• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Windows 10

When I purchased my new PC (acer predator) with Windows 10 I had a job of locating IE, a forum member helped me locate it (I think it was oldMohawk) they obviously do not want you to use it. Eric
 
I don't think there is any danger of Microsoft closing down IE ... too many people use it. I have set up Edge to look like Chrome and it easily imports favourites (bookmarks) from other browsers. They have slightly improved it with the recent update but it still has small faults (for me) and if they occur I immediately switch back to Chrome. One useful feature I find with Win10 is OneDrive with 5Gb free. My laptop, desktop, iPad, and iPhone can all see the same files on it and syncs are fast. Ideal for moving photos and files around.
 
I use Ability Office and I find using Edge I can't copy and paste into Ability Write but can using IE, if I try to I get all the copy - paste links to click on but nothing happens.
 
I just tried a copy from a section of a website page showing in Edge
Highlighted it
Copied it ... I use CTRL and C
Pasted it into OpenOffice ... I use CTRL and V
It went ok ...
I notice others have had the problem see
https://www.windows10forums.com/threads/cut-and-paste-in-edge-browser.1505/
Using Edge, Microsoft were watching me working on the query ...;)
A screen shot below of the 'Timeline' shows me looking about your query and MS even saw me taking an earlier screen shot
Screenshot (4).jpg
A click on any of the tiles takes me straight to the subject.
The Timeline does not form if Chrome is used !
 
Last edited:
Have you (and I will not be liked for this) tried DuckDuckGo I like it because it stops those who track you 40 trackers when ever I used to go to say a news item, (not any more) it also stops the adverts (I hate and detest them ) go to Google (other search engines are available) and type DuckDuckGo
 
The only time I use Google is for their street views. Do not believe all the Windows and search baloney about 'privacy' etc. they find ways around it. DuckDuckGo is a better bet as the previous post suggests.
 
I have used the DuckDuckGo browser, it has it's uses but seemed to have problems with some things.

You don't need to be using a browser to be tracked. If you are using Win10 then Microsoft (their computers) are watching .... see an earlier post from me.
https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/windows-10.45268/page-38#post-612569

With regard to adverts, I don't particularly like them but they help to finance the internet and also this BHF forum. They also help to allow Google Streetview etc to be free.

If adverts really annoy me then they are easy to block but I accept reasonable adverts. I cannot remember any time when an advert on my computers has influenced me. I use Safari on my iPad for much of my browsing and adverts that take up too much screen space or flash do get blocked.

My laptop and iPad cameras are taped over. :D
 
The 'Timeline' thing seemed to be 'eye candy' to me and of no use so I've turned it off as follows.
Settings
Privacy
Activity History
Untick the boxes
Turn off 'show activities' from accounts'
 
Just in case anybody doesn't know this. After you have done your WINDOWS 10 upgrade and if you are happy with it don't forget to do a disc clean up as "windows OLD" folder will take up a chunk of memory maybe 20 + GBs which if you haven't got a massive hard drive is taking up a lot of unnecessary space. Go to your control panel and select administrative tools the disc clean and select clean system files tick the boxes that you want to delete and let it get on with it.

IIRC the windows OLD folder deletes itself after a couple of weeks.
 
while we are talking about adverts, could I please ask members to click on the ads on this site, it helps a lot with the running costs of the forum , you don't have buy anything but please click on them.
thank you
Jim
 
Note that Windows 10 Version 1803 has started shipping.

This is a complete replacement of Windows 10 (it was known as the "Spring Creators Update" but is now called the "Windows 10 April 2018" update)

Note not everyone will get it straight away, it will be phased out over the next few weeks and months.

More about Windows 10 builds here (note you can download the April 2018 update from here if you wish):

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4099479/windows-10-update-history
.
 
Hi Eric, if you use the 'Recovery' in 'Settings' it will recover the 1803 version which you already have.

Like you I have run 1803 for 10 days and haven't really seen any big difference to version 1709. They said they would improve Edge so I gave it another try but for me it does not perform as good as Chrome or Internet Explorer.

I notice a 'normal' update came in yesterday and the build is now 17134.48.

oldmohawk
 
I think the 1803 update was smooth because there were few significant changes. The new Timeline feature lasted a day on my devices before I switched it off. The Edge browser still does not match the performance of Chrome or IE.

The OneDrive feature with 5Gb free is good and I also have it my iPhone and iPad which allows their photos to go direct to my Windows devices.

Windows Defender Security now seems good enough for me to stop using a 'paid for' Anti-Virus.

I still the 'Taskbar' for fast access to apps, and the 'Desktop' background screen but no app icons just a temporary parking place. I use the Win 10 'Start Screen' for any apps not on the Taskbar and find it superior to the old Win 7 app menu.
 
Update went smoothly on both desktop & laptop except that the brightness now can't be adjusted on the laptop and runs at full wack. Seems like a common problem when Google consulted. None of the suggestions have solved it so I guess I'll just have to wear my sunglasses when using the laptop :(. No point uninstalling the update I think as it will only reinstall sometime in the future. And Intel no longer support the relevant chipset.
 
