If you have an email ending in @hotmail.com, @live.com or @outlook.com (or any other Microsoft-related domain), please consider changing it to another email provider; Microsoft decided to instantly block the server's IP, so emails can't be sent to these addresses.
If you use an @yahoo.com email or any related Yahoo services, they have blocked us also due to "user complaints"
-UE

The computer/OS/interface/webpage annoyances thread

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Comments

  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    You'll be lucky if it has a normal USB drive.

    Anyways, lower-end things in the market will probably still have such things for a while. I hope.

    I wonder how much of this is organic end-user desire and how much is the push to get us all digital market only so we no longer own anything. A lot of the big software has already gone subscription-model, digital installation only, and there's basically no streaming service that allows you to download things to a computer so you can watch them in your own time.

    I was a Physical Only person for a long time, but as one does I forgot the importance of such principals until very recently when I remembered modern "digital" for anything you remotely care about is a giant mistake.
    Whoah I'm posting on IJBM using a keyboard.

    I have to say your eloquence on a mobile keyboard is quite astounding.
  • Thin laptops are probably nice but I gotta question if they're worth the reduced IO versatility. I think I could do without the optical drive and there are HDMI-to-VGA adapters, but a lack of audio jack would suck and it'd have to be a good laptop for the lack of ethernet to not be a dealbreaker.
    basically no streaming service that allows you to download things to a computer so you can watch them in your own time.
    FWIW there's software to download stuff on Youtube, e.g. JDownloader for PC and Newpipe for mobile. Also a million malwarey websites
    I have I think it was >160 GB of videos I've downloaded off it over the last year.
    I have to say your eloquence on a mobile keyboard is quite astounding.
    Ah, thanks, though I've noticed I make more spelling mistakes when on mobile. Maybe it being a hassle to put things into words makes me put more time/effort on diction instead.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    Thin laptops are probably nice but I gotta question if they're worth the reduced IO versatility.

    They're nice aesthetically, I guess, but I prefer to have a set of army-rescue knife ports.
    FWIW there's software to download stuff on Youtube

    Yeah, but I mean like it really wouldn't kill Netflix or whoever to have a desktop client that could store files rather than hoping your streaming connection is good enough for when Netflix's service boots you from 720p to 480p and then back in 20 seconds but also you have to hope it didn't bug itself into just freezing in a state of buffering even though your connection is fine.

    Not that I use anything that's not Crunchyroll any more, and even then it's just courtesy pay for well... not using Crunchyroll as specified <_<

    I mean, it could be like mobile Netflix/whatever where the files expire after a few weeks or whenever you've finished watching them. And it's not like the rogue men and women of the high web seas haven't already figured out ways to rip the files from the sites somehow anyways.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Dear all developers,

    C:\Users\username\AppData\Local
    C:\Users\username\AppData\LocalLow
    C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming

    Please DO NOT PUT YOUR SHIT IN HERE.

    Because EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM PUTS THEIR SHIT IN HERE and now I have to figure out which things I actually need to keep -- anything from save games to settings. And it is A GIANT FRACKING MESS.

    PUT YOUR SHIT IN THE SAME DIRECTORY WHERE YOUR PROGRAM IS INSTALLED, PLEASE. THEN I CAN KNOW FAR MORE EASILY WHAT SHIT I NEED TO BACK UP.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    AND SO LITTLE OF YOUR SHIT IS NAMED APPROPRIATELY

    AppData\Local\Project1\savegame

    WAT EES DEES

    AppData\LocalLow\DefaultCompany

    WAT EES DEES
  • PUT YOUR SHIT IN THE SAME DIRECTORY WHERE YOUR PROGRAM IS INSTALLED, PLEASE. THEN I CAN KNOW FAR MORE EASILY WHAT SHIT I NEED TO BACK UP.
    There are two reasons why they might've opted not to do it like that:
    1. If the directory is supposed to be Program Files, modifying things there requires permissions.
    2. If the program is supposed to share data across multiple versions, they have to agree on a directory.
    AppData\LocalLow\DefaultCompany
    Was the program developed by an actual company? If so, it could've been that the framework they used (for some reason) doesn't allow them to use anything besides what they set as the company's name, even if the company in question doesn't exist, and they just forgot about it. I know Qt is like that (or at least, it's not straightforward to make it not so).
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    Please DO NOT PUT YOUR S#1+ IN HERE.

    I think Firefox does this for files you chose to "Open" rather than "Save" and so you end up with a billion random files you accidentally "Opened" rather than "Saved".
    If the directory is supposed to be Program Files, modifying things there requires permissions.

