'Get Windows 10' Turns Itself On and Nags Win 7 and 8.1 UsersTwice a Day

In article
Info wrote:

In article
John Doe wrote:

This thing claims "I was in charge of IT and got on with things and
pleased everyone" and yet it cannot even wrap its lines here on
UseNet...


It's Usenet not UseNet, troll.

It's anything we ****ing well want to it be. It's uSeNeT, and
therefore it's not real.

In article
mike wrote:

On 1/18/2016 1:57 PM, Mr Macaw wrote:


Which is why you expect to update the hardware when you update the OS,
not blame Vista for not working on something built before it existed.


Would you be happy buying a car that wouldn't drive on roads built
before it existed?

How about a toaster that required you to replace the AC sockets in
your kitchen?
How about a microwave oven that REQUIRED you to replace a working
dishwasher?
What if ALL microwave ovens REQUIRED you to replace a working
dishwasher?

How about if someone broke down your door, replaced your microwave
FOR FREE
and broke your dishwasher so it couldn't be fixed...ever...
and took up residence in your kitchen to spy on you...and
rummaged through your house collecting information on your
possessions and kids...and tagged along in your car everywhere you
went??? And they announced that they would do it again, but next time,
they would also break your fridge, and send you a monthly bill for
the privilege.

Remember the gut-wrenching conversion to ATSC TV? Users wouldn't
stand for the incompatibility. Took an act of congress to make it happen.

Change must be evolutionary. Backward compatibility is CRITICAL!

This is one time I'm going to be thankful for lawyers because MS
is going to get the f*ck sued out of them.

It may be their product, but they gave up the right to make
their own exclusive dictatory rules when they made the first
sale of public stock.

Sam E wrote on 1/18/2016 8:53 AM:
On 01/17/2016 11:54 AM, Mr Macaw wrote:

[snip]

I quit Windows years ago.

You exit windows, you quit Mac OS.


IIRC, Win 98SE was the last version with an exit command in the menus.

Say what?!!!

--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net/
Deja You: Don't I know you?

Roger Blake wrote on 1/18/2016 6:13 PM:

I supported a lot of XP systems out in the field for a long time and
had few problems with them. I still have a few out there that I deal
with but Windows 7 has been the standard for business use for some time
now. I have no beef with 7. It performs well, the user interface is not
so different from what users have been accustomed to for many years,
and it's been rock-solid overall.


Absolutely agree.

W10 is looking more like Vista every day. I don't hate it, but I sure
don't love it.

BTW, way off topic, for yucks, I tried Linux Mint today. It sure has
come a long way.

Only problem was when I went to install it on a disk partition.
Couldn't find the one I created for it and offered to erase my Windows
system drive. Well, okay, so much for playing around with Linux.

And I wasn't at all serious about it. Most of my applications have no
Linux equivalents so it was just "lemme see what it's like now" kind of
an experiment. Looked nice but the install snafu? Fuggedaboutit.

--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net/
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

Mr Macaw wrote on 1/18/2016 4:50 PM:
On Mon, 18 Jan 2016 04:16:04 -0000, Diesel wrote:

"Mr Macaw" news 2016 00:07:13 GMT in alt.comp.freeware, wrote:

You have *got* to be kidding. Vista was an absolute pig.
Consumers and businesses avoided it like the plague whenever
possible. There were many sighs of relief when Windows 7 was
released.

Funny, when I deployed Vista to get rid of XP at my work, everyone
breathed a sigh of relief. Computers actually ran all day without
crashing.

Do you remember any specific crash scenarios? As what you're writing
simply does not jive with many real world experiences I have under my
belt. It doesn't jive with other techs I know, either....

I don't remember Vista crashing ever. XP tended to lock up for no
reason. Vista allowed you to kill the unresponsive application more
easily.


Never tried Vista. XP was rock solid for me for many years. And I do
stress my main system. Lots of programs doing lots of things. Lots of
experiments. It seems to be pretty solid.

The others are for my wife's use and I tend to leave them pretty plain.

W7 also was pretty perfect after it evolved and I tamed it. I suspect
my carps about W10 will likely die down in time. It's evolution. Takes
time.

I'm willing to invest some.

