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Foreign Invaders crisis cost $150B in 2023, forcing some areas to cut police and fire services: report Israel kills head of Hezbollah Intelligence. Tenn. AG reveals ICE released thousands of ‘murderers and rapists’ from detention centers into US streets Status: Not Logged In; Sign In How To See other How To Articles Title: Windows 10 = Maze of Slow, Intrusive Garbage. Need Help in Un-Bloating and Speeding Up Source: Me URL Source: [None] Published: Jan 2, 2018 Author: Me Post Date: 2018-01-02 11:15:46 by Liberator Keywords: Windows 10, Intrusive, Garbage Views: 21409 Comments: 92 To you Computer tech-heads, just got a Win 10 HP piece of crap that is running in quicksand. It's not a brand new machine... Firefox is running, but preventing the LF page from opening without permission. Took forever to load youtube as well as all other pages. Have loaded CCleaner and Avast. There seems to be a mountain of bloatware and intrusive programs running in the background. I'm a Win 7 guy, so this is all Greek to me. It's like a selfish Monster has hijacked the machine. The Settings are nothing like the simplicity of Win 7. Very convoluted. How do I take back this machine? And stop the intrusive stuff and updates? Any constructive suggestions are appreciated. Thanks... Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread   Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Comments (1-27) not displayed.       .       .       . #28. To: Willie Green (#27) (Edited) It sounds like you have an older HP medium-class laptop that you upgraded to Win10. You may have the old Windows files still on your hard drive if you upgraded from Win7 to Win10. You may have regular temp files from the OS and various software installs taking up space. You could have a full set of all the Win10 security updates sitting there, already installed in your Windows but the install files not deleted. I suggest you check some of these solutions from Microsoft: MSDN: Deleting temp files in Windows 10. Also computer slower with Windows 10. Click to skim through the 45 user comments too. Windows has never been good at dumping its own temp files. It's never wrong to suspect they're leaving a lot of temp files around. They just aren't good at cleaning up temp file messes that they make. Linux and MacOS don't have this problem. You might also check your web browsers to make sure that their disk caches are reasonable. Something less than 128MB for each browser isn't unreasonable. Some people would say smaller or bigger size is better but just checking through all those (hashed) cache files takes considerable time for your browser to do, making your browser experience slower on average. Win10 really shouldn't be taking up more than about 10GB. You should have plenty of room unless you're storing big stuff in your Documents folder (like big video or audio collections or hundreds of large scanned PDF files). Update: looking further I see Win10 is a bigger hog than I knew: Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS Yeow! Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-20   18:27:10 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #29. To: Willie Green (#27) Maybe you should check what your disk free space is. Go to My Computer, right-click the hard drive icon, select Properties from the pop-up menu. You should see how much space is used and free with a pie chart. You might check to see whether you're running the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Win10. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-20   18:50:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #30. To: All (#29) After I offered up advice that you solicited, you don't even bother to reply. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-22   12:46:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #31. To: Willie Green (#27) Have you deleted the OS save points? Those can eat up a lot of space. VxH  posted on  2018-02-22   13:42:50 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #32. To: Tooconservative, Buckeroo, Pinguinite, goldilucky, all (#30) Thank you for responding and for extending your respective advice and suggestions. It is appreciated... I don't always checks my pings, especially when I've been off-line or elsewhere. My bad. Liberator  posted on  2018-02-22   14:04:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #33. To: Liberator (#32) (Edited) Thank you for responding and for extending your respective advice and suggestions. It is appreciated... No, not you. Willie was the one who asked a specific question. I was a little grouchy and needy to Willie that he didn't followup but you know how I crave closure. To return somewhere near your topic - the ol' BTTT we all recall - here's a fresh link about the ongoing effort to patch recent Intel CPUs with microcode updates. ArsTechnica: Intel ships (hopefully stable) microcode for Skylake, Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake Intel reports that it has developed a stable microcode update to address the Spectre flaw for its Skylake, Kaby Lake, and Coffee Lake processors in all their various variants. The microcode updates help address Spectre variant 2 attacks. Spectre variant 2 attacks work by persuading a processor's branch predictor to make a specific bad prediction about which code will be executed. This bad prediction can then be used to infer the value of data stored in memory, which, in turn, gives an attacker information that they shouldn't otherwise have. The microcode update is designed to give operating systems greater control over the branch predictor, enabling them to prevent one process from influencing the predictions made in another process.. . . So users should expect to see these updates coming down the line from Microsoft very shortly. I just updated my MacOS last night. Supposedly, this update will fix the problem of the last CPU microcode update which caused a lot of system crashes and made people unhappy. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-22   14:38:57 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #34. To: Tooconservative (#33) I know your post wasn't addressed to me, but I wanted you and others to know I appreciated your helpful suggestions. Liberator  posted on  2018-02-22   16:48:44 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #35. To: Tooconservative, VxH (#30) After I offered up advice that you solicited, you don't even bother to reply. Sorry... I've been struggling with that damn bloatware, trying to get the upgrade to work... I have the 64-bit... and the suggestions you gave helped quite a bit... I can clean out a LOT of crap that the clean-up wizard misses, giving me 17.0 GB used on C:/ and 10.8 GB available... and did a "reset this PC" taking it all back to square one with no reset point to revert back to... And delete ALL other programs it will let me delete... I don't have NOTHING on there except the fucking Windows... And I made sure the recylce bin is empty too... And when I start the Win 10 upgrade assistant, IT TELLS ME EVERYTHING IS OK... The CPU is OK and the RAM is OK and the hard drive space (10.8 GB available) is OK... And then I sit there and wait while it downloads... And then I sit there and wait while it installs... And I sit and wait some more because it's slower than molasses in January... And then I get pissed-off & start cussing a blue streak because it mother-fucking bombs out after being 80% installed... And it has the mother-fucking AUDACITY to tell me that it's because there's not enough disk space after telling me there WAS enough space when I started. GODDAM BLOATWARE Fuck Bill Gates... Fuck Microsoft Fuck Redmond Washington The world would've been a much nicer place to live if they had just called it quits after DOS 6.0... Gates has NEVER made a version of Windows that didn't SUCK. Willie Green  posted on  2018-02-22   16:59:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #36. To: Willie Green (#35) And it has the mother-fucking AUDACITY to tell me that it's because there's not enough disk space after telling me there WAS enough space when I started. Yes, it's never good when your OS takes up more than half of your storage media. Is there any way that you can download the update you need on to a USB drive? Those are very cheap now for 16GB or 32GB. I'm not sure you could even update that laptop's internal drive. An EMMC drive is unusual, not really an SSD, just a MMC data card soldiered to the motherboard. I suppose you could try to ask HP support or search around their forum to see if anyone else has the same problem or found a solution. I went to look at the HP forum and found this thread: HP: I am runnin W 10 ver.1511 and wish to upgrade to 1607, but it is no go , 12/15/16 HP is saying that the drive cannot be upgraded, it seems. They suggest wiping the drive entirely, installing Win10 fully from a USB drive. That's a lot of downloading and fussing. That is just an insanely small boot drive. I suppose it must have made some sense to HP when they built it. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-22   21:13:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #37. To: Tooconservative (#36) Is there any way that you can download the update you need on to a USB drive? Those are very cheap now for 16GB or 32GB. I was about to ask you the same thing... or at least a similar question.. I have a 32GB microSDHC inserted as drive D:/, and found a way to use it as default for any apps I download plus docs, pictures, music, etc... but don't know how to divert any system crap to it.. I can't remember... is there some kind of windows swap file that I can change the path for? I found a way to disable the recycle bin, so anything that I delete actually gets deleted... What about "temp" files... I vaguely recall something about using environmental variables to divert them somewhere too.... But my memory is getting faulty in my old age... I also have a 16GB USB stick plugged in as drive E:/, but it's just sitting there not doing anything... Is there any way to "merge" or "append" drives D:/ or E:/ with C:/ so the system thinks it's all just one big drive? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part? That's another vague memory I have from somewhere that I don't know if it's real or not... Maybe I'm getting confused with linux... Willie Green  posted on  2018-02-23   9:31:38 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #38. To: Willie Green (#37) I have a 32GB microSDHC inserted as drive D:/, and found a way to use it as default for any apps I download plus docs, pictures, music, etc... but don't know how to divert any system crap to it.. That should be plenty to be able to download a current Win10 install file, wipe your drive in the BIOS utility, and then install. Just be certain that you have created a bootable USB drive with the Win10 OS on it. I can't remember... is there some kind of windows swap file that I can change the path for? You can limit its size or you can divert it to another drive. I doubt that will solve your problem. I also have a 16GB USB stick plugged in as drive E:/, but it's just sitting there not doing anything... You should be able to download a full Win10 installer to it and use it to install to a blank C: drive. Is there any way to "merge" or "append" drives D:/ or E:/ with C:/ so the system thinks it's all just one big drive? Or is that just wishful thinking on my part? That's another vague memory I have from somewhere that I don't know if it's real or not... Maybe I'm getting confused with linux... There are utilities that have come and gone over the years but I wouldn't recommend them. That works okay on Linux and MacOS, not as well for Windows machines. Microsoft: Windows 10 ISO download Make sure you have your OEM licensing info handy before you try any of this stuff. Also make sure you can boot with that USB flash drive before you erase anything on the C: drive. