JorgeA

Andre, I saw that page (thanks!) but I'm not really clear on what Win8 package exactly the limitation applies to. They're talking about "Windows Server" as opposed to the "client" (see the comment by "404"). --JorgeA

They might make sense on a mobile device, but on a traditional desktop? Totally agree there. I for one, won't be upgrading to Win 8 unless there's a way to disable the Metro stuff. CoffeeFiend, Apparently there are tools to disable Metro, and registry hacks to retrieve the Start Menu. It remains to be seen, though, whether these methods will still work in the Windows 8 beta and then the official release. Maybe MS will make it easier to disable Metro and/or to work in the Desktop exclusively. Long-term, though, I'm concerned that MS will keep pushing this Metro thing and phase out the Desktop altogether in future versions of Windows, or at best make it so that we have to go to ever more contortions to use it. --JorgeA

A couple more thoughts to share about the Metro interface. It struck me the other day that, far from representing a step into the future, in terms of the user experience Metro actually represents a giant step back -- all the way back to Windows 1.0, which did not have a proper window stacking or overlapping feature. Rather, it looks like in Metro you can at best tile the, umm, tiles (I guess that's why they call them that in Metro). I'm all for "retro" experiences, but IMHO tiles were not a highlight of 1980's-era computing. --JorgeA

allen2, Oh, interesting! Hadn't thought of that possibility. I'll go inside and take a look. Could something stuck in the fan cause the system to slow to a crawl? (Maybe from overheating??) Thanks for the idea. --JorgeA

Hi, Last night I was running Windows Defender when, all of a sudden, a very odd sound came from inside the computer case. The best way I can describe it is that it sounded like a rubber band being plucked, with a metallic tinge to it. It started strong and then lingered for several seconds. I was also on a Web forum at the time. When I tried to open a new browser tab, I noticed that it was awfully slow. Eventually the tab opened, but in the meantime I became unable to change tabs, scroll through the current page, or launch new programs. The system slowed down to a crawl, and then froze up completely except for the cursor, which I could still move around but to no effect. Hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del brought up the screen to either shut down or open Task Manager. I told it to open the Task Manager, but it seemed to just sit there. Hitting the three-key combo again didn't do anything the next time, and I ended up power-cycling the computer. When I rebooted, it loaded Windows slowly, although then everything seemed to work OK. A complete PC-Doctor checkup revealed no hardware problems. Then I rebooted, ran SpinRite, and it too reported things to be hunky-dory. Finally, at 4 AM I went back into Windows, started Defender once more, and went to bed wondering what things would look like in the morning. Well, here I am typing on the PC in question, and all appears to be well... I thought that maybe one of the RAM modules may have popped out, but the computer is still reporting the right amount of memory. I'll be opening up the case to look around. Any ideas as to what might have caused that sound? Note that it came from the inside of the PC case, and not from the speakers. It was a mechanical sound, not a digital one. --JorgeA

Aloha, Thanks very much for the new link related to IE10. I'll try out some of the things they discuss there and see how they work. Just to make sure -- I greatly appreciate the link you sent earlier, about installing applications in Metro. It helped me to understand the new OS better. Now, for another "first impression," check out this short video! Make sure to turn up the sound, the voices are kind of faint... Listen for what the guy says at 0:55 and 1:15. "Do they have, like, a professional version...? All right, where's my real PC? Give me back my real PC!" --JorgeA

Aloha, Thanks for the link. That's a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get a useful program onto that new Metro start screen. --JorgeA

