New Computer for Windows 10

[ss3964spd]

I think 900 is a pretty solid deal considering the component set.

Itza giant pain to migrate. After you receive it I'd recommend that you plan to surrender a large portion of your day to baby sitting it through all the Windows updates it will likely want to do once you've connected it to the net and completed the initial set up, and I'd want all that done before handing it off to he-who-has-more-patience-than-you.

There will be a crap load of bloat-ware, and some of it will load at each start up, you'll want to remove that stuff.

Anti-virus?

[cx]

Originally Posted by Dan

you'll want to remove that stuff.

And how will I recognize "that stuff," Dan?

[Edit]

Originally Posted by Dan

Anti-virus?

PC said earlier that the Windows 10 protection alone was pretty useful and recommended adding the paid version of MalwareBytes. How say you?

[ss3964spd]

Removing bloatware programs you don't need/want is pretty straight forward, just Google Windows 10 bloatware - lots of tutorials. But it isn't all that necessary since most of them are just taking up space on the SSD.

What you probably do want to do is disable/remove programs you don't use from starting automatically when you turn the machine on, as those can impact speed/performance. Easy to do: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...e-startup-apps

Windows Defender, MS's built in AV, is pretty decent, and is what I use on my tablet, but I use the tablet only for internet , and it doesn't stay on, and thus connected to the internet, for long periods. Previous and current desktop runs Norton (now a subscription service), and has for well over 15 years . Norton is a high overhead (impacts speed/performance to some degree) program but is very good. I've never had virus on that machine, even with 5 people sharing it.

[cx]

Much appreciated, Dan. I used Norton many years ago and banned it from further consideration back then due to some serious problems attributed to having it on my confuser (diagnosis by paid geeks) and never had any truck with it since.

I'll try that tailoring of start-up when I get the new machine (early February) and see what I can do with it. That function apparently not available with Windows 7, or at least I can't find it on this machine.

I ordered the new machine with the larger hard drive, a single 8GB Ram with space for another 8GB card. Cost plenty dinero and I guess we'll see if it was all worthwhile.

I bought, for 44 bucks, one year of promised help from actual English speaking geeks at Dell. I'd never heard of that "service" whereby you get to contact only USA-based tech service instead of overseas tech service. From my past experience with Dell I think that might be the very best part of this "deal."

I was not aware that new laptops now commonly do not have CD/DVD drives in them at all. Was gonna be a deal killer for me on accounta for two months a year as a bread and butter item I need to be able to run a particular topo map program that still has DVD based maps. Elected to buy a separate USB connected DVD drive instead and hope it works.

Bottom line: I gave Herr Dell a gaggle of dollars and he promised to send me a miraculous new machine to further complicate my life. More to follow.......

[PC7060]

Originally Posted by CX

gave Herr Dell a gaggle of dollars and he promised to send me a miraculous new machine to further complicate my life.

So true!!!

I’d definitely avoid norton, it’s a computer hog. We’ve found built in window defender combined with malwarebytes to be highly effective at protecting our systems.


We also require our team to keep Windows User Access Control (UAC) enabled to ensure no can not be silently installed by bad actor websites.

The default, built-in UAC elevation component is the credential prompt. By default, UAC is set to notify you whenever apps try to make changes to your PC. We require all users enter their credentials (password) before software can be installed. We only allow elevated user ( admin) to change the computer setting or software. But since your the primary user I’m sure you’ll have admin rights.

A lot of people disable this notification and end up hosting a bunch of the bloatware or denial of service bots because of it.

[cx]

Sounds like I need to bring my new toy up to Virginia when I get it and let you and Dan fight over what should and should not be installed on it.

Been meaning to get up that way for a long time, anyway. Haven't seen our old site friend RobZ for many years and there area a couple more peeps up there I'd like to visit. Hellofa long drive, though.

Maybe Joe Gleason could drive down and enter into the battle. Doubt that Shawn would wanna come alla way from Kansas.

I'll let y'all know when I get my machine and decide if I still really, really don't like Windows 10. Thanks again for all the help.

[ss3964spd]

Originally Posted by cx

and let you and Dan fight over what should and should not be installed on it.

You've clearly not had the pleasure of meeting PC in person, ain't no way Imma gonna challenge the man. Besides, he might be more of a geek than I am.

Is Rob Z still around? Haven't seen him here in years and years.

[PC7060]

You’d certainly be welcome if you make it this way, CX. You’d fe at home in Fredericksburg, VA than my old digs in Fairfax. Definitely a feel of the south here; the confederate cemetery is right next door if you want to visit the resting place of some of your Texas brothers and the Federal cemetery is a mile or some away. The federal and confederate rein-actors fire ceremonial canon at each other on Memorial Day; pretty cool but a bit startling when you are expecting it.

