Microsoft SNAFU

[bobm]

Microsoft did their periodic attempt at imposing their "new and improved " format. N O T !!! They made the changes starting with their first screen display with NO INSTRUCTIONS as how to navigate. Took me over an hour trying every option before I could even log into my e-mail . Then when I did , resulting in my not being able to even read ONE e-mail... just freezes and a line saying the site can't be reached due to script streaming, etc. also, it takes 10x longer for anything to show up if and when I change a page. It took me 4 tries to even get onto this site today. Can anyone solve this dilema ? Thank you .

 

[Ridgerunner]

I also don't like Microsoft because of the way they keep trying to scam me into using their products. Sometimes they freeze my screen with a virus warning where Cntl-alt-delete won't get rid of them. It takes a total shutdown and reboot. And when I do, no virus.

These upgrades are a fact or life though I avoid them when I can. I haven't upgraded Adobe forever but as long as it works why upgrade? But with scammers and hackers out there they need to upgrade some things to counter the crooks. It's a nasty world we live in. The only way to avoid it is to not use the internet.

I have not been hit with that upgrade as far as I know. I assume you are talking about that upgrade to Windows 10. If it hits and causes problem I'll work my way through it just like I did when Nifty converted this forum to the current format. At least Nifty gave us warning and tried to help us work through it.

Go ahead and vent. Micriosoft frustrates the heck out of me too.

 

[bobm]

I pressed every combination of things that came up onto my screen from microsoft. I don't know exactly what combination, but my original screen containing icons when I first open the computer came up. I installed " Chrome " ... and wonder of wonders ... my computer now works as before

 

[Zeedman]

It sounds like your Windows 10 update might have set you up in "tablet" mode, which is what happened to me. Drove me crazy trying to navigate that screen, I ended up taking the computer into the shop, thinking it was a virus or malware. They showed me how to get out of tablet mode (by clicking on the dialog icon in the lower right)... I was embarrassed by my ignorance, but relieved that nothing was wrong. Microsoft does a poor job of educating their users, apparently they think that their systems are so naturally intuitive that no instruction is necessary. I beg to differ.

I thought that Microsoft was more helpful back in the DOS era, when you could buy manuals that covered virtually anything which might come up. In those days, I was actually an IT guru, doing BASIC programming and writing dBase programs. Never did like Windows, it seems that each new iteration is less user friendly than the last - and they make drastic changes whether you want them or not. I still do most of my forms & word processing on an old DOS 6 machine, which has outlived 4 newer computers (and will probably outlive this one). My affinity for that machine probably has something to do with the fact that we are both fossils.

 

[digitS']

I have trouble even remembering how I used DOS word processing ... perhaps because Microsoft always kept me anticipating the next change. (Evidenced by the twitch in my left eyelid ... )

Remember that it's a corporate service and whatever outfit built your computer paid to have it installed. Updates are not necessarily bad things. There is an army of hackers out there trying to access information or catch you in one scam or another. Those b***tards probably outnumber MS employees sitting in a Redmond campus by 1000:1.

Pop ups might claim anything, including that the person behind it is one of the 1's and not one of the 1000. We have automated calls on the phone from "Microsoft support" making the same claims. Few would fall for that scam but, obviously, enough do that the scammers continue using the phones.

The webpages are likely partly to blame. The browser, too. Cookies are gathered everywhere. Clickbait is also everywhere but even the legit ads can interfere with the browser. I don't think much of it has to do with viruses but I'm no doctor and don't even play one on teevee ...

Ad-blockers might save us from some of these things but I have become very defensive about downloading much of anything. Still, every time I open a webpage, I've downloaded something!

Fortunately, there is more to life.

Steve
Man, Woman, Birth, Death, Infinity.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree Steve, though I'm still not going to update Adobe as long as it still works. Why download when I don't have to?

I think another problem with the operating systems is that they are designed to work on so many different devices. They operate on a desktop computer without a touch screen but also on different handheld devices that rely in a touch screen. I have not checked lately but I'd guess it's hard to buy a laptop that does not have a touch screen. I think the variety of things they are supposed to run makes them inefficient.

I think another factor might be that the people writing the code probably use the latest most powerful updated computers, not the older model I use. That way they don't experience a lot of the frustration that I do. And they are Geeks. Its their job. They know how to do things I don't have a clue about. I don't know how many times when I was working that I'd ask for help from IT to do something. They'd give pretty straightforward info but my normal follow-up question was "How do I get to the screen you started from" ?

 

[bobm]

Microsoft did it again and fouled things up just like yesterday. I finally was able to reinstall Chrome again ... and what do you now... it works !

 

[w_r_ranch]

I switched all of our computers to Linux about 2 yrs ago & we have never looked back... rock solid, highly reliable, it has a very well supported applications library & best of all, it's free...

Cinnamon Edition

 

[flowerbug]

i've been running Debian GNU/Linux since around Win95 came out but i didn't switch to using it exclusively until around WinXP. as a computer geeky type person it is all just moving bits around in one pattern or another. desktop computers are too much work for people to use, which is why most people have already moved on to other forms of computing (iphones, etc).

 

[ducks4you]

HATE MICROSOFT!!!
Just bought a new office tower in December bc the older one was failing. The don't come with Microsoft Office anymore, so I bit he bullet and spent $150 on it. Yes, it WORKS, but all the programs have a learning curve. I was trying to edit a photo from my phone--I have to take photos of IDs to send along with loan documents after a witness a signing--and it took me at least 30 minutes to manipulate the image. P.I.T.A!!!! ("A" stands for a relative of the horse.)
I don't mind learning new software, but even my DH still has WordPerfect on his office computer at home.