WinXP user bought first desktop Win7 - Win10 Pro

Paul wrote in news
Are you saying that the plan of installing programs into where (I think)
they belong won't work on Windows 10 Pro?

Win10 64-bit has

Program Files --- 64-bit install
Program Files (x86) --- 32-bit install

I noticed the two hiearchies, but, remember, looking at those directories
is like walking into the kid's bathroom, where toothpaste is oozing in the
sink, mouthwash is uncovered, wet towels are on the floor, the garbage can
is overflowing onto the floor with hairbrush hair and q-tips mixed in with
toilet paper and toothbrush boxes, etc.

I'm fully apprised of the fact that most people treat the program files
hierarhy as they would the filthy bathroom at Grand Central Station at
noontime, which is that they hold their nose, barely open their eyes, and
use it to do their business as quickly as they can, and then get the heck
out of there as quickly as they can, hoping the stench doesn't stick to
their clothes.

In the olden days (windows 95'ish days, or maybe windows 2000 days, I tried
to keep them organized with Change of Address (COA) style tools from PC
Magazine, but I eventually gave up trying to keep the Microsoft bathrooms
clean).

So there is no doubt I will never put *anything* into either of those two
directories. Period. You can't shake me of that conviction because it is
based on pure logic - but - you can advise me whether I *must* maintain
*two* adult bathrooms for apps.

My question is only this:
Q: Must I maintain *two* app hiearchies, or will one app hierarchy work?

That is, will this *one* program files hiearchy work on Windows 10?
C:\my_apps\{various categories}\{various subcategories}\.
Or must I maintain two adult bathrooms on Windows 10?
C:\my_apps\32-bit\{various categories}\{various subcategories}\.
C:\my_apps\64-bit\{various categories}\{various subcategories}\.

I'd rather not create hierarchy where it's not needed, but it's easy enough
to do, so I just want to know whether people think it would work.

That's just the way that InstallShield or MSI installs
might happen. Separated by the install type.

I teach all my children and grandchildren the same rules I abide by, one of
which is to NEVER (ever ever ever ever ever ever) allow a program to put
files where "it" wants to put them.

You *always* control where the files go (if you can).

And, you *know* years ahead of time, where they should go, because there is
a place for everything, and everything in its place.

The hierarchy that works on Windows should work as well on Windows 10.
1. A place for *all* your data (including your archived installers).
2. A neatly organized place for all your installed apps to go into.
3. A neat menu system that points to the apps using the same organization.
4. A place to put temporary files (which is the only ad-hoc organization).

That's it.
I argue that no computer needs more than those four user-defined things.

If I were a comp-sci professional getting my PhD, that would be my thesis.

Firefox is normally the 32-bit version (the 64-bit version
is not strongly promoted), so it will be going in the
second folder, when you use the Firefox installer.

Let me ask the most important question about this Firefox issue, bearing in
mind that Firefox, while wonderful, was built by a bunch of script kiddies
who had no idea how to neatly organize anything, not the least of which is
the idiotically named and located profiles folder.

Assume I will never need *both* the 32-bit and the 64-bit Firefox (which I
think is a good assumption).

If, say, I plan on installing Firefox where it belongs, that is:
C:\my_apps\browsers\firefox\{whatever Firefox wants from here down}
Must I actually put it in a separate bathrooms on Windows 10?
C:\my_apps\32-bit\browsers\firefox\{whatever Firefox wants from here}
or
C:\my_apps\64-bit\browsers\firefox\{whatever Firefox wants from here}

Let me summarize the question:
Q: Assuming I only install either the 64 bit or the 32 bit Firefox, why
can't I just put it where it belongs?
C:\my_apps\browsers\firefox\{whatever Firefox wants from here down}

NOTE: The idiotic profile folder location is a different issue altogether!

Some programs install two versions of the program.
Internet Explorer, on purpose, lives in *both* folders, and
if you want, you can run the 32-bit or the 64-bit version,
by visiting the folder in question and running it.

This seems trivial to do since I maintain a start menu hierarchy that
*exactly* replicates both the archived apps and installed apps hierarchy.

