syncDriver to the resuce: Syncing OneDrive without changing your Windows 8.1 login from a Local Account

Have you ever wanted to sync your OneDrive account to your Windows 8.1 system without having to switch your computer's login account from a Local Account to a Microsoft Account?   Well you're not alone.   Sometimes, it feels like Microsoft just doesn't understand how people use their computers.   Many of us find the Microsoft Account a bit overreaching.    And sometimes we may want to connect to a OneDrive account to sync data from one account without changing our entire Operating System to be connected to that account.

Recently, I had a client with exactly this need.   They wanted to share a single OneDrive account with a couple of computers, but wanted to maintain the logon accounts they had already set up for those computers.   Enabling the Windows 8.1 OneDrive app will automatically convert your Local Account to a Microsoft Account if you configure OneDrive.   

We researched a bit online and found some clever solutions.   You can map your OneDrive account as a Network Share and access it very much as you would any other network share.    This was actually a pretty neat way of accessing OneDrive, but it was much slower to enumerate files and folders, and there was no synchronization occurring.   If you took your computer off the internet, you lost access to those OneDrive files.

Then we stumbled upon syncDriver.   This software will allow you to sync your OneDrive account on your Windows 8.1 computer without the need to change your Local Account logon.   The install and configuration couldn't have been easier.   If you are familiar with installing a Dropbox account, the syncDriver configuration is just as simple.   And just like Dropbox you can choose to selectively sync folders; this feature is unfortunately missing from some OneDrive clients and nowhere to be found with OneDrive for Business.

One day soon (rumored to be happening with the Windows 10 release), Microsoft will be fixing all the nagging problems that is keeping their OneDrive platforms from being a huge competitor in the file syncing world.   Until then, syncDriver will give you the features that Microsoft should have given you in the first place. 

Here are some easy Instructions on how to install and configure syncDriver.   If you need help, we will be there to guide you at http://www.binkleyit.com or support@binkleyit.com:

(1) Download the syncDriver software here: http://syncdriver.com/Download/Windows

(2) Install on your computer.

(3) syncDriver will ask you to enter your OneDrive credentials:

(4) Then choose a folder that will be your sync destination on your local computer:

(4) Choose your options.   There are some full featured options that will allow you to fine-tune your configuration, including SELECTIVE SYNC and DIRECTIONAL SYNCING.  Choose the one which is right for you:

(5) On your task bar will be the icon to monitor your sync.   You can PAUSE syncing, FORCE a sync and navigate to the OneDrive website to view your files online.

Test is out and I am sure you will find it a great experience.   For more information, here is the feature comparison between syncDriver and Microsoft's OneDrive client:

The Smart Home - Pt 1

I am a big fan of anything that allows me to be lazy more efficient.

Recently I found myself with a large credit on my Amazon account and I start thinking about what I would want to spend it on.  I had been kicking the idea of retro-fitting my house with smart appliances for a bit and my Amazon money was the perfect excuse to give it a try and allow my house to become more efficient.

There are a lot of Home Automation technologies out there and deciding which one is right for you could be a bit daunting.  First you need to decide which Home Automation Protocol you are going to employ.   There are a few popular one out there.   Here is a link to a nice primer page on the different protocols from which you can choose:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home/zigbee-vs-zwave-vs-insteon-home-automation-protocols-explained/

I decided to go with Z-Wave.  I have a lot of wireless devices already in my house and the idea of putting my home automation devices on a segregated wireless band was appealing to me.   Also, I had purchased a deadbolt for my back door that came with a keypad and it was Z-Wave compatible, so that made the decision a bit easier.  

Now, I understand this may not be the best way to choose a Home Automation Protocol, so let's talk about a few things that I like about Z-Wave:

WiFi Interference -As I said earlier, I didn't want a technology that would interfere with my other technology.   I have a relatively small house, but I have 3 separate wireless networks within my house.   These networks are standard WiFi networks that run on the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz frequencies.   I get plenty of interference from my neighbors WiFi connections, so it was really important that my home automation was an a different frequency.   In the United States, Z-Wave uses the 908.42 Mhz frequency, which should prove to provide enough segregation from my WiFi network to not cause interference. 

