Hidden Risks You Might Be Ignoring
In this month’s IT Bulletin, we’re shedding light on the cybersecurity threats that often go unnoticed — but can have serious consequences for businesses of any size.
The types of enquiries we receive in IT and CAD support tend to vary however in the last couple of weeks users have been experiencing similar types of issues that come with working from home. Remote working can be as easy as working in the office, but users can experience a few teething issues if they have never done this before. Most of these issues can be easily resolved with a few setting amendments.
Here are some of the more frequently asked questions we have had come through to our switchboards recently.
This issue has only recently occurred for users who have moved from the office (where they had multiple screens/displays) to working from home (on a laptop or with one screen/display).
The problem is that the dialogue box is displaying out of your screen view, so it’s appearing to freeze. To fix this select ALT+SPACEBAR+M and then use the arrows to move the dialogue box into view, press ENTER to confirm position. The programme should now work as normal and any future dialogue boxes should also appear in view.
Try re-opening after following each of the steps below to see if the problem is resolved:
Users can work from home as long as:
When opening the Autodesk application, you will be prompted with a ‘lets get started’ dialog box and will be provided with the following options:
Select ‘Sign-In’ and then enter your username and password to access to the software.
The Autodesk conditions for use:
For Autodesk’s full terms of use please see the Home Use Rights here. More info for Autodesk Licensing and working from home cab be found on Symetri's website here.
Newly purchased licenses can be found by navigating to Products & Services > All Products & Services in your Autodesk account.
Please note: Older licenses may be in the “Classic User Management” section of the Autodesk account.
There are two main options:
This points to an incorrect registry between your Desktop PC and your Remote Desktop on your Local PC. To resolve, follow the steps in the article here.
This is likely related to either:
Please note: You can borrow a license for up to 6 months if no restrictions are in place.
Neither Autodesk nor Symetri can update this as the changes do not synchronise correctly in Autodesk’s system, so you will need to do this yourself. Following the steps here.
If either the Primary Admin or the Secondary Admin do not plan to use any of the products or services assigned by default, such benefits should be removed from them so the benefits may be assigned to other users. This is done through the User Management section of either Admin’s Autodesk Account. An article on Unassign Products and Services may be helpful.
Many employees find themselves working from home during the Covid-19 outbreak using VPN connections to acquire network licenses for Autodesk products. This connection type often needs more time to confirm a license is available. On your machine a system environment variable needs to be added in Windows via System Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables > New to allow for the longer transaction time.
System Variable = FLEXLM_TIMEOUT
Value = 3000000
3000000 equates to 3 seconds and is usually sufficient, however this value can be increased if necessary. The program does not wait the full time set if a license is confirmed before it runs out, as soon as a license is acquired the program continues to load.
To install a missing SHX font
Copy the .shx files into the Fonts folder within the AutoCAD program folder:
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\Fonts
Please note: PostScript fonts (.pfb) and shape files (.shp) can be converted to .shx by using the COMPILE command in AutoCAD.
Installing a TrueType font
AutoCAD reads TrueType (.ttf) fonts that are installed in the operating system. TTF files do not go into AutoCAD's own Fonts folder. Copy .ttf files into:
C:\Windows\Fonts
As an alternative, right-click a .ttf file and choose Install.
Please note: Windows XP and Vista systems require going to the Control Panel and opening Fonts and then using "Install new font" under the Font menu.
Your connection back to your office could be for a number of reasons but there are a number of things that can be checked.
Your connection error could be a number of things:
Not being able to logon could be a sign your password has expired. Depending on the VPN software or remote connection product you may need to get someone to reset the password for you. A good practice is to reset your password before it expires, the best way to do this is to connect with your VPN, press CTRL+ALT+DEL and select Change Password.
If you have any other queries resulting from working remotely and would like our help please do not hesitate to get in touch, call 0345 370 1400 or email support@symetri.co.uk. We are also working remotely and continue to operate our IT & CAD support services from the hours of 8am to 6pm.
In this month’s IT Bulletin, we’re shedding light on the cybersecurity threats that often go unnoticed — but can have serious consequences for businesses of any size.
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