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WINDOWS 11–Microsoft Official PC Health Check App

Microsoft has released an updated PC Health Check App that advises whether your PC can be updated to Windows 11.

This is the site Upgrade to the New Windows 11 OS | Microsoft

Scroll down and near the bottom there is a section “Check for compatibility”. Click on the link “DOWNLOAD PC HEALTH CHECK APP”

This will download the installer to your Downloads Folder. Install the program in the usual manner.

When the program is installed and is opened, at the top you will see “Introducing Windows 11” and a “Check Now” button to click.

If your PC is compatible, you will see this:

If not, this is the screen:

You don’t have to upgrade to Windows 11 but it is a free upgrade and support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025.

UPDATE

I notice that you now get this on – All Settings / Update and Security / Windows Update

OR THIS (on my NUC with a 7th generation Intel CPU)

REMINDER – HANG UP, DELETE, DON’T RESPOND and BLOCK

I have written before about being cautious with unsolicited phone calls and Emails (and in fact any and all forms of contact) – Refer the reports detailed in:

https://whysun.com/uncategorized/solo-network-pty-ltd-report-no-3/

https://whysun.com/uncategorized/solo-network-continued/

https://whysun.com/uncategorized/solo-network-02-8378-7903/

These problems, if anything, are getting worse. I regularly get scam calls on my home phone and, even though I block the numbers, it makes little difference. I have to laugh. My home phone has space for hundreds of blocked numbers but it gets filled up after a while and I have to delete and start over.

This post is a reminder of the golden rule:

NEVER EVER RESPOND IN ANY WAY TO UNSOLICITED APPROACHES – EMAILS – PHONE CALLS – SMS – KNOCKS AT THE DOOR.

If you want something – YOU initiate the contact and only with established, known and reputable organisations and YOU get the phone number from the phone book or Email address from an independent source OR PREFERABLY visit their place of business.

AND as well as never clicking on links in Emails, I would add links in SMS and all types of messages EVEN IF the message/Email appears to come from someone you know.

I received one of those recorded voice phone calls to-day. It was from “Amazon” but it would be the same Phishing scam as all the others – credit cards/ NBN etc.

As it happens I do have an Amazon account and if I was worried, which I wasn’t, I would still hang up on the call and log into my Amazon account to check. Always hang up on the call immediately and, if worried, log into the account and check. Remember, NBN never makes contact with you.

The latest worry is the so called “Flubot” SMS scam. A good explanation is in this Gizmodo article. https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/08/flubot-malware-text-scam/

This is the Australian Government site regarding the matter: https://www.acma.gov.au/articles/2021-08/acma-warns-sms-malware-scams

So far it only affects Android phones as they allow Apps to be downloaded from outside the Play Store. This is called Sideloading.

Apple iPhones only allow Apps from the App Store BUT DON’T TAKE ANY CHANCES – delete and block. Pressure is being applied to Apple in both the US and EU to allow sideloading of Apps on iPhone. Let’s hope that this is not successful and if you have an Android phone, only load Apps from the Play Store; HOWEVER, don’t get caught in the first place.

HANG UP, DELETE, DON’T RESPOND and BLOCK numbers if you can.

Reputable companies don’t cold call anymore.

This is the government scamwatch article Missed call or voicemail (Flubot) scams | Scamwatch

Windows 11 – TPM and Secure Boot

I have 3 computers running Windows 10, and I decided check to see if I can upgrade to Windows 11 when it comes out.

Even though there are third party programs to check on compatibility, I don’t think that Microsoft has issued an official checking program.

Nevertheless, according to Microsoft this is what is needed https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications

The main requirements are:

Intel CPU 8th generation or later (Similar requirements apply to other CPU brands)
TPM (Trusted Platform Module) Version 2
Secure Boot

Most recent computers should meet the other requirements (mine certainly do) so I carried checks for items 1,2 &3.

My Surface Pro 7 meets all requirements as does my most recent NUC.

However my original NUC has a 7th generation Core i5 CPU and Secure Boot is not available.You can turn on Secure Boot in UEFI but then the computer won’t boot into Win 10. Unlike my more recent NUC, where I just had to go into UEFI and turn it on.

HOW TO CHECK FOR TPM & SECURE BOOT

Open Command Prompt and

To check TPM, enter :

tpm.msc

This will bring up the TPM Management Screen (if available) which will show the version number.

