Articles by ElGuru

Can Microsoft Get Anymore Annoying?

One thing about Microsoft MSFT 426,89 +1,69 +0,40% is they are persistent about reminding users of Windows 7/8.1 about the “free” Windows 10 upgrade. In the past users were presented with  pop-up Windows asking them to update to Windows 10 now or tonight. There were even notifications that Windows 10 was already installed,  just restart to finish the install. Microsoft execs have even resorted to using scare tactics that Windows 7 is unsafe and you should upgrade to Windows 10. With less than a month (25-days and counting) left before the free upgrade offer “officially” ends (there are rumors Microsoft…

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To upgrade, or not to upgrade (to Windows 10) –

that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of Windows 10, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, keep Windows 7/8.1. My apologies to my readers who may be Shakespeare or Hamlet fans…. With about 60-days left until the ‘free upgrade’ period ends on July 29th there is still time. But, chances are if you haven’t upgraded by now and have managed to avoid falling victim to Microsoft’s MSFT 426,89 +1,69 +0,40% “dirty tricks” to get you to upgrade, you likely don’t plan on going to Windows 10. In…

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We’ve Broke Windows 7, So Why Not Get Windows 10?

I am not making this up. Microsoft MSFT 426,89 +1,69 +0,40% almost as if in an attempt to get users of Windows 7 to go out and buy a new Windows 10 machine has intentionally broke Windows 7 for users with Asus ASUUY 91,67 0,00 0,00% system boards. Windows update KB3133977 which use to be an “Optional” but recently became a ‘Recommended’ update. This update enables secure boot on Windows 7 (a feature that was previously disabled). Older PC’s with Asus boards don’t support secure boot, which will cause users to get the below red screen upon first bootup after…

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We’re 10!

That’s right 10 years ago today, a Blog was Born! Honestly, I am surprised it has last this long (and I am not just talking about the blog). A lot has happened in the last 10 years in the browser ‘market’. While Internet Explorer is still around (and sadly not by choice for some users who are stuck using IE for certain essential websites), there is a lot more choice in web browsers now. Even Microsoft introduced a new (and crippled) browser with Windows 10. Microsoft Edge, a browser so useless it pushes users over the edge. Netscape is long…

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Time to remove QuickTime for Windows

Apple APL 0,05 +0,00 +4,55% has ended support for QuickTime for Windows earlier this year. QuickTime 7 was only supported for Windows 7 and older. These users may want to make sure QuickTime is not still installed, especially if they are/were an iTunes user as it was part of the bloat that was installed with iTunes. There are at least two ‘possible’ exploits with the QuickTime 7 for Windows. via grand stream dreams

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Firefox 46 Released

Mozilla has released the next scheduled update for Firefox with Firefox 46 on April 26th. Changes in this release include: Improved security of the JavaScript Just In Time (JIT) Compiler GTK3 integration (GNU/Linux only) Correct rendering for scaled SVGs that use a clip and a mask Various security fixes Screen reader behavior with blank spaces in Google Docs corrected WebRTC fixes to improve performance and stability There were some fixes and other items in this release which can be viewed via the Release Notes. Depending on the user’s update settings, users should be prompted to install the new version or…

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Oracle to Deprecate Java Plugin

Earlier this year Oracle ORCL 183,74 -3,31 -1,77% announced starting with JDK 9 (eta September 2016), they will remove the plugin support. They are encouraging developers to move towards the plugin free Java Web Start technology. Oracle’s reasoning for this move has to do with more and more browsers removing support the 20+ year old Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) plugin technology. GoogleGOOG 176,80 +2,91 +1,67% Chrome no longer supports NPAPI plugins such as Java and Silverlight. Google has partnered with Adobe ADBE 529,87 -2,63 -0,49% to include an integrated version of Flash within Chrome. The Windows 64-Bit version of Firefox also does not…

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32-Bit Windows Firefox Still Supports NPAPI plugins

Seems like every couple months people start crying ‘the sky is falling’ with Firefox and Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) plugins. Earlier this week there was a flurry of activity with Bug 1165981. Again people seem to think that Firefox is not going support NPAPI plugins anymore on Windows since the 64-Bit (Win64) versions does not (except for Flash). As a reminder the removal of NPAPI support only applies to the Win64 version of Firefox. The 32-bit Windows version still supports all the NPAPI plugins including Java and Silverlight. However, Mozilla does plan on discontinuing support in the future with the Firefox 32-bit…

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Windows 10 BSOD Becoming More Helpful

Nothing worse than getting a Blue Screen of Death aka BSOD when Windows has a critical crash due to hardware or software issue. Worse yet, the screen contained a cryptic message about what went wrong along with a long hexadecimal code. Coming in the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition Update (August 2016), the BSOD will include a QR code which can be scanned by a smartphone or tablet. However, Microsoft has an opportunity here for aiding self-support when it comes to problem-solving a Windows installation as it could offer assistance via a website or even a dedicated app for troubleshooting using…

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How-To Remove Correspondents Header Column

New to Thunderbird 45 is the addition of Correspondents column combining Sender and Recipient with an arrow on the left side of the email address. This ‘feature’ was request about 16-years ago (read all about it in Bug 36489).  As I mentioned in the previous post, it is not the name change that bothers me, rather it is the arrow that was added. After some reading the later comments I found out the ‘From’ column was not removed, simply hidden and replaced by Correspondents. The fix to this is very easy and it does not involve add-ons or even custom CSS coding: Right-click anywhere on…

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