Microsoft Windows Essentials 2012 couldn't be installed errors 0x800c0006 WLXSuiteLang UXPlatformLang

A client's Windows 7 computer failed due to a failing hard disk. Lots of errors, Outlook not working and unable to repair. As a precaution I kept the client's hard disk for them and installed a new hard disk giving them more space at the same time.

Reinstalling Windows 7 isn't difficult now that Microsoft provides ISO images that can be downloaded. A welcome change from Microsoft that they make the ISO images available. However, reinstalling Windows 7 on an older computer nearly always comes with issues and time consuming updates. This computer was no different. Over a hundred updates to be applied, graphics card not recognised and issues with the ports. All taking a considerable amount of time to find drivers to install.

The client used Windows Essentals Photo Gallery and sometimes Movie Maker. No problem I thought. A visit to the Microsoft download site should fix that. How wrong could I be. As the software was discontinued in 2017 and no longer supported, the software is not even available from the Microsoft site.

Really Microsoft! Surely you could provide an archive area for all your old programs that people could download. That protects people from having to download software from potentially questionable sites. Just another reason my support for Microsoft has nearly vanished over the years. If Microsoft doesn't look after their users, users should reconsider supporting Microsoft.

But I digress. After quite a few attempts to install Windows Essentials 2012 found using Google searches, with the error messages 0x800c0006 WLXSuiteLang UXPlatformLang, the client suggested I try YouTube as he'd seen links to the software on YouTube. I checked YouTube and found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9aAnqXDSpw. The comment in those video post lead me to the site http://hifi2007reviews.com/movie-maker-windows-essentials-2012-microsoft-offline-installer/.

On this site there were two links. One for Windows Essentials 2012 and one for Windows Essentials 2011. I downloaded the Windows Essentials 2012 file, performed a virus scan and installed the software removing all options except for Photo Gallery and Movie Maker. The software installed without a problem. Configured the software for the client since they had their files on a second hard drive and the client was now up and going again.

For those getting the same error messages as I did, try the site above. It could be I'm located in Australia and the other downloads I tried weren't suitable for Australia. The error messages indicated a language interface issue so that sort of makes sense.

It's a pity Microsoft alienates their clients by not providing their files in an archive area. In this case the client was using an older version of Outlook but now the client is happy to use Gmail, further reducing the need for them to use Microsoft products. Microsoft seems to have forgotten that if you look after you're clients, your clients will look after you.

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

Office 365 licence changes coming on October 2, 2018.

According to a blog post from Microsoft, from October 2, 2018 there will be some changes to the Office 365 Home/Personal licences. The first thing to note is you don't have to do anything. This will all happen automatically.

I'm always a bit perplexed when companies make changes. Often there can be a bit of manipulation. You appear to be getting something extra, when in the background something is being taken away.

If I've read the following article correctly this is what you get from October 2, 2018.

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/important-news-about-your-office-365-subscription-06828297-4f1d-4059-8748-365d8e658968

Microsoft previously allowed you to load Office 365 onto up to 10 devices. Now you'll be able to load Office 365 onto an unlimited number of devices. That's good for convenience as the software's on the devices if needed.

For Office 365 Personal you'll be able to load Office 365 on all your devices but you'll only be able to sign into five at any one time. That appears to be an improvement as previously you only had one PC or Mac and a tablet. Now if looks like you could have PC, Mac, tablet, mobile device, etc.

For Office 365 Home you'll now have an additional user licence giving you six users. Each user will be able to sign into up to 5 devices at one time. Previously it was 5 users and up to 10 devices. In effect 2 devices per user. Now it looks like there could be up to 30 devices signed in.

Overall there doesn't seem to be any losses, just gains for users.

For Office 365 Personal it now means if you have more devices such as PCs and Macs, the Personal licence may be used instead of the Home licence.

Overall there's more options, more flexibility and potential for home users and their families to save money and that's always a good thing.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support

myGov Medicare payment site cloned. Beware.

One of my readers today let me know about a scam they'd just read about in the news.com.au site. It appears that scammers have set up a cloned version of the myGov Medicare payment site.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/security/mygov-medicare-payment-site-cloned/news-story/2d9f0dbd5c4e549f58a1a666e3952bcd?from=rss-basic&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_source=News.com.au&utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF

It starts with a fake email that appears to be from Medicare to update your payment details. You are then taken to the fake Medicare site that's designed to trick you into thinking you're at the real Medicare site.

The bottom line now is when you receive emails you now have to always be on your guard. Don't click on links without thinking about it first. Open your browser and go directly to the website instead of clicking on links.

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support

GoDaddy domain authorisation codes sent for multiple sites but not requested.

Recently a client's domain authorisation code was sent to me. For some reason I'm still listed as the contact on their domain even though I shouldn't be. At first I thought this may be the client's doing.

However, today I received five more requests for authorisation codes across three different domains.