Then enter the following to check Secure Boot:

msinfo32.exe

This brings up a System Information Summary screen that will show if Secure Boot is available and if it is on.

RING DOORBELL UPDATE No 2

Please refer to my previous posts:

https://whysun.com/uncategorized/ring-doorbell/

https://whysun.com/home/ring-doorbell-update-chime-pro-wi-fi-extender-problems/

Since the previous post about Wi-Fi issues, I have been regularly checking the Health Report of the Ring Doorbell 2.

The Chime and the Chime Pro continue to have no problems.

On the other hand, the Wi-Fi issues with the Ring Doorbell 2 seem to have been fixed. I have not changed anything myself, so I can only assume that Ring has issued a remedial firmware update.

Over the past month, there has only been one dropout. However to reconnect, all I had to do was press the ringer button and it reconnected to the Chime Pro network. This is now satisfactory as I could ask my neighbour to ring the doorbell to reconnect it if I was away, and any person pressing the button would also re-connect it.

During the month of June, I have been keeping a screenshot of the Device Health Report every couple of days :

During this period, the RSSI level remained within the “Good” range.

As I said, I did not change anything. The battery level has gone from 72% to 48% and weather in South East Queensland is never an issue.

Therefore I will delay my purchase of the Ring Doorbell 4. In any case, I can’t find a “4” at local retailers. The Ring web site lists them but I am happy with my model and will wait until I see them for sale in the shops before deciding on an upgrade.

BATTERY

In the space of a month, battery level has gone from 72% to 45%.

This is consistent with the approximately 3 months life I have been getting from a fully charged battery. I have “Snapshot Capture” turned on with a snapshot taken every 14 minutes. For best battery life it can be fully turned off or for minimal battery impact set for a capture every hour.

You can set Snapshot capture for 5 minute intervals but this has a “substantial” impact on battery life. I haven’t tried this setting but I imagine it would be dramatic. In fact the app says that this setting is for wired or solar charged devices.

However, I don’t mind having it at the 14 minute setting as this gives a general overview of activities AND a spare battery solves the battery life issue. Having a fully charged spare means that you can swap over the battery in a few seconds instead of having the doorbell out of action for hours while you re-charge the battery.

You get a notifaction when the battery needs re-charging. At that time, I top up the spare which doesn’t take long and swap them. I then re-charge the spare to be ready for the next swap.

All is well with the world – apart the current lockdown in this area.

COMPUTER REFURBISH

Last year when the new video game consoles were announced by Sony and Microsoft, I decided to prepare by replacing my HTPC with a NUC to make room for the PlayStation 5. While the new Xbox will fit in the space occupied by my existing Xbox One X, the PS5 is much larger than the PS4 Pro.

I don’t know why I bothered as, six months later, both the X Box Series X and PS5 are nowhere to be found.

I remember ignoring the pre-order offers from EB Games. I thought that, when they were released, I could just call at any store and pick up one of each. This has not been the case and the lack of availability is more or less the same world-wide.

However, the desire to get the shiny new toys has worn off and I am much less enthusiastic about upgrading. Now I will wait until stock is available. My existing consoles are working just fine. In fact, I might even wait for later models hopefully with more internal storage.

In the meantime, I have been considering what to do with my old HTPC.

It is about 7 years old, and I built it using a SilverStone ML03 HTPC Low Profile case with a mATX Motherboard as well as a reasonable GPU, TV Tuner Card and Sound Card with 5.1 surround output. The Intel CPU was old and did not have integrated graphics.

It was starting to have some problems so instead of getting rid of it, I decided to upgrade the motherboard and CPU and install Linux. I will probably stick with Ubuntu or Mint.

I won’t re- install the TV Tuner and Sound Cards. My new NUC (HTPC) does not have them, and I do not miss them. There is nothing on Broadcast TV that I watch. In any case, all the stations have streaming web sites. Furthermore, I can’t find Linux drivers for the old TV Tuner card. The Optical Drive is Blu-ray, but Ubuntu will not play commercial Blu-ray discs. Again, the web site for the drive offers no software downloads for Linux. My NUC HTPC also has no optical drive and, if I want to play a Blu-ray, I use the Xbox.

