Micro Support Center

With more of a whimper than a bang, Microsoft has followed up on its promise to end support for older versions of Internet Explorer as of January 12th, 2016. Microsoft will no longer offer support and security updates for several versions of Internet Explorer running on various versions of Windows. Internet Explorer versions 8, 9, and 10 will no longer be supported on Windows 7, Windows 8 and 8.1, also Windows 10 operating systems. This is presumably less of an issue for 8.1 and 10 as these operating systems shipped with Internet Explorer 11.

Only one supported Windows operating system receives an exception from Microsoft. Windows Vista only because Internet Explorer 11 was never made available for it, Internet Explorer 9 remains the sole supported version of Internet Explorer for Vista. Given Windows Vista isn’t used by many, this probably does not pose a major undertaking for IT departments, although it may for home users who still have not upgraded to newer versions of Windows.

Some of the Microsoft’s server operating systems are not immune to this requirement, either. Internet Explorer 9 is required for Windows Server 2008 SP2, the server operating system that parallels Windows Vista. Windows Servers 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 R2 require Internet Explorer 11, as well. Windows Server 2012 (the non-R2 edition), which paralleled the release of Windows 8, never had Internet Explorer 11 released for it, so its solely-supported version of Internet Explorer is Internet Explorer 10.

If you are a home user and running Windows Vista or newer, your computer is probably running the latest version of Internet Explorer. Here’s how to verify this, step-by-step:

Click on the Start button and type “IEXPLORE.EXE” (without quotation marks) into the search bar and press Enter. Internet Explorer should then launch.

From Internet Explorer’s menu bar, select Help | About Internet Explorer (if you don’t see a menu bar, press the Alt+H keys together, then select About Internet Explorer). The version number for Internet Explorer will be displayed in a popup window:

It’s been over 20 years since Internet Explorer was first released for Microsoft Windows 95, and Internet Explorer 11 marks the last release in that line. However, since Internet Explorer is included with Windows 10, and Windows 10 will be supported by Microsoft until 2025 (at least), this gives users of Windows and developers of websites plenty of time to acclimate to its successor, Microsoft Edge, or to adopt a third-party web browser, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

- Sam Sackett - Micro Support Center

MICROSOFT SUPPORT SCAM!

Friends, please be aware you may be receiving random phone calls from people claiming to be technicians with Microsoft or another company. These calls are a SCAM! This is often referred to as the “Microsoft Support Scam”. Please be aware and lookout for this as we are seeing a large amount of users being taken advantage of by these types of scams.

Avoid tech support phone scams

MICROSOFT WILL NOT cold call you, or contact you in any way to sell you something, or provide you with technical support!

Telephone tech support scams: What you need to know

Cybercriminals often use publicly available phone directories, so they might know your name and other personal information when they call you. They might even guess what operating system you're using. THEIR PHONE NUMBER MAY HAVE A LOCAL AREA CODE!

Once they've gained your trust, they might ask for your user name and password or ask you to go to a legitimate website (such as www.ammyy.com) to install software that will let them access your computer to fix it. Once you do this, your computer and your personal information are vulnerable.

Do not trust unsolicited calls. Do not provide any personal information, banking information, credit card information, etc.

Here are some of the organizations that cybercriminals claim to be from (but not limited to):

• Windows Helpdesk
• Windows Service Center
• Microsoft Tech Support
• Microsoft Support
• Windows Technical Department Support Group
• Microsoft Research and Development Team (Microsoft R & D Team)

So, Will Microsoft ever call me?

You will never receive a legitimate call from Microsoft to charge you for computer fixes!

If you encounter something like this, please stop all work with your computer, do not allow the caller access to your computer or any other personal data and call us at Micro Support Center immediately 814-474-1202!