I heard that Stinger installs a service called 'McAfee Validation Trust
Protection Service' (mfevtps.exe) that is very hard to get rid of;
Is this still true? (or was it ever true?)
Windows 10 is running fine on my laptop, but I had enough issues with it on my desktop that I rolled back the installation and I'll be sticking with Windows 8.1.
An issue I encountered with Windows 10 on my laptop is that it turned off System Restore. I've read that can happen in some installations so if you use it System Restore, it's something to be aware of.
I'm not crazy about the Start Menu and tiles on either Windows 8x or Windows 10 so I use Start8 and Start10 from Stardock as start menu replacements. Both Stardock products are paid software, around five dollars US. I've had Start8 for years and I Start10 came as a free upgrade. Classic Shell works as well and is free.
Just FYI, Jetico Personal Firewall is now freeware as of April 13, 2016 for those of you in need of an excellent firewall w/ HIPS for Windows 8 and older...
Moo0 Anti-Recovery (FREE for non commercial use) was about 7 times faster than File Shredder at wiping free space. It also give choice to wipe, free space in Master File Table, cluster tips and file name traces in MFT. link here http://www.moo0.com/?top=http://www.moo0.com/software/AntiRecovery/
Thanks Rhiannon, it appears you are correct, it appears that the windows 10 update had wiped my NVIDIA drivers and after I ran the free slimdrivers software as recommended on gizmo some time back, it found drivers missing and reinstalled them. Now the Taskbar is again up and running.
In the past week I have finally released the beta version of the calculator I have been working on. Unlike the majority of calculators, Alt1 is very slim and unintrusive. It just blends in the operating system, sort of like the windows calendar. Check it out at http://www.alt1.co/
Thanks,
Wally Cloud
I have hit another insidious behavior on the Chrome based OPERA. I am getting a Google message that it can't find the DNS for the site and I am not sure why Google is controlling that. Often the site will come up, blink off with the message and might reapppear. I know Google is inserting their URL in front of every site you go to but this is getting weird
It has a green WOT rating, but as the site says "*Note: Some anti-virus products may detect Blackbird as malware. We assure you it's a false-positive; Blackbird does nothing that is not clearly advertised, leaves no files behind, and can be safely deleted after usage".
Works on Win 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista
VirusTotal has two flags on the program or it would likely have been written up here. You can view the analysis of the 64 bit version here: Blackbird Virus Total analysis
I'm not sure there's one of those yet, but it would be good to see. So far the best site I've come across is this one - it's on the technical side but quite useful:
I don't know how much of this will still work in the Anniversary Update, but at the least, choosing a custom install gives you the option of turning things off at the beginning. Most of the settings can be changed after installation.
I looked up the font, it appears it's a Google font. You may have to download and reinstall it. I did find an article relating to some other fonts missing that might help:
I would check to make sure you have the correct and updated graphics drivers installed. For whatever reason, many, many people (myself incuded) have had issues with Windows 10 and graphics drivers. On my desktop, it completely wiped out my nVidia drivers and didn't see the graphics card. I had to download and reinstall new drivers.
I would run a search on Windows 10 taskbar problems, there are several entries. There's an issue with the clock and calendar that seems to be causing trouble for many, the description and solution are here: Date and Time pop up calendar/clock in Windows 10 not working
I've been using Multi Commander for the past few days and I don't like it. There was a lot of set-up with MC to turn off annoyances and change keyboard shortcuts. The file search is horrifically slow. Ran a content search on 8,000 XML files for a phrase than didn't appear in any of them (a worst case for searches). MC took 1.5 minutes; FC took 15 seconds. MC also has more tools than I will ever need. Most of the tools are useful but not tools you expect a file explorer to have.
Also, points deducted for having a tab-to-space tool but not a space-to-tab tool.
I tried that, too. The procedure was successful, but it didn't fix my missing font.
I also tried copying all the similar fonts from another Windows 10 system. Note that it hadn't received the Anniversary Update yet.
The specific font wasn't there. I wander this font is included only with the Anniversary Update.
MS appears determined to take away control from us, and I am a control freak.
I would like to suggest a new article, that would be of interest to some of us -
"W10 guide for Control Freaks"
Thanks,
Rob
PS I noticed the post about Winaero, which I will check out.
PPS Some of you may be tempted (like I was) to just use Windows Defender.
If you look into it, you will find that you have very little control over it -
- It is scanning all the time (even though you have not told it to). That can slow older PCs, with lots of files, tremendously.
- It is not easy to disable completely (which we need sometimes), and it will turn itself back on when it feels like it.
I am not sure if it related to the windows 10 update, but ever since the update occurred my taskbar doesn't work correctly, I can't fully close the pinned folders using right click and also the clock doesn't work correctly when you click on it, it no longer opens the calendar
Yes the "read more" link has http:// duplicated and is thus an invalid url. However clicking the article title works fine. The error was my fault, yet more proof of my non infallibility, as if any more evidence was needed :)
I've now fixed the typo but this will only be of assistance to rss subscribers as email subscribers will not be mailed again.
Thanks for pointing this out.
Gizmo
I am using WPS Office on my laptop and android version on tablet. I followed your recommendation on this office some time ago when it was Kingsoft. I like it, only thing I worried about is adverts in android version, but now realize it was the program not spam! Hope they keep this office going forever! Thanks to you you've helped me on lots of the programs
That's some great sleuthing. I've been doing some looking around about what you posted and found one post that had the problem, but with with Arial. This shold work to restore the default fonts:
a: Press Windows key + X.
b: Then click Control Panel.
c: Then click Fonts.
d: Then click Font Settings.
e: Now click Restore default font settings.
If I opened the same web pages on any browser, I had the same result. Same thing with some web applications (eg. WhatsApp for PC).
