Windows 7

Microsoft has admitted and apologized about ‘crossing the line’ with changing the behavior of the ‘Red X’ on the Windows 10 upgrade screen. However, they were well aware of what they were doing and the repercussions it could cause. Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela: “We know we want people to be running Windows 10 from a security perspective etc, but finding that right balance where you’re not stepping over the line of being too aggressive is something we tried and for a lot of the year I think we got it right, but there was one particular moment in particular where,…

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That’s right it is over! The ‘free upgrade’ period to Windows 10 also known as GWX (Get Windows 10) based on the name of the files Microsoft secretly downloaded onto users machines in hopes that they would unwilling install Windows 10. Clicking on the Get Windows 10 icon in the taskbar tray now brings up this “too bad, so sad” message: However, while the Get Windows 10 notifications have ended, Microsoft Microsoft Corporation 72,82 +0,13 +0,18% is going to take their time in getting the GWX crapware application off users machines. There is a slight chance Microsoft may reintroduce the offer this fall (one reason…

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To upgrade, or not to upgrade (to Windows 10) -

that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of Windows 10, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, keep Windows 7/8.1. My apologies to my readers who may be Shakespeare or Hamlet fans…. With about 60-days left until the ‘free upgrade’ period ends on July 29th there is still time. But, chances are if you haven’t upgraded by now and have managed to avoid falling victim to Microsoft’s Microsoft Corporation 72,82 +0,13 +0,18% “dirty tricks” to get you to upgrade, you likely don’t plan on going to Windows 10….

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I am not making this up. Microsoft Microsoft Corporation 72,82 +0,13 +0,18% almost as if in an attempt to get users of Windows 7 to go out and buy a new Windows 10 machine has intentionally broke Windows 7 for users with Asus ASUUY 41,00 0,00 0,00% system boards. Windows update KB3133977 which use to be an “Optional” but recently became a ‘Recommended’ update. This update enables secure boot on Windows 7 (a feature that was previously disabled). Older PC’s with Asus boards don’t support secure boot, which will cause users to get the below red screen upon first bootup…

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Windows 10 Anniversary Update

It has been about 3-months since I last posted. I had to retire the machine I was running Windows 10 on, an old Dell Optiplex as it was having hardware issues. I did not want to be putting money into a system that is over 10-years old, especially since I only paid $25 for it last year. Yet, I currently do not plan on upgrading anytime soon to Windows 10 on either of my two machines (Gateway Windows 8 Desktop and HP Windows 7 Laptop). Still not sure what I am going to do as I would like to try out Windows 10…

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Microsoft Microsoft Corporation 72,82 +0,13 +0,18% has announced on the Windows Blog they will stop supporting Windows 7/8.1 on computers running the latest chips from Intel Intel Corporation 34,67 -0,04 -0,12%, AMD or Qualcomm QCOM 52,03 -0,46 -0,88%. Specifically these are listed as ‘Kaby Lake’ (Intel), ‘Bristol Ridge’ (AMD) and Qualcomm’s ‘8996’ (the base for the Snapdragon 820). Between them these chips will dominate sales of all new desktops, laptops, hybrids and tablets in 2016. This means for user of devices using these chipsets as well as the current generation Intel Skylake processors the Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 deadlines of January…

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Starting later this month business Windows 7/8.1 users will be included in the Get Windows 10 campaign. They too will start getting the nagware to upgrade to Windows 1o. According to a blog post from Matt Barlow, Microsoft’s Microsoft Corporation 72,82 +0,13 +0,18% general manager of business group marketing, “Small businesses and organizations will soon be able to receive notifications about the upgrade and then directly upgrade to Windows 10,”. Microsoft defines small businesses and organizations as those with a device which: Running and licensed for Windows 7 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro Configured to receive updates directly from the Windows Update service…

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Microsoft Has Ended Windows 8 Support

On January 13th, 2016, Microsoft Microsoft Corporation 72,82 +0,13 +0,18% officially ended support for Windows 8 and you better upgrade to Windows 10 while you still can for free. Okay, you may be asking since Windows 7 came out before Windows 8 and it is supported until January 2020 why would Microsoft end support for Windows 8 now? Well, Microsoft is referring to the original Windows 8.0 (though never branded as such). Okay, so I have Windows 8.1 I am good then? Maybe, maybe not…Microsoft’s FAQ: “Windows 8.1 falls under the same lifecycle policy as Windows 8, and will reach end of…

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This very odd statement is from Microsoft Microsoft Corporation 72,82 +0,13 +0,18% Marketing chief Chris Capossela. “We do worry when people are running an operating system that’s 10 years old that the next printer they buy isn’t going to work well, or they buy a new game, they buy Fallout 4, a very popular game, and it doesn’t work on a bunch of older machines,” Capossela stated. “And so, as we are pushing our ISV [Independent Software Vendor] and hardware partners to build great new stuff that takes advantage of Windows 10 that obviously makes the old stuff really bad and not…

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The Return of KB3035583 Part 2

So, was doing some more housekeeping on the school laptop, mainly cleaning it up from some experimenting with XBMC/Kodi in the last couple weeks. I am actually going to be doing more with XBMC/Kodi on a different system once I add a video card which support HDMI and likely will cost more than I paid for the computer (only paid $25 for the computer from a local eWaste Re-seller and put another $53 into for 2 GB of RAM). Anyway, I noticed I had updates waiting to be installed. This time, I carefully looked at the list and what do…

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