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-23   10:26:53 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #39. To: Tooconservative (#38) Make sure you have your OEM licensing info handy before you try any of this stuff. is that stored on my computer somewhere? Willie Green  posted on  2018-02-23   10:39:59 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #40. To: Willie Green (#39) (Edited) Is there a sticker on the bottom of your computer or inside the battery compartment? Did you get any install disk with the laptop (seems unlikely)? You might try to do an online chat with HP. It'll take a while to get a good answer but they should know something. Apparently, they sold a lot of these laptops to schools, including a schools-only model with a 64GB eMMC drive. On some machines, they have a Windows activation key tied to their serial number and system configuration. For such machines, it will just install and you can skip entering any license key. For others, you need to find your Windows OEM key before you wipe that hard drive. Yours is probably already embedded in the BIOS info. But make sure you know before you try anything. Also, it would be a good idea to get all your system drivers from HP downloaded before you wipe the machine. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-23   10:55:49 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #41. To: Willie Green (#39) (Edited) You might read this HP thread: HP: How I was able to install Windows 10 on HP Stream 13 (32GB SSD) HP's forums do have some info from others that had problems, mostly getting from Win8.1 to Win10. HP has an upgrades page that could help. HP: HP PCs - How to Reset Your Computer to Factory Settings (Windows 10, 8, 7) Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-23   11:07:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #42. To: Tooconservative (#41) OK... thanks... I DID at least manage to download & do an HP bios update a couple days ago, so I'm pretty sure that change is permanent no matter what I wipe from the drive... But it's gonna take a few days for me to check out that other stuff because I have other commitments to take care of... So be patient & I'll get back to you then... Thanks again! Willie Green  posted on  2018-02-23   11:20:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #43. To: Willie Green (#42) When you download the fresh Win10, try to use the Win10 Media Creation edition. That will help you prepare the USB drive and make it bootable. That plain ISO file download I pointed you to earlier requires you to create your own bootable USB setup with other utilities. So the other Media Creation version should be more straightforward and reliable. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-23   11:38:19 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #44. To: Tooconservative (#43) I assume I can download the iso to my linux PC & use UNetbooten to make it into a bootable USB... That's what I usually use when I need to do a fresh install of linux on something... (although I've been pretty happy with Mint for a while & will have to refamiliarize myself with UNetbootin details in case somethings changed) Annyway, I assume it will work with a Win10 iso... as long as it's the same as the OEM installed and not some exta fancy professional edition they want you to pay extra for... Willie Green  posted on  2018-02-23   11:50:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #45. To: Willie Green (#44) Just verify it is bootable before you wipe stuff. Any embedded license/serial info should be stored in protected NVRAM and not able to be wiped by an ordinary BIOS update. Some of these machines do have a hidden recovery partition. It sounds like yours doesn't, given what you're telling us about your disk free space. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-02-23   12:00:41 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #46. To: Liberator (#0) They will pry Windows 7 from my cold dead hands. But I guess I already said that weeks ago when this thread first started. no gnu taxes  posted on  2018-02-23   12:08:51 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #47. To: Tooconservative (#45) Finally! After purging temp files & old window versions over and over and over and over and over again.... it slowly but FINALLY began accepting the upgrades, little by little until AT LONG LAST, I'm up-to-date! OK... so now what? I forget why I started doing this (other than it needed upgrading) But why did I want to mess with it anyway? Well hopefully it'll come to me... But in the mean time, are there any "must have" applications and/or utilities that you'd recommend? Is the MS Edge browser good enough? Or should I download Firefox or Chrome for familiarity? Is MS Bitdefender good enough for virus protection? Or should I download Norton? (or is there some other virus protection that's better but I never heard of because I haven done Windows in a dozen years? BTW, where's a good place to download software? Is CNET OK? Or is there a better place for shareware? What about adblocking and crap like that? I worked my butt off to get this damn little notebook up to date... might as well give it a shot & see if I like it any better than my obsolete Android tablet. (at least it has a real keyboard LOL!) Willie Green  posted on  2018-03-08   20:49:43 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #48. To: Willie Green, Liberator, VxH (#47) (Edited) Finally! After purging temp files & old window versions over and over and over and over and over again.... it slowly but FINALLY began accepting the upgrades, little by little until AT LONG LAST, I'm up-to-date! OK... so now what? I forget why I started doing this (other than it needed upgrading) But why did I want to mess with it anyway? Well, well. Congrats on sheer persistence. Up in your #27, you indicated it was for an HP printer and/or scanner thing that is highly important to your happiness. Anyway, that's what I thought the upgrade was about. But in the mean time, are there any "must have" applications and/or utilities that you'd recommend? Is the MS Edge browser good enough? Or should I download Firefox or Chrome for familiarity? Is MS Bitdefender good enough for virus protection? Or should I download Norton? (or is there some other virus protection that's better but I never heard of because I haven done Windows in a dozen years? Your mileage may vary but you should make sure that you have working print/copy/scan capability. Then check your free space on that really tiny 32GB hard drive and see if you have enough space for any more stuff. Maybe you can put documents and stuff on a flash drive or external USB drive but you need space on your main hard drive for basic apps and for virtual memory and system hibernate disk space too. If you don't use it much for internet, you can probably get by with MS Bitdefender. I wouldn't install Chrome or Firefox unless you're sure you have enough free space for it. Although I use Firefox myself, Chrome just completed their transition to support all their different versions of Chrome with clang replacing cc and Microsoft's compilers across the board. So all versions are now synchronized, regardless of OS. And now they'll switch the linkers and use LLVM across all those platforms as well. So I would recommend Chrome just for that reason: works the same on all platforms, all features will be available on all platforms. And no proprietary compilers now. Firefox will be updating as well but Chrome is definitely in the lead. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-08   21:25:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #49. To: Tooconservative (#48) Oh, I got plenty space now... and I reinstalled all my HP printer/scanner software too Drive C:/ shows 21.3 GB used, 7.8 GB free... But I also installed a 32 GB SDHC as drive D: which shows 2.41 GB used, 27.2 GB free... And I found a place where I can set the default for new apps, music, downloads & crap like that all goes to D: So I assume that as long as I don't have to do any more MAJOR Win10 updates, I should be OK with the OS on C: and everything else on D: Does that make sense? Willie Green  posted on  2018-03-08   22:30:26 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #50. To: Willie Green (#49) Oh, I got plenty space now... and I reinstalled all my HP printer/scanner software too Drive C:/ shows 21.3 GB used, 7.8 GB free... It all sounds good to me. You need several gigs of that free space just for your hibernate file and your swap file. But I also installed a 32 GB SDHC as drive D: which shows 2.41 GB used, 27.2 GB free... Good idea. And you can move your scans/documents/etc to your main machine easily from that SDHC. And I found a place where I can set the default for new apps, music, downloads & crap like that all goes to D: Woh. I didn't know you could install apps on a secondary drive. Good for you. So I assume that as long as I don't have to do any more MAJOR Win10 updates, I should be OK with the OS on C: and everything else on D: Win10 is configured to auto-install updates. However, it seems unlikely that you'll have any problems with those unless they come out with a SP2 or SP3 (a really major update). Just keep in mind how we freed up that drive space, clearing temp files and snapshots (above). You'll want to do that every few months, just to keep your free space as high as possible. And if you created a Win10 Media Creator flash drive, keep it around just in case you ever need a re-install. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-09   10:13:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #51. To: Willie Green (#49) As for Win10 updates, there is one larger-ish one upcoming: ArsTechnica: Switching from Windows 10 S to regular Windows will be free for everyone However, this is more likely to be a smallish update in terms of file sizes. Just a guess of maybe a few hundred megs. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-09   11:39:32 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #52. To: Tooconservative (#48) I would recommend Chrome just for that reason: works the same on all platforms, all features will be available on all platforms. And no proprietary compilers now. Firefox will be updating as well but Chrome is definitely in the lead. Thanks for the advice. We tend not to want to be out of our comfort zone. It's been Firefox for as long as I remember. But it has become far too intrusive and pretentious -- I mean what platform thinks it has the right to control your very computer? Liberator  posted on  2018-03-09   12:27:04 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #53. To: no gnu taxes (#46) They will pry Windows 7 from my cold dead hands. Same here... (But I said the same of XP ;-) Liberator  posted on  2018-03-09   12:28:07 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #54. To: Liberator (#52) We tend not to want to be out of our comfort zone. It's been Firefox for as long as I remember. But it has become far too intrusive and pretentious -- I mean what platform thinks it has the right to control your very computer? All of them, if you allow it. By default, they all auto-update. Microsoft is especially aggressive. Chrome gets high marks here for switching to the clang compiler (instead of Microsoft's Visual Studio + Linux's cc compiler + Apple's Xcode/clang/llvm. Now it's all compiling with just open-source clang. And soon they'll be linked with llvm. Clang/llvm are Apple's own tech, put into the public domain just for this kind of scenario. And Google was smart to embrace it. Of course, I'm a Mac nut so you'd expect me to think highly of them. (I'm sitting here waiting for the delivery of a new high-end iMac as I type this and, no, I won't say how much it cost because these Apple machines are insanely overpriced but will also be worth at least 75% of their retail price 2-3 years from now.) But Apple has some great development tech. The support for all the different iPhone/iPad screens in emulation mode is just astonishingly good. Firefox, OTOH, has blindingly fast execution now, even faster than Chrome. So they aren't sitting on their hands. Supposedly they're moving to clang/llvm too. Google is approaching the other web browser makers and proposing that they all move to Google's AMP SDK (Accelerated Mobile Pages). It allows serving the same page on all devices but particularly with regard to mobile browsers where it greatly reduces data consumption and delays. So Firefox and Opera and Safari and others can embrace it as an open standard. Facebook already has. Trying to stay compatible with all these different phone/tablet/PC standards is a freakin' nightmare, always has been. AMP isn't the first ones to try this; Amazon has something very similar. But AMP is more ambitious, more of an open-source solution. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-09   13:04:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #55. To: Tooconservative (#54) (Edited) Chrome gets high marks here for switching to the clang compiler (instead of Microsoft's Visual Studio + Linux's cc compiler + Apple's Xcode/clang/llvm. Greek to me TC. Can you simplify it a bit? All of them [control your computer], if you allow it. By default, they all auto-update. Microsoft is especially aggressive. Is there no autonomous option whereby the browser of choice still runs with the owner of the computer the primary Admin? There appears to be no way for the novice to change the order of who's "Boss" of his/her computer. And why must it "auto-update"? Is that necessary? Of course, I'm a Mac nut so you'd expect me to think highly of them. (I'm sitting here waiting for the delivery of a new high-end iMac as I type this and, no, I won't say how much it cost because these Apple machines are insanely overpriced but will also be worth at least 75% of their retail price 2-3 years from now.) Yes, I would expect you to be a Mac nut. (Congrats on the new unit.) I've heard many reasons, but for you, what are the main benefits that justify their high initial cost? FWIW, I'm not one of those people who make the type of computer a personal/political grudge-match or debate. Firefox, OTOH, has blindingly fast execution now, even faster than Chrome. So they aren't sitting on their hands. Supposedly they're moving to clang/llvm too. If Chrome is slower than FF, then...why Chrome?? (other than its "clang compiler" -- which required a definition for me.) Liberator  posted on  2018-03-09   13:37:12 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #56. To: Liberator, Willie Green (#55) Greek to me TC. Can you simplify it a bit? You use a compiler to create intermediate code and then use a linker to produce a finished application program. Like Chrome or Firefox. Most stuff you've ever run on Windows would be produced by Microsoft's comprehensive Visual Studio application development package. It's groundbreaking to see Chrome walk away from Visual Studio with its legions of fanboys. But now Chrome only has to compile with clang, for Windows/Mac/Linux/Android phones/Android tablets/iPhones/iPads/iTouch. It's clang! One compiler to rule them all! And now they'll complete the job by switching the standard linker (for all those different platforms) to just one: LLVM. While both clang and llvm started as Apple's compiler projects, they went open-source early on. So now you can use these compiler linker tools across all platforms. For those of us who like free open-source software, it's all good stuff. Google using clang for all its Chrome platforms tells the industry that it has their seal of approval for general use. Microsoft is even "helping out", modifying its classic debugger to accommodate clang. But they have a kind of grim humorless smile about finally complying with movement toward fully-open compilers. It strikes at their power and leverage with developers. And it means that programmers who go on the clang/llvm platform will have skills and tools for every platform, not just Microsoft. It will also aid