For example, an "adult" bathroom would look something like this:
a. Start Menu: Start menu browsers firefox
b. Installed apps: C:\my_apps\browsers\firefox\{whatever Firefox does}
c. Archived installer: C:\my_progs\browsers\firefox\{various versions}

Or must I maintain two adult bathrooms on Windows 10?
a. Start Menu: Start menu 32-bit browsers firefox
a. Start Menu: Start menu 64-bit browsers firefox

b. Installed apps: C:\my_apps\32-bit\browsers\firefox\{Firefox does}
b. Installed apps: C:\my_apps\64-bit\browsers\firefox\{Firefox does}

c. Archived installer: C:\my_progs\browsers\firefox\{various versions}

Now is the time I need the advice whether I need to have an adult bathroom
for 32 bits separate from an adult bathroom for 32 bits, or if one adult
bathroom will suffice.

It would
not help, if all that total rubbish, was loaded into a
single folder. Maybe there would even be name clashes,
and the installer would overwrite the previous iexplorer.exe
with the second one. So Internet Explorer is the poster child
for "dual install", if you need an example. I think that's
why they did it, so it would act as a demo.

I guess you answered the question about Firefox, which is that I must
maintain two separate installation hierarchies if I want to have both
32-bit and 32-bit installed app hierarchies:

That means I only have 3 logical organizational choices for the split:
a. Start Menu: Start menu {32,64}-bit browsers firefox
b. Start Menu: Start menu browsers {32,64}-bit firefox
c. Start Menu: Start menu browsers firefox {32,64}-bit

a. Installed apps: C:\my_apps\{32,64}-bit\browsers\firefox\{Firefox stuff}
b. Installed apps: C:\my_apps\browsers\{32,64}-bit\firefox\{Firefox stuff}
c. Installed apps: C:\my_apps\browsers\firefox\{32,64}-bit\{Firefox stuff}

a. Archived installer: C:\my_progs\browsers\firefox\{various 32/64-bit}

If I must keep them separate, I'm inclined to do so as late as possible in
the hierarchy, but I can also do it early in the hierarchy.

I personally have no incentive at all to messing with this.
Basically, if a program installs properly, I'm not the
least bit interested in the details. If an installer
screws up, that's when I'm interested.

I must admit that I keep probably the cleanest system you have ever seen in
your entire life. In fact, since you have not seen my system, you have
never seen a clean system, is my assumption.

If I could get my PhD again, it would be in comp sci, and my thesis would
be on the proper way for companies like Apple & Microsoft & Canonical &
RedHat (etc.) to distribute an operating system that can easily be
organized by humans on a desktop computer (because I think organization is
their greatest abdication of responsibility).

What they deliver today is an abomination which is no different than
letting the kids organize the bathroom. They put their toys first.

In news
It presents basic information about hardware.
Details like memory clock and timing.
Sandra may not drill as deep as some of the direct-hardware-access
programs (might read DMI table from BIOS). But the benchmarks are
still useful.

Thanks for the four pointers to hardware reporting software, all of which I
have archived now and I think are good for everyone to run on a new machine
like mine is (new to me, anyway).

Here are my suggested dirnames, always keeping within 8 characters.
1. Sandra
http://www.sisoftware.eu/download-lite/
c:\my_progs\hardware\diagnose\sandra\.
2. CPU-Z
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
c:\my_progs\hardware\diagnose\cpuz\.
3. AlMico Speedfan
http://www.almico.com/speedfan452.exe
c:\my_progs\hardware\diagnose\speedfan\.
4. TechSpot GPUZ
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/
c:\my_progs\hardware\diagnose\gpuz\.

Thanks.

One hardware oddity that I've been having is that the splash screen doesn't
come up when I boot. That's odd. I've never seen that in any computer. It
simply takes a long time to boot (minutes) and then, the first thing I see
is the Windows 10 archway looking through water. That's really odd.

Worse (much worse) when it goes to sleep, nothing brings it alive even
though all the power and fans are running (and yes, I toggled the Acer
display). I have to shut it off, literally, by holding the power button for
a few seconds (since just tapping the power button once or twice doesn't do
the trick - again - oddly enough for a physical power button).

