Test Patch To Fix Windows 8 Upgrade Bug Rolled Out In Select Regions

The Redmond giant has released a test patch to fix Microsoft errors such as the Windows 8.1 Update bug. Reports suggest that the patch will enable Windows 8 users to upgrade to Windows 8.1 without any potential issues. A test patch with similar effects has been released to address update issues with Windows RT as well. Sources privy to Microsoft reported that almost all Windows 8 editions confronted the update bug. The problem arises when Windows 8 users attempt to upgrade their operating system to the latest Windows 8.1 update. Microsoft released Windows 8.1 last year as a remedy to the increasing number of Windows 8 problems.

Microsoft hoped that the test patch would address the current Windows 8.1 upgrade issue and help users make a smooth and error free upgrade to the new operating system. Nevertheless, the tech giant said that the test patch would be rolled out only in select areas now. The decision to roll out the update to other regions will be made only after the research team gets feedbacks from users in the select areas. UK, USA and Germany are included in the select areas where Microsoft will roll out the test patch initially.

How to download the test patch fix?

If you belong to the select areas where Microsoft is releasing the test patch, you are eligible to the download and install the test patch fixes. It is a simple process. First of all, visit Microsoft support site and verify whether you are eligible for the test patch fix. You should be a valid Windows 8 user in order to install the test patch.

Once you are certain that you are a valid Windows 8 user and belong to the select region, visit the Windows Update site. You will find the link to download the patch here. Click the link to download the patch. Wait for a few seconds while the patch is being downloaded. Follow the prompts to complete the installation of the patch. You can decide now whether to proceed with automatic upgrade or manual upgrade.

What if the test patch doesn’t work?
There is no guarantee that the patch will fix Microsoft errors such as Windows Upgrade problems. It is only a test patch and Microsoft is still testing its reliability. If you face any issues while executing the test patch to fix the Windows 8 upgrade issues, feel free to get in touch with our Microsoft help desk.

Microsoft Releases Outlook Web App For Android

The Gmail icon on the home screen of your phone may get some company from the people at Microsoft. For this to happen, you should already have an Office 365 business mailbox installed in your phone. Microsoft has recently released a public beta version of Outlook Web App (OWA) webmail service that is intended for Android devices. Microsoft had previously announced their plans to launch such an app in late March. Outlook Web App is used mainly by Office 365 business subscribers or the Microsoft Exchange Server users. The requirements of the latest Android app states that it can only be used by Office 365 business plans now.

The OWA also needs Android 4.4 KitKat or later to run and is recommended for use in devices that have normal or small sized displays. In other words, tablets and phablets are not meant for this first release of the Outlook Web App. As this is not the final build, it is much likely that more features will be added over time and the users can expect to encounter a few bugs while using the beta Outlook Web App. As for the features that are now available, the users of OWA for Android will be able to look up a contact or check their schedule through voice commands and they will also be able to access their calendar.

The ability of using the voice of the user to look up a contact or to check out the schedule seems to be appealing to many of the users. The Calendar and People features in Outlook Web App have also been optimized for the Android app. Microsoft said that they will be taking feedback from this beta releases and will make use of it to add features together with support for more Android devices in the forthcoming updates. Microsoft had made its other Office web apps like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint free to use for the Android devices. It is rumored that the company will release full featured Office apps for the Android OS sometime before end of 2014.

If you would like to know how to get Microsoft Outlook Web App for Android, you can contact the Outlook help and support team. They will be able to help you understand more on the Outlook Web App for Android and will help you get Microsoft Outlook Web App working on your Android device. 

About The Outlook Webmail App For Android

Microsoft’s revived Outlook webmail service has been getting some good reviews recently, especially since they added a few new updates to it. You might already know about Microsoft Outlook webmail app for the Android platform. These days, we no longer go online to access different services from a browser on mobile devices. We use apps instead. Outlook webmail app does exactly that on your Android smartphone.

About Microsoft Outlook app for Android

Outlook webmail app is easy to setup and use. The app is available for download at the Google Play store. However, I should mention here that the app developed by Microsoft bears their stamp. Microsoft assigned this task to the tech firm Seven Networks. This decision did attract some criticism recently, when it was revealed that there are no encryption security features in this app. You can read the report about this published by the tech security firm Include Security online.