Tomorrow I'm going to take a DVD and see if I can install W10 on my
wife's system. The GWX app keeps telling me the PC is compatible but
every time I try to use the app to upgrade it, it fails.

Tomorrow I'll try a brute install.

I somehow doubt it will work but, hey, nothing ventured ...

Doesn't really matter as she rarely used the PC.

Of the other two, this one is a new PC with W10 from scratch. The
laptop I upgraded from W7. Only issue is the !@$%&ng desktop icons keep
reinstituting drop shadows no matter what I do. ****es me off.



--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net/
I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as
they go flying by.

On 2016-01-19, Ed Mullen wrote:
Only problem was when I went to install it on a disk partition.
Couldn't find the one I created for it and offered to erase my Windows
system drive. Well, okay, so much for playing around with Linux.

Probably better to install in a virtual machine to just play around
with. That way you're not risking damage to your primary OS. I don't
dual-boot so haven't run into that kind of problem.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Blake (Posts from Google Groups killfiled due to excess spam.)

NSA sedition and treason -- http://www.DeathToNSAthugs.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 1/18/2016 5:56 PM, Nomen Nescio wrote:
In article
mike wrote:

On 1/18/2016 1:57 PM, Mr Macaw wrote:


Which is why you expect to update the hardware when you update the OS,
not blame Vista for not working on something built before it existed.


Would you be happy buying a car that wouldn't drive on roads built
before it existed?

How about a toaster that required you to replace the AC sockets in
your kitchen?
How about a microwave oven that REQUIRED you to replace a working
dishwasher?
What if ALL microwave ovens REQUIRED you to replace a working
dishwasher?

How about if someone broke down your door, replaced your microwave
FOR FREE
and broke your dishwasher so it couldn't be fixed...ever...
and took up residence in your kitchen to spy on you...and
rummaged through your house collecting information on your
possessions and kids...and tagged along in your car everywhere you
went??? And they announced that they would do it again, but next time,
they would also break your fridge, and send you a monthly bill for
the privilege.

Remember the gut-wrenching conversion to ATSC TV? Users wouldn't
stand for the incompatibility. Took an act of congress to make it happen.

Change must be evolutionary. Backward compatibility is CRITICAL!

This is one time I'm going to be thankful for lawyers because MS
is going to get the f*ck sued out of them.

It may be their product, but they gave up the right to make
their own exclusive dictatory rules when they made the first
sale of public stock.

That may have been the intention of the founding fathers...

Today, your duly elected government isn't paying much attention to that.

Under the cloak of anti-terrorism, it's critical that your government
be able to inject whatever spyware they want into your computer.
Forced updates is a way to keep that channel open.

That cannot be fixed by a lawsuit. Any MS or Government documents
will be so redacted as to be useless in court...for your protection.
Everybody wins...except us.

On 1/18/2016 6:13 PM, Ed Mullen wrote:
Roger Blake wrote on 1/18/2016 6:13 PM:

I supported a lot of XP systems out in the field for a long time and
had few problems with them. I still have a few out there that I deal
with but Windows 7 has been the standard for business use for some time
now. I have no beef with 7. It performs well, the user interface is not
so different from what users have been accustomed to for many years,
and it's been rock-solid overall.


Absolutely agree.

W10 is looking more like Vista every day. I don't hate it, but I sure
don't love it.

BTW, way off topic, for yucks, I tried Linux Mint today. It sure has
come a long way.

Only problem was when I went to install it on a disk partition. Couldn't
find the one I created for it and offered to erase my Windows system
drive. Well, okay, so much for playing around with Linux.

And I wasn't at all serious about it. Most of my applications have no
Linux equivalents so it was just "lemme see what it's like now" kind of
an experiment. Looked nice but the install snafu? Fuggedaboutit.

That's the root cause of the linux lack of interest.
Until it becomes an attractive source of PROFIT for commercial
hardware and software developers, linux cannot penetrate the desktop
of real-world users. The only people who care about
linux for desktop use are the individuals producing hundreds
of distros and a huge number of application partial solutions that
meet their selfish individual needs.

Desktop linux doesn't need more apps. Desktop linux needs leadership to
condense/corral what exists into a whole; a stable target for commercial
developers and investors.

If desktop linux support were perceived as a good investment, you couldn't
stop it from taking over the desktop.

On 19.01.16 5:02, mike wrote:
On 1/18/2016 6:13 PM, Ed Mullen wrote:
Roger Blake wrote on 1/18/2016 6:13 PM:

I supported a lot of XP systems out in the field for a long time and
had few problems with them. I still have a few out there that I deal
with but Windows 7 has been the standard for business use for some time
now. I have no beef with 7. It performs well, the user interface is not
so different from what users have been accustomed to for many years,
and it's been rock-solid overall.


Absolutely agree.

W10 is looking more like Vista every day. I don't hate it, but I sure
don't love it.

BTW, way off topic, for yucks, I tried Linux Mint today. It sure has
come a long way.

Only problem was when I went to install it on a disk partition. Couldn't
find the one I created for it and offered to erase my Windows system
drive. Well, okay, so much for playing around with Linux.

And I wasn't at all serious about it. Most of my applications have no
Linux equivalents so it was just "lemme see what it's like now" kind of
an experiment. Looked nice but the install snafu? Fuggedaboutit.

That's the root cause of the linux lack of interest.
Until it becomes an attractive source of PROFIT for commercial
hardware and software developers, linux cannot penetrate the desktop
of real-world users. The only people who care about
linux for desktop use are the individuals producing hundreds
of distros and a huge number of application partial solutions that
meet their selfish individual needs.

Desktop linux doesn't need more apps. Desktop linux needs leadership to
condense/corral what exists into a whole; a stable target for commercial
developers and investors.

If desktop linux support were perceived as a good investment, you couldn't
stop it from taking over the desktop.

Somewhere in this year, I expect the first android desktop and/or laptop....
And that would mean a google supported linux OS........

Ed Mullen wrote:
Roger Blake wrote on 1/18/2016 6:13 PM:

I supported a lot of XP systems out in the field for a long time and
had few problems with them. I still have a few out there that I deal
with but Windows 7 has been the standard for business use for some time
now. I have no beef with 7. It performs well, the user interface is not
so different from what users have been accustomed to for many years,
and it's been rock-solid overall.


Absolutely agree.

W10 is looking more like Vista every day. I don't hate it, but I sure
don't love it.

BTW, way off topic, for yucks, I tried Linux Mint today. It sure has
come a long way.

Only problem was when I went to install it on a disk partition. Couldn't
find the one I created for it and offered to erase my Windows system
drive. Well, okay, so much for playing around with Linux.

And I wasn't at all serious about it. Most of my applications have no
Linux equivalents so it was just "lemme see what it's like now" kind of
an experiment. Looked nice but the install snafu? Fuggedaboutit.


The first part of Linux install, is checking whether your target
multi-boot disk, has enough partitions. The disk could be
MBR or GPT partitioned.

Windows 7 could take one or two partitions. You can convert
a two partition installation into a one partition installation.
This recipe gets rid of System Reserved, for example.
And puts the files onto C: instead.

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/kb/article.php?id=409

If this is an OEM machine, there might be more partitions,
such as a recovery partition. Pare down partitions until
you have two you can give to Linux.

On the Linux side, you need a slash ("/") partition, which
is the logical equivalent of C:\ . You could also use
a swap partition.

If allowed to do whatever it wants, some Linux partitions
create /, /boot, swap partitions, and some part of that
goes into an Extended/Logical. Which is not my first
choice for a mess.

So what I do, is boot the LiveCD first as a LiveCD. Not
install right away. Use GParted, create a 40GB partition,
label it "MAIN". Make it EXT3 if you want. Make a 2GB swap
partition, format it as swap. The LiveCD will likely "swapon"
and use that right away, but don't panic.

Now, when you install, you tell it you want to do a Custom
installation. Identify the MAIN you labeled in the disk
partitions diagram. Tell the installer this is to be
your "/" slash partition. Find the 2GB swap (pagefile-like)
partition, tell the installer that's your swap. Then
tell the installer to go ahead.

It should install grub in the MBR, which makes Linux the
boot manager. As long as "OSProber" is available in
grub, it will pick up your Windows OS and put it in the
boot menu. In some cases, the boot menu will disappear
too fast. You can modify the time constant.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Grub2

/etc/default/grub --- config file, text, open with gedit
sudo update-grub --- refresh menu, pick up Windows as long
as OSProber present.