dencorso, I can confirm what Aloha said about those key combinations. They do work as he said. However, I made the mistake of clicking on the Internet Explorer tile, and I was taken to a screen that was completely blank (white), except for a black strip along the bottom with a search box and some cryptic icons inside circles, including a bent arrow running down and then up, counterclockwise . It looks completely different from the IE screen you get when launching it from the desktop. Hovering over those icons revealed nothing about them, and I'm not into clicking on things without any idea of what they are supposed to do. Entering a search term takes you to a Bing search results page. For the life of me, though, I could not figure out how to close the d*mn thing from within the application -- there is no red X anywhere to be seen, or anything else that indicates that it's for the purpose of closing the browser. Hitting Escape, right-clicking, the tab key -- none of these do anything at all. What a useless piece of ****. Once again we're lacking basic functionality. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is simply reflective of the early stage of development for this OS and browser. You can use that Ctrl-Esc combo to get back somewhere else, but if you check the Task Manager the process is still there. I ended up clicking my way back to the Desktop, then opening the Task Manager to kill the process. No, I don't necessarily want IE to be running in the background all the time!! Especially this extremely uninformative version of it (it gives no feedback as to what's going on -- I do rely on my Status Bar). Subsequently I discovered that if you take the mouse cursor to the left edge of the screen, a thumbnail of the Desktop pops up that you can click to get back there. But you still have to go into Task Manager to shut down IE. One possibly interesting tidbit. At some point (I can't remember when or where) I came across a line of text that indicated that this is version 6.2-something of Windows. If I got that right, then under the hood this is still in the same generation as Vista and Windows 7. But so far, from a user's standpoint, I am unimpressed by the latest addition to the Windows family. --JorgeA

Thanks, Tripredacus. Looks like I've got some homework to do. --JorgeA P.S. I just saw that with my 500th post, I ascended to the lofty title of "Senior Member." B)

Hello, Although those who know me around here, know me as a Windows 98 enthusiast, I'm actually open to trying new things in the tech world. The other day I downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview, and my Christmas present to myself yesterday consisted of installing it and poking around the new interface. (Not as sad as it sounds, really.) Here are my initial thoughts on the upcoming Microsoft OS. First and foremost, I get the sense that the new Metro interface was designed with consumption rather than production in mind. If I want to check the weather (and what's this about giving me the weather in Anaheim, California -- I'm on the opposite coast), or play a game, or check the latest stock prices or tweets, then the Metro tiles are a quick and easy way to do it. But I'm not sure how well this concept will function when we're trying to get actual work done: there is no clear, evident way to run multiple applications at the same time. As such, Metro, while an appealing idea, is a plaything rather than a serious UI. Speaking of applications, I could not find a way to bring up a list of programs to select from and click. My preferred method of launching applications is to click on the Start button and then click on Outlook, Word, Adobe, or what have you in the Start Menu. For the life of me I could not find a way to call up any such list of programs to pick from. And of course the "Start" button now merely takes you back to the toy Metro interface. I know that one can pin programs to the taskbar, or put icons on the desktop. But I prefer my taskbar to remain clean and minimally cluttered, with the space on it reserved for programs that I myself have opened; while my Desktop is reserved for rarely used programs whose existence I'd be liable to forget about except for the constant visual reminder on the desktop screen. The serious and most frequently used programs go on the Start Menu; I don't have to be reminded of them incessantly, as on the desktop, and indeed to me that constitutes visual clutter. I hope that there will be a real Start Menu in the finalized Windows 8, otherwise it'll be harder to get work done. A Web search showed that there are already some registry tweaks to bring back the Start Menu, but an operating system that requires its users to start modifying its innards in order to obtain basic functionality cannot accurately be described as a serious candidate for office use. Another disconcerting thing is that, if I was in a screen called up by a tile (say, the weather), there was no evident way to get back to the original screen. None of the logical candidates did anything: the Escape key didn't do anything, nor did the Tab (front or back) or Backspace keys. Mouse clicks and movements made no difference. I was starting to panic when, out of desperation, I hit the Windows key -- and that finally took me back to the tiles. Clearly not the first thing I would think of when trying to get back to the previous screen. I did not see any "official" indication anywhere as to how to backtrack from one of those screens to the start screen. On the second try, clicking on the weather tile only took me to a green and otherwise blank screen (no picture or information). Mousing around, I discovered that if I hit the left edge of the screen with the cursor, it would show me a thumbnail of the Desktop that I could click to get to it. But in this case I wanted to get back directly to the tiles, not the Desktop! What gives? The Developer Preview came with a surprise (to me): a preview version of Internet Explorer 10. I spent some time investigating it, going to known safe sites only since I can't figure out how to launch Windows Defender (and in any case don't have any other security software installed on that system). I felt much more comfortable when I learned that I could get my menus and toolbars back, although the status bar provided none of the information or settings that I regularly monitor as I surf the Web (the Privacy Report, the pop-up blocker, Smart Screen Filter, the zone and protected mode). I am aware that most of these things can be called up, but that requires additional clicking and therefore represents a decrease in functionality. One the extremely few occasions I want to view a full screen of Web material, I can hit F-11, so overall the new IE would require me to do more clicking. (No, I don't use IE9, for the same reason.) Now a few words about the esthetics. As I said, the Metro interface is a generally appealing concept (for fun stuff), but the blocky, solid-color tiles seem like something out of kindergarten. And I find the green background positively bilious . Here I much prefer the cool blue Windows Media Center look. As for the look of windows in the desktop environment, the squared-off corners can't compare (IMHO) to the smooth, rounded corners of, say, Vista. Maybe there is or will be a way to improve their look, but again these are just first impressions... and anybody more than a couple dozen years of age knows that first impressions are very important! Finally, unless someone can point me to a better way, shutting down the system now takes four actions (hover the mouse to the lower left corner, click on Settings, move the cursor to the opposite end of the screen to click on Power, then click on Shut Down) instead of three as is the case in Vista (Start-->hover over right arrow-->Shut Down). Since there is no Windows orb on the desktop from which you can shut down or restart the system, you have to go back to the Metro tile screen to accomplish this, so potentially that represents a fifth action to shut down. Bottom line: This is a pre-beta release, so hopefully features will be added and/or improved as MS gets closer to a release version. But if Metro is the future of Windows, then when the Desktop is eventually eliminated altogether (or crippled/buried to the point of unusability), I will be looking for a penguin approach. --JorgeA