I've found that, when selecting a text in italics from a web page and going in browser's Inspection mode, it displays the name of the required font.
The problem is now fixed. A font named Open Sans was missing its Regular form. I don't know how it may have been deleted. I found it and re-installed it and everything is back to normal now.
Checking the rest of the system's font, I haven't found any other one missing the Regular type.
Question is, if someone wants to re-install the original Windows 10 fonts, how is that possible? I haven't found any source.
Anyway, thank you for the reply and I hope that helps for any future reference.
Google Chrome by default will add a website to its "Orher Search Engline" list automatically when you go to a website and use it's Search box to search for anything. For example go to bleepingcomputer.com [a well known computer help website] search for anything using the website search box on their web page. Then look under Chrome's Search Engine page udner "Other Search Engines". You will see a Bleeping Computer" entry in Chrome.
I discovered that Chrome here had over 100 such entries added automatically. Some of these entries even had the search terms that I was looking for on that particular website! People have complained to Chrome Devs that this behaviour is a privacy issue and that there should be a way of disabling this option. There is no way of disabling this behaviour on Chrome
If I seen this type of behaviour on some one's computer I would normally think a malware infection like a browser hijacking. This type of behaviour by Chrome made me go back to using Firefox on all my computers.
Is it only web pages, or is happening in installed programs? Do you have only one browser installed? If you have more than one browser, is it doing the same thing in all browsers?
If you don't want to rollback the update, the first place I would start is downloading and installing graphics drivers. There have been several issues since Windows 10 was released with graphics drivers.
One day has passed after installing the anniversary update and today I've found that many web pages are displayed in italics and normal fonts. I don't know if this is a coincidence or not.
Do you have any ideas on how to fix that or from where I can re-download all the official Windows 10 fonts?
hi rick, i tried that site...pretty slick. i downloaded and am using the one click firewall deal. soooo much easier that trying to do that with the windows firewall. thanks., clas
The newsletter email for this article has a typo (http://http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/windows-10-anniversary-update-what-you-need-know-now.htm) in the "read more" link which takes the recipient to a link squatting spam/malware site (http://(dot)com) - fortunately if you are using WoT it intervenes and warns about it.
Here is a site where the man specializes in windows hacks and is up to date with windows 10
Most of the things in this article already have workarounds. Get his tweaker for a lot of tweaks in one place but his articles will provide registry hacks so you can run your machine as you wish and not as Micr$oft dictates
http://winaero.com
Rob,
You said "It reads Word, Excel and PowerPoint files just fine"
Does it write them (compatible) as well ?
Rob
PS I am a control freak, and W10 is the exact opposite.
I was going to live with Windows Defender, but discovered it is doing Scans (even inside Zip files), even when I have not told it to do a scan.
A new machine may not notice that, but it slows the hades out of my older PC, and I like to control when it does it's scans.
Also there are occasions when one wishes to disable the anti virus. It is 5 times easier to disable Avast Free, and it stays off until I tell it to return. Windows Defender will turn itself on when it feels like it.
I am a little older and used WordPerfect in DOS while it was still a good program. Then over the years have tried a number of Office Suites. SoftMaker has become the best for me now for a number of years. Every year you can get a free copy and SoftMaker makes a donation to a charity opportunity for each copy downloaded. They are top of the line in Deutschland!
I've been using WSCC for years with great success as my go-to fix-it toolkit for most problems. The only glitch
is that my antivirus (Avast) kicks out some of the NirSoft tools as spyware, but that can be easily overridden.
Few of these utilities work on my Win7 PC. A screen opens for you to see the license agreement. Once I click Accept, it simply disappears. Nothing happens. I've used several Sysinternals utilities in the past, but this group must be corrupt or something.
The article from the Windows Club on how to defer the update is inaccurate and misleading. What Anand Khanse didn't tell you is the option to defer upgrades is only available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. Windows 10 Home users do not have that luxury.
Since the Windows Club / Anand Khanse didn't bother to make that distinction, I believe you should do so here.
I prefer softmaker myself. Had used the free WPS for a long time until they said I had pay for it to continue using it. This was about two months ago. Don't know if the policy has changed. Boo
First as far as anti-virus/malware, there's lots of good, FREE apps out there that are much better rated than Windows Defender. To name a few: Avira (www.avira.com), Avast (www.avast.com), or AVG (www.avg.com). Then there are the 2 anti-malware packages that are highly rated: Malwarebytes (www.malwarebytes.org) and Super Anti-Spyware (www.superantispyware.com).
As far as Microsoft is concerned, you can get Office 365 (https://products.office.com/en-us/compare-microsoft-office-products) for as little as $7 (US) / month for the Personal Edition OR $10/month for the Home edition, which covers 5 users. If you purchase a year's contract, then the per month price is lower (Personal edition $70/year and the Home edition, $100/year). If you don't want Office 365, then you can get your own copy of Office 2010, 2013 or 2016 via online vendors, and the price maybe considerably different than what you quoted.
I have found that when looking for prices of almost anything online, the Google shopping bot (https://www.google.com/shopping) will find the best/lowest prices *and* reliable vendors.
And no, I don't work for any of the aforementioned companies!.
It's worth it to install and use UnChecky (http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/automatic-warning-if-youre-about-install-unwanted-software.htm), which catches and prevents most of such Bad Things from getting installed.
"Windows System Control Center" is not free. They put together a menu of sorts which may help with simplifying and classifying installation of the individual utilities. There is an evaluation version if you want to check out the Windows System Control Center product. Those with a little computer savvy will probably choose directly downloading from the two developers mentioned in the article.
Open Office doesn't nag me to update every month and I tend to stay loyal to programs that don't make frivolous changes simply to appear "new and improved".
Just tried to access tails site now. ''Firefox can’t find the server at tails.boum.org.'' downloaded the .iso on the 31st. But couldn't get a checksum to test the file. Have not burned it for that reason. Now the site's down? what to think?
