Month: August 2013

Somewhere in this article (http://www.zdnet.com/surface-rt-versus-ipad-which-is-better-for-work-7000010552/) is this statement. I don’t miss the start button and when I’ve occasionally visited the desktop it has seemed to me desolate and windswept, not a reassuring return home. What does it mean? Note the careful use of the word ‘button’ because that is how Microsoft want us to see it, just a button. When you boot up a traditional desktop, clicking on the Start menu is like opening the front door. The Metro interface looks like the your landlord or the bailiff has turfed all of your gaudy stuff out onto the front yard. … Continue reading And the point is?

The last round of general updates didn’t affect my computer, but MS Office SP2 did. How do I know that it was the MS Office update which caused grief? I didn’t install it at the same time as the general updates. I always manually install service packs. So, apart from the Outlook Calendar error, I was also left with a ‘tcpip.sys’ error too. Common wisdom online suggests that a NIC driver update should be the cure, and Realtek had the driver. As always, a driver update resets the device defaults, one of which is ‘allow the computer to turn off … Continue reading Fix one problem, create another..

Windows 2000 Pro: .. goes down well with the corporates. It is the securest OS ever released by Microsoft.. Windows Millennium: .. goes down like a lead balloon. All of its features stacked on top of a base which toppled if you walked by fast enough is proving to be a problem on Windows 9x hardware. It needs to be run on hardware earmarked for Windows 2000, but can still crash without user intervention. Windows XP: 2001 .. is the joining of Millennium and 2000. It is the first OS for the general public that doesn’t crash out directly after … Continue reading Windows since 2000..

Is he going to trail along behind Windows 8.1 and a Surface RT, or will they walk into the sunset together? He has set in motion a change of style, ‘devices and services’. I think that this is a reference to mobile devices and the cloud. OK, that’s all good but what about the millions of Microsoft product users who are not mobile or in the clouds? Unless Microsoft starts to listen AND respond to customers, and looks back at the history of new OS take up by the corporate world, no amount of re-organisation is going to help.

As it became ever more apparent that Microsoft were removing any vestige of the classic start menu in Windows 8, there was talk about the OEMs including 3rd party start menus in the setup. It looked like it was all talk and no walk as machines were released with no 3rd party start menus. Then came Microsoft’s step back and talk of a Start BUTTON in Windows 8.1. Nice try at getting out of admitting a mistake, Microsoft, but too little too late. There are people buying laptops and desktops but they want Windows 7 and will do anything to … Continue reading It was just talk at first..

After the trauma of Office 2010 SP2 from which I recovered fairly well, I was re-introduced to the BSOD after the re-installation and subsequent un-installation of FrontPage 2003. After messing with Windbg and DMP files, I decided that the best course of action was to do a System Restore, NOT a refresh (not going there again). After the restore, I put the computer into hibernation and it didn’t crash. A step forwards finally. Next, I installed the latest round of updates, and everything is still ok. I have also stopped automatic updates as my faith has been shaken somewhat. Conclusion: … Continue reading System Restore revisited..

Why should you do this? To "put all your eggs in one basket" is to risk losing everything all at one time. It is always a good idea to have more than one copy of your important documents, photos, music etc. Computers have problems, electrical problems, mechanical problems, user problems, and there is no telling when any or a combination of the three will strike. OK, so you don’t want to buy an external drive. I can understand that. Money can be tight for all of us, but there is a way to spread the load if you happen to … Continue reading Copying files across your home network..

I read today that maybe one of the failures of the PC market is the price of machines. Traditionally, I have replaced my production PC every three years or so. This is why.. The 2003 PC ran XP very well, but in 2006, Vista was coming and it was promising to be a heavyweight, almost a deadweight. The 2006 PC was an AMD 3500, 4gb, nVidia n6600, later upgraded to dual core 4600. When I moved, the 2003 PC had to be sited away from the cable router and I had to lay RJ45 cable across quite a distance because … Continue reading Maybe we should buy two.. NOT..

This is the message which greeted me four days ago when I brought the PC out of hibernation. Aug 4th – So it rebooted, then it did it again. After the third reboot, it settled down for the rest of the day. I updated the network card drivers. Aug 5th – So it rebooted, then it did it again. After the third reboot, it settled down for the rest of the day. I updated the chipset/video drivers. Aug 6th – So it rebooted, then it did it again. After the third reboot, it settled down for the rest of the … Continue reading DRIVER IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL tcpip.sys..

is a killer app to end all killer apps. What it doesn’t need is a bunch more of the atrocities called apps that exist now. The new ‘app’ should span at least six entire screens, two layers of three windows.. An example A browser A mail client A Calendar/Notes A Contacts list A decent Map system A photo gallery/editor There is nothing in the list that doesn’t already exist, but this new app isn’t an app really.. Its a SHELL that has tabs at each side where the user can select the mix of apps to use and have each … Continue reading What Windows 8 tablets need..