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Happened to me too. A reboot fixed it. It was not intentional but it worked. Various other sources suggest this course of action as well.

Happened to me too. A reboot fixed it.

Berton, my question relates to *when* you downloaded MCT and burned your iso files.

I just want to know (from anybody), before I go fixing what ain’t broke and start the MCT upgrade (not the clean iso install!), whether I need the latest version of MCT instead of my August version.

Following WS instructions (I think) for making an iso CD, I downloaded MediaCreationToolx64.exe back in August. Can I use it instead of redownloading the tool if I follow the tutorial that Moondoggy recommended?

I’ll probably wait a while longer, but the idea of doing the upgrade myself at a time I choose is very attractive, especially since I work and browse during the day and shut down every night.

Specifically:

http://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

[SOLVED!] I tried another setting and solved the problem. To get a full-screen Start page with personalized tile choices for your favourite programs on the left and your favourite store live tiles on the right, use the following settings:

Settings:Personalisation:Start: Everything ON, especially “Use Start full screen”

Settings:System:Tablet Mode: “Make Windows more touch-friendly . . .” set to OFF

and

When I sign in set to “Remember what I used last”

and

Hide app icons on the taskbar set to OFF

This combination shows the full Start screen after you boot up with the taskbar at the bottom. Depending on what you choose to pin to the Start page or the taskbar, everything you want is immediately available. The Windows button switches between whatever program you are working with, e.g., Firefox, and the Start screen. Your taskbar items are always available.

And, of course, the “hamburger” icons are immediately available for the selected apps and all apps views.

Thanks to everyone who was curious enough to read the page. I hope you enjoy this arrangement.

Actually, single click works; I just didn’t wait long enough for the clock to appear and tried the double-click. Sorry.

Double-click the bottom right clock info icon to get a digital clock time and the scrollable calendar. Thanks, incidentally, for mentioning the scrolling; I didn’t know and it’s quite convenient.

Also, it’s working alongside Windows Firewall. KISS principle. I’m assuming previous WS assessments of Windows Firewall as good enough still hold true.

Oh yeah, Defender disengages itself if another antivirus program is installed. Neat trick!

I was using Avira Free Antivirus on 8.1 and it continued after the upgrade. Seems to be fine, updates and scans working as they did before. One of the geek review sites that I explored gave top marks. You get the occasional popup box in the bottom right corner with the free version but the X is prominent enough for quick removal.

As a related note, I use an old free version of MailWasher (1.32) on my Win 8.1 system that does an excellent job of sorting out spam and crap I don’t want to see. It’s now on version 7.5 and has a Pro version as well as the free version. Probably has more bells and whistles (and MB’s) than I need, so I won’t be upgrading, but it’s definitely worth a try if anyone has spam control issues.

http://www.mailwasher.net/

The Ford article on coding was also mentioned as a “best read” by the BBC last weekend. It is a long essay, but definitely fun, especially if you, like the exec trying to supervise the MitTB, have a vague familiarity with the vocabulary but no deep understanding of coding.

Anyway, I second Tracey’s recommendation: it’s a great fun read and when the exec finally nails the MitTB and the new CTO down to actual work toward the end, you’ll feel like cheering aloud.

Wayne Tuttle

A bit of confusion here. Ms. Bradley says the Russian time zone update is optional but then says, “But KB 2998527 is a significant change; you might as well install it, regardless.” Why is it a “significant change” for non-Russians such that we “might as well install it” if we don’t live in Russia or have Russian correspondents? Does the update improve anything else in the MS time system such as the change from summer to winter time?

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As far as I can tell, Comodo has not been updated to work with Win 8.1. Before 8.1 with MSE, I happily had the Comodo Firewall installed and wanted the Program Manager too. Too bad! I now have Wise Uninstaller, Geek Uninstaller, and Soft Organizer and use them all at random. All are free and all seem to work and clear out extra stuff post-uninstall. Soft Organizer may be the most thorough, if you remember to use it in the first place when installing a program.