vCTO Secure Blog

vCTO Secure has been serving the Seattle area since 2011, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

Tip of the Week: Upgrade to Windows 11 Without a Microsoft Account

Tip of the Week: Upgrade to Windows 11 Without a Microsoft Account

Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system has seen pretty positive reviews. In contrast, others just see it as an unnecessary update of the popular Windows 10 offering. Still, regardless of the opinions you come across, there are some pretty major benefits to upgrading. The thing is that Microsoft, like almost any other company, wants you to have an account to interact with their products. Fortunately, for those who, for whatever reason, don’t want to make a Microsoft account, you can update your computer to Windows 11. Today, we will tell you how. 

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What to Do When Windows 10 Reaches Its End of Support Date

What to Do When Windows 10 Reaches Its End of Support Date

Remember when Windows 10 was released, much to a sigh of relief following the questionable release of Windows 8.1 Update? Can you believe that there’s now discussion going on surrounding Windows 10’s end of support date? Let’s explore what an end of support means for Windows 10 users, as well as what steps they can take to ensure moving away from the operating system goes as smoothly as possible.

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Tip of the Week: Freeze Microsoft Excel Panes

Tip of the Week: Freeze Microsoft Excel Panes

In the right hands, Microsoft Excel can be an incredibly potent data management tool. Unfortunately, scrolling down will leave your headers out of sight unless you take steps to freeze them in place. Let’s discuss how you can do this and be more productive with this tool.

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Tip of the Week: Setting Your Outlook Out-of-Office Message

Tip of the Week: Setting Your Outlook Out-of-Office Message

During the holiday season, people are out of the office quite often, but unless this is properly conveyed to those reaching out to them, it could look like negligence on the employees’ part. To make sure you are as transparent as possible with your out-of-office time, be sure to set up a message. Here’s how you can do it in Microsoft Outlook.

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Tips to Improve Your Microsoft Teams Usage

Tips to Improve Your Microsoft Teams Usage

Collaboration platforms are all the rage these days, and one of the more notable choices out there is Microsoft Teams. With any collaboration software, there will be best practices that you can use to get the most out of it, and Teams is no exception to this rule. Let’s go over how you can use Teams to the best of your ability.

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Tip of the Week: Typing Through Dictation

Tip of the Week: Typing Through Dictation

Sometimes the last thing you want to do is type on your keyboard, especially if you have already been doing it just about all day. In cases like this, you can give your fingers a break and use Microsoft Word’s dictation features to “write” by speaking into your device’s microphone. Let’s go over how you can use this feature on a desktop, your web browser, and even your mobile device.

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Microsoft’s Services are Increasing in Price

Microsoft’s Services are Increasing in Price

You’d best mind your budget if you’re a subscriber to Microsoft 365 or Office 365, as Microsoft plans to increase the price of these services. We wanted to give you a quick heads up and clear the air a little bit preventatively, primarily so that you can adjust your plans if need be.

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Is Your Business Ready for Windows 11?

Is Your Business Ready for Windows 11?

For the past few years, Microsoft led customers to believe that they would be building on Windows 10 for the foreseeable future. Of course, in tech, nothing ever stays static and they have now released Windows 11 for PC. For the business, it starts a clock that can get quite uncomfortable if not planned for. This week, we thought we’d take a look at the system specifications for Windows 11, and what you need to know for when you decide it’s time to upgrade.

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Tip of the Week: Use Dark Mode to Go Easy on your Eyes

Tip of the Week: Use Dark Mode to Go Easy on your Eyes

Staring at a bright computer screen all day can bother your eyes, especially if it’s done on a routine basis. We know that staying away from computers and devices is something that we cannot really get away from in the business environment, but you can take steps to make it more manageable and easier on your eyes through the use of Dark Mode.

