Outlook app – Navigation bar suddenly moved to the left

So recently a user complaint that her the navigation bar of her Outlook application suddenly moved to the left, instead of bottom of the folder list.

I believe this was due to the recent update by Microsoft, which started rolling out since August 2022. She still not familiar with the new look and does not like it. Luckily, we still can change it back to the bottom.

To do that, go to File-> Options-> Advanced-> disable: Show Apps in Outlook.

Restart Outlook, and that’s it. The navigation bar will back at the bottom.

Tips buying a power supply unit

Power supply unit (PSU) is actually one of the very critical PC component that some of us may took it lightly. Here are some important tips when purchasing a PSU.

The first one is the wattage. Always look for continuous wattage ratings, ignore peak wattage ratings, and ignore a product that doesn’t advertise its continuous wattage rating. Continuous Wattage and Peak Wattage are ratings based on tests by the manufacturer. Continuous Wattage indicates that it can deliver those 500W continuously without fluctuations. Peak Wattage indicates 500W is the maximum power it can deliver, but probably only for a minute before dropping down.

Next is you should know how many watts required for your system. A high end PC might need more watts compared to a normal office use PC. If you use an underpowered CPU, your PC will lose power during intense processes. How to calculate the watts needed? I will usually these two – https://outervision.com/power-supply-calculator and http://www.coolermaster.com/power-supply-calculator/. There are many more options out there, but for me these two are fair enough.

Another important tips is always go for 80 plus rating PSU. The most efficient PSUs are the ones that come with an 80 Plus rating, which is assigned by an independent certifier. Even in 80 Plus PSUs, there are different levels: 80 Plus, 80 Plus Bronze, 80 Plus Silver, 80 Plus Gold, 80 Plus Platinum, 80 Plus Titanium.

The rest are the basic ones, such as the designs which depends on your motherboard – AT, ATX, mATX. Rails, where you can choose either multi-rail or single-rail PSUs. And voltage stability.

Transfer Windows 11 license to another computer

Early this year I took the advantage of the free upgrade from Microsoft, upgrading Windows 10 to Windows 11 on my old computer. It was good and I like it. Recently I purchased a new computer to replace the old one, and without the Windows license which I planned to just use the one from my old computer. And it is possible!

But before that, I will need to check whether the license is transferable or not. Windows license can only be transfer if you purchase the retails license. Those OEM license which usually pre-installed in a computer is NOT transferable and can be used only on the device it was originally installed on. Take note on that.

So now lets check the type of the Windows license. Open the command prompt and type : slmgr.vbs /dli.

The command will launch a Windows Script Host window. If it says RETAIL Channel, you can continue transferring the license to your new device. If it says OEM Channel, you cannot transfer the license.

Next, you need to locate and know the product key of the Windows license. It should be on the sticker of the license that you purchased. If you lost it, you can use third party software such as ShowKeyPlus from Microsoft to retrieve it.

Once you done that, then you need to deactivate the license on the old computer first. To do that, open command prompt and type : slmgr /upk

This will deactivate the license associated with that computer, and you should receive a confirmation message.

You will also need to clear the product key from the windows registry. To do that, open command prompt and type : slmgr /cpky

Now you can proceed with the license transfer. On the new computer, open command prompt and type : slmgr.vbs /ipk (followed by a space), and then type in or paste your 25-character product key. You will receive a confirmation message once the product key is accepted.

Finally, activate your Windows 11 license by typing or copy & paste this command: slmgr /ato and hitting Enter. You would get a confirmation message if the activation were successful.

Another way to activate the license it by contacting Microsoft. To do that, open the command prompt and type : slui 4. The command will launch a new Windows Activation window. Just follow the instructions and Microsoft will guide you accordingly.

That’s it. Good luck.

 

 

How to enable modern authentication for Office 2013

Recently, Microsoft has removed the basic authentication for all its Microsoft 365 services. Basic authentication is turned off for Exchange Online mailboxes on Microsoft 365 which means that if Outlook 2013 is not configured to use modern authentication, it loses the ability to connect.

To enable modern authentication for Office 2013, a Windows Registry setting must be implemented. This can be achieved manually by adding the following key:

The EnableADAL registry key referenced earlier must be created (Reg_DWORD) and set to 1:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Identity\EnableADAL = 1

A quicker way is by adding these code into a notepad, and save the file with the file extension .reg instead of .txt   :

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange]
“AlwaysUseMSOAuthForAutoDiscover”=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Identity]
“EnableADAL”=dword:00000001
“Version”=dword:00000001

Alternatively, you can download it here – https://sotonproduction.service-now.com/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=7f85cd17dbbec4d4bc72b29f299619f3

For more info on this, you can find out more at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/admin/security-and-compliance/enable-modern-authentication?view=o365-worldwide 

Another one is here – https://knowledgenow.soton.ac.uk/Articles/KB0059904

Monitor your network

Last week Raiqal kept complaining of slow loading when entering his Roblox account. At first glance, I thought it was probably due to issues at the Roblox servers. Then I noticed same thing also happened when loading into Netflix on the TV. I did a few quick speedtest and results were fine.

Wondering what went wrong, I did some troubleshooting and monitoring on the home network for the first time. The major setup was relocating the AP router to a new, open space.

For monitoring purpose, again for the first time, I went into the router. Here is where you can see some details of what is going on in your network. You will be able to see the devices connected to your AP and router, you can see how much data the devices are using, and few other more. For a more complete details, I would recommend you to use a firewall, which can give you a more specific details such as visited website, downloaded files, etc. And if you find any suspicious device connected to the network, you can simply disconnect or ban them from entering the network again.

For additional, I will also use a third party software to do the network monitoring. One of my favorite is Capsa. It provides users with great experience to learn how to monitor network activities, pinpoint network problems, enhance network security. Another good monitoring software is Wireshark. 

In Windows, there is also a built-in application where we can use to see what is using your network through your computer. It is called Network Statistic, or most known as netstat. It is a command to evaluate all the network comings and goings on your system. For example, the command netstat -o will listing every active network connection on your computer, which port they’re listening on, the external address, and which process the network connection belongs to. Scan through the list and see if there are any unusual entries. You can copy and paste an address into your browser to search for it. The vast majority of entries are for servers or cloud servers of one kind or another because they’re the backbone of the internet. For a quick analysis, head to urlscan.io and pop the address in there. You get a short report on who the server or address belongs to. You can also note the PID (Process ID). Open your Task Manager, then the Services tab, and locate the equivalent process. If the PID has a lot of open network connections in the Command Prompt, and it is a service you don’t recognize, you can either stop the service and see if it clears your bandwidth issues or complete an internet search to figure out what the process is and if it’s something your system requires.

Another built-in application that I always use for a quick troubleshoot is the Resource Monitor. The Resource Monitor is a handy diagnostic tool you can use to check out what’s going on in your computer – the network, CPU, RAM and hard disk.

Good luck!