efixit.com.au

16/04/2026

I'd like to highlight a situation that's caused trouble for a couple of my customers of late. It's easily avoided, but if it's not done right it can leave you in a world of pain.
We all have trouble with passwords. No matter how organised we think we are, they get forgotten, reset, not written down or simply lost in the mists of time. Losing your password for Optus, Bigpond or any other company that you can reach by phone and with whom you can identify yourself isn't going to be a disaster.
However, if you have an account with Microsoft, Google, Yahoo or any number of other services that don't have easy phone access for support it can get gnarly. These services prompt you to attach a recovery phone number and a recovery email address to your account, and they use these to verify that it's really you when you make changes. If you don't have those contact methods attached to the account then it's all but impossible to change the password, and if you don't know the current password it can mean the account cannot be accessed ever again. What's more, if you change your phone number or lose access to the recovery email address it's critical to update the account with the new details. It can be a bit tedious, but if those details aren't kept up to date you can lose access to the account permanently. This isn't great if, for example, you want to cancel a subscription that auto-renews but can't access the account to do the cancellation.
I normally recommend that people have at least two email accounts and use each one as the recovery option for the other, and to record their mobile number on both accounts.
It's important to stay on top of this because otherwise you can find you're unable to access your emails and it could be impossible to cancel a subscription or to change the credit card details for a renewal. In the worst case it can make it imposible to recover files from your computer when it won't turn on.
As I said - it's a world of pain. If it all gives you a headache, book a session with me and we can go through these accounts and make sure they've got the contact information set up properly. It's normally only a $40-50 job but the consequences of not having it done right can be catastrophic. One of the affected customers I mentioned was waiting to hear about a job application, but because they didn't have the recovery information set up they couldn't access their emails to receive the notification.

I'm your local computer guy, serving homes and small businesses in Lilyfield, Balmain and surrounds.

18/02/2026

It's taken a little longer than I'd intended, but better late than never. It is fairly easy to upgrade your Windows 10 computer to Windows 11 even when Microsoft tell you it's not supported. If the process looks too daunting you can always bring the computer in and I can do the upgrade for you, normally for about $70-$80.

It's as simple as opening a web browser, googling "flyoobe site:.tomshardware.com", clicking on the link to "Ditching WIndows 10- here's how I installed Windows 11" (probably the first thing on the list) and following the instructions. There are also instructions on that page for making a bootable USB if you want a clean install instead of an upgrade.

There are still a few very basic requirements, but unless your computer is seriously old the upgrade should work. I've recently upgraded several machines that were around 13 years old and they run just fine.

As a precaution, before you start the process it's a good idea to open control panel, select Backup and Restore (Windows 7) and create a system image, just in case things go pear-shaped.

Best of luck!!!

Domener Fra Kun 295,- Tjenester vi tilbyr Domener Hos oss kan du registrere ditt eget domenenavn. Tilknyttet ditt domenenavn kan du ha de e-postadresser du måtte ønske, og for å lette hverdagen din leveres alle våre e-postadresser med virusscan og spamfilter. Effektivt hjemmeside-design Utformin...

11/08/2025

Most people who are still using a Windows 10 PC are probably starting to worry about the looming loss of support as Microsoft keep pushing the upgrade to Windows 11. While it's true that Windows 11 improves a PC's security significantly compared to earlier versions, not everyone has a computer that supports the newer system. However, remaining on Windows 10 is not a great idea either, because when security patches are released for the newer system it will tip off the bad guys about potential vulnerabilities in older versions. I have always thought that putting up to a quarter of a billion perfectly good computers into landfill would not be a good look for a tech company, and it seems that Microsoft have weakened on this front and now they are offering an extra year of support. It's possible to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, and I'll go into that at a later date, today I'm going to tell you how to get extended Windows 10 support.

First, windows has to be reasonably up to date, so keep running Windows Update over and over until there's nothing left to install. You can check this by opening the Settings app, selecting "System" and looking at the "About" information. You need to be on Windows 10 22H2 and the build number has to be 19045.5131 or later.

Second, you need to be logged in with a Microsoft account.

Finally, open the Settings app and go to Update and Security > Windows Update. At the Windows Update page, under 'Windows 10 support ends in October 2025' heading, click on Enroll now. If the option isn't there, be patient - Microsoft are rolling this out slowly, but if you don't see something by the end of August it's time to do a little digging into why. Or you can always give me a call and I can help you with it.

*** Disclaimer - this is all based on a Microsoft support article. For the full details, refer to https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5489827/how-to-enroll-windows-10-in-extended-security-upda

Later this month I'll show you how to upgrade your unsupported system to Windows 11. Cheers!

Technical Level: Basic. Applies to: All Windows 10 editions. Revision: 1.0. Summary In this community guide, I will show you how to enroll into Windows 10 Extended Security Updates (ESU). Officially, Microsoft will end support for Windows 10 on October…

12/02/2025

A few people have called me lately to ask about a warning that has popped up on their screen saying their computer is infected or at risk of some catastrophe, and to call Microsoft on a phone number they display. Some call me in various stages of panic after they've interacted with these people, some call before and are in a much calmer frame of mind. My message is a simple one - close the popup, clean your browser cache (google it if you're not sure) and reboot the computer! This scam has been around for a while but seems to be making a resurgance. The popup usually comes after visiting a compromised website, installing a dodgy web browser extension or clicking on a dodgy ad, and it appears in what's actually a web browser window, and the scammers often make it seem more urgent by including code in the page that reopens the same page when it's closed, so it looks like a warning that won't go away. Once you call the number, they try to get you to download some software to gain access to your computer, they will try to get you to pay them a sum of money, usually large, and then they'll have whatever evil way they want with your data and operating system. It's simply another version of the fake "I'm from Microsoft/Telstra/whoever call". I've been contacted by people who've lost 4-figure sums to these scammers in the blink of an eye. Remember - Microsoft, Telstra and their ilk will almost never contact you to tell you there's a problem, they almost certainly won't call you on the phone, and they certainly won't pop something up on yoru screen telling you to contact them. It's the wild west out there on the internet and there ain't no sheriff!!

