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Windows 10 tip: Reset your PC completely
Windows 10's Reset option allows you to remove apps, settings, and drivers, effectively giving you a clean install without
the hassles of a regular setup. You can keep your files if you're planning to reuse the PC, or wipe everything if you're
selling or giving away the device.
<http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/>
By Ed Bott <http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/> for The Ed Bott Report <http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/> | January 26, 2017 -- 13:58
GMT (00:58 AEDT) | Topic: Windows 10 <http://www.zdnet.com/topic/windows-10/>
<http://zdnet4.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/2017/01/26/704fabe0-9db3-42f3-b58c-34c7a4cffa19/reset-options.jpg>
Why would you want to reinstall Windows 10 completely?
Perhaps you're selling or giving away your PC, and you want to make sure all your apps, settings, files, event history, and
other personal information is safely erased so the new owner can get a fresh start.
Or maybe you're experiencing a pesky problem and rather than spend hours troubleshooting you just want to start with a
clean installation of Windows.
In either case, the Reset option is a great alternative to the old-fashioned clean install. This feature, which has been
significantly refined since its debut in Windows 8, lays down a completely new copy of your current Windows version,
without any third-party drivers or software that might be causing problems.
You don't need any installation media or product keys, and you don't have to fuss with BIOS settings to boot from an
alternative device.
You can't reset your PC by accident. The process involves at least four steps that require choices on your part, with one
final confirmation that lays out in very clear terms exactly what's about to happen. You can back out at any time before
you click that last button.
To start, go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery. Under the Reset this PC heading, click Get Started.
In the first set of options, choose Keep My Files (best choice if you're planning to reuse the PC yourself) or Remove
Everything (if you're turning the device over to someone else).
If you choose to remove all files, the next option allows you to wipe the empty space those files occupied so they can't be
recovered using disk utility software.
After making those choices, click the Reset button on the final summary page. The reset operation doesn't take long,
and when the process is complete you can sign in (or set up a new account), restore your apps, and get back to work
without any cruft from your old installation.
Windows will automatically download and install the most recent cumulative update to complete the installation.
One bonus if you choose the option to keep your files: The Reset option puts a neatly formatted file on the desktop when
you sign back in, telling you which desktop apps were removed. Use that list as a cheat sheet for reinstalling your
favorite programs.
Fiber broadband: Is it a waste with 5G and Elon
Musk's satellites on the horizon?
With all the hype surrounding Google Fiber and its competitors, will we look back on the whole
experiment as a colossal waste of resources or a long overdue harbinger of better internet?
<http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/>
By Jason Hiner <http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/> | February 5, 2017 -- 23:00 GMT (10:00 AEDT) | Topic:
Networking <http://www.zdnet.com/topic/networking/>
Image: Google
If you're a telecommuter, an entrepreneur, or a technology lover, and fiber broadband is coming to
your area, then you're likely chomping at the bit to get it installed as soon as it's available.
I know I am. Since Google Fiber named my city <http://www.zdnet.com/article/louisville-irvine-and-
san-diego-next-up-for-google-fiber/> as fertile ground for gigabit broadband, other internet providers
like AT&T have raced to match Google with ridiculously fast internet plans of their own.
Google Fiber has succeeded in reigniting competition for faster internet across the US. However,
now that Google Fiber has reached a similar conclusion <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-
google-fiber-failed-5-reasons/> as Verizon FiOS did a decade ago -- that digging expensive ditches
and laying cables might be a 20th century way of solving the problem -- what's going to happen to the
fiber broadband movement?
For example, AT&T had been on a gigabit tear in 2016, as it increased its fiber-to-the-premises roll-
outs to a total of 29 different metro areas across the US, with plans for dozens more. That compared
to nine metro areas for Google Fiber in 2016, with another dozen or so on the potential list. AT&T
even thumbed its nose at Google <http://www.zdnet.com/article/at-t-to-google-fiber-suck-it-up-
broadband-is-tough-and-get-ready-to-eat-our-dust/> in the process.
Meanwhile, cable providers like Time Warner Cable upgraded internet speeds by 6x for free
<https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/about-us/press/twc-increases-internet-speed-across-the-
triad.html> to keep customers in the fold. Even smaller ISPs looked for ways to join the fiber
revolution, such as CenturyLink, which reported in 2016 that it had found ways to get FTTP
deployments down to $500-$800 <http://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/centurylink-fttp-
deployment-costs-range-from-500-800-per-home> from the tradition $1,000 or more it cost to lay
fiber to each home or business.
Now that Google is retreating <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/google-fiber-pivots-what-it-
means-for-the-future-of-gigabit-internet/> from FTTP rollouts in favor of fixed wireless
<http://www.techrepublic.com/article/google-brings-webpass-to-6-new-metros-proves-fiber-might-
not-be-dying-after-all/> (powered by its Webpass acquisition), it's unclear yet whether its fiber
competitors will lose their enthusiasm for FTTP. Since Google chased out the Google Fiber CEO
and laid off 9 percent of its staff <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/google-fiber-pivots-what-it-
means-for-the-future-of-gigabit-internet/> last fall, AT&T has gone very quiet about its Fiber plans.
Instead, it's been touting its 5G trials <https://www.cnet.com/news/at-t-paves-the-way-for-5g-in-
indianapolis-austin/> and its new "AirGig <http://www.techrepublic.com/article/at-t-to-deliver-gigabit-
wi-fi-on-power-lines-with-new-project-airgig/>" technology to deliver gigabit internet over power lines.
