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Maureen has a troublesome Windows 10 Update that keeps reinstalling
I recently had a Windows update (done automatically when I shut down the computer at night). The next morning I still had the black screen with the rotating circles. (It was at 100% installed) . It couldn't shut down by itself. I pushed the power button to shut it down and restarted it again - the circles are still there. After about 3 tries of repeating the process, the screen turned green and said it was unable to install updates and it was uninstalling them. Then everything worked fine . . . until the next night, Windows tried to install them again. The same thing happened - a few tries with the power button and then it uninstalled the updates. At this point, I went into settings and delayed the updates for 7 days. Now I don't know what to do - I'm afraid if I take the computer in, I will lose all my apps and settings. Documents and photos/videos have been backed up, so I am okay there. Help me please. Maureen P.S. I have had a few suggestions from friends as to what to try, and nothing works so far. Is there an easy fix?

Our answer
Hi Maureen. I understand your frustration and worry - but you're not alone. It's a common occurrence for updates to attempt to install, cause problems, and then continually attempt to reinstall.

See if this article helps you. It includes a link to download "Show or hide updates" which is from Microsoft although they mysteriously removed the link to it a couple of years ago, but thanks to "The Internet Archive" it's still available. It's a safe file (I just retested it) but Chrome and Edge warn you that "This type of file can harm your computer"... but this one won't. You will have the option to "Keep" it - which is what you should choose.

Our article covers uninstalling updates and hiding updates. Hiding updates prevents that particular (troublesome) update from being reinstalled over and over again. It's not rare that people have all kinds of problems with Windows updates - it's a well-known problem.

Keep in mind also, that Windows 10 and Windows 11 have a feature called "Reset this PC" which allows you to reinstall Windows while keeping all of your files and folders. All you need to do is reinstall your apps and programs. A Reset would fix the update problem and would give you a brand new Windows installation without losing any of your personal files & folders such as Documents, Pictures, Music, Favorites, Videos, Desktop, etc. So you do have options other than taking your computer to a repair shop and spending a lot of money. When you do a reset, Windows leaves a list of apps and programs that were removed so you can easily find and reinstall them. We can help you with a reset if it comes to that.... but please read the article first, OK?

We hope this helps you, Maureen.

Claude questions an email supposedly from Microsoft
Is this a genuine email from Microsoft?

"Hello, You’re receiving this email because we are updating the Microsoft Services Agreement, which applies to one or more Microsoft products or services you use. We’re making these updates to clarify our terms and ensure that they remain transparent for you, as well as to cover new Microsoft products, services and features. The Microsoft Services Agreement is an agreement between you and Microsoft (or one of its affiliates) that governs your use of Microsoft consumer online products and services. You can read the entire Microsoft Services Agreement here. You can also learn more about these updates on our FAQs page here, including a summary of the most notable changes. The updates to the Microsoft Services Agreement will take effect on 15 August 20‍22. If you continue to use our products and services on or after 15 August 20‍22, you are agreeing to the updated Microsoft Services Agreement."

Thanks, Claude.

Our answer
Hi Claude. Yes. It's from Microsoft, and you notice it's not asking you to take any action unless you want to know more about the changes. It says you don't have a choice and that by continuing to use Microsoft services beyond August 15th you are agreeing to the changes in the terms. It's not asking for any personal information or threatening you if you don't click a link. And the return address is microsoft.com.

But, Claude, it's always better to be sure than to make a mistake. So, it's a good thing you did by checking on this.

Patsy wants our help but her internet is not reliable
I have considered purchasing a senior repair from you. But my internet is very slow. I am afraid that if I needed help and you started to repair my PC my internet would go down in the middle of a repair. I can have a connection, then no connection, then connection. This goes on all the time. My PC is in a direct line with my modem. My connection does the same thing on my tablet and my phone, so I know it is my internet. I keep waiting for better service in my area but so far nothing. I would like to be able to use your help but this would be almost impossible. Keep up the good work.

Our answer
Hi Patsy. If your internet cuts in and out, you should call your internet provider and have them make sure your modem is working correctly. When modems (and routers) get older they start dropping the connection. And usually, the dropouts become more and more frequent. Your service provider can run tests on your modem from their location - they won't need to come to your house to test it.

We can work with slow connections down to about 2 Mbps. The only way we'll know for sure is if you do a speed test. It's easy to do. Just go to www.fast.com and wait for a few seconds and it will show your download speed first. That's all we need to know is your download speed measured in Megabits per second (Mbps). If it's at least 2 Mbps we can connect. Anything lower is a problem.

So just let us know what your Internet provider tells you and what Fast.com says -- and we'll go from there.

