Microsoft

Suzie uninstalled Microsoft Works from her old laptop recently and wants to know if she can reinstall it. Leo says that Microsoft stopped making Works in 2009. Without the installer, you're kind of out of luck. But there are other tools you can use in its place: ZoHo Office, LibreOffice, Microsoft Office on the web, Google Docs, all free. Suzie only really needs a Calendar. Leo says that Google Calendar is a good free option. There is also a calendar built into Windows 10.

John needs to do sync and backup of his business. Leo recommends going with Microsoft's Azure service.

Larry is finding that every time he removes a program from his computer, his default apps get reset. What gives? Leo says that Microsoft may be trying to get Larry to use EDGE as a default. It could also be Microsoft's attempt to protect your computer's database by erring on the side of caution. There is a way to prevent it. Over at SuperUSer.com, there's a way to do it with REGEDIT. That's scary though.

Michelle bought a new laptop running Windows 10 S mode, but she can't install Google Chrome.  Leo says that Windows S mode won't let her download and install third-party apps that aren't in the Microsoft app store. So she has to get out of S mode. She can turn it off, download Chrome, and then turn it back on. But keep in mind that Microsoft's new EDGE browser is based on the Chrome engine. So she could just use that. Turn off S mode and life will be much easier.

Dan is concerned about the end of life for Windows 7. How will that affect him? Leo says that January 14th is the drop-dead date for updating Windows 7. After that final Patch Tuesday update, Microsoft will no longer support or update Windows 7. Leo says it does not cause for worry, but it makes it worth considering updating to Windows 10. What Microsoft wants, ideally, is for everyone to buy a new computer. But people can buy Windows 10 for $139.  But here's something nobody at Microsoft will tell... users can still get it for free.

Jeff has a Microsoft Windows Surface Pro 2 and he wants to know how he can change out the storage memory for a larger one. Leo says that he can clean out the hard drive to get rid of unwanted cruft. Look for a folder called Windows.Old and get rid of that. Run Windows Disk Cleanup. Windows Key, cleanup.

Gary recently reformatted his hard drive as part of annual maintenance. Now, though, he is having issues using an online database using his Microsoft account. If he uses a different account, it's fine. Leo says that it could be that Microsoft is copying settings the online database doesn't support. And Microsoft is making it harder to use Windows 10 with a local account. Leo also says that the database is misconfigured. Gary also can't use Internet Explorer, which the database requires. Leo says that Microsoft has killed IE, and as such, it's no wonder Gary is having issues.

Timmy has heard that Microsoft is going to kill support for Windows 7 on January 14th. Is that going to be a security problem? Leo says essentially, yes. You'll be on your own as Windows 7 goes end of life. You can get Windows 10 for free in most cases if you still own Windows 7, and Microsoft is hell-bent on getting everyone to WIndows 10. Also, after January, most other browsers and other software updates will stop supporting Windows 7 as well. But if you take it offline, you can still use Windows 7. Just not for the internet. 

Caller wants to know why her and her sister's phones are so slow. While their husband's are faster. Leo says if both you and your sister are using a specific app, that could be running in the background and slowing things down.

She also has an issue where in Office 365, the font size is so small, she can't read it. Leo says you can change the font. It's in the settings. But the caller says they've taken that option out of Outlook in Office 365. Leo says that can't be. 

Absent that, change the zoom. That'll at least let you read it.

Jim updated to Windows 10 vs. 1903 and now he's lost sound support and can't record. Can he downgrade? Leo says he could, but not for long. Microsoft is going to force it on him sooner or later. There is a known issue with sound in gaming. Leo recommends updating to the subsequent updates after 1903. KB4515384 is a technote that talks about fixing sound issues in games, and Leo suspects it should solve Jim's problem.