I till test this hardware issue separately, but first what I did just now
was turn off *all* power settings in the Start Settings menu, so at least
now, once it does come up, it will stay up forever.

Obviously that's energy wasteful, but for now, it beats having to
unhibernate it (or whatever crazy unshakeable stage it goes in when it
falls asleep).

In , David B. suggested:

Thank you. :-)

I've only ever noticed ONE other poster use the word!

You're welcome.

I tried to see whom you were speaking about, but unfortunately Google
doesn't archive this newsgroup:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!fo....os.windows-10

Nor this newsgroup:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!fo...ndows7.general

But Google does archive the windows xp newsgroup:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!fo...dowsxp.general

Searching there for the term "redact", the term comes up exactly six times,
four of which are in a signature by "dh" which instructs the user to
"redact lie to reply: ".
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/micr...w/sxOwkd_n_-4J
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/micr...g/1Sl4tpRs5ugJ
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/micr...o/VVCjS1I32bMJ
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/micr...4/deg3ECsrNMcJ

One of which is in this very thread, used by me:
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/micr...c/Zd7AIcUlCAAJ

Where the only other instance appears to be in the use of "redactions":
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/micr...A/XTVaMIkuD8QJ

Which, upon reading, appears to be some type of religious spam.

Given those results, I heartily commend you for noticing my use of a
relatively common word which, apparently, is not at all in vogue on the
Windows-related newsgroups!

99% of intelligence is (INHO) in the ability to pay attention to detail.

In message , John & Jane Doe
writes:
[]
Ok. So you did have a HDD die on you. It's normal. It happens to all of us.
Maybe less so with solid state drives nowadays.

(I'm not convinced - about SSDs, that is. Although my most recent one
_was_ without warning, I still feel HDs _usually_ give some indication
they're failing; I've yet to hear that SSDs do.)
[]
Thanks for understanding. I have nothing against the "concept" of Microsoft
creating a standard place for programs and people to put their "stuff".
[]
The "Documents & Settings" hierarchy is just like Grand Central Station
rest rooms.

I used to clean it up. Constantly.
Then I just gave up.

Some would say that's why you have to reinstall so often (-:. I wouldn't
be one of those saying that, because I've mostly given up trying to keep
on top of assorted bits of Windows, too.

Any folder Microsoft creates that programs know about is so filled with
garbage that it's just not worth using nor cleaning up.

Agreed.
[]
The start menu, on Windows XP anyway, can easily be a link, so you don't
even have to keep the "real" start menu in the "Documents and Settings"
hierarchy. It's just a link that goes there.

Wouldn't that make an extra level you have to go through in Start |
Programs? (And how about the desktop?)
[]
There are probably three types of files I care about, but I do agree your
"D:" partition is the same (perhaps better) concept as my c:\my_files and
c:\my_apps directories.
Glad you agree - see below.

The three types of files we care about a
1. Our actual data files (e.g., powerpoint slides, text files, pictures).
2. Our installers (which are a special case of "data" files).
3. Our rc files (the dot files) which "control" what apps do.

I hadn't seen them called rc files before.
[]
My point is that you *can* keep everything organized - but - sometimes it's
easier to take a different road than what would otherwise be perfect.
Agreed.
[]
Well. As you can see from my Windows 10 setup questions, I try to *control*
what the operating system does. That means I prevent services from

It's a constant, and uphill, battle, though, isn't it! (It really
_shouldn't_ be like that. But we've let them get away with it for too
long.)
[]
Not everyone has the luxury of two bathrooms. I _think_ I am right in
saying that in the UK, it's still very much the exception: a second
_WC_, which I know in US is sometimes called a bathroom (even though it
doesn't have a bath in it!), _is_ becoming commoner, but from your
lovely description above, you clearly are talking about a second
BATHroom.

Oh. I'm in the USA. Typical suburbia. Million dollar homes that would cost
only a hundred thousand dollars if they were in Kansas. Silicon Valley
normal stuff. Everyone has a similar setup.

Most have 4 bedrooms (mine has more but 4 is about average).
3 is large in UK.
Most have 2 baths (mine has many more, but it's not typical).
Rare here.
Most have a 2 or 3 car garage with a bit of work space.
Many don't have one car-parking space )-:.

