Random Software topics

[Colif]

lets add another layer on top of the already complicated system to make it easier... Its just all shortcuts to things that exist already. Nothing new here.

"PC Boost" will display the current memory usage and the number of "Temporary files," and clicking the "Boost" button will terminate unnecessary background processes to free up resources from memory and delete temporary files that should help enhance the system performance without restarting the computer.

Cleaning temp files on storage is an odd way to clear ram. Its the phone mentality again, everything on your PC isn't always loaded... deleting files that aren't running in storage won't help. Won't it just make new temp files? Its a great way to increase internet usage. Constantly deleting info PC uses.

As for clearing ram, they now introduce a function that works against how windows memory management has been dealing with data from applications you may have used today - it compresses it into ram as its easier to uncompress data there than to load from storage. I have words for them that I can't say here

If you constantly out of ram, buy more. Its better than running off page file, and faster.

Unless you actually getting out of memory errors, windows can manage the memory in a way you don't notice how much memory you have. Old true statement - Empty ram is wasted ram. (ignores fact he has 19gb free). Let the OS do it, stop messing with it. You can make PC slower in process.

"Health check" lists temporary files that can be deleted and the apps that can be disabled at startup to improve the overall performance.

temp files again. The startup thing might be useful. It won't ever suggest closing Microsoft programs and well, I block Defender, Edge, Teams & To Do from loading with windows. It would probably re enable those...

Protection tab just runs Defender... and lets you check Windows update and set default apps (strange place for that choice).

The "Taskbar repair" option includes settings to restore the Taskbar to its default configuration and turn off toolbars if enabled.

Depends on if any files actually repaired in process and not just defaults reset, it might be okay. As for toolbars, you can't set them up in Win 11 now so this is just a stupid statement.

The "Storage" page automatically scans and makes it easier to free up drive space with a single click.

As does storage sense now

The "Manage large files" option is a simple shortcut to search large files on File Explorer, and there's a direct shortcut to the Storage sense settings.

Maybe useful sometimes if you want to clear space.

App management - A dumbed down version of Task Manager - Can they bring back BOB or Clippy? I guess CO Pilot is it now. Shame it only shows you how to do things but can't actually just do them.

Toolbox - Windows tools... exists now...

One reason for it to exist is to maybe let some people know they don't have to buy Symantic applications or ccleaner to do this sort of thing now, The tools were always in windows. 3rd party tools would charge you for the interface. Less money wasted on useless applications, the better. Parasites.

 

[Brian Boru]

@Colif @CParsons & other Firefox users:

Giving FF another shot, but stymied at one of first settings:

The tick box is greyed out. Tried a couple of suggestions from searches, incl History…

…but that's greyed too
Another suggestion I'm not interested in is using the menu to close the browser—this function is too basic to justify working around.

Is there a magic handshake I'm missing?

 

[Colif]

I wonder why its greyed out. I don't use that option but it is available for me. I normally pin tabs I want to reopen.

What add ons are you using? any?

Some thoughts on the matter:

Why my restore previous session firefox is grey | Firefox Support Forum | Mozilla Support

support.mozilla.org

The following check box is greyed out and will not allow me to check it. General Startup Restore previous session | Firefox Support Forum | Mozilla Support

support.mozilla.org

 

[Brian Boru]

What add ons are you using?

Not a thing. Downloaded FF, installed, went into settings—and here we are.

Some thoughts

You are a noble scholar and fine judge of whiskey! One of those set me straight:

Unticking that box solved it

 

[Brian Boru]

MS Publisher

Publisher is being killed off, end-of-life October 2026.

 

[Colif]

I can't argue with any of this

 

[Brian Boru]

YouTube search filters

Does anyone know of a way to get YouTube search filters to 'stick', ie to remain 'on' for the next search?

Eg I have 3 filters selected above:
This month
Video
4-20 minutes

I would like to avoid having to re-enter these filters for the next search.

 

[Colif]

that would be too easy... i wish I could sort my recommended but why give people ability to control what they see? Choice is bad, lets have the AI guess... lets make a headphones choice and fill it with everything else...

I would think you probably need an add on to do that sort of thing, but I can't find any that do that. Most just let you set keywords but the when and how long don't seem to have controls.

we have dumbed down search engines. I did a library course, I know what is possible but no... that would confuse people and let them find what they actually want without us being able to sell them things... bad idea. Controlling info is how publishers survive.

wonder if any applications that still exist that do the searches for you

What is a Search Aggregator and Why Should I Use it? - Juicer Social

Find out the difference between search engine aggregators and metasearch engines plus 23 different search engine options to change the way you search online.

www.juicer.io

 

[Brian Boru]

I would think you probably need an add on to do that sort of thing, but I can't find any that do that

Yeah, I looked for Chrome and FF extensions but couldn't find any for this. Thanks for looking

 

[Colif]

started PC today and noticed a weather widget on my lock screen at startup... I don't normally see the lock screen at all at start so that was one thing, but weather widget is even newer

Configuring weather and more on the lock screen in Windows

Rich Weather and other content is coming to the lock screen in Windows. Find out more.

techcommunity.microsoft.com

Fun fact is its not just win 11 that gets it, everyone on win 10 does as well starting this month

some people with slower PC might like it but it slows down my startup process

If you don’t want to see this experience, you can navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen > Lock screen status and select None.

I killed it as my PC normally starts on the logon screen, I don't want to hit an extra key just to achieve same thing.

 

[Colif]

I like this channel most of the time but he has one thing wrong with this video

What he thinks is the win 11 start menu is just the widgets page.
The actual Start menu in his layout is in the middle of the screen. I moved it from there within 10 minutes of having 11.