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Tip of the Week: A Short Guide to Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts

Tip of the Week: A Short Guide to Outlook Keyboard Shortcuts

Just like the other Microsoft products in the Office suite, like Word and Excel, Outlook has several keyboard shortcuts that you can use to be more productive. We’ve put together a handy guide of some of the most helpful keyboard shortcuts you should keep in mind to get the most out of Outlook.

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Mixed Signals About Remote Work from Microsoft

Mixed Signals About Remote Work from Microsoft

Now that many of us have been working remotely for the past 18 months, what are your thoughts on the concept of a remote or hybrid office? Have your opinions changed at all, or are you still clinging to your previously conceived notions of what it would be like? It does not help that some major companies, like Microsoft, are sending out mixed signals on their own experiences with remote work. What can we learn from these experiences?

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How Will Android Apps Work on Windows 11?

How Will Android Apps Work on Windows 11?

With the news that Android applications will be available on Windows 11, users can expect to find Android apps available for download… with a few terms and conditions to apply. Let’s look at how this integration is poised to be shaped, and why it may not be all that it is cracked up to be.

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Keep Your Eyes on This Upcoming Windows 10 (or Perhaps 11?) Update

Keep Your Eyes on This Upcoming Windows 10 (or Perhaps 11?) Update

In 2015, Microsoft seemingly confirmed that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows. This prompted users and industry professionals to believe that we would not be receiving Windows 11 anytime soon. With a major update to the Windows 10 operating system on the horizon, some folks aren’t sure what to think. Still, what does this update to Windows 10 mean for your business?

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Microsoft Exchange Enabled a Global Cybersecurity Event

Microsoft Exchange Enabled a Global Cybersecurity Event

Bad news—thanks to four flaws in Microsoft Exchange Server software, over 60,000 individuals and organizations have had their emails stolen by a cyberespionage unit based in China, with over 30,000 of those targeted being in the United States. Let’s review what has taken place up to the time of this writing, and what can be done about it.

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Tip of the Week: Polling Your Outlook Contacts

Tip of the Week: Polling Your Outlook Contacts

Back in June, Microsoft applied an update to the Microsoft 365 version of their Outlook email platform, adding various features—including one that allows users to run a native poll through their email. Let’s go over how it works so that you can take advantage of this useful utility.

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Powerful Project Tools in the Cloud

Powerful Project Tools in the Cloud

Business workforces are shifting and it’s undeniable that a business’ IT has to shift with it. This can leave users maneuvering through their day using all types of different tools. This can tax an IT administrator. One solution that can be used for several purposes and can help almost any project-fueled business is Microsoft SharePoint. Today, we talk about the positive effect SharePoint can have. 

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Microsoft Thwarts Major Hacking Attempt, For Now

Microsoft Thwarts Major Hacking Attempt, For Now

With just shy of a month before the 2020 United States Election, there has been quite a bit of concern over the idea that external interests may try to sway the results—and it seems for good reason. Only recently, Microsoft interrupted a massive coordinated hacking plot that could have altered the very infrastructure needed to support a fair election. Let’s examine this plot, and what Microsoft did, in some more detail.

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Comparing Sheets and Excel for Your Consideration

Comparing Sheets and Excel for Your Consideration

Spreadsheet-generation software is one of those tools that effectively offers all businesses some level of utility. Having said that, different business circumstances may lead to one title being a better option for your operations. Let’s compare Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets to see which one may work better for you, based on selected features and processes.

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Office 365 Gets a New Name

Office 365 Gets a New Name

Microsoft has been a major player in the productivity space for decades. Their Microsoft Office platform was one of their first (and one of their most successful) products. Recently, the software giant rebranded their cloud-based Office 365 platform to Microsoft 365. Today, we’ll tell you what that means for consumers. 

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Finding a Work-Around for iMessage Issues

Finding a Work-Around for iMessage Issues

iMessage is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, and iPhone/iPad users get a nice, seamless integration across all their Apple products. With so many iPhone users using Microsoft Windows 10 PCs, we thought that there must be a way to send and receive iMessages in Windows 10. There are, but it comes with a lot of risks.

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