Windows 10 Problems

sac said:

Also, there are a great many of us who do not have the option to ask for Apple at work and who have been using Windows for years.  ('The devil you know ...') Some of my issues with Windows these days relate to it trying to be more 'Mac-like' (i.e. hiding things from users that the manufacturer thinks we don't need to know.) I have NO doubt that if I was starting from scratch, it might be better to go with a Mac, but thats not where I am.

Me too.

Also, smug Apple users get on my nerves.    

mjh said:

sac said:

Also, there are a great many of us who do not have the option to ask for Apple at work and who have been using Windows for years.  ('The devil you know ...') Some of my issues with Windows these days relate to it trying to be more 'Mac-like' (i.e. hiding things from users that the manufacturer thinks we don't need to know.) I have NO doubt that if I was starting from scratch, it might be better to go with a Mac, but thats not where I am.

Me too.

Also, smug Apple users get on my nerves.   "> 

In the early 1990s maplewood and south orange had an apple computer club called "SMug" south orange / maplewood user group. to my then early teen ears the name made them sound super douchey.

Apple products have always seemed overpriced to me, and so far the occasional frustration with Windows has been worth the thousands of dollars in savings over the years.

I have worked about equal time on Apple/MACs and PCs since 1988.  I prefer PCs over MACs on any day.  But nowadays they are not so different.

remember this - smaller than an iPad and was for full time work.

As someone who manages 120+ Windows machines (and a handful of Macs) at work and owns a Mac at home, I can testify that there is no fundamental flaw in Windows computers that makes using them a 'poor choice'. It's worth pointing out that it's just me managing these, I don't have any assistants!

I certainly don't find that the Macs have less problems than the Windows machines. As plenty of things out there are still developed first for the more-common PC world often things are more straightforward on the PC side. Both computers can occasionally get to a point where they need to be wiped clean. Both are prone to updates sometimes doing weird things.

The biggest difference for me is Apple's support offerings for businesses of our size. If one of our Dell's has a hardware failure I spend 30 minutes on the phone and the part and a tech will be here the next day to fix it. If one of the Macs has a problem I effectively have to update the computer's backup > make an appointment at the Apple store > get in a cab and go to the Apple store > see a 'genius' > get a loaner > get a cab back to the office > wait a week for the computer to be repaired and come back > back up the loaner > get in a cab to the Apple store > get the computer and give back the loaner > copy new files from the backup to the original > fill out an expense report for the cabs. And this is the new 'better' version of the logistics due to them now offering a service called 'Joint Venture' that we have to pay $500 a year for - on top of AppleCare! Prior to that I would essentially have to buy a replacement computer when something broke. When the old one was repaired it would just become a spare - and because Macs don't run most of our software and Mac users don't know how to access network resources they were essentially useless spare for most of our needs.

Both computers have the same issues with diagnosing if it's a hardware or a software problem, you have to wipe it and install a fresh OS before you know that it's broken. It's no surprise, since the underlying hardware is essentially the same.

FilmCarp said:

Tom, I'm no expert but I use Macs, Android machines, and Windows 10.  I have had no problems at all with win 10.  I have never found a suitable Mac based replacement for Access and Excel, and I use Gmail and chrome so my platform doesn't matter in that regard.  I think when things work, people don't run to the Internet and post it, so we tend to hear about the problems more.  I'm not downplaying the problems posted here.  They are real and a pain, but not everyone has them.

I didn't say everyone has problems. I'm saying the incident rate of problems is higher than it should be. There's a big difference.

I'm also saying I think people don't do a good tally of how much it costs them and they don't value their time very well.

sac said:

Also, there are a great many of us who do not have the option to ask for Apple at work and who have been using Windows for years.  ('The devil you know ...') Some of my issues with Windows these days relate to it trying to be more 'Mac-like' (i.e. hiding things from users that the manufacturer thinks we don't need to know.) I have NO doubt that if I was starting from scratch, it might be better to go with a Mac, but thats not where I am.

Sure, I acknowledge that some software isn't available for Mac. That is a clearly deciding factor. I had heard from people I trust that the Mac version of Quickbooks wasn't ready for prime time, so I ran it on Windows. I'm not crazy.

If Windows is trying to be more mac-like and that is tripping you up, it's probably not the maclikeness that's the problem, it's a bad design or a bad implementation. And as I said before, they make big changes often that are not clearly better, so if sticking with what you know is a strategy, it doesn't seem to be available to Windows users.

joan_crystal said:

Alert:  My laptop currently running windows 10 upgraded from windows 8 did a forced update a few days ago that took out the sound.  Running a diagnostic did not help.  Doing a systems restore solved the problem so the upgrade was likely the source of the problem.  Has anyone else encountered this?