Device Variety  - I wanted to make sure I used a technology that supported enough devices that I would have a great selection.  As of today, Z-Wave is claiming to have over 1000 compatible devices.   These range from thermostats, garage door opener relays, light switches, motion detectors, power receptacles, proximity sensors and light bulbs.

Mesh Network - on a single Z-Wave network, you can host up to 232 devices.   A Z-Wave network is controlled by a centralized hub which is responsible for coordinating the actions of the Z-Wave devices.   The maximum distance between the hub and a device is about 300ft.   However, Z-Wave devices exist in what is known as a Mesh Network that allows the devices to relay a command from one device to another until the desired devices is reached.  This extends the reach of the network quite a bit, which is ideal for larger homes or offices.

Device Interaction and Choreography - Depending on the type of Z-Wave hub your install, you can create some pretty neat device interaction.   For example, you can have a motion detector trigger an event or events on other Z-wave devices when motion is detected.   You can attached a personal proximity FOB to your key chain that will allow the Z-Wave system to detect when you have arrived or left your house/office which will trigger events to occur, such as turning off all the lights in your house.

Easily Controllable - Most Z-Wave systems can be controlled from your smartphone or tablet.   The manufacturer of your Z-Wave hub will have an app that you can use to control single devices or create scenarios that will coordinate multiple devices.  As well, most of these hubs will connect to you Local Area Connection to gain internet access in order to allow you to control your devices when you are not present.   Imagine how cool it would be to tell your smart thermostat to increase the temperature in your house before coming home.   Or in my recent case, imagine freaking out your wife by "accidentally" turning off the bedroom lights while I was at work and she was working from home.   The possibilities are endless.

So, I decided to go with Z-Wave and the next step was to choose which Hub I was going to choose.   Again, there are quite a few to choose from.   I spent some time online reading reviews and decided that I wanted to go with the SmartThings Hub.   It came highly recommended and I love the idea that it not only works with Z-Wave devices, but will also accomodate ZigBee devices (another popular protocol) and the Belkin WeMo line of products which seem pretty awesome.

My next post will discuss the process of setting up the HUB and hopefully getting at least one device to work in my house.  Until then, have an amazing time thinking about all the cool things you could do with Home Automation.

AirFoil - Connecting your Windows Environment to Airplay Devices

The natural divide that has existed between the Apple world and the Microsoft world is starting to disappear.   In my world, I have always used my Apple products for entertainment and my Windows products for productivity.   I don't see that changing any time soon.  Both companies are good at what they do...and sometimes it's painful when they step outside of those areas of expertise and try something new.

Lately, I see a shift in attitudes of users towards both companies.   Gone, or going, are the days of the feuds that existed between the two users.   In their place is a new generation of users that want to embrace the best of what both companies have to offer.

In that mindset, over the next few weeks I want to share some technologies that I am in love with that are helping bridge the expanse between these two users.

Airfoil, by Rogue Amoeba, is an amazing piece of software that does just that. 

For years, I have been using multiple Apple's Airport Express to create streaming music areas in my house.   My only real complaint had been caused by the limitation of only being able to stream music from with iTunes.   As the iOS technology has evolved, so has the Airplay technology that powers the Airport Express.   iOS devices are no longer limited to streaming only from their  iTunes library.   Basically, any app that creates sound can be streamed from an iOS device to an Airport Express or other Airplay host.

However, the same evolution for a Windows system has not been as quick to follow and until recently I was still stuck just being able to stream what was in my iTunes library.   But now, Airfoil has changed all that.   Now I can turn my Windows environments into devices that can stream any audio to an Airplay speaker.

The software is extremely easy to install.   It took me about 30 seconds from download of the install file to listening to Pandora streaming from my PC to my Airport Express.   In fact, as I write this, I am listening to my favorite Pandora station: Django Reinhardt.    From the Airfoil interface, I can decide where in my house the sound will go.   Similar to iTunes, I can control multiple Airplay devices to stream at the same time.

