Some pre-built PCs and laptops are showing up with Bitlocker installed and enabled, without asking permission, and without notice, even on Windows 11 Home, which shouldn’t even contain BitLocker code. It’s dangerous; without notice, your computer is encrypted, there may be a recovery key in your Microsoft account, if you know you have one, if you know the password, if you know which email account matches it, and if you even have a spare device to log into that account when Windows 11 botches a patch, redetects an existing device, and insists on the recovery key you might or might not know that you might have.

It’s a mess. Here’s how to check in advance if this applies to your computer, and how to backup your recovery key, before you’re all locked out. Read it now, free in the May 2026 PC Updater News, and a decade of free back issues and there’s also Credential Stuffing, Defined, and the difference between an email and a post card. Hint: It’s just the stamp. Neither one is private.

all free in the May 2026 PC Updater News, and a decade of free back issues.

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Original article: Bitlocker Installs Without Permission: What to Do?.

Email is basically sent through a dozen relay servers, each with the ability to read, change, or build ads and AI training from your data. Don’t put anything in an email that should not be on a post card. More on that, and Credential Stuffing, Defined, and how to save your Bitlocker Recovery key, all free in the May 2026 PC Updater News, and a decade of free back issues.

The post Have a Password? Don’t Email that! appeared first on Startupware.com. Visit to read more about software design, malware, and computer security.

Original article: Have a Password? Don’t Email that!.

Windows 11 has a lot of options for improving both the sights and sounds of Windows for those users who need some help. Whether you’re adjusting these options for yourself or have been designated as ‘tech support’ for an older user, there are a lot of options to choose from. For the full list, go to the Start menu and click Settings (the gear image), choose the ‘Accessibility’ option in the left column and go exploring; below, I’m listing only the features that I’ve applied for multiple users. For each, I will give instructions that start on that Accessibility screen, in the order they appear there, screen features first, and then audio.

Continues in the free April 2026 PC Updater News, or read back issues here.

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Original article: Accessibility Guide for Windows 11.

These phish attempts are worse, much worse, for those of you who insist on using one password everywhere and forever. Again, once a phishing attack lands a password and user account login, or worse, an email login that can be used to confirm logins, these thieves will try using those logins to the top 20 to 50 banking and ecommerce sites, and see what accounts they get access to. AI will make this worse…

Continues in the free March 2026 PC Updater News, or read back issues here.

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Original article: Unique Passwords, Always.

Phish are evolving. In the past, large schools of phish were easily recognized as scams by looking for stupid stuff in the allegedly-urgent emails. There were spelling and grammar errors, capitalization errors that match other languages but not English, bad-logic lines like ‘in your nearest post office,’ and most important, the sending email address is some random international address that you don’t do business with. Logos of vendors were frequently out-of-date, and the links were clearly going to links ending in two-character country codes. AI is cleaning up those issues, and the phish are looking more like real business emails….

Continues in the free March 2026 PC Updater News, or read back issues here.

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Original article: Phish-Spotting.

Windows 11 just won’t shut up. OneDrive this, backup that, and it’s all a distraction from getting work done. In the free February 2026 PC Updater News, learn how to turn off the notifications and popups. And turn ON the Emojis icon, which also inserts international characters, not just :-). Back issues and subscriptions are here.

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Original article: OneDrive? No, thanks..

Windows 11 is noisy. Popups and ads everywhere, and they’re mostly OneDrive advertisements. In the free February 2026 PC Updater News, learn how to turn off the notifications and popups. And turn ON the Emojis icon, which also inserts international characters, not just :-). Back issues and subscriptions are here.

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Original article: Silencing Windows 11.

The post Paperless Offices appeared first on Startupware.com. Visit to read more about software design, malware, and computer security.

Original article: Paperless Offices.

Some large businesses are changing how they work, or perhaps don’t, as of the start of 2026. Microsoft has mangled the Office trademarks yet again; Office, formerly known as “Microsoft 365”, has not become the “Microsoft 365 Copilot app” because, well, priorities of the corporation surpass the priorities of the few, or the one.

Also, high memory prices, and AI is NOT in free Gmail. A new year means it’s time to try for a paperless office, or at least not adding to the stacks. Here is the PDF software that you’ll need for that, all in the free January 2026 PC Updater News. Or get back issues and a subscription here.

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Original article: There’s News for 2026.

Nope, not really. Office isn’t $10 or $19 like those ads are showing on major sites. Those ads you’re seeing are scams. The correct price for Microsoft Office is either totally FREE for the web-page version, or around $149 for the one-time purchase that is good for a few years, until the patches expire. And there are monthly versions for business, too. Read more in the free December 2025 PC Updater News, or subscribe and read back issues here.

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Original article: $10 for Microsoft Office!.