Newsletter Archives

• Window 10 Home vs. Pro: A real-life test drive

  Posted on July 19th, 2021 at 02:42 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  An upgrade from Home to Pro edition costs around US$100, but is it really worth it?

  What does Pro edition offer that Home lacks? What does a Pro edition user give up in switching to Home? And, besides price and somewhat differing features, do the dissimilarities really matter in normal day-to-day Windows operation?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.27.0 (2021-07-19).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, Windows 10 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, Windows 10, Windows Editions

• Yikes! Still more subscriber OneDrive problems, solutions!

  Posted on July 12th, 2021 at 02:44 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  As our extensive OneDrive coverage winds down, many excellent reader-submitted reports continue to pour in, filled with interesting tips, questions, and observations!

  Today’s column deals with several OneDrive topics: unexpected behavior from the OneDrive status-indicator icons; issues between and among OneDrive, Dropbox, and OEM updater apps; and more on redirecting or moving OneDrive’s default local folders.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.26.0 (2021-07-12).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive

• Locked out of his own PC’s Desktop!

  Posted on June 28th, 2021 at 02:42 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  There’s no such thing as a small permissions problem in Windows! When things go wrong, they can go very, very wrong, as today’s first reader-submitted question illustrates.

  In this issue’s second question, a reader wonders whether he should try updating his PC’s firmware (i.e., BIOS/UEFI and similar low-level hardware) via Windows’ Device Manager.

  And in the third, a reader seeks help when his device fails to restart after a power outage.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.24.0 (2021-06-28).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, BIOS, LangaList, permissions, Power

• Short takes: Three interesting reader-submitted Q&As

  Posted on June 21st, 2021 at 02:44 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  In today’s first item, a subscriber asks for help after experiencing a bizarre partial keyboard failure, but the diagnosis is complicated by some unusual hardware.

  In the second item, a different reader is concerned about what might happen to the data in his PC’s BIOS/UEFI during a planned mainboard battery replacement.

  And in the third item, a reader wonders about the standby power draw of his device’s plug-in battery charger.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.23.0 (2021-06-21).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, LangaList

• Readers speak: How-tos, tips, and troubles with OneDrive

  Posted on June 14th, 2021 at 02:44 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  An outpouring of reader mail turned what was planned as a one-off item into a multi-issue conversation!

  In today’s column, readers share their experiences in working around some of the worst omissions in Microsoft’s thin OneDrive documentation.

  Topics include overcoming a too-full C: drive, more detail on the use and removal of symlinks, and unexpected delays in syncing files to the cloud.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.22.0 (2021-06-14).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive

• OneDrive’s two Documents folders; missing menu items

  Posted on June 7th, 2021 at 02:43 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  One of the most confusing aspects of OneDrive’s operation is its creation of a second Documents folder.

  Most Microsoft (and many third-party) apps automatically accept OneDrive’s Documents folder as their new default save-to location, but some apps may still continue to use the original Documents folder.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.21.0 (2021-06-07).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive

• Securing sensitive files in OneDrive’s cloud

  Posted on May 31st, 2021 at 01:04 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.20 • 2021-05-31

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  By Fred Langa

  Does it feel like rolling the security dice when you save your files to a cloud-based service? When the files move out of your control and protection and into who-knows-what security measures the cloud-provider is using? You feelin’ lucky?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.20.0 (2021-05-31).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.20.F (2021-05-31).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive

• Win7 to Win10 activation trouble

  Posted on May 24th, 2021 at 01:03 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  A subscriber lost his Win7 product key and wonders what will happen if his free Win10 upgrade fails to properly activate, especially now that the old, manual “get a replacement key” methods no longer work!

  Surprisingly, the original product key might still exist in several unusual locations, even after the upgrade — but digging it out could take some doing. Here are the options, with additional information about what happens if you don’t activate!

  Plus: More on OneDrive’s permanent vs. impermanent local copies.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.19.0 (2021-05-24).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive, Windows, Windows Activation

• Another OneDrive problem caused by poor documentation

  Posted on May 17th, 2021 at 01:02 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  Microsoft’s OneDrive service can be excellent, but it also can be frustratingly hard to use to its fullest, impeded by documentation that’s sparse, scattered, and incomplete.

  For example, OneDrive has three very different ways of handling your files, but only one — and it’s not the default — leaves behind a permanent, fully normal, local copy on your hard drive!

  None of this is explained in OneDrive’s “getting started” documentation or in its top-level help files — but is explained in today’s column.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.18.0 (2021-05-17).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, Microsoft, OneDrive

• From bad to worse: A repair goes awry

  Posted on May 10th, 2021 at 01:04 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  Sometimes, well-intentioned repairs can actually make things worse than before. That’s what happened to a reader who was trying to correct a Windows login error but ended up with a completely unbootable PC!

  Is it possible for him to get Windows running again with its already installed software still intact and working? Or is a full reinstall in his future?

  Plus: The care and feeding of that little coin-cell battery on your PC’s mainboard.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.17.0 (2021-05-10).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, LangaList, Repairs, Windows

• More on OneDrive, and Symlinks

  Posted on May 3rd, 2021 at 01:06 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  A recent column on OneDrive problems brought a ton of email from readers asking for help with overcoming OneDrive’s poor documentation, weak user interface, and other limitations.

  The largest group of questions was about using symlinks to allow OneDrive to automatically sync and process files or folders without having to first move and fit them all into the local C:\…\OneDrive\ folder.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.16.0 (2021-05-03).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, OneDrive

• RAID 0 error = Total data loss!

  Posted on April 26th, 2021 at 01:04 Fred Langa Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

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  By Fred Langa

  RAID — Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks — is an old technology that offers few real benefits on today’s standard PCs — but man, does it have drawbacks!

  Today’s first reader-submitted letter illustrates the case. A system problem rendered essentially all the user’s data inaccessible and unrecoverable, across the entire RAID array!

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.15.0 (2021-04-26).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList, RAID
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