    I never thought of that.
  • edited 2020-08-02 07:53:41
    More adapter antics: it started having trouble either connecting to the network, being recognized by Windows as a WiFi adapter or being detected at all. After several iterations of driver reinstallations, changing ports and restarts, eventually putting it in another of the motherboard's USB slots did the trick, but only for a few hours. Yeah I won't be recommending these adapters to anybody.
    Regardless, I managed to set one of the routers as client, which now I know is the right mode for what I want to do, and AFAICT it works but I'm having the same problem as when anchored with my phone, where something happens between the ISP and what I assume is the optical terminal. For a good while I thought it was something in my PC and fiddled with every setting there, but just tried with a laptop and it fails too.
    Also at one point I was able to connect to a couple websites, which I recognize as Google's (google.com and youtube.com, such will be the world after Google gains control all of humanity's information) so I thought it could be a DNS issue but nothing seemed to work, and a router settings and reversion later and that stopped working too. It could've been something about IPv4/IPv6 too.
    Edit: Accidentally a word.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    After several iterations of driver reinstallations

    I feel like one of the signs of something not wanting to work is when the drivers start to freak out.
    such will be the world after Google control all of humanity's information

    I think Google's Ultimate Plan will be to turn YouTube into videos.google.com.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    C:\Users\username\AppData\Local

    VLC puts thumbnail-sized copies of album covers in here for reasons I cannot fathom.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Windows 10 is managing to be a royal pain.

    It was supposed to be better than Win8.1. At least the start menu is better designed. And this is the Windows version *after* the sucky version, so it should be a good version. And, newer is probably better, right?

    * It's reportedly much more insistent that you sign up for a Microsoft account. I set up the computer without an internet connection so as to avoid this, so I don't know first-hand.
    * The Control Panel has been gradually shrinking. More and more it seems Microsoft wants to replace it with the Settings app...which is okay, but has the conspicuous drawback that you can't open more than one Settings page at once. And you also can only go back to the last Settings page, not forward to the next one after going back. Also all the things in the Settings app are bigger (which is a double-edged sword), and they're a lot less keyboard navigation friendly (which just sucks).
    * Windows 10 compels the user to accept updates far, far more insistently. You can only wait as long as 35 days before an update gets automatically downloaded. And once an update is downloaded, it will be installed, and if it needs to restart, you can only delay the restart for 18 hours before the computer starts pestering you once an hour to let it restart.
    * Windows 10 comes with a bunch of extraneous apps. This by itself is nothing new, and most of them can be uninstalled...but XBox, for some reason, can't, unless you go through PowerShell. (On the other hand, PowerShell is a lot more easily accessible for some reason.)
    * Windows 10 Home for whatever reason lacks a Group Policy Editor. (This was a problem in previous versions of Windows too, I think.)
    * I got a computer with a touchscreen. Windows 10 has a touchscreen keyboard feature and also has a way to turn that keyboard into a handwriting area. However, if I actually use my finger to write anything in that handwriting area...it doesn't work. I can write in it using a mouse or using the touchpad, but I can't write in it by writing with my finger on the touchscreen itself. Apparently there was or should be an option for this. But on my computer that option isn't there...and even if I enable it via the Registry, it still doesn't work.

    Given that I know that writing in the touchscreen handwriting input area works on a Win8.1 machine that I have, and given that being able to write in the touchscreen is a major reason I bought a 2-in-1, I'm actually tempted to install Win8.1 onto this machine instead.

    There's nothing that Win10 does that I care about that I can't do on Win8.1. (Partly because I've been using 8.1 for a few years now and know how to make it do what I want it to do. Including a far better start menu via Classic Start Menu.)
  • edited 2020-08-20 06:05:51
    There is love everywhere, I already know
    Windows 10 is managing to be a royal pain.

    haaaaa
    It was supposed to be better than Win8.1.

    In all honesty, I quite liked 8.1 after getting used to the pasted-on new universe of squares, and though 10 did different things I don't think they're "better".

    In fact, I liked pressing the Windows key and getting a giant wall of apps (which is an option in 10, I know), the new Start menu just isn't as great.

    I think 10 has a serious issue with Modern Notifications. I don't need phone notifications on a computer, especially the sort that are about things I'm already keeping an eye on.
    It's reportedly much more insistent that you sign up for a Microsoft account. I set up the computer without an internet connection so as to avoid this, so I don't know first-hand.

    It's totally possible that you've actually signed up for one anyways, from what I've heard.
    The Control Panel has been gradually shrinking.

    I'm pretty sure Settings, like 8 in general, is just pasted on top of Control Panel? I don't think there's any special settings you can only access through it rather than through Control Panel.
    Windows 10 compels the user to accept updates

    The updates will come to you, whether you want them or not, be sure of it. You have to disable them manually (Riec Alc's post).