porting utilities, apps, games. Oh, well, you have to care about software for any of that to be news. Apple has quietly become a behemoth of compiler/linker tech and has a very popular new programming language called Swift, also open-source, already ported and running on Linux and Windows as well. Yes, I would expect you to be a Mac nut. (Congrats on the new unit.) I've heard many reasons, but for you, what are the main benefits that justify their high initial cost? The new iMac showed up. I booted it once, installed 32GB of RAM to get to 40GB system memory. The 5K Retina screen (5120x2880, over 1 billion colors, 10-bit HEVC ready) is a thing of beauty. It should be, for the price Apple wants. I've cloned half of my current Mac's drive onto it, just waiting to finish and my new machine will be a clone of my current Mac. The old Mac is a Mini with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD drive but it is six years old. (And you'd be shocked how much it is still worth, I was.) All the apps, data, settings, everything will be the same on the new iMac from the old Mac Mini. Except this iMac has twice the CPU, twice the RAM, and 12-16 times as much video card. It is a do-anything machine, at least anything I can dream up. It isn't an iMac Pro though, I couldn't possibly justify spending that much for a workstation-class machine. The Mac can do it all. I can use it to run multiple virtual machines. So I might have my old WinXP setup. And a Windows 7 VM. And a Windows 10 VM. And several Linux VMs for various tasks. And they all live together on the same machine. This works especially well with an SSD drive to handle all the disk IO. The iMacs, especially the 27" ones, are certified within a percent of perfect color accuracy with a billion colors available to display. If you want to do desktop publishing and have your printed brochures turn out exactly as they look on your screen or your photos to look exactly as you set them up on the screen, you have to have a properly calibrated professional display. The same is even more true of editing video. Without a calibrated monitor, you can never achieve professional results. It's not just editing the video, it's doing things like industry-standard color correction and knowing that the video you produce will look exactly the same on all the TVs or Bluray players that you put it on. The Mac is great at audio/visual stuff. Not just Adobe but Apple's own apps. Apple sells its high-end apps pretty cheap, once you've bought their computer. The Mac is also a smaller target for viruses and malware. Those people go after the dirt-common PCs running Windows because that is where the numbers are. Macs also tend to hold their value shockingly well. Even rather mediocre older Macs bring surprisingly high prices 4-5 years later. So you can use a Mac for 3-4 years and still sell it for at least half of what you paid for it, typically. iPhones and iPads are about the same. The usual rules of what used electronics are worth simply do not apply to Apple. It's their hardcore fanbois, I think. Worse even than those old Amiga fanatics (which I used to be in the Eighties and early Nineties). Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-09   16:19:06 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #57. To: Liberator, Willie Green (#55) Is there no autonomous option whereby the browser of choice still runs with the owner of the computer the primary Admin? The auto-update is on by default. You're supposed to agree to allow autoupdates according to the Win10 licensing. It's considered kinda mandatory in the license. However, there is a way around it. If you select your network connection to the internet and designate it as "metered", then they won't autoupdate your machine. This article walks through the various angles of this and how it's done. HowToGeek: How to Prevent Windows 10 From Automatically Downloading Updates This might be something that Willie wants to disable and then he can just manually download updates as he thinks he needs them. But if his machine is happy now, maybe he doesn't really need updates. Or he just wants to keep an eye out for major updates that might give him problems again. He'll probably want those Windows Defender updates to keep his machine fairly secure so shutting them off completely isn't entirely desirable. You do want some of those updates. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-09   17:00:58 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #58. To: All, Liberator, Willie Green (#57) Some Win10 update news I saw today at Slashdot. Microsoft is planning to reuse its "Creators Update" naming for a third Windows 10 update. The software giant has strangely not yet officially named its next Windows 10 update, due next month, but it has been testing a future update that appears to reveal the spring update name. "Windows 10 Spring Creators Update" has been spotted in the latest test builds of the Redstone 5 update expected to be released later this fall. Microsoft first launched Windows 10 Creators Update last spring, followed by the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update in the fall. The new Windows 10 Spring Creators Update naming was originally spotted in Microsoft blog posts last year, but this is the first time it has appeared in the operating system itself. Willie had so much fun with his last update, he'll be rarin' to go with this new one.     : ) Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-10   9:19:30 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #59. To: Tooconservative, Liberator (#57) This might be something that Willie wants to disable and then he can just manually download updates as he thinks he needs them. Hell no... I'm getting too old & brain weary to try to keep up with all that crap... I figure I'm better off letting Windoze maintain itself as automagically as possible... But since this isn't my main computer, I just gotta remember to turn it on at least once a week to let it do its thing so it doesn't get swamped by a tidal wave of backlog updates all at once... And my HP Support Assistant is also set up to update any special software drivers for my notebook & scanner/printer... And I was unfamiliar with MS Edge browser that came as default with Win10... but discovered Edge takes addons/extensions & plugins same as any other browser, so I was relieved I could install uBlock Origin for adblocking, same as I use in Firefox... Between that and the built-in Windows Defender anti-virus, I figure I should be adequately protected considering how little I actually use that computer... It's not as if I'm constantly downloading a shitload of pirate software or bootleg media files that might be infested with malicious garbage... At most, I may be using it to visit some financial websites (like my bank) which may work better with Windows than with Linux... So I wouldn't want to risk exposing it to all that other crap anyway. Willie Green  posted on  2018-03-10   10:12:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #60. To: Tooconservative (#58) Willie had so much fun with his last update, he'll be rarin' to go with this new one. : ) Aaawwwwwww FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.... Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how well Windoze does it itself if I let it keep up with all the other minor updates that occur between now & then... I noticed one of the new features it added the last time is something called "storage sense" that automatically deletes temp files & recycle bin... So maybe if that works like it's supposed to, then perhaps all I'll have to do for the big update is go back in and manually downsize & minimize the Virtual Memory swap file instead of letting Windows automatically determine a larger/more efficient size on its own. I gotta admit, except for my pathetically undersize built-in C: drive... Win10 doesn't seem to be as big a nightmare as whatever came after Win98... So MAYBE I'll consider it next time I need a new desktop... At least I'll compare prices without insisting it has to me linux (usually No OS & I install it myself) Heck, I'm getting too old & brain weary to go distro-hopping anymore anyway... Linux Mint with a lightweight Xfce desktop suits me just perfect! Willie Green  posted on  2018-03-10   10:38:34 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #61. To: Willie Green (#59) And I was unfamiliar with MS Edge browser that came as default with Win10... but discovered Edge takes addons/extensions & plugins same as any other browser, so I was relieved I could install uBlock Origin for adblocking, same as I use in Firefox... Between that and the built-in Windows Defender anti-virus, I figure I should be adequately protected considering how little I actually use that computer... It's not as if I'm constantly downloading a shitload of pirate software or bootleg media files that might be infested with malicious garbage... At most, I may be using it to visit some financial websites (like my bank) which may work better with Windows than with Linux... So I wouldn't want to risk exposing it to all that other crap anyway. Edge is their best browser ever. By far. It is still a bit lacking in fully conforming to HTML5 and extensions for other browsers but it is steadily improving. I don't hate Microsoft the way I once did. They're just not as evil as they were. Now I hate Facebook instead.     : ) Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-10   12:45:23 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #62. To: Liberator (#53) (Edited) They will pry Windows 7 from my cold dead hands. Same here... (But I said the same of XP ;-) Frankly, I would still prefer Windows XP. It's unusable for many purposes now, though. Windows 7 was similar enough that I could live with it. From what I've heard, I don't want Windows 10 at all, although I am probably eventually going to have to accept it. BTW, whatever was Windows 9? no gnu taxes  posted on  2018-03-10   12:47:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #63. To: Willie Green (#60) Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how well Windoze does it itself if I let it keep up with all the other minor updates that occur between now & then... I'll try to remember to let you know when Windows Update is ready to drop this new turd on its users. I noticed one of the new features it added the last time is something called "storage sense" that automatically deletes temp files & recycle bin... So maybe if that works like it's supposed to, then perhaps all I'll have to do for the big update is go back in and manually downsize & minimize the Virtual Memory swap file instead of letting Windows automatically determine a larger/more efficient size on its own. Gee, after 25 years, they've managed to invent the /tmp folder, just like Unix and Linux did. Cutting edge stuff, Willie, cutting edge. I gotta admit, except for my pathetically undersize built-in C: drive... Win10 doesn't seem to be as big a nightmare as whatever came after Win98... So MAYBE I'll consider it next time I need a new desktop... At least I'll compare prices without insisting it has to me linux (usually No OS & I install it myself) Heck, I'm getting too old & brain weary to go distro-hopping anymore anyway... Linux Mint with a lightweight Xfce desktop suits me just perfect! That tiny C: drive is the main drawback. Why they couldn't make it user-upgradable... I suppose they saved 15¢ by soldering it directly to the motherboard. Man, is this iMac screen nice. I've simply never seen a screen this nice and I have had some nice monitors over the years. A 27" screen is big but you simply cannot see a single distinct pixel on it. Bright with beautiful color. I knew my old monitors were crap but I didn't realize just how awful they were. I did do a test video encoding using the same video on both Macs. My old 2012 2.2GHz i7 16GB RAM took 28 minutes to convert a video to H.265. The new 2017 iMac with a 4.2 GHz i7 CPU and 40GB RAM took 9 minute. So the CPU is 3 times faster than the old one. The new one has extra advantage in using 2400MHz DDR4 RAM though. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-10   14:13:52 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #64. To: Tooconservative (#61) Now I hate Facebook instead. Of course you do. Everybody but prisoners and people under 15 hate Facebook. In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments. sneakypete  posted on  2018-03-10   14:27:01 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #65. To: Tooconservative (#54) (Edited) Microsoft is especially aggressive. "Windows is a service" That's what the update notification says now. They'd make everybody pay for a subscription to their "service" if they could get away with it too. VxH  posted on  2018-03-10   14:33:11 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #66. To: VxH (#65) They'd make everybody pay for a subscription to their "service" if they could get away with it too. Well, we certainly know they prefer the subscription model, given what they did with their flagship product, MS Office. But the Windows OS and their bundling deals with OS manufacturers means that that isn't quite practical to apply to Windows as well. Tooconservative  posted on  2018-03-10   14:41:24 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #67. To: Tooconservative (#66) that isn't quite practical to apply to Windows as well. Practical's got nothin' to do with it. It's as much their predatory nature as scorpions stinging frogs. VxH  posted on  2018-03-10   14:55:19 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply   #68. To: Tooconservative, Willie Green (#36) That is just an insanely small boot drive. I suppose it must have made some sense to HP when they built it. Willie,you ain't going to like this,but the best use for your 10 year old laptop is helping build a landfill. You can go to Amazon,Wal-Mart,Tiger Direct,or even to HP or Dell,and buy a brand spanking new laptop that is several times quicker,has 2 or 3 times as much storage space,and comes with Win 10 already loaded for less than 400 bucks. AND....,it is a registered software copy and your new laptop comes with a warranty. I'm running a new gaming computer I bought from Amazon just before Christmas. My 10 year old HP desktop took a dump,and I had stuff for sale on the web and needed a computer right NOW to handle sales questions.I quickly figured out in was my video card that died,so thinking this would be the quickest solution,I called HP about a replacement video card. They wanted $665 for one. Since I could buy a new smoking hot gaming machine on Amazon right then with Win 10 Home already loaded for $716 delivered,that was a no brainer. I do have the old HP back up and running as a backup computer and storage device,though. Did some research on current video cards,consulted Tom's Hardware page,and bought a new video card that obviously outperforms the original one for less than 65 bucks on sale at Amazon. Still have a old HP 15 inch lap top that is probably 15 years old and in perfect working condition. It was my "road trip" computer,so it hardly ever got used. It's so slow it's painful to even wait for it to boot,so a couple of road trips ago I stopped at a Wal-Mart and bought a new HP 12 inch lap top that was quicker than my HP Desktop at home,weighs less than half of what the old 15 inch laptop weighs,and with the 12 inch keyboard is easy to use. IIRC,I bought it on sale for $144. Do yourself a favor and just dump your old laptop and buy a new one with a 12 to 15 inch screen. It will come with Win 10 already loaded,and there is no way you can upgrade your old one to have as much storage or be as quick if you spent twice as much money to upgrade it. Hell,if you want to save even more,go to the Dell or HP homepages and check on refurbished or "back from lease" laptops that are current production or only a year old. They even come with a warranty and in general they seem to be about half as expensive as the new model new if it isn't on sale. If you can find "last years tech" on sale,mo betta. Last years tech is the sweet spot for most of us because you are getting something WAAAAY better than what you are replacing,for a fraction of the price of "this years tech". You even get a discount if you upgrade to Win 10 Pro from Win 10 Home. It really is cheaper to just toss a computer over 5 years old away than it is to try to upgrade it,plus you get a warranty. In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments. sneakypete  posted on  2018-03-10   15:00:05 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply         .       .       . Comments (69 - 92) not displayed. Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest

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