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Please can I charge Microsoft/my bank/insert offender here for my time wasted reading a 19, or 30, page licence agreement? I even saw one recently that made me warrant I had been able to take the time to read the 19 page agreement – and all for a free trial piece of software. I did not buy it.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

2 users thanked author for this post.

Lars220, Cybertooth

The updates were offered, two days later, on the Vostro after I installed a Dell BOIS update. I suspect the lack of that BIOS update blocked the Windows update for some reason.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

Looking at the date stamps of this file, it looks as if both versions (the same file on my Dell XPS) were installed on the same day as the November quality patches, so that update may be responsible.

Interestingly, while the December patches were offered on my  Dell XPS desktop when I changed the group policies delay, they have not been offered on my wife’s laptop (Dell Vostro) although it is 4 days since I changed gpedit. Both are on Windows 10 21H2. I shall wait patiently.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

I have always been wary of using Paypal for a variety of reasons – some minor and some less so. After reading the examples at the top of this article, it makes me more determined only to use Paypal when I absolutely have to (ie. using eBay, which I very rarely do).

They clearly are not a bank (and were not listed as such by the  Bank of England in Oct 2021) so we should not regard any money held by them as being protected by banking regulation or good practice. Caveat emptor!

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

1 user thanked author for this post.

rc primak

I have long used HP inkjet printers (sorry, Susan) which I generally like, but currently my pet hate is the HPSmart utility. It is extremely slow to boot (and I have to use it whenever I want to scan or see the status on the Instant Ink subscription) and needs many clicks to get to the latter info. Often it wants to log-in to my HP account online to see where I am on the subscription, and the utility can take a very long time to connect to a printer that is on the same hard-wired network.

Surely you can do better than this, HP!

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

1 user thanked author for this post.

Cybertooth

Crikey – you must have a store the size of an Amazon warehouse to be able to keep as wide a range of old kit as  that. No doubt you also have a copy of the IBM machine language utility DEBE (Does Everything But Eat) in there somewhere.

More seriously – great story and impressive result.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

I use Gmail as an email client (but have no Gmail addresses) on my phone. All my email active accounts are within my own domain and provided by my domain host (Ionos). I think that means I do not have the privacy issues with Gmail discussed above (please correct me if I am wrong).

I use Gmail to access mail on my phone, but handle most of the traffic on my desktop (using Outlook) or tablet (using Samsung’s mail client). It works perfectly well, except for one irritation. My habit is to move all emails that I have dealt with from my In Box once handled. However, if there is anything in the In Box waiting, Gmail will display those messages, plus quite a number of earlier removed messages, in its In Box, and stays that way even on refresh until the In Box is empty.

Annoying, but not fatal.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

@Douglas9x Can EM Client do the stuff I am after in my post above?

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

I am interested. I use Outlook because it keeps my email calendar and contacts integrated, and because I can sync the latter two to my Android phone and tablet using the add-on AKRuto (paid for). But, I am on Outlook 2010 so at some stage I will need to change, and I have no need to pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription. Email sync is not a problem because I use IMAP on my own domain, which does not use a Microsoft back end.

So – I assume Thunderbird can import my contacts (1000+) and calendar from the Outlook pst file. Can it?

Most importantly, is there a way, add on or otherwise, for Thunderbird to sync contacts and calendar to my phone and tablet? I do not use Google calendar – just the native calendar.

Thoughts from experienced users wold be much appreciated!

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

1 user thanked author for this post.

SueW

and  assume you have a mobile phone signal

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

Not only there. In the UK today, there is an an announcement that all  train ticket offices will be closed and all tickets will have to be bought online or on your smartphone. (In the UK, very large numbers of people commute or travel by train). As for the estimated 3 million people who either do not have smartphones (elderly, poor) or do not have decent broadband at their homes – well, tough. We need to get the infrastructure truly ubiquitous before we do that kind of a thing, not use such moves to try to force progress that has other reasons for not happening.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

7 users thanked author for this post.

OscarCP, wavy, Charlie, Douglas, wdburt1, Fred, Mele20

@PKCano Nope. Never touch the button, except in extremis!

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

For me, Windows Update has just started ignoring Group Policies. I have Quality updates deferred 25 days. However, last night it downloaded the June Cum update for W10 21H2, only 3 days after release. A couple of weeks ago it tried to push me to W11 and then installed the .Net May preview. My wife’s laptop, with the same software configuration, behaved normally.

Anyone else seen this problem?

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

A couple of weeks ago, MS threw up a prompt asking me to upgrade to Windows 11, despite me having GP set to stay on Windows 10 21H2. When I declined, it then proceeded to download the .NET p[review  update, without giving me the option to stop it. I had no adverse effects, but did not appreciate the MS pushy behaviour.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

@Blueboy714 I am in the same position as you – on Outlook 2010 which I like because of ability to link calendar, contacts and email and its shortcuts, but I can’t justify MS’s subscription charges as a retiree.  My wife uses EMclient – put onto it by my son, and she likes it, but I have not explored whether it would do what I want.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A