    You may have to do this multiple times (and search for other resources, because I did this years ago and I've forgotten most of them), because there are a bunch of switches you can miss that suddenly turn everything back on (including one that runs through HP software, if you're on an HP machine).

    The only thing I still have on is Windows Defender, and even that forces you to update it's definitions weekly.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    It's totally possible that you've actually signed up for one anyways, from what I've heard.
    I technically already have four, by virtue of having four e-mail accounts managed by Microsoft.
    I'm pretty sure Settings, like 8 in general, is just pasted on top of Control Panel? I don't think there's any special settings you can only access through it rather than through Control Panel.
    There are at least some new features in Settings -- such as being able to make the mouse cursor super large and with custom colors -- as well as some things that are no longer in the Control Panel and only in Settings, such as all of Display.
    Windows 10 is a service so updates are necessary, but you can still take control when the updates should be installed completely.
    NO

    IT IS NOT A SERVICE

    GET OUT WITH YOUR SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE BULLSHIT
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    Microsoft got a taste of the Power of Service via Office 365's subscription service, they're never going back.
    such as being able to make the mouse cursor super large and with custom colors[...] such as all of Display.

    8uanz8xexc6d.jpg

    Huh, I didn't realize.
    I technically already have four, by virtue of having four e-mail accounts managed by Microsoft.

    I meant in the more specific sense you were suggesting. I mean, you may have five now.

    I did check to see if I had accidentally signed up for one a few seconds ago and thankfully I hadn't.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    I called ASUS tech support.

    They informed me that my model didn't support handwriting input using my finger.

    It's a touchscreen computer. Specifically a 2-in-1.

    I can write strokes that resemble letters in MS Paint, with the touchpad.
    I can write strokes that resemble letters in MS Paint, using my finger on the touchscreen.
    I can write strokes that resemble letters in the handwriting input box, with the touchpad, and those strokes will be properly interpreted as letters.
    I...am apparently not allowed to write strokes that resemble letters in the handwriting input box, using my finger on the touchscreen. I mean, I can physically do it, but it'll get entirely ignored. If I've written words there before, I can move them around with my finger, but actual finger-writing is just ignored.

    This is quite clearly a software issue. But, "your model doesn't support this".

    Well, fuck you.
  • edited 2020-08-20 22:24:26
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    So (thanks to help from a friend) I found that I can download a thing called ASUS Touchpad Handwriting, and it'll bring up a little pad on screen for me to use handwriting. And while that name says "touchpad", and it's supposed to be for using the touchpad as a space for inputting letters and stuff, it actually works with the touchscreen! Like, I can write the gestures with my finger that will actually be interpreted as writing strokes and the program will then try to turn what I've written into letters.

    It's kinda bad at English -- only three letters at a time -- but it definitely works with (and even comes with) Chinese character recognition. Given that my main need here would be to have a way to write Chinese (I can already use the keyboard if I need to write in English), I might be able to accept this.

    ......except, this doesn't work when the laptop screen is turned around beyond 180°. Because doing so turns off the keyboard and touchpad, and ASUS Touchpad Handwriting says that it can only be used with a touchpad.

    So now I'm trying to figure out how to make the computer not turn off the touchpad when the screen is flipped beyond 180°.



    While trying to solve this latest step in this saga, I ran across the following page.

    https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/How-to-use-physical-keyboard-in-tablet-mode/td-p/6156275

    An "HP Support Agent" wrote the following:
    Let me keep you informed that in the tablet mode, the computer’s keyboard is disabled and cannot be used. It is a feature of HP Hybrid notebooks that work in tablet mode also. It is to ensure that users get the complete full enhanced features of the tablet without having to use the keyboard.
    While they're HP and not ASUS, I suspect that my computer is built in a similar way.

    Also, that last sentence is, very blatantly, "You are not allowed to use things in ways that we don't want you to. >=| ......But you have all these cool new features when you do things our way!! :-DDDD" (Seriously, why the fuck would you need to "ensure that users get the complete full enhanced features of the tablet", and how does disabling a feature, without the option for the user to enable it, make for "complete full enhanced features"?)
  • By accident I set my phone brightness to automatic, I then learned that the darkest it can go is darker than with the lowest manual setting, which I want. I always assumed it was a hardware/OS/firmware issue that the brightness wouldn't go lower but I guess not.
    Also I wonder how it works, for ages I assumed it depended on what's on screen but I learned it depends on real-life lightning, it'd make sense that it'd use the cameras as sensors but blocking the cameras with my hands don't seem to affect it.
    (Most likely hardware) Sometimes when I left click, my mouse also interprets that as moving the mouse wheel down. It's a super old mouse held together with literal electrician's tape and has a gaping hole in it, so it's no wonder it's not working right.
    I've known of this issue for ages but rarely comes up except when browsing, nonetheless it seems to happen more and more often. That explains why I seemed to shoot the wrong bullet during Non-Stop Debates, too.
    it definitely works with (and even comes with) Chinese character recognition.
    Doesn't Windows come with one already? I know the Japanese one is pretty good.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    It might have had that due to me installing Chinese language from an earlier activation of this particular computer's Win10, before I reset it twice.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    the computer’s keyboard is disabled and cannot be used.

