Windows 10 update has just about wiped out my computer.

a reply to: incoserv

e"

Hi, serious question. About 3 years ago I saw the writing on the wall with windows and did some study of Linux. I'm happy running win 7. But as my machine ages I'd have to buy and old (new) motherboard etc before reinstalling win 7 .

When I had my Samsung tablet I used the free file managers and mini-firefox etc. How hard would it be to learn Zorin?


according to this ...www.youtube.com...
Zorin is 8.6 G and nothing shows up on the startup screen - "someone who is brand new to linux wont know what to do with themselves" "Zorin eats up gig at idle' according to this 8 minute youtube

I dont play games, just browsing & use officesuites and email. Have SSD boot drive and 3 other drives for music and backups.

I know my son had problems on his laptop with Win 10 and had to also fix up my wifes Win PC.

I know you said just use a USB but will research further. Can you comment on the above

Much appreciated

A couple days back the most recent updates froze my laptop. In an instant it got extremely hot. I had to put it in the SS kitchen sink, point a fan on high at it and turn it off. Even then it nearly ignited.

From this point on I'm going to babysit it while it updates.

a reply to: incoserv

My 2nd question is can I run this "win 7 conversion lookalike" if I install Linux mint 19.3 from USB without having to reboot or go into BIOS? I dread the PC freezing up and getting shafted. Any advice would be appreciated

www.youtube.com...
"How to make Linux Mint 19.3 look like windows 7"

many thanks

a reply to: TheConstruKctionofLight

The problem is you will have to install it onto the hard drive at some point and thats when things can get fun as linux is pretty good these days but theres still times you have to get down and dirty especially with wifi drivers.

You could always try linux out in a virtual machine to be able to have some getting to know you time and then if you feel confident then install it properly.

Maybe theres a local linux computer group and you can go visit someone who can spend some time over a few beers?

a reply to: Nyiah

Yea but can Windows Djent?

Linux Djents

a reply to: Maxatoria

You could always try linux out in a virtual machine to be able to have some getting to know you time and then if you feel confident then install it properly.

In the last few hours since my post I've researched more and I gotta creat a USB stick and as I understand it you can run Linux within a virtual machine. I dont think you have to go into BIOS so its should be ok. Thanks kindly for your help Maxatoria

a reply to: MykeNukem

Prog metal? Not off topic?

originally posted by: incoserv

originally posted by: Nyiah

originally posted by: incoserv
Why. In. Hell. Are. You. Using. Windows?

Seriously, I do not understand why people are still ****ing around with Windows®? I could almost say that you deserve whatever happened to you.

Still using Windows myself, because Linux can't quite seem to stop #ing around and make a user-friendly, familiar Windows-LIKE OS. I'm not a coder. I'm not going to be a coder. I don't WANT to code, I don't understand # past the age of HTML (dating myself here, too bad for you) and thus, anything that requires "functional programming know-how", which is....essentially all Linux versions as far as I can tell -- and I've gotten pissed off enough times at Windows to try various Linux versions -- ain't for moi.

Not wowed by Linux by any means. Nerds can have it. Windows might suck, but at least I understand the damn system.

Imagine if you felt that way about your car. But you don't. You actually had to LEARN TO DRIVE and GOT A LICENSE.

Lmfao, it's cute that you think you got one in, but I've never had a real & good reason to learn to drive. Ergo, I have a state ID, not a license. Sorry to pop that jab bubble of yours.

Again, ZorinOS is about as "user friendly" as you're going to get. If you're happy with MS products, well good for you.

Don't care. I've been disappointed FAR more than enough with Linux, and am not about to waste more bandwidth downloading another to piss me off with.

But the OP is clearly not, and this thread is about the OP's problem and needs, not yours.

Indeed it is. However, you copped the attitude first, not me. Therefore, YOU can take your OS preferences & underhanded "you deserved it" dig at the OP and suck on 'em.

There are good, viable alternatives out there. The fact that you don't want to make a little effort to learn about them says more about you than it does about the software.

