Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: David Nicholson on February 10, 2015, 08:09:12 PM
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Within the last couple of days I seem to have lost the ability to, for example, copy a web address and then paste it in a Forum message. I thought at first that this might be a Google Chrome issue but I have the same problem with IE. Can anyone help please?
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Firefox :)
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https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Lilium/info (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Lilium/info)
It works for me in Chrome.
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I always highlight then Use Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+V to paste. Have you tried it that way (I mean hold down the Ctrl key then press the indicated letter).
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I always highlight then Use Ctrl+C to copy and Ctrl+V to paste. Have you tried it that way (I mean hold down the Ctrl key then press the indicated letter).
20 things you should use everyday http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/20-pc-shortcuts (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/20-pc-shortcuts)
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Well, just as my problem mysteriously arrived it has now, equally mysteriously, departed and things appear to be normal including being able to copy and paste from the drop down menu. I Googled the problem and it seems to be rife and has(is) causing much angst. I got bored with all the reading but it looked as though it was a Google thing and probably to do with Googles ability to protect its ability to earn insane revenues. (and then not pay the relative amount of tax :P ). Thanks for your help Alan.
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it was a Google thing and probably to do with Googles ability to protect its ability to earn insane revenues. (and then not pay the relative amount of tax :P ).
and that's why it is firefox all the way - because if google does manage to corner most of the browser market its restrictive practices will then get worse - I only ever use chrome with a chromecast because they have actually left the source code open on the chromecast and you can add all your own code to make it do some weird and wonderful things
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Since I have no idea what a chromecast is Graeme (and I suspect I don't need to know!) I'll leave the "weird and wonderful things" to you. I think it it's always the same, you are quite likely to find a share of anti-Firefox posts on the various Forums, indeed I did try once but didn't take to it, I don't like Safari on my Ipad, and I tried Opera for one day and hated it so I don't have much choice.
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Since being widowed I have got by with the computer and limited knowledge I inherited. This with a little help from my son, - a PC man whose time I cannot impose on for prolonged problems.
I have now hit a brick wall. The lap top works fine, but the antivirus package has expired and there is no longer any replacement available for the Mac OS X 10.5.8 it runs on. The machine it too old to support anything more recent than ‘Snow Leopard’ for which antivirus software is available. This is on order and my son will install it.
I anticipate that my problems won’t end there, because when Brian upgraded from OS X 9 to OS X 10 he had no end of problems with printer, scanner etc not then working. He was very computer literate but had to seek help. He knew the right questions to ask, and understood and acted on the replies he got back.
My other alternative is to upgrade to a new computer, but that won’t solve my lack of ability to set it up. Will the Apple Store do this for me and swap the contents of the current one onto the new one? Even so, there are bound to be teething problems or worse that I cannot get round.
Any advice would be welcomed but keep it simple please for this dummy! I could go to Apple for advice, but they will only be interested in selling me a new computer, and the current one does all I want and more. Details of what I currently have copied below:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook
Model Identifier: MacBook4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.1 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MB41.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system): 1.31f0
Hardware UUID: 621293B2-72B0-55BD-84EF-7160058115AA
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
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Maureen - In the same boat although we have OS10.6.8, We cannot advance beyond Snow Leopard as we would lose the function of our loaded Office 2004. Your son might want to check if you would be similarly affected. Worse Microsoft has not issued an Office for Mac update as promised in 2014 or 2015 so we cannot get a new computer and won't as long as this big one keeps chgging along.
The Apple Store folks here are very helpful and not intent on sales. They know their stuff.
AlanB might help with a few words.
john
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Thank you John - any advice helps me to decide which route to go down. Does this mean you operate without antivirus protection? Some say you don't need it for a Mac, others say you do. I wouldn't do banking without it for instance, but then I don't bank on-line anyway.
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Maureen - No we don't have an anti-virus programme. That's not to say there have not been all sorts of attempts to infiltrate here, one needs to be on one's toes with any unusual links that come in via suspicious emails.
By the way when doing private banking, using Paypal or credit cards or using your passwords always click "Safari" then "Private Browsing", that way your cache or history will show none of your key strokes or sites visited to infiltrators. Once you close Safari it defaults to regular browsing histories or simply go back and click Safari and unclick PBrowsing. If you have not done so in the past or forget to once I'm not sure if simply clearing the cache will give you a completely clean slate or not. Hopefully a techy out there will confirm this.
The latest is routers have been bugged in China giving all banking info & passwords via keystrokes to individuals half way round the world! Anti-virus is by-passed completely.
If we can we'll hang on to this computer until the screen konks out If it weren't that I have years of info in Word, Excel & PowerPoint I'd rid myslef of the MS Office programme and be done with it.
john
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These days you only catch computer 'viruses' from the Internet and their purpose is to extract money from you by one means or another. Apple computers are not very prone to viruses because they were never intended to run the wide range of software that PCs do. Every so often a virus does comes along and after a while Apple release a 'patch' to fix it. But 'Snow Leopard', which is OS version 10.6, is no longer being patched so if you have this you are in rather the same position as a PC user with Windows XP. I'm afraid that whole the computer industry depends on selling you much the same thing over and over again by making older hardware and software obsolete.
Even with the best security software you can still be tricked on the internet. Perhaps you get an email purporting to be from your bank with a link that takes you to a web site which is a close copy of the one used by your bank where you are invited to hand over your credentials. If you are naive then it is easy to be caught out and this type of scam works on all computers. There is a telephone version also.
It's hard to know what to recommend. My job is working on computers and most of my work involves house calls. If you can find somebody like this in your area then they may be able to help although you pay a premium price for Apple computers and sometimes that follows on to having to pay a premium price to get them serviced. I'm sure the Apple Store would be helpful if you wanted to buy a new machine but I think they might wash their hands of an old one that you wanted to keep.
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Thank you again, John, and you too Alan. Any experience shared to add to my meagre knowledge is useful and I am passing these messages on to my son so he can help me decide where to go from here. It looks increasingly like I shall stay with the status quo - I shall have to weigh up the pros and cons, one of the latter being that when this computer gives up the ghost, I shall be even more geriatric and therefore less capable of making major changes than I am now.
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When my OH (85 years young) was faced with a similar problem and as he is not very computer orientated, my son gave him a new computer which he uses alongside the older model, which has a programme he uses daily that is not compatible with the new one. He also gave us ipads which we have yet to get to grips with. I suggest that you invest in something more modern so that you are not totally incapable of communicating with the youngsters. Keep your old technology going so that you have an escape mechanism in place when the new box drives you to distraction.
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Good advice, Sheila, I'm sure.
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Keep your old technology going so that you have an escape mechanism in place when the new box drives you to distraction.
But the issue is what to do when the old technology dies. Although this requires a major technical effort, it is possible to create a copy of your old computer and 'run' this on the new one, as something called a 'virtual machine'. This is too complicated for most amateurs but it might be worth commissioning if you want to continue running an obsolete computer program.
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But the issue is what to do when the old technology dies. Although this requires a major technical effort, it is possible to create a copy of your old computer and 'run' this on the new one, as something called a 'virtual machine'. This is too complicated for most amateurs but it might be worth commissioning if you want to continue running an obsolete computer program.
