This post is not to defame this add as being a bad deal.  You are probably getting an ok deal, but I wanted to point out some key red flags that a novice might miss.  You can refer to my previous blog post on selecting a laptop as well.  Click the 'read more' below to find out my concerns.

I made a post to the Pro-Stitcher Sim group about how removing Norton Anti-virus improved the stability of PSP.  There are plenty of people that do not have issues with Norton and I am not going to criticize anyone for using it.  Just make sure that you are getting the updates that come out weekly.  Most companies charge you a subscription charge to keep this up to date.  If you do not update, all you are doing is disabling the native anti-virus program, Defender.  Anti-virus protection goes stale without regular updates.

What has changed over the past year or two is that many established industry nerds are now saying, "You only need to use the native Defender anti-virus in Windows 10."  I have been running my main PC at home without a third party anti-virus program for several years.

So my arguments for avoiding third party anti-virus programs are...

1. Cost.
2. The programs normally effect overall performance.
3. The anti-virus programs can cause issues with other programs.

If you want a free anti-virus, google Avast or AVG.  But even these will nag you to purchase a pay version.  If you have pre-teens and teens using the computer, you should probably pay for additional protection that also include parental monitoring.  

Leave comments below.  "From my keyboard to yours... happy computing."

I had noticed that a small window would momentarily open and close on my screen every hour or so.  It was almost a flash it went away so fast.  What was it?!?  I ran Malwarebytes and it did not find anything.  I looked for odd programs in my startup list.  Did I have a virus?

After 5 minutes searching Google for a current article on a similar problem, I found the answer...
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The issue affects MS Office users.  I basically pay $99/yr for up to 5 computers that can run the Microsoft Office Suite of applications.  My two essentials are Outlook for email and Word for a word processor.  You also get 1TB of OneDrive space for each of 5 users.  Not a bad deal for a family or a small group of friends.

The good news is that the next update to the MS Office product will fix the problem:

• This issue is fixed starting with build 16.0.8201.2025 which is now available as the latest update for those participating in the Office Insiders Slow program. It will be included in a future update for those not participating in Insiders.

Don't forget to become a member of the MK Quilts IT Support Services if you don't want to have to worry about maintaining your own system.