So, if you are using this app in your Android mobile phone, I suggest you use any of the encryption software available to secure those Outlook messages, especially the ones you are storing in the memory card. Someone can just remove the card and read your mails on any other device.

When we keep aside this flaw, Outlook webmail app is indeed the smoothest way of accessing your emails online. It works almost like a mail client storing your email messages in the smartphone itself, which you can access whenever you want. Of course, as already mentioned, it might not be a smart idea to store them on your memory card due to low security measures.

Microsoft took care of the many problems reported by the users about some of the features in the app by releasing an update to the app in the last few months. If you updated your Outlook webmail app recently, you might have noticed some improvements in the functioning of this app.

One of the earlier complaints from the users was about the syncing function between the app and the online server. In the latest version, synchronizing is much easier. Also, you no longer have to download a particular mail in order to view it when searching from the app. The new search feature in the app will look into the messages stored in both your app as well as the online mail server.

So, if you have not installed the Outlook webmail app in your Android smartphone yet, visit the Google Play store and get it for free today.

A Note On Microsoft Dynamics CRM

The customer relationship management tools coming from Microsoft are called Microsoft Dynamics CRM. In fact, it is actually a database-based application, where it gives you the option to enter any information about your current as well as potential customers. With the use of Dynamics CRM, you can get to know any customer or staff details such as who works at the company, their roles, staffs that have communicated with them, the things they have purchased or bought, or if they had any issues with the customer services. Moreover, you can also get the details such as looking up phone numbers, a customer’s recent support calls, your sales pipeline, etc. It is also possible to get all these in one application, if you use Microsoft Dynamics for your business. Besides this, it will also give you additional advantages.

In order to help the business manage the interactions with the current as well as future customers, it has many in-built tools. You will be able to find several CRM systems in the market out of which, the one that can be fully integrated in to Microsoft Outlook is Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Well, given below are some of the advantages offered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM in various operations of a company like sales, marketing, and customer service.

Sales

• It helps to add various account and its related contacts
• As you go through your sales process, it adds leads and tracks them
• Associate opportunities with contacts, accounts or leads
• Helps to maintain a list of products and thereby helps to manage pricing by creating price lists and discount codes.
• Helps to easily create orders, quotes and invoices associated with sales
• With the direct integration in to Microsoft Outlook and Word, it helps to create automated correspondence.

Marketing

• It helps to create marketing list of accounts, contacts and leads
• managing and creating marketing campaignshelps to know the effectiveness of your company’s marketing campaigns
• uses a centralized location to maintain marketing collateral as sales literature

Customer service

• Helps to easily manage contracts regarding customer support
• Based on service requests, it helps to maintain a knowledge base of data for internal staff
• With the direct integration with Outlook, it helps to manage a company-wide service calendar

From all these points, it is clear that Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the best one that you could use to increase your sales as well as your customer support services. To know more about this, contact the Microsoft support site. Microsoft support site will help you with all your doubts associated with the Microsoft Dynamics CRM applications.

Impending Windows 8.1 Upgrade Fix

Microsoft is reportedly thinking of getting a fix underway for widely reported issues with Windows 8 and Windows RT updates. Reportedly what they are working on, will ensure that all current Windows 8 and Windows RT users can effortlessly shift up to Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 platforms.

Many users have reported issues while trying an upgrade to Windows 8.1. A fix to deal with this has reportedly hit the market already, as part of a testing phase. This is just as well, because many of these users have not forgotten being stymied by how to upgrade to Windows 8. So, it would not hurt Microsoft to look like they are doing something useful. With this particular fix, you have to check the Update tab on your device to know if you are eligible for the early release.

MaximumPC speculate that this will work out best for Windows RT users, as they would be able to download and install the update from the support site manually. In addition, Microsoft supposedly has many more updates to bring out along the line. This will include a Windows 8.1 update in or before September, called Windows 8.1 Update 2. The data size comes to around 3 GB, as opposed to the original update which came up to only about 700 MB. Therefore, there are more changes expected to be brought in this time around.