Over the years we have had to 'learn' all about each new computer and the things they each do. I have often struggled because we only replaced the computers when they died. My son dutifully gave us new technology. I'm finding it hard to explain what I mean but Microsoft decided not to continue supporting our last software and Junior told us it was time to update. I had a nightmare time trying to edit photos. My old photo manager was a superb editing kit. Our new one uses a far less discerning programme named Paint. Like Maureen we feel it is unfair to be continually on the phone asking for help. Thanks must go to Maggie because I now know how to tell the difference between 'resize percentage wise or using pixels'. I have also mastered 'crop'. This is much more technical than just planting a few seeds of annuals. The silver surfers are continually told 'you can do it' but some of us are so far behind in computer speak that we do have problems that younger people do not always understand. I think I would have preferred to be familiar with the new technology before I let go of the older machine. I agree that transferring older files is a job for someone who knows what they are doing. I am very grateful for all the support and advice offered if we only ask.
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'Paint' is a very basic picture editing program that has come as part of Windows for as long as I can remember. You would have had it on your old computer but must have had and used something better - not created by Microsoft. It's quite likely that what you had before still exists in an updated form that would run on your new computer. If you can remember the name of the program I can find out for you if that is so.
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Hi Alan,
I have to agree 'Paint' is very basic. I was not aware of it on the previous Windows XP Professional run machine. I used Microsoft Office Picture Manager. It was very easy to use. All is not wasted since I now understand what pixels are. If you know of a way of getting my old programme back I am sure my son will be happy to talk me through installing it. Thank you for your help.
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Get your son to follow the instructions here: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-install-and-get-microsoft-office-picture-manager-back-in-office-2013/ (http://www.askvg.com/how-to-install-and-get-microsoft-office-picture-manager-back-in-office-2013/) . If you read the text, it appears that you can install the program you want even if you do not have a copy of Microsoft Office on your current computer.
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Thank you Alan. I do have Microsoft Office 13 on my computer. I will get in touch with him and he can talk me through it. I found the Picture Manager was much easier and quicker. I shy away from downloading anything because I am not confident of my ability to get myself out of trouble if I do something wrong. I have had to read the camera manual to make editing less necessary but it all takes so much time.
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The other day I noticed a new icon on the task bar of my computer, a black and white version of the Windows logo. On further investigation it seems to be an invitation for me to register for a free version of Windows 10. Although I've done the odd search to try to find information on what it is I'm still far from clear and to what advantages, if any, it will offer me over and above what my current system offers. To me it looks very much aimed at the mobile phone user and I'm not one of them. Any help anyone please?
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The other day I noticed a new icon on the task bar of my computer, a black and white version of the Windows logo. On further investigation it seems to be an invitation for me to register for a free version of Windows 10. Although I've done the odd search to try to find information on what it is I'm still far from clear and to what advantages, if any, it will offer me over and above what my current system offers. To me it looks very much aimed at the mobile phone user and I'm not one of them. Any help anyone please?
Don't for the time being as they are only offering it free for a year and then it will become ransom ware - it seems unclear as to what they are going to to do and once you have ticked the end users contract you are stuck with it - they had originally offered it free to pirates to stop them removing the security and distributing copies, but that offer seems to be in doubt now - let the lemmings have it for a while to iron out the bugs.............(it would apear that the upgrade offer will be there for a year)
for software that is due for imminent release this is an interesting statement "Microsoft had previously declined to answer direct questions about how much Windows 10 will cost, particularly for people upgrading from Windows 7 or XP"
They would also appear not to be making it 'free' to OEM suppliers - so if you buy a new machine and want an operating system you will still have to pay through the nose for it - Google Chrome OS must be biting
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Cheers Graeme many thanks for that. I shall avoid it like the plague. There seems to be no way of deleting the icon in my task bar though.
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Hi David,
Just found this which may be of use to you.
http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-get-windows-10-app-and-its-icon-from-taskbar/ (http://www.askvg.com/how-to-remove-get-windows-10-app-and-its-icon-from-taskbar/)
Cheers
Mick
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.... I shall avoid it like the plague.
It's not all bad.
Sooner or later Microsoft is going to stop supporting Windows 7 and Windows 8 (XP support ended just over a year ago with much accompanying publicity). If you upgrade to Windows 10 you can prolong the supported life of your computer.
Windows 10 may well run a bit faster than Windows 7 does as it does not demand so much of the hardware.
I'm not saying you should upgrade but don't dismiss the option out of hand.
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I'm not saying you should upgrade but don't dismiss the option out of hand.
I just wish they would be crystal clear as to the position - is it free or not
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Get your son to follow the instructions here: http://www.askvg.com/how-to-install-and-get-microsoft-office-picture-manager-back-in-office-2013/ (http://www.askvg.com/how-to-install-and-get-microsoft-office-picture-manager-back-in-office-2013/) . If you read the text, it appears that you can install the program you want even if you do not have a copy of Microsoft Office on your current computer.
A big thank you Alan. I now have my beloved Picture Manager installed thanks to you. I have also found 'Paint' offers the facility to add captions to my edited photos. That is very useful.
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I'm just trying out the new Microsoft 'Edge' browser that will be the default on Windows 10 (and replaces Internet Explorer). The facility to insert hypertext codes (for Bold, italic etc.) when composing forum messages does not work, although you can type in the codes if you know what they are. Perhaps our web administrator should check with SimpleMachines that they are looking into this?
Firefox still works as normal on Windows 10
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Perhaps Microsoft will eventually provide a browser that works properly and until they do it might be better to use Firefox.
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I don't have any problems with this forum http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php (http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php) which has a very similar layout to the Simple Machines Forum software used by SRGC. Are we running the latest version of the Simple Machines Forum software?
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Yes
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I guess one or other of Microsoft or Simple Machines need to sort this out. I looked on the Simple Machines Community forum but could find no reference to this particular issue. But naming a browser after a commonly-used word like 'edge' plays ruins your ability to search for it.
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The plusnet forum you linked to is using a version of SMF (1.1.nn) that was superceded by the version we use (2.0.nn) back in 2008.
The functionality you are missing is provided by Javascript and Microsoft has long used a non standard version (they used to call it jscript) that has caused all sorts of issues over they years. The SMF developers may provide a "fix", but I don't expect they will, because this is not caused by a bug in their code. The path of least resistance is to use Firefox or some other alternative.
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I just thought:
- Forewarned is forearmed; Windows 10 computers will be on sale in a few weeks
- I cannot be the first person to spot and report this problem with a Simple Machines Forum - but perhasp I am.
I'm very happy to use an alternaive browser and in fact I usually do. In this instnace I had to in order to insert a list.
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I have a small problem maybe someone can help. I am trying to hardwire my laptop to the Modem to take advantage of the 250 Mb on offer,but the Laptop is refused to recognise the cable. Wireless is working perfectly. I am using Windows Vista 32-bit operating system on a Acer Aspire. I have tried all the usual things like updating drivers and adjusting the power and testing the cable on another computer,but nothing works. I know it is probably something simple but I can't put my finger on it at the moment. Anyone?
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Forgot to mention I phoned my Broadband supplier technical support and got through to the Philippines. A female answered and asked me what colour of cable I was using,I said grey,she said that's your problem ,you should be using a yellow or orange cable. :'(
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Earlier in this thread I mentioned I had regular problems in that my ability to copy and paste keeps disappearing either with use of the drop down menu or using the control based key variations and this is causing me much annoyance. I nearly resorted to punching the screen and stamping on the keyboard but realised this might cause me further angst! ;D
I did suggest earlier that it might be a Google problem but now don't think so. I spent a lot of time last night Googling the problem (which appears to be widespread) and found much that I didn't understand but also a suggestion that the problem was being caused by a particular Windows update, KB 3057839 and that by uninstalling the update the problem would be solved. So it was but I'm fairly certain the update will creep back when the next batch of Windows updates are issued and I have no idea if the lack of the update is causing any further problems.
