and you also get the benefit of being able to create PDF files directly from the application.
To obtain OpenOffice: