Month: September 2015

A fix for Realtek sound?

By Mike

I must admit to not believing that Microsoft were responsible for this, but obviously they were. In the official Windows 10 blog, there is a mention of Insider build 10547, and one of the fixes is.. We have fixed several issues with audio – including issues specific affecting Realtek audio devices. What is not mentioned are any of the specific issues, but I am hoping that lack of volume is in the list.. 🙂 I wonder how long they will take to filter through? My Toshiba is not running an insider preview anymore, so I have no idea if the … Continue reading A fix for Realtek sound?

Home vs Pro..

By Mike

There is no difference in speed or general ability. The ‘Pro’ edition contains a few functions applicable to an office or business environment re. connection and security, and that is about it. Why do you want the Pro version on your home computer? What do you think that it might do for you? You still won’t get a full Microsoft Office, and it will not help you to type faster or more accurately. An extra $100 is a lot for Bitlocker, Domain join and GPM, none of which increase performance. So, if your computer is running the Home edition and … Continue reading Home vs Pro..

Low volume/sound..

By Mike

Not sure who to blame for this one. Since installing Windows 10, sound volume has not been particularly good but not bad enough to revert back to Windows 8.1. Apart from YouTube videos, I don’t listen to much and some videos have captions anyway, but it is annoying. So, all obvious volume controls are set to MAX, except for one that is NOT obvious. If you go into Control Panel > Sound and right click on the device outputting the sound, and then click on the Playback tab, you will notice that volume is set for 67%. I pushed mine … Continue reading Low volume/sound..

The ‘bugs’ are local..

By Mike

This is an assumption that I guess many have made.. I received the notification that Windows 10 was ready for me to download, so I assumed all the bugs had been worked out.  Microsoft do the best to eradicate bugs, and in the case of Windows 10 had multiple builds slowly building up to  a more or less finished product, as finished as it ever could be on July 29th of this year. So, that was the score and Microsoft started to pipe Windows 10 out as a free upgrade to Windows 7 and 8.1 users. Now, had all users left … Continue reading The ‘bugs’ are local..

Windows 10 – increased fan activity..

By Mike

Windows 10 does not natively contain software which can control fans. So, if you have a fan which is racing, Windows 10 will not be aware. If the computer feels the need to run the fan continuously, it is because there is a process, or maybe more than one, continually running in the background Task Manager (CTRL + SHIFT + ESC) will give a basic idea of what is causing the issue, but the best is ‘Process Explorer’ It looks complex but shouldn’t be too bad, and is a far better option than reverting to Windows 7. There have been instances … Continue reading Windows 10 – increased fan activity..

Windows 10 and the forums..

By Mike

If you are not seeing me much in the Microsoft Community forums, that is by design. It is difficult to go into a forum where so many seemingly have problems, many brought about because they insist on running junk, and tell them that it didn’t have to be that way. When you are stuck with a computer which isn’t working for whatever reason, and you have no way back because backups couldn’t be that important, could they? .. being told by somebody like me  who has successfully upgraded every machine in the building, does not go down well. Then there … Continue reading Windows 10 and the forums..

I bought a keyboard..

By Mike

on eBay.. a Logitech K800.. nice. Unfortunately, the vendor did NOT state that the keyboards were ‘Brazilian’, and I assumed that the keyboard would be ‘US’ language’ I don’t want a Brazilian keyboard, and the vendor suggested that I send it back, but they could not send a US keyboard out because they didn’t have any. I was sent a printable, shipping paid label. Trouble is that I live in Canada and the label is only good for USPS, and it may cost me almost half what I paid for the keyboard. The company also offered a rebate of 30% … Continue reading I bought a keyboard..

Surfing is not much fun..

By Mike

.. especially at a time when it should be. I remember years ago when Internet pages were text only and it could be slow then,  but only because the modems in use were painfully slow. I have a gateway capable of 100mb, but with pages loaded down with adverts and other crap, sometimes I just get too frustrated to bother. Some ads open almost full screen and the only way to close them is to shut the host site down. Ha, and you think that I am going to buy ANYTHING from you for making me do that???? Web Advertisers … Continue reading Surfing is not much fun..

The Toshiba Netbook..

By Mike

Yes, it still works, and yes, I am still pleased with it. However, it does have an issue that I never noticed before. After a cold boot and before any major task is started, it appears to need ‘warming up’ time. The CPU LED flashes away like all hell for a good twenty minutes, while various maintenance utilities ply their trade. I don’t mind because the Netbook isn’t capable of too much at the best of times, and presently it is walking with the Windows 10 crowd. At least I don’t have to wait for the latest builds to install. … Continue reading The Toshiba Netbook..

Windows 10.. the flickering screen..

By Mike

OK, this is one cause for flickering screens after a Windows 10 upgrade. It may be the only one, I don’t know.. The cause? Norton.. 🙂 See here.. No, I don’t like Norton or Symantec Anything, but I don’t like any of the other big anti-virus suites either. I have tried them all, and just as I think I have found a good one, the software author trashes it. Anti-virus programs weren’t always this way. There was a time when nobody really knew if they did anything at all. All we could do was believe what we were told. One … Continue reading Windows 10.. the flickering screen..