Clyde says Windows 10 wants him to upgrade to Windows 11, but...
I have Windows 10. Windows keeps wanting me to update to Windows 11. Will I lose my desktop screen I have now on Windows 10 if I update to Windows 11?

Our answer
Hi Clyde. No matter how much Microsoft wants you to update to Windows 11, it will not force you. You have until October 14, 2025, (more than three years) to use Windows 10 and still get updates and security patches.

If you do decide to update to Windows 11, your programs and your desktop will remain the same - but Windows 11 has a different "look" so your taskbar will be centered rather than aligned to the left. You can change it so it's left-aligned if you want to, but by default, it will be centered.

There are a lot of changes, especially with some of the Windows apps such as Settings, File Explorer, etc., but the "look" of your desktop should not change other than the taskbar.

We hope this answers your question, Clyde.

Andrea wants our suggestions for moving files from an old PC to a new one
Hello! Thanks for all the great advice thru the years. I am going to be buying a new pc (yay!) and am worried about moving files. I've seen migration programs on the web and wondered if you recommend any of them? I am probably mid-range as far as technical knowledge but they seem a little complicated. I do back up my current pc but am worried that it's possible I'm not backing up everything I should and/or backing up stuff that I don't need or want to move over. What to do?

Our answer
Hi Andrea. Thanks!

We do not recommend any of the file/app mover programs. While it may seem the easiest way, it can end up in mess. While they may work for some, those kinds of programs don't work for all and if you're one of the ones it doesn't work for you'll spend more time cleaning up a mess than you would have spent if you just transferred your files and folders and reinstalled the programs you want.

This tip I learned from Darcy: The easiest, fastest, and most reliable way to move from one PC to another is if you have MS Office and have One Drive with 1 TB of space. If you do then all you have to do is open One Drive on the new computer (it comes with all new Windows computers) and sign in with your One Drive (Microsoft account) username and password. As soon as you do -all your documents, pictures, music, desktop icons, contacts, and more are on your new PC.

If you don't have One Drive with the 1 TB storage (the free version only stores 5GB of data) then the next easiest way is to use an external hard drive (1TB or larger) and copy your entire user folder (C:\Users\Your user name) to the external drive. Once you've done that, unplug the external from your old PC and plug it into the new PC.

Open the users/your user name folder on the external drive. You'll see there are many folders in it. Do not move the entire folder to your new PC. Instead open the following folders - one at a time - and copy the contents to the corresponding folder on your new computer.

Documents
Music
Desktop
Pictures
Favorites
Videos

For example, open the C:\users\your user name\documents folder on the external drive and open the documents folder on your new PC. Select all the items in the documents folder on the external drive and copy them to the Documents folder on the new PC. You can easily copy all files in a folder by selecting a file to highlight it, then using the shortcut CTRL+A to select all files and folders in a directory.

After you do the Documents folder, do the same with the remaining folders one at a time. And all of this will be a lot easier if you install "Copy To / Move to" on your right-click menu on both PCs. See our tutorial here.

After you do this, then you can install any programs you want (Chrome, Firefox, email programs, etc.) on your new computer. It's a lot better to reinstall the programs you like than to try to copy programs from the old PC to the new one. Almost all programs have dependencies like registry entries, start menu entries, dynamic link libraries (DLLs) and more that have to be transferred or the program won't work correctly. So it's far better, in our opinion, to reinstall the programs you want on the new computer.

And of course. we're here to help if you have questions or need more help.

Congrats on getting a new computer!
--------
Andrea wrote back: "Thank you so very much, TC! My instincts told me to do it the way you described above but when you start researching on the web they're very good at convincing you that you want to do it with a program and cross your fingers. As I had said, there is stuff on my current PC that I'm not sure I'd want to take the chance of transferring over anyway so your instructions will work great for me. Thank you for being there for all of us... Hope you and Darcy have a great day! Andrea."

Charles has some questions about Gmail attachments and addressing
Good morning to my favorite Computer Geeks. I have a question about Gmail. As you know attachments are a source for many of our computer problems. I would like to find a way to filter out any emails that have attachments and put them in a folder that I can review before opening. Also, I am getting a lot of spam emails that don't even have my Gmail address in them. For example, my email is k***G***@gmail.com. Emails with the address CHARLESe9@aol.com comes into my email inbox. If I wasn't careful and didn't look at the address I might have opened it. How does this happen? Thanks for all you do.

Our answer
Hi Charles. Thanks! You can create message rules in Gmail for just about anything including attachments. If you want to filter emails that have attachments just do this.