I am using Windows 7. Be grateful if one of our resident computer gurus could take a look and give me any views please.
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Forgot to mention I phoned my Broadband supplier technical support and got through to the Philippines. A female answered and asked me what colour of cable I was using,I said grey,she said that's your problem ,you should be using a yellow or orange cable. :'(
Shouldn't it be green for you?
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Problem solved. ;D
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I .. found much that I didn't understand but also a suggestion that the problem was being caused by a particular Windows update, KB 3057839
I think in some instances this update clashed with other software on the computer to cause the problem. For example, I found a documented clash with SpectorSoft monitoring software.
and that by uninstalling the update the problem would be solved.
Worth a try to see what happens.
but I'm fairly certain the update will creep back when the next batch of Windows updates are issued and I have no idea if the lack of the update is causing any further problems.
You can block ("hide") an update if necessary. But if it turns out to be responsible it would be better to find out what it is clashing with.
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Uploaded Windows 10 and now none of the icons above this box, like smileys, superscript or italics etc. work. Any ideas?
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You've latched on to an old thread Anthony, the 2015 version here: http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=12791.msg337380#msg337380 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=12791.msg337380#msg337380)
Some reference to your problem I think but not a solution. I didn't opt to download it, don't trust new software.
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If anyone is installing windows 10 I would suggest they read this article first and use the settings shown...........
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2015/08/windows_10_privacy_problems_here_s_how_bad_they_are_and_how_to_plug_them.html (http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2015/08/windows_10_privacy_problems_here_s_how_bad_they_are_and_how_to_plug_them.html)
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Solved the problem. Somehow Chrome had been changed for bog-standard Google, so we are good now. 8)
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Outlook 2010 is being a pain in the a$$. It says either not connected or work offline. I am connected to the internet. My work offline button doesn't do anything when clicked. I've had very limited number of email coming in since Tuesday
Any ideas?
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I'm having the same problem with my email, Mark. Not sure which version of Outlook I'm using though. I am getting only the odd email and know that there are masses not coming through. Normally I could pick them up by logging into BT directly online but the missing ones are not showing there either. Have heard that some being sent to me are bouncing back to the senders but what is happening to the majority I don't know. Neither can I see why one or two are coming through while the bulk are not.
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Get rid of Outlook if you can and try Thunderbird, it works a treat. I use it for both my BT mail and my GMail.
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I think the problems are with BT and not Outlook
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If anyone is installing windows 10 I would suggest they read this article first and use the settings shown...........
http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2015/08/windows_10_privacy_problems_here_s_how_bad_they_are_and_how_to_plug_them.html (http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2015/08/windows_10_privacy_problems_here_s_how_bad_they_are_and_how_to_plug_them.html)
Thanks for posting that Graeme, it horrifies me that Microsoft is able to get away with that. If I ever do download Windows 10 I shall certainly use the settings advised in that Link.
I'm pretty certain that other than Anthony there must be other Forumists who have downloaded Windows 10? If so it would be useful to the rest of us if you would post your impressions.
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Good idea David. I've had W 10 for 3 days. In general I'm quite impressed but like you I will follow some of the advice in the link Graeme posted. Only drawback so far is Microsoft Money does not work in W 10! Slightly annoyed the compatibility check didn't flag this. So my laptop will not be upgraded till I've found an alternative bit of home accounting software. (my Money is 2002 after all and perhaps it's time to move on!).
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I think the problems are with BT and not Outlook
For sure , Martin - Ian was on the phone with BT for over an hour - no resolution of course!
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Give Microsoft office a try or if I remember correctly there is a free equivalent from the people behind Linux the free operating system.
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One of our neighbours had problems last week. They were receiving e-mails but their sent e-mails were disappearing without trace! I think several phone calls were required before it was resolved.
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...............................if I remember correctly there is a free equivalent from the people behind Linux the free operating system.
I had thought of possibly moving from Widows to a Linux operating system but these words from an American computer expert, Matt Fuller, made me think again.
""Enter the curve
Now, let's apply learning curves to this. To make use of a Unix system, you have to climb a steep curve. There's a fair bit of initial work and knowledge you have to put in to aquire just a basic level of proficiency in it. It takes some investment of time to get to the point that you can do more than just stare at it. So, by the time somebody has a working knowledge of Unix, they've put a fair bit of effort into it.
By contrast, the shallow learning curve of Windows allows very quick and easy integration. A person can gain a working knowledge of Windows in an hour. It doesn't require any studying, or much questioning. For all practical purposes, it's almost indistinguishable from no investment at all.""
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It doesn't sound great David, I have to admit to sticking to what I know eg windows. I'd pick Microsoft office Martin.
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My sent emails are also not arriving and not showing up in the sent folder
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I'm with sky but they rent the line off BT. One email address has totally stopped send and receiving
I've just created a gmail email similar to my own marksgardenplantsATgmail.com
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I have Office. It does not include a home accounting programme. MS Money was the Microsoft offering but they no longer do one
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Martin,
It's interesting to learn that Microsoft Money does not work in Windows 10. I had serious difficulty getting it to work with Windows 7 when I upgraded from an XP machine several years ago, eventually downloading a patch I discovered on the the Internet. Unfortunately there does not seem to be suitable (and simple!) alternative to the long discontinued MS Money which I find helpful for generating reports from bank statements for end-of-year accounts. Any suggestions gratefully received!
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I'm needing to upgrade my Office package. Had to use an old version as I removed my new computer from its packaging to bring it to NZ, not realising the Key to Office 2010 was on the box! :'( Here it's $99/year or $250 for the life of the computer!
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There is a rental version of Office called 'Office 365'.
The most recent retail version of Office is 'Office 2013'.
You can preview 'Office 2016' (a free trial lasting a few months) https://products.office.com/en-GB/office-2016-preview
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http://www.moneymanagerex.org/ (http://www.moneymanagerex.org/)
Is this worth a look?
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I have tried Windows 10 myself and have heard a few reports from others. In my opinion, unless you are adventurous, adept with computers and have time on your hands then it's too soon to upgrade to Windows 10. There are still too many bugs and Microsoft is creating more in its haste to fix them. I'm sure Windows 10 will settle down after a while but, unless you want to be a guinea pig, wait until that happens.
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A friend of mine in Dunblane has been a guinea pig for Windows 10 for the last 6 months or so and thinks it's better than Windows 8. He has no complaints.
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Thanks David, I think I'll give that one a try and report back.
Alan, looks like I should stick to the plan and have 10 on one machine and 7 on the other!
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A friend of mine in Dunblane has been a guinea pig for Windows 10 for the last 6 months or so and thinks it's better than Windows 8. He has no complaints.
If you volunteer to be a guinea pig you can hardly complain.
I'm running two copies of Windows 10 which are nominally the same and which run on the same computer! One I installed from scratch as your friend would have done. The other is an upgrade from Windows 8.1. I have had problems with both but far more problems with the upgrade because of inherited baggage from the previous version of Windows.
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I don't think he volunteered. It would be a 'perk' of his job.
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What happened to Windows 9?
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I think they tried that in Germany, but if failed to catch on. ;)
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I've installed Windows 10 as an upgrade on 3 machines - 2 desktops and a virtual machine on a Mac Book Air. All the installs went very smoothly and I haven't had any issues apart from a couple of minor drivers to update manually on one of the PCs. In all 3 cases it is definitely superior to Windows 7. I had expected to have to follow up the upgrade with a clean install on at least one of the machines but it has proved to be very stable, so no need yet. I haven't found any applications that don't work just fine in W10. I have turned off all off all of the privacy options and also completely uninstalled all of the Modern/Metro apps. Doing the latter made a very significant improvement in performance and I won't miss them at all in a desktop environment.
