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Password Managers

Small Business Password Manager - Security

If you know me, then you know that I take security seriously. And so should you.

By using for example only one password to log into everything (I have seen it happen) you have the problem that once your password has been compromised someone can completely take over your personal and maybe even business identities, lock you our of your accounts, steal your identity and make your life miserable for a long time to come.

And it’s not *that* hard to get hacked. It happens all them time. Just one of the sites you use maybe saves it in an unsecured format and gets hacked. You don’t even have to get personally involved to get hacked. So it doesn’t help if you are “careful” and don’t write it down.
There is a website where you can check if any of your accounts at other websites have been reported as compromised: https://haveibeenpwned.com/
It is not fully comprehensive since not every site reports a breach, but it does list the major ones. Just enter your e-mail address and press the “pwned?” button.

The best approach is to use each password only on one site. Easy as that. One lost password only means one problem to deal with. What…you can’t remember 68 distinct passwords that have 10 jumbled up characters? Neither can I. Continue reading “Password Managers”

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Outlook Email to PDF

I was looking for a way to turn Outlook desktop emails into PDFs. In the past I just printed to PDF, but I had a new use case where I needed to attach the contents of emails to QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks doesn’t like msg file attachments.
My initial searches on how to make an Outlook email into a PDF turned up programs that were designed to bulk convert emails to PDFs. I, however, needed to have a quick way to turn one email that I was looking at into a PDF. Not a whole folder or PST file. That problem required more digging since most advice to that particular problem is to use a PDF printer. It works, but if you need to do that a few times a day you are using quite a bit of time. Not a huge problem if you have lots of time, but I don’t.
I also tried some code I found to make a macro and using Word in the background, but that wasn’t really quick either and I had some reliability issues.

So I kept searching…

Continue reading “Outlook Email to PDF”
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MAK Outlook Tools Launch

We just recently launched an addin for Microsoft Outlook® desktop that has two main features right now.

The first one warns you and can stop sending e-mails where you have accidentally put your mailing list in the To or Cc field instead of the Bcc field.
When you have more than a certain number of recipients (user definable) in the To and Cc fields you get a pop up asking you if you are sure to send it after you press the send button.
This way you can catch it when you pasted the list in the Cc instead of the Bcc field.

The second one allows you attach files to received e-mails just like you do on sent e-mails.
This is great if you want to attach PDF invoices you downloaded through a link in the e-mail, PDFs of payment receipts or contracts or just a document with notes you made for yourself (for example on a follow up phone call) that you want to keep with the e-mail.

So go to http://makbiz.link/MAK_Outlook_Tools and check it out. It may be useful and help you avoid embarrassment or even legal issues.

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KeePass Password Manager

If you have been reading my post about password managers you know that we use KeePass for our own company, but recommend others for general use.

This is because KeePass, to be used fully, does require a lot more work to be set up. I did get questions about it and helped a friend recently to get started, so I decided to put the basics in a post here.
Now – this is not a step-by-step guide with pretty visuals. This is just a list of thoughts/steps to get you started in the right direction. If this seems daunting to you and you don’t have a friend (or trusted employee) to help you get it set up please re-consider using one of the cloud solutions.

So – here we go:
Continue reading “KeePass Password Manager”

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WooCommerce Download Permissions For Newly Added Files

The version 2 of WooCommerce had a function where when you added new files to existing products all the existing purchasers received access to the new files as well. That was good when you wanted to give everyone access to the new files. One problem though was that if the downloads were limited in number or time the new files would receive the full access as of the adding.
So if the download was limited to for example 365 days and a purchase was two years ago then the new file was available to this purchaser for a full year after the new file has been added. Not really the desired outcome in this case.
And adding to the issue was that if you edited a file line in the product WooCommerce handled it the same as deleting the old file and adding a new one with the new permissions.
So if you had limited downloads the only choice was to link to a file that never changed its name. Like an archive without version number.

So in version 3 WooCommerce changed the system to not grant access to newly added files at all. Depending on how you like to sell your digital products that may not work well either. And this change may have created issues in the way you sold software. If you always wanted to give access to everyone that wasn’t working any more all of a sudden.
Editing file lines now works by replacing the name and download link and keeping all permissions from the file (line) being edited.
There is a plugin available at Github that emulates the original v2 way of adding permissions that you can add to your site if you want to have the old way of working.

In our business we had the problem that neither solution was satisfactory. We had some unlimited download products and some limited time products. And then we also wanted be able to maybe just generate download permissions for orders placed after a certain date. So the question was – how do we grant new download permissions for new files on old, existing orders?
For this we created a new plugin, MAK WooCommerce Download Permissions, to take care of that for us. With it, after you add files, you can decide to copy existing permissions from another file of the product or you can create new permissions (with download times calculated for the purchase date if applicable). You can do this for all orders, orders after a certain date or not grant any access for old orders at all. The choice is yours for each file you add to a product.

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0 – Error decoding JSON data: Syntax error When Updating from Joomla 3.6.2 to 3.6.3 [Solution]

After upgrades to some Joomla sites we run I tried to log into the backend of one of them and to my surprise couldn’t get in. Close inspection showed an error “Error decoding JSON data”.

After some trial and errors to see if any of the security software was acting up I did a thorough Google search and came across quite a few people in the same boat as me with many suggestions and no real solution.

Until I found https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/issues/12460 and read through it. Finally the real fix to the problem was posted by alexgarel.

