Windows 10 News and User discussion (1 Viewer)

[Tony Bensley]

Completely silly reply, but I bought 20 AA batteries, temporarily brain dead at the time.

Nothing in my house uses AA. All remotes, mouse, etc. use AAA. So they'll go to the Goodwill drop-off.

I'm just waiting for the day the two AAA Energizer batteries that came with my wireless keyboard that I bought back around the beginning of July to drain dry! They've already far exceeded the shelf life the Wal-Mart Associate figured they would last.

Perhaps CONSTANT use has contributed to their longevity? There's been no sitting on the shelf with these puppies!

CHEERS!

 

[Stan]

I'm just waiting for the day the two AAA Energizer batteries that came with my wireless keyboard that I bought back around the beginning of July to drain dry! They've already far exceeded the shelf life the Wal-Mart Associate figured they would last.

Perhaps CONSTANT use has contributed to their longevity? There's been no sitting on the shelf with these puppies!

CHEERS!

Sounds like an old wife's tale, but just rotating the position of the batteries will get you several weeks or months of extra usage.

I'm thinking of looking back into rechargeable AAAs. They were terrible years ago, but maybe things have gotten better, worth the extra upfront cost.

 

[DaveF]

Eneloop rechargeable batteries are great. I bought a bunch of AA the past five years, and bought some AAA this year. They power all my AA / AAA devices (which admittedly is shrinking every year). They have longer on-shelf stability than the lousy AA batteries you remember; they don't die in a month.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Sounds like an old wife's tale, but just rotating the position of the batteries will get you several weeks or months of extra usage.

I'm thinking of looking back into rechargeable AAAs. They were terrible years ago, but maybe things have gotten better, worth the extra upfront cost.

Since NiMH batteries came into vogue some years ago, it's been a lot better regarding rechargeable batteries. I also still use an Energizer 15 Minute Fast Chargerfor my AA/AAA batteries, that I bought around 11 years ago, so I never have to wait very long to reuse.

I do remember the old Nickel rechargeables from the '80s that would only work for a few minutes, and didn't hold a charge worth a damn, so I know what you're talking about! Some things have changed for the better, after all!

CHEERS!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Eneloop rechargeable batteries are great. I bought a bunch of AA the past five years, and bought some AAA this year. They power all my AA / AAA devices (which admittedly is shrinking every year). They have longer on-shelf stability than the lousy AA batteries you remember; they don't die in a month.

Here's another thumbs up for Eneloop rechargeables. Patrick Sun turned me onto them when he sold me a flash unit for my Canon camera. The great thing for use in the flash unit (which takes 4 AAs) is that they retain their charge for-seemingly-ever! So I brought eight AA batteries and the charger. I keep four in the flash unit and when they die the other four batteries in the camera bag are always ready-to-go!

 

[Stan]

Way, way, way off-topic. I promise to behave after this.

Okay, here's my nerd question of the year. Hopefully a "theoretical physicist" will chime in.

When batteries provide power, it's the electrons they shed that supply the power. In a rechargeable we can replace the electrons from the "grid". But where do the electrons go? There must be a finite number of electrons we can tap. You drive your car, use up the carbon based gasoline, you're done moving.

Once we've used them up, like uranium, then what?

Or is there just this incredible amount still stored in the earth? Incoming from the Sun, asteroids, meteors, etc.? There will always be solar, wind, hydro, and others, although probably not in our lifetime, fossil fuels will eventually be gone.

Okay, yes I probably got "meteor" wrong. There are meteors, meteoroids, meteorites, etc. but that's life.

Somewhat back to topic, haven't ever seen the Eneloop batteries, but we've got a "battery" store a few miles away I'll check out. Hard to believe a business could survive on just batteries, but it's been there for several years.

I just picture a business that only sells socks trying to stay open. But maybe not as much of a demand.

By the way, the secret I've discovered with Win10, is use the left side of your keyboard as little as possible. And be very careful with the touchpad, use a mouse if possible, life is so much easier.

 

[Mike Frezon]

By the way, the secret I've discovered with Win10, is use the left side of your keyboard as little as possible. And be very careful with the touchpad, use a mouse if possible, life is so much easier.