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I had heard that Microsoft wanted to put some distance between them and the disaster that was windows 8 so they went straight to 10. I signed up for the insider programme Microsoft was running to test windows 10, that was ok, the full software is even better. If you download it in the first year it's free so that's not bad is it?
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John L, what are the Modern/Metro Apps you refer to?
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Martin, Windows 10, like 8, comes bundled with a lot of Microsoft apps - called Metro Apps in 8, I think they have changed the name to Modern Apps now. They are not apps you install, they come with the OS. There are a ton of them, and they are installed automatically - you will see the tiles in the start menu - things like Microsoft's own version of a mail client, calendar, calculator, photos, movies and TV, camera, music, news, weather, sports etc. While some folks might like some of them I have my own preferences for other programs and the Modern/Metro apps are completely superfluous and certainly take up a big chunk of system resources, as well as screen real estate. They and many more are accessible through the Microsoft Store (another app). You can't uninstall them like you would a regular program but you can get rid of them by running Windows Powershell (have to 'run as an administrator) from the search tool. See http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-remove-all-bundled-apps-in-windows-10/ (http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-remove-all-bundled-apps-in-windows-10/) for how to do this. It is really straightforward and the performance gain is very significant once you have got rid of them. You can put them, including the uninstalled Store, back later if you really want them. For anyone with a prior version of Windows I would recommend upgrading to W10. It is great.
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I think I need to go to W10 for my new laptop - thanks JohnL for giving a touch of confidence to the process - and thanks to all for the tips re which bits to ditch.
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..........In all 3 cases it is definitely superior to Windows 7..................
John, obviously your computer skills are well in advance of many of us here and I wonder if it is possible for you to expand in fairly simplistic terms why you feel Windows 10 is superior to Windows 7?
For example in my case Windows 7 is perfectly capable of everything I want to do on a computer. I also use an iPad mini, but not a lot and I don't own a mobile phone and never will. Thus, to me, the concept of something capable of operating over many platforms is a mis-homer.
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I've followed John's advice and dumped the useless (to me) modern apps. I have to say the most obvious and remarkable difference on my desktop machine is the vastly improved start up time with W10
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John, obviously your computer skills are well in advance of many of us here and I wonder if it is possible for you to expand in fairly simplistic terms why you feel Windows 10 is superior to Windows 7?
This question was not addressed to me but I still prefer Windows 7 to 10. The graphics of Windows 7 are much more sophisticated than those of Windows 8 or 10 which, to me, give those a dumbed-down feel. Windows 10 has 'Cortana' - which is a voice recognition search assistant that will respond to spoken questions - but she's really just a gimmick at this stage (and John probably uninstalled her Edit: No, I read in the link John provided that that is not possible). Other than that I have not found anything of significance that Windows 10 can do that Windows 7 cannot. I recently had to do a fresh install of Windows 7 which I run on the same computer as two copies of Windows 10. I cannot tell the difference in start-up time or ultimate speed between any of these although I have not got rid of the Metro/Modern apps as John has and I don't play computer games, which tend to be more performance sensitive than ordinary programs.
John, it looks as if I could set up one account with the Metro apps removed and run it side-by-side with an un-tweaked account to compare the differences between the two. You have inspired me to try this.
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David, There is no need to upgrade at all if you are perfectly happy with your Windows 7 setup. W7 is a great OS and won't fall apart overnight. If you are not going to do much at all beyond what you do now, then you can choose to stay with what you've got. You can read in many places why W10 is 'better', but I suspect most of those improvements won't be of any interest to you. W7 was released in October 2009 so is 6 years old, even though it has had a lot of service packs and updates over the intervening years. Microsoft will continue to support it for a long time. That said, new products and future developments will be aimed at W10 and W7 will become more and more of a legacy product. I never updated to W8 or 8.1, after a quick look see on a laptop convinced me it was horrible on the laptop and unusable on a desktop. I was ready for W10 and couldn't find a good reason to not upgrade. I had several good reasons to move on though. I use Google Chrome as my browser and recent updates have introduced major memory leaks which consume tons of RAM in W7, at least on my systems - although it is well documented elsewhere. This slowed down my browser and necessitated frequent closure and reopening events. Still in Chrome, there has been a well documented issue for ages that Shockwave keeps crashing, and nothing I've been able to do would fix it. After installing W10 these two major issues (for me) have completely gone away. I love the multiple desktops available in W10 that were not available in W7. It certainly boots faster and I prefer the look and feel of W10. Transitioning from W7 is very easy and W10 is free. I took a look for a few days to see how the updates would roll out and the whole update process seems to have become a non-event - exactly what Microsoft hoped for. Sure, there have been small glitches for a minority of folks but how could there not be with something of this magnitude, and philosophically I'm not on board with the forced updates they are pushing out, but that may change. Microsoft couldn't afford to get it wrong, and they got it right, it seems.
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John, thanks for taking the time and thanks also to Alan. As a result of what both of you have said I shall continue to use Windows 7 for as long as it is available and it will probably see me through to my dotage :D
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John has a very positive view of Windows 10 and the upgrade process. In my professional capacity I was contacted by someone who upgraded but then found major difficulties, She subsequently emailed me thus:
It's taken 4 hours but I've finally got Windows 7 back! P.C.World stated they have been inundated with complaints about Windows 10 and thought that Windows 7 was just as good at the moment because Microsoft have not sorted out the teething problems and gremlins with version 10.
In my case both the upgrade itself and the first major update failed in the first instance. Both problems I was able to resolve for myself but only by delving deeper into the inner workings of Windows than most people would wish to.
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After searching for a way to run Microsoft Money in Windows 10 I came across this fix.
MS Money has worked with following registry change.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer]
"Version"="9.11.10240.0" (originaly: 9.11.10240.16384)
Just replace the last 5 digits with 0 & program works fine.
Could not manage without MS Money.
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Thanks Mike, good old Money 2002 now working normally..........bliss 8) And as I'm still using IE rather than Edge the emoticons work as well :D :D
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Thanks for that Mike, I may try it if I'm feeling bold enough to delve into the registry.
I'm currently on the 'waiting list' to upgrade Windows 8 on my laptop as I've never been comfortable with W8. If we get on ok, then I'll possibly upgrade my desktop (where MS Money is) - after I've finished my accounts for the year!
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While some folks might like some of them I have my own preferences for other programs and the Modern/Metro apps are completely superfluous and certainly take up a big chunk of system resources, as well as screen real estate. They and many more are accessible through the Microsoft Store (another app). You can't uninstall them like you would a regular program but you can get rid of them by running Windows Powershell (have to 'run as an administrator) from the search tool. See http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-remove-all-bundled-apps-in-windows-10/ (http://winaero.com/blog/how-to-remove-all-bundled-apps-in-windows-10/) for how to do this.
On reflection, I think that's a very drastic solution, John. If you right click a tile there is the option 'Turn live tile off'. Presumably turning a live tile off should be sufficient to prevent it from consuming any system resources and you can make your decision on a case-by-case basis. There is also the 'Unpin from start' option if you don't want it to consume screen real estate.
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"On reflection, I think that's a very drastic solution, John. If you right click a tile there is the option 'Turn live tile off'. Presumably turning a live tile off should be sufficient to prevent it from consuming any system resources and you can make your decision on a case-by-case basis. There is also the 'Unpin from start' option if you don't want it to consume screen real estate."
Just to clarify, my aim wasn't to pretty up the start menu by getting rid of a few tiles, active or otherwise. I wanted to uninstall all the unwanted (by me) system apps for all users and make sure they didn't show up in the "All Apps" menu and consume system resources. If you try it you'll find that no amount of right-clicking in the "All Apps" menu will achieve that. If you want to be selective rather than get rid of them all in one go you can do that as well - https://thomas.vanhoutte.be/miniblog/delete-windows-10-apps/. None of these actions are irreversible, but if you are not comfortable doing them or don't care about clutter and unnecessary use of system resources then just don't do them. What I did accomplished exactly what I wanted to do in the most effective and efficient way.
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... What I did accomplished exactly what I wanted to do in the most effective and efficient way.
Yes, I understand that perfectly. But as a recommendation to others, who may be less certain about exactly what they want to achieve, using the option to turn-off live tiles on a case-by-case basis ought to prevent anything you don't want having an adverse effect on performance whilst allowing you to change your mind later without having to look-up the command syntax.
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Yes, I understand that perfectly. But as a recommendation to others, who may be less certain about exactly what they want to achieve, using the option to turn-off live tiles on a case-by-case basis ought to prevent anything you don't want having an adverse effect on performance whilst allowing you to change your mind later without having to look-up the command syntax.
You are confusing two completely different things Alan. The tiles are in the start panel and can be there or not, live or not, but unless you take one of the approaches I suggested the parent apps are ALWAYS in the "All Apps" menu and consuming resources. Right-clicking the tiles in the Start panel allows you to turn them on or off or unpin them. Right-clicking the system apps menu items in the "All Apps" menu does not allow you to get rid of them.
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just in case you get this issue.......
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/11/windows-10-broken-update-endless-reboot-loop (http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/11/windows-10-broken-update-endless-reboot-loop)
and how to fix it............
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-10-update-kb3081424-fails-to-install (http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-10-update-kb3081424-fails-to-install)
as yet micro$oft have failed to issue a fix
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Graeme, I actually had that problem myself and fixed it as suggested. But it's a tremendously dangerous fix to get wrong.
John, yes I am confused. What resources are these 'dead' tiles consuming? There's space on my hard drive but I have much more than I need. There's real estate on my desktop but I could remove them if I don't like that. But I cannot see any evidence in Task Manager that they are consuming any memory or CPU or hard disk activity.
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Another Windows 10 (might not be its fault!). Since upgrading I get normal sound when viewing videos etc on e.g. the BBC website but no sound on YouTube videos. Any suggestions?
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I just tried BBC iPlayer and a YouTube video using Microsoft's new 'Edge' browser. Both managed sound and pictures with no apparent difficulties.
Which web browser are you using, Martin?
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The problem exists with both IE and Edge
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If it's a sound issue, perhaps you need to update your sound chip drivers. Windows will install the best ones it can find during the update but might have got it wrong. Do you know how to identify what sound chip drivers you have?
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Alan, got there and tried the update drivers. it says I have the best windows can find. The unfortunate thing is there doesn't seem to be anywhere to roll back to. The roll back option is greyed out
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it says I have the best windows can find.
Windows isn't perfect at finding drivers, particularly audio drivers. Is it using a Microsoft driver at present or one from another supplier, Realtek for example? if you tell me the make and model of your computer I can make an educated guess at what drivers you should be using. Send me a PM if you don't want everybody to know.
Edit: Also, when you try to play a YouTube video, have you checked the volume control is not at zero or set to mute?
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Having tried many options and finding no solution to the YouTube sound issue and coming across one or two other little hiccups I've reverted to Windows 7 for the moment and cured all my little problems!
I will try Windows 10 again in a few months because in general I liked it.
In retrospect I should have followed Alan's cautious approach to Apps rather than John's more radical one which may have been the cause of at least one of my minor irritations.
Anyway now I'm off to listen to some more classic Aly Bain recordings on YouTube
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Small world, Martin - Aly Bain is one of Ian's swimming pals when he (Aly) is in Aberdeen, which is quite often. On of our best musicians and a nice bloke too!
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In retrospect I should have followed Alan's cautious approach to Apps rather than John's more radical one which may have been the cause of at least one of my minor irritations.
I like to experiment so I twice tried a variant of John's radical approach but applied to just one user account. In both cases Windows 10 went wrong quite shortly afterwards. Henceforward, I myself will stick to the cautious approach to Windows 10 Apps that I advocated as best for most people.
When you click the Windows 10 start button you see a collection of 'Tiles' on the right side of the pop-up Window.
Some of these have information which updates but you can stop that happening by right-clicking each tile in turn and selecting 'Turn live tile off'.
If there is something there that you are sure you don't want, some tiles have an Uninstall option.
In principle, just turning off a live tile should prevent it from having an impact on the performance of your computer.
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Hi
For my birthday yesterday, my daughter gave me a chromecast dongle. You plug it into the back of your TV, follow the setup instructions and you can then 'cast' things like youtube videos or BBC iPlayer from your phone or computer to your TV screen. From a computer, you must be using the chrome browser.
I started an Ian Young bulblog video in one tab of the browser and it is currently playing on my TV set as I make this post in another tab.
Does anyone else use this dongle and if so do you have any helpful tips?
Bob
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Hi
For my birthday yesterday, my daughter gave me a chromecast dongle. You plug it into the back of your TV, follow the setup instructions and you can then 'cast' things like youtube videos or BBC iPlayer from your phone or computer to your TV screen. From a computer, you must be using the chrome browser.
I started an Ian Young bulblog video in one tab of the browser and it is currently playing on my TV set as I make this post in another tab.
Does anyone else use this dongle and if so do you have any helpful tips?
Bob
Got one on black Friday last year for £13 from Tesco - and oddly enough the box I selected had a £20 off voucher in as well ;) - Curry's supplied a LG 55" 4K as well. The chrome cast is probibly one of the best things I have bought in a long time. The bit I like is that they have left the source code open so you can rewrite the base code - there are a lot of code hacks for it if you search the internet. I quite like having my laptops screen cast to the TV - though it does crash the chrome cast sometimes (spreadsheets on a 55" tv is great fun :( ) - another top quality google product that turns even dumb tv's smart
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Have Microsoft renamed their browser Internet Explorer (Not Responding), or is it just me?
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I've been having quite a lot of that on Firefox, too.... and BT email is playing silly devils again ..... #sigh#
[attachimg=1]
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I've been having quite a lot of that on Firefox, too.... and BT email is playing silly devils again ..... #sigh#
(Attachment Link)
BT are having issues today big style
[attachimg=2]
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Too flippin' right! My BT email isn't delivering to my pc and for part of the time inthe last few days I' haven't been able to access it online either.... Tsk!
[attachimg=1]
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No BT problems here this morning or yesterday!
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No BT problems here this morning or yesterday!
Still got issues here - I will be voting with my feet - this is final straw for me with rip off BT
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Still only getting access to emails by logging dorect to BT.com online - nothing coming or going to my OE - very irritating but I'm doubtful that any of the others are any better really. Working on a better the devil you know at the meantime. >:(
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Still only getting access to emails by logging dorect to BT.com online - nothing coming or going to my OE - very irritating but I'm doubtful that any of the others are any better really. Working on a better the devil you know at the meantime. >:(
their tech help for broadband have a 0800 number that they don't seem to publicise much - 0800 111 4567 - they seem to answer this one quicker than the 0345 number......
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Yes, thanks - I'm setting the BD onto it as soon as he has time - I keep out of such things- like the delicate little woman I am! :D
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Over the past few days my monitor has been 'freezing' and it's necessary to turn the computer off to free it. Sometimes it logs-on frozen.
The computer has been in for overhaul but nothing to cause the problem has been found. Yesterday was trouble free but this morning it has frozen twice.
I profess ignorance about these thing but welcome suggestions.
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Chris,
When you say frozen do you mean the mouse or touchpad won't track or does the mouse still move but nothing happens.
From what you say Mouse drivers and or graphic card issues spring to my mind.
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Chris,
When you say frozen do you mean the mouse or touchpad won't track or does the mouse still move but nothing happens.
From what you say Mouse drivers and or graphic card issues spring to my mind.
Ian, the mouse doesn't track.
Thanks for the pointer, I'll ask the boss to look at for me.
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Over the past few days my monitor has been 'freezing' and it's necessary to turn the computer off to free it. Sometimes it logs-on frozen.
The computer has been in for overhaul but nothing to cause the problem has been found. Yesterday was trouble free but this morning it has frozen twice.
Mine has had the same problem recently (last few months) Suddenly it is dead. No keyboard, no visible cursor. The only key that works is the off button. I usually do a routine windows restart and all is OK. Tried the windows offer to recover exactly where I was and that works too; much to my surprise. Puts me straight back in the same place in the SRGC forum. Not that it only happens during the forum as far as I can recall. Seems random. At first I thought it was me mistyping something but really have no idea now.
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Chris,
When you say frozen do you mean the mouse or touchpad won't track or does the mouse still move but nothing happens.
From what you say Mouse drivers and or graphic card issues spring to my mind.
Hi Ian
Christine downloaded the latest drive for the mouse but it still froze. I have a USB Hub because of all the 'stuff' on the computer and bypassing this worked. Later, the keyboard froze but worked after bypassing the hub. Same with the microscope camera, so the Hub would appear to be the culprit.
Thanks for your thought.
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My google chrome stopped working today. I had to uninstall it then re-install, now working again.
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Mine stopped the other day and I tried uninstalling a reinstalling. Still not working. Having to use Microsoft edge, which is rubbish.
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*****Firefox*******
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*****Firefox*******
Tried it for several weeks. Went back to IE.
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Would that be IE(NR)?
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Would that be IE(NR)?
Decode please; unless it's rude then Maggie will object ;-) It's IE ver.11/Win 7 if that helps.
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That's Internet Explorer (Not Responding). See reply #102 above!
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The not responding prompt I can deal with, even if I don't know why it happens so often. It was the loss of cursor and keyboard that we were talking about I think. There is just nothing. My Acer touchpad is not the most helpful but no keyboard either is a pain.
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Mine has had the same problem recently (last few months) Suddenly it is dead. No keyboard, no visible cursor.
Certain graphics output problems can cause the screen to freeze so you just see whatever was last displayed. This can give the appearance of a frozen mouse/touchpad and keyboard but that isn't really the problem at all. If your computer has indicator lights for Caps Lock and/or Num Lock and these still change when you press the appropriate key then it is likely that your keyboard is still working, even though you cannot see it.
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Certain graphics output problems can cause the screen to freeze so you just see whatever was last displayed. This can give the appearance of a frozen mouse/touchpad and keyboard but that isn't really the problem at all. If your computer has indicator lights for Caps Lock and/or Num Lock and these still change when you press the appropriate key then it is likely that your keyboard is still working, even though you cannot see it.
Wish I had read this earlier this evening Alan; had another freeze while watching the last episode of New Tricks. Dead when I went back to it. Next time I will try and check the lights. I get the impression the laptop is getting warmer than it used to. Quite hot at times. Does the fact that the cursor disappears mean anything?
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Does the fact that the cursor disappears mean anything?
It could mean that my conjecture is wrong; I would have expected to see the cursor visible but frozen. But I'm not sure as I have only witnessed the phenomenon I am describing once or twice.
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Going back to the discussion we had back in August on Windows 10 I chose not to download it but I wondered if those who did might comment on how they have found it and whether it's worth while for me to reconsider?
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The jury still seems to be out, from what I read, as to whether Microsoft will try and force us to migrate eventually.
I have had my laptop freeze again twice in the last 2 days, after a long problem free period.
1st time no cursor nothing. Keyboard dead; no leds with shift or caps lock. 2nd time dead cursor in centre of screen, well the circling pause cursor type frozen. Used on/off button to recover, normal win start.
Recently turned off auto updates. Cannot live with windows controlling when it wants me to pause my life while it does things.
Turned off 3 weeks ago 45 mins before leaving to go out to do a Powerpoint show. It took 40 mins to close down because of updates. Starting up at the venue it somehow zipped through many 1000's of updates before it got going; fortunately in a matter of 2 minutes. Took a 2nd laptop in case. Surely professionals can't live like this!
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Having applied to download Windows 10 in mid-August to replace the Windows 8 on my laptop it finally downloaded about a month later (took about 3 hours to download and get itself working) and so far I can't fault it - he said with fingers crossed! ::) I believe that it now downloads within a day or so of asking for the upgrade.
The computer now looks like it's running Windows 7 with a few of the little tiles that made Windows 8 so awful tucked away in a corner where they cause no problem, and indeed are even useful. No more swiping in from the right/left of the screen to find out where the document you've just been working on has disappeared to. Yes, when you look at some of the menus the are a little different, with a style that has been carried over from Windows 8, but I've found them to be fairly intuitive. So the verdict there is so far, so good.
I have not, however, changed the operating system on my desktop machine which runs Windows 7, mainly because I still use it to run Microsoft Money 2002 amongst other things, and there is not really a suitable substitute for my purposes and MS Money does not run on Windows 10. I believe Martin Rogerson said he'd discovered a way around this, but I'm not feeling brave enough to try it.
The desktop is now quite old (a 32-bit machine) and will need to be replaced soon to allow me to use up to date photo software, so I plan to keep the old machine and disconnect the wireless card so it can't access the Internet. This will allow me to continue to use the computer for the older programs without being bothered by continual reminders from Microsoft that my operating system is obsolete.
I suppose that I would therefore summarise by advising that it's probably worthwhile upgrading from Windows 8 to 10, but if I just had one machine which was running Windows 7, I would probably not change. I believe Microsoft are likely to support Windows 7 beyond about 2020, by which time one would probably need to upgrade the computer anyway.
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I run both Windows 7 and Windows 10 on the same computer. Windows 10 crashes with a 'Blue Screen of Death' every few weeks. Windows 7 has never done that (since I reloaded it about six months ago).
The main thing to recommend Windows 10 over 7 is its longevity; it will be supported by Microsoft until 2025 whereas support for Windows 7 is scheduled to end in 2020. However I prefer 7 to 10 because I find the visual appearance more appealing, I sometimes relax by playing one of the built-in games that are removed when you upgrade to 10 and 10 has no additional features that are of value to me.
Windows 8 (& 8.1) represent an anomaly in that a lot of the controls are different from previous versions of Windows and different from Windows 10 also. So if you have not yet learned to find your way around Windows 8 then I see little point in doing so. You might as well upgrade. You can tweak Windows 10 by adding tiles of your own (for Documents, Pictures etc.) so it behaves quite like Windows 7. But if you like Windows 8 I beleive it is more stable than Windows 10 is at present.
