Problems Connecting Portable Devices to a PC

mtpWhen you encounter problems connecting your Android phones/tablets to a PC, the cause could be that Windows is not selecting the proper driver for the device. Normally you would connect your portable device to a PC using Media Transfer Protocol (MTP). You may want to override the driver that Windows chooses if problems occur during installation of default driver, unknown device detected, etc. To override the default driver, simply choose to update the driver, pick your own driver and select ‘MTP USB Device’.

A good read on ‘Android USB Connections Explained: MTP, PTP, and USB Mass Storage’.

Utility – Patch Cleaner

PatchCleanerWhen applications are installed and updated on the Windows Operating System a hidden directory “c:\Windows\Installer” is used to store the installer (.msi) files and the patch (.msp) files.

Generally these files are important as during updating, patching or uninstalling software it will use the .msi/.msp files. If you blanketly delete all the files in this folder, you will find yourself needing to rebuild windows.

Over time as your computer is patched and patched again, these installer files become outdated and orphaned. They are no longer required, but they can take up many gigabytes of data…..(click here for more information and download the nice little utility to free up space on the Windows OS Drive).

WhatAapp adds end-to-end encryption

WhatsApp_e_w300Instant messaging service Whatsapp has announced it will encrypt all its users’ communications from Tuesday.

With end-to-end encryption, messages are scrambled as they leave the sender’s device and can only be decrypted by the recipient’s device. It renders messages unreadable if they are intercepted, for example by criminals or law enforcement.

Whatsapp, which has a billion users worldwide, said file transfers and voice calls would be encrypted too. The Facebook-owned company said protecting private communication was one of its “core beliefs…..(read the whole story)

TeamViewer

Logo-TeamViewer-2016TeamViewer has always been a popular tool to remote control or trouble shoot a client’s computer. The platform that this software supports now expands to non-PC arena like Android. This opens up a whole lot of new perspectives on how this tool can be utilized, e.g. controlling your phones from a computer and vice versa controlling your computer from a phone remotely. Try it out and see if these new features make sense and apply to you (free for personal use).

Office 2016 is Here

Office 2016

Microsoft has released the first new version of Office for Windows in three years, adding a series of new features designed to bring the stalwart productivity apps into the cloud computing era.
Office 2016 allows several people to work together on documents and incorporates a “Groups” section into its software that makes it easier for people to collaborate on projects……..(read the whole story)