And it is easy to hide the icon for the widgets page. I only use one widget anyway - the weather - and it appears on my taskbar so never need to look at widget bar

rest of video might have a point. Don't need random 3rd parties showing up on there.

 

[Brian Boru]

widgets page

I'm not a fan of having to dig for stuff I reference often, so I have my Win10 3rd-party widgets on a separate always-visible panel on my 2nd monitor—the panel is also a widget.

I used to have PC monitoring apps on there, but they were never of any use. I also have my calendar, to-do and alarm app as desktop wallpaper for the same reason—ie visible without digging.

I keep a more detailed to-do as the opening page of OneNote, which starts with Windows—again, it's in my face straight away without any digging required.

I worked with and taught the Kanban system before, and like its clarity and simplicity—just slide the tasks along the process.

 

[Colif]

i don't need time on desktop, I have it on taskbar. Down to the seconds.
right click start and choose shutdown isn't that hard once a day
I like blank desktops, don't even show icons. Never have. Prefer to see picture on them without things in the way. My nightmare are screens covered in big chunky icons. Run away

Widgets:
I looked through the page and while you can remove cards, you can't stop it showing you all the news. And I don't want to know.

Because windows is dumb and It thinks I am in UK, I got a lot of the headlines that weren't really anything I would care about anyway. Wanted me to add soccer to interests... um, no, You have the wrong person/country.
Had an entire section just showing headlines of UK newspapers...

I took widgets off as really I have another weather app I can use for weather if I don't just look on my phone. Less resources being wasted... not like I will notice... plenty of resources sitting around doing nothing.
Evidence of which is my CPU temps being on 28c & 19gb free ram.

My calendar so empty I don't need one to track anything. Never really used one for anything apart from tracking birthdays. I have that set up on phone.

 

[Brian Boru]

Windows 11 … market share is actually falling.

Windows 11 just isn't enticing Windows 10 users to upgrade, and its market share is actually falling

It's not winning the hearts and minds.

www.pcgamer.com

Isn't that odd, since all new PCs will have been shipping with 11 for over 2 years now? I wonder if StatCounter—the figs source—has added some user territories in less affluent areas of the world, where older hardware would be the norm.

 

[Colif]

those stats are suspect.

It should be obvious just from the chart in the article that the statcounter data is flawed, and most definitely not accurate enough to interpret meaningful month-to-month trends from. There's no logical reason why the number of systems running Windows 8.1 would have randomly rose significantly for a few months, only to drop back to almost nothing immediately thereafter. That should be a red flag that the data is unreliable right there.

Likewise, seeing Windows 11 usage slowly rising over the course of a year, while Windows 10 usage was slowly dropping, only for the two to reverse direction within the last couple months. Clearly, people are not moving from Windows 11 to Windows 10 in significant numbers, at least not enough to reverse the overall trend. This could be anything from a browser not reporting accurate OS data, to statcounter getting added to some popular website in a country with a larger install base of older systems. Keep in mind that statcounter is used on less than 1% of websites, and counts individual page views rather than unique systems, so there's a lot of room for inaccuracy to come into play.

We got that article as well on TH:

News - Windows 11 market share declines as users seemingly shift back to Windows 10

Despite many efforts by Microsoft, many users are still sticking with Windows 10 while the new reports by Statcounter showing many users worldwide migrated from Windows 11 last year. Windows 11 market share declines as users seemingly shift back to Windows 10 : Read more

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Brian Boru]

those stats are suspect

As are all internet stats, nature of the beast. So always be wary of absolute number claims, but trends can be useful provided the measurer doesn't change their method—which is what I was driving at.

StatCounter has been in the game for 25 years and has credibility in general, and draws from around 1% of all active websites—they say >5Bn page views on >1.5M sites per month, which as far as I know are the largest sample sizes available anywhere for free.

The first block you quote makes sweeping statements with nothing to back them up—or does he quote figures, reasoning and sources elsewhere?

"most definitely not accurate enough"
How does he know this?

"There's no logical reason why the number of systems running Windows 8.1 would have randomly rose significantly for a few months, only to drop back to almost nothing immediately thereafter."
Has this guy a background in statistical sampling? Is he familiar with the relationship between sample sizes, the overall size of the universe being studied, confidence levels, and margins for error?

"counts individual page views rather than unique systems, so there's a lot of room for inaccuracy"
What? They count unique systems, it's a core part of their data collection—that's what this whole discussion is about. They do count page views, and other data points too, and report on those separately.

Unless this guy is hiding background info, his take is a mess.

That said, we still don't have an explanation for the recent trend we're discussing.

 

[Brian Boru]

Organize Desktop Icons

I've used Fences from Stardock for over a decade, but the reliable OlderGeeks.com has just recommended DesktopOK as a good free alternative. From that link:
◆ Save your favorite icon locations for each screen resolution.
◆ Autosave the Desktop Icon Layout
◆ Auto hide and display desktop icons

 

[Colif]

I like blank desktops, don't even show icons. Never have. Prefer to see picture on them without things in the way. My nightmare are screens covered in big chunky icons. Run away

it worked a lot better on every version of Windows until 11. On previous versions I could set up a taskbar that had all my desktop icons on it... so if on the rare occasion I needed to use one, I didn't have to unhide them all. Win 11 removed that ability to make a taskbar so I just ignore them completely now... only one or two things I might use occasionally require me to unhide icons.

 

[Colif]

Nvidia hopes not

 

[Colif]

Not again