Windows Notebook

Yesterday, I returned to my 2018 Windows 10 PROFESSIONAL OS based Intel Core i5 powered Dell Inspiron 5000 Gaming 5577 (why so many model designations & numbers, @dell?), a laptop not even a year old, yet.

The computer had just updated the other day, so I wasn’t expecting to return to my Photoshop project yesterday and find that Windows 10 PROFESSIONAL had downloaded a new update, and installed it, without my persmission, in only the last 7 hours where I went to bed and awoke the next day.

On top of that, I had just checked whether an update was pending or not the day before.  No “Restart & Update” option then, or even the day of this hazardous update.

It seems that Microsoft neither understands what a PROFESSIONAL Operating System means, what it is or its importance to business.  Nor does Microsoft even care.

Not only does the Windows 10 PROFESSIONAL software that I paid for through my purchase have a history of rebooting my computer and forgetting all of my OS settings in previous updates, Microsoft doesn’t seem to care that they are force quitting live applications that I am in the process of using.

When a PROFESSIONAL OS force closes live applications such as Adobe Photoshop, the application doesn’t save its configuration.  This means that the next time I return to Photoshop, I have to reconfigure all my settings and preferences in the program. 

To top this off, even the PROFESSIONAL version of Microsoft Windows 10 is showing me advertisements, particularly after each update, on reboot.

Furthermore, the operating system is so dumb that I have not only lost Windows settings, sometimes (more than once) I have been awaiting minutes at bootup in order to see my boot screen appear.  Instead, I am faced with staring at a black external monitor.  Microsoft brags about saving seconds at bootup, but forgets your active monitor settings so that you are wasting over a quarter of an hour of time for boot and then having to reset the settings?

As a web and graphics designer, it is inappropriate for me to be working on a desktop machine and then move all my updated files over to a laptop because there may be so many critical files that are vitally necessary to a project which could be scattered throughout my system.  Even though we designers try to manage client files all within their folder, elements from other code, text snippets, photos, vector images and raster graphics likely did not all originate with that particular project.  Having the entire working system is paramount to not only give a decent presentation, but also to be able to update it on the fly to appease the client.  That essentially means that all my resources, not just the ones dedicated to the project, must be available to me all the time.

What’s more embarrassing is showing up to a client’s office early in the morning only to boot-up to a PC that was updated overnight.

Microsoft seems to think that all computers are internet connected all the time.  But I live in a rural region and not all of my clients do have internet.  And when the Windows 10 Professional system does not have internet access, it gets flaky.  My elder apps actually run without a hitch, but newer applications are all very sketchy.  Perhaps they are checking for authorized licensing codes to ensure the user hasn’t pirated the code?  But none of these apps that offer limited or unpredictable capabilities actually say that they require an internet connection (aside from first-time license verification).  Has the internet become so ingrained that programmers don’t know a way to program around it?

Microsoft is not the only bad guy, because of this increasing dependency on internet resources, many software is no longer available as a stand-alone program.  Instead, we are seeing a migration to a software-as-a-service (aka ”saas”) product model, instead of an actual decent stand-alone software product.  Software companies figure they can release software on schedule and shake-out the bugs later through updates.  But requiring an always connected system cuts a great deal of rural America out of the picture.  Unless you live in a very large town or along the interstate, you may not even have real viable internet access options.

Windows 10 Professional is just not ready for prime time.  It likely will never be, ever.  It is pure crap that does not live up to its designation, promise or hype.  Windows 7 Ultra was reliable, at least.  I cannot count on Windows 10 Professional for anything, to date.  I have even installed debian linux on another laptop and am using it more and more.  I only wish Adobe products were available for it, because that’s my work environment (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, etc...).  Quite honestly, the Professional version of Windows 10 still feels like it is in alpha (a trial that isn’t even public until the first Beta release).  It functions like an OS, yes, but there is absolutely NOTHING professional about it. 

As a business owner I know I can’t rely on it.  I am distracted by advertising.  I can’t afford to have an operating system shut down a project in progress without advance warning, EVER.  That is absolutely sinful.  It isn’t just Photoshop that will lose its settings, cashe, last loaded projects and undo’s, the whole Adobe line of products do, and this is what I rely on.

I can jump over to the Mac, yes, but the last time I was using Apple products I bought a brand new PPC system and it was obscolete in a year.  Apple is going to be putting all their new computers on their own processor architecture next year, so again, I would have no upgrade path.

I might say that I am extremely pleased with the debian linux operating system and how professional it acts, except there are no Adobe software options for that platform.  It is an extremely professional operating system, but has no professional creativity applications with an easy to use GUI.  Plus, the Adobe UX is second to none (especially with its extensive shortcut keys library).

Nevertheless, I do have some older PCs that I will experimenting with using alternate Windows platforms.  I mean, the Windows 10 Professional is actually completely unprofessional, absolutely unreliable, and cannot be used as a productive business software platform without suffering, misery and lost time. 

