Windows 10 . Anybody downloaded it yet?

[raymw]

I use the free version of Revo uninstaller in preference to any other. A bit of care has to be exercised in the deeper uninstalls, but so far, over the last 5 years or so, I've had no problems. Having said that, I'm going to be extra careful next time!

 

Personally, I've had few problems with any of my three pcs with w10, but they are the 'pro' versions. Initially, (a year or so) things seemed to get moved around, in particular desktop icons, whenever an update took place, but I've gotten used to what w10 wants to do. I think resistance is futile. For what it has to do, with the thousands of different combinations of printers, video cards/whatever that are out there, it is a marvel that it works as well as it does, bearing in mind that many of the manufacturers of software did not abide by M$ suggested os interfacing, etc.

 

My main pc is on 24/7, but normally I check for updates, and if any are available I install them immediately. Windows defender seems to update two or three times a day. I gave up on Norton/avg and such like a few years ago, but occasionally I will run Adaware, which rarely finds anything.

 

I am increasingly getting emails which are obviously evil, and many which are flagged as spam, which are not, but my original copy of mailwasher allows me to sort that out, before I download them. I do not bother with web sites that want me to use adobe flash, I use Firefox with Adalert, and the anti-ransomware software I mentioned previously. I only use w10 as the os - things like email, video editing, image viewing, word processing and so on, I use the software I've used for years. Works fine for me.

 

I believe that M$ has just stopped supplying oems with w7 and w8.1

 

I made the conscious decision, June 2015, that I would install w10 asap, and play the game more or less the way they wanted, and it has all been just fine, so far, for me. I do think there needs to be some empathy with all machines, so maybe that is the real problem for some folk.

[melmerby]

Best I can tell, that's called "Windows 7 Pro"...

 

Sorry about that but I disagree.

 

I reluctantly went from Win XP to Win 7 and found little improvement, it certainly didn't run programs quicker and used more resources

Windows ran with 2Gb on XP but struggled without an increase to 4Gb on Win 7, Win 10 now uses less of that same memory (Yes, one of my PCs has gone from Win XP to Win 7 to Win10)

I find Win 10 is better than Win 7 in many respects, it's also quicker (and has had better user take up than Win 7!)

 

However MS default "apps" get up my nose.

I don't want Xbox, I don't want Cloud, I don't want all the other things that MS insists I need and are cluttering up my PC.

 

Cheers

 

Keith

[melmerby]

Windows defender seems to update two or three times a day. I gave up on Norton/avg and such like a few years ago, but occasionally I will run Adaware, which rarely finds anything.

 

 

I picked up "DNS unlocker" on one PC a week back (not sure how!) Nasty litle virus which hijacks the browser and fills it with ads for all sorts of undesirables (or maybe desirable, depending on your taste ) as you try to navigate the pages

Windows Defender picked it up, said it was removing it and it didn't. It was totally useless.

Malwarebytes got rid of it easily.

I don't trust Defender.

I've had Kaspersky find nasty things in links that Defender hasn't.

 

Keith

[Silver Sidelines]

Hi Keith

 

An interesting Post

I picked up "DNS unlocker" on one PC a week back (not sure how!) .

..

I too acquired DNS unlocker, and only really became aware when I started getting 'advertisements at the top of my Google searches.

 

Defender did not know about it and when I reinstalled McAfee - that was just as useless.

 

I took the rather drastic action of resetting Win 10 which seems to have cleared the trouble up / away.  The only real issue I had was reinstalling Windows Live Mail.  I had to find the programme on the web and then recover the thousands of messages that had been re-filed in Windows Old.  Still I am getting used to these exercises - all good practice.

 

Ray

[melmerby]

Hi Keith

 

An interesting Post

I too acquired DNS unlocker, and only really became aware when I started getting 'advertisements at the top of my Google searches.

 

Defender did not know about it and when I reinstalled McAfee - that was just as useless.