Touchpads are just evil.

I see many people, of course, who use their touchpads all the time. I've just never been able to figure 'em out.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Somewhat back to topic, haven't ever seen the Eneloop batteries, but we've got a "battery" store a few miles away I'll check out. Hard to believe a business could survive on just batteries, but it's been there for several years.

HERE'S one of many listings on Amazon, Stan. This one includes a charger and four batteries. But you have many options for different configurations. Scroll down and you'll get all kinds of information on what makes them a step above the rest.

 

[DaveF]

Crappy Windows trackpads are a pox.

Fantastic trackpads on the Mac are pretty great.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I spent all weekend installing vanilla Windows 8.1 on a Gateway laptop for a coworker. The original HDD containing the OEM Windows 8 crashed and he did not have an install DVD or a backup image. I had an extra copy of 64-bit Windows 8.1 that I was able to make work. After replacing the HDD with another 1TB drive, the clean Windows install (including the subsequent OEM hardware drivers) only took a few hours. The rest of the weekend was spent scouring Windows tech forums and Microsoft support for answers as to why Windows would not download updates on its own and then finding and downloading the correct individual update files and installing them in the correct order on a terribly written Windows OS. By Sunday night, the laptop was fully updated and operational (and able to auto download and install Windows updates) and would cold boot to the desktop in under 45 seconds (not bad for a several year old laptop with a 1TB mechanical HDD). The best part? The laptop doesn't have any of the factory installed Gateway bloatware on it so it runs pretty fast. The 2nd best thing? I got to give it back to him yesterday and will (hopefully) never have to see Windows 8 or 8.1 again.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I'm not sure whether the following issues are Windows 10 specific:

- Lately, EVERY time I need to restart Windows, "Restart" just remains displayed with nothing else happening, until I finally end up having to power down my Acer PC Laptop, and start over!

- Most of my necessary restart attempts have been due to failed attempts to save a webpage in Google Chrome. What sometimes happens is usually after the save as box takes an extraordinary amount of time to pop up, clicking save just causes the cursor to turn into a circle. At this point, NOTHING that I try to cancel in Task Manager seems to eliminate the non responsive save as screen!

- Over the past few days, EVERY time that I start my PC, it goes into Check F Drive mode, UNLESS I either manage to press any key in time to terminate the disk check, or else unplug my external hard drives when booting! I can understand maybe ONE disc check being necessary, but EVERY single time I boot up? REALLY?!!?

CHEERS!

 

[Clinton McClure]

Tony - If you let the disk check run at boot until completion does it also run the next time you boot? If so, it could be an indication of a corrupted or failing hard drive.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Tony - If you let the disk check run at boot until completion does it also run the next time you boot? If so, it could be an indication of a corrupted or failing hard drive.

I did let the disk check complete once, and yes, it does keep running. Thankfully, it isn't my Laptop's Hard Drive, but it does appear to be my main 2 TB external that's triggering this, which is a real drag, especially considering it's the newest one of the bunch, and I simply have no way of backing up THAT much data at the present! Ironically, I was price checking similar capacity Hard Drives at Staples yesterday, and if anything, they seem to be pricier than they were when I purchased the 2 TB Hard Drive two and a half years ago! I would have thought the price of these might have dropped some for these, but sadly no! Perhaps it's that fewer newer computers have large capacity Hard Drives to begin with, is what's pushing up the price point for the externals, who knows?

CHEERS!

 

[Clinton McClure]

I did let the disk check complete once, and yes, it does keep running. Thankfully, it isn't my Laptop's Hard Drive, but it does appear to be my main 2 TB external that's triggering this, which is a real drag, especially considering it's the newest one of the bunch, and I simply have no way of backing up THAT much data at the present! Ironically, I was price checking similar capacity Hard Drives at Staples yesterday, and if anything, they seem to be pricier than they were when I purchased the 2 TB Hard Drive two and a half years ago! I would have thought the price of these might have dropped some for these, but sadly no! Perhaps it's that fewer newer computers have large capacity Hard Drives to begin with, is what's pushing up the price point for the externals, who knows?

CHEERS!