I did not want to spend much money, so I bought the cheapest mATX MB and a core i3 CPU (with Graphics). This kept the cost below AUD$270. I also used 2 X 4gb sticks of RAM that I had from another RAM upgrade.

Naturally, things did not go according to plan. The 24-pin power cord from the PSU is too short to reach the MB and there is only one fan header on this low-cost MB. The case has 2 fans. Therefore, I had to buy an extension power cord and a double adaptor for the fans.

This increased the cost to about AUD$300.

I was interested to see how the integrated graphics performed particularly after some minor issues with the NUC. Consequently, I tested it on my large screen 4K HDR TV. It recognises the TV but is best at 1920 X 1080. Whilst not 4K, the picture is fine on the TV and excellent on a normal monitor. (I have also set the NUC to this resolution.)

So, the set-up is a Core i3 with integrated graphics + 8gb RAM on a low price Asrock mATX Motherboard.

I re-used the following items from the previous build + left over RAM –

· PSU (Silverstone SFX 600W);

· Case (Silverstone ML03B);

· Optical Drive (Pioneer BDR-209EBK Blu Ray);

· SSD (OCZ 480GB);

· RAM 2 x 4gb DDR4.

I went with Ubuntu as the OS. (It is the OS I am familiar with but I have a spare SSD that I can swap in to try other distributions – later when I get time.)

It works well, even with a large screen 4K HDR TV as a monitor. A Core i3 with 8gb of memory is more than adequate for a normal computer running Linux.

RING DOORBELL UPDATE – CHIME PRO WI-FI EXTENDER PROBLEMS–UPDATED MAY 21

REFER UPDATE NO 2 – Wi-Fi problems appear to be fixed. RING DOORBELL UPDATE No 2 – Whycal’s Blog (whysun.com)

The previous comments in my post about the Ring Doorbell 2 have generally not changed but, after about 12 months of use, I have some comments to add.

CONS – Delay of 6/8 seconds App Response.

This negative feature has been less of a problem than I first thought. Callers seem to wait for a response well beyond the delay time and, if they become impatient, they tend to press the doorbell again. I have not had anyone leave before I got to the door.

Therefore, I will remove this from the “CONS” and put it in a new “SHOULD BE AWARE OF” list.

CHIME PRO WI-FI EXTENDER CARE! UPDATE MAY 21 – SIMILAR ISSUES WITH NETGEAR EXTENDER SUGGESTS THE DOORBELL 2 IS THE PROBLEM

On the other hand, I have found an issue with the Wi-Fi extender built into the Ring Chime Pro that, at least in my case, is an addition to the “CONS”

After further observations, the issues with Wi-Fi seem to be related to the Doorbell 2.

RSSI – Explanation – The Ring Apps (Health) show the strength of the Wi-Fi signal measured as RSSI.

RSSI stands for Received Signal Strength Indicator. It is a measure of the strength of the Wi-Fi signal being received by the device. More correctly, it measures the loss as the values are a MINUS figure. Consequently, the closer the value is to Zero, the stronger (or better) the signal. Zero would be full strength (i.e. no loss) and minus 100 is no signal (full loss).

An RSSI of say minus 55 or better is considered “Good” for most normal use cases. Minus 56 to say Minus 60 is still good enough. Minus 60 to minus 70 is reasonable or OK while minus 70 and lower is not so good and lower than minus 80 is bad.

When connected directly to my Router via Wi-Fi, the Doorbell shows an RSSI of around minus 73 but it still works well.

Even so, I decided to install a Wi-Fi extender, so I bought a Chime Pro and located it between the router and the doorbell but closer to the doorbell – about 1 metre or 3 feet away from the doorbell. The signal strength received by the Chime Pro was minus 50 (or better).

I then connected the Doorbell to the Chime Pro. This was easy using the Ring App on my phone.

When the connection was complete, the Doorbell RSSI was good – under Minus 50. I then forgot about but, after several weeks, I noticed that the Doorbell had lost its connection to the Chime Pro. I turned off the power to the Chime Pro, waited a minute or so, then turned it back on and the Doorbell re-connected automatically.

I then began to regularly check the Wi-Fi for both the Chime Pro and the Doorbell.