With regard to updates, Windows 10 uses cumulative udates each of which supersedes the last so you never get more than at handful at a time. The computer may need to restart to complete the update but you can schedule when that happens. Every so often there will be a really big update (as happened in November) that may take an hour or more to complete. With prior versions of Windows, if you first log-off then shut down you get the option to avoid installing any pending updates.
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Windows 10 is free, it is the now and the future and it works. My installations have continued to be completely trouble-free. Not a single regret here. The rest is subjective.
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We have two computers; one ran Windows 7 and the other Windows 8.1 which would regularly freeze, requiring the usual hi-tech solution of 'switching it off and switching it back on again'. Changed the Windows 7 machine to Windows 10 a few months ago and have had no problems and it starts up faster. Only got the notification this week that I could upgrade the Windows 8.1 machine to Windows 10 and did it on Tuesday. No problems so far.
There are lots of posts on the web about Windows 10 privacy settings and what to do about them. By default it does a lot of tracking (purely of course to help you by personalising ads etc.) and shares information with "trusted" partners. Various websites tell you how these "helpful" features can be turned off.
Bob
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A couple of additional comments addressing concerns above. You don't need to wait to be invited to download W10. Ever since launch it has been available from Microsoft for you to go and download and install whenever you like. Also, you can schedule updates to be installed at a time convenient to you, they don't have to be either on and installed when available, or off.
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A couple of additional comments addressing concerns above. You don't need to wait to be invited to download W10. Ever since launch it has been available from Microsoft for you to go and download and install whenever you like. Also, you can schedule updates to be installed at a time convenient to you, they don't have to be either on and installed when available, or off.
As usual, the internet gives conflicting advice and some people want to be on the safe side. I quote from: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/upgrade-windows-10-now-wait/ (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/upgrade-windows-10-now-wait/)
'Users with hardware that did not have problems got the update sooner and users with hardware that has known compatibility problems with Windows 10 are getting it when they are confident the problems are resolved. Many people who aren’t getting the notification are forcing their computer to 10 when it’s really not ready for it and are thus having problems.'
Bob
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Thanks for responding all. I shall stick with Windows 7 for as long as possible.
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Why does my Samsung Galaxy S4 (inherited from my son) keep switching to vibrate mode, seemingly at random, when I'm in camera mode? The result is a picture or video that looks as if it's been shot through a shower glass with water running down it! ???
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So there I was, pondering the big questions of life, such as:
- who put the do in the do wah diddy?
- why is there only one Monopolies and Mergers Commission?
- should I upgrade to Windows 10?
when I switched on the laptop to find that Microsoft had made the decision for me and Windows 10 was downloading.
Took around 8 hours to download and nearly as long again to install. So far it works and seems faster; now all I have to do is get all my settings back to how I like them!
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A Windows 10 update.....Microsoft Money 2002 now works in the latest version
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Yippee!!!
:D :D
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Not exactly a problem, but I like to know what is going on.
Not bought or sold anything recently on Ebay, but all? of my recent emails from them reminding me of what I have being looking at are blank. Just header and footer, no content. Tried resending it to myself, still blank. This is with IE 11, which I prefer. If I read them in Firefox OK.
If I highlight the email and paste into word the content appears as the words
Hide
Message body
which suggests an instruction from something of mine.
Whose instruction ? Ideas please.
This sometimes turns up on 1 or other of my discussion groups, but usually I can see them and someone is having the problem.
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In addition to my BT email address I have a Google mail account that I use for all my work connected with my Advertising Manager role for SRGC. Over the last couple of days I have received over a 100 emails in my Google mail account which are 'delivery status notifications' saying that my emails to a large number of email addresses are 'undeliverable'. I have sent no emails to any of these addresses and each email is accompanied by an attachment. I have opened none of these and have deleted all of the 'delivery status notifications'.
It looks to me that my Google address has been 'hoovered up' by spammers. Has anyone else been similarly affected and what's is the best way around the problem please? I read all of my emails in Thunderbird and never use the BT or Google systems.
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Ebay .... all? of my recent emails from them .. are blank. Just header and footer, no content. This is with IE 11, which I prefer. If I read them in Firefox OK.
If I highlight the email and paste into word the content appears as the words
The problem would seem to be confined to Internet Explorer. Deleting the browser cache might work (Internet Options - General - Delete browsing history). Failing that try Internet Options - Advanced - Reset.
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Would also be worth running a scan on your machine, David.
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It looks to me that my Google address has been 'hoovered up' by spammers. Has anyone else been similarly affected and what's is the best way around the problem please?
Go online. Log on to your Google Account and change the password. Make it hard to guess; a name followed by a short number is too easy. Adjust your Thunderbird settings for the new password.
It's possible your email address is just being 'spoofed' in which case there is nothing you can do. That used to be commonplace but it's getting harder as email systems tighten-up on authenticated sending.
Whilst it's always worth doing a scan on your machine, it's pretty unlikely your machine had anything to do with sending the emails that were bounced back to you.
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Two full scans done. First was Malwarebytes, free edition, which turned up 381 cases of PUP.Optional.MindSpark, now deleted. The week before last I had a problem on going to a guitar tutorial web site I use regularly; the 'shape' of the site was substantially different from what it was previously , and , to cut a long story short, I had to spend the next couple of hours getting rid of a search engine and toolbar that I hadn't requested or wanted together with a large number of pieces of software littering my programme files. A Malwarebytes scan following that exercise also turned up innumerable .MindSparks files which were cleared out.
Second was Msoft Security Essentials with no problems detected.
Alan, thanks for you advice.
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Thanks for responding all. I shall stick with Windows 7 for as long as possible.
Perhaps like many others I have received one of those annoying messages from Microsoft to say that my option to take the 'free' Windows 10 will expire at the end of this month. I haven't taken it and have still no intention of doing so.
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Perhaps like many others I have received one of those annoying messages from Microsoft to say that my option to take the 'free' Windows 10 will expire at the end of this month. I haven't taken it and have still no intention of doing so.
and as I have said before at some stage they will start to make you pay and it looks like the start of it has been deployed in the most recent update
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/685963/Windows-10-Microsoft-Hidden-Subscription-Plan-Operating-System (http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/685963/Windows-10-Microsoft-Hidden-Subscription-Plan-Operating-System)
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They won't persuade me to pay for something I don't want. I shall continue to use Windows 7 for as long as it is available and after that the Ipad will come out the drawer in which it spends most of it's time.
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The messages about windows 10 get sneakier - to start with they are easy to be rid of if you don't want to move on - then they start being more about "choose a time now, or else" - I was very busy in the middle of a task one day when the darn thing popped up - I assumed it was the usual version and clicked it to "go away" - only then did I realise the message had changed and I'd clicked to download the bloomin' thing.
Much moaning and some swearing ensued - I was so angry I had been so stupid - however, the Bulb Despot (as my boss is affectionately known) pointed out that I'd have to change at some point anyway so since I had fallen into the trap I may as well just go with it!
He's not always right - pause for effect - but he was in this case. It was all a bit fiddly for a while and took a long time to get it all loaded etc which was a good excuse for some down-time to get my eyes less square again!) and now I seem to be managing fine with it. Shall not say too much for fear of a jinx but .... so far .....
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I suddenly stopped getting emails from the Forum, and found that all my notification had been cleared. Hopefully I have reset them all, but why would this happen? Anyone else experience this?