Good, viable alternatives, for programmers. Linux is NOT MADE for the normal user. And damn sure not for gamers. I'm not downloading their crap, just to download MORE crap and hope it works, to make it talk to games, GTFOH.

originally posted by: ganjoa
I would be REALLY helpful if you could report which windows update (or updates) caused the problems you're experiencing.
My WIn10 machine wet through a very long update process, yet all my third party software still works.
Wondering what is out there that's coming to destroy my machine.
Thanks.

ganjoa

This would be extremely important to know, to best assess what went wrong. I have a Windows 7 Acer netbook circa...probably circa 2008, it's about as useful as a doorstop, but still runs, and runs on Windows 10 -- it's held up fine through countless updates. If anything was going to throw in the towel on me and die a swift tech death, I figure a netbook would, but it's still chugging along.

My current laptop is a little newer, an HP 2000 Series laptop. It's been through the same everything the netbook's been through, with the exceptions of replacing the fan and keyboard (needs a new keyboard again) I've never had updates eat those two, but once upon a time, a few years ago, a Windows update at my husband's HP desktop, had to do a full reinstall because it got stuck in an update loop and there was seemingly no way to break the infinite loop there. If I recall CORRECTLY, there was a hardware driver conflict that caused that infinite loop across many users' machines. I just don't remember specifically what the conflict was anymore. It required a full reinstall and then it was good to go afterward.

My husband's last Windows update a few days ago took about 3 hours, and finished fine. Mine took less time that that, but also finished fine. I'm willing to bet with enough sleuths willing to sniff it out (and not be unhelpful pitching Linux instead) someone's going to be able to help the OP out.

a reply to: ANNED

So, OK Anned, I've been browsing around and found an older post on Cnet (2018) that seems very similar to your own issue with the browsers.

www.cnet.com...

an into seemingly the same issue on my computer. When I'd select either Chrome or Firefox from the drop-down list in settings it would close the window for me. Figured out looking in the Event Viewer that SystemSettings.exe was crashing when I was trying to change the default. Found this solution for me after some googling. Hope it helps!

Found a solution,
* Goto SettingsApps & features then search for the app causing an issue ie edge and then click on Advanced Options
* Select Reset and then after the reset has completed you can then successfully change the default browser again. This also works if you have issues changing the default apps for Video Player, Photo Viewer etc ie after doing a repair on the default Video Player or Photo Viewer you can then change the default app for these also

Direct link from that post to Microsoft:

answers.microsoft.com... 801ded057

Another post on the second page of that thread says:

I found an other way to set default browser.

Just visit control panel and search for "Default program" from that you can choose Opera and set it as the default browser.

Something conflict with Windows 10 default browser set but using the way above everything will be OK.

Regards,

And another above it, before I forget, on the second page says this:

support.mozilla.org... tells how do it from inside Firefox.
Does it work for you?

I cherry picked a couple there that might be of use to you for solving the browser issue, but there's two pages of decent advice to try out. Granted, the posts are between 1 and 4 years old, hopefully there's a trick to forcing a browser default that still works in there.


Also, do you have ANY other updates waiting to be installed? Install them if so, THAT could be where the conflict stems from, there could be a defaults glitch that an update fixed but hasn't been installed yet to fix waiting for install.

Open a command prompt
copy the below line in and press enter
sfc /scannow
DO NOT interrupt it .
then restart

open a command prompt
copy the below line in and press enter
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
DO NOT interrupt it .

restart

originally posted by: Gothmog
Open a command prompt
copy the below line in and press enter
sfc /scannow

then restart

open a command prompt
copy the below line in and press enter
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

restart

Damn, can't believe I forgot about this. Definitely do a scan! If there's corrupt files, it WILL fix them.

originally posted by: Nyiah

originally posted by: Gothmog
Open a command prompt
copy the below line in and press enter
sfc /scannow

then restart

open a command prompt
copy the below line in and press enter
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

restart

Damn, can't believe I forgot about this. Definitely do a scan! If there's corrupt files, it WILL fix them.

And here is my top secret weapon in case all fails .
This is ONLY for a last chance , Hail Mary , before resetting or formatting and reinstall.
Now you know an Insider's secret.

Windows 10 All in One Repair
Portable version.

Takes a very long time to run.