Unlike the East Coast, almost none have basements (which is a travesty).
Rare here too; virtually universal in Germany.
All have fenced-in back yards.
(Can be confusing: I think US "yard" = UK "garden"; in UK, a yard has a
hard surface, such as cement or brick.)
Sometimes a pool.
Very rare here - not only not enough space, but too cold!
Almost always a kiddie play set.
If you mean climbing frame and slide, not _that_ common here.
And a shed.
Most who have a (back) garden (your "yard" I think) here have a shed.

Anyway ... the bathrooms are either full or 1/2 where I've never seen a
bathroom not full (but I'm sure they exist) which is a shower or tub in
addition to the toilet and sink.

The only other thing I wish they would have is a bidet. Sigh.

Ah, bidets are here again ...
[]
For example, if you install iTunes, you can tell it where to go, but it
still put Quicktime and Bonjour in Program Files even if you told it to put
iTunes where you wanted it.

I have no intention of ever installing iTunes (-:!
[]
I just create my own folders that neither the operating system nor the
programs make a mess of and everything is fine.

My D: partition.

Yup. Your D partition is *safer* than what I use on C: because the area
most likely to get corrupted is the stuff near the operating system (e.g.,
WINDOWS) so your partition is much safer than my lack of partition.

Yes, that's why I started doing it. Yes, hard drives will fail
eventually, so I keep my D: copied as well, but at least one of the
things that can screw up C: is you or something else doing something
that renders it unbootable, such that a format may be necessary - in
which case any folder on C: is lost; up to XP, at least, I think you can
reformat and reinstall to C: without D: being affected. [FWIW, my C: is
exactly 40G, of which 5.81 G is currently free.]
[]
I find the smaller downloaded programs far better behaved than those from
the likes of google, microsoft, adobe, etc.

Agreed. And tend to be better-written, too. (I admire the fact that
IrfanView, for example, until relatively recently had an installer that
would still fit on a floppy.)

PS: I've heard people deprecate the "print screen" button, but, why?
It is simple, fast, and effective. I just paste into Irfanview & crop.
(Yes, I know about Alt+PrintScreen).
Yes, I've seen much praise of this grabby thing that comes with 7; I'm
sure it _does_ have advantages, but I haven't found any need to learn
its foibles. In much the same way as I can't understand the point of
OneNote, that comes as an optional part of recent versions of MS Office.

I do understand that most people put things into C:\Documents and Settings\
but I don't know how they find anything in that garbage pile.

They probably only look via an application's "Open" dialog, never using
Explorer at all.

I agree. I've seen, much to my horror, people download stuff right in front
of me, and then spend ten minutes searching for where they put it!

It's always shocking to me that adults act like kids when it comes to
putting their files where they belong.

I'm sure there are lots of things others do that irritate us (for me one
of them is watching someone fill in a webform, using the mouse to move
between fields and to click the OK button when they're finished, rather
than tab and enter). Equally, I'm sure there are things I do - both
within computing and outside it - that drive others up the wall.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

You know what the big secret about posh people is? Most of them are lovely.
- Richard Osman, RT 2016/7/9-15

In message , John & Jane Doe
writes:
[]
What is this Glary stuff?
Searching, I find http://www.glarysoft.com/glary-utilities/

I just put the installer in:
C:\my_progs\cleaners\registry\glary\

I will test it out.\
https://s24.postimg.org/xbf0g7i91/gary.gif

NOTE: It wants to install maiagames whatever that is, and wants me to join
their "customer experience" which sure doesn't sound like something I want
to do.

