Windows 10 and I have a love/hate relationship.

I both love/hate how I have 7 days to pause updates. But sometimes I don't want the flipping updates. For good reason.

The most current update screwed up all my setting on MailWasher. I started it up, and it was back to the first time run default settings. Font size, display, items shown all screwed up.

Razer Synapse suddenly forgot I have three devices (left handed mouse, right handed mouse for gaming, and Tartarus gamepad). Even 'lost' my login information. Good thing, this was all local, and I was able to resync all settings from (you're gonna like this one) three different versions of Synapse. Razer's bright idea is to NOT have one version of Synapse to work with all their devices. Lot's of fun making sure the gamepads' buttons were properly assigned. Then I had to start the games I use the gamepad, and lo and behold, the keybindings were all screwed up. So, had to get those fixed... again.

And then there is Windows Media Center. Don't give me the line about it no longer being supported by Micro$oft, and being 'old' tech, but it was when I got my tuner card, and it's still needed now. Again, I know about Plex, NextPRV, Media Portal, but with they come with their own issues.

And there are just a few of the examples of issues I have when updating Windows 10 on my PC. (Any snark comments about I should be using a Mac or running Linux will be deleted, capice?)

And then there is how the updates on the Surface mucks up things. I had it set up so the menu weren't microscopic. And the slide show images were scaled to fit. I got one of those problems fixed, but I had to do a lot of forum surfing to find the right way to rectify the micro-menus, as the previous method no longer worked! ARRRGH!

Annoyance with Win10 and Samsung phones.

It's a known, but for some reason, totally unfixable by either MicroSoft or Samsung (each are more interested in fixing the blame, instead of fixing the problem)

Out of the blue, S9 and Win10 can't connect, not unless you remove Samsung device, from computer, unpair phone, and start the whole thing of discovery all over again. Add to this that Win 10, unlike Win 7, you have to MANUALLY start the file transfer on the computer, then start file transfers from phone to desktop. Win 7, select file, select computer and send. Bluetooth isn't as convenient with Win 10.

Use a cable, you say? Did I mention that if you don't have your phone and cable in JUST the right position, Win 10 will cycle through USB device connected, USB device disconnected over and over? Two different computer, three different phones, three different cables, same shit over and over.

Ok, I gave Windows 10 a fair go

Close to 2 months, I used Windows 10 boot drive.   Stability; good.  Updates; too many, too annoying. Updates have a horrible habit of overwriting/removing anything you might have done.

Nannyware/nagware; I so wish Microsoft would understand that people want to control their OS and computers, not have Microsoft do it for them. 

Customizations are more than just a wee bit difficult to do (some impossible), and I can't say how much I dislike..no, loathe that desktop tile layout. It is sloppy.  I installed StartMenuX and got it back to a configurable, cleaner layout. 

Biggest Bugbear for me (and for my husband, too) was not only the total removal of Windows Media Center, but making it so you couldn't even install it even if you had the ability to do so.

I am currently back on my Windows 7 Boot drive.  It took a while to get all the programs and Windows updated after such a long time of not using it.  After that was finished, I can't say how much better Windows 7 is from Windows 10.

It's not just using legacy software that can no longer be installed due to software maker using different authentication service, or legacy hardware (the hardware works in Win 10, but the software for it doesn't. Go figure.

But I find Windows 7 also stable, the updates have only broken one software makers programs (Yes, I really liked ArcSoft MediaCenter. It was better than anything else that has so far followed, but they rather stupidly didn't pay Dolby licensing fees so no updates after v6x, and Microsoft closed off the program's ability to use the kernel for better performance, thereby it no longer would work).

It's not even the desktop layout, because by use of StartMenuX, both Win 7 and Win 10 look the same.

Overall, I find Windows 7 the winner over Windows 10.  So, as long as I can install software on Windows 7 boot drive, I will.  I know that sooner or later I will be forced to move over to Win 10 only as software makers will be painted into a corner of "Make it work with only our latest OS".

Wow, I remember when having a 10mb hdd was a lot of room.

Today, I got my fully functioning Windows 1903 (build 18362.239) that was on a small 500gb drive, onto a 2tb drive.  All is working. The only issue I had was RoboForm AI whining about it not being activated.  Seeing as Windows 10 is the only place I have this version of Robo AI on it, I just reactivated it, disregarding the "this will deactivate from the other machine!"

Cloning your HDD to a larger HDD or even to an SSD shouldn't be so fekking fiddly. But it was. After two days of trial and error (making sure to NOT do anything that would endanger the 500gb drive) it's done! 

Wow, I remember when having a 10mb hdd was a lot of room. 

I swear

Windows 10 has been installing more patches, cumulative updates and security updates than Windows 95, XP, or 7 ever did in the same time period. 