Thank you for the recommendation but Ashampoo Office 2010 is really SoftMaker Office - they even say so on their site. What puzzles me is why recommend a 2010 office suite when you can get the free 2016 version directly from SoftMaker themselves?
http://www.freeoffice.com/en/
That's what I use and what I would recommend. I am sure it can easily fulfill the needs of almost all private users.
For a small (48MB-Installed), yet complete Office Suite, Please check out:
Ashampoo Office 2010 is FREE... Works very well,...
Should cover almost everyone's needs...
Installed it is a little less than 48 MB...
It can be Downloaded from the link below:
http://www.softmaker.de/reg/ash10_en.htm
From that link:
_________________________________________________________
There's another suite called WSCC (Windows System Control Center) that groups not only all Sysinternal suite but also from NirSoft suite in one clean interface. You can update all at once from within the program and it's a portable program.
My main PC is XP Pro
I have others with W7 Pro (now upgraded to W10, with ability to go back to W7 if needed)
Two banes of my life are to do with file transfers between the PC's, as MS appear to have gone out of their way to make networking a pain (especially peeping across network to XP PC)
All of the File Managers I have tried are disappointing in that regard.
Also my router allows a thumb drive to be inserted, and once again the File Managers tested are disappointing (can't see it, or stutter and slow my XP PC)
I just tried 'EF Commander Free'
http://www.softpedia.com/get/File-managers/EF-Commander-Free.shtml
WOW, it is light, speedy, and passed both tests with ease (in my XP).
I then installed it into W10 Pro (32bit), and it is the fastest. lightest, I have seen on those same tasks
Rob
PS I (unlike all of you), am not a fan of split panes, but 'EF Commander Free' is going to be on all of my PCs
PPS Like 'dsteele1' my main workhorse for normal file managing will still be XYPlorerFree
Please, try and consider adding in list, another free firewall called "Free Firewall". I haven't used it, but I read good reviews about it.
Can be found here: http://www.evorim.com/en/free-firewall
PS: Windows Firewall seems to be essential now for Windows 10, as if you disable it, you cannot receive automatic Windows updates o.O
Hard to imagine anything being better than Total Commander (previously called Windows Commander). I've been using TC for years and it is the single most useful piece of software I've ever had.
Sorry, I should have been clearer.
I meant I dislike W10's File Explorer, and I believe that it is possible to get the previous Windows Explorer to run (if one did the free upgrade of W7 to W10)
Rob
PS I dislike all the clutter on the left of File Explorer.
Also it is near impossible to find how to run File Explorer as Administrator
Tried this multicommander but when simply dragging & dropping with the mouse from one window to the other an annoying confirmation dialog box pops up requiring a response. Can this confirmation box be eliminated? Doesn't seem like it far as I can tell.
Agree with Q-Dir users for years of use. Yes does have a very few limits that could stand improving (make search box more intuitive).
Haven't worked with image files in it much but for general use it's a real winner. Guy updates it a lot.
I do that too - and keep it pinned to the taskbar so I can access a mess of pinned destinations so I can go directly to (say) dropbox. Windows 10 is a lot better and NOT deleting the jump lists although I keep them backed up anyway
One big missing feature from Q-DIR is the shortcut key for managing files (F5 = copy, F6 = move, F7= make directory, and F8 = delete) which any orthodox file manager use. If you managing a lot files, this shortcut key combo (plus Tab to switch between panel) much faster than Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V. Well, maybe Q-DIR is not an orthodox file manager :)
Q-DIR rules the planet
Free
Optionally Portable
CAN replace Windows explorer if you want
http://www.softwareok.com/?Download=Q-Dir
Install it as portable and check out the 4 window spread and multiple tabs in each window Save the one for all your graphics, make another for your music etc etc
It rules the planet :))
Revo Uninstaller 2.0.0 has been released; the free version now detects and removes 64-bit applications. Here is the full changelog:
August 4th, 2016
Added: Full 64-bit support.
Added: Details Panel about selected program in Icon view.
Added: Export command(for the list of installed programs and leftovers).
Improved: User Interface.
Improved: Hunter Mode.
Improved: all 8 additional tools. (Appears not to be available in the free version)
Many minor improvements.
Softpedia offer a free portable version: http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/System/System-Enhancements/Portable-Revo-Uninstaller.shtml .
Awesome article! I want people to know just how good this information is in your article. It’s interesting, compelling content. Your views are much like my own concerning this subject
psoriasis
"... SPECTRUM is a mind-bending first person puzzler that challenges you to switch colours and manipulate gravity in order to escape a digital labyrinth ...":
I have cloned to an SSD. Unfortunately I have been unable to get it to boot. All I get it is a black page with a bunch of data on it. How can I resolve this problem? Thanks for whatever help you can offer.
Hi, I usually find many good tips in your articles but not this one... strangely you forget to mention a CRUCIAL feature that almost all Android music apps lack (at least in their free versions): possibility to select music by folder! It´s so easy I cannot understand why anyone would want to spend hours manually creating playlists. Anyway, after a lot of searching something struck me: why not use good oĺ trusty VLC player? People (myself included ;)) tend to consider it a video player but it playes audio files just as fine, plus you have 100% functionnality for 100% free... pretty hard to beat that. I'm a bit surprised it´s not even mentioned in this article....
Hoo boy! This will lead to a slough of comments on everyone's favourite file manager.
Oh wait--TechSupportAlert.com already has a page on this! Multi Commander is even in that list: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-file-manager.htm.
So... what was the point of this post?
Thanks for this. I've been pleased to use Bitdefender Total Security for years, but they are 'pants' at providing info on new products and important services like this. Sometimes I think they are from a different planet - and sometimes I am certain! F'r example, the ONLY mention of their ransomeware product is from Gizmo, here.
