PASSWORDS
Oh yes, we are talking about Passwords in this article. We see a LOT of people and it is surprising how many don’t know their passwords. 70% of our time on jobs that require data transfer and setup have been involving password issues because people don’t know them and the recovery information isn’t up to date.
Now first off if your email account is signed into an app you are unlikely to be using a password to get into your emails. However, I promise you when it comes to putting your emails onto another device you definitely will need a password. Being told “I don’t have a password and never have” would indicate that ‘any man and his dog’ could access them and we don’t want that.
With everything going crazy in the IT world at the minute and big corporations being the target of cyber attacks etc. we highly recommend that you:
- Update your password to something new and secure (some of the requirements 10 years ago were very basic)
- Turn on 2 factor authentication so a code has to be sent to your phone (preferably mobile as there have been a number of issues sending codes to a landline)
- Don’t forget to update your contact details in your accounts i.e. ensure your mobile number is up to date and a recovery email is up to date too and accessible!
- This includes email accounts, social media accounts, Microsoft Accounts, Apple Accounts AND it’s worth checking your contact details are fully up to date for your bank too. All the above a large number of people have struggled with because they don’t know the password nor can they recover their accounts because of redundant information.
WIFI DRIVER ISSUES
There have been a spate of laptops (a few desktops have been affected too) whereby the WiFi has dropped off the earth after an update.
- Click on Start (Windows Icon)
- Start Typing “Device Manager” (there isn’t anything to click into just start typing)
- A box appears, look for “Network Adapters” and expand it by clicking on the tiny arrow pointing to the right
- In the list there should be a mention of “WiFi” or “Wireless”
Example only “Intel Dual Band Wireless Adapter” or “Realtek WiFi adapter” - Right Click on the Wireless one in the list and Choose “Uninstall”
- Restart your Laptop/PC and the WiFi Driver will automatically Re-install
- Now reconnect to your WiFi at home by choosing it in the list and popping in your WiFi password.
If this doesn’t work then it could be something more and therefore we recommend popping it into us. You are also welcome to give us a call for us to talk you through the above.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Oh wow, Social Media, what a minefield and a lot of people lost their minds over it when it went down for 10 minutes.
Don’t panic! Most of you who read this article lived before social media and you will be fine.
We are expecting to see more of this in the future. When your social media goes down when you panic and start changing passwords etc it actually could cause more issues than good. We’ve seen it first hand! When the system isn’t functioning correctly and you start making changes during a down phase it might confuse communications and could even cause further issues for yourself i.e. even more problems trying to get back in.
Some people were kicked out of their social media accounts. Try logging in, if that fails, leave it and try again later.
Social Media Down? STOP! Please place your device down, watch a movie, go for a walk or the park and come back to it.