The Chime Pro connection to the router remained strong but the connection from the Chime Pro to the Doorbell began to deteriorate and after a couple of weeks it was no better than the original connection direct to the router. Dropouts between the Chime Pro and the Doorbell also occurred occasionally. The same issue has now become apparent with the Netgear Wi-Fi Extender.

The most annoying drop out occurred while I was in North Queensland over Christmas. (Lock downs for travel within the state had been lifted.) The Ring Doorbell was disconnected from the internet for a couple of days and, without physical access to the device, I could not do anything about it. Luckily, there was a power blackout from a thunderstorm and, when the power came back on, the Doorbell reconnected automatically to the Chime Pro.

I was not at all happy with this and on return, re-connected the Doorbell directly to the router. Dropouts ceased and it seemed to operate well, even with a low RSSI of around minus 73. I did not leave it attached to the main router long enough to state that dropouts had ceased.

I then remembered that I had a Netgear AC750 Wi-Fi Range Extender (Model EX3700), so I set it up and attached the Doorbell to this device.

This resulted in an immediate ~~and~~ permanent improvement in the Doorbell RSSI to minus 50 (or better) with no dropouts in the last couple of months. After a while, deterioration in RSSI as well as dropouts also started to occur with the Netgear Extender.

The Netgear Extender is about the same price as a Chime Pro and, in my case, performs much better as a Wi-Fi extender. I have a standard Chime plus the Chime Pro and I now use the Chime Pro solely as a Chime ringer.

I don’t know if I just got a bad device but – once bitten, twice shy. Internet searches suggest that the issue is with the Doorbell not the Chime Pro.

Checked reviews on the Chime Pro on various sites and it gets generally favourable reviews (4 out of 5 stars). However, the less favourable reviews can best be summed up by the heading on one – “Chime works – Wi-Fi Extender sucks”.

That is my experience, but it is definitely not the majority consensus. I have changed my mind about which device is causing the problem.

AND to be fair, other brands of Wi-Fi extenders have similar reviews.

My conclusion:

Going on the generally favourable reviews, I must have been unlucky with the extender function in my Chime Pro.

However, I will keep using my Netgear Extender and, in future, probably not risk buying another Chime Pro to use as a Wi-Fi extender.

UPDATE May 21

Exactly the same issues have started to occur with the Netgear Extender prompting the conclusion that the Wi-Fi problem is with the Doorbell 2 rather than the Wi-Fi extenders.

I note that the Doorbell 3 is advertised as having enhanced Wi-Fi, but I assumed that this related to the Doorbell 3 having both 5GHz and 2.4 GHz bands.

There is a new Doorbell 4 coming out in a few days and some retailers are discounting the Doorbell 3. ~~Since I have more money than sense, I will replace the 2 with a 3 and see if this improves the situation. I will provide further reports in a couple of months.~~ I have read the unfavourable reviews of The Doorbell 3 and it has similar complaints about Wi-Fi as the Doorbell 2. Therefore, I will wait for the Doorbell 4 to come out to see if people keep complaining about this issue before I spend more money.

NOTE – I can’t find a Doorbell 4 in stock at any local retailer. I’ll keep looking but, in the meantime, if I go away for a few days or more I will first:

Remove the Chime Pro from the power for a minute or so (eventhough I no longer think it is the problem): and
Remove the battery from the Doorbell 2 and replace with a new fully charged battery so that it is turned off completely. This will re-establish a fresh Wi-Fi connection.

It takes time before the Wi-Fi issues start to occur.

Browsers and Search Engines

As a result of recent developments in Australia involving Google and Facebook, a couple of friends have asked me about what services I use.

First up there is a lot of truth in the saying – “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.”

On the other hand, a lot of people don’t have an issue with their information being sold particularly when they are getting something in return.

As far as browsers are concerned, I generally leave the defaults in place.

iPhone – Default Safari / Google (but not signed into my Google Account);
Ubuntu Linux PC – Default Firefox / Google (not signed in);
iPad – Default Safari BUT I changed the search engine to Bing;
Mac Book Pro – Default Safari / Google (not signed in);
Windows PCs – Default Edge / Bing (signed into my Microsoft Account by default).

My most used Windows PC is a Windows HTPC (NUC) and in this case I have 3 browsers set up as follows:

1. Default – Edge / Bing (signed in);

2. Most frequently used for day-to-day searches – Firefox / DuckDuckGo with Firefox set up to clear all search history, cookies etc when I close the browser;

3. And I use Chrome / Google Search mainly for use with Google products like YouTube & Gmail etc (and signed in with my Google Account).

