Windows and other computer nonsense

[Town Heretic]

So a few blue screens into last week I realized my HP had given its all and would need retiring. Enter my p7-1414 and windows 8 (the previous HP being XP).

First impressions:

Windows 8 new look/set up. I have to admit I love it. Having the weather and news feeds and a number of other things active and sitting there. Reminds me of the NFL package where's one page where you can view several games at once in smaller screens and go to the game with a click.

You can also pin your favorite applications in that window.

If you're nervous about it or just want a little more familiar look there's a quick switch window that takes you to the old familiar desktop look.

Downside. The start button and your familiar points of access are gone. In my case (and I suspect many) there are programs waiting to be accessed (and/or pinned) like Windows Media Player that aren't easily located, by which I mean intuitively.

Well, I'll get into how to see all your apps/programs now. It's easy-peasy. On the new start page put your cursor in the top right of the screen and a "charm" menu comes out running north-south on that same side. Click on the magnifying glass "search". Ta-da, there they all are. Now you can go to the and/or pin them (that's just a right click command that allows you to put one in one of the boxes for easy and quick access on the main screen). I have Chrome there, by way of example.

Less wonderful is transferring files, though if you have Windows 7 it shouldn't be any harder than a good data transfer cable since Easy Transfer is installed on 7 and 8. If, like me, you have an older PC then all you'll need to do is google Windows Easy Transfer and download it.

If you have a hundred and change to spare you can buy a Zinstall program that will transfer both files AND programs without you doing much more than installing the program on both PCs and hitting "Go". :mmph: But if you don't you'll have to transfer your programs through a flash drive. Not that hard. I just moved my Scrivener over to it and I'm no computer geek.

More discussion of this and other issues as they develop. So far, I think 8 is worth the trouble of relearning a few things. The best upgrade since XP. Oh, and Heart Radio is really nice addition too. Lots of variety and unlike Pandora, it doesn't require your ongoing interaction. I love beatsaudio. Clear, really nice sound. Especially on acoustic numbers.

More on the start programs as I toy with them. :thumb:

 

[chrysostom]

I like my xp

put it over seven

 

[OMEGA]

I don't want Chrome.

It does not show File or Edit or the rest.

 

[Town Heretic]

I like my xp

put it over seven

This is better. But it takes some getting used to.

 

[gcthomas]

When XP broke on my old machine, I stuck Linux on it. Works fine.

 

[Quincy]

Linux :shocked:


I want to upgrade to Windows 8 TH but I am wondering, do you have to have a touchscreen to use it properly? I've heard to get the most out of it you need one.

 

[Town Heretic]

Linux :shocked:


I want to upgrade to Windows 8 TH but I am wondering, do you have to have a touchscreen to use it properly? I've heard to get the most out of it you need one.

No. It's fine with a mouse. And there are simple commands if you don't want to aim the mouse at the upper right hand, say, to bring up the charms menu. Windows sign and c will do it as well.

 

[Quincy]

Thank you TH. I may upgrade in a couple weeks then. I really like the aesthetics of 8, along with the ability to pin your favorites. Plus, I hear it's just as stable and dependable as 7. I thought 7 was great, so much better than Vista and at least on par with XP. So I will probably upgrade as well. I was just afraid that it was hard to use with a mouse.

 

[Memento Mori]

Thank you TH. I may upgrade in a couple weeks then. I really like the aesthetics of 8, along with the ability to pin your favorites. Plus, I hear it's just as stable and dependable as 7. I thought 7 was great, so much better than Vista and at least on par with XP. So I will probably upgrade as well. I was just afraid that it was hard to use with a mouse.

Although you can get a touchscreen laptop for about $50 more than the standard. There is an 11" asus laptop that's $450 right now. I'm thinking about getting a new toshiba with the touchscreen.

Also, I just found Best Buy Memes on facebook. Hilarious (for us blue shirts)!

 

[GuySmiley]

Well, I'll get into how to see all your apps/programs now. It's easy-peasy. On the new start page put your cursor in the top right of the screen and a "charm" menu comes out running north-south on that same side. Click on the magnifying glass "search". Ta-da, there they all are. Now you can go to the and/or pin them (that's just a right click command that allows you to put one in one of the boxes for easy and quick access on the main screen). I have Chrome there, by way of example.

Im still nervous about upgrading, but I did buy a WinRT tablet (the Surface). On my tablet you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen and there is a "charm" called "all apps", which takes you to a screen with every app installed in a list format. It may be more intuitive or faster sometimes than using search and having to type. See if you have that on desktop Windows 8.

 

[Town Heretic]

Im still nervous about upgrading, but I did buy a WinRT tablet (the Surface). On my tablet you can swipe up from the bottom of the screen and there is a "charm" called "all apps", which takes you to a screen with every app installed in a list format.

Windows 8 is tailor made for hands on, but I'm on a desktop using a mouse. Still easy and you could pin the all apps if you wanted to, but it's two seconds to bring up the charm menu and click the magnifying glass, so I likely won't. How often do you access that anyway?

It may be more intuitive or faster sometimes than using search and having to type. See if you have that on desktop Windows 8.

You don't have to type/use search. You just click on the icon from the charms menu and the apps are all laid out. It's a starting point menu. I must not have put it clearly.

