Windows 7 for now and forever!
What about Windows 10?
- Thread starter journey
- Start date
journey
New member
I'm going to do the same thing after my nasty experience with Windows 10 on two computers. Some people love it and have no problems, but I had nothing but trouble. I must add that I'm not a beginner with computers.
Foxfire
Well-known member
I had to abandon Firefox soon after I upgraded because it turned into a super slug (slooooooow). That was my old mainstay.
I'm using Chrome presently, but I have the same driver issues when I do go on Foxfire.
it is time to completely reject windows and microsoft
I am going with google
I am going with google
Ask Mr. Religion
☞☞☞☞Presbyterian (PCA) 	
Gold Subscriber
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
OK, so lately I'm noticing an alarmingly increasing number of site load failures and plug-in failure issues.
Now I get pop ups from a "Microsoft Gold Partner" software site telling me that they can fix my plug-in issues, that I shouldn't even be experiencing, for only $29.95.
Too sweet!
If you are experiencing pop-ups that are directing you to sites claiming they can fix your problem, you likely have a Browser Helper Object (BHO) installed that is causing the problem. (This reminds me of the ongoing phone scam where someone calls you claiming to be a Microsoft support specialist to notify you of a virus on your computer that they can helpfully remove. All you need to do is allow them to remote access your computer. Heh.)
Since you state you are using Chrome, enter the following in the url field: chrome://extensions/
Look for anything installed that is suspicious, then uninstall that.
If all looks good, uncheck ALL the "Enabled" extensions. Restart Chrome and see if the problem remains. If no problem exists, start re-enabling extensions one by one until the problem appears. Chances are it will be caused by the most recently enabled extension.
There are plenty of freeware and low cost tools available to do this auto-magically. Just enter BHO removal tools into a browser search field and find something you like.
AMR
Are you going to get a Chromebook?
Ask Mr. Religion
☞☞☞☞Presbyterian (PCA) 	
Gold Subscriber
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
If you are a paid TOL subscriber, see:
http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98196
AMR
I love the idea of Chromebooks, nothing important on the local computer, all your work stored on a server somewhere else, everything saved automatically, nothing to back up, but I don't foresee them ever doing what I need. I tend to need access to a bunch of different OSes, and often separate virtual machines. That said, I was able to find a cheapish Dell that was hobbled by a slow hard drive, but otherwise good specs. I swapped that out for a Samsung 1TB SSD, and went from about 20 second boot time to just a handful of seconds. People never think about how much their storage devices impact the perceived performance of their computers.
journey
New member
I've been reading quite a bit about updates causing misery for Windows 10 users, some even leaving their computers not usable. I'm not talking about just once in awhile reports, rather regular reports. I haven't ruled out updating to Windows 10, but I was hoping that things would have stabilized by now. Microsoft needs to get their act together if they want Windows 10 to replace Windows 7 as the most used operating system.
I use my computer for volunteer work, so I don't like the idea of taking regular chances that updates will put my system down. Worse - having to replace my computer. How about it Windows 10 users, would you update again knowing what you know now?
I use my computer for volunteer work, so I don't like the idea of taking regular chances that updates will put my system down. Worse - having to replace my computer. How about it Windows 10 users, would you update again knowing what you know now?
Ask Mr. Religion
☞☞☞☞Presbyterian (PCA) 	
Gold Subscriber
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
I have been using Windows 10 since it was released and have no real complaints. I do not see why anyone would want to refuse to upgrade if their machines supported the update.
I have had a few driver issues, but by now most manufacturers have caught up and updated their drivers.
Microsoft has and will drop support for earlier versions, so remaining on these will expose you to many security issues that will not be patched and software problems that no longer have backward compatibility with older operating system versions.
None of the recent upgrade issues being reported in the media have impacted me. That said, I use relatively new Lenovo laptops (Yoga 2 Pro, W520) that do not have hardware issues underlying some of the reported issues. I even have a six year old Dell laptop that hums along using Windows 10.
I think you should make the upgrade.
AMR
journey
New member
AMR,
Thanks for the information. My wife and I have a desktop about 4 years old and a laptop about 2 years old. We upgraded them both to Windows 10 about a month after it became available. We had to rescue both computers by going back to the previous operating system. It was Windows 10 updates that killed them both, but we might try again.
Thanks for the information. My wife and I have a desktop about 4 years old and a laptop about 2 years old. We upgraded them both to Windows 10 about a month after it became available. We had to rescue both computers by going back to the previous operating system. It was Windows 10 updates that killed them both, but we might try again.
Ask Mr. Religion
☞☞☞☞Presbyterian (PCA) 	
Gold Subscriber
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
Easter Eggs Hidden in Software
Easter Eggs Hidden in Software
Not really related to Windows 10 per se, but this site's collection of hidden easter eggs in various software programs is fun to explore:
http://www.eeggs.com/
Easter eggs in this context are little secret programs or sayings that programmers insert into their software. Most large companies frown on them, but the creative programmer still continues to insert them hoping they make it past the usual integration and testing phases before a program is released to the world.