US marketing types will have their heads in hands, weeping in frustration.
In W10, does anyone know how to get Windows Explorer to run ?
I upgraded a friends W7 Pro to W10 Pro, and he had a left over shortcut, that still can run Windows Explorer (with menus and no flippin Ribbon)
I have returned his laptop and upgraded my W7 Pro PC to W10 Pro, but cannot find Windows Explorer
I still use, and prefer, XYPlorerFree. It is portable (No Install required), so I have a few of them, for different categories (I never run two at the same time)
However when it comes to peeping across my network, or peeping into my USB thumb drive (inserted into my router), every program I try, coughs, stutters, and often fail to 'peep'
FreeCommander XE is miles better than all the rest (of those I use) for 'peeping'
2 questions if I may re progeCAD Smart--1--can u print from it without any watermarks etc??--and 2--is it compatible with windows 10?? thanks re any help here in advance
designer1940
Thanks for the Ars Technica article, I always enjoy reading Dan Goodin.
I'm glad to see some well funded initiatives like this, it really is needed in this day and age. They mention they are looking for other partners, perhaps some other competent entities will climb aboard.
@Rhiannon , @howiem - Actually, the site does specifically mention two preventative software: Kaspersky and Intel's McAfee. That's not surprising, since, as you mention in your article, both are co-sponsors of the initiative. They also indirectly "mention" other software when they recommend "Use robust antivirus software..."
I did not bother with either Bitdefender's or Malwarebyte's anti-ransomware offerings because I thought that being careful and using Microsoft's EMET protected me... until I read this: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/06/drive-by-exploits-pushing-ransomware-now-able-to-bypass-microsoft-emet/
So, Rhiannon's article is encouraging since it shows that some very well-funded entities (especially the non-commercial EU governmental agency) are committed to keeping us ahead of the bad guys and are there to help (for free) when-and-if they get to our data anyway.
They don't list preventative tools on the site that I saw either, but that's not surprising.
The two tools you mention are both in beta, so I wouldn't recommend them for everyone, especially on a main production system.
I don't remember exactly, but I think I had tested it on Windows 10 last year or so, and it worked well. I have to update the article for Windows 10. I will do so as soon as I can.
I have mentioned in the review that DoubleDriver crashed when creating self-extracting file. It seems to be a bug. Use the other options to create backup.
The software is too good to be removed. It is the top choice.
I looked around the No More Ransom site, but found no mention of two free ransomware detectors:
1. Bit Defender anti-Ransomware (https://labs.bitdefender.com/2016/03/combination-crypto-ransomware-vaccine-released/ - uses about 14MB RAM) and
2. Malwarebytes anti-ransomware (beta) (https://forums.malwarebytes.org/topic/177751-introducing-malwarebytes-anti-ransomware-beta/ uses about 2MB RAM) and a search for anti-ransomware on this site got no results.
I've been using both for a number of months and have experienced no conflicts with each other or anything else. I have had one detection of an email attachment, bu can' remember which one detected it. But it is hard to tell if either or both catch every variation of Ransomware.
Regretfully, DoubleDriver failed in the SFX step. Said it was sending a message to the dev but I have no hope of getting a reply since the app is so old.
No mention of MS Expression Web 4
No longer being updated but a very complete editor
Supports ASP.NET, XML, CSS, XHTML, PHP, etc.
Needs MS Net Framework
MS Expression 4 is a 100mb file
AND yes you can edit the document either from the HTML or Preview window and see the results without saving
I had the same problem and have been trying for a couple of days to download from the Dropbox link without success. But the MajorGeeks link worked! Thank you!
PS. The softpedia download link triggered a blocking from some of my antimalware software (Heimdal security). (Only the actual download attempt).
CDBurnerXP has been updated to version 4.5.7.6282 (digitally signed 2016.07.29). Thus far, only the portable application is "clean;" the default installer without installCore should be released within a few days of this post.
This is a list of the most recently posted comments on the site sorted so that the most recent comments appear first.
You can however sort the list on Article title by clicking on the column heading. To see actual comments click the + sign.
I heard that Stinger installs a service called 'McAfee Validation Trust
Protection Service' (mfevtps.exe) that is very hard to get rid of;
Is this still true? (or was it ever true?)
regards
Signature is corrupt or invalid.
Excellent news! I am so glad that's fixed. :)
Windows 10 is running fine on my laptop, but I had enough issues with it on my desktop that I rolled back the installation and I'll be sticking with Windows 8.1.
An issue I encountered with Windows 10 on my laptop is that it turned off System Restore. I've read that can happen in some installations so if you use it System Restore, it's something to be aware of.
I'm not crazy about the Start Menu and tiles on either Windows 8x or Windows 10 so I use Start8 and Start10 from Stardock as start menu replacements. Both Stardock products are paid software, around five dollars US. I've had Start8 for years and I Start10 came as a free upgrade. Classic Shell works as well and is free.
Both the download links on DoubleDriver official site are still not working. So, I have changed the download link to the one from Softpedia.
Thank you again for informing about the link not working.
Just FYI, Jetico Personal Firewall is now freeware as of April 13, 2016 for those of you in need of an excellent firewall w/ HIPS for Windows 8 and older...
Moo0 Anti-Recovery (FREE for non commercial use) was about 7 times faster than File Shredder at wiping free space. It also give choice to wipe, free space in Master File Table, cluster tips and file name traces in MFT. link here http://www.moo0.com/?top=http://www.moo0.com/software/AntiRecovery/
Thanks Rhiannon, it appears you are correct, it appears that the windows 10 update had wiped my NVIDIA drivers and after I ran the free slimdrivers software as recommended on gizmo some time back, it found drivers missing and reinstalled them. Now the Taskbar is again up and running.
