Mike's Window

OK, so you may have issues when upgrading to Windows 8.1, or if the Windows 8.1 upgrade is pushed through without consent. Some have found the push to be very annoying, trouble following it, and a strong desire to want to go back to Windows 8.. See here for a few of the complaints.. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-windows_update/ms-forced-install-to-windows-81-after-i-click-on/98113c9b-0057-435b-9e24-07f8165fb829  […]

When I took this job on yesterday evening, it should have been relatively simple. The machine had picked up a variation of the FBI virus plus other stuff no doubt, but as it was to be used by somebody other than the original user and nothing had been saved, I elected to do a back […]

OK. I am up and running again, but parallel booting with Windows 8, so I can’t easily compare the two side by side. The right click options from the Start button are impressive, better than the older classic Start menu in fact if you are into Control Panel applets.. Programs and Features Power Options Event […]

This is going to be a very quick entry. The machine which I had hosting Windows 10 is going to a new location very soon, and I spent this afternoon setting it up for the new user. So I stripped out the drive, reformatted it, disconnected the two SATA drives in my production machine, installed […]

What would you like to see in Windows, what kind of options and/or preferences? Much depends on what kind of a Windows user you happen to be. The list below is copied from the Ghacks newsletter, and is a good place to start when looking for what users would like to see My takes are […]

Another successful round of updates with three Windows 7 machines, one Windows 8.1 machine and the Windows 10 Tech preview showing no ill effects this morning. The Netbook gave me a scare though. Last night, I left it installing the updates, and this morning woke up to find it stone cold dead. A few minutes […]

OK, so today it joined the Homegroup, printed out a test page on the Brother J470DW, had Lan Messenger (Qualia) and Speedfan 4.50 installed, the Microsoft account email set up in Windows Live Mail and the tile Mail app, and all is well so far. I have no complaints. As part of the Tech Preview, […]

Lots complain about how everything is being or has been dumbed down, and I am as susceptible to being dumbed down by operating systems and applications as anybody. Today, I decided to have yet another go at creating and using a Word template. Yes, I have tried it before in Word 2003, 2007 and now […]

My Toshiba Netbook is back within the Windows Network, the new hard drive has been wiped clean of Linux Mint 17, and is now free for use in its intended role. Its full title is WD5000LPVX 500gb S3 2.5” 5400 7M, and one thing I noticed about the new drive is that it is thinner […]

Don’t look to Windows 8 or 10. Driver support for both is non-existent, especially for the display. If you have a Netbook presently running Windows 7, and most do, it will be Windows 7 Starter, never downloadable in any form, and, I would imagine, next to impossible to get from manufacturers these days. If you […]

I have some very bad news for all of you Internet Explorer haters. But first, I want to reassure you all that I am NOT one of them. I have been an Internet Explorer user from the very beginning, and I actively campaigned to get the ludicrously bad Netscape Navigator replaced by Internet Explorer with […]

This is the link to ‘Answer Desk’, a new Microsoft help service which is accessible via the Windows Store. See here.. http://content.microsoftstore.com/answerdesk  As per everything, the theory always looks good and plausible, but reality can paint a very different picture. See here.. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/undo-damage-caused-by-answer-desk/1ce14482-b93a-4d3c-a210-990f6c3bcf46 As you can see, the recipient of the help given is not […]