News: Firefox Out Of Schedule Update

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March 4, 2022

Possible Issues w/USA Cell Providers

If you are in the USA and are having trouble making or receiving calls at the moment, it’s not just you. It appears that multiple phone providers in the USA are reporting issues at the moment.

What We Know So Far

Looking online, there are multiple reports by people saying they are having trouble making or receiving calls on T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and some of the smaller players as well.

Some of the reports look like

If you look at the Downdetector site, it currently shows

and if you click on any of the sites you will see

This is a developing story. Just know that if you are having issues, it’s not just you. Let us know if you are having issues.

Outage: Fortnite Under Maintenance Update

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March 1, 2022

Fortnite Under Maintenance Update

For the Fortnite gamers, be aware that Fortnite is currently under maintenance for an upgrade. Today’s post will go over what we know.

Epic Games Shows Fortnite Under Maintenance

According to the Epic website, Fortnite is currently under maintenance for a number of the servers.

The website is still up but most other services are Under Maintenance for the v19.40 update. This update affects PC and Gaming Systems.

On the Microsoft Xbox Status Page, it shows the outage started at 4a (EST) / 9a (UTC) and is scheduled to last until 6a (EST) / 11a (UTC). Fortnite Under Maintenance Update

Source(s)

Epic Games – Epic Status Page
Xbox – Xbox Status Page

How to: Fix Computer Account Creation Failed macOS

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February 28, 2022

Home – Tech Geek and More

Fix the “Computer Account Creation Failed” Error macOS

Came across an interesting error, while trying to set up a newly imaged Macbook Air that has an M1 chip in it. While trying to do the initial account setup, kept getting “Account Creation Failed” no matter what username or password I tried. Today’s post will go over how to fix the “Computer Account Creation Failed” error in macOS. Fix Computer Account Creation Failed

How To

Some Background On The Error

It appears that this error has been seen since macOS 11 Big Sur, and seems to be most common on Macbooks with the M1 Chip. The error happens when you try to create the initial computer account. No matter how many user name/password combinations you try the same error appears.

Acct create error

The following instructions helped resolve the issue we encountered after a reinstallation of macOS12 Monterey.

Solution For Computer Account Creation Failed

For starters, be advised that these steps will require you to reinstall macOS again, so give yourself some time. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a faster solution to this error.

Step One

Power down the Macbook, and then boot into Recovery Mode. If you have a Macbook with the M1 Chip. you can do this by pressing and holding down the power button until you see a “Loading startup options…” message. At that point, let go of the power button.

Step Two

On the screen that appears, Choose Options then select your language if prompted to continue.

macOS recovery mode screen choice

Step Three

Once you have made it to the Recovery Mode screen, Select Terminal from the Utilities menu. The menu is on the top left of the screen.

Recovery mode macos utilities options

Step Four

In the Terminal window that opens, type the command ‘resetpassword’ and hit Enter. You will see some additional information come up on the screen. For purposes of this reset, that information is not required for any of the upcoming steps.

macos resetpassword

NOTE: After you do step 4, a window will appear that says Reset Password. You can disregard this window. Deactivating and activating the Mac via this Reser Password window did not resolve the issue. Just move to step 5

macos recovery reset pwd pop up window

Step Five

Once step 4 completes, from the Recovery Assistant menu at the top left of your screen select Erase Mac

macos recovery erase mac

Once you do, you will see a new window in the middle of your screen. On that window, select Erase Mac to continue.

macos recovery erase mac pop up

At this point, you will get a confirmation pop-up. Select Erase Mac from the popup window to confirm.

Step Six

Your Macbook will now be erased and will reboot to an Activate Mac window. Once you are on this window, select your Wi-Fi network at the top right of the display and log into your wifi.

Make sure you are connected to your wifi, and then select Next to activate your Mac then once activated, click Exit to Recovery Utilities.

macos recovery activate mac exit

Step Seven (Final Step)

Now Choose Reinstall macOS Monterey Or Big Sur (depending on your model) from the Recovery menu and go through the installation steps again.

macos recovery reinstall

Once the macOS is reinstalled, and you get to the create a computer account screen, things should work as expected.

Final Thought

Hopefully, there will be an official fix released by Apple for this issue. In the meantime, we hope these steps help resolve your issue.

How To: Scheduling An Email To Send Later

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February 18, 2022

Scheduling An Email To Send Later

In this global communication age, being able to schedule an email to send at a later time is a necessity for many people. From not disturbing co-workers in the middle of the night to making sure an email being sent across the world arrives at a time that it will be seen, there are many reasons why email scheduling is needed. Today’s post will explain how to schedule emails in Outlook desktop and web clients. Scheduling An Email To Send Later

Email scheduling is something that a lot of people need regardless of whether they use a dedicated desktop email client or the web application. We are focusing on Outlook in this post because it is the defacto application used by many business and home users.