This is hardly a recipe, but it's a start.

The only distro I suggest watching very very carefully,
is Debian (the mother-ship). The Debian installer
has an option, you would swear it was going to
install in a partition you have already defined.
Instead, the SOB deletes everything and uses the
whole disk for itself. Most other distros have
better table manners. I've been ****ed over by
Debian one time too many (it deleted several other
Linux OSes!). So you've been warned.
I would not expect impolite behavior from Ubuntu
or Mint, and those are probably safe and effective
installers.

That's not to say you wouldn't test Debian.
You'd bring out an entire sacrificial hard drive,
and just give it the drive. You can't go wrong then.
Even if the installer interface says it's "only
going to hurt a bit", it'll rip you a new one.
Which is fine, if there is nothing of value on
the disk drive. Separate disk drives is a practical
approach on desktop computers, with plenty of trays
to go around. If you're on a laptop, don't bother
with a Debian DVD :-) In that case, you're limited
to typically just the one hard drive, and there
is no room for errors.

Paul

In article
Ed Mullen wrote:

Roger Blake wrote on 1/18/2016 6:13 PM:

I supported a lot of XP systems out in the field for a long time and
had few problems with them. I still have a few out there that I deal
with but Windows 7 has been the standard for business use for some time
now. I have no beef with 7. It performs well, the user interface is not
so different from what users have been accustomed to for many years,
and it's been rock-solid overall.


Absolutely agree.

W10 is looking more like Vista every day. I don't hate it, but I sure
don't love it.

BTW, way off topic, for yucks, I tried Linux Mint today. It sure has
come a long way.

Only problem was when I went to install it on a disk partition.
Couldn't find the one I created for it and offered to erase my Windows
system drive. Well, okay, so much for playing around with Linux.

And I wasn't at all serious about it. Most of my applications have no
Linux equivalents so it was just "lemme see what it's like now" kind of
an experiment. Looked nice but the install snafu? Fuggedaboutit.

Run it on a flash drive. Works nicely on an 8GB flash and you
can save stuff to your NTFS partition. I have a nice running
build of Mint on a flash with Chrome and Remmina. Works like a
champ for me in the local coffee shop when I'm working on some
simple stuff remotely. Added a printer driver for my HP printer
too.

In article
Ed Mullen wrote:

Mr Macaw wrote on 1/18/2016 4:50 PM:
On Mon, 18 Jan 2016 04:16:04 -0000, Diesel wrote:

"Mr Macaw" news 2016 00:07:13 GMT in alt.comp.freeware, wrote:

You have *got* to be kidding. Vista was an absolute pig.
Consumers and businesses avoided it like the plague whenever
possible. There were many sighs of relief when Windows 7 was
released.

Funny, when I deployed Vista to get rid of XP at my work, everyone
breathed a sigh of relief. Computers actually ran all day without
crashing.

Do you remember any specific crash scenarios? As what you're writing
simply does not jive with many real world experiences I have under my
belt. It doesn't jive with other techs I know, either....

I don't remember Vista crashing ever. XP tended to lock up for no
reason. Vista allowed you to kill the unresponsive application more
easily.


Never tried Vista. XP was rock solid for me for many years. And I do
stress my main system. Lots of programs doing lots of things. Lots of
experiments. It seems to be pretty solid.

The others are for my wife's use and I tend to leave them pretty plain.

W7 also was pretty perfect after it evolved and I tamed it. I suspect
my carps about W10 will likely die down in time. It's evolution. Takes
time.

I'm willing to invest some.

Tomorrow I'm going to take a DVD and see if I can install W10 on my
wife's system. The GWX app keeps telling me the PC is compatible but
every time I try to use the app to upgrade it, it fails.

Had the same problem. Laptop was compatible too because it's
running Windows 10 like a champ now.

Side note: I downloaded the first x86/x64 Windows 10 .ISO files
from MS as soon as they became available. Got them in Aug 2015.

Thinking (errantly as it turns out) I needed the latest and
greatest, I used the M$ utility to get the x86 .ISO and tried to
upgrade that way, same exact error.

Then...I compared the .ISO files. The ORIGINAL W10x86 ISO file
is different than the NEW W10x86 ISO file.

