My microsoft rant

[bobcat]

Bought an HP desktop years ago with Windows 7, it ran fine. I was offered the free Windows 10 upgrade, and put it on my machine, seemed like a good platform, so stuck with it. A few glitches, once my monitor settings went wonky, it was the result of an upgrade, went online, found a fix, and problem solved. Last Saturday I sit down with my morning tea, and my computer is stuck on a blue screen saying choose your keyboard layout. Can't do anything, rebooting does nothing.

Finally use my Ipad to get on line, yup, a Microsoft update issue, spent all day trying recommended fixes, no joy. Finally got to the choice of resetting, I had a paper weight, so reset it back to factory settings. Lost everything, music, files, and now I have a 2010 Windows 7 machine that I don't know I can trust.

It gets tiresome when Microsoft updates kill what they're supposed to fix. I seriously debated getting a Mac, but don't know if I want to pay the freight for a machine whose specs don't match the latest Windows machines. What's a guy to do? Rant off...

 

[muddocktor]

Stick with Win 7 on the computer. It works well and is still supported and will be for a while into the future. Business has gotten behind Win 7 for the corporate machines.

 

[LVSteve]

A quick root around the Web shows this has been a major problem this month with Windows 10.

Mind you, the Bill Gates Controls Your Life Gang are not the only offenders. Some years ago the AVAST antivirus program updated on my first wife's computer and promptly denied access to the Interweb at any level. Oops.

 

[D Brown]

Windows updates are "for the birds"! I have my computer set to accept NO NEW WINDOWS UPDATES, EVER! I learned the hard way!

Windows updates are meant for one thing only; to irritate the recipient!

 

[vt_shooter]

My biggest rant against Microsoft is having to re-learn everything when they over-haul a program such as Excel. It's maddening to think about how many millions upon millions of man-hours are wasted in this country as everyone has to re-learn what they had already learned. I curse them when I waste time not being able to do what worked a year earlier.

 

[NYlakesider]

I just love Microsoft. Have had them shutdown my computer a few times right in the middle of something important I'm doing. (of course all I was doing is lost)

When the computer finely come back up you find out the sneaky jerks have changed a lot of your settings, many time you favorite places are gone.

As I'm far from a nerd, I normally have to call my DIL and sometimes she can work me through it, other times she has to do a road trip.

 

[johngalt]

I just love Microsoft. Have had them shutdown my computer a few times right in the middle of something important I'm doing. (of course all I was doing is lost)

When the computer finely come back up you find out the sneaky jerks have changed a lot of your settings, many time you favorite places are gone.

As I'm far from a nerd, I normally have to call my DIL and sometimes she can work me through it, other times she has to do a road trip.

It's even better when you find out that was just the first of many download/update/reboot cycles because of all the inter-dependencies.

 

[Watchdog]

I just love Microsoft. Have had them shutdown my computer a few times right in the middle of something important I'm doing. (of course all I was doing is lost)

When the computer finely come back up you find out the sneaky jerks have changed a lot of your settings, many time you favorite places are gone.

I'm not sure I understand this. Microsoft shut down your computer? Remotely? Have you given them access (somehow permanent) to your computer? I know that sometimes their help desk will ask for access, but you don't have to give it to them. And if you run their updates, sometimes they'll ask you if you want to restart now or wait.

Your computer might crash sometimes, or lock up...you get the Blue Screen of Death, maybe...but that isn't Microsoft coming into your system and shutting it down. Do you have automatic updates turned on?

I've been running Microsoft/Windows stuff since 1992, and that's never happened to me. Seriously, never.

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

Do you know any high school kids? They can probably fix it.

 

[Salty RI]

You need to get Joe from India to fix your windows problems. [emoji1]

Sent from my LGL52VL using Tapatalk

 

[hittman77]

Win7 wasn't broke.
They fixed it anyway.

 

[gman51]

I have an old {2006} E Machine windows 7 computer and I was prompted to install windows 10. After hearing all the problems with 10 I put it off for a long time. I decided to install it when it said the free version would not be around much longer.

So I tried the install of 10 only to get a message in the setup that my PC was not compatible with windows 10. I had to laugh at that.

For those that want to say E Machines are junk I will let you know this cheapo PC has outlasted 4x any of my past computers that had cost me more than double what I paid for this PC.

I figured this PC might fail before to long so I bought an IMAC so I could get away from new windows applications computers that are supposedly loaded with spyware and tracking built into them.

I have only used the IMAC a few times because it is so different than windows. I guess I need a 5th grader to show me the ropes to using it.

 

[Firesticks]

i sympathize about updates and systems becoming useless because they are no longer supported. So much wasted time and energy fixing the fix or relearning new systems that are not needed. But remember this is just capitalism and corporate greed and control at it's finest. As long as bottom line remains #1 "We the people" will not count.

 

[JcMack]

I've got a laptop and a desktop with WIN7 on them but two different versions. I've also got a desktop with WIN10 on it. All these were purchased with a pre installed OS. If any of them fails I don't have a disk to restore the OS. As a result I'm pretty judicious about backups.

 

[ParadiseRoad]

...have a new laptop with Windows 10...received a large update last night...

...I went through some hassle to download my old favorite Windows 7 game Chess Titans when I bought the laptop a few weeks ago...

...last night...after the update...Chess Titans was gone...

...after a few choice words...I went to my files to run the Chess Titans installer I had saved...

...no dice...a lovely Trojan Virus had been inserted into the file...

...the Trojan had to have come from Microsoft...or McAfee which I recently uninstalled when their subscription ran out...

...I'm guessing Microsoft by the timing...

 

[Onomea]

Have not touched a Microsoft PC since retiring in 2012.

How sweet it is!

 

[johngalt]

I'm not sure I understand this. Microsoft shut down your computer? Remotely? Have you given them access (somehow permanent) to your computer? I know that sometimes their help desk will ask for access, but you don't have to give it to them. And if you run their updates, sometimes they'll ask you if you want to restart now or wait.

Your computer might crash sometimes, or lock up...you get the Blue Screen of Death, maybe...but that isn't Microsoft coming into your system and shutting it down. Do you have automatic updates turned on?

I've been running Microsoft/Windows stuff since 1992, and that's never happened to me. Seriously, never.

Microsoft isn't remotely shutting down the system. Most likely automatic updates is on. Critical updates get installed and force a reboot, the user is not allowed to abort it. It can be extraordinarily irritating. I always turned off automatic updates so I could do it on my schedule, not theirs.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Windows 10 stinks. But remember to back up your files to a separate storage drive and be happy.

 

[Struckat]

My wife went Mac ten years ago and really likes the what ever.
I can’t make any of them work.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Lost everything, music, files......

Regardless of the computer platform you use, you need appropriate backup, since all machines can fail. Figuring out how to make copies of files, like those personal files you lost, is the bare minimum of your responsibility.


In this age of relatively inexpensive hard/solid-state drives, keeping an updated clone of the operating system on a spare drive is my standard insurance against OS glitches on both my Mac and PC.


Yes, Macs fail also. I've had two hard drives die in my Macs, as well as a glitch in iPhoto, with 40,000 pictures loaded, that required an operating system reload.

Good luck.

I've shown this drive switch from Lian Li here before. It's how I isolate back-up and clone drives. Installed in a spare CD drive bay, it controls six SATA drives. If the operating system glitches, turn it off and fire up the clone.

A great option for backing up computers to a standard SATA bare drive, is a drive docking station, like this Thermaltake dock. Other docks are available for the newer technology drives that are PCEe/NVMe formats.

It's much easier to use than my first docking station.