Tripredacus, I just stumbled on this thread and found your reference to the "setacl trick." I found SetACL on the Web, but didn't come across anything that suggested what this "trick" might be. Can you elaborate? Thanks! Oh, and BTW -- Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year! --JorgeA

If I am not mistaken, JorgeA has 2 DSL modems, in which an OLDER model is working fine? If this is the case, the possibility of having degrading wiring may still exist but at this point it would not be a valid thing to troubleshoot. Tripredacus, Nope, I only have one DSL modem (Westell 6100F). Actually, the replacement modem just arrived, so technically I do have two of them, but I've only ever had one in operation at any given time. BTW, the new one is also a Westell, but 6100G. Verizon generously offered to replace the old one for free, but now I'm thinking of keeping both of them (paying for the new one) and running the old one till it really, actually does burn out. As to the possibility of bad wiring, it's a good idea. While I was on the phone with Verizon tech support, he did check the line and everything was OK --JorgeA

Could this be something that flares up only after doing a large download? It doesn't seem to ever happen at other, normal times. --JorgeA

Huh, interesting! I'll remember to do that and see what happens. Thanks, CoffeeFiend. --JorgeA

ScrewUpgrading, Amen to just about everything you said! I'm not necessarily opposed to using newer OS's (I even downloaded the Windows 8 preview last week), but I'm not one of those who seems to equate "newest" with "best." My main machine runs on Vista, thank you, and I still keep two Windows 98 systems (one of them First Edition) for special purposes. The Windows 95/98 desktop with the taskbar represented a real usability improvement over the Windows 3.11 Program Manager, which I never did come to understand completely. (Minimized programs would disappear behind everything else, never to be found again... I exaggerate only slightly.) My main beef with the seemingly interminable cycles of upgrades has to do with the user experience. I was fine with the menu bar -- very logically and neatly organized, never had a problem finding commands. But I've been using the Office "ribbon" for three years now, and I still can't quickly find most of the commands I need. I end up moving the mouse back and forth and clicking on various tabs, buttons, and arrows till I finally track down what I need. The Office 2007(/2010?) system simply makes no sense to me. (Try to find the document properties in Word 2007 vs. Word 2000.) And now they're pushing this blocky Metro stuff as the OS GUI of the future, as if I had orangutan arms to reach my monitor screen. I welcome improvements in functionality (easier to use, more features, greater capabilities, and the like) but not changes to the way I work. I use a PC to get work (or fun) done, not to stare wide-eyed in fascination at the user interface. The GUI should be transparent, not center-stage. Just leave it alone already! The best way to make it so is to stop messing with it so it can recede from our consciousness and let us focus back on what we actually want to do. --JorgeA

