• Late to a LONG Physics lecture – Where To Start??

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    #2281461

    Where do I start?? I seem to be “coming in late to a long Physics lecture”. Sorry if this has been asked a zillion times. I’m an experienced user but a reluctant new victim of Windows 10 (dragged kicking and screaming out of Win7).

    I want to update and patch safely and sensibly. I’m familiar with Microsoft’s cavalier, confusing and frustrating “support” epidemic. You will admit that it’s a hostile firehose, threatening to shut you down if you don’t accept all their (broken) updates NOW.

    I have searched through a bunch of well-written articles here and it’s still not clear where I start digging. Some terms aren’t familiar to me. For now, I think (I hope) that I have shut off automatic updates for awhile. But I can’t wait too long. And I actually do have another life.

    I should make backups (the OS itself too, not just my files) before heavy updating. Do I make full ISO images or is just a reboot USB drive or CD-ROM sufficient??

    I’m not a total newbie. A LONG time ago, I was a pretty good Windows C++ programmer (and I’m very tempted to return). And WAY before that, I go back to Z80 and 8086 Assembly coding (“down to the METAL”) plus the usual HTML, gBasic, etc. etc. Hey, that was when you could actually feel and control the hardware!!

    Thanks in advance.

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    • #2281467

      Backup is simple!
      Get an external USB disk and 3rd party backup software. Make an image backup every 6 months, or more often if you like. Make a file backup (Documents folder) at least once a week.

      For advice on updating we need to know what version of Windows you have.
      Win R, winver. Post the image after copying it with Windows Snipping Tool and saving as a PNG.
      And read the KB article on Updating W10 – 2000016.

      cheers, Paul

    • #2281485

      IDCRC: You are not alone. Finding myself in an awkward situation – A Dell Inspiron Win7 with no <Break> key and a Toshiba Tecra Win7 with no <Ctrl> keys –  a month ago I took the plunge and bought “the last one in the store with a <Break> key”, a pre-loaded Win10/2004 system.

      50+ years of backing up files and here I am unable to break through the UEFI mangle. UEFI refuses to acknowledge the USB devices (external CD/DVD drive, 64GB memory key, USB 1TB HDD) , and so while I have been backing up systems all my life, I can’t seem to get past the BIOS-thingy. Let alone dip my toes in the waters of Win10.

      I have two aces up my sleeve:-

      (1) A rather lengthy MSWord document (Rebuild073.doc) with a table, row by row, the steps I have taken in the past, accumulated since Win3.1 days (hence 073), steps to customise Windows and to install my basic kit of applications

      (2) A determination to drink more coffee and not to pester my super-peer-iors. The knowledge is there. I just have to wade through it. As follows:

      I have set a bookmark on my browser toolbar pointing to the first, earliest,  page of a huge thread on Win10. Each morning I pour myself an extra mug of coffee – with sugar as a treat – and quickly scan two pages/screens of threads, after which I update the bookmark so that tomorrow I start at page “n-2”.

      I scan the threads the way I used to scan the 3cm-thick A4 manuals in my mainframe days. Five seconds TOPS to determine if the thread might have something useful to me in the the next few weeks. If so, I saveAs to my Win10 folder and move on to the next thread. I do not read the entire thread. Essentially I want to know if there is for me a degree of value in the thread for me right now.

      This daily process takes me about ten minutes. Two screens/pages.

      I am almost through the mammoth thread, and am confident that my mind remembers NOT the details of a solution, but at least that a problem exists, and a solution has been proposed, AND that I have a record of that solution in my Win10 folder. Forty-three threads/topics so far. When I get around to dealing with “Edge” or “Restart/Recover/Restore/Reset…” or “Cortana” or anything else strange to me, I have a visual reminder (and thread) staring at me in File Explorer, to get me started. That is usually enough for me to solve the issue and move on. If not, then I can go back to the online thread and learn more.

      If all else fails I can speak up and ask the physics lecturer Dr. Puzey for help, but at least when I do go to Dr. Puzey he/they will see that I have done some research!

       

      This response is not in any way a criticism of you or any Lounge/Forum/Member, but a recognition that we are all fortunate to have a searchable research base among “our own people”, where no question is too stupid, but every answer is backed by volunteers who give us a hand up.

      I hope this helps.

      And I challenge you to a race to the finish line! m(grin!)

      Cheers

      Chris

    • #2281670

      OS Backup: yes, regularly, using imaging – I use and can heartily recommend Macrium Reflect.  MS even deprecate their own imaging system.

      Data backup: Preferably keep data on a separate partition so that in the event of having to restore an image, your data is not affected.  I have used a simple batch file for years, but Windows own File History does a good job (in my view) and there are many free and paid-for applications out there.

    • #2281671

      I have set a bookmark on my browser toolbar pointing to the first, earliest, page of a huge thread on Win10.

      Where is this huge thread to be found?

    • #2281675

      Right now, if you have a working system, keep it working.

      • Don’t experiment.
      • Backup daily everything and system image, too.
      • Make sure you have updates you need.
      • Make sure you have spare hardware.
      • Keep paper copies and documents and addresses of where to mail them.
      • Don’t go gallivanting across internet to unsafe sites.
      • Find all your installation software and make sure it’s on an external device.
      On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
      offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
      offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
      online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender
    • #2281676

      UEFI refuses to acknowledge the USB devices

      UEFI has limited support for USB as it’s a system for controlling the start up of the PC, including booting the OS, not identifying your unusual USB devices.

      What are you unable to do?

      cheers, Paul

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