I thought I'd share this because it indicates either a problem with GoDaddy's systems, or perhaps some form of attack on GoDaddy's systems.

It may be wise to keep an eye on your domains and make sure they are not transferred away from you without your knowledge, if there is an actual attack happening.

Kelvin Eldridge

Online Connections

www.OnlineConnections.com.au

IT support.

Update: I called GoDaddy in case their systems were under attack. They aren't. I suspect the reason is as from the 1st of July the organisation managing .com.au domains is changing. As a result of this GoDaddy most likely needs to update all the .com.au domains. Unfortunately a side effect of this is to send out authorisation requests to domain holders even though they have not requested them. In other words just ignore the requests there isn't any malicious activity occurring.

Outlook versus Gmail versus Mail on Android devices.

A while ago I wrote myself some notes on the advantages and disadvantages of Outlook, Gmail and the built-in email client apps on my Android based mobile phone. I thought I'd share those notes in case it helps others.

Outlook v Gmail v mail

Outlook
- does not show active link for hyperlink address
- if only email client Google Chrome does see it as default. Tries to set up new account. For email links.
- no notification for new emails. Have to use widget instead
+ layout clear
+ don' feel Microsoft scanning all emails
+ Appears to update better than Gmail
- No badge count
- sent url does not create link for Gmail receiving.

Gmail
+ converts url to link
+ works with Chrome email links
- feels like Google scanning all emails.
- No badge count
- really terribly slow at refreshing. Need to manually refresh by pull down. E.g. deleted items stay shown until sync.

Mail
- Crashes frequently
+ Works well as default
+ badge count
- need to disable so other choices shown for mailto links.

Overall I've found none of the three email clients does what I want so it's a compromise. The built-in email client is the client I end up using the most. I also use the Gmail app separately for my Gmail account only. Outlook I've tried but generally end up deleting the app.

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
IT support.

G Suite discount code.

I noticed an ad pop up promoting Google's G Suite partner referral program. One of my clients needed G Suite set up for their email as their developer's web host didn't provide email services. There were a couple of options and the client decided to use G Suite. The client is quite happy with G Suite and uses my services to set up G Suite initially and every now and again to set up new accounts or email aliases, rather than having to learn G Suite and the jargon involved.

When I saw the ad and since my clients is happy with G Suite I decided to investigate. Google's G Suite partner referral program obviously offers the partner a monetary reward. As a consultant the client has to know this and decide if they'd like to be referred, or not be referred and go direct to the Google site (without using the referral link) to sign up. That is entirely their choice and makes no difference to me. To me the client's choice is the most important.

However there was a further offer to partners where partners could provide a promo code. Each promotion code provides 20% off the first year on either the G Suite Basic plan or G Suite Business.

I decided to sign up for the Google G Suite partner referral program as it may generate some income, but also provide a discount for those signing up.

For those interested here is the referral link (https://goo.gl/81amsf).

The promotion codes for the 20% discount are:

G Suite Basic Plan           34TDEGCNEF4HLYD
G Suite Business Plan      34KAD9G7KYVAFJA

Before using these codes make sure G Suite is suitable for your needs.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support.

Please be aware the discount voucher code were valid at the time this post was written but they may be discontinued at any point in time by Google.

Gallon to Liter Calculator test.

One of things I believe in when developing is testing. One test I'm currently running is for the Gallon to Liter Calculator site. The site has been running for nearly six months now.

The test was to see if I could create a site that was .com instead of .com.au and see if the site would gain traction worldwide, or even just in America. The reason is Australia is a small market and if I could build a website that didn't appear to be based in Australia there was greater potential for more traffic.

The result so far is it has been disappointing financially, but not a total failure. OK, a financial failure but it provides useful information.

As an Australian you'll notice the spelling of liter in the domain name. This is the American spelling and not the Australian spelling. Does it matter? Yes. Not only for the intended audicence but also to Google.

In terms of ranking, "gallon to liter" versus "gallon to litre" has an average position of 12 versus 16.4. So spelling does matter. There's also around five times as many impressions for the liter spelling in Google search results versus the litre spelling.

The site statistics show the greatest number of visitors come from Canada. A check of the position for  the search "gallons to litres" returns the following positions:

Google.ca - 18
Google.com - 18
Google.com.au - not in top 100
Google.co.uk - 18

Using the .com domain has certainly made a difference in terms of not appearing in searches from Australia.

The Gallon to Liter Calculator is a useful tool for converting gallons to litres. It hasn't been a financial success, but it does generate some interesting information.

When testing your website's presence on the internet, if you make a change measure the position before the change, wait until perhaps 1-2 weeks after Google has picked up the change (you can check the cached version in Google for when it was last scanned) and then measure again. You really do have to be patient. Making too many changes at once means you won't know which change made ranking betters and which changes perhaps made things worse.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
IT support