As always, I pulled the Ethernet plug when I started it, where it tried to
phone home to
http://www.glarysoft.com/update/rele...=6.77.6.92&l=1

I use my ancient KPF (Kerio Personal Firewall), which seems to catch all
such attempts. It's _amazing_ just how many such calls some prog.s make!
[]
However, it does have a nice startup manager interface though.
1. startup https://s4.postimg.org/bevbtcodp/gary_startup.gif
2. scheduled https://s7.postimg.org/3tojbahvv/gary_scheduled.gif
3. plugins https://s9.postimg.org/cqu06a7jz/gary_plugins.gif
4. applications https://s11.postimg.org/5hyuf6irn/gary_application.gif
5. windows https://s15.postimg.org/qd48b8ji3/gary_windows.gif

It seems like a nice util, as long as it's run only offline.
[]
Gary seemed to find things that ccleaner did not, so I concur.
I first ran Ccleaner, then Gary's registry cleaner.
Here is the result: https://s21.postimg.org/4xfi2ghyv/gary_registry.gif

NOTE: As a double check, I ran ccleaner after Gary but it found nothing.

You got it right the first two times, then you left the l out. [Who's
this Gary person? (-:] (FWIW, I don't think I use Glary; I've seen it
mentioned enough times here that I keep thinking of investigating it,
but haven't yet acquired a suitable tuit.)

Both cleaners will nag from time to time to upgrade to paid version but
I just ignore that. The are worth the nags I think.

I never upgrade until a gun is put to my head.
Or until there is something I know I need.
Which rarely happens.

Likewise. There's usually something I _don't_ want, like the new UI at
about Firefox 28. (And the whole philosophy of Windows 10.)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"... four Oscars, and two further nominations ... On these criteria, he's
Britain's most successful film director." Powell or Pressburger? no; Richard
Attenborough? no; Nick Park!

On Sun, 7 May 2017 17:38:51 +0100, "David B."
wrote:

On 07/05/2017 17:27, Char Jackson wrote:
On Fri, 5 May 2017 23:37:23 +0100, "David B."
wrote:

On 05/05/2017 22:58, John & Jane Doe wrote:
David B. wrote in :

REDACT - who taught you that word?!!!

Origin and Etymology of redact
Middle English, from Latin redactus, past participle of redigere

First Known Use: 15th century
1350-1400; Middle English Latin redàctus (past participle of redigere to
lead back), equivalent to red- red- + àctus, past participle of agere to
lead;


I repeat: *Who taught YOU that word*?!!!

Hmm, obviously that word gives you a hinky. Can you explain why that is?

Yes, of course ...... once you have provide the link to your REAL
identity at LinkedIn.

Will you do that, Char?

This is Usenet, IOW optionally anonymous.
"Good guys" keep their personal details secret to protect
themselves and their families from STALKERS, SPAMMERS, PEDOPHILES and
other filth.
But you already know that.
[]'s
--
Don't be evil - Google 2004
We have a new policy - Google 2012

In alt.comp.os.windows-10 "J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote:
In message , John & Jane Doe
writes:
[]
What is this Glary stuff?
Searching, I find http://www.glarysoft.com/glary-utilities/

I just put the installer in:
C:\my_progs\cleaners\registry\glary\

I will test it out.\
https://s24.postimg.org/xbf0g7i91/gary.gif

NOTE: It wants to install maiagames whatever that is, and wants me to join
their "customer experience" which sure doesn't sound like something I want
to do.

As always, I pulled the Ethernet plug when I started it, where it tried to
phone home to
http://www.glarysoft.com/update/rele...=6.77.6.92&l=1

I use my ancient KPF (Kerio Personal Firewall), which seems to catch all
such attempts. It's _amazing_ just how many such calls some prog.s make!

Which version of KPF? I miss the very old version that I used to use in
Windows XP Pro SP3.
--
Quote of the Week: "Busy as ants hurrying orcs were digging, digging
lines of deep trenches in a huge ring, just out of bowshot from the
walls;" --The Return of the King (book)
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail privately. If credit-
( ) ing, then please kindly use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.

In message , Ant
writes:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10 "J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote:
In message , John & Jane Doe
writes:
[]
As always, I pulled the Ethernet plug when I started it, where it tried to
phone home to
http://www.glarysoft.com/update/rele...=6.77.6.92&l=1

I use my ancient KPF (Kerio Personal Firewall), which seems to catch all
such attempts. It's _amazing_ just how many such calls some prog.s make!