Then there is Windows 9, slated for release early next year. It will bring many changes to what Win 8.1 currently has and more usually doesn’t have in place – the most prominent being the Start button. Moreover, there is more to expect with the update, such as different home screen views. On a desktop, for example, this would look a lot like the Windows 7 home screen, but on tablets and smartphones, you would get the tiled interface, which Windows 8 made the cardinal mistake of dumping on desktop users as well. That is what made it so hard to work with, besides the fact that there was no discernible way to access a (Start) menu intuitive to former Windows users. Figuring out how to how to upgrade to Windows 8 was not half as bad.

However, looking at all that has happened since Windows 8 was first announced, Microsoft simply could not have missed any of it, which makes you wonder if it was just a protracted way of marketing Windows 9. That kind of foresight warrants admiration, but we will dole it out once Threshold is out.

Forums And Technical Support Firms To Help Fix Outlook Problems

If you have an internet email account, it is advisable to add it to any of the email client programs like Outlook. There are numerous advantages of configuring email clients. Some of the advantages include the ability to view emails even if you are offline, access to multiple email accounts by launching the email client etc.

So, which email client should you choose to configure? There are many email clients and therefore, choosing the right one can be a tedious task. Now, majority of users around the world use the Outlook email client. The numerous features integrated in this program make it one of the best email programs in the market. Even though it has many features, users encounter many troubles with this program.

When you encounter troubles with Outlook, there are certain steps that you can take. Most of the Outlook problems are mild and can be easily fixed using a few troubleshooting steps. However, you need to have a basic knowledge regarding the settings of the program. For instance, if you receive a password error while trying to send an email with the program, you can easily fix this by going to the Outlook settings and entering the correct password for the email account in the corresponding field.

Some other issues could be a bit complicated for you to fix alone. Therefore, in such circumstances, you may adopt any of the methods below.

Visit Outlook forums

There are many tech forums in connection with Outlook. These forums discuss various Outlook problems and find the solutions for it. Many users might have already encountered the same issue and might have already asked about fixes in such forums. Therefore, all you would need to do is search through the forum to find the right solution.

Technical support firms

Some issues might be of such larger scale that even following the steps mentioned in the forum may not solve them. In such cases, avail the service of a technical support firm. Technical support firms have professionally skilled technicians who are experts in fixing most of the computer related issues. If you are experiencing troubles with Outlook or other programs in the computer, it is advisable to choose the yearly support plans offered by the firm. Otherwise, choose the support per incidents plans to fix the issue.

You can encounter various Outlook problems occasionally and therefore, understanding the basics about the settings and fixes can help you save a handsome amount.

Procedure To Generate An E-Mail Shortcut In Windows Vista

It may happen sometimes that you have to email an important status report to the same people each day. It becomes quite inconvenient and needlessly time consuming to create a new e-mail from scratch every time. This is where an amazing feature of Windows Vista becomes handy.

In Windows Vista OS, it is possible to create an e-mail shortcut, which when double-clicked, immediately starts your mail client and generates a new message ready at your disposal. All you need to do is fill in the details and send to the concerned contact. This Windows Vista help article will guide you through the entire process.

Instructions to create the e-mail shortcut

• Right click on any blank area on your desktop, and select New from the context menu. Click on Shortcut to open Create Shortcut wizard on your computer.
• Thereafter, in the blank box labeled Type the Location of the Item, enter mailto. Then add the email recipient’s address. For instance, you can type mailto:contactname@domain.com.
• Then, type in the subject of the e-mail by typing ‘?subject=’ and then add a one-word subject. Remember, it is best to use just one word for the subject as things become easy when it comes to getting around a bug.
• After that, click on the Next button and type a name for the shortcut. It is best that you choose a relevant name. For instance, if it is a sales report, you can use Sales Report Message.
• Finally, click on the Finish button to complete the process. The shortcut icon will appear on your computer desktop immediately. 

Accessing the shortcut
When you click on the shortcut icon, your default e-mail editor kicks in. Your default email program may be Outlook and the email editor Word 2007. It creates a new e-mail message in your default e-mail client addressing to the person whose information you have entered while creating the shortcut link.

Apart from individual e-mail addresses, you can also create mailto: shortcut that allows you to sends a message to all contacts in the Outlook distribution list. The only difference here is that instead of entering a single e-mail address, you will have to type the name of the group you have created in Outlook.

So that winds up how to ease up daily messaging tasks on your Vista computer. For any further help with the above procedure, feel free to contact Windows Vista help personnel.