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I keep getting a message from the webpage which says Failed on loading skin name. The file "shell.css" is required in your "sscommon/skins/....../css" directory. To fix this problem, please check the skin name in your config file or re-install the application. I have looked ion the search box and can,t find any reference to shell.css or skin name. Not being a 7 year old I have no idea what I am supposed to do. Does anyone know what the message means?
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...and I'm still not getting emails: notifications gone again.
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I disabled my win 7 auto update a few months back, as it caught me out with a 45 minutes wait just when I wanted to leave for an AGS meeting and was using my laptop for a presentation. Now updated I find my laptop function keys have gone haywire. They sort of work but I have no display to tell me what is happening. Not sure but it seems I have wifi or Bluetooth but have lost the display to tell me what and when. Similarly screen brightness, audio volume, numlock etc. All the on screen displays have gone. After Googling this seems an ongoing problem over the years.
Is this a last attempt to get me to win 10? It's an Acer laptop.
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Does anyone know what the message means?
it's probably your web browser malfunctioning. Is it Firefox?
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I suddenly stopped getting emails from the Forum, and found that all my notification had been cleared. Hopefully I have reset them all, but why would this happen? Anyone else experience this?
There have been notification issues for those who use hotmail, live.com and other throw away email addresses from Microsoft. If you use any of these you should change you email address. No idea why your notifications were cleared though.
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I keep getting a message from the webpage which says Failed on loading skin name. The file "shell.css" is required in your "sscommon/skins/....../css" directory. To fix this problem, please check the skin name in your config file or re-install the application. I have looked ion the search box and can,t find any reference to shell.css or skin name. Not being a 7 year old I have no idea what I am supposed to do. Does anyone know what the message means?
Sounds like it may be a browser / cache issue. Try flushing your browser cash, deleting all cookies or using another browser.
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There have been notification issues for those who use hotmail, live.com and other throw away email addresses from Microsoft. If you use any of these you should change you email address. No idea why your notifications were cleared though.
I'm using googlemail. Never a problem until now.
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I,m using google chrome at the moment. I switched from internet explorer due to problems with that. I keep getting a message to say that google chrome no longer provides updates for windows vista. I,ll try the admin suggestion next, thanks.
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It appears that a regular Forum update ( - by SMF the providers, not SRGC ) has resulted in a clearing of all notifications previously requested by forumists, myself included.
If you do not wish to re-enter all the topics for which you previously received notice then I suggest that the use of either the options available on any page - such as from the top left of any page : Show unread posts since last visit. (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?action=unread)or from the foot of any page under this heading : Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum - Info Center - Forum Stats - you will find the option to see :View the most recent posts on the forum. (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?action=recent)[/b]
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Not just me then.
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No John - I must say it took me a while to realise that it was the notification facility that had been reset.
There may still be an issue with delivery of personal messages to certain providers, though., as Fred said.
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For reasons I don't understand, now when I download images from my camera to my computer they come up in Windows Photo Viewer whereas previously they always came up in Irfanview which I have set to do all my photo related stuff. I suppose it's not a big deal as when I move the images into a picture file I have set up they show in Irfanview again. It's really me who doesn't like something I don't appear to have choice about. When I look at my list of default programmes Windows photo viewer is showing as the default for jpeg files and as this 'greyed' out it's not possible to change it. Anyone else find this happening, and can I do anything about it?
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You can change the default program in Default Program: Associate file type.
Find jpeg and click on Change program and select irfanview from the list (if it is there).
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Ah, there's the rub Eric. I have had Irfanview set as default for all photo-related stuff ever since I got this computer. When the problem about Windows Photo Viewer came up a few weeks ago I checked Control Panel-Default Progs-Set Your Default Progs and indeed Irfanview is set as default for all the programmes it can handle. When I look at Windows Photo Viewer by the same route all of the programmes listed to it are showing Irfanview as default, bar 1. The 1 is something called jfif with the description shown as jpeg image. This shows Windows Photo Viewer as default. The ticked box against that is 'greyed out' and can't be changed.
For what it's worth and since it has only been a problem for a few weeks, my theory is that an unwanted and unrequested change has taken place through a recent Windows update.
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When in doubt do a System Restore to before the last update.
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When in doubt do a System Restore to before the last update.
depends how much you mess about with your machine- if you restore and it is a windows update it will just do it again - restore is its desperate and nothings working
if you want to try and set it manually put this in the command line
ftype jpgfile="C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" "%1"
replace the bit in red with the .exe location on your machine of the program you want that filetype to open with
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David, I suspect the change that has occurred was made to the default program selected when you connect your camera, not the default program for viewing images. Device defaults and file-association defaults are two different things. You need to change the setting that controls the program opened when you connect your camera.
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David, I suspect the change that has occurred was made to the default program selected when you connect your camera, not the default program for viewing images. Device defaults and file-association defaults are two different things. You need to change the setting that controls the program opened when you connect your camera.
Thanks for responding John. There was no software provided with my camera, when I plug it in to my computer it opens; I find the file that contains the date the pictures I want were taken; I open that file and all the pictures in it are displayed as thumbnails. But, I now find the following; If I choose to look at a picture in that file it displays in Windows Photo Viewer, however if I choose to transfer it to another file on my computer or to my desktop it displays in Irfanview. So, problem solved and David is a happy chappie again ;D
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Found an email this morning purporting to be a Subpoena from the Crown Prosecution Service calling me as a witness to something or other in London.
Not sure what the normal procedure for a subpoena is, but hardly think they would send one electronically and to an email account rather than a named person.
Very nasty.
The Email contains a virus so be very careful if you get a similar one. It has been deleted without opening.
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Do we even use the word subpoena in the UK? Have mercifully managed to avoid any connection to any court so forgive my ignorance / innocence.
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The Email ... has been deleted without opening.
It's probably about two decades since opening an email did any actual harm. In the early days of email if you got an email with a file attached to it then the email program would try to be helpful and open the attachment automatically. Virus writers quickly twigged that they could exploit this attempt at helpfulness to infect your computer so that feature was withdrawn. It's perfectly safe to open any email you get. What is unsafe is:
- Opening a file attached to an email
- Clicking on a link embedded in an email
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All right, nit picking it is. The attachment to the Email contains a virus. I deleted the whole thing without opening the attachment.
Happy now?
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Good to have reassurance for the nervous that there is little danger from the email itself, Alan.
Hovering one's mouse over a link in an email which you THINK may be okay will often show an adress or name that is NOT what you expect, so that'sanother way to carefully check the bona fides of an email. Also emails without a full subject headline can be suspicious - unless you've got a pal who never remembers to enter one! (And even then it's as well to be cautious!)
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Anyone else having problems with BT emails over the past few days?
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I have set my email system to delete all emails from senders not on the safe list automatically.
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Anyone else having problems with BT emails over the past few days?
They seem to be taking a long time to send for the most part. Not sure why but at least they're going eventually.
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Anyone else having problems with BT emails over the past few days?
Yes and I am paying them a shed load of money each month for a rubbish service - unfortunatly I have far too much linked to my account or I would be heading elsewhere
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They seem to be taking a long time to send for the most part. Not sure why but at least they're going eventually.
Yup, I've had a lot of that.
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Tempting fate I know but no problems here
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Seems to have got very erratic recently. Sometimes fine but at others very slow. All arrives eventually but bit of a pain at times. Typing messages can be very difficult as I don't know how much is me or my computer and how much BT. A time lag sometimes happens between hitting the key and the type appearing on the screen, and letters get missed out when I think I have typed them. I am far from a perfect typist but not that bad; at random times ;-) The cursor also sometimes returns to the LHS if I pause to think and I don't always notice.