Every time I turn around, another patch or update.

Another computer, another Win10 update

Windows 10 updated on Wing's computer, and just like with mine, the latest update well and truly killed off Windows Media Center. At first, he kinda got upset with us about it, that he liked the computer the way it was, didn't want any updates. I had to explain to him that with Win 10, you don't have the option to NOT update. You can put it off for a week, but it will still end up updating.

I tried to get WMC to work, and it would.. partially. It would scan the channels, load the EPG, but when you clicked on a channel, it would shut down. I did everything I my bag of tech tricks to get it work, short of installing a VM, and nothing worked.

I ended up installed NextPVR on his computer. It's free (donations are appreciated by not necessary. Since we are both using it, would be a good thing to do) Scanned for channels twice, found 31. Set up recording directory, and showed him how to use it.

Doing the great data shuffle/juggle

Windows 10 has issues with the 5 bay external drive (really long boot login time, powering it down without ejecting the drives first, causing data loss), so what I'm doing is shift data/files.  Putting certain files (installation files, back up files, video files)  and others that aren't often accessed on the external drives, and moving the data that is on the external drives, that is (will be was) accessed on a regular basis (photography, downloads, audio files) to the internal drives.

It has taken two days to juggle and shift files.  Currently copying the downloaded videos (ie my UltraViolet and other digital content files) to one internal J drive to the internal O drive, so I can shift my photography files on the external M drive, to the J drive once the digital content files have been moved.  MS time says about 2 hours to shift 1.2 tbs of said content.

Then I get to shift 2.6tbs of photography to the J drive. That will probably take overnight.

It's so frustrating!

I know that with each new OS, there is teething pain, and a learning curve, but Windows 10 is a right pain in the ass.

After an MS Assure tech totally bollixed up my PC (she tried to kill a mosquito using a nuke. Task manager didn't work.), I ended up taking that HDD with Windows 10 installed on it out, and putting the original 500gb drive with pre-Assure fuck up Windows 10 back in it.  I had to reinstall a few programs, all the updates installed without a problem, but everything was working.... well, almost everything.

Windows 10 automatically presumes you're on a laptop, and hamstrings your system. You have to go through certain settings in the Device Manager, and in Power Management, to keep external drives from shutting down. 

Certain programs on Windows 10 Pro will not run unless you run them as administrator. Of course, if those files are in the Windows directory, you can't go in and adjust it to always run as administrator. There's a work around, make a short cut, then adjust the properties of that short cut to run as administrator. (Notepad is notorious for this) One would think if you were logged in as the administrator, this wouldn't be a problem, right?  Wrong.

Also, since the update, screen saver just will not work. Doesn't matter if I use the native Windows 10 screen saver, or a 3rd party screen saver. It *used* to work prior to the updates, so something in the updates screwed something up. Yes, I know that with and LCD, you really don't need a screen saver, but I want one.

It was inevitable, I guess

Plodding through the last of the Windows 7 Cumulative updates. Started with 18 of them, been working my way through the list in chronological order.  I read people raving about Windows 10, how great it is, but I read even more people ranting about it, especially since many tried and true pieces of software are blocked from being used (unless you know how to get to the PowerShell or othersuch things to work your way around it)  

I threw in the towel for when it came to the Windows 7 updates.  Total Media Center was a helluva lot better than anything else out on the market now.  BUT the idiot company 'forgot' to pay Dolby their royalties, and further development came to a halt. That media center is what kept me from installing the Quarterly Roll Ups, because it would disable TMT.  But alas, all good things must come to an end, whether you like it or not.  I've had a few hiccups and glitches after updating Win 7 (my Hotkey program isn't loading at start up, but I can start it afterward. Might just need reinstalling to fix whatever the updating has screwed up)

Once I get Win 7 set to rights, then comes the fun part. Finding a way to get %#$#$$% Windows 10 to update like it's supposed to WITHOUT having to 'refresh', as some software I have is charged per installation, not per machine. And let me tell you, that really sucks.  And when I get fed up with the nagging nannyware of Windows 10, I will hie on back to Windows 7.

Hurray, for the dual boot system.

Back to using Windows 7

Just when I was getting close to.. appreciating Windows 10.

Shut everything down as normal, and when I booted back into Windows 10, it all seemed to go ok. Tried to start my browser. It wouldn't start. I tried to start compatibility mode to see if that was the issue, and that wouldn't start for it.  Next step, reinstall and reinstall. Nope, didn't work.  Searched the web. Why isn't it the only solution Windows Tech comes up with is either : a clean boot, or reinstall of the OS.  Well, the clean boot didn't do diddly squat, and a reinstall is like killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer.