 

I took the rather drastic action of resetting Win 10 which seems to have cleared the trouble up / away.  The only real issue I had was reinstalling Windows Live Mail.  I had to find the programme on the web and then recover the thousands of messages that had been re-filed in Windows Old.  Still I am getting used to these exercises - all good practice.

 

Ray

Hi Ray

 

Malwarebytes is a pretty nifty program.

I seems to be able to hunt out all sorts of malware and effortlessly dispose of it.

Well worth putting on your computer and doing a scan.

The basic version is free and you get 15 days trial of Premium version.

 

The adverts I started getting were somewhat variable from straightforward plugs for dubious products, to one which was for a rather well endowed lady who seemed to have mislaid her clothes, claimed to be in my neighbourhood and wanted to meet me!

 

Keith

Edited November 5, 2016 by melmerby

[melmerby]

I have run "Bulk Crap Uninstaller" and removed several of the unwanted MS apps.

Guess what, several have been re-installed automatically by Windows. That's naughty.

 

Keith

[darren01]

I have a brand new PC that runs absolutely fine with no problems; I have heard so many horror stories about windows 10 up date, stopped the update.

Every things been fine until tonight when I went to shut down my PC, it would not let me unless I installed windows up dates.

It did not even give me choice not to install the updates, only said I could put the PC in sleep mode, or install updates and restart, or install updates and shut down.

This is very annoying as I did not want to update my new PC for fear it would screw my PC up, But you are being forced to do updates and are given no choice but to do this.

Any one else had this happen, as it looks like you are being forced to do this no matter if you want it or not.

Darren

 

[darren01]

.

Edited November 10, 2016 by darren01

[Dunsignalling]

Yesterday's updates took only a few minutes on my laptop - I pressed "Restart" and went to make a cuppa. It was all done by the time I'd drunk it and there's been no deleterious effect on anything I've done since. On the contrary, everything seems (intuitively) a bit quicker but that might just be my internet connection having a good day.

 

Funny how some people distrust anything Microsoft do to remove bugs from their own product but willingly embrace Windows-altering software from multiple sources I've never even heard of.

 

Maybe you guys need to buy a Mac or to adopt Linux instead of Windows.

 

J.

Edited November 10, 2016 by Dunsignalling

[RFS]

If you have Windows 10 Home Edition, then security updates are not optional and you have to install them.  Not installing security updates is what leads to PCs being impacted by malware so it's very much in your interests to have these updates installed.

 

By using such large, bold type in your post gives the impression you are shouting at us!  Please don't ....

[beast66606]

Unless you know of a good reason not to install updates then you should keep up to date, as has been said, these updates close holes which allow hackers to gain control of your machine.  Some of the issues described above show symptoms of malware rather than W10 problems.

 

Remember, for every scare story there will be thousands of people who are using Windows 10 quite happily - our family has quite a few PCs and although we've had a few minor issues, all work fine. I much prefer the Windows 7 User Interface but tolerate the W10 UI these days, and it just works.

 

Be happy - you could always own a Mac (assuming you are flush enough) and have to buy overpriced "dongles" to connect external devices...

[darren01]

If you have Windows 10 Home Edition, then security updates are not optional and you have to install them.  Not installing security updates is what leads to PCs being impacted by malware so it's very much in your interests to have these updates installed.

 

By using such large, bold type in your post gives the impression you are shouting at us!  Please don't ....

 

Sorry I copied and pasted it from Microsoft word, did not mean for the text to come out so big.

[beast66606]

Sorry I copied and pasted it from Microsoft word, did not mean for the text to come out so big.

 

Paste it (or create it) into Notepad and then copy and paste from there, the post will take the default font then.

[brianusa]

Why so many updates?  Probably they should have done better before releasing W10 on an unsuspecting public.  Too often am I confronted by spinning dots that seem to go on interminably   which might even encourage me to respond in caps as a sign of frustration.   Going back to W7 seems a likely option!

 

Brian.