Which version of KPF? I miss the very old version that I used to use in
Windows XP Pro SP3.
2.1.5. I think that's the last before something.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

And Jonathan Harker would never have sent all those letters to his beloved
Mina from Transylvania, he'd have texted her instead. "Stuck in weird castle w
guy w big teeth. Missing u. xxxx (-:" - Alison Graham, RT 2015/11/7-13

In alt.windows7.general "J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote:
....
I use my ancient KPF (Kerio Personal Firewall), which seems to catch all
such attempts. It's _amazing_ just how many such calls some prog.s make!

Which version of KPF? I miss the very old version that I used to use in
Windows XP Pro SP3.
2.1.5. I think that's the last before something.

Yeah, that is what I used. So, it works perfectly in the newer 64-bit
Windows versions? I thought it wasn't compatible.
--
Quote of the Week: "Busy as ants hurrying orcs were digging, digging
lines of deep trenches in a huge ring, just out of bowshot from the
walls;" --The Return of the King (book)
Note: A fixed width font (Courier, Monospace, etc.) is required to see this signature correctly.
/\___/\ Ant(Dude) @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
/ /\ /\ \ Ant's Quality Foraged Links: http://aqfl.net
| |o o| |
\ _ / Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail privately. If credit-
( ) ing, then please kindly use Ant nickname and AQFL URL/link.

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote in :

The start menu, on Windows XP anyway, can easily be a link, so you don't
even have to keep the "real" start menu in the "Documents and Settings"
hierarchy. It's just a link that goes there.

Wouldn't that make an extra level you have to go through in Start |
Programs? (And how about the desktop?)

I keep the desktop clean, with only "My Computer" on it, since all the
directories I need are in the quick launch bar on WinXP. I'll want to
replicate that on Windows 10.

My WinXP start menu can't be completely reproduced on Windows 10 but to
answer your question, I don't understand how you could say it's an "extra'
level to go through.

Remember, my mind for the past 20 years has organized, say, Ccleaner, as
being in "cleaners" "ccleaner", so, that's what I expect to see in my menu.
Start menu cleaners ccleaner

I completely ignore "Start Programs" as it is a complete waste. Yes, in
the olden days, I tried to keep it clean, but it just wasn't worth the
trouble. All I do is put my "menu" folder at the same level as "programs"
and then I never need to go to Start Programs.

Actually, my menu folder is a link to my real menus, but that is just a
detail.

The start menu on Windows 10 is going to take some getting used to.
https://s15.postimg.org/r0nz0wk17/wi...start_menu.gif

What is all that stuff about?
- Life at a glance? What? What is that?
All I want "at a glance" is:
a. Access to my folders (which is usually in my WinXP QuickLaunch).
b. Access to my main programs (which in WinXP is in the start menu).
That's it.
There's nothing else I *could* want to access at the desktop.
1. Folders
2. Programs
Why make it so complicated?
Can I make that "life at a glance" show just what I want?
a. My data folder and my menu folder and my temp folder and that's it for
folders.
b. My app hierarchy of shortcuts (and that's it for programs).

Looking at the other half of that Windows 10 picture, I see
- Play and explore! WTF? Play and explore?
What do they think we do with the computer.
"Oh, I have nothing to do today, so let's play and explore!!!!!.
Are they nuts?
What's on that Play and Explore anyway?
Solitaire! Are you kidding? Really? OMG.
The first and last time I did that was my first exposure to Win95.
Can I make that "play and explore" something useful?

What's the theory here?
If all I want are to replicate what I could do on WinXP and get rid of all
that other crap, what's the recommended Windows 10 approach?

Here's all I want access to at the desktop:
1. My three folders, data, applications, and temporary stuff.
2. My quick launch quick access set of folders & apps (about 10 in toto)
3. Then I need a menu to the entire list of shortcuts to apps I've
installed

I don't need *anything* else on the desktop.
What is the best way to accomplish that simple task on Windows 10?

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote in :

(I'm not convinced - about SSDs, that is. Although my most recent one
_was_ without warning, I still feel HDs _usually_ give some indication
they're failing; I've yet to hear that SSDs do.)
[]

I think ssd drives are fine for laptops, especially fanless tiny ones, due
to battery life, jolting, heat issues, and fast bootup.

But they're not yet cost effective for terabyte storage.
They're not for me on this desktop anyway.

