IAL Training

10/03/2026

Microsoft Copilot for Organizations – Complete Tutorial

If your company has a Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise subscription, you may already have access to Copilot features — but understanding the differences between the built-in capabilities and the full Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on can be overwhelming.

In this step-by-step course, you’ll learn exactly what’s included, what requires an upgrade, and how to get the most value from your subscription.

In addition to mastering the Copilot chat and fact-checking Copilot’s responses, you will also learn how to use Copilot inside of Microsoft applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Confused about Microsoft Copilot licensing or unsure of what version you actually have? This complete Microsoft Copilot tutorial breaks it all down.If your c...

10/03/2026

Complete Tutorial of Microsoft Copilot (Free Version)

Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, is available for free, and this video will show you everything you need to know to put it to work.

There are different versions of Copilot, including some that are included in paid Microsoft 365 Subscriptions.

However, this video focuses only on the free version available at copilot.microsoft.com.

Learn how to communicate effectively with the Copilot AI assistant to get answers to your questions, analysis of your documents, or AI-generated pictures.

This complete tutorial also shows how to fact-check Copilot responses and write better prompts for more focused results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaCdAFyQ3_w

Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, is available for free, and this video will show you everything you need to know to put it to work. There are different ver...

10/03/2026

MARCH MADNESS! - 25% OFF ON ALL MICROSOFT OFFICE BASIC COURSES!

If you require any Microsoft Windows 11 or Microsoft Office 2021-2024 / 365 applications training, check out my updated website detailing the outlines for the various courses available, so you can select whichever level meets your specific requirements, and get yourself up-to-date with all of the various functions & features of Windows 11, as well as Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, Project or Visio.

Contact me for further information & pricing details.

https://sites.google.com/view/independentittraining/home

09/03/2026

If you go to Windows Updates and check for updates, you might have a pending update “Secure Boot Allowed Key Exchange Key (KEK) Update,” which requires a system reboot to finish installing.

Now, if you don’t see the update, it either means it’s already installed or will appear soon. Regardless, you’re going to get the update, and you actually need it.

Secure Boot certificates have been making headlines for a while now, and some assume that only enterprises need to worry about them.

While it’s true that enterprises need to pay more attention, Secure Boot is also required on consumer PCs.

Just like a website’s certificate, Secure Boot also needs to be refreshed.

Secure Boot certificates have an expiry, and one of the most widely used certificates was issued back in 2011, which is now set to begin expiring in June 2026.

Once Secure Boot 2011 certificates expire, your PC will still boot Windows normally, but it can stop verifying newer Secure Boot protections, such as updated boot files, revoked bad signatures, and fixes for future boot-level threats.

Verification is required for security of Windows.

Microsoft is aware and it’s replacing Secure Boot 2011 certificates with newer Secure Boot 2023 certificates.

Microsoft is rolling out "Secure Boot Allowed Key Exchange Key (KEK) Update," which requires a system reboot to finish installing.

09/03/2026

A familiar question was recently posted in the Reddit community: What feature(s) do you consider Windows should already have?

Looking at the community response, the answer isn't more features. It's about bringing back to the basics that should have been solved a decade ago.

The discussion around Windows 11 quickly revealed something deeper than feature wishlists.

What many users want is not more innovation. They want a system that's simpler, faster, and fully under their control.

Windows 11 users have compiled a growing list of missing features, and the community’s patience with Microsoft is wearing thin.

09/03/2026

Back in early 2024, Microsoft announced that it was updating Secure Boot keys as they were going to become 15 years old in 2026, when they would expire.

As such, in June last year, the company shared a timeline of the change.

At the time, the tech giant informed that new certificates would be installed on user PCs via Windows Update, and in fact, the company has already rolled out those with the February 2026 Patch Tuesday updates.

These are the latest Patches on Windows and you can read more about them here (Windows 11 KB5077181, KB5075941| Windows 10: KB5075912).

Microsoft says that the new certs must be installed before June 2026 so make sure to get the February update.

For guidance, the company also published a useful support article which is essentially an FAQ (frequently asked questions) that's meant to help users and admins alike about doubts and enquiries they may have regarding updates to the boot manager.

Microsoft had put up the article in September last year, and a bit bizarrely, Neowin noticed that the company had, for some odd reason, deleted a crucial piece of information from this page.

An earlier version of this article had a couple of questions that answered what would happen if such boot components were not updated in time, highlighting the dangers of not doing so.

The article had stated:

"Q3: What happens if Secure Boot certificates aren’t updated before expiration?

The computer will still start Windows normally, even if the Secure Boot certificates are not updated.

The computer will eventually stop receiving certain Windows security updates from Microsoft including Boot Manager and Secure Boot component security updates.

This will put the device at risk of BootKits that could take full control of the computer."

And:

"Q5: What happens to a device that does not have the new certificates after the old certificates expire.

After the certificates expire, the device will continue to boot without change, however the device will stop getting security updates for the boot manager and the Secure Boot components.

This will put the entire device at risk of “bootkit” malware that can affect all aspects of security on the device."

This information is key to understanding why the Secure Boot updates are necessary for a system, as they can get compromised by bootkits otherwise, but Microsoft may have thought these sections were redundant and deleted them from the very FAQ meant to serve such information to its users.

While Neowin readers and other tech-savvy users out there probably already know this, we should not expect everyone to understand why and how certain Windows 11 security requirements like Secure Boot and TPM help.

Thankfully, someone at the Microsoft headquarters noticed this and the information has been restored again.