:e4e:

 

[Town Heretic]

Upgraded to Windows 10. Loved most of the changes, but there's a problem. So far it won't recognize that my Nikon has photos in need of downloading. The old Sony program won't see them. The Corel Paintshop x6 is a no go and even the Nikon program isn't actually getting it done.

Either they fix this or I need to figure out how to return to 8...sheeze.

 

[Aimiel]

Windows '95 is still the fastest ( Microsoft ) OS.

 

[alwight]

Upgraded to Windows 10. Loved most of the changes, but there's a problem. So far it won't recognize that my Nikon has photos in need of downloading. The old Sony program won't see them. The Corel Paintshop x6 is a no go and even the Nikon program isn't actually getting it done.

Either they fix this or I need to figure out how to return to 8...sheeze.

The internet suggests that others also have the same problem with Windows 10 TH, a solution seems to be to buy a cheap card reader and use that or wait for an update being worked on apparently.

 

[Town Heretic]

The internet suggests that others also have the same problem with Windows 10 TH, a solution seems to be to buy a cheap card reader and use that or wait for an update being worked on apparently.

Thanks. It's a shame because most of my experience with 10 has been positive, but this is a serious flaw and I hope they're scrambling to correct it.

 

[exminister]

Bought a new laptop a few days ago and it had Windows 10 on it. Started it up and had black screen of death. Called customer support for Toshiba and after using the Microsoft solution (forcing reboots) I eventually worked through the start up process. Many screens would tell me "Only a few more minutes and you will be there" only dropped my confidence in this OS. It took about an hour to get through this. After reading articles I recognized that it was pulling upgrades from Microsoft and they are burdened by so many window 10 installs or upgrades from prior window versions.

Prior to this my personal laptop was a Mac, but my work connections was windows 7. I wanted to go back to Windows for better compatibility with work. I prefer Linux and some of servers at work are Linux. I love Cygwin which simulates Linux on top of Windows. Also it gives me PGP which I never had the time to figure out how to run on my Mac.

Windows 10 is close enough to Windows 7 that I didn't feel too lost. I don't see any need for Cortana. I have Siri on my iPhone and make some limited use of it there because of its limited interface devices, but on a full laptop don't feel same need. I am working thru the apps off the start button but nothing is particularly of interest. Some music video was good.

Windows 10 does seem better at multi-tasking than my prior OS experience (Mac is Lion, iPhone iOS 8, windows 3.1 to 7). And it seems quite responsive even while videos, music is running. So it is undoing my bad first experience. No blue screen of death. It comes out of hibernation quickly. Reboot is good. Sick of the Mcafee constant promotion. Seems there are nerves around Microsoft having your NPI data. Anybody have info on that? I would like to hear more from you guys on your ongoing experience with this latest version of Windoze (maybe one day I won't feel a need to spell it that way anymore-LOL-when pigs fly)

One thing of concern is what I read in the limited material from Toshiba. It says the laptop contains lead which is linked to cancer, so wash your hands after using the laptop. WWHHAAATTTTT?

 

[rougueone]

Careful....

Using M-soft technical help. My neighbor, who is 78, went to M-Soft's web Site, clicked on technical support, and the site asked for her phone number and address. Being M-Soft she felt safe and typed the info in. She received a phone call , she was cautious and asked for the support center license and credential number, all looked good and checked out.
The support center asked for "remote assistance" to de-bug her P.C. And said a fee of
$ 80.00 would be the cost.

Her entire bank account is now gone. $ 18,000. Yes, Eighteen Thousand dollars. Her bank refuses to reimburse her as they state she volunteered the info. Her bank is W=== F==go.
I googled this and apparently this scam has been taking place for years. Some foreign Company does get certified by M-Soft. Meets all the criteria, and once they have access to your P.C. ( by remote access they have your entire P.C. and the info contained in it ), they do their work, hit a number of people and then simply vanish. Then using a different business name, get certified, and strike again.
It was not a phishing site.

Be careful.

 

[alwight]

Thanks. It's a shame because most of my experience with 10 has been positive, but this is a serious flaw and I hope they're scrambling to correct it.

If you have to go back to 8.1, go to settings / update and security / recovery and you can restore 8.1 while your old settings remain, for a month apparently.

I have three computers all now on 10, I think I like it, but then my camera is an Olympus.

 

[exminister]

Careful....

Using M-soft technical help. My neighbor, who is 78, went to M-Soft's web Site, clicked on technical support, and the site asked for her phone number and address. Being M-Soft she felt safe and typed the info in. She received a phone call , she was cautious and asked for the support center license and credential number, all looked good and checked out.
The support center asked for "remote assistance" to de-bug her P.C. And said a fee of
$ 80.00 would be the cost.

Her entire bank account is now gone. $ 18,000. Yes, Eighteen Thousand dollars. Her bank refuses to reimburse her as they state she volunteered the info. Her bank is W=== F==go.
I googled this and apparently this scam has been taking place for years. Some foreign Company does get certified by M-Soft. Meets all the criteria, and once they have access to your P.C. ( by remote access they have your entire P.C. and the info contained in it ), they do their work, hit a number of people and then simply vanish. Then using a different business name, get certified, and strike again.
It was not a phishing site.

Be careful.

<Expletive Deleted>

 

[chrysostom]

Windows '95 is still the fastest ( Microsoft ) OS.

are you still using 95?

is anyone?