It does seem a common problem and someone with a similar laptop to mine has the problem but I have not. My laptop is low spec with only an Intel i3 processor. I did see someone reported solving it with rolling back the Intel driver. Hopefully with enough people complaining Microsoft will do something about it.
 
Hopefully with enough people complaining Microsoft will do something about it.
I've sent a complaint! I did wonder if something had gone wrong during the update so I wiped my drive and installed a freshly downloaded copy of 1803. Still didn't work :(
 
As you have probably seen on Google etc many people have the problem.
Someone has complained on the website below but has had no useful responses from the members of the site.
The one 'solution' I did see somewhere is to force an old Windows 8 driver in or use a generic driver.
I did see someone elsewhere complaining that their screen was too dark and they could not use their laptop.
https://www.tenforums.com/graphic-cards/110001-cant-adjust-brightness-w10-1803-a.html
 
I did wonder if something had gone wrong during the update so I wiped my drive and installed a freshly downloaded copy of 1803. Still didn't work :(

Drastic steps indeed.

I reinstall Windows on a fairly regular basis and it is often a lot of work, particularly reinstalling all the apps afterwards.
 
Looking at the 'tech forums' it seems some people have had the same problem with previous upgrades, probably since Microsoft introduced the 'Night Light' feature. Perhaps Microsoft would like us to go out and buy new laptops so they can earn revenue from the Windows 10 in them ... :)
 
And make it more difficult for people who just want a computer that works , without fancy gadgets most people don't use
 
Drastic steps indeed.

I reinstall Windows on a fairly regular basis and it is often a lot of work, particularly reinstalling all the apps afterwards.
It is time consuming but on Windows my apps are minimum and copies of documents/pictures etc. are also kept on Linux and a laptop. A recent Windows update did cause issues for me so I did a reset of W10. The pc runs fine - so far. I rarely use W10 but do keep it up to date just in case I get other issues and cannot use Linux Mint.
 
I suppose Microsoft would like to find some way of monetising Windows after most of us took the free upgrade from W7 and W8 and probably still use the same computers. Apple does it by constantly upgrading their operating system until the devices become slow and won't upgrade to the next level. This worked on me ... :D .... my 5 year old iPad although still usable became slow and would not upgrade past iOS9 so I bought a new one which runs iOS11 like lightning, logs on with my fingerprint, no need for anti-virus and is a pleasure to use. It is no use for word processing or serious photo editing so I am happy doing this with Windows 10.
 
Bit off topic but have you got the new Gimp? supposed to be the biggest updated version for six years, John.
 
I’m still running Gimp 2.8 but will have a look if there is a new version available. I probably only use a fraction of the full resources of Gimp. It has no problems with Win 10 1803.

Edit addition...
It looks a major change ... might try 2.10 on my Linux Mint device before I try it in Windows 10.
 
Last edited:
And make it more difficult for people who just want a computer that works , without fancy gadgets most people don't use

This is a VERY good point.

Most people use a small minority of the function in Windows and just want a basic version of Windows that works.

As far as I am aware since Windows 10 came out there have been 5 major updates to Windows 10 (code named Threshold 2 and Redstone 1, 2 3 and 4, which is the latest release). These have all been a complete replacement of Windows.

Redstone 5 (code name) is due out later this year (Autumn 2018?) and will again be a complete replacement of Windows.

And of course with Windows 10 Home version (which most us us have), we have no option but to have the update installed. There are other versions of Windows where you CAN control the updates - Windows 10 Pro, and Windows 10 Enterprise - but even with those you need to download the updates eventually.

I have fast Broadband, and work with computers, so I can cope with these major updates (however I do have 6 PCs in the house so it is a lot of work updating them all), but there are a lot of people with slow Broadband and little computer knowledge who are confused by all these updates.

Sadly as Microsoft have said Windows 10 will be the last release ever of Windows they will continue to keep updating it forever, though hopefully once they have made all their major changes all future changes will be minor updates..

Wouldn't it be nice if there was an option in Windows 10 saying "I am happy with Windows 10 as it is now, just download security fixes and leave the rest as it is".
 
"Wouldn't it be nice if there was an option in Windows 10 saying "I am happy with Windows 10 as it is now, just download security fixes and leave the rest as it is".
I think if they had done that there would be an awful lot of worriers who would still be using 95 or 98. :eek:
 
The continual major updating of Windows 10, mostly containing features I have no use for, was the reason for my moving to Linux Mint last year.
I have, currently, dual boot, meaning (for those not too familiar with computer jargon) that I have the choice of Linux or Windows 10 when opening up my desktop. It loads Linux by default.
However, as I have mentioned before, I do update Windows 10 once a week. Even so a good many of Windows updates seem to have been problematical.
I have considered reverting to Windows 7, which after XP was a fine system, however, given Microsoft's persistence they would most likely pester me to update to W10 and download it anyway.
At present Linux Mint is due for a new update to 18.9 Tara next month so once a new DVD Install is available for 18.9 I might ditch W10 altogether as far as this desktop is concerned.
I will still have W10 on my laptop.
 
Back
Top