Dan’s got a nice place up in Fairfax that he just keeps making better. I have not been around there for a few year but I remember his neighbors house had a major fire at the time that were dragging their feet on repair and I could see Dan was highly motivated to get over there and get er cleaned up!

[PC7060]

Originally Posted by Dan

I've never had virus on that machine, even with 5 people sharing it

Hi Dan

Norton is definitely a good product but I hated the size of the install. Has it gotten better under the subscription based service?

[Tiger Mountain Tile Inc]

What's really annoying about Windows 10 is the button down in the left corner. They want you to integrate all your platforms into one with the one being Windows, of course.

So they suggest apps, have that Cortana thing, Norton prompts and they want you to use Edge, Outlook, and MSoffice.

My computer is starting to run slow and I may have to figure out how to remove all of that stuff. I did remove Norton, or at least most of it despite it's warnings of impending doom.

I know having the Adobe suite doesn't help speed either but at least that's something that I actually use.

[cx]

Originally Posted by Dan

Is Rob Z still around? Haven't seen him here in years and years.

It's been waaaay too long since I've spoken to Z, Dan. I'm assuming he's still up there somewhere near the seat of all government evil, but I really couldn't testify one way or the other. I do miss him, though.

Originally Posted by PC

The federal and confederate rein-actors fire ceremonial canon at each other on Memorial Day;

Better they should both point'em toward DC, but that's a different discussion, eh?

Originally Posted by Jim

What's really annoying about Windows 10 is....

I anticipate I'll have plenty with which to fill in the end of that sentence, Jim.

[ss3964spd]

It has not gotten better, PC, and to make matters worse they now like to remind you how bloated it is by making you pay for it each year. At the time I bought it we had 3 teenagers in the house and we 5 shared, by choice (my choice) 1 pc so I had to have that thing bullet proof. Norton has worked well despite the drag, and I confess to enjoying its notifications that it's blocked something.

[cx]

So, here I am trying to get this new confuser up and running before the warranty expires. I know it's actually functional on accounta a friend needed to use it as a crisis backup a couple months ago and she said it worked.

I got on and deleted some stuff that was real obvious that I didn't want. I'm sure there's a lot more in there, but I'm not sufficiently adept at recognizing what can be safely removed and what cannot.

But my question for the day is about getting some software on it to make it usable. I'm in mind of all our discussion about cloning the old computer, but it's dawned upon me that it might be easier/better just to install a new version of the very few programs I actually use and not take a chance on disrupting the mapping program on the old computer at all. I can then just take the old computer off line and use it exclusively for that mapping program the two or three months a year that it's needed.

The question: I find Microsoft Office software advertised many places, only one of which involves Microsoft, and the pricing is all over the place. How does one determine if any of it is legitimate? One I'm currently looking at is this from "Helpful Downloads." No, I did not make up that name.

Says I can get all manner of wonderful programming for only 40 bucks, whereas Bill Gates wants I should pay 20 bucks a month for what appears to be the same product. Under the "if it looks too good to be true" doctrine, what am I missing here?

[davem]

Good call to not try cloning, that's best done with identical computer hardware.

Microsoft 365 is the subscription model that Bill Gates likes these days, as it creates a repeating income stream. I don't like that model as a consumer.

I have gotten along quite well with LibreOffice (formerly OpenOffice) for about two decades now. It is so very compatible with MS Office, unless there is a lot of macro work running your Excel spreadsheets. One can read/write MS .docx and .xlsx files just fine. https://www.libreoffice.org/download...4.6&lang=en-US

If you don't want to try that, and don't want the subscription model, you can buy a one time license fee for MS Office 2019 (latest version) or 2016, 2013, etc. This article explains it a bit and is a pretty easy read: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...heap,6348.html

I've never ordered from the cheaper place "Kinguin" mentioned in the article but I'd be willing to try it for Office 2019 if I ran Microsoft OS. $35ish dollars there vs $149 from Microsoft here.

[cx]

Many Graciases, Dave, as usual.

I, too, very much dislike Mr. Gates' subscription plan, even though I have free access to one of the five applications one seems to get with that service. Good friend is a subscriber and has told me he uses only three of the five that he's paying for.

The only concern I have with the non-Gates versions is that when a different friend used this new laptop for her work, she indicated it was a problem with compatibility with documents prepared on Windows Excel and the similar cloud-based program she had to use with my completely empty computer. I haven't talked with her about what the problems were and I know she was dealing with federal government computer-based stuff and I don't know if that might have been part or all of the actual problem. I shall look into it further.

Whatever the case, it would seem that I could download and start with the LibreOffice and change later to the Microsoft version later if I found there was a compatibility problem of some sort. That a fair assessment?

That one-time-fee-based program is what I have on the laptop I'm currently using. Don't know if there is any disadvantage at all with that other than the cost, but I think I'd still rather buy that than ol' Bill's subscription service.

[Edit] I found this article about ol' Bill not wanting people to use his own Office 2019.