And for some bizarre reason, both Windows 7 and 10 want to run chkdsk on all the drives.  Why?  I have no idea. I can see running it if the system drive shut down unexpectedly, but this wanting to scan external data drives?

So, booted into Windows, and everything is running just fine.  Browser started without any problems.

I think the next time I boot into Windows 10, I will make a back up of my browser profiles, deactivate programs, and just f**king reinstall windows 10. There's something wrong with it. Maybe start fresh.  I cringe at all the time I'm going to have to waste reinstalling program, and begging one software maker (Panolapse) to please give me a new key for my program, and just reinstall.

Yeesh

I updated my tablet driver, as the Wacom Desktop Center instructed.  Rebooted and wow, color me so not surprised, Windows 10 no longer detected my tablet.  I did all the at home trouble shooting, uninstalling everything, rebooting, reinstalling, rebooting.. nada, bupkiss.

Called Wacom help center, and a very nice young man named Jay, who was very grateful I could give him concise details on what I had done, we were able to figure it out. It seems the driver the WDC had was glitchy, and he had me download a new one. While it was downloading, I uninstall all things Wacom.  After the download, when through the inevitable cycle of reboot, install, reboot.

Plugged tablet in, and Tada! All I had to do was remap all my stylus/pens.

Talk about overkill

Microsoft's answer to fixing to small, almost negligible problems, with Windows 10 is like killing a mosquito with a sledgehammer.

After an update, that 'succeeded', I noticed task manager wouldn't run.  Since I subscribe to "Assure", I hopped online, and told them this one itty bitty problem.

Well, the first tech tried to do an "in place upgrade" which had no good result. Got to 17%, the the computer rebooted, got the message "UNDOING CHANGES MADE TO YOUR COMPUTER".  Ok, Task Manager still not working, but I tend to use Process Explorer. 

Then I noticed my Bluetooth was no longer working. It had the day before, as my graphics tablet was is bluetooth, and I was editing photos with it.

I checked device manager: yup, Bluetooth device is there, but driver not loading? WTF?  Ok, off to Asus, and get the proper signed Windows 10 driver for it. Nope, still nothing.

Again, I head on over to MS Support, and not only do they NOT take the sfc/scannow and DISM logs, they're advice is just to nuke it from orbit. Only way to be sure.  Ahem, do a full HDD wipe and reinstall.  I really miss the way Windows XP did backups. If you had a corrupted file, you could load up your back up and MANUALLY copy the non-corrupted version right on over.   

So, now it's a matter of picking a date and time, email serials and license numbers, deactivate programs, and doing a full blown reinstall. Oh effing joy.

On an aside: The bluetooth and task manager work fine on Windows 7 drive.

The dramas of Windows 10 never seem to end

Where do I start...  We all know that Windows 10 disables some software Microsoft deems unworthy, and ignores hardware it considers too 'old'.

But when updates not only remove programs, but then suddenly decide to red flag software you've been using for months, it screwed up hardware configuration that's been used since day one. 

I've had my DeathAdder 3.5 has been working just fine, plugged into the USB port on the keyboard, for years with Win 7, and for months with Win 10.  An update, and suddenly, nope. Not only won't it recognize the Adder, if I roll back and install the OLDER version of Synapse, it'll work fine, but the the other two Razer devices won't.  ARGH!

Then, the Windows 10 update disabled Windows Media Center. Didn't uninstall it, just disabled it. There's nothing inherently dangerous regarding WMC, so this really pissed me off.  I use a TV capture card in my computer to watch TV. Sure, I could use that poorly designed software that came WITH the card, but Windows Media Center works better.  Plex is useless for what I want, so no suggestions of it please.

After a few hours of websearching, trail and error, I got WMC reinstall and working. This will probably last until then next unnecessary Windows 10 update.

And then there is the sudden "An administrator as prevented this App to run!"... Dafuq?  Not only have been running the program for months, I am THE ONLY AND ONLY ADMINISTRATOR!!!  No amount of 'un-nannywaring' would help.  So, found an alternate program, that is ugly AF, but does the same thing.

Redmond, you suck. I want to control my PC. NOT have my PC control me!

Quirks of Windows 10

Beside the constant "You do not have permission to view this fold. Click here to have permanent permission" even with the UAC set to the lowest it can go, I have found interesting things.

Make sure you have your wireless/blue tooth tablet already powered up before starting ANY graphics program, especially Photoshop. Program just sits there doing nothing and you have to restart it.

Color schemes - they just go from bad to "WTF? Is this Windows 3.1?"

Forced updates whether you want them or not, will overwrite any customizations you may have set up. And since some of them require registry editing, make sure you have saved how you did it the first time. (This holds especially true with Surface Pro tablet. Some of the menus are so microscopic, you don't have to be Mister Magoo to not be able to read them).

