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Done. I’ll see how we go.

Chris

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

Thanks – got it now, although the interface is a bit cryptic.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

1 user thanked author for this post.

b

@PKCano Thanks – I was not aware of it. However, I could not see where on the page you linked to I could download the program itself.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

@Paul-T That was interesting! I presume you mean Wushowhide.

I ran it, and it only showed a couple of Dell drivers to update. I don’t like to update the Dell system from Windows Update, so I ran Dell Update, which offered three updates, including a BIOS update, an update for their Support Assist Recovery Tools and another (minor driver I think).

After I had run Dell Update and ensured everything had updated, I went back to Windows Update and, lo and behold, there were the March updates including the March cumulative and .NET plus the other gubbins. It seems the lack of one of the Dell updates, perhaps the BIOS, had blocked the March updates.

After it was all through,  went back to Wushowhide and the two Dell driver updates were still sitting there!

The Vostro system did not have a BIOS update or Support Assist update offered, just a wifi driver update, so I guess the finger points at the BIOS driver or, less liekly, Support Assist recovery tools.

Curious, but sorted.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

I am slightly perplexed about Microsoft Update’s process on offering updates. I have two PCs, both running 21H2 and Windows Pro. When Susan goes to Defcon 4 I use gpedit to allow the updates by changing the defer date from 25 days to e.g. 10 days. On one, a Dell laptop Vostro 5481 bought 2019 the updates appear the next day. On the other, a Dell XPS 8930 bought later in 2019, the updates have not been offered until several days later.

So this month, I changed gpedit on both machines on 22/3 after Susan’s alert. The laptop offered updates the next day, and the desktop has yet to offer them, even though it checks every day. So far as I am aware, all the Windows update settings are the same on both machines.

This is only a minor irritation  in normal months, but if we went to Defcon 5 again because of an imminent risk, I would have to find the manual update process to force the update.

Has anyone any idea why this might be happening?

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

Anon – great tip. Thank you very much.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

@ScotchJohn Fair point –  and that is what I have used. This post was really a tiny rant about how Microsoft behaves.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

In many cases your criticism of us is right. However, at the end of life, many people lose a bit of contact with reality. My mother in law, at end of life, was like that and kept writing cheques to claim lottery wins, even though she was told they were scams. She had mild dementia. Luckily her carers did not post the letters. The message is – take care of your older family members, if they become vulnerable.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

1 user thanked author for this post.

Myst

I have been using two monitors at home (I am retired) for many years, and I am lucky enough to have the space to do so. I frequently find myself using one application for base data (e.g. Excel) and another to write (e.g. Outlook or Word). Having both on separate monitors makes that task far easier.

Monitors, I find, have far greater longevity than computers, so when buy a new computer I generally switch the monitor from the PC I am retiring to be the second monitor for my new setup. Apart from remining me how much better the new kit is than the old, it works perfectly.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

On both my machines, on Windows 10 Pro, it took a couple of hours to go from 21H1 to 21H2, but both installed OK

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

Amazing. When I first learnt to program properly in 1969, integer overflow issues were one of the first things we were taught to watch for.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

Dashboard still shows Defcon 2…….

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

Louise

According to their website, Moneydance can both import Quicken files and download from financial institutions. However, the bad news is that it appears not (no longer) to be free. It is currently priced at £46.22 for a family (multiple copies for home use). Personally, that would be money well spent if/when Quicken falls over, but that obviously is up to you.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

I’m with Gary Lavery. While changes in layout are an irritation to me, they would be worse for my wife. She uses her PC quite a bit but in a basic mode and tends to learn how to do it by rote. Understanding how the software interface “thinks” is not intuitive to her. Consequently gratuitous changes of layout are unhelpful.

We are both firmly wedded to Windows 10 for the immediate future at least.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A

I use Quicken 2002 (sic) which still runs fine. When it finally breaks, Quicken will not be an option since they stopped marketing in the UK many years ago. In addition there is the dreaded subscription issue.  Looking for an alternative, my son found Moneydance which he uses and so does my wife. It seems to have all the functionality they need and they are both happy with it.

Chris
Win 10 Pro x64 Group A