Alan
You're more than welcome. :)
That's very helpful. I will also keep in mind the steps from the link. Thank you very much for your time.
In the past week I have finally released the beta version of the calculator I have been working on. Unlike the majority of calculators, Alt1 is very slim and unintrusive. It just blends in the operating system, sort of like the windows calendar. Check it out at http://www.alt1.co/
Thanks,
Wally Cloud
I have hit another insidious behavior on the Chrome based OPERA. I am getting a Google message that it can't find the DNS for the site and I am not sure why Google is controlling that. Often the site will come up, blink off with the message and might reapppear. I know Google is inserting their URL in front of every site you go to but this is getting weird
I can also suggest a program called Blackbird.
http://www.getblackbird.net/
It has a green WOT rating, but as the site says "*Note: Some anti-virus products may detect Blackbird as malware. We assure you it's a false-positive; Blackbird does nothing that is not clearly advertised, leaves no files behind, and can be safely deleted after usage".
Works on Win 10 / 8 / 7 / Vista
VirusTotal has two flags on the program or it would likely have been written up here. You can view the analysis of the 64 bit version here:
Blackbird Virus Total analysis
For a more complete description of what Blackbird does check the listing at Major Geeks:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/blackbird.html
I'm not sure there's one of those yet, but it would be good to see. So far the best site I've come across is this one - it's on the technical side but quite useful:
The Ultimate Windows 10 Security Guide
https://heimdalsecurity.com/en/windows-10-security-guide
There's a section on Security and a section on Privacy
For step by step less technical assistance this is a good site:
The Windows 10 privacy settings you need to change right now
http://www.techradar.com/us/news/software/operating-systems/the-windows-...
I don't know how much of this will still work in the Anniversary Update, but at the least, choosing a custom install gives you the option of turning things off at the beginning. Most of the settings can be changed after installation.
I looked up the font, it appears it's a Google font. You may have to download and reinstall it. I did find an article relating to some other fonts missing that might help:
Fonts Missing After Windows 10 Update
I would check to make sure you have the correct and updated graphics drivers installed. For whatever reason, many, many people (myself incuded) have had issues with Windows 10 and graphics drivers. On my desktop, it completely wiped out my nVidia drivers and didn't see the graphics card. I had to download and reinstall new drivers.
I would run a search on Windows 10 taskbar problems, there are several entries. There's an issue with the clock and calendar that seems to be causing trouble for many, the description and solution are here:
Date and Time pop up calendar/clock in Windows 10 not working
It might work in your case.
I've been using Multi Commander for the past few days and I don't like it. There was a lot of set-up with MC to turn off annoyances and change keyboard shortcuts. The file search is horrifically slow. Ran a content search on 8,000 XML files for a phrase than didn't appear in any of them (a worst case for searches). MC took 1.5 minutes; FC took 15 seconds. MC also has more tools than I will ever need. Most of the tools are useful but not tools you expect a file explorer to have.
Also, points deducted for having a tab-to-space tool but not a space-to-tab tool.
I tried that, too. The procedure was successful, but it didn't fix my missing font.
I also tried copying all the similar fonts from another Windows 10 system. Note that it hadn't received the Anniversary Update yet.
The specific font wasn't there. I wander this font is included only with the Anniversary Update.
MS appears determined to take away control from us, and I am a control freak.
I would like to suggest a new article, that would be of interest to some of us -
"W10 guide for Control Freaks"
Thanks,
Rob
PS I noticed the post about Winaero, which I will check out.
PPS Some of you may be tempted (like I was) to just use Windows Defender.
If you look into it, you will find that you have very little control over it -
- It is scanning all the time (even though you have not told it to). That can slow older PCs, with lots of files, tremendously.
- It is not easy to disable completely (which we need sometimes), and it will turn itself back on when it feels like it.
I am not sure if it related to the windows 10 update, but ever since the update occurred my taskbar doesn't work correctly, I can't fully close the pinned folders using right click and also the clock doesn't work correctly when you click on it, it no longer opens the calendar
mmmmmm
Alan
I am using WPS Office on my laptop and android version on tablet. I followed your recommendation on this office some time ago when it was Kingsoft. I like it, only thing I worried about is adverts in android version, but now realize it was the program not spam! Hope they keep this office going forever! Thanks to you you've helped me on lots of the programs
That's some great sleuthing. I've been doing some looking around about what you posted and found one post that had the problem, but with with Arial. This shold work to restore the default fonts:
a: Press Windows key + X.
b: Then click Control Panel.
c: Then click Fonts.
d: Then click Font Settings.
e: Now click Restore default font settings.
(from this link)
Thank you for the reply.
If I opened the same web pages on any browser, I had the same result. Same thing with some web applications (eg. WhatsApp for PC).
I've found that, when selecting a text in italics from a web page and going in browser's Inspection mode, it displays the name of the required font.
The problem is now fixed. A font named Open Sans was missing its Regular form. I don't know how it may have been deleted. I found it and re-installed it and everything is back to normal now.
Checking the rest of the system's font, I haven't found any other one missing the Regular type.
Question is, if someone wants to re-install the original Windows 10 fonts, how is that possible? I haven't found any source.
Anyway, thank you for the reply and I hope that helps for any future reference.
Google Chrome by default will add a website to its "Orher Search Engline" list automatically when you go to a website and use it's Search box to search for anything. For example go to bleepingcomputer.com [a well known computer help website] search for anything using the website search box on their web page. Then look under Chrome's Search Engine page udner "Other Search Engines". You will see a Bleeping Computer" entry in Chrome.
I discovered that Chrome here had over 100 such entries added automatically. Some of these entries even had the search terms that I was looking for on that particular website! People have complained to Chrome Devs that this behaviour is a privacy issue and that there should be a way of disabling this option. There is no way of disabling this behaviour on Chrome
If I seen this type of behaviour on some one's computer I would normally think a malware infection like a browser hijacking. This type of behaviour by Chrome made me go back to using Firefox on all my computers.