[beast66606]

Why so many updates?  Probably they should have done better before releasing W10 on an unsuspecting public.  Too often am I confronted by spinning dots that seem to go on interminably   which might even encourage me to respond in caps as a sign of frustration.   Going back to W7 seems a likely option!

 

Brian.

 

Windows 7 had plenty of updates.

 

The reason why they have so many updates is to close loopholes which (very clever) hackers can use to take control of your machine - I'm more than happy for them to keep releasing updates to close the holes, far better than the alternative.

[beast66606]

Sorry Dutch - I can't read your anti Microsoft postings, something makes me unable to be bothered, I enjoy most of your other posts but I wish you'd stay out of these discussions, it adds nothing and - to me - you are merely trolling.

[rab]

I'm finding that my (relatively) new PC running Windows 10

is going the same way as my previous PC running Windows XP

 

After each update it takes a little bit longer to boot up.

 

This was the reason I finally got rid of the old one.

It became so slow it was almost unusable.

[kevinlms]

Then why are the holes there in the first place? Their R&D budget is massive, and still they manage to put out and enforce a product that is clearly unfit for purpose. Imagine getting a car that needs recalling every other day 'cause some-thing's not quite right. Brakes, steering, the lock of the glove compartment, drive shaft. If the likes of Ford, Toyota, Rolls Royce and Mercedes would deliver a product like this, shoving it forcefully down yer throats, CEO's would be burnt at the stakes! Or at least the stakeholder meeting

 

 

I suppose VW don't count with their cheating of the emissions standards!

[antrobuscp]

I understand the need for updates, but maybe it is the changed updating model that MS are using that certainly gives me the impression that updates are taking longer. I have spent a good part of today keeping an eye on one machine updating for the first time for a few months. Not surprisingly it has taken quite a while, but at least twice, the update process has appeared to complete, only to start a further cycle with further re-booting.

 

Given the problems others on here seem to have come up against, the updating process really does not seem as stable as it used to be. I've always kept my machines up to date, apart from on the two occasions when I've had to roll back particular updates which neutered some facility I required. Thankfully I've now retired but there are times when the way W10 "goes off and does its own thing" would have caused me real headaches dealing with deadlines.

 

The operating system works, mostly, but I prefer the user experience of XP and 7.

 

Colin

Edited November 11, 2016 by antrobuscp

[beast66606]

Given the problems others on here seem to have come up against, the updating process really does not seem as stable as it used to be. I've always kept my machines up to date, apart from on the two occasions when I've had to roll back particular which neutered some facility I required. Thankfully I've now retired but there are times when the way W10 "goes off and does its own thing" would have caused me real headaches dealing with deadlines.

 

 

The vast majority of people on here are not having any problems - we just don't hear about those who just use the product.

 

If you are using the Home edition the only way to stop the updates is to use a WiFi connection and set it as a metered connection.

[Dunsignalling]

I suppose VW don't count with their cheating of the emissions standards!

Or the recurring recalls of millions of Toyotas for rectification, presumably.

[raymw]

I think it helps to know how this has all rapidly developed.

 

The first release of ibm pc had two serial ports, a cassette tape interface, a parallel port, a floppy disc, monochrome video card and a keyboard, iirc. Networking involved serial cables. Gradually, due to the deliberate open nature of the platform, other manufactures were encouraged to add on other devices, and design compatible pc's. Most ran MSdos, or originally a version of same, -(IBM) PCdos - no graphical interface until quite a few years.

 

Today, our current PC's are much more complex - as standard, most come with at least,  audio in and out, usb, network, high resolution colour monitor, hdds as well .