Still not a fan of the floating tile interface. Which is why with some customizations, I have it set up to a more User Friendly configuration.

Microsoft didn't include updated camera codecs. Which is why you seen nothing but thumbnails of raw files with just Icon for RAW/CR2/NEF/ORF etc etc. Inexpensive solution is Fast Picture Viewer Codec, on sale for $9.99. Make sure you KEEP that download link handy because when there's updates, you will reuse that link.

Also something not quite Win10 related, but system related. Don't bother using Microsoft Windows back up making a full system image. Get EaseUS, and make an exact copy of your HDD or SSD. Should something go wrong with your drive, you just swap it out with one ready to do. Might have to contact software companies to tell them about the change of drive, and to reset or reissue your license but it will take a helluva lot less time.

Quick fix for everyone with Win10 explorer not showing Camera Raw thumbnails

I present to you!

Fast Picture Viewer Codecs

For the HUGE currently on sale sum of $9.99 for a single user license, you can once again be able to view your camera raw files in Win10 Windows Explorer, and in programs that rely on Window Explorer to select and view CR2, ORF, NEF  etc etc etc… 

I had purchased Fast Picture Viewer and the codec pack years ago to use on my computer years ago to be able to view Camera Raw files because Adobe Bridge CS6 was glacially slow in showing the images. 

Kind of expected this

After a session with a Microsoft Tech regarding not being able to see camera raw files from specific cameras (Olympus OMD EM1mkII and EM5mkII, and Canon 5DmkIV) I was told it was a Canon issue and to contact Canon for 'the fix'.

Three guesses what I got in response... and the first two guesses won't count.

It's a WINDOWS issue.

Meanwhile, some versions of Windows will let you view CR2 files natively (for example, in a folder view). In previous versions of Windows, you needed to download the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack, which provides support for viewing RAW image file format thumbnails and image information in Windows Explorer.  In Windows 10, the default app for opening RAW image files is Windows Photo Viewer. However in some cases, Windows 10 operating system cannot open the RAW files in "preview mode" for images taken using new EOS camera models.

Now the cameras I mentioned aren't 'new'. They are a few years old now.

This was my reply:

Not being snarky here, but I had a feeling this was the answer I was going to get. Microsoft said it was a Canon issue, and Canon saying it was a Microsoft issue. How about you two get together and fixing the problem, rather than fixing the blame.

I don't use DPP, although I do have it installed because I wanted to see if that would install a camera codec in Windows 10 and it didn't. I use On1Photo Raw, which sees the CR2 files just fine. Also, Photoshop CC & bridge with latest camera raw update sees the CR2 images just fine. The problem is OTHER software (Aurora HDR, Luminar, Affinity) rely on Windows 10 native Windows Explorer in program to select and process images.

I will pass this along to Microsoft, and I am going to wager they will once again tell me it's NOT a Windows 10 issue, but a Canon issue.

After much key pounding

And experimenting with different programs, I have managed to boot back into Windows 7.  I will have to go back into the bios and make sure that the NEW boot configuration is selected. 

Now, I will be deactivating certain programs on Win 7, so they can be installed on the Win 10 drive. Yes, with the press of F8  at start up, I will have a dual boot system.

It has been several days of frustration and things just not working right. Mega Thanx to Alan for all his patience and assistance.

Just have to make the time to do it

The 500gb HDD has arrived, and I have my windows 10 ready to install on it. Just have to find the time to do it. 

I get irked when people try to brow beat me into just upgrading the OS on my Windows 7 desktop. Everything works. Why the hell would I want to overwrite it?

But, with the advent of many software makers making things for Windows 8 on up (yes, there are still some that make software compatible for Windows 7) I have to so something. But I want to keep working with software that is no longer sold or supported, and the same thing with some 'legacy' hardware. I still use Windows Media Center for watching and recording free to air TV (wish I had the older version that would also stream Netflix, but alas)  

Enter the Dual Boot system. 

I guess I'll have to set up my laptop to do things while the installation is going.

Windows 10 or not to Windows 10...

Simplest answer.. yes and no.

My Windows 7 box works great. As long as I don't install those "Quality Rollups". I do keep on top malicious software/malware definitions, but I'm fed up with Microsoft disabling what they deem is outdated software.  I also have 'legacy' hardware that Windows 10 will not even recognize, and there are no drivers for said hardware/devices.

But many things will not function unless I'm running Windows 10.

So, my solution is this: I'm getting a 500gb hdd, and I will install Windows 10 on it, and create a dual boot system.

I'm quite sure some of my programs will be migrated, or duplicated on the Win10 drive, but I will treat it like a really buff "Virtual Machine".