Is it only web pages, or is happening in installed programs? Do you have only one browser installed? If you have more than one browser, is it doing the same thing in all browsers?
If you don't want to rollback the update, the first place I would start is downloading and installing graphics drivers. There have been several issues since Windows 10 was released with graphics drivers.
I've been a Winaero fan for some time. :)
Many thanks for noticing that Joe, I really appreciate it. I've added a link that brings some options to Windows Home users. :)
One day has passed after installing the anniversary update and today I've found that many web pages are displayed in italics and normal fonts. I don't know if this is a coincidence or not.
Do you have any ideas on how to fix that or from where I can re-download all the official Windows 10 fonts?
Confirmed- it took me to my ISPs search page with thebad link in the search bar
hi rick, i tried that site...pretty slick. i downloaded and am using the one click firewall deal. soooo much easier that trying to do that with the windows firewall. thanks., clas
So when Softmaker 2012 offered an update to 2016 version it wasn't trying to sell me the update? I use Textmaker sometimes.
The newsletter email for this article has a typo (http://http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/windows-10-anniversary-update-what-you-need-know-now.htm) in the "read more" link which takes the recipient to a link squatting spam/malware site (http://(dot)com) - fortunately if you are using WoT it intervenes and warns about it.
Here is a site where the man specializes in windows hacks and is up to date with windows 10
Most of the things in this article already have workarounds. Get his tweaker for a lot of tweaks in one place but his articles will provide registry hacks so you can run your machine as you wish and not as Micr$oft dictates
http://winaero.com
Rob,
You said "It reads Word, Excel and PowerPoint files just fine"
Does it write them (compatible) as well ?
Rob
PS I am a control freak, and W10 is the exact opposite.
I was going to live with Windows Defender, but discovered it is doing Scans (even inside Zip files), even when I have not told it to do a scan.
A new machine may not notice that, but it slows the hades out of my older PC, and I like to control when it does it's scans.
Also there are occasions when one wishes to disable the anti virus. It is 5 times easier to disable Avast Free, and it stays off until I tell it to return. Windows Defender will turn itself on when it feels like it.
I am a little older and used WordPerfect in DOS while it was still a good program. Then over the years have tried a number of Office Suites. SoftMaker has become the best for me now for a number of years. Every year you can get a free copy and SoftMaker makes a donation to a charity opportunity for each copy downloaded. They are top of the line in Deutschland!
I've been using WSCC for years with great success as my go-to fix-it toolkit for most problems. The only glitch
is that my antivirus (Avast) kicks out some of the NirSoft tools as spyware, but that can be easily overridden.
Few of these utilities work on my Win7 PC. A screen opens for you to see the license agreement. Once I click Accept, it simply disappears. Nothing happens. I've used several Sysinternals utilities in the past, but this group must be corrupt or something.
The article from the Windows Club on how to defer the update is inaccurate and misleading. What Anand Khanse didn't tell you is the option to defer upgrades is only available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. Windows 10 Home users do not have that luxury.
Since the Windows Club / Anand Khanse didn't bother to make that distinction, I believe you should do so here.
My suggestions are, for a full suite, LibreOffice and for a ligther one, SoftMaker. Both free and ads free.
g
I prefer softmaker myself. Had used the free WPS for a long time until they said I had pay for it to continue using it. This was about two months ago. Don't know if the policy has changed. Boo
A couple of things to be said.
First as far as anti-virus/malware, there's lots of good, FREE apps out there that are much better rated than Windows Defender. To name a few: Avira (www.avira.com), Avast (www.avast.com), or AVG (www.avg.com). Then there are the 2 anti-malware packages that are highly rated: Malwarebytes (www.malwarebytes.org) and Super Anti-Spyware (www.superantispyware.com).
As far as Microsoft is concerned, you can get Office 365 (https://products.office.com/en-us/compare-microsoft-office-products) for as little as $7 (US) / month for the Personal Edition OR $10/month for the Home edition, which covers 5 users. If you purchase a year's contract, then the per month price is lower (Personal edition $70/year and the Home edition, $100/year). If you don't want Office 365, then you can get your own copy of Office 2010, 2013 or 2016 via online vendors, and the price maybe considerably different than what you quoted.
I have found that when looking for prices of almost anything online, the Google shopping bot (https://www.google.com/shopping) will find the best/lowest prices *and* reliable vendors.
And no, I don't work for any of the aforementioned companies!.
Ditto here.
Thanks anyway, but LibreOffice works for me and has been a faithful companion for a long time. And .... No ads!
It's worth it to install and use UnChecky (http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/automatic-warning-if-youre-about-install-unwanted-software.htm), which catches and prevents most of such Bad Things from getting installed.
The site is opening fine for me.
"Windows System Control Center" is not free. They put together a menu of sorts which may help with simplifying and classifying installation of the individual utilities. There is an evaluation version if you want to check out the Windows System Control Center product. Those with a little computer savvy will probably choose directly downloading from the two developers mentioned in the article.
Open Office doesn't nag me to update every month and I tend to stay loyal to programs that don't make frivolous changes simply to appear "new and improved".
Just tried to access tails site now. ''Firefox can’t find the server at tails.boum.org.'' downloaded the .iso on the 31st. But couldn't get a checksum to test the file. Have not burned it for that reason. Now the site's down? what to think?
Thank you for the recommendation but Ashampoo Office 2010 is really SoftMaker Office - they even say so on their site. What puzzles me is why recommend a 2010 office suite when you can get the free 2016 version directly from SoftMaker themselves?
http://www.freeoffice.com/en/
That's what I use and what I would recommend. I am sure it can easily fulfill the needs of almost all private users.
Freemake splash branding gets added at the beginning and end of the video.