When working at Motorola back in the early nineties I inserted easter eggs into my programs that were used to simulate various types of cellular radio networks. One of the easter eggs was what I called "god mode" in that when the program was started with a particular command line argument the tool would open with "Greetings, my Master" and offer up a bunch of new debugging features as well as a list of users throughout Motorola that had used my software tool. Another one was a message that would pop up and show the name of the computer the user was using and then proceeded to scroll a list of the user's local intranet search history (before the days of the world wide web), followed by an ominous "You should re-think some of those searches" message. One of my tools is still used at Motorola Mobility today, too. The tool's name is GENTRANSIM (GENeric TRANsaction SIMulator) that simulates message exchanges and queuing performance related thereto for cellular radio network protocols, such as GSM, WCDMA and LTE, across various nodes within a cellular network.
AMR
Easter Eggs Hidden in Software
Not really related to Windows 10 per se, but this site's collection of hidden easter eggs in various software programs is fun to explore:
http://www.eeggs.com/
Easter eggs in this context are little secret programs or sayings that programmers insert into their software. Most large companies frown on them, but the creative programmer still continues to insert them hoping they make it past the usual integration and testing phases before a program is released to the world.
When working at Motorola back in the early nineties I inserted easter eggs into my programs that were used to simulate various types of cellular radio networks. One of the easter eggs was what I called "god mode" in that when the program was started with a particular command line argument the tool would open with "Greetings, my Master" and offer up a bunch of new debugging features as well as a list of users throughout Motorola that had used my software tool. Another one was a message that would pop up and show the name of the computer the user was using and then proceeded to scroll a list of the user's local intranet search history (before the days of the world wide web), followed by an ominous "You should re-think some of those searches" message.
One of my tools is still used at Motorola Mobility today, too. The tool's name is GENTRANSIM (GENeric TRANsaction SIMulator) that simulates message exchanges and queuing performance related thereto for cellular radio network protocols, such as GSM, WCDMA and LTE, across various nodes within a cellular network.AMR
One thing most people don't think about that makes a big difference is the speed of the disk. If you have an otherwise fast computer, with high-end specs, but if you put a slow hard disk in it, it'll feel like a dog. Get a nice fast SSD and it'll make a lot of difference.
Ask Mr. Religion
☞☞☞☞Presbyterian (PCA) 	
Gold Subscriber
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
Exactly!
A solid-state hard drive makes all the difference in the world. No one today should be using computers having whirling platters in the hard drives on their computers.
AMR
Ask Mr. Religion
☞☞☞☞Presbyterian (PCA) 	
Gold Subscriber
LIFETIME MEMBER
Hall of Fame
This PC Mag article is a good summary of all things related to backing up your computers and your personal data:
"[FONT=open_sansregular]We all know we're supposed to back up our data. We could go so far as to say that a backup of digital data is essential to a person's well-being and peace of mind. (One copy of a file on your computer does not a backup make. Redundancy, people, redundancy.)[/FONT][FONT=open_sansregular]Why, then, do so many people still not bother to back up? Even after losing an important document, irreplaceable photo, or entire sets of financial records, some still don't take the time. Perhaps it's because backing up takes some effort. In the past, it's been complicated. Now, thanks to new software, hardware, and services, it's easier than ever. Here's a quick look at the types of backup available, as well as the tools you'll need to pull it off, with as little work as possible."[/FONT]
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363057,00.asp
My personal backup strategy:
1. External 1TB USB 3.0 portable hard drive
2. Crashplan automatic backup to Crashplan cloud, to my networked 8TB hard drive, and another computer on my home network
3. Google Drive
4. Microsoft Onedrive (formerly Skydrive)
5. Sandisk USB 3.0 Flash Drive
6. Shadowprotect for image backup of my entire hard drive
7. Dillobits Insync for regular backup scripts using #1 and #5 above
AMR
"[FONT=open_sansregular]We all know we're supposed to back up our data. We could go so far as to say that a backup of digital data is essential to a person's well-being and peace of mind. (One copy of a file on your computer does not a backup make. Redundancy, people, redundancy.)[/FONT][FONT=open_sansregular]Why, then, do so many people still not bother to back up? Even after losing an important document, irreplaceable photo, or entire sets of financial records, some still don't take the time. Perhaps it's because backing up takes some effort. In the past, it's been complicated. Now, thanks to new software, hardware, and services, it's easier than ever. Here's a quick look at the types of backup available, as well as the tools you'll need to pull it off, with as little work as possible."[/FONT]
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2363057,00.asp
My personal backup strategy:
1. External 1TB USB 3.0 portable hard drive
2. Crashplan automatic backup to Crashplan cloud, to my networked 8TB hard drive, and another computer on my home network
3. Google Drive
4. Microsoft Onedrive (formerly Skydrive)
5. Sandisk USB 3.0 Flash Drive
6. Shadowprotect for image backup of my entire hard drive
7. Dillobits Insync for regular backup scripts using #1 and #5 above
AMR
Last edited:
Computers are always broken. The question is whether you know how or what to do about it.
Thanks for sharing. Is there a nuclear HEMP-proof mechanism in there somewhere? AFAIK optical disks are unaffected by an EMP . . . whether there's a device left over that can read the media afterwards is another question. But my question is directed at whether any of the cloud servers are shielded from an EMP? Is that even possible?