Scheduling Email Using Outlook Desktop App

For those who use the Outlook desktop client, there is already a built-in feature to schedule emails. The problem is that the scheduling feature isn’t clearly labeled, so you may not even realize you have it.

On the desktop application, Microsoft labeled its email scheduling feature as Outlook Delay Delivery. The following steps are pretty much the same if you are using Outlook 365, Outlook 2016, or Outlook 2013. To schedule an email

Open the Microsoft Outlook
Click on the New Email button located on the top left corner of your Outlook ribbon. It will open a new compose email window
Add the receipt email address(es) to the email, and complete the email, just like you would normally.
At this point, to schedule the email, click on the Options Tab -> followed by the Delay Delivery button

In the window that opens, you will see a section for Delivery Options. In that section look for and enter the date and time you want the message delivered next to the line Do not deliver before

Once you close have entered the info, click the close button on the window. That will take you back to the email you are composing. At this point, just hit send once you finish composing the email. The email will send on whatever date and time you entered in the delayed delivery window.

A couple of things to keep in mind using this feature on the Outlook desktop app

The email will sit in your Outbox folder until the send date/time
Your system should be powered on during the time you have scheduled to send the email. The email is physically on your computer, so if the computer is off, it won’t send until you turn it back on.
The Internet needs to be working on your computer during the time you have scheduled to send. Again, the email is on your computer, if you don’t have internet, how can Outlook send it.
The send date and time you scheduled is going to use the date and time on your computer. Make sure the date and time on your computer are accurate.

NOTE For Mac Outlook Desktop Users

Unfortunately, the Mac users who have the Outlook Desktop App. Scheduling email sending is only available if you are using a business (Exchange) email account. If you are accessing your ISP, @outlook, @gmail, or any other provider email via the Outlook Desktop app, you currently can’t schedule email sending.

Scheduling Email Using Outlook On The Web

For those who use Outlook on the web, scheduling email is much easier. Use the following steps to schedule from Outlook on the web.

Log into Outlook on the web, and start a new email message. Once you have composed your message look at the send button on the bottom You will see a down arrow, just to the right of the send button.
Click the down arrow and then select send later

In the window that opens, you can select one of the options shown, or click on Custom Time, to enter your own date and time info for the email to be sent.

Outlook web schedule email

Once you enter the scheduled date and time hit send from this window, and the email will be scheduled to be sent.

A couple of things to keep in mind using this feature on Outlook on the web

The email is saved on the Outlook web server, not your computer. So your computer DOES NOT need to be on during the scheduled time.
You don’t need to have internet during the scheduled send time, only Microsoft does, as the email is being sent from their online system.

So this does have advantages compared to the Outlook desktop app.

Scheduling An Email To Send Later

Final Thought

Hopefully, this information will help you not have to wake up in the middle of the night just to send an email.

Scheduling An Email To Send Later

How To: Fix Surface Laptop 3 Wi-Fi

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February 17, 2022

Fix Surface Laptop 3 Wi-Fi Issue

There are numerous Surface Laptop 3 owners reporting an issue where wifi options just disappear from the screen.

Gaming: Nintendo Wii U / 3DS Announcement

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February 16, 2022

Nintendo Wii U / 3DS Gaming eShop Being Discontinued

If you are a user of either the Nintendo Wii U or the 3DS family of gaming systems, Nintendo has made an announcement that will affect you. Today’s post will review the announcement by Nintendo that they will be ending the eShop for the Wii U and 3DS systems. Gaming: Nintendo Wii U / 3DS Announcement

Nintendo Wii Nintendo 3DS According to the post on the Nintendo Customer Support Portal, the eShop will be coming to the end of life starting in May 2022 and be fully discontinued by March 2023. According to the announcement, the following systems are affected

New Nintendo 3DS
New Nintendo 3DS XL
New Nintendo 2DS XL
Nintendo 3DS XL
Nintendo 2DS
Nintendo Wii Deluxe
Nintendo Wii Basic

What Will Be Changing – eShop

What will be happening, according to the information posted by Nintendo

As of May 23, 2022 (so this year), you will no longer be able to add funds to your account on the Wii U or 3DS systems eShop via credit card. That doesn’t affect any existing balances, just means you cant add funds via a credit card.
As of Auguest 29th, 2022 (also this year), you will no longer be able to add funds via a Nintendo eShop Card. At this point, whatever your balance is on the eShop for Wii and 3DS users will be all you have to work with. Once that balance runs out, you will be out of luck for new purchases.
In late March 2023, the eShop services will close for new purchases all together. So Wii and 3DS users will need to do their shopping for new items prior to this point.