Thxs for the heads up on the ads. Sticking with LibreOffice, no ads
For a small (48MB-Installed), yet complete Office Suite, Please check out:
Ashampoo Office 2010 is FREE... Works very well,...
Should cover almost everyone's needs...
Installed it is a little less than 48 MB...
It can be Downloaded from the link below:
http://www.softmaker.de/reg/ash10_en.htm
From that link:
_________________________________________________________
There's another suite called WSCC (Windows System Control Center) that groups not only all Sysinternal suite but also from NirSoft suite in one clean interface. You can update all at once from within the program and it's a portable program.
Been using this for a couple of years now it gets the job done well
"... Museeks - a free, lightweight and cross-platform music player ...":
http://museeks.io/
"... Liri - open-source, cross-platform and material-design web browser ...":
http://liriproject.me/browser/#discover
"... restic is a backup program that is fast, efficient and secure ...":
https://github.com/restic/restic
https://restic.github.io/
Asciidoc FX is a book/document editor to build PDF, Epub, Mobi and HTML books, documents and slides:
http://www.asciidocfx.com/
I still favour Open Office. It can't handle some of the high end macros that Excel uses but in general it's fabulous. I'd not try anything else now.
My main PC is XP Pro
I have others with W7 Pro (now upgraded to W10, with ability to go back to W7 if needed)
Two banes of my life are to do with file transfers between the PC's, as MS appear to have gone out of their way to make networking a pain (especially peeping across network to XP PC)
All of the File Managers I have tried are disappointing in that regard.
Also my router allows a thumb drive to be inserted, and once again the File Managers tested are disappointing (can't see it, or stutter and slow my XP PC)
I just tried 'EF Commander Free'
http://www.softpedia.com/get/File-managers/EF-Commander-Free.shtml
WOW, it is light, speedy, and passed both tests with ease (in my XP).
I then installed it into W10 Pro (32bit), and it is the fastest. lightest, I have seen on those same tasks
Rob
PS I (unlike all of you), am not a fan of split panes, but 'EF Commander Free' is going to be on all of my PCs
PPS Like 'dsteele1' my main workhorse for normal file managing will still be XYPlorerFree
Hello.
Please, try and consider adding in list, another free firewall called "Free Firewall". I haven't used it, but I read good reviews about it.
Can be found here: http://www.evorim.com/en/free-firewall
PS: Windows Firewall seems to be essential now for Windows 10, as if you disable it, you cannot receive automatic Windows updates o.O
Hard to imagine anything being better than Total Commander (previously called Windows Commander). I've been using TC for years and it is the single most useful piece of software I've ever had.
Sorry, I should have been clearer.
I meant I dislike W10's File Explorer, and I believe that it is possible to get the previous Windows Explorer to run (if one did the free upgrade of W7 to W10)
Rob
PS I dislike all the clutter on the left of File Explorer.
Also it is near impossible to find how to run File Explorer as Administrator
Tried this multicommander but when simply dragging & dropping with the mouse from one window to the other an annoying confirmation dialog box pops up requiring a response. Can this confirmation box be eliminated? Doesn't seem like it far as I can tell.
Thanks Rob.
Very good to know about this free option we have!
Ads are a minor nuisance.
Regards
Peter.
Agree with Q-Dir users for years of use. Yes does have a very few limits that could stand improving (make search box more intuitive).
Haven't worked with image files in it much but for general use it's a real winner. Guy updates it a lot.
I do that too - and keep it pinned to the taskbar so I can access a mess of pinned destinations so I can go directly to (say) dropbox. Windows 10 is a lot better and NOT deleting the jump lists although I keep them backed up anyway
One big missing feature from Q-DIR is the shortcut key for managing files (F5 = copy, F6 = move, F7= make directory, and F8 = delete) which any orthodox file manager use. If you managing a lot files, this shortcut key combo (plus Tab to switch between panel) much faster than Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V. Well, maybe Q-DIR is not an orthodox file manager :)
I suggest you to try Q-Dir (http://www.softwareok.com/?Freeware/Q-Dir)
Q-DIR rules the planet
Free
Optionally Portable
CAN replace Windows explorer if you want
http://www.softwareok.com/?Download=Q-Dir
Install it as portable and check out the 4 window spread and multiple tabs in each window Save the one for all your graphics, make another for your music etc etc
It rules the planet :))
There's probably another way, but I've gotten used to pressing Win+E on the keyboard.
Revo Uninstaller 2.0.0 has been released; the free version now detects and removes 64-bit applications. Here is the full changelog:
August 4th, 2016
Added: Full 64-bit support.
Added: Details Panel about selected program in Icon view.
Added: Export command(for the list of installed programs and leftovers).
Improved: User Interface.
Improved: Hunter Mode.
Improved: all 8 additional tools. (Appears not to be available in the free version)
Many minor improvements.
Softpedia offer a free portable version: http://www.softpedia.com/get/PORTABLE-SOFTWARE/System/System-Enhancements/Portable-Revo-Uninstaller.shtml .
Awesome article! I want people to know just how good this information is in your article. It’s interesting, compelling content. Your views are much like my own concerning this subject
psoriasis
"... SPECTRUM is a mind-bending first person puzzler that challenges you to switch colours and manipulate gravity in order to escape a digital labyrinth ...":
http://ygd.bafta.org/competition/competition-news/2016/spectrum-winner
"... OBSERVER EFFECT is a cryptic, minimalistic episodic first person exploration game ...":
https://teamporpoise.itch.io/edge
Thanks Rob.
I´am a fan of Sysinternals!
Good to know that we can get all the tools in a 20 MB file.
Regards
Peter
I have cloned to an SSD. Unfortunately I have been unable to get it to boot. All I get it is a black page with a bunch of data on it. How can I resolve this problem? Thanks for whatever help you can offer.