The presentation has actually been improved this time, as the description has been expanded, and in fact, this is the very top question now showing that the Redmond company understood its significance, so props to Microsoft for doing so.

Here is what the restored information says now:

"Q1: What happens if my device doesn’t get the new Secure Boot certificates before the old ones expire?

After the Secure Boot certificates expire, devices that haven’t received the newer 2023 certificates will continue to start and operate normally, and standard Windows updates will continue to install.

However, these devices will no longer be able to receive new security protections for the early boot process, including updates to Windows Boot Manager, Secure Boot databases, revocation lists, or mitigations for newly discovered boot level vulnerabilities.

Over time, this limits the device’s protection against emerging threats and may affect scenarios that rely on Secure Boot trust, such as BitLocker hardening or third-party bootloaders.

Most Windows devices will receive the updated certificates automatically, and many OEMs have provided firmware updates when needed.

Keeping your device current with these updates helps ensures it can continue receiving the full set of security protections that Secure Boot is designed to provide."

Microsoft had, for some odd reason, decided to delete a key piece of information about a crucial Windows 11/10 update that you must install.

09/03/2026

After you have upgraded to a new version of Windows, you may notice that the space on the drive volume which contains the operating system immediately decreases.

While there could be many culprits, the reason behind this is usually a new folder that gets created during the installation of your update.

For example, if Windows is installed on your C: drive, you'll notice a Windows.old folder now being present in that directory.

For those unaware, Windows.old is a directory that gets automatically created when upgrading to a new version of Windows.

It basically contains an archive of your previous installation, storing program files, some user data, core Windows components and files, and more.

The purpose of this folder is to host a system backup that you can restore to, if you run into critical issues while using the new version of Windows that you upgraded to.

These recovery options can be found in the System > Recovery options in Windows Settings.

Now that we've established that Windows.old actually serves a very useful purpose, the next question one could have is whether it is safe to delete?

Well, the good thing about this directory is that it automatically deletes itself within a few weeks, so you usually don't have to worry about it.

Is your storage suddenly shrinking after a Windows upgrade? There's a hidden reason most people miss, and it could be quietly eating tens of gigabytes.

09/03/2026

Microsoft will soon begin rolling out a significant upgrade to Microsoft 365 Backup to speed up recovery by allowing administrators to restore individual files and folders.

Microsoft 365 Backup is a SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange backup and restore service designed to protect against data loss from ransomware, accidental deletion, or data corruption.

Until now, Microsoft 365 Backup worked at the site or drive level, with a single corrupted or deleted file triggering a time-consuming full restore.

With the new granular restore capabilities, admins can browse and search existing restore points for protected SharePoint sites and OneDrive accounts, then select only the specific files or folders they need to recover.

The feature is available exclusively to tenants with Microsoft 365 Backup already enabled and can only be used by admins assigned the SharePoint Backup Administrator role.

End users are not directly affected by this change, as restore operations will only be initiated by admins and will be invisible to the user experience.

"Microsoft 365 Backup will enable admins to browse, search, and restore individual files or folders from SharePoint and OneDrive restore points starting early 2026," Microsoft said in a Thursday message center update.

"This granular restore reduces recovery time, requires the SharePoint Backup Administrator role, and respects existing backup policies without impacting users."

Microsoft will soon begin rolling out a significant upgrade to Microsoft 365 Backup to speed up recovery by allowing administrators to restore individual files and folders.

09/03/2026

Windows 11 comes out of the box with more unwanted apps than I can count.

Between Bing search, ads in the Start Menu, and Copilot everywhere, it is tempting to run a one-size-fits-all debloat script to remove some of the junk.

If you're going to debloat your PC, be cautious: There are many things that can go wrong.

Don't just run a search for "edge" and start deleting—you'll regret it.

09/03/2026

There's nothing like being in a comfort zone. When you own well over two-thirds of the desktop operating system market, there's not a lot of pressure to innovate. Instead, it gives you a good opportunity to use your captive audience as a way to push into new markets, whether that's in the best interest of your users, or not.

That's exactly what Microsoft seems to have done in the past few years.

Pushing unwanted AI features and showing a clear decline in quality control, as a slew of updates breaks Windows for people all over the world. Hence, the rise of the term "Microslop."

Feeling the heat, Microsoft has committed to reversing the decay (as reported in Techradar) and working to improve the under-the-hood issues, but there's plenty of baggage on Windows that could hold it back.

Doomed to repeat the mistakes of history

09/03/2026

I grew up on Windows 7 because it was my main operating system for years. I spent some of my early computing days on Windows XP, but Windows 7 was my digital home for the longest time.

I haven't used it in almost a decade. Microsoft dropped support for it about six years ago. There was an extended release version, but software companies are abandoning that ESR version too.

Just this month, Firefox announced that it's ending support for Windows 7, which prompted me to try it again for old time's sake.

Windows 7 is the greatest argument for ditching Windows 11.

09/03/2026

Microsoft Excel usually thinks in directions: "look one cell to the left." That's fine until you move the formula and the reference gets lost.

By knowing how to use the dollar ($) sign, you can tell Excel when to look at a permanent address and when to look at a moving target, meaning you're building sturdier formulas.

I'm using a sales tracker where prices and quantities are in the main dataset, and tax and commission rates are in separate "constant" cells.

The goal is to build formulas that stay accurate as I drag them across the grid.

Build more efficient spreadsheets by using the dollar sign to lock specific rows, columns, or permanent addresses when referencing cells.