Dyfi Computer Services

12/03/2024

I do not post here often.
Facebook is not and never will be my primary mechanism for contacting customers.
I do not recommend that any business ever rely on it, ever.

Many businesses have found their pages get cloned by con-artists and Facebook does not care one little bit.

Earlier today an artist I follow from my personal account reported that they'd discovered someone had done just that, and so they'd reported it to Facebook. Alas cloning a business and claiming to be something you're not apprently doesn't go against their community standards.

So I reported it too, but Facebook doesn't care.

Do not place your business at the mercy of the cess pit Facebook has become.

21/08/2023

It’s with considerable sadness that I’m finally closing Dyfi Computer Services permanently.

This week I will be leaving the gorgeous Dyfi Valley for pastures new in the east of England, and will not be continuing any computer support services.

Thanks to all my valued customers over the years, it’s been a pleasure to help you here in the Real Paradise of Wales.

12/03/2023

Dyfi Computer Services is not presently able to offer any IT support services.

Any change to our circumstances will be updated here.

23/01/2023

Dyfi Computer Services is presently closed for a little while. We hope to open again soon and will update here accordingly.

07/04/2022

I don't normally "advertise" other products but an email dropped into my inbox a few minutes ago and I spotted this in the promos;

Asus E210 E210MA 11.6" Laptop £129 including Microsoft 365 Personal 12-month subscription

That MS365 subscription is RRP £59.99 - you're getting a cheap cheap laptop.

https://ao.com/product/e210magj181ts-asus-e210-laptop-blue-89879-251.aspx

No it's not a great laptop, it's pretty "old" tech, and it will not run Windows 11.

Even if it doesn't run Win11, and so you have to do something else with it when Windows 10 reaches end of support in October 2025, you'll have had a budget laptop for three years for barely £25 a year.

If like many folks you’re feeling the pinch but you’re looking for something to do a few basic things like surfing the internet, typing up the occasional Word doc, or checking emails, it looks ideal.

I get nothing from this, I haven't used this model, and I've not even seen one in life, I just figured it’s a deal too good not to share.

This E210MA-GJ181TS Asus laptop has an 8-hour battery and 64GB of storage. It also has an Intel® Celeron® processor, 4GB of RAM and an HD screen.

07/07/2021

If you’re running Microsoft Windows on your PC make sure you install the latest patches from windows update. There’s a “critical” bug that’s already being exploited by criminals to take control of PCs.

Run Windows Update now!

Microsoft is offering patches for unsupported versions of Windows to plug the so-called PrintNightmare bugs.

29/06/2021

Just because your device "still works" long after manufacturer support for it has ended, doesn't mean it's safe to keep using it. Always consider the risk of "what happens if this device dies" for whatever reason, and have a contingency in place - that's normally just a backup. And never ever have just one copy of your important data, and never keep that copy in the same place.

Owners of Western Digital My Book Live devices have seen their data remotely wiped by attackers targeting a flaw first detailed in 2019. But WD stopped supporting these devices in 2015, which is a reminder that the best way to secure some types of internet of things devices may be to discard them.

10/05/2021

Millions of routers at risk

In December 2020, Which? conducted a survey of more than 6,000 UK adults, asking them which routers they’re using at home. They found that millions could be using devices more than five years old that are no longer being supported with firmware updates.

Ask your ISP for an upgrade.

Which? research revealed millions could be using unsecure routers, from ISPs such as Virgin, Sky, EE, TalkTalk and Vodafone. Find out how to upgrade.

27/01/2021

Apple has just released security updates for iOS to patch three zero-day vulnerabilities that were exploited in the wild.

Security experts believe the three bugs are part of an exploit chain where users are lured to a malicious site that takes advantage of the WebKit bug to run code that later escalates its privileges to run system-level code and compromise the OS.

If you've got an iPhone or iPad, make sure it's patched soon. iOS version 14.4 released today fixes these issues.

Fixes come after Apple patched another set of three zero-days last November.

14/12/2020

No, it’s not just you!
Gmail is offline, the world is ending!

02/11/2020

Lots of people are finding that they're using their PC's at home a lot more this year. What with kids being home schooled too, many families are running short on available computers to make sure everyone can get "online" at the same time. It can be pretty expensive for a regular family to buy another Windows laptop or cheap desktop, or even a budget Chromebook, "just in case". But there is an alternative, as long as you're not wedded to Windows and Microsoft Office...

You might have heard of Raspberry Pi, and maybe you’ve even looked into these budget machines before, but decided they're a bit too techie for you. Well, they've gone a bit less techie with the latest iteration which harks back to the old days of home computing, when we all had computers that were entirely contained inside a keyboard.

Remember Sinclare's Spectrum, BBC's Micro, the Dragon 32, Atari ST, and the surely unforgettable Commodore C=64 and Amiga 500? You had a little bit of a learning curve with each one, as they were all running different operating systems, and it'll be the same if you switch to Rasbian (the system that runs on the Raspberry Pi). It's no more taxing than changing your phone really, each one has it's quirks, but they fundamentally do the same things.

The great thing with Raspbian it that you can check it out first, on that old Windows XP laptop or computer many of us have kicking about under the stairs! But you could just dive in, and buy a new ready configured Pi for less than £100... I know I'm tempted!

Review here; https://www.wired.co.uk/article/raspberry-pi-400-review

Buy it here; https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-400-personal-computer-kit

(I've no affiliation, I make no money if you buy, and I've not even tried one yet... and I’ll be honest, I’m not yet the guy with enough knowledge to give you support on one either, but I’ll be playing with one soon!)

The Raspberry Pi 400 kit is a complete personal computer built into a compact keyboard, with everything you need in the box (minus a monitor or TV)! It’s ideal for learning to code using the Raspberry Pi OS desktop environment and can also be used for a wide range of other activities such as surfi...

10/09/2020

A massive 129 vulnerability fixes, including whole raft of critical and important patches, in this weeks Patch Tuesday updates from Microsoft. Many are only relevant to Enterprise type set ups, but a signigicant number affect all systems, and include remote code ex*****on vulnerabilities.

A remote code ex*****on vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to take control of an affected system.

There are multiple ways an attacker could exploit the vulnerability, such as by convincing a user to open a specially crafted document, or by convincing a user to run a specially crafted application, or by convincing a user to visit a malicious webpage.

Patch now!

Twenty critical remote code ex*****on bugs have been patched this month, including in Windows and SharePoint enterprise servers.