Far be it from me to let anyone think I am computer literate. However, I have spent many years using a computer for both business and pleasure. I have learned so much from so many, but here in the desert, some good friends taught me how to save some $ both on programs and WiFi usage. Here are a few tips:
- Do you purchase annual “Office 365 Personal” for $69.00 + tax (Cdn.)? Did you know you can download a free “office suite” program called LibreOffice? It has all the same features and more and I love using it. You can download it at: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-fresh/. The download is 213Mb so you may want to go to the library or McDonald’s and take advantage of their WiFi.
- Do you purchase annual security software i.e. Kaspersky, that we use? Another $69.00 + tax. Did you know you can use Windows 10 built in security called Defender for free? Just go to Settings > Update and Security > Windows Defender and turn on Real-time Protection. Make sure you keep your virus definitions updated regularly. If you are on a “metered connection” (see below), Defender will remind you when it needs to be updated. Fortunately, virus definitions are not huge so will not eat up too much of your bandwidth.
- Did you know that Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs its updates? What’s worse is that it also automatically uses a peer-to-peer download feature which means you are helping to update other computers thereby reducing Microsoft’s bandwidth bill by increasing your own. This is fine if you are altruistic and have unlimited bandwidth. However, if you are paying by the Gb, which most people are out here, you may want to shut that feature off and control on what network Microsoft can download its updates.
- To shut off sending updates to other PCs on the Internet: Go to Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options. From here, click on, “Choose how updates are delivered”. If you have more than one PC and you have a local network, you can turn on “Updates from more than one place”. Now, make sure that under “Get updates from Microsoft and get updates from and send updates to” that “PCs on my local network” is selected.
- To control when updates are delivered, set your WiFi network as a metered connection: First, make sure you are connected to your WiFi network. Then, go to Settings > Network & Internet > WiFi > Advanced Options. Under “Metered Connection”, turn on “Set as metered connection”. Now Windows Updates will not be downloaded while you are connected to your WiFi network. Since Microsoft will automatically download updates on an un-metered connection, you can now take advantage of the WiFi at the library or at McDonald’s to update Windows.Now, if all this sounds too complicated and overwhelming, I’m trying to talk our resident computer guru into teaching a class showing you how to accomplish all of the above tips and more. This will help you save bandwidth which equates to saving dollar$. Stay tuned…