You have to issue a SQL command to clear the offending entries from the database. Previous versions didn’t throw an error when receiving the data, but the new Joomla code isn’t as forgiving. So here it is:

update `xxxx_modules` set params="" WHERE params = "{\"\"}";

The xxxx has to be replaced with the table prefix for your Joomla installation.
If you are not familiar with issuing SQL commands, please contact your webdesigner, webhost or sysadmin to execute it for you. 

If you are still having issues after this command or you don’t want to mess with SQL then please try the program at https://github.com/robwent/joomla-json-db-check – it does a more thorough check and fix on many more tables.
I didn’t need to use it, but it seems to be the most thorough solution out there at this point.

And always be safe – make a backup before any attempted fixes.
 

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Software can’t install because of another pending install

Sometimes when trying to install software you get an error message similar to “…another software installation is in progress or, the computer has a restart pending. Either complete the installation process, or, restart the computer and …”.

The problem you may be having though is that no other software installation is in progress. You already restarted (several times), but the message just doesn’t go away.

What now?

Most times it is a setting or two left over in the registry that either just won’t process or just doesn’t get cleared.

Microsoft has a nice info at KB2723674 – Easy fix 50865 – it is listed for server client connector installs, but it does work in other instences as well.

Follow the link for the fix that does it for you or just follow their manual instruction which I have copied here:

Continue reading “Software can’t install because of another pending install”

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Managing the Start screen in Windows 8.1

Microsoft has a nice little page about how to do some basic arranging of items on the Start Screen at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows-8/start-screen-tutorial – it talks about basic pinning, seeing all apps and how to create, name and move groups.

To rename or change the icon of a pinned item you can follow the instructions on http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/31552-start-screen-tiles-change-icon-name-windows-8-a.html.

Click here for the short version

Right click on the tile you want to rename.

Left click on “open file location”

The file’s shortcut will appear in Windows Explorer.

Click on the text to change the name, or right-click it and click “rename.”

The new name will apply to the tile as well as the file.

To change the icon right-click it and select “properties” and change the icon

To get some more items pinned than the apps that create shortcuts and folders you need some extra help.

It can be done manually one by one or you can install a registry setting that will allow you to pin pretty much everything from your file explorer.

The manual way is nicely described at http://www.askvg.com/start-screen-pinner-freeware-to-pin-files-folders-and-program-shortcuts-to-windows-8-start-screen/ as Method 1. Methods 2 and 3 on that page don’t seem to work for Windows 8.1.

Click here for the short version

1. First of all right-click on the file which you want to pin to Start Screen and select “Create shortcut” option to create a shortcut of the file.

2. Now copy and paste following text in RUN dialog box and press Enter:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\

It’ll open the classic “Start Menu” folder which is still used to store Start Screen shortcuts similar to previous Windows versions.

3. Now cut the file shortcut which you created in step 1 and paste it in “Start Menu” folder which you opened in step 2.

4. Now go to Start Screen and press “Ctrl+Tab” keys together to show “All Apps” page.

5. Here you’ll see the file shortcut which you created earlier. Right-click on the file shortcut and click on “Pin to Start” option.

That’s it. It’ll immediately pin the file shortcut to Start Screen.

NOTE: If the shortcut doesn’t appear in “All Apps” screen, try to move the shortcut from “Start Menu” folder to “Start Menu\Programs” folder.

At http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-add-the-pin-to-start-screen-menu-item-to-all-files-in-windows-8/ is a description of a registry file to have the “Pin to Start” available for almost any item.

Registry file contents:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\*] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\*\shellex] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\PintoStartScreen] @="{470C0EBD-5D73-4d58-9CED-E91E22E23282}" [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\AllFileSystemObjects] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\AllFileSystemObjects\shellex] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\AllFileSystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers] [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\AllFileSystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\PintoStartScreen] @="{470C0EBD-5D73-4d58-9CED-E91E22E23282}"

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InvoiceDate 2 DueDate for WHMCS Published

I have published my first WHMCS web host billing system addon and it has been listed with WHMCS at https://www.whmcs.com/appstore/2458/InvoiceDate-2-DueDate.html

Here are some details:

This WHMCS addon module changes the invoice date to be the same date as the due date for automatically generated invoices by cron and invoices initiated from the admin area for individual clients created by selecting “Generate Due Invoices”.
Changes are made before any automatic e-mails are sent out.
Use this if you would like to set your invoice dates to be the same as your service renewal (due) dates but you still want to send advance notices to your users.

  • Changes auto-created invoices’ due date from the generated date to the due date
  • Use it when switching from ClientExec which only has the due date and you want to keep it similar for your users
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A Quick Calculator

What do you do if you need a calculator when working on the computer? 

Try to find one in the office?
Run through endless menus to find the Windows calculator?
Maybe you even know you can just start typing “calc” in the Start menu searchbox of Windows 7? Or just type it on the Modern Interface start screen of Windows 8.
How about pinning it to your Start Menu or Taskbar in Windows 7 or 8? No room for a calculator you say?

If you can spare a minute, you can have Windows’ very own calculator pop-up within seconds (and other programs you want to use this technique with).

First, navigate or show by typing (see above) the Calculator in the Start Menu/Screen.
For Windows 8 you now have to right-click the tile and on the bottom click on “Open file location”.
For all Windows locations you now RIGHT-click the Calculator icon/shortcut and select “Properties”.
In the pop-up window, go to the box besides “Shortcut key:” and press “CTRL”, “ALT” and the “c” key all at once.
Now you should see “Ctrl + Alt + c” in the box.
Now click “OK” and possibly acknowledge the Administrator warning.

From now on when you hit “Ctrl + Alt + c”, the calculator pops up. You can set it to “Standard” or “Scientific” under “View” and it will remember the settings.