 

Now, anything that makes sound on my PC can be streamed to an Airplay device

 

The software costs $25 to license.   Not too steep a price considering all the enjoyment you will get from using the software.   And getting us all one step close to never having to choose Apple or Windows.   From here on it can be:  Apple and Windows!

 

 

How to add websites to Internet Explorer 11's Compatbility List

[nerd rating: 3 out of 5 pocket protectors ]

Microsoft has recently released Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7.    There have been a lot

of good reviews of IE11 under the Windows 8 environment.   Microsoft has made some vast improvements to their flagship browser that makes it much more compatible with CSS and HTML5.   In fact, many of the benchmark scores for IE11 show it runs faster and is using fewer resources than Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. 

This post is not intended to be a review of IE11.   Personally, I have been quite impressed by a lot of things with IE11, but unsatisfied with other things.   Maybe one day, I will write my personal review of IE11...probably right around when IE12 is getting released. 

Rather, this post is intended to help with the biggest problem I am seeing with IE11 and that is accessing older sites that require earlier versions of Internet Explorer.  

There are many sites my clients are using that are not compatible with IE11.  Now, whether that has something to do with the technology required by the website or simply the fact the USERAGENT information in IE11 no longer reports that it is Internet Explorer, I don't know.   What I do know is there are plenty of site my clients can't get to using IE11 natively.    



IE11's new UserAgent string.   What happened to MSIE?

However, it is pretty easy to get your old site viewable in IE11.   All you usually have to do is add your site to the IE Compatibility List.  Here is how you would do that:
 

(1) Open up Internet Explorer and navigate to the website you are having trouble viewing in IE. 

(2) Click on the TOOLS icon in the upper left hand corner of IE.   This icons appears as a 'gear':

 

(3) Choose Compatibility View Settings:

 

(4) If it is not already populate in the input box, type the URL of your website in the input box that reads "ADD THIS SITE"  and then press ADD.

 

(5) The site should now appear in the list of websites that will open in compatibility mode.   Choose CLOSE and refresh your page to see if you can now view the site properly.

A great test for me was to use log into blogger.com.   When I tried to log into my account to create this post, I received this error message:

 

After adding blogger.com to IE's compatibility list, I can now open it with no errors.   Hopefully, this will help alleviate a bit of frustration when dealing with IE11.  If you have any problems or questions, please contact us here at Binkley IT Consulting.   We can help!

 

 

How to add an image to your email signature on the iPhone or Office365 Outlook Web App

[nerd scale:2 out of 5 pocket protectors]

 

I have received a lot of questions recently about how to add images to email signatures on the iPhone and the Outlook Web App.   So, I figured I would use this week's blog to show you how you can accomplish this:

 

Outlook Web App:

 

-There may be other ways to do this, but this is the way I stumbled upon.

 

(1) First, you need to be able to access the image you want to add from a web browser.  Since we all have websites, it should be easy enough to upload you picture to your images directory of your website.   Once uploaded, make sure you can view the image by using a web browser to navigate to the image's URL.   My test image has been placed at http://www.binkleyit.com/images/eatup.png

 

This is what the image looks like:

 

 

 

(2) From within your web browser, right click on the image and choose COPY

(3) Log into your Outlook Web App.  The default URL is https://outlook.office365.com.  Navigate to the Gear Icon | Options | Settings

 

(3) Within the email signature text area, press CTRL+V to copy the image into your email signature:

 

 

(4) Check the box the reads 'Automatically include my signature on messages I send' and then click the SAVE button and you should be good to go!

 

 

(5) Now when you create a new email using the Outlook Web App, your signature should appear:

 

 

 

 

iPhone:
- I tested this on an iPhone 5 and iPad2, both running iOS7.

(1) Make sure your email account is already set up on your iPhone, and then email yourself the image you are wanting to use for your signature.