It all depends on the model of hard drive. The Western Digital MyBook 2TB drives usually go for around $150 US and I see a slew of 2TB portable drives on Newegg.com for $80. I really haven't seen much of a price increase. If anything, the prices of mechanical hard drives have started dropping gradually as solid state drives become more prevalent. I understand you live in Canada, so your mileage may vary.

Have you tried moving the drive to a different USB port and see if the problem follows it?

 

[Tony Bensley]

It all depends on the model of hard drive. The Western Digital MyBook 2TB drives usually go for around $150 US and I see a slew of 2TB portable drives on Newegg.com for $80. I really haven't seen much of a price increase. If anything, the prices of mechanical hard drives have started dropping gradually as solid state drives become more prevalent. I understand you live in Canada, so your mileage may vary.

Have you tried moving the drive to a different USB port and see if the problem follows it?

Your differing experience doesn't surprise me, as I've noticed a vast price point differential with software on Amazon Canada and U.S. I don't consider it a great stretch that this should also apply to external Hard Drives.

I haven't attempted to use a different USB port, as yet. While I prefer to use my sole 3.0 USB port for my 3.0 rated WD Seagate 2 TB Drive, I should try one of the 2.0's to determine whether or not this might be starting to fail. Other than the odd time that my PC Laptop decides not to read this Drive (Nothing new!), I haven't noticed anything unusual beyond the F Drive check message always popping up on my opening boot screen, unless I remember to disconnect this external drive beforehand!

At this point, I'm inclined to lay blame on one of the recent Windows 10 updates, until I'm proven otherwise. I don't believe there's ever been a more YMMV Microsoft OS than this one!

CHEERS!

 

[Clinton McClure]

At this point, I'm inclined to lay blame on one of the recent Windows 10 updates, until I'm proven otherwise. I don't believe there's ever been a more YMMV Microsoft OS than this one

Windows NT (all of them), Windows 98 1st Edition, Windows ME, Vista, Windows 8 & 8.1 were all significantly worse OSes than Windows 10.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Windows NT (all of them), Windows 98 1st Edition, Windows ME, Vista, Windows 8 & 8.1 were all significantly worse OSes than Windows 10.

I didn't say that Windows 10 is the worst Microsoft OS, just that one's mileage may vary a great deal with it!

The "significantly worse" ones that you mentioned, on the other hand, never wavered in their inherent crappiness!

CHEERS!

P.S. Speaking of mileage variation, since this morning's Windows 10 update, my Firefox Browser memory build up issue has returned with a vengeance! S.O.F.B.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Clinton McClure]

I do agree that Windows 10 seems to be all over the place in terms of user-friendliness. You and Stan have been at wits end over bizarre issues on Windows laptops which I have never seen running the same OS on the bootcamp partition of my MacBook Pro. A lot of times, I believe user issues (not necessarily yours or Stan's) are caused by 3rd part bloatware and custom drivers from Acer, Dell, HP, et al which are preinstalled on the machines.

Concerning Firefox: Have you checked to see if there is a FF update available?

 

[Tony Bensley]

I do agree that Windows 10 seems to be all over the place in terms of user-friendliness. You and Stan have been at wits end over bizarre issues on Windows laptops which I have never seen running the same OS on the bootcamp partition of my MacBook Pro. A lot of times, I believe user issues (not necessarily yours or Stan's) are caused by 3rd part bloatware and custom drivers from Acer, Dell, HP, et al which are preinstalled on the machines.

Concerning Firefox: Have you checked to see if there is a FF update available?

I actually just updated Firefox a few days ago after it had reminded me the second (Or was it the third?) time!

Once again, I'm also experiencing a markedly increased amount of involuntary page scrolling while typing posts! I find this very annoying!

I wasn't able to try the different USB port thing with my external drive this morning, as I didn't have the presence of mind to sort it out with my M/F USB adapter, which is necessary because the USB cord for the 2 TB Drive is barely long enough to reach its usual 3.0 port, never mind wrapping it around to the other side! Also have one of my sinus induced headaches this morning - Fun stuff!

Anyway Clint, thank you very kindly for your helpful posts!

CHEERS!

 

[Clinton McClure]

You're very welcome, Tony.