September '15

Opinions, suggestions, recommendations or ideas found on our site are applied at your own risk.  More. 

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. James Branch Cabell

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Due to the increased popularity of the scam, this will be our newsletter header for a while:  Sorry, but you are simply not important enough to have Microsoft, Adobe, Java or anyone else call you about your computer.  If you get a call that your computer is infected, compromised or otherwise needing attention, just hang up the phone!  More information here.  So with that out of the way...

In this newsletter

• Windows 10 is here, but...
  • Don't rush into it!
  • Start menu is back!
  • More about Windows 10
• Quick information
• Opinion

Windows 10 is here, but...

Last month we talked about the impending upgrade and how to get it.  We also had links to various articles about this new operating system.

If you do not yet have the notification icon () in the taskbar, reserve/install your copy via Windows update. 

But do not fall for any Internet site or an email offering the upgrade! 

The only site exception to our knowledge is of course Microsoft's official site: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/

Don't rush into it!

If you really want Windows 10 - First thing: Check with the computer manufacturer's support page* and see if there is an Operating System (OS) enhancement or patch required!  Our Dells needed nothing, HP maybe (they seem to have had a lot of machines requiring an OS enhancement patch over the years).  We're not sure about any of the others.

Also be sure to use the Windows 10 notification icon's Check your PC option.

We upgraded two of our non-essential computers and surprisingly the installation took only about 2 hours on one machine but was a lot longer on the other.  Those two upgraded just fine and as of August 25th, we have had a quite a few customers complete the upgrade.  Most went fine but two failed miserably, necessitating a complete factory restore.  However, once the factory restore (and subsequent updates) were done, the 10 upgrade went as advertised.  The failures were likely due to registry corruptions in the original OS.

We have also since upgraded our main workstation.  Our biggest concern doing this one was, Windows 10 would break our Microsoft Access '07, which we are dependent on for data connections to non-Microsoft databases.  Access version '13 has dropped that ability completely so we must keep version '07 indefinitely.  Happily after the Windows 10 upgrade, Access '07 (and most everything else) works just fine! 

However, we are having erratic network connection issues to our Network Attached Storage (NAS) device.  It seems to be usage duration issue where everything works for some time, then out of the blue, the connection fails.  Upon NAS connection failure our network and Internet remain connected, it's just access to the NAS is interrupted.  If you run a database over a network, you know just how problematic that kind of failure can be.

And so far, no fix has been found.  Very frustrating! 

Like most major upgrades, it was 3 steps forward, 2 backward.  Windows 10 has a new Internet browser named "Edge" (instead of Internet Explorer), which would not allow us to view any of our cameras.  Fortunately Internet Explorer 11 was still on the machine and still worked.  See setting IE11 as the default.  Or download, install and use Google's Chrome or one of the many other browsers.

Notes:

• Finding the manufacturer's support site on the Internet often results in links to third-party sites that you really do not want to visit.  They will attempt to dupe you into purchasing contracts and/or repairs that are really not needed.  So to help keep you safe, we have created a list of the common manufacturer sites and support links.

• Our cameras did not work in Edge because Edge does not allow for any add-ins.  While add-ins are a big problem allowing for junkware, malware and advertising popups over the past many years, there have been all kinds of great developments that rely on them.  With Edge not supporting any add-ins, Microsoft will break a lot of things for a lot of people.    

Start menu is back!

Windows 10 has brought back the familiar and necessary Start menu!      

As with Windows 7 and before, clicking the Microsoft icon (Start menu in the lower left corner) opens the Start menu and there you can see your most recent files and pinned applications. To the right in the Start menu are those Live tiles that are the big complaint with Windows 8, but you can right click and unpin them as desired. Similar to the Windows 7 > All Programs menu, the All apps near the bottom of the shows the list of most everything installed on the computer. Notice we said most everything.  Example: The Internet Explorer 11 does not list there as "Edge" took over.

More about Windows 10

As we have time we will post more information, tricks and hints here, so far:

• Setting up for the first time (not an upgrade)
• Windows 10 installed
  • Really ready?
  • After upgrade
• Start menu is back!
  • Customize it
  • Taskbar
  • Apps list
• Edge (Internet browser)
• Task View
  • Multiple Desktops
• File explorer
  • Traditional view
  • Mapping a drive
  • God mode
  • Zipping/compressing file(s)
  • Administrative tools
  • Command prompt
• Maps
• Privacy issues
• Various other articles
• Bugs (we have ran across so far)
  • Calculator changed
  • Password issues
  • iCloud (Apple) - cause continuous restarting of the Desktop  
  • Permissions issues
  • No iTunes icon?
  • Printer settings
  • No more Symantec utility?
  • NAS (network attached storage) performance issues

 

Quick information

• Is your phone killing the battery quickly?  Look at your email settings and you may find one of the accounts constantly synchronizing.  Delete and recreate the account.  Note: You may have to go into the airplane mode to delete the account first.
  • And of course, shut off WIFI, Location and any other non-essential utility that needs a continuous connection.

Don't fall for bogus emails!  Paypal did not send this... Always put suspicious messages in the junk folder (Outlook) and examine from there.  You can drag back to the Inbox if you want.

• Running Mozilla Firefox?  There are known exploits so update soon and directly from www.mozilla.org/!
  
  
• Drives us crazy! Junk advertising all over the Internet.  You don't want drivers from a third party - ever!
  We don't care that they are a Certified Partner.
  
  
  
  If you think you need driver updates, use Windows update from the Control Panel to check.  In the rare event you need hardware drivers or updates, check the manufacturers' sites (Dell, HP, Asus, Sony, etc.). 
  We'll even give you the links here so you don't have to search the Internet for them.

 

Opinion

Interesting news video regarding welfare in this country.

 

Leaving you with

A newly-married couple was shopping when the bride noticed her husband checking out yet another cute sales clerk. "Bill! You're like a kid in a candy store!" she reprimanded. "Now that we're married," Bill replied, "I'm more like a kid with diabetes in a candy store!"

Your marriage is in trouble if your wife says, "You're only interested in one thing!" ...and you can't remember what it is! - Milton Berle

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Remember...

SCAM:  A "support" person asks you to allow them to take over your computer and clean it up.   
Just hang up!   See our October newsletter for a bit more on this scam...

and

Thanks for all the help over these years, Jeff...