 

Various manufacturers supply many different addons, such as .
 tv cards, hdmi video output, video input, virtual reality displays
 graphical input - mouse/trackball, touch pad/graphical input tablet, joystick, touch screen, gesture recognition, gps,

networking - internet/ethernet with various cable types, wifi - various, bluetooth, infra red
storage - ssd, hdd, floppies, dvd, cd, blueray, tape, external sata, optical drives, various memory cards, sd, etc.
printers -  inkjet, daisywheel, laser, 3d, xy plotters, dot matrix, etc.
cameras -

much more specific hardware and software - games, word-processing, simulations, development packages/whatever

 

Originally, the drivers for the addon's would be provided by the hardware manufacture, but Microsoft have endeavoured to include the basic drivers in their software, and they try to keep backwards compatibility, unlike many of the hardware manufacturers.

 

If you take just one of the addon manufacturers, see the range of products they have made, you then may realise the size of the task to get it all to work together as seamlessly as it does, and M$ is fairly successful in getting the same os to function on different platforms, tablets, desktops, games machines, etc.

 

A closed system, like Apple, does not have the vast availability of addons, and in comparison, it is trivial writing an os for a closed system. Linux/unix is reliable/popular for some specific tasks, but the software/drivers is not available for the wide range of stuff that is available for the pc, and most of what I have seen, is rather cludgy.

 

So, M$, have decided to change the way they update their software. Because folk expect it to work, but manufacturers of the hardware push stuff out with flawed drivers in many instances, and unknowingly, users switch off stuff that they have no real idea of what it is really doing, and run software that has not been properly tested, so they are going to get problems. And then, it's all connected to the internet, so any one with a mind to can get access to the pc, if left with default router passwords, etc.,  but it is easier to blame Microsoft than the free software they got off the web or magazine.

 

feeling better now ...

 

Best wishes,

 

Ray

[melmerby]

Hi Ray

 

Along the same lines - the first Apple PCs were open source as well with lots of third party add ons and software available.

 

Apple II were fairly common where I worked with extra cards plugged into the main board for the different peripherals that were available (80 column display, Hard disk drive etc.) and it was only when they went "Macintosh" did the closed system evolve.

I even wrote (in Basic) a routine to drive a Chrismas light display which was connected via a homemade plug-in card.

 

There were also several early IBMs as well as Pets and other basic computers (all incompatible with each other) each for a specific job.

Eventually they settled on IBMs and clones for general use plus HP scientific machines which again were for specific tasks.

 

Keith

[raymw]

 

There were also several early IBMs as well as Pets and other basic computers (all incompatible with each other) each for a specific job.

I wuz there, too (and b4). All of ibm mainframe customers complaining about waiting for the ibm pc to be unveiled. (imnsho, it put the industry back by about 4 years) - there was far better kit around by then - but not the commodore pet, (nothing like the ibm pc) - if you bought a 4k version, hoping to upgrade to 8k, you couldn't, 'cos in the UK they had drilled through the pcb where the extra chips went. The stories we could tell

[antrobuscp]

The vast majority of people on here are not having any problems - we just don't hear about those who just use the product.

 

If you are using the Home edition the only way to stop the updates is to use a WiFi connection and set it as a metered connection.

I certainly do not want to stop updates, and I do use the Pro edition. My business IT had to work, so for many years I've bought business spec, but not high end Dell machines. I've upgraded 2 64 bit machines which I originally purchased as future proofing in case I had to run my business on for a few more years. I have now set the machines to tell me when updates are available and when I want to actually update. I did the upgrades shortly before the "free" period expired and, to be honest I've not used them a great deal as my retirement daily use machine runs Win7 and I'm happy with it for the moment. The only two problems I've noted are the slow and, initially uncontrolled, updates, and the tendency sometimes to start to do something in the background which brings the machine to a standstill. In terms of controlling hardware and running programs, Win 10 does what I would expect.

 

I understand the point made above about the problems MS have in trying to successfully update such a myriad of possible configurations, and I have often thought that it is a miracle it works at all. I've only had to uninstall updates on 2 occasions when they made changes which seriously affected my core(but old) software. Later updates corrected the issues.

 

I think I preferred the old individual update method. The current roll-up method does seem to be slower and there seem to be more reports of problems - again though, my two machines have completed a group of updates(not run for a while) with no problems other than the time taken. 

 

Colin