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Category: Windows
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That's right... there are 100s of posts all over the tech world regarding this issue.  It's an issue that apparently Dell's support don't know how to handle.  They seem to be completely in the dark when it comes to fixing issues with their own products.  Most likely it's because they don't bother to even oversee the production of their products in China.  They just get what they get and don't care if there's any issues with them.

The Solution
According to what Dell has said numerous times (things that don't work), the only solution to this issue is to SUPER GLUE the power cord into the laptop and never unplug it.  There you go.  The only solution I've found that works.
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Category: Windows
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Okay... typical.  I searched and found the first half dozen or so articles on how to install a font in Windows 10 (including the Google instructions on the first line) are 100% wrong!

It's very simple.  Open the TTF file by double clicking it or right clicking then clicking 'open'.  Then there will be an 'install' button.  Click it.
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Category: Windows
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I'm writing this because I'm fed up with clients sending me content in Microsoft Word documents.  Microsoft can't even handle plain 'ol text formatting... they have to mess that up too.  And make it more difficult for others just for their own lazy benefits.  

When you copy microsoft (not capitalizing that word anymore) documents into plain text, you'll notice double spacing, premature line ends, and sometimes the sentences are all 'chopped up'.  Making a simple 30 second copy & paste task a 10 minute mess.

microsoft word = trash
microsoft Windows = trash
microsoft .net = trash
microsoft = trash

That's all.... just ranting about trash.

I'm contemplating [in the future] returning clients' microsoft word documents when they send their content that way - and requesting they be sent in a different format.
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Category: Windows
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Around mid-December, Microsoft rolled out an update to Windows 10.  This update/upgrade causes a very big degradation issue for users that have USB mice.  If you have a USB mouse, you probably disable your touchpad when using it.  Otherwise, you end up having to re-write emails or anything else where you have to type.  Being a developer, it causes serious issues in code when the cursor jumps when writing code.  I've checked multiple websites for fixes to this issue.

Some fixes include going to the control panel, going to settings, etc.  But none of these fixes work because the necessary tabs are no longer there.  There is also another fix that involves changing a registry entry.  When I went to try this fix, I found the registry key was no longer there.  So, none of these fixes work.

My last step before physically cutting the wire to the touchpad was to call Microsoft.  After 45 minutes of the tech support trying to find a way to do this, they found that the latest upgrade/update removed the option... completely.  There is not even an icon in the system tray anymore.  They finally said they were sorry and there was no solution to this issue.  They said they opened a ticket and would have a 'meeting' to discuss whether this was an issue or not because they haven't heard from other parties complaining about it.

Therefore, if you're having the same issue, according to Microsoft... the only way to resolve it is to open up your machine and CUT the wires to your touchpad.

I should mention that I'm one of the less than 50% of PC users that have a Dell PC in which the keyboard shortcut for disabling the touch pad was not included.  Thanks Dell!  Oh, and thanks, Microsoft!

Cut the cord...

UPDATE:

I was able to get the icon back in the system tray.  I did this by going to the Dell website, downloading, and installing the touchpad driver again.  It's ridiculous that Microsoft don't know that the new Windows update removes or corrupts this driver.  The Dell 'auto detect' feature, for some reason, doesn't detect this.  You have to go to the tab with the drivers and manually download/install it.  If you use the 'auto detect' feature, it will detect the chipset needs updated though.  My guess is that's another driver that the Windows upgrade removed.

Other issues I've found is.... 'How do you want to open this program' dialog upon startup.  Have no idea what it's trying to open.  I think it was Chrome trying to execute on startup as this brings up another issue.  Every time I restarted the computer I was prompted when opening Chrome that it was not the default browser.  Clicking 'make default' would only work until the computer was restarted again.  I had to go into the settings>default apps and manually set Chrome as the default browser to alleviate both this issue and the 'open with' dialog issue.

Does Microsoft not test Windows upgrades/updates anymore???

UPDATE (FOR DELL INSPIRON NOTEBOOKS):

Open the control panel and click on 'mouse'.
 
Once in the mouse settings (from control panel), click the 'dell touchpad' tab.  It will show a big image of the touchpad with a link under it, 'touchpad settings'.  Click that and it will open the graphical Dell Touchpad dialog.  Here's the part I had trouble finding.  On the top of that, there is an image of the touchpad and an image of a mouse beside it.  There doesn't seem to be any indication that they are clickable, but if you click the image of the mouse, you'll then see the option to disable the touchpad when a USB mouse is connected.

So, it seems the options are back after re-installing drivers that Windows should have notified needed updated after the December 2015 Windows update.

UPDATE 3/6/2016

Just a bunch of idiots working at Microsoft I guess.... It happened AGAIN with another Windows update.  They must have their heads up their a55es or something.  Once again, I had to manually re-install the Dell touchpad driver from Dell's website and go through this all over again.  I guess the only way to avoid this would be to turn Microsoft Updates off.   I feel like invoicing them for an hour's work every time they do this.