Pulled my old a__ out of the frying pan a few times.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: Maxatoria

You could always try linux out in a virtual machine to be able to have some getting to know you time and then if you feel confident then install it properly.

In the last few hours since my post I've researched more and I gotta creat a USB stick and as I understand it you can run Linux within a virtual machine. I dont think you have to go into BIOS so its should be ok. Thanks kindly for your help Maxatoria

Windows 10 is starting to have built in native support for Linux Virtual Machines.
No USB key is required to run Linux in a virtual machine on Windows unless one wants to do a "dual boot"
Virtual machine and "dual boot" are 2 different matters.
All one needs is free space on a drive , lots of CPU cores , and lots of memory.

a reply to: Wide-Eyes

There’s a few programs available that remove windows bloat ware including updates.
You can choose what you wish to disable manually or just disable the whole lot as I did. You can also restore it back to default if anything goes wrong. It worked fine for me though.

My simple cheapy 2018 HP laptop has needed a Windows 10 upgrade for awhile now, however, the drive is small and I needed to make some room to upgrade. I just got it going, so we shall see if the laptop takes a dump.

Sometimes I just ask for it, but I use the laptop when out and about ("oot en a boot" if you're Canadian) so I feel it should be updated.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: incoserv

e"

Hi, serious question. About 3 years ago I saw the writing on the wall with windows and did some study of Linux. I'm happy running win 7. But as my machine ages I'd have to buy and old (new) motherboard etc before reinstalling win 7 .

When I had my Samsung tablet I used the free file managers and mini-firefox etc. How hard would it be to learn Zorin?


according to this ...www.youtube.com...
Zorin is 8.6 G and nothing shows up on the startup screen - "someone who is brand new to linux wont know what to do with themselves" "Zorin eats up gig at idle' according to this 8 minute youtube

I dont play games, just browsing & use officesuites and email. Have SSD boot drive and 3 other drives for music and backups.

I know my son had problems on his laptop with Win 10 and had to also fix up my wifes Win PC.

I know you said just use a USB but will research further. Can you comment on the above

Much appreciated

Apologies for the delay in replying.

Using Zorin is a no-brainer as far as the user interface goes. Instsallation, if you have never done a Linux install, might seem a little intimidating, but you can learn. As I replied to the person who was whining about how hard Linux is, such complaints say more about the person than the software. There are so many tutorials, videos, etc. on using Linux and the Linux community wants to help you. We want people to migrate away from the big corporate systems and to find a solid, useful alternative. Modern Linux distros (what we call the different "flavors" or packagings of Linux) are not like they were years ago.

Have a look, at this video. There are a few good alternatives to choose from and I've used many different distros, but I really like Zorin and it's my current choice.



I'd be happy to give you any pointer if you want to reply here or PM me.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: incoserv

My 2nd question is can I run this "win 7 conversion lookalike" if I install Linux mint 19.3 from USB without having to reboot or go into BIOS? I dread the PC freezing up and getting shafted. Any advice would be appreciated

www.youtube.com...
"How to make Linux Mint 19.3 look like windows 7"

many thanks

I've never done that, so I won't even try to answer your question. However, why do you need it to look exactly like Windows 7. I understand that it's what you're used to so you feel some kind of security in the familiarity, but as long as you can navigate the UI structure and get your work done, why not learn something a little different, get used to another flavor?

I really recommend that you download Zorin's latest iteration, create a bootable USB, boot from that and give it a few test runs. You can save any work you do to some kind of removable media like an SD card. If you feel comfortable after a few sessions, take the plunge.

As I've said in this thread, I jumped off of the Microsoft ship over ten years ago and I have never looked back!

Windows updates have been bricking computers left and right for months and months now. They do a decent job scrubbing it though. Last year, I had 3 instances where I had to completely re-install W10.

I strongly suggest Ubuntu.

20.04 is excellent and anyone who feels that such OS's are difficult to use probably havent tried one out in years.

Only downside is some software compatibility (games in particular), but even that has improved by leaps and bounds in just the past couple years.

My laptop keep running into a problem and wouldn't upgrade. I'll try later, or maybe I shouldn't.