My two most frequently used devices are the iPad and the HTPC (NUC) and both have a default non Google browser and search engine.

I never have had nor ever will have Facebook (including Instagram) as the price you pay is just not worth what is given back in return. This is, by no means, a recent decision. I decided about 15/16 years ago when it first became “a thing”.

Google does provide value and has made no secret of how it funds its operations. Nevertheless, I consciously limit my use of Google products. Once again, this is not because of the recent action taken by Google, but for a number of reasons, the main one being that it is almost a monopoly with search in Australia at above 94% market share. Monopolies are never good. Also, I just want to have my eggs in as many baskets as possible.

Google has many good and useful services including Gmail, Google Drive, YouTube, Maps and Google Docs to name a few. Don’t forget you get 15GB of storage with Google Drive before you have to pay, as opposed to One Drive and iCloud at 5gb each and DropBox at 2gb.

Another reason not to overly rely on one product or company is – Picasa. Remember Picasa – the excellent photo program from Google that was discontinued. This is not the only time that a “free” app has been discontinued. And not to pick on Google – remember Windows Live Essentials with the excellent Windows Live Movie Maker. I even wrote a Blog about it.

So, the moral of the story is – Your information is valuable – Look at how rich Google and Facebook are. Therefore, don’t sell yourself cheaply – spread yourself around. MOST IMPORTANTLY, don’t encourage monopolies.

P.S. Nothing and I mean nothing annoys me more than when I search for information from a Government Department and it returns a Facebook page. It also annoys me when the same thing happens with a private organisation but in these cases I understand why they do it.

HEIC / HEIF IMAGE FILES

Apple has been using the HEIC file format for images for a while now, but I recently saved my first one to a Windows PC.

The image was sent iPhone to iPhone via text message and, as I wanted to save it, I forwarded it to my PC via Email. This is the first time I have had to deal with a HEIC image on a PC as, even though my iPhone camera format (camera capture) is set to “High Efficiency”, my iPhone seems to always produce .jpg files.

I tried to open the HEIC file first with Photoshop Elements then Paint.net and then the Win 10 photos App, without success.

I then tried to convert it via an online web site and, not only was it taking a long time, but it crashed before completion. So I went to the Microsoft Store and got the “HEIC to JPEG (FREE)’” App. This App provides 10 conversions a day before you have to pay. Even then, it only costs AUD$3-55.

The App works quickly and easily. In fact, I will buy it. AUD$3-55 is not much.

APPLE MAC – – BIG SUR / TIME MACHINE

My 2014 Mac Book Pro (MBP) has updated to Big Sur without any problems.

APFS FILE SYSTEM AND TIME MACHINE

Thanks to the podcast MacBreak Weekly Episode 740 that referred to an Ars Technica article that suggests that you should re-format your Time Machine drive to the new file system AFPS.

The Ars Technica article explains why you should re-format the drive to AFPS. However, I had a bit trouble in the re-formatting process so I will set out what I did.

When I tried to use Disk Utility on the MBP to erase the Time Machine drive and re-format as AFPS it kept failing and the reason shown was that the drive was in use. This was even after I removed the drive from Time Machine.

So, I attached the drive to a Windows Machine and used Disk Management to delete the partitions and re-format as NTFS. Then I re-attached to the MBP and used Disk Utility to Erase and re-format as AFPS. All went well and I renamed it – Time Machine- !!

I then set up Time Machine again with the re-formatted drive.

BLUETOOTH DRIVER UPDATE / MICROSOFT KEYBOARD PROBLEMS

I have always applied every Windows Update including Optional Driver updates.

However, I have encountered an optional Driver update that caused issues with my Bluetooth keyboard.

The keyboard is a standard Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo that I am using on my HTPC NUC.

The driver update was for the “Intel ® Wireless Bluetooth ® device.

Fortunately, I remembered what drivers had been updated and I was able to roll back the driver as soon as I noticed that the keyboard would not connect automatically at start and would regularly lose the connection, even though it was still noted as “connected” in All Settings. Surprisingly, the mouse was not affected.

As soon as I rolled back the driver the issue was resolved.

In future I think I will wait for driver updates via the normal Windows Update.