UPDATE 4/29/2016

I can't say it enough... Microsoft engineers are ignorant idiots for uninstalling my factory drivers and installing their crappy drivers that force the mouse pad settings to stop working.  Yes, it happened again with another Windows Update.  Once again, I'm re-installing the Dell drivers.  I guess I'll just have to do that every time Windows updates.

Links: Dell Drivers

Latest Dell Touchpad Driver (for Inspiron 5545) as of 4/29/2016
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Category: Windows
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I just upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 8 and wanted to start a log on my experience with it.

I actually installed it previously, but didn't realize I was installing it on a failing hard drive.  Down with stupid old spinning hard drives!!!

Anyway, here's my first impressions...
  • It 'looks' better.  Very appealing in some of the graphic changes.
  • Starts up and shuts down slower.  It's supposed to be faster in this aspect, but it probably depends on what programs and how many you had installed in Windows 8 before the upgrade.
  • Wakes up faster after sleeping.
  • Some of my software seems to open slightly faster.

Microsoft Edge

I actually like this browser more than any browser Microsoft has ever created (talking about Internet Explorer).  It is extremely fast.  Much faster than Chrome, but I can't really compare because I have soooo many plugins installed on Chrome that I consider it partially my fault that Chrome has slowed down some over the years.

It has some of the most comprehensive developer tools I've seen in a browser.  I'm very surprised they 'one-upped' Google here.  Maybe trying to appeal more to developers and tech people - because they know that's where a lot of their reviews come from.

So far, so good... no complaints about Windows 10 or Edge yet...  I'll add to this post as time goes by...

UPDATE: Windows 10 SUCKS!

After a couple days, it now takes around 5-10 minutes to start up.
When you put it to sleep, it usually crashes trying to wake up.
Opening the control panel... it goes black screen, then comes back with control panel closed.

Obviously, this operating system is not ready for coming out of beta.  I will probably revert to Windows 8.  NICE JOB, MICROSOFT... AGAIN!

Yet another downfall... The plain text editor (notepad) that comes with Windows 10 is garbage and useless.  You can no longer copy text out of it and place elsewhere... not without it putting line ends all over the place.  C'mon, Microsoft... get your !#@ together.  Guess I'll be using Google Docs only from now on.  Thanks again, Microsoft!

UPDATE: some issues fixed

I no longer have to wait 10 minutes for it to start up.  And the text editor seems to be working now.  But now I'm running onto issues with a December 2015 update... see 'Windows 10 Touchpad issue'.

UPDATE: EDGE SUCKS!

No surprise here... now Microsoft Edge does not work.  It doesn't search and it won't load any webpages.  Typical.
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Category: Windows
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Really?  Candy Crush Saga by default in Windows 10? Okay... let's remove it.

As if we don't get Candy Crush Saga shoved down our throat enough through Facebook.  Now Microsoft sticks it in Windows 10.  


You should be able to remove it by right-clicking it on the start menu, then clicking 'uninstall'.

There is another way if that doesn't work, but it's a little more complicated.  You need to do it through Windows Powershell.

1. Open Windows Powershell
  • Click on the Windows icon.
  • Click on 'all apps'.
  • Scroll down and find Windows Powershell - then click that.

2. Type the following into the application that opens: Get-AppxPackage -Name king.com.CandyCrushSaga

3. Remove Candy Crush Saga
  • Look for the line that says 'PackageFullName', and copy the text on the other side of the colon (:).  It will start with 'king'.
  • Now, the next thing you want to do in Windows Powershell (the app that's open) is type 'Remove-AppxPackage'.  Follow that with a space.  Then paste what you have already copied (the 'PackageFullName').
  • Then hit enter.  The package should be uninstalled.
This still really annoys me.  That's because I've probably spent hours and hours over the past few years deleting Candy Crush Saga notifications on Facebook.  Even though I've never played Candy Crush Saga, it's my least favorite game in the world for that reason.


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Category: Windows
Hits: 9023
Modern Setup Host is Using My CPU & Resources

I noticed my computer all of a sudden running extremely slow.  Too slow for a developer to use efficiently.  I thought it was due to a Chrome update where my profile is now in the top window bar.  I installed a faster version of Chrome (the 64-bit version) and still had an issue with speed, but not as bad.  I had noticed a huge difference before by ending the process for Modern Setup Host so I ended it again.  Huge, huge difference.  Computer is back to normal after ending task on that Windows process.

I'm going to see what I can do to keep it from running at startup and add details later...

Okay... I went into the folder where it is located, C:\$Windows.~BT\Sources, and renamed the file hostsetup.exe to hostsetup.exex

Will post what happened when I restart next time...
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