Computer "Event"

Magicman · July 21, 2020, 09:11:41 PM

Yup, I got a scare last night. I had typed out a reply when my laptop screen went totally black except for the cursor which was a white arrow that I could still move around. I let it set for quite a while waiting for something else to happen. :

Well, nothing happened so I shut it down. It came back on with a message saying that it was updating. After the wheel stopped turning the screen was totally Microsoft Edge. No Icons, no Favorites, no nothing. Not good.

I closed MS Edge and tried Firefox and there was nothing there but 3 windows that I had never seen before.

Tonight I Googled on the old laptop to find out how to do a System Restore. Well wheels turned and lights blinked for quite a while before it restarted. I had to wade through the error messages being careful to answer them in the way I thought they wanted them answered. Success !!! I most certainly did not want "Again...again".

Jeff · July 21, 2020, 10:24:27 PM

I simply hate computers. I really do.

Magicman · July 22, 2020, 06:58:29 AM

My thoughts are that this was a Microsoft "event". No question they are monitoring and know that I am using Firefox rather than MS Edge. I occasionally get a message telling me how much better and faster Edge would be, so my thoughts are that with this latest update, they seized my laptop and forced Edge to the top while covering Firefox up where I could not find it.

I know use Apple, etc. but that ain't what I got.

lxskllr · July 22, 2020, 07:59:59 PM

Xubuntu

Magicman · July 23, 2020, 08:54:42 PM

A sorta "Asian/Hindi/India" speaking guy called this evening and informed me that I had been having computer problems and that he could fix it.....

So maybe my laptop sent a failure message to MS or this guy was responsible for ransomware etc. I told him that I had not had any computer problems and he wanted to know why I didn't believe him?? How can anyone know the proper thing to do when you get a call like that?

I hung up so now I am waiting for the "magic smoke" to escape from this laptop. :

Jeff · July 23, 2020, 09:19:22 PM

My desktop just updated last night and tried to force edge on me this morning.

thecfarm · July 23, 2020, 09:44:53 PM

I've been fighting the edge here too.

Ianab · July 23, 2020, 09:57:43 PM

Quote from: Magicman on July 23, 2020, 08:54:42 PMHow can anyone know the proper thing to do when you get a call like that?

/Fake French Accent On
"Your Mother was a Hamster and your Father smelt of Ederberry!. Now go away you stupid person or I shall taunt you some more."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey0wvGiAH9g

Interestingly, the new version of Microsoft Edge is based on the Chromium Browser, which is the Open Source program that Google's Chrome Browser is based on. You can download the basic Chromium program and use that if you prefer, or Firefox (or several other options)

Magicman · July 24, 2020, 10:25:06 PM

I quit using Edge because it would delete my reply that I was typing if I backspaced or something like that. It happened to me too many times until I finally realized that it only happened with Edge. It has never happened with Firefox.

Peter Drouin · July 27, 2020, 12:12:31 PM

Mine won't put up the preview of a post and all the sponsors to the left disappear. I have to go to the post button. It might be my pc don't know.

Jeff · July 27, 2020, 12:34:30 PM

Its definitly your pc.

Old saw fixer · July 27, 2020, 03:57:16 PM

Microsoft wants to take over your computer, I hate it!

Crusarius · July 27, 2020, 04:21:27 PM

I can't stand these software companies trying to tell you what to use. The last update screwed me and forced edge as my default which I promptly fixed. then a couple hours later same thing.

The problem is I use edge IE and chrome. Somethings work better in others.

The biggest reason I still use chrome is for PDF viewing. Since I need to view drawings at work I need to scroll left to right. Chrome is the only browser left that still has the hand tool. None of the others do. I really hate it when software companies remove the usefulness from their programs cause they don't use them and think no one else does.

lxskllr · July 27, 2020, 05:28:43 PM

I always use standalone pdf viewers. More features, and they typically work better since that's their primary function. A web browser's primary function is rendering html.

Crusarius · July 27, 2020, 08:41:10 PM

yea, that would be great. Now to convince IT. I can't even delete icons off my desktop without them putting in the password.

lxskllr · July 27, 2020, 09:10:09 PM

D^:

That's awful. I'm what amounts to IT at my work, and I get to do what I want :^D I installed debian on my machine, and pretty much standardized the office around LibreOffice. Viewing pdfs through a browser would make me angry, and with the number of pdfs I deal with, I'd be angry a lot.

Crusarius · July 28, 2020, 05:49:18 AM

yup, then I come in again this morning and Edge is my default browser again. So sick of having to fight microshaft to keep my stuff what I want, not them!!!

Peter Drouin · July 28, 2020, 06:05:13 AM

OK I'll look into it. thanks.

Ianab · July 28, 2020, 06:18:28 AM

You don't HAVE to run Windows.

Linux is perfectly usable for a home PC, and arguably now easier to to set up than Windows. At least you don't have to jump through and hoops with licence activation, and updates appear as an optional icon that you can open and install, usually doesn't even need a restart.

If you have a spare PC, try it out. Linux Mint installs with a "windows style" desktop, with Open Office and Firefox all ready to go. Run it up on a semi-decent PC and it's pretty darn good. My PC is maybe 6 years old, but has a $30 SSD, a basic $15 2nd hand GPU card, and 8gb of RAM.

It runs fine.

I prefer Mint because it looks like Windows, so when I click into "work" mode supporting Windows users, I'm still clicking in the same places.

Crusarius · July 28, 2020, 06:38:35 AM

I tried using linux. Coming from a DOS background I figured no big deal. But I did not have the time or ambition to invest in learning a new language. I am not just an install and go kinda guy

clearcut · July 28, 2020, 01:11:53 PM

I agree with Ianab, and avoid Windows.

Recently attempted to set up my wife's office Windows laptop to work from home. Four hours later, both myself and her office IT person simply gave up. Credit goes to a somewhat janky internet connection, their network security, and most importantly Windows 10 fighting every effort to connect.

I plugged her into a Macintosh, and 12 minutes later she was fully operational, and has had no problems since. She needed a Mac or Windows to use Excel. She and her IT person were reluctant to try an alternative spreadsheet as their office is Excel based.

I have also been using Linux and am moving to Peppermint - a light weight version of Mint that works well on older computers. Elementary OS is an excellent alternative to the Macintosh OS.

There are many variants of Linux. DistroWatch.com describes and evaluates many of them. One feature most Linux distributions offer is a LiveCD or LiveUSB version that you install on a thumb drive or CD that you boot from without installing. This allows you to test the distribution on your exact hardware, without installing on your hard drive.