ORIGINAL 10x86 .ISO = 2.84 GB (3,052,865,536 bytes)
MD5=99FEB0F9E7262B7EEFA460840A31B59D

NEW 10x86 .ISO = 2.39 GB (2,574,974,976 bytes)
MD5=A7AFC5774E204D9DB3ACD515CED6706F

Thinking maybe something screwed up, I snagged the x86 .ISO
again, nope exact same size and MD5 checksums matched between
the two files. I did not choose the recommended options for
this PC when downloading the .ISO.

Figuring I had nothing to lose because I had an image of the HD,
I tried the ORIGINAL x86 .ISO file and wouldn't you know it, the
upgrade worked like a champ.

Just for grins, I pulled the HD out and put in a new never used
SSD, 25 mins later I had a fresh install from the NEW x86 .ISO
all activated and running.

Inspired, I snagged the new x64 .ISO and loaded that, worked
fine.

ORIGINAL x64 .ISO = 3.80 GB (4,083,853,312 bytes)

MD5=23E397A21A9E01F141C64B7E1260314A

NEW x64 .ISO = 3.04 GB (3,275,489,280 bytes)

MD5=DD8E28049D147C42E61FB8CD8FBF5B82

The newest .ISO files were obtained using the
MediaCreationTool.exe.

Just my circumstance, yours could be different.

Tomorrow I'll try a brute install.

I somehow doubt it will work but, hey, nothing ventured ...

Doesn't really matter as she rarely used the PC.

Of the other two, this one is a new PC with W10 from scratch. The
laptop I upgraded from W7. Only issue is the !@$%&ng desktop icons keep
reinstituting drop shadows no matter what I do. ****es me off.



--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net/
I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as
they go flying by.

On 2016-01-18 9:13 PM, Ed Mullen wrote:
Roger Blake wrote on 1/18/2016 6:13 PM:

I supported a lot of XP systems out in the field for a long time and
had few problems with them. I still have a few out there that I deal
with but Windows 7 has been the standard for business use for some time
now. I have no beef with 7. It performs well, the user interface is not
so different from what users have been accustomed to for many years,
and it's been rock-solid overall.


Absolutely agree.

W10 is looking more like Vista every day. I don't hate it, but I sure
don't love it.

Uh... in what way?

BTW, way off topic, for yucks, I tried Linux Mint today. It sure has
come a long way.

Only problem was when I went to install it on a disk partition. Couldn't
find the one I created for it and offered to erase my Windows system
drive. Well, okay, so much for playing around with Linux.

And I wasn't at all serious about it. Most of my applications have no
Linux equivalents so it was just "lemme see what it's like now" kind of
an experiment. Looked nice but the install snafu? Fuggedaboutit.

GNU/Linux DOES have equivalents for most of what you might use but their
equivalents are also awful. They have a great media player in VLC, but
everything else they offer is mostly garbage.

--
Slimer
EFF & OpenMedia member / IFAW, Mozilla & PETA supporter
"Everything seems to work fine, except that occasionally everything
freezes." - Another one of GNU/Linux's many victims

On 01/18/2016 10:00 AM, Slimer wrote:

[snip]

Windows ME was a stinking pile of ****, too. A simple google search
will remind you (or in your case, enlighten) just how bad Windows ME
performed, as well as, vista.

One of my co-workers at the time had a Intel P3 and suggested that ME
ran beautifully on it. My Athlon did not and I was back in 98 very quickly.


Maybe it was hardware differences, but the ME I had was (only a little)
better than 98SE. It had problems, but mostly the same ones earlier 9x had.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The inventor of the plow did more good than the maker of the first
rosary; because, say what you will, plowing is better than praying." --
R.G. Ingersoll

On 01/18/2016 01:08 PM, Anonymous wrote:

[snip]

Then you spend the next three years downloading **** to make it
work the way you want it to - if it ever gets there. No thanks.


It didn't take nearly that long (and you can often get help on the
internet). And, I learned how to do it and now setting up a new computer
takes less than 3 hours.

BTW, that's less time than it takes to "decrapify" a pre-installed Windows.

--
Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.us/

"The inventor of the plow did more good than the maker of the first
rosary; because, say what you will, plowing is better than praying." --
R.G. Ingersoll