Of note, the changes will only affect new purchases on Nintendo Wii and 3DS. Users will still be able to purchase items if they are using Nintendo Switch systems. In addition, per the Nintendo Announcement

Even after late March 2023, and for the foreseeable future, it will still be possible to redownload games and DLC, receive software updates and enjoy online play on Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.

This means the Wii and 3DS systems aren’t completely being killed off, only the ability to add new purchases.

Final Thought

According to Nintendo,

This is part of the natural lifecycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time.

So for those of you who still enjoy your Wii or 3DS system, make sure you add anything you are considering buying before March 2023. Gaming: Nintendo Wii U / 3DS Announcement

Source

Nintendo – Wii U & Nintendo 3DS eShop Discontinuation

Alert: Possible Issues For Waze Users

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November 30, 2021

Waze Users May Be Seeing Possible Issues

If you are a Waze user and have been having issues connecting to Waze, IT’s NOT YOU. According to Downdetector, there are multiple reports of issues for Waze users. Today’s post will go over what we know.

The Reported Issues With Waze

According to the information on the Downdetector site, there are multiple reported issues at Waze. Issues involve not being able to connect to the app or getting any info for status.

According to some of the user reports, issues include

and

As of now, Waze is not reporting any official issues.

About Waze

Waze is a GPS application for smartphones that incorporates ‘social’ elements. Waze for instance bases driving directions on routes taken by other users and allows users to report traffic jams, accidents, and speed traps, as well as cheap gas pumps. Waze is owned by Google.

Source

Downdetector – Issues with Waze GPS

Alert: Possible Issues For T-Mobile Users

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November 29, 2021

Possible Issues For T-Mobile Users

If you are a T-Mobile user

Deal Alert: GameStop Xbox GamePass Ultimate Sale (Ended)

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November 27, 2021

GameStop Has A Black Friday Deal For The 3 Month Xbox GamePass Ultimate Pass. (Ended)

Deal Alert: Hulu only $0.99 Month

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November 25, 2021

Black Friday Deal, Hulu offering its ad-supported plan for 99cents a month for 12 months. Hulu only $0.99 Month

Deal: T-Mobile Customers 1yr Paramount+ Free

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November 13, 2021

T-Mobile Customers 1yr of Paramount+ Free

If you are on a postpaid T-Mobile cellular plan, a T-Mobile home internet customer, or on a legacy Sprint plan, you can now get 1 yr of Paramount+ streaming service for free. The offer is good for both new, as well as for current Paramount+ subscribers. With the offer, you get the basic $5 a-month Paramount+ plan. After 12 months, you will get billed the $5 subscription via your T-Mobile account. T-Mobile Customers 1yr Paramount+ Free

For Those Who Want To Sign Up To Paramount+

If you are a T-Mobile customer and are interested in signing up for Paramount+, it’s an easy 3 step process. To sign up do the following….

Step 1

From the T-Mobile promotion page, click on the Get Started button except if you are a Sprint Customer. For Sprint Customers, the link is Click Here

Once you click on the link, log into your T-Mobile (or legacy Sprint account).

Step 2

Once you are verified and logged into your account, you will get redirected to create your account on Paramount+

Step 3

Once redirected, create your account info and the promotion will be automatically applied.

NOTE: While creating your account, you will get prompted for a payment method, but you won’t get billed until after 12 months.

For existing Paramount+ subscribers, you will receive a code to enter on your account to activate the offer.

What Do You Get With Paramount+ Essential

With Paramount+ Essential you get access to virtually everything on the streaming service. Paramount+ is home to almost all of the Star Trek Universe, so you get access to shows like Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and the upcoming Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. You also get access to Yellowstone, as well as the new Mayor of Kingstown spinoff.

On the sports front, having Paramount+ gives you access to Champions League Soccer, the NWSL, and your regional NFL games live.

The drawbacks with the Paramount+ Essential plan are that you will get advertising with the on-demand content, and you will not get the live feed from your local CBS TV station. In addition, the Essential plan does not include 4K content. T-Mobile Customers 1yr Paramount+ Free

Source

T-Mobile – Paramount+ Free 1 Yr Offer

How to: Uninstall MS Office on Mac

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November 2, 2021

The following post will go over the How to uninstall MS Office on Mac.

If you are a Windows user and want to uninstall a program, simply go to the control panel, programs, and features, and then select the program you want to remove and uninstall. To uninstall a program on a Mac can vary depending on the developer, and how it was installed. Unfortunately on a Mac uninstall isn’t always simple. The following post will explain how to uninstall MS Office on Mac.

