JorgeA

Microsoft appears to have reached a new low with the Win10 downgrade patches. Now instead of hinting or quietly suggesting that a given update has something to do with moving your PC to Windows 10, there is a new one floating around, KB 3103709, that literally tells you nothing about itself. Woody Leonhard reproduces the following exchange with Microsoft tech support: Woody passes along speculation that the TSR was actually a bott. Considering the bizarre reply to the user's report that Win10 had rendered his computer unusable, that sounds plausible. Or maybe the Microsoft folks just don't have a clue. --JorgeA

Thanks, jaclaz. I tried updating the HDD driver via Device Manager, but Windows reports that it already has the most up-to-date driver. A visit to the Seagate website didn't reveal any new firmware, either. I also added the I/O Read Bytes and I/O Write Bytes columns to Task Manager and ran the HD Tune test, but I'm not sure what I should be looking for while the test is running. Maybe a big jump in a certain process? Anyway, next chance that I get I'll try ending some processes (one at a time) and run HD Tune after each kill, to see if there's a difference. --JorgeA

That screen would be annoying if it weren't so funny... --JorgeA

Weird, the site wouldn't load in IE, but it did in Pale Moon. TELVM is right -- epic!!! --JorgeA

I'm getting an Error 403 when clicking on that link. --JorgeA

All right, I had a chance to investigate this issue. As I could not find any Linux tools that provided a visual representation of the HDD's performance as in the screenshot above, the next-best thing was to try booting Windows into Safe Mode. I ran the HD Tune test several times. Here's a sample screenshot: Then I rebooted Windows in normal mode and waited until the system settled down. The results were, uhh, different -- and inconsistent. Here they are in sequential order: What do you think? --JorgeA

The headline doesn't sound terribly relevant, but check out the quote: Stop! Before you accept that Windows 10 Mobile upgrade, read this The problem with this argument is that the tablet market is stagnant if not declining, so that doesn't sound like much of a threat. The only growth area seems to be in phones, which as the writer notes Microsoft has already conceded. The bottom line: there is no remaining rationale for incorporating mobile elements into Windows 10. All we have left is Microsoft's "endless reshuffles and strategy shifts." If they want to do apps for MS Office, they can well do them in Android and iOS. --JorgeA

That's a good sign. Maybe the guy who experience a problem had something particular to his system going on. --JorgeA

People who didn't take the advice given in the previous post have scored a small victory: Microsoft relents, extending support for Skylake PCs with older Windows versions --JorgeA

[fanboy hat]Could there be any doubt, but that it's YOUR fault Windows 10 isn't working right? NOTHING ever goes wrong in Windows 10, it's always something that the ignorant user did to mess it up!!! Surely, by now you must realize that Microsoft is beyond (way beyond) criticism. They only have our best interests at heart, so we need to stop annoying them and let them go on with their noble work.[/fanboy hat] --JorgeA

The formula for success in business has always included the motto that "the customer is always right." With Windows 8, Microsoft refashioned that stance toward the customer into a middle-finger salute. Having been burned by the response to that OS, now with Windows 10 they've doubled down, offering a dual middle-finger salute to the customer. We'll see how well that goes. They have no more hands to add to their hostile attitude. Nice image BTW. I should blow it up into a poster and tack it onto the Microsoft display at the computer store. --JorgeA

Epic rant!!! And totally justified... Interesting analogy he comes up with at 2:32: And then, a little later: Did you happen to catch the last thing he said? --JorgeA

Also found via a link on Woody's site: Users seethe as Windows 10 arrives while their backs are turned Gotta wonder what the rationale is for denying the reality of what's happening out there. Are the folks in Redmond so insecure about their ability to manage an OS that they cannot admit they screwed up, and apologize? How much of their dwindling credibility and goodwill are they willing to sacrifice, to maintain the fiction that Windows users' PCs were not being "upgraded" against their will? --JorgeA

Woody Leonhard's blog has been on a roll lately. Here's another useful post: Reducing the level of Windows 7 snooping However, bear in mind the last comment, by "John W". --JorgeA

The details mitigate the headline somewhat, but still it makes you wonder... Siri, Why Aren’t People Using Voice-Activated Personal Assistants? This was surprising; I thought that Siri and Cortana and Google Now were supposed to be such hot selling points. If the trend holds, it will remove yet another justification for Microsoft's strategy of foisting Windows 10 on hundreds of millions of its customers. Remember, Win10 is founded on the supposed promise of mobile tech; Cortana features prominently in this model. But if few people actually have any interest in mobile features for Windows, then there is no particular reason for Windows 10 to exist as currently constructed. And then maybe -- just maybe -- we can get back a usable UI with a sensibly spaced Start Menu and app/window text, and a scroll button and scroll arrows that don't go poof when you stop hovering over them. --JorgeA

Thanks, jaclaz. I'll try one of those options the first chance I get. --JorgeA

Thanks for the links! Here's Woody Leonhard's theory on what was going on: He also offers a screenshot of the Windows 10 downgrade showing up pre-selected in Windows Update: He concludes: --JorgeA

I have to admit, this IS even worse than Win8 Metro. I would actually buy a Windows 8 PC over one with Windows 10 on it. At least you still have a fully functional Control Panel and the freedom to pick and choose your updates. --JorgeA

This one really takes the cake: (emphasis added) Just unbelievable. --JorgeA

Calling on MSFN's hardware cognoscenti: About two weeks ago I noticed that the HDD on my Vista system seemed to be running very slowly. Despite the drive's passing tests from several popular maintenance/health applications, I was worried that it might fail suddenly at any moment. It was taking forever to yield search results in Outlook, and Windows Explorer searches were running like molasses. Who knows, it's a seven-year-old, heavily used disk. So, taking no chances, a week ago I imaged the drive (a Seagate ST3500620AS) and bought the closest model to it that I could find (a Seagate ST500DM002) in the hope that doing it this way would minimize problems with running the system on the new drive after transferring it. After I got everything set up (Vista even found drivers for the new HDD), Outlook and Explorer searches are indeed running much faster. But I find that launching programs (such as Pale Moon) is quite sluggish. So I ran the program HD Tune and was shocked to see the following performance graph: It's hard to miss the sudden and precipitous drop in performance about two-thirds of the way into the test. What could be causing this? It's a brand-new, store-bought drive. The previous HDD (sorry, I didn't keep screenshots of it) showed a curve that started much lower but then gently dropped to about the 15 mark (left-hand scale) at the 100% point on the chart shown in the screenshot. The dot scatter pattern was also much tighter, roughly mirroring the blue graph line (that is, going up as the access time in milliseconds increased). One other thing that might possibly have a bearing on the issue: free space in this 500GB drive was about 234GB when the system was first installed on it. After the index was rebuilt, free space went down to about 225GB. But every day since, I've noticed that the amount of free space keeps dropping for no apparent reason. Yesterday it was down to 190GB; I just checked now, and it's currently at 180GB. The list of files on the drive, sorted by size by Defraggler, shows six very large files (with names formed by long strings of letters and numbers inside curly brackets) in the folder C:\System Volume Information, ranging in size from some 5GB to 8GB. What the heck is going on? Scans with various AV tools reveal no infection. I look forward to hearing your wise counsel. --JorgeA

A follow-up on the recent statements by the founder of Epic Games: Tim Sweeney thinks Win32 apps are better for consumers than Microsoft’s UWP --JorgeA

And this one -- be mindful of where you are located when you view this: --JorgeA

That counts as one "plus" for the new forum software. --JorgeA

LOL -- that's the spirit!!! --JorgeA

Cool! Thanks, xper. --JorgeA