I ran into this fix online:
People are having sound problem with their windows 10 toshiba laptop. all the time. This issue could be because of follow reasons: 1.sound is muted. 2. driver compatibility problem. 3. device is not installed. So click on the sound icon and check, it is not muted. then you need to go ahead and download the latest version of sound driver and install it manually. this will start working fine. hope this will help you alot.

Seeing Joan's problem and Jasmo's solution, I should say that to Microsoft's credit, their Windows Update app normally works better than this. It rarely causes problems this bad.

Jasmo:  Sound was not muted.  Checked on sound icon.  Ran diagnostic. On-line research recommended doing a system restore which worked.

Here is a problem we have yet to solve. Plugged in an external hard drive with important info on it, but it doesn't show up on the desk top or anywhere else. Went to file explorer, settings  and drives connected and nothing. How the heck do I find this thing?

Try this whether or not you have done it before.  it is best to rule out the obvious.  

1. Turn on the hard drive.

2. Plug it into the computer.  Make sure you are plugging it into the correct port, using the correct kind of cable.

3. Turn on the computer.

4. On the computer, go to wherever you will find a list of available directories.

5. Check each directory showing, if you don't know what designation has been assigned to the hard drive.

Report back.

Hi Joan, thanks, I have been working on this for about a week, and done all of the above things, even opened every single directory item, but still not finding it. No sign of it.

it could be that the drive isn't getting power from the port, or a bad cable.  Have you tried it on a different computer?

Thanks, our Mac is currently in for repairs, but when we get it back will try it on there. And will try another cable, if I can find an extra around here.

Edited to add...this is a brand new computer.

So, with new cable hard drive still not showing up anywhere, desperately need to put stuff on there, time is of the essence, any more suggestions? I am soon going back to Windows 7, hate 10!

Edited to add...these were external hard drives that were not showing up.

do other things show up when you plug them in, like a flash drive?

Filmcarp, no when we put the flash drive in it did not show up. 

I'm not an expert, but if you check under the devices menu you may find that your usb driver needs to be updated.

Can you try bringing the drive into the library and plugging it in to one of the public computers?  There are both windows and apple based computers available at the main library.  Hilton library is open today and has computers available but I believe they are all windows based.

Thanks Joan, I am going to call my computer guy and see if he can tweak this thing.

See if you can find it with the Device Manager app (if Windows 10 still has that).

currently running Windows 8.1. Can not upgrade to 10 due to software comparability issues. Constantly receiving notices to upgrade to 10. Since I started receiving the notices, I've noticed that IE has had a lot of problems - not responding, etc.... Anyone else?

Can you use a different browser?  Would that help?  I stopped using IE on my XP computer when I ran into too many problems with incompatibility with the websites I frequent.  Same may be happening to a lesser extent with all forms of IE since Windows 10 comes with a new browser.

will try chrome

I think you should avoid IE whether or not it works well for you. All other browsers work better than IE. By switching, you're killing two or more birds with one stone.

I just checked my Dell XPS 8300 PC for driver updates, in considering whether to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, and the update page said that my computer model hadn't been updated to be compatible with Windows 10 and advised against, saying some things might not work; although I keep getting upgrade requests and urgings from Microsoft.  I actually am quite fond of Windows 7, but am concerned I might have problems over time.  Any advice?

If the update page says don't do it, I would recommend against updating.  The major problem will come when Windows 7 is no longer submitted.  However, you may no longer have this computer by the time that happens.

joan_crystal said:

If the update page says don't do it, I would recommend against updating.  The major problem will come when Windows 7 is no longer submitted.  However, you may no longer have this computer by the time that happens.

Microsoft, on the other hand, says that my computer has been checked, and that my memory, processor, drivers, printer and apps are compatible and that I should go ahead....Strange...  ETA, I google searched my computer, Dell XPS 8300, asking whether I should update to Windows 10 and found a whole thread of people having problems.  So, if others are not sure whether to upgrade with their computers, this might be useful to try.  This resolved the issue for me:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/f/4997/t/19644811?pi43397=1.  

Tom_Reingold said:

I think you should avoid IE whether or not it works well for you. All other browsers work better than IE. By switching, you're killing two or more birds with one stone.

When I upgraded to Win 10, IE was replaced by a new browser. (Edge?) I still use Chrome as my default browser, but occasionally I end up in the new one when I download a document or certain other actions and it seems to have some nice features, at least for printing and saving docs. I'm not planning to switch from Chrome, but just saying that the new browser in Win 10 may be worth a look.