One of the more common requests for IT involves having to uninstall Microsoft Office since almost everyone seems to use it. If you need to uninstall office, the process is slightly different, depending on which version you are using (Office 2011, Office 2016, Office 365). In all cases, you will need to delete each app, and then go look for specific files/folders to remove.

Uninstall Office 2011

If you are still on the older Office 2011 version, then you have the least amount of steps for uninstalling. To uninstall Office 2011

Navigate to your Applications folder.
Select Microsoft Excel.
Hold down the Command key and select Outlook, Powerpoint, and Word.
Drag them all to the Trash and empty it.

This will uninstall Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook from your Mac.

Uninstall Office 2016 / Office 365

Uninstalling the newer versions of Office (Office 2016 / Office 365) is more complicated than uninstalling Office 2011 because you need also need to locate files in several different folders and move them to the Trash. That is in addition to removing the applications themselves. To uninstall Office 2016 / Office 365

Open Finder -> Applications
Hold the Command button on your keyboard while you select all of the Office Applications
Hold the Control button on your keyboard and select Move to Trash after highlighting all of the MS Office applications. This will remove all of the selected applications.
Now In the Finder, click on the Go menu and choose Go to Folder, or press Command+Shift+G.
In the box that opens, type: ~/Library and press Go.
Locate the Containers folder and open it.
Find each of the folders listed below and drag them to the Trash (keep in mind some of the folders listed below may not be there)
com.Microsoft.errorreporting
com.microsoft.Excel
com.microsoft.netlib.shipassertprocess
com.microsoft.Office365ServiceV2
com.microsoft.Outlook
com.microsoft.Powerpoint
com.microsoft.RMS-XPCService
com.microsoft.Word
com.microsoft.onenote.mac
Click the back arrow in the Finder window to go back to ~/Library and open the Group Containers folder.
Locate the 3 folders (highlighted in the below picture) and move them to the Trash (again, some may not be present). UBF8T346G9.ms
UBF8T346G9.Office
UBF8T346G9.OfficeOsfWebHost

Once you have done all of that,

Empty the Trash.
If any Office icons are in the Dock, right-click on them and choose Options>Remove from Dock.
Restart your Mac.

Final Thoughts

After going through all of those steps, you have now successfully uninstalled Office 2016 / Office 365 from your Mac. For all of the success that Macs have found in recent years, it is still surprising that there is no uniform standard for uninstalling applications for a Mac.

FYI – iPhone 12 owners with no sound issues

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August 27, 2021

Apple has a service program for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices that have no sound in the receiver.

For the most part, iPhone hardware has had very little in the form of issues. However, it seems with iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro that may not be the case. Apple has a service program for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices that have no sound in the receiver. Today’s post will go over the details. iPhone 12 owners with no sound issues

About The No Sound Issue Service Program

According to Apple

Apple has determined that a very small percentage of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices may experience sound issues due to a component that might fail on the receiver module. Affected devices were manufactured between October 2020 and April 2021.

So if all of a sudden you can’t hear anything coming from the receiver, you may have one of the affected handsets. That is why Apple has started the No Sound Issue Service Program for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro

To Get service you should find

an Apple Authorized Service Provider
make an appointment at an Apple Retail Store
or contact Apple Support online to arrange for mail-in service

Things To Know Before Getting Service

A couple of things to keep in mind before getting service on your phone

BACK UP YOUR DEVICE. You want to make sure that everything is backed up to iCloud or your laptop. Someone will be taking your device and there is a good probability that it will be wiped clean and reformatted as part of the repair process.
FIX YOUR DEVICE OF OTHER ISSUES. If your device has a cracked screen then you will need to repair that 1st, at your cost, before Apple will take the phone in for the No Sound Service Program.
YOU WILL LOSE YOUR PHONE FOR A BIT. This is NOT a trade-in program, Apple won’t just be taking your phone and handing you another phone. They will take your phone and repair it and then give it back to you. This means you could lose your phone from a few days to over a week, depending on what service arrangements you make, so make arrangements. You could do something like have your calls forwarded to another number via your provider.
NOT ALL iPHONE 12 MODELS AFFECTED. If you own the iPhone 12 mini or the iPhone 12 Pro Max, then you are NOT affected by this issue or included on this service plan.
IT DOESN’T EXTEND THE WARRANTY. Your original warranty time still holds true. This service program is specifically to repair the 1 sound issue. It does not extend any existing warranty on the overall products in question.
THE SERVICE PROGRAM COVERAGE. The service program itself covers affected iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro devices for 2 years after the initial retail sale of the unit.

iPhone 12 owners with no sound issues

Source

Apple – iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro No Sound Service Progr am

How To: Upgrade To Windows 10 Free

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August 22, 2021