Rocket Player, the top choice, allows you to select music by folder... one of the reasons why I chose this player on my phone.
Hi, I usually find many good tips in your articles but not this one... strangely you forget to mention a CRUCIAL feature that almost all Android music apps lack (at least in their free versions): possibility to select music by folder! It´s so easy I cannot understand why anyone would want to spend hours manually creating playlists. Anyway, after a lot of searching something struck me: why not use good oĺ trusty VLC player? People (myself included ;)) tend to consider it a video player but it playes audio files just as fine, plus you have 100% functionnality for 100% free... pretty hard to beat that. I'm a bit surprised it´s not even mentioned in this article....
With 5 episodes for the same story, I dont' think it still classifies as free. But it is a great game that I loved.
Hoo boy! This will lead to a slough of comments on everyone's favourite file manager.
Oh wait--TechSupportAlert.com already has a page on this! Multi Commander is even in that list: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-file-manager.htm.
So... what was the point of this post?
Thanks for this. I've been pleased to use Bitdefender Total Security for years, but they are 'pants' at providing info on new products and important services like this. Sometimes I think they are from a different planet - and sometimes I am certain! F'r example, the ONLY mention of their ransomeware product is from Gizmo, here.
US marketing types will have their heads in hands, weeping in frustration.
I like XYplorer Free Version much better
In W10, does anyone know how to get Windows Explorer to run ?
I upgraded a friends W7 Pro to W10 Pro, and he had a left over shortcut, that still can run Windows Explorer (with menus and no flippin Ribbon)
I have returned his laptop and upgraded my W7 Pro PC to W10 Pro, but cannot find Windows Explorer
Anybody see any advantage over FreeCommander which I've been using for years? Looks like TMI for my needs.
I still use, and prefer, XYPlorerFree. It is portable (No Install required), so I have a few of them, for different categories (I never run two at the same time)
However when it comes to peeping across my network, or peeping into my USB thumb drive (inserted into my router), every program I try, coughs, stutters, and often fail to 'peep'
FreeCommander XE is miles better than all the rest (of those I use) for 'peeping'
It runs fine on W10
2 questions if I may re progeCAD Smart--1--can u print from it without any watermarks etc??--and 2--is it compatible with windows 10?? thanks re any help here in advance
designer1940
I was referring to ransomware offerings. :)
I did catch the robust antivirus part........ ;)
Thanks for the Ars Technica article, I always enjoy reading Dan Goodin.
I'm glad to see some well funded initiatives like this, it really is needed in this day and age. They mention they are looking for other partners, perhaps some other competent entities will climb aboard.
jmjsquared, Just to clarify I didn't say that no detectors were mentioned, only that BD and MB were not. Thanks for the ARSTechnica article
@Rhiannon , @howiem - Actually, the site does specifically mention two preventative software: Kaspersky and Intel's McAfee. That's not surprising, since, as you mention in your article, both are co-sponsors of the initiative. They also indirectly "mention" other software when they recommend "Use robust antivirus software..."
I did not bother with either Bitdefender's or Malwarebyte's anti-ransomware offerings because I thought that being careful and using Microsoft's EMET protected me... until I read this: http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/06/drive-by-exploits-pushing-ransomware-now-able-to-bypass-microsoft-emet/
So, Rhiannon's article is encouraging since it shows that some very well-funded entities (especially the non-commercial EU governmental agency) are committed to keeping us ahead of the bad guys and are there to help (for free) when-and-if they get to our data anyway.
I think I like CLOVER better.
Good resources both, thanks.
They don't list preventative tools on the site that I saw either, but that's not surprising.
The two tools you mention are both in beta, so I wouldn't recommend them for everyone, especially on a main production system.
I don't remember exactly, but I think I had tested it on Windows 10 last year or so, and it worked well. I have to update the article for Windows 10. I will do so as soon as I can.
The trigger from Softpedia must be a false positive. The site is trustworthy.
I have mentioned in the review that DoubleDriver crashed when creating self-extracting file. It seems to be a bug. Use the other options to create backup.
The software is too good to be removed. It is the top choice.
I"m glad you like it. :)
Thanks for this very important info.
I looked around the No More Ransom site, but found no mention of two free ransomware detectors:
1. Bit Defender anti-Ransomware (https://labs.bitdefender.com/2016/03/combination-crypto-ransomware-vaccine-released/ - uses about 14MB RAM) and
2. Malwarebytes anti-ransomware (beta) (https://forums.malwarebytes.org/topic/177751-introducing-malwarebytes-anti-ransomware-beta/ uses about 2MB RAM) and a search for anti-ransomware on this site got no results.
I've been using both for a number of months and have experienced no conflicts with each other or anything else. I have had one detection of an email attachment, bu can' remember which one detected it. But it is hard to tell if either or both catch every variation of Ransomware.
Regretfully, DoubleDriver failed in the SFX step. Said it was sending a message to the dev but I have no hope of getting a reply since the app is so old.
Maybe it should be removed from the list.
BTW, I took it from the Softpedia link.
No mention of MS Expression Web 4
No longer being updated but a very complete editor
Supports ASP.NET, XML, CSS, XHTML, PHP, etc.
Needs MS Net Framework
MS Expression 4 is a 100mb file
AND yes you can edit the document either from the HTML or Preview window and see the results without saving
Tony Arts Editor - OK but you cannot put very much in a 3.1mb download file
I had the same problem and have been trying for a couple of days to download from the Dropbox link without success. But the MajorGeeks link worked! Thank you!
PS. The softpedia download link triggered a blocking from some of my antimalware software (Heimdal security). (Only the actual download attempt).
CDBurnerXP has been updated to version 4.5.7.6282 (digitally signed 2016.07.29). Thus far, only the portable application is "clean;" the default installer without installCore should be released within a few days of this post.
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