windows 10

Infopackets Reader 'David' writes: " Dear Dennis, I have Windows 10, and the updates keep failing. Also, when I try to update Creative Cloud (to upgrade my Adobe Photoshop), it gets to 54% complete and then I receive a message stating that 'Another ... installation is in progress' error. I also received a very strange error message when attempting to install Classic Shell: 'User System has previously initiated an install for product (Microsoft Office). That user will need to run that install again before they can use that product. You current install will now continue.' I click OK and it will ... (view more)

Microsoft has unveiled some of the features for the next major update to Windows 10. Among the biggest surprise is better support for the world of Linux. The new features and tweaks will come in an update that's been codenamed Windows 10 Redstone. ... It's expected some time this summer and is planned to be the biggest update yet. Microsoft has likened Redstone to the level of change that came with Windows 8.1, though thankfully this time it will be less about undoing changes in the initial release that went down badly. Cortana & Action Center Overhauled The most visible changes for ... (view more)

Microsoft has finished work on a special edition of Windows 10 for Chinese users. It appears to be designed to keep the country's authoritarian government happy. The edition is known as Windows 10 Zhuangongban, which translates as Specially Provided ... Edition, and will be aimed mainly at government agencies and government-owned businesses. The new software is described in an article on Chinese website Caixin, though its unclear how free the site was to cover the news without either direct censorship or self-censorship. Software Meets 'Special Needs' Based on an automated Google ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Kathy aka VJ' writes: " Dear Dennis, In regard to John Lister's article ' Windows 10 install surprising users ' - how about an article about switching to Linux instead of Windows 10, including a how to, cost, warnings, software ... compatibility, etc. I've just about had it with Microsoft and it's aggressive tactics, trying to get me to install Windows 10 with its 'gotcha' updates . As such, I am thinking it's time to get myself out from under the Microsoft umbrella. I am expert with MS Office and would hate to switch, but if it won't run under Linux, I may have to stick with ... (view more)

Microsoft's push to get Windows 10 onto computers seems to be going a step further than anticipated. Even tech-savvy users are complaining their machines updated to the new system without their express consent. The last big change to the Windows 10 ... upgrade process took place last month, but seems to be working more aggressively than expected. The change involved Windows 10 being reclassified as a "Recommended" update in the automatic update program. That was hugely significant as the default setting for most Windows PCs is to install all recommended updates automatically. It ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Bill V. writes: " Dear Dennis, We have two computers running Windows 7; one of them has the white Microsoft logo on it which says it's ready for the Windows 10 upgrade, while the other one does not. I'd like to upgrade both ... computers to Windows 10, however, we have a very important Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet set up and I would hate to find out that I can't use the spreadsheet after upgrading to Windows 10. Is there a way to know if a program is compatible with Windows 10? " My response: I've been asked this question quite a bit lately and the easiest way to find out if your ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Perry F. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have two laptops with Windows 7 that I would like to upgrade to Windows 10. From what I understand, I can use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to download Windows 10 in an .ISO file format. When ... that is done downloading, I would then burn the .ISO disc image file onto a DVD, then use the DVD to install Windows 10 onto my machines. The problem however is that I don't have a DVD drive on either laptop - so how can I use the .ISO format to install Windows 10? " My response: In a nutshell, an ISO file is an exact copy of an entire CD or DVD, ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sammy T. writes: " Dear Dennis, I own two systems running Windows 10; my laptop just updated yesterday and I confirmed that it's running the latest version of Windows 10 (10586.104). However, my desktop PC is still running an ... earlier version (10586.63) and hasn't been updated in over a month. When do a manual check for Windows Updates on the PC, it says 'checking for updates ...' and continues to do so for a very long time, until I receive the windows update error 0x800705b4. Any idea how I can get my desktop PC updated to Windows 10 version 10586.104? " My response: I also ... (view more)

The Department of Defense plans to upgrade four million staff members to Windows 10. It's a major boost for Microsoft given the security needs of the DoD. Historically, government organizations have been slow to update operating systems. That's ... often because of the complexity of doing so across an entire network; for example, having to weigh up the problems of different computers on different systems, plus the hassle of having too many computers out of action even temporarily during an upgrade. Major upgrades such as this have caused concern in the security community - especially when ... (view more)

Windows 10 "phones home" thousands of times each day even with the most restrictive privacy settings, according to a newly published article. While the precise figures are in question, it highlights ongoing concerns about Microsoft monitoring. The ... experiment was carried out by a message board poster using the somewhat unlikely name of CheesesCrust. He decided to find out exactly what happens if Windows 10 is run with all tracking supposedly disabled. (Source: voat.co ) To do this, he used a virtual machine tool on a laptop to simulate installing Windows on a completely new machine. ... (view more)