Why your Windows Updates may fail!

So you do what you believe is right and install those windows updates as soon as they become available. Congratulations, but it might not be enough!

Microsoft has just released a piece of information which is crucial to ensuring your computer remains up to date, and you will need to take action to achieve this.

Windows Updates are crucial for all of our devices.

Updates are released regularly to help protect us from the security flaws and vulnerabilities that cyber criminals will exploit. Also, these updates help us by making software and applications more usable and adding new features.

It’s best practice to run updates as soon as possible on every machine across your business. If you do this already well done, if you don’t perhaps you should talk to us to help you?

There’s a but

According to Microsoft, an enormous number of Windows PCs aren’t up to date.

Why?

So what’s happening?

  1. Some of it maybe staff clicking the ‘later’ button when they get the update notifications. As updates can be time consuming and sometimes people need to get on with their work. Though we certainly don’t condone this behaviour we do understand it.
  2. Technical problems with updates may account for some of these out-of-date PCs, too.

But the majority of update issues are coming from something else entirely…

Microsoft Windows needs to be connected to the internet for a very long time for updates to work properly. Recently Microsoft stated that devices need to remain on and connected to the internet for a minimum of two consecutive hours, and six hours in total. That gives your device time to successfully download the update and install it.

Here is what to do to make sure Windows Update Succeed.

It is simple you need to make sure your devices are all left on and powered up overnight.

This may also mean that you have to check your Power Management settings, to stop your devices from going into hibernation mode or deep sleep too quickly.

To offset any environmental impact you should also ensure you’re following the recommended power settings on each device. If you’d like any help checking these settings, and that all of your devices are running the latest security updates, just get in touch.

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Some of your staff REALLY want to work from home permanently.

Here’s how you can make it happen

In the last 2 years working from home has come of age.

Whilst Many have loved it, others realised they preferred an office environment.

But would you hazard a guess at how many people would like to make remote working a permanent option?

According to a new report, a whopping 96% of employees want to solely work from home, even when the pandemic is over.

They’d be willing to take a pay cut to make that happen.

But wait – it gets even more shocking.

Of these people, a third said they’d be willing to sacrifice HALF of their monthly wage to do so.

Not only that, but they’d give up their health benefits and even paid time off.

Are you as shocked at those figures as we are?

In terms of work/life balance, some people have never had it better. And now that things are slowly recovering, they’re not going to give it up without a fight.

Many of your people might not want to go back to the stress, the distraction, the commuting…

And it’s likely some of them don’t want to leave their beloved pets on their own!

As an employer, giving the option to make remote or hybrid work permanent seems like an ideal solution. You’ve already seen that your people can be trusted to do a great job wherever they work. You may even have seen an increase in motivation and productivity.

Your business could even cut down on some of its fixed costs – office space is the big saving.

Of course, there’s more to consider than how much you trust your team to continue doing a great job. Or how much you could be saving on office space.

If you haven’t already done so, you’ll need to make sure that everyone’s home working set-ups are suitable.

If you’ve only had temporary work from home measures in place for the last 2 years, it’s time to make them official.

The first priority for work from home is to look at data security.

How do your people access your network? Do they have the right security measures installed on their devices? Are their home networks protected from unauthorised access? Can you stop their children using company devices?

But it’s not just security that you need to consider.

Look at the collaboration tools you’re using. If your team is unlikely to be in the same place at the same time, should you invest in a better solution to make sure communication doesn’t suffer?

As well as reporting on salary sacrifices, the report also found that nearly 2 in 5 people feel ignored in video meetings.

Upgrading their equipment and devices might be the answer. Professional quality webcams and microphones can help by making sure video quality is high and that voices are heard.

Don’t forget that older laptops or desktops will need to be upgraded every few years to make sure they’re performing well and costing you less to maintain. If you’d like any help making sure your home working setups are right for permanent remote workers, just give us a call.

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