(2) On your iPhone, find the email you just sent yourself.   It should contain the image.  Initiate an email forward of this email.   You won't be sending it to anyone.  Scroll down the email until you see your image.   Press the screen until you can choose SELECT to select the image:

 

Once the image is selected, choose COPY:

 

 

Once the image is copied, navigate to SETTING | Mail, Contacts, Calendars | SIGNATURE

 

If you have multiple email accounts, you may want to change the Signature setting from ALL ACCOUNTS to PER ACCOUNT

 

 

Scroll to the account you wish to set up the new signature.   Add the appropriate text information and then press the screen until you receive the option to PASTE the copied picture into the signature:

 

 

The image should get pasted into the signature:

 

 

 

 

 

(3) Navigate back to your email and create a new email to verify your signature is appearing correctly:

 

 

 

That's it!  Not too difficult, but if you have any problems or questions contact Binkley IT Consulting.  We can help.

 

What are the IT issues that every computer should address?

I am planning for a series of radio interviews with the Experience Pros, a local radio show that dedicates their air time to talking about business.

We will be discussing the IT issues that every business needs to address, and I figured I should dovetail that conversation with my blog postings.

So, over the next few weeks, I will spend some time addressing these issues.    Here is a highlight of the topics we will be discussing:

 

Data Backup

 

A company can overcome almost any problem with their IT, but a loss of data could be a killer to most companies.   We will discuss solutions to ensuring that your data is well protected.

 

 

High Speed Internet

 

High Speed Internet is integral to business today.   We will discuss which ones are the best bang for your buck.

 

Virtualization

 

We will discuss the benefits of virtualizing your existing infrastructure, as well as how using new virtual technologies can help your business' bottom line.

 

Cloud Hosting

 

We will discuss the pros and cons of hosting applications, or even entire networks in the cloud.

 

Enterprise Class Email

 

We will discuss how to migrate from your old POP or IMAP mail services to a more modern enterprise class email system and the benefits it can provide your company.

 

Email and Desktop Security

 

We will discuss strategies to keep your company safe, or safer, from viral and malicious attacks.

 

Centralized Data Storage and Access

 

We will discuss strategies and benefits of centralizing your data either onsite or in the cloud.

 

IT Maintenance

 

We will discuss how important it is to have a trusted IT Admin who can make sure that all your technology is being taken care of properly.

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 



Are you still not backing up your files?

Last week, I missed adding a blog because my IT world exploded with problems.   One of the problems I experienced was my first exposure to the CryptoLocker virus.   When this virus infects your system, it downloads an encryption key and encrypts certain file types, which makes those file unusable.  Even after the infection has been removed, the files remain encrypted.   This is a smart virus.  Not only will it go after your local files, but it will search for network shares on which the logged in user has modify rights and will encrypt those files too.

The distribution of the virus is really not any different than any other virus.   In my client's case, it was delivered via a ZIP attachment in an email.

I took this attachment and emailed it to a bunch of outside test email accounts.  None of the email accounts detected and blocked the attachment.   I then open the virus on controlled virtual desktop environments running some of the most common desktop anti-virus software.   The day of release, none of them were able to detect the virus.  Scary!  After a day or two, the virus definition updates on most of the anti-virus software I was testing did indeed stop the infection.

The biggest problem with anti-virus software is that is always fighting yesterday's attack.   And if you are unlucky enough to be hit by a new variant of a virus, you are basically unprotected.

In last weeks attack, my client's public folder containing about 50GBs of shared data was all encrypted and unusable.  Luckily, we have a great backup system in place and we were able to easily and quickly recover the data. 

Today's blog is intended to be a reminder that if you are not backing up your data every day, you are putting it at risk.   Could your business survive if all your data files were suddenly inaccessible?   Most business wouldn't survive that.   It is easy and relatively inexpensive to make sure your data is protected.

The Backup Exec software continues to be an exceptional piece of software to protect server data.   Mozy and Carbonite both have great desktop products that will allow you to backup to local external hard drives, NAS devices and into the cloud for under $100 a year.

If you do not have a good backup system in place or if you want to make sure yours is working properly, contact us a Binkley IT Consulting.   We can help.