Tripredacus, Your description sounds an awful lot like my 6100F, wouldn't be surprised if it turned out you had the same exact model. I've had it for three years now (since I got DSL) and it's still available -- that's what they offered to send as a replacement. And the old one's still working, no further problems. I'm tempted to do another gigantic download to see if it acts up on cue again! --JorgeA

Oh, interesting. What do they supply to DSL subscribers? Yes, my unit is a Westell 6100F. Matter of fact, it was on MSFN that I learned that it's a combo modem + router. Still working great since the slowdown episode, BTW. --JorgeA

tain, Good idea. It's fine on both counts. --JorgeA

Tripredacus, Custom firmware on a router modem? I didn't know that was possible. No, it's using whatever there was in it when it arrived. So I guess the answer must be that it's stock firmware. --JorgeA

5eraph, I tried that a couple of different times before calling, but no dice. --JorgeA

Hello, Last Friday I downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview, probably the biggest single download I've ever performed (3.63GB). I don't have the world's fastest DSL service, but it seemed to take an awfully long time to finish the download -- till well into Saturday. More important than the nominal download speed, though, was what started to happen next: Saturday afternoon I started to experience dropouts in my Intenet service. Many websites would not load, others only partially. A cloud backup on Saturday night ran like molasses, and never did actually finish. The problems continued into Sunday and Monday. By Monday night, it had gotten to the point where I couldn't even retrieve my e-mail into Outlook from Verizon's servers. Attempts to access Verizon webmail directly via browser (IE8 and Firefox) could not open the page. Oddly, I could do Google searches, but clicking on result links would open to pages that would never finish loading. In case the problem had to do with my main computer, I tried other PCs on my network, but they had no better luck getting to my homepage (or anyplace else on the Web). So, Tuesday afternoon I spent an hour with Verizon tech support. He ran through a wide array of tests and procedures, eventually settling on the Verizon-supplied router as the source of the problem. I have a new one on the way. Now, however, just a few hours later, everything seems to be working fine again. This change, and the sequence of events, reminded me that the last time I did a very large >1GB download, I also experienced sluggish Internet performance -- and also ended up ordering a new router, which I then cancelled because the old one stopped acting up after my tech support call! I don't want to point any accusatory fingers, but this happening for the second time does make me wonder: Is it possible that there may be some kind of hidden, unofficial bandwidth throttling that makes it look like my router is acting up? Have you heard of anything like this being done "behind the scenes" by this or other ISPs? Or, is it possible that the router experienced some kind of burnout that it took a few days to recover from? Ideas, hints, or cynical conspiracy theories are welcome. (Please identify as to which of these they are. ) --JorgeA

Dave, Do you know off-hand what those Spybot 2 features are that won't work in Win98 (with KernelEx) but that aren't needed anyway? Thank you for reminding me about KernelEx. I remember looking into it a year or two ago and deciding not to install it, but darned if I can recall the reason why! Will have to go back and get reacquainted with it. I'll take a look at herbalist's suggestions, thanks! --JorgeA

Thanks, Dave. I had wanted to install Spybot 2.x on Windows 98, but according to what I've read on their forum, it's not compatible with Win98. In addition, several months ago I asked about joining the beta program, but they told me it wouldn't work. As long as Spybot 1.x works and they keep updating the files, though, that's OK. --JorgeA

Thanks, Dave. I had wanted to install Spybot 2.x on Windows 98, but according to what I've read on their forum, it's not compatible with Win98. In addition, several months ago I asked about joining the beta program, but they told me it wouldn't work. As long as Spybot 1.x works and they keep updating the files, though, that's OK. --JorgeA

tain, Thanks immensely! It's not often in cyberspace that somebody critiques a "wave of the future" technology, and actually gets treated with respect. I've seen it too many times in online forums where people like that are greeted with scorn and sarcasm by supporters of the new, as if it were an enemy tribe or something. I really appreciate it. --JorgeA