Highlight an email that has an attachment, click on the 3 vertical dots that appear in the menu above the inbox, and select "Filter messages like these" from the drop-down menu.

After you do that you'll see the following dialog. Tick the box next to "Has attachment" then click "Create filter". 

Then, from the dialog that appears select the option to apply the label . A label in Gmail world is basically a folder in anybody else's world. So all mail that has an attachment will be labeled that way. To create a label for emails with attachments, select "Apply the label" (see below) and give it whatever name you like.

As far as the address you see in the "To" field...

I can send a message to BillyBudd@seafearers.org and put you and anyone else I want in the CC or BCC line. And when you get it you'll see it's addressed to Billy Budd, but you got a copy of it to your address. A lot of spam is sent this way, and a lot of people don't know how to send emails to multiple email addresses without exposing everyone else's address.

We hope this helps you, Charles.

SUPER SUMMER SPECIALS FOR OUR FRIENDS 55 or OLDER - LAST WEEKEND!

We've never offered these specials before -- here's your chance to save big!

Senior Pass + a One-year Emsisoft Single PC License or Renewal

The total price is $89 - you save $35!

This offer includes a one-year Cloudeight SeniorPass good for one year of Cloudeight Direct Computer Care & Repair PLUS a one-year single PC Emsisoft license good for one full year of Emsisoft protection. If you're currently an Emsisoft user, we'll add one year to your current Emsisoft license. If you're a new Emsisoft customer, this license can be used for a new Emsisoft subscription.

Get yours now!

OFFER GOOD THROUGH MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022.

Get yours now!

OFFER GOOD THROUGH MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022.

To learn more about our Cloudeight SeniorPass one-year computer care & repair plan, see this page... 

Easy Windows Tips for When You’re Feeling Geeky
If you’re feeling geeky, these tips work in Windows 10 and Windows 11

The Windows Run Dialog is still a useful tool even in Windows 10 where it has largely been supplanted by taskbar search. But some of these more “geeky” commands have to be run from a Windows Run box… but not all.

Let’s open a Run dialog (or Run box as we call it):

Right-click on the Windows 10 or 11 start button and click “Run”. Or press the Windows key + R

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s do some geeky stuff!

Open the C: Drive

1. Open a Run box
2. Type a backward slash – (that would be this: \ ) in the Run box
3. Press Enter

Open your Users folder

1. Open a Run box
2. Type two dots in the Run box
3. Press Enter

Check your PC for performance issues

1. Open a Run box
2. Type RESMON in the Run box
3. Press Enter

(Hey, you’re right! You can also type this in taskbar search and run it.)

Search directly from a Run box

1. Open a Run box
2. Type CHROME “?Search” in the Run box – replacing the word Search with whatever you are searching for
3. Press Enter

You can use your favorite browser instead of Chrome. Type Firefox instead of Chrome to use Firefox; type; type MSEDGE to use Microsoft Edge… you get the idea.

We’re not sure how useful these tips are, but you can dazzle your friends, confound your enemies, or just have fun playing around with them. Who knows?  You might even discover your own geeky tricks!

We have thousands of Windows tips, tricks, and more on our InfoAve website.

Subscribe to our free InfoAve Daily newsletter.

Now available: Reg Organizer 8.91

If you purchased or renewed Reg Organizer through Cloudeight within the last 12 months, you're entitled to a free version upgrade to Reg Organizer 8.91. Works great with Windows 10 and Windows 11!

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Reg Organizer - A Swiss Army Knife of Windows Tools - Works Great on Windows 10!

The Calculator Site – The Birthday Calendar

When we choose a Cloudeight Site Pick, we try very hard to find a site that will appeal to most of you. But rarely do we find a site that will appeal to all of you. Today’s site falls into the latter category. All of  you have a birthday and we think you'll be interested in finding out what was going on the year you were born, how many miles you’ve traveled (around the sun -it’s more than you think), how many hours and days old you are, what day of the week you were born on, what the number one song was the day you were born, and more. Well – here’s a partial list…

Features of the birthday calculator

Find out the following:

Your star sign
The day on which you were born
How old you are in years, months, and days
Your Chinese zodiac sign
Your birthstone
The number of days until your next birthday
Famous people who share your birthday
The number one song on your birthday
The number one movie on your birthday
And more…

Let’s skip the rambling and go pictorial, shall we?

Choose “Birthday Calculator” and enter your birthday…

Your star sign… for those of you who like that kind of stuff.

You’ll find out the day of the week you were born and the number of years, months, and days you’ve been skulking around on the planet Earth.

