Sunday, December 7, 2014

A little update on Windows Technical Preview...

Not all my add-ins to Tech Preview work out. As I write this (on my other PC) the one with Tech Preview is downloading the ISO of build 9879 from Microsoft. Or at least that's what I hope I'm getting. Last time I tried that, I got a copy of build 9860, and then had to do an on-line upgrade from that to 9879, which isn't quite the same thing at all. But I'm digressing again...

When I said this morning that Aero Glass for Windows 8.1 looked OK in Tech Preview, it did - but it also did something to the system files, which it has to alter in order to do its own thing. And whatever it did made other problems.
I got messages saying my computer was low on space or resources, and yet looking in the Disk Management, all of the three partitions on there still had many GB of free space. So if the Tech Preview partition has 70 or 75 GB of free unused space, why am I getting warnings that I'm getting low and should try to find some? Obviously, something's getting its signals crossed.

I partially solved that by removing the Aero Glass for Windows 8.1, and rebooting it a couple of times, until the desktop began looking better and my Feedback icon changed back to its normal colors, instead of being faded out into a rectangle of transparency. That transparent rectangle still worked, but you had to know where to find it. A man on a galloping horse would never notice it. And during those problems, File Explorer kept reporting "Not Responding". Without which, you can't do much tippy-toeing through the folders to find a solution. So it was into Control Panel's Programs and Features to remove Aero Glass. And it's maker is right - it's not yet quite ready for prime time in Tech Preview. Today's Question Everything is: "Why don't I believe what I'm told, instead of having to find out the hard way?" (Because: we learn by doing, and I'd never know how to fix things if I didn't F-F-F-F-mess 'em up first!) Get the picture?

Meanwhile, my other PC says it now has 37% of that download, at 700 Kb/sec which tells me there aren't too many hops between here and Redmond, WA which is about 150 miles away as the crow flies. In a foreign country. Where Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett just had a hit album together. That has to be the ultimate May-December relationship. And Lady Gaga's singing blew me away - I never expected a flamboyant exhibitionist famous for her scanty costumes would be able to belt out the old standards with someone like Tony Bennett. I probably owe her an apology for thinking the lights were on but nobody was  home. Obviously, I was terribly mistaken. She's simply another vibrant bipolar like myself and some of my friends. And may she live long and prosper! And if you haven't heard that album yet ("Cheek to Cheek") you really ought to. 

I mentioned above a "partial remedy" - the other part of that is now in progress in the form of a fresh install of Windows Technical Preview overwriting the first and wiping out my customizations once again.....

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