Some would say that's why you have to reinstall so often.
I completely understand.
Basically, most people, if they don't know what a switch is for, they leave
it alone.

Me?
If I don't know what a switch is for, I turn it off.
If something happens that I care about, I turn it back on, but, more often
than not, something happens ten days later when I've already futzed with
two dozen other things.

Luckily, anyone can recover from anything with a full re-install!

I hadn't seen them called rc files before.
Oh. sorry. RC === run control
It's a very common Unix/Linux term, which I figured was known here.
~/.exrc for example is the run control file for the vi editor, as I recall.
I think VIM might use .vimrc, for example.

It's just a "dotfile" or "run control" file, which is just something the
program consults upon startup to get its settings.

It's a typical UNIX thing more so than Windows though.

It's a constant, and uphill, battle, though, isn't it! (It really
_shouldn't_ be like that. But we've let them get away with it for too
long.)

Philosophically we're doomed because those who try to bend Windows to their
needs are 1 out of 100 or maybe even 1 out of 1,000, where the hoi polloi
set the rules for everyone.

I just shut off a zillion Windows 10 privacy sliders.
To you and me they should have one and only one (with a zillion sub
sliders).

The first and only slider would be:
Q: Do you want privacy ... yes, or no?

If you say "yes", it should shut off all zillion of those sliders.
If you say "no", then it can present you with those zillion sliders.

Alas. Will never happen.
So I will be turning off sliders for weeks on end, I'm sure.
And even then, I've been warned the MVP HOSTS file doesn't work.
(How can that possibly be?)

On 08/05/2017 03:26, John & Jane Doe wrote:
I keep the desktop clean, with only "My Computer" on it, since all the
directories I need are in the quick launch bar on WinXP. I'll want to
replicate that on Windows 10.


After nearly 200 posts, this wasn't covered by any of the nutters here.
This proves that there is a competition going on as to who posts the
most rubbish message on this newsgroup. SteveGG seems to have won it
because he is quite good at crying about everything made by Microsoft.

To disable all icons on your desktop (including "My Computer"), just
right-Click on the empty part of the desktop and then choose as shown in
this pictu

http://i.imgur.com/34TakSG.png http://i.imgur.com/34TakSG.png


I guess this is not going to make any sense to you because you don't
have Windows 10 running so it is just for academic interest for SteveGG
to complain about.



--
With over 500 million devices now running Windows 10, customer
satisfaction is higher than any previous version of windows.

Most have 4 bedrooms (mine has more but 4 is about average).
3 is large in UK.

3 bedrooms is nothing in suburbia.
Anyway, that's a different topic altogether.

Most have 2 baths (mine has many more, but it's not typical).
Rare here.

Heh. I guess you're in a city?

Most have a 2 or 3 car garage with a bit of work space.
Many don't have one car-parking space )-:.
You seem to be in a city.
Cities are different.
Way different.

Unlike the East Coast, almost none have basements (which is a travesty).
Rare here too; virtually universal in Germany.
Basements are wonderful.
It's sad that they don't do them in the Silicon Valley.
Very sad.

All have fenced-in back yards.
(Can be confusing: I think US "yard" = UK "garden"; in UK, a yard has a
hard surface, such as cement or brick.)
Oh. Here in the US, a "yard" is the front and back.
Most have acres of land outside of suburbia, but inside of suburbia, it's
smaller. In the east coast you have half acre yards a lot and a few acres a
lot, but in California they're nuts and pack them in to postage stamp
lawns. Such is the life of supply and demand.

Sometimes a pool.
Very rare here - not only not enough space, but too cold!
Heh heh ... heated by the sun out here.

Almost always a kiddie play set.
If you mean climbing frame and slide, not _that_ common here.
Here they have slides, and swings, and other things.
My kids ALWAYS had them at least.

And a shed.
Most who have a (back) garden (your "yard" I think) here have a shed.
A shed is where the lawn mower, leaf blower, chain saw, hedge trimmer,
string trimmer, etc. goes, along with the gasoline you don't want to keep
in the garage.

Ah, bidets are here again ...