Telecom companies are naturally questioning whether they should continue these laborious,
expensive deployments of fiber when wireless gigabit is only a few years away. So-called "fixed
wireless" replaces a cable or fiber modem with a box that has a wireless chip like the one in your
smartphone plus a strong antenna. Once 5G arrives, these boxes will be able to operate at gigabit
speeds -- with no new ditches to dig and no cables to lay.
At the same time, Elon Musk's SpaceX is planning a global network of 4,000 low-orbit satellites
<http://www.zdnet.com/article/spacex-plots-launch-of-4000-satellites-for-home-broadband/> that
would blanket the entire planet with gigabit internet. If approved, SpaceX said these satellites would
offer low latency in the neighborhood of 30ms, which is comparable to today's cable and DSL
connections and much faster than the 600ms that has plagued traditional satellite internet providers.
SpaceX wants to start launching these satellites in 2019. Qualcomm, Boeing, Virgin, and others are
considering similar plans for satellite internet.
Another factor to watch is DOCSIS 3.1, the cable internet standard that allows cable companies to
offer gigabit speeds over existing cable lines. Since cable already reaches over 60 percent of US
households, this could also mean a massive upgrade to gigabit speeds in the years ahead.
Comcast, America's largest cable internet provider, has already started rolling out gigabit cable
upgrades <http://www.zdnet.com/article/comcast-says-docsis-3-1-is-ready-for-the-real-world-in-
atlanta-and-nashville/>.
With all this in mind, what's the advantage of gigabit fiber? Top notch fiber connections have much
lower latency than any other type of connection -- as low as 2ms. That opens up new possibilities for
telepresence, team collaboration, and virtual reality and augmented reality over the internet.
The other big advantage to fiber over wireless, satellites, power lines, or upgraded cable lines is that
it's much more future-proof. While we're racing toward 1 gigabit speeds by 2020, by 2025-2030
we're going to be demanding 10 gigabits. Fiber will find it much easier to scale up to meet that
demand than these other types of connections will.
In short, when these other technologies catch up to fiber broadband's gigabit speeds in the next few
years it will lull us into thinking that the telecom companies that spent a fortune on FTTP only ended
up with a short-term advantage of 2-3 years. But make no mistake, the companies that are investing
in FTTP today are likely to be the leaders in 2025 when the next wave of technologies -- especially
artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and mixed reality -- will demand much more robust
connections from both the home and the office. It's also going to be critical to the future of the smart
home <https://www.cnet.com/smart-home/> and the smart city <http://www.zdnet.com/topic/louisville-
and-the-future-of-the-smart-city/>, since many of today's most connected cities across the world have
determined that laying fiber is the foundation that many of tomorrow's most connected services will
be built upon.
The big question is whether Google Fiber, AT&T Fiber, Verizon FiOS, or any of their competitors will
have the stomach to stay the course on FTTP.
Yahoo warning users that hackers forged cookies
to access accounts
The news comes off the back of Verizon dropping $250 million from its Yahoo purchase price.
<http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/zack-whittaker/>
By Zack Whittaker <http://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/zack-whittaker/> | February 15, 2017 -- 17:17 GMT (04:17
AEDT) | Topic: Security <http://www.zdnet.com/topic/security/>
Yahoo is warning some customers that state-sponsored attackers have accessed their accounts by
using a sophisticated cookie forging attack, which doesn't require obtaining user passwords.
The notice is a continuation of the company's response to a series of historic data breaches announced
last year.
An email from Yahoo forwarded to ZDNet said:
"Our outside forensic experts have been investigating the creation of forged cookies that could allow an
intruder to access users' accounts without a password. Based on the ongoing investigation, we believe
a forged cookie may have been used in 2015 or 2016 to access your account."
A handful of others on Twitter also confirmed they had received an identical email notification.
Yahoo confirmed the notifications were genuine.
"The investigation has identified user accounts for which we believe forged cookies were taken or used.
Yahoo is in the process of notifying all potentially affected account holders," a spokesperson confirmed.
It's not known how many customers are affected, though state-sponsored attacks are typically targeted
and are in small numbers.
Yahoo revealed in September the theft of 500 million records <http://www.zdnet.com/article/yahoo-
confirms-data-breach-affecting-500-million-accounts-claims-state-actor-behind-attack/>, then thought to
be the largest theft of records in history, only to reveal in December a separate theft of one billion
records <http://www.zdnet.com/article/yahoo-hacked-again-more-than-one-billion-accounts-stolen/>.
Yahoo said that hackers were later able to get access to accounts without needing passwords after
stealing the company's source code used to generate cookies.
After learning of the attacks, Yahoo invalidated the cookies, effectively locking out the attackers.
Yahoo began sending out emails on Wednesday, as news broke that Verizon, which is buying the web
giant, lowered its price for the company by $250 million as a result of the two hacks.
By comparison, the cyberattack on Target that exposed over 40 million credit cards cost the company
about $162 million, after being offset by a $46 million insurance claim.
Yahoo faces continued questions by lawmakers, who this week criticized the company for failing to
answer "many basic questions" <http://www.zdnet.com/article/senators-stonewalled-by-yahoo-silence-
over-historical-hacks/> about the two historic cyberattacks.
