Headphones, Updates, and Recycling

Apple wants you to think plug-in headphones are passé, as they no longer will include that headphone dongle with new iPhones. You will need to own or buy Bluetooth headphones or a Lightning-to-headphone-jack converter.

Microsoft Updates

You may have heard that Microsoft will extend support for Windows 7 beyond January 2020, but that is only for business clients with Professional and Enterprise customers with Volume Licensing. It will extend security updates for another three years. Of course, it won’t be free and the cost will go up each year.

In the (delayed) October 2018 update for Windows 10, you will find that the Disk Cleanup tool will now purge files in your Downloads folder. So be careful and immediately move needed files, photos, documents, and installer files to another location. You should back up your documents and such before updating any software.

The October 2018 update was deleting some upgraders’ profiles, thus deleting their data. When the update is re-released, this should be fixed. When installing the update, you may start seeing an alert when installing Firefox, Chrome, or other web browsers, saying that you already have a safer and faster browser called Microsoft Edge. Nothing will prevent the installation of those other browsers; just click through to the “Install Anyway” button.

Delete Your Account?

If you want to delete your Facebook account, don’t log back in to test if it really has been deleted. Facebook has recently lengthened the number of days (to 30) they will keep your account around. They claim they have seen a rise in the number of people trying to log in after 14 days, so this it to “help” those people keep their accounts. I think all those people were just making sure their account was deleted.

Recycling Safely

Some people are getting to the point where they are ready to recycle their Windows 10 computer, and they might be worried about erasing their hard drive. Windows 10 now has an option as part of its ability to perform a factory reset to let you “Remove files and clean the drive.” This does take time but is good enough for most people. And if you are recycling any other smart device, remember to at least do a factory reset on it before passing it on. Search Google for instructions.