Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The Well-Tempered Windows


4 comments:

  1. So what's the latest that you've found concerning applications being able to run under Windoz 10 (aka. Compatibility)? Found any problems in that regard?

    FYI, a friend of mine upgraded and 1) his anti-virus software was removed and 2) his computer won't boot any more...

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  2. Actually, I've been very pleasantly surprised by how many of the older programs
    from years gone by which will still run very nicely within Windows 10. This was
    one of my big concerns, because some of those include "freebies" which no longer are,
    and others are ones which were purchased, but now unavailable thanks to more modern
    developments, some of which I don't need, and didn't buy. So if anyone has a favorite
    older program, I'd suggest giving it a try. If Windows 10 balks at running it, there's
    its built-in compatibility wizard that may sort that out for you. And also, you may find
    that Windows says "We just can't do this one for you" and then if you choose "Run this
    program anyway" you may find it runs like a clock! So don't despair, it may work anyway.

    Your friend may have had his anti-virus removed for a couple of possible reasons.
    It may have simply been too old for today's systems, or it just might have been one
    of those "looks-like-an-anti-virus" that really wasn't what it seemed, and was removed
    to clean up that problem. There's a lot of different security programs out there, and
    some are wolves in sheep's clothing. You have to stick to the name brands, and you can't
    believe everything they will tell you about it. Some of them lie a lot, to get your money.
    Go onto one of those "Ten Best" type of sites, and see what's got the best ratings before
    you spend a lot of money. And also remember that some of today's best "freebies" will
    provide you with coverage that equals or even exceeds that of some of those "pay-me-now" kinds.
    Bitdefender Free, for example. And you'll probably need more than one. They are specializing
    now, and one is better at one thing and another is better at something else, and you
    don't want all your eggs in one basket. I have three different ones, each better at one job
    that the others, and combined, I get very good protection. Two are purchased, and one was free.

    That booting problem could be because the latest Windows is made for a UEFI booting system,
    rather than the now out-of-date BIOS systems we've all known and loved. Both of my computers are just old enough that they have BIOS booting instead of UEFI, but you can use Windows own
    Powershell or Command Prompt (Powershell is Command Prompt on Steroids!) to rebuild your Master Boot Records so that these will conform to the newer requirements. To find out how, go onto Google Search, and type in: Rebuild MBR from BIOS to UEFI ? And then check the list that comes up. That should fix it.

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  3. It's kind of late right now and I just got home. But, I'll need to check out UEFI in the morning. I was unaware that we were moving off of the BIOS system.

    Thanks for the tip Ray.

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  4. You´ve already said it in your previous post: why can´t they mix the best features of all the unix-based OSs and create a good-forever version....
    All we need is a simple version, Russian style so to speak.
    Maintainable with a hammer, a built-in guillotine for viruses and trojans.

    (I don´t know how to spell guillotine correctly, I´ve never been between the claws of one).

    Best wishes from good ole.
    Keep it going, Ray.

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