    This is hilarious.
    Doesn't Windows come with one already? I know the Japanese one is pretty good.

    I mean if there's one aspect of Windows I have no complaints about, it's the JP keyboard.
    but blocking the cameras with my hands don't seem to affect it.

    Well, I bet that the answer to how this works is slightly terrifying.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Tumblr lately seems to be blocking people from downloading their images.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    https://community.intel.com/t5/Graphics/can-anyone-tell-me-what-these-services-do/td-p/423180

    TL;DR

    user asks what two Intel services on their computer do
    employee says that it is policy that they don't provide any information on it
    (also other posts)
  • "you duck spawn, refined creature, you try to be cynical, yokel, but all that comes out of it is that you're a dunce!!!!! you duck plug!"
    Tumblr lately seems to be blocking people from downloading their images.

    Heh. There were a few times I wanted to download an image the website tried not to let me to. Sometimes the solution is to make a screenshot or to delve into the source code.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    I always wonder if this is one of the reasons browsers started implementing in-window screenshot features.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/tablet-mode-gives-me-no-icons-on-desktop/b1634fa8-fcfe-460d-bd87-fea7e4a1c82c

    Also the back button doesn't even work the way it should on a regular tablet. It sometimes goes to start menu, sometimes goes to last app, sometimes goes to previous page...but not the previous page in a web browser.

    Somehow Windows 10 manages to be crap at being a tablet too.
  • There is love everywhere, I already know
    I think that should have been obvious.
    What you are seeing is exactly how the operating system should behave. In Tablet mode, apps run in full screen mode and Desktop icons will not be visible as the OS will function as a tablet.

    I love how happy with this the Microsoft Borg is.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Note to Microsoft: Tablets have desktops with icons.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    old model:

    computers use programs to process files
    in order to make a computer work, i need to take a blank operating system and put the appropriate programs and files on it

    revision 1:

    computers use programs to process files
    in order to make a computer work, i need to clean the operating system of junkware, then put the appropriate programs and files on it

    revision 2:

    computers use programs to process files
    in order to make a computer work, i need to clean the operating system of junkware, then put the appropriate programs and files on it
    however, programs these days are very complicated and very much integrated with the operating system, so i cannot just simply drag and drop programs; i need to save installers and install them anew
  • edited 2020-08-28 21:01:34
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Just realized that Steam running under -no-browser no longer works with printing receipts for key activations. Since the only way to view confirmation codes for key activation transactions is to print receipts when activating codes, the only way to get that confirmation code is now to activate the code using a vanilla-launched Steam (i.e. withou the -no-browser launch parameter).

    Correction: it seems that, if you activate a code using https://store.steampowered.com/account/registerkey , you will get an e-mail sent to you with the confirmation code.



    Also, Steam doesn't let you put its games in a folder that's not a subdirectory of the Steam folder itself. So no matter what you do, you'll have to deal with filepaths like yoursteaminstalllocation\steamapps\common\gamefolder.

    This is in contrast with GOG Galaxy, which does let you set the folder containing your games to be a different location outside of the GOG Galaxy program folder.

    GOG Galaxy also lets you do the following things that Steam doesn't do:
    * input your own number for its download rate limiter
    * set sorting names for games, so as to put them in whatever order you choose, regardless of how their official names are spelled
    * List View
    * turn off advertising for the store associated with that client
    * turn off updates entirely for a game
  • edited 2020-08-29 13:54:57
    Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    Microsoft Edge forced an update and broke my customizations a few days after I'd set them all up.

    Also, its new New Tab page doesn't allow turning off the big Microsoft logo and search bar. Sure, I can customize it to some extent, but that extent is limited to turning on and off all its news spam and the quick links (which are the part I actually want, not the search bar). Fortunately, I have a favorites bar, so I can just set about:blank to the new tab page and home page. (Take that!)

    Also, it pinned itself to my taskbar. After I unpinned it, I happened to check its about page, at which point it automatically downloaded yet another update...and then promptly re-pinned itself to my taskbar.
  • Creature - Florida Dragon Turtle Human
    When the volume button is used, Windows 10 pops up a volume slider accompanied by a big rectangle showing what's currently playing, with thumbnail and track/artist name and all.

    The volume slider display makes sense, but there is no way natively within Windows 10 to turn off the far larger rest of the pop-up.

    To turn it off you need this: http://wordpress.venturi.de/?p=1
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