You’ll learn the exact number of hours, days, weeks, months, and years you have been alive. And the number of miles you’ve traveled even if you’ve never ventured from your birthplace. If you were born in 1960 or after, you’ll see the number one movie on the day you were born.

You’ll be able to see what the number one song was on the day you were born – and hear it too.

You’ll also get a list of famous(?) people who share your birthday…and a lot more. 

Besides The Birthday Calculator, you’ll find dozens and dozens of other calculators on this site pick  Just look at the top of the page and you’ll see this…

When you click on any of those categories, you’ll see an impressive list of related calculators in a drop-down menu.

But for today’s site pick, we’ve chosen the Birthday Calculator section of the Calculator site…because every one of you has a birthday. 

Since you have a birthday and you want to know more, visit our site pick “The Calculator Site – The Birthday Calendar” and find out just how old you really are – and a lot more about the day, month, and year you were born.

PS: August 15, 1950, is not my birthday or Darcy’s…it was just a random date I choose Heck, I’ll admit, I’m older than that!

 

SUPER SUMMER SPECIALS FOR OUR FRIENDS 55 or OLDER - LAST WEEKEND!

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Total price is $89 - you save $35!

This offer includes a one-year SeniorPass good for one year of Cloudeight Direct Computer Care & Repair plus a one-year single PC Emsisoft license good for one year of Emsisoft protection. If you're currently an Emsisoft user, we'll add one year to your Emsisoft license. If you're new Emsisoft customer, this license can be used for a new Emsisoft subscription.

Get yours now!

OFFER GOOD THROUGH MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022.

---

Senior Pass + a One-year Emsisoft Multi PC License or Renewal

The total price is $99 - Save $40!

This offer includes a one-year SeniorPass good for one year of Cloudeight Direct Computer Care & Repair plus a one-year multi-PC Emsisoft license good for one year of Emsisoft protection for up to three PCs. If you're currently an Emsisoft user, we'll add one year to your Emsisoft multi-PC license. If you're a new Emsisoft customer, this multi-PC license can be used for a new Emsisoft subscription for up to 3 PCs.

Get yours now!

OFFER GOOD THROUGH MONDAY, JULY 18, 2022.

To learn more about our Cloudeight SeniorPass one-year computer care & repair plan, see this page.

Venting on Vegans

I must admit that letters to the editors and responses to articles on Web sites are one of my main sources of fodder for my rants. “USA Today” prints the best letters to the editor though. They tend to pick out some great letters from morons all over the world. I don’t have any particular Web site that goads me into open rebellion. Web sites vary, but you can be sure that many idiots post replies to articles on news and technology sites that inspire me too.

For some reason, I get very angry when I see or hear coolspeak. Words like “partying”, “party animal”, “bonding” “mic” for “microwave”, “fridge” for “refrigerator”, “hang out” – as in “wanna hang out with me?”, “cloud” when used in place of the Web server, “interwebs” in place of “Internet” or “a gathering” or "networking", when used to describe what used to be called a “get together” or “party”. And I hate the term "granular" if discussing anything other than sugar or sand.

I digress…

“USA Today” published an article on how sled dogs might hold the key to curing diabetes in humans. This might be good news for those who suffer from this nasty malady, so no doubt diabetics read the article with some degree of interest. The article, of course, opened the door to a raft of coolspeakers...

Read the rest of this essay here.

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What are PUPs and PUAs?

PUPs are cute little dogs and PUAs are cute little aardvarks - adorable little creatures!

NO! NO! NO! That's not right! PUPs is an acronym for Potentially Unwanted Programs and PUAs is an acronym for Potentially Unwanted Apps. The word programs ain't cool anymore - it's all about apps now. Apps is short for applications and programs are applications too. Who decides this stuff?

The acronyms PUP and PUA are used because everyone is afraid of getting sued for calling a spade a spade. You're not supposed to insult a malware developer by calling his "app" malware. No, no, no! You must call it a PUA or else end up in court. PUP is just an older way of avoiding lawsuits by not calling garbageware what it really is - malware.

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Reg Organizer: Reg Organizer is the Swiss Army Knife of Windows tools. It's far more than just a registry optimizer and cleaner... it's a Windows all-in-one toolkit. Reg Organizer helps you keep your computer in tip-top shape and helps you solve annoying Windows problems. Reg Organizer works great with Windows 10 and Windows 11! Get more information about Reg Organizer (and get our special discount prices) here.

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We hope you have enjoyed this issue of Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly. Thanks so much for your support and for being an InfoAve Weekly subscriber.

Have a great weekend... be safe!

Darcy and TC
Cloudeight InfoAve Weekly - Issue #979
Volume 19 Number 37
July 15, 2022 

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