Since we have septic systems, a bidet saves on tissue paper going into a
tank where it mostly just turns to sludge and has to be pumped out again.
If I had a bidet, it could pay for itself in not needing the system pumped
every few years.

Plus, if it's warm, it cleans much good'er than does tissue paper.

I have no intention of ever installing iTunes (-:!

Understood. It's an abomination. I was just saying how badly behaved it
was, in that you can tell it where to go but it still puts crap in program
files.

Yes, that's why I started doing it. Yes, hard drives will fail
eventually, so I keep my D: copied as well, but at least one of the
things that can screw up C: is you or something else doing something
that renders it unbootable, such that a format may be necessary - in
which case any folder on C: is lost; up to XP, at least, I think you can
reformat and reinstall to C: without D: being affected. [FWIW, my C: is
exactly 40G, of which 5.81 G is currently free.]

Yup. Your D partition is better.
Its' the same concept as my directories, only better protected by the
partition.

Agreed. And tend to be better-written, too. (I admire the fact that
IrfanView, for example, until relatively recently had an installer that
would still fit on a floppy.)
Irfanview is great.
As is Windows Media Player Classic (with the Klite codec packs).
Also IZARc and Ccleaner and Paint.NET (although I hate .net).

Yes, I've seen much praise of this grabby thing that comes with 7; I'm
sure it _does_ have advantages, but I haven't found any need to learn
its foibles.

If I need a *lot* of screenshots, I use Irfanview which has plenty of
capturing methods. Otherwise I just use print screen.

Someone is gonna have to explain to me why a screenshot program is any
better than those two for capturing.

For editing the screenshot, nothing is better than Paint.NET (although I
hate .NET).

In much the same way as I can't understand the point of
OneNote, that comes as an optional part of recent versions of MS Office.
I don't even know what that is.

I'm sure there are lots of things others do that irritate us (for me one
of them is watching someone fill in a webform, using the mouse to move
between fields and to click the OK button when they're finished, rather
than tab and enter). Equally, I'm sure there are things I do - both
within computing and outside it - that drive others up the wall.

Yeah, the tab key jumps between fields.
I've seen people blueselect stuff, and then hit the backspace key one by
one to get rid of twenty characters when they could just start typing which
would wipe them all out with the first character.

Such are peeves.

J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote in :

I use my ancient KPF (Kerio Personal Firewall), which seems to catch all
such attempts. It's _amazing_ just how many such calls some prog.s make!

Firewall is a better way than what I do, which is pull the plug.

You got it right the first two times, then you left the l out. [Who's
this Gary person? (-:] (FWIW, I don't think I use Glary; I've seen it
mentioned enough times here that I keep thinking of investigating it,
but haven't yet acquired a suitable tuit.)

It must be round.

I never upgrade until a gun is put to my head.
Or until there is something I know I need.
Which rarely happens.

Likewise. There's usually something I _don't_ want, like the new UI at
about Firefox 28. (And the whole philosophy of Windows 10.)

Yup. I don't upgrade unless I have to because there's usually nothing
worthwhile, and often things we don't want.

Security is an issue though. Sigh.

Tomos Davies wrote:


Thanks.

One hardware oddity that I've been having is that the splash screen doesn't
come up when I boot. That's odd. I've never seen that in any computer. It
simply takes a long time to boot (minutes) and then, the first thing I see
is the Windows 10 archway looking through water. That's really odd.

Worse (much worse) when it goes to sleep, nothing brings it alive even
though all the power and fans are running (and yes, I toggled the Acer
display). I have to shut it off, literally, by holding the power button for
a few seconds (since just tapping the power button once or twice doesn't do
the trick - again - oddly enough for a physical power button).

I till test this hardware issue separately, but first what I did just now
was turn off *all* power settings in the Start Settings menu, so at least
now, once it does come up, it will stay up forever.

Obviously that's energy wasteful, but for now, it beats having to
unhibernate it (or whatever crazy unshakeable stage it goes in when it
falls asleep).

The BIOS has a discovery order for video cards. It is outputting
the splash to a VESA screen other than the one you're looking at.

I don't know if your second symptom is related to that or not.

And OEM computers may lack the BIOS setting to adjust which
video adapter is used first.

Paul