14/12/2024

Tis the season to be jolly, but if you have school-age kids with laptops the jollies can easily be spoiled when you find they've got a cracked screen, bent hinges, a damaged keyboard or some other disaster. The same goes for work laptops. Laptops have a very hard life and this is a good time to give them a once-over to check for damage so there's plenty of time to get them ready for next year. I'll be open for business right through the silly season and January, so if you do find anything that needs fixing don't hesitate to get in touch. And to all my customers, thanks for entrusting me with your equipment and and for your business over the year. Have a merry xmas and a happy new year, and remember I'm just like the dentist - you might not like the idea that you need something fixed, but sometimes there's no choice and it's good to have it done as painlessly as possible.

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01/12/2024

Life's been busy for the last few months between eFixIT, a new kitchen and other building activity, and footy season (my son and I referee junior rugby league for Balmain District), and I've been neglecting my posts about smart homes. So it's about time I provided an update.

So, my smart lights and switches are still working nicely. In hindsight I think I've made the right choice because things work well both with and without using the phone, and the cheap ebay switches have saved me money both on purchase price and on labour for the electrician to set them up, especially for multple-switched lights. The ability to set up the system so pressing one switch can generate many actions is fun - it's possible to have one switch to turn on or off as many devices as I want and it's all done in the app on the phone - no tradies required!

The $60 dimming switch I got from Bunnings died but the $18 cheapies from eBay are still going strong. There must be a lesson in there somewhere! The dimming function on these switches is a pain though - you press the button and it'll either dim or brighten until you release it. Getting it "just right" is tricky, made even harder by the fact if it dimmed last time then it brightens the next, and vice versa. I've given up and use the phone to control the dimming.

The other trap is getting switches that all look the same. They might look the same in the ad, but some of mine glow blue when off and don't glow when on, others glow blue when off and red when on, and others are blue when on and don't glow when off. The moral of the story is to buy all your switches at once from the same supplier!

Next time I'll go into smart plugs. Until then, stay safe and have a merry xmas and a happy new year. I'll be working through the Xmas period and January (but not too hard I hope) so if you have any tech issues remember to give me a call.

25/05/2024

Following on from my post about smart home automation a few weeks ago, I'll expand on my thoughts about smart lighting. It wasn't immediately obvious at first, but I quickly realised that smart lighting needs smart switches. There are two reasons for this : firstly it's a lot less convenient on entering a room to fumble for your phone, unlock it, open the app, find the light you want and turn it on than it is to simply click the switch; and secondly you're still going to have a light switch and if a visitor doesn't know about the smart lights and turns off the wall switch then the smart light globe is offline and can't be accessed from your phone. Hence I've gone with smart WiFi switches. Unfortunately these switches are a single pushbutton and try as I might the way I've found that they're a failure as a dimmer. So I've settled on smart switches, dumb lights where I don't need dimming or colour changes, and smart globes where I do want dimming or colours. The setup works well. The next step is smart power switches and I'll get to those in my next instalment. Stay tuned, and in the meantime don't forget I'm here to help with any computer, network or related issues! Cheers.

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13/05/2024

It turns out there's an upside to renovations! I've had a good close look at what can be done with smart power and light switches and have had a bunch of them installed by my trusty sparkie. After some experimentation I've got a setup that works for my household. The good part was the price - the normal smart light switches were between $15-$22 each and $30-$35 for dimming switches on ebay. Installation was straightforward, in fact setting up dual- and multi-switched lights (eg top and bottom of the stairs) actually requires less wiring than normal switches do. Setting up the apps isn't for the faint-of-heart because it's a steep learning curve, but it does make sense eventually. I've now got around 60 devices connected to my home wifi with probably another 20 or 30 to come. Watch this space, in the next few weeks I'll explain how a simple smart home system can work.

15/01/2024

This arrived in my inbox the other day and it's a perfect example of a simple phishing scam. I get a few of these every day, these people send out tens of thousands of similar emails every day and they might catch 3 or 4 people out if they get lucky. Most of the people who fall victim to these scams do so because the email arrives when they're preoccupied or busy and they don't take half a minute to sanity check it. I hovered the mouse over the big red "retry payment" button (without clicking it), because that shows me where the button would take me. And as you can see, it doesn't point to netflix.com, but instead to a site that would probably attempt to capture my card details. It's a very simple test and if there is such a course as Internet Security 101 it would probably be the first topic of the course. Stay safe!

12/12/2023

Just a quick note to wish all my customers a safe and merry Christmas and a happy new year, and to thank you all for your ongoing custom and support. I will be working through the holiday season and am happy for people to drop off and collect equipment on Christmas, Boxing and New Year's days (by appointment please), and I will be available and working on the other days. The turnaround time for non-urgent jobs may be a little longer than normal over the break as many suppliers won't be open until January and parts may be slow arriving. However, if you find yourself in a pickle I'll do my best to help you out. I look forward to helping you out in the new year. Be safe!