Black Friday is here and there are always deals on cheap laptops, you can find something cheap (less than $200) just about anywhere, but these are not fully capable notebooks that are capable of photo editing, video editing & decent gaming.  Now, I’m not talking about 3D first person action games with 60fps, but I am talking 2D scrollers, puzzle games & fun.

The Acer Aspire 5 features 8GB RAM powered by the Intel i5 and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 GPU with 256GB SSD for only $500 USD ($200 off retail).  

This is a very vice unit that will work well for students no matter their need, and then some.  While the NVIDIA Graphics Processing Unit isn’t capable of playing the latest and most demanding 3D games at reasonable frame rates, that same processor still allows for a lower power draw, allowing the battery to last longer.  Plus the GeForce GPU adds extra oomph to video editing software when the NVIDIA hardware support is enabled.

Quite honestly, it is a steal at $500.00.

The one tablet that actually can replace your laptop...

The new Surface Pro 6 is quite a machine, because unlike the iPad Pro, this is a fully capable tablet that can not only run, but also multitask, your most demanding office and creativity applications, including everything Adobe makes (photo/video editing, Illustrator & more) and even supports advanced feature apps such as 3D programs, virtual machines and more.

The Microsoft Surface Pro is not just a tablet to use as a web browser and email client with cute games, it offers the full Windows experience and the i5 processor assures that it can do the job.  However, this is the base introductory model, and upgrades are not possible one you buy the tablet, so make sure that you are good with the base specs for the machine:

8 GB RAM

Intel i5 (8th Generation) CPU

Intel GPU

128 GB SSD

Thin (Shallow Travel Keys) Keyboard Included

If you are happy with those limits and can deal with using an external drive,  NAS (Network Access Storage) device or Cloud Drive to off-load and backup files as necessary, this is certainly a great option because the 8th generation of the Intel i5 really took a performance bump this year.

There are all sorts of great deals to be had on the new Surface Pro 6 introductory unit.  The one I am highlighting above is specifically from CostCo and along with the keyboard runs $800 USD, which is a $200 savings. 

I have also seen this introductory base model Surface Pro 6 available with similar savings at Best Buy, and Microsoft has a Black Friday deal online, but it isn’t as good.

The Best Buy Black Friday Deal sounds better, because you walk away with the Surface Pro 6 for only $600, but that model only comes with a Core M3 processor that won’t have the oomph required for heavy lifting in photo, video, animation, 3D, or presentation editing and producing/publishing software suites. On top of that, this unit is only equipped with 4GB RAM, which isn’t even acceptable for top-of-the-line smartphones, anymore.  I highly recommend getting the unit from CostCo over the featured BestBuy introductory Surface Pro 6.

The Microsoft i5 powered Surface Pro 6 with comparable specs goes from $639 without the keyboard.  So, the only way I would go to Microsoft and order online is if you wouldn’t be happy with the specs of the basic model at CostCo.  But even then, Microsoft isn’t really showing any decent Black Friday insentives, so I would wait.  This is a new model Surface Pro, after all.  It isn’t likely Microsoft will discount it much for a while.

If you don’t have a CostCo membership, and you want a decent laptop, then what?  Unfortunately, accepting the two deals indicated above, I have found that the decent to premium laptop deals just aren’t there.  Even if you look at the deals for expensive smart TVs at ridiculous prices, these sets use much cheaper components and produce a picture that is not comparable to sets that only cost a little more when they are retail.

So, WTF is my Windows 10 Pro updating and restarting on me?

And WHY THE FUCK AM I NOW SEEING ADVERTS?!!!

You may not think this is a big deal, but I paid for Windows 10 as a part of my new computer purchase, this was no upgrade.  I have disabled notifications for absolutely everything.  Not even Windows itself is allowed to notify me unless there is a security issue. 

UPDATES ARE OFF, DAMNIT!

That means I should not see an update to my Windows 10 Pro for a full 30 days, and yet, every 2 weeks it updates.  But, it doesn’t just update, it shuts down and reboots.

As a professional, I work very hard.  Sometimes I manage to put in 20 hours in a single day.  I am always under a deadline, after all, and I enjoy what I do.

So, you would think that when I upgraded my Dell 5000 Gaming laptop to Windows 10 Professional when I bought it, I would get treated as a professional.  But, NO!!!

Instead, even though I set my Windows to not update, not restart for 30 days, every 2 weeks, while I have work open, projects going, applications in memory, Microsoft updates my system.  But worse, they reboot it.  In that process, I lose my Photoshop history and settings, I lose my Dreamweaver sites and settings (I have over 100 sites, and I have to reconfigure EACH F’N ONE), my external monitor display settings always reset, and as of this time I SEE ADVERTISING FOR MICROSOFT PRODUCTS?!!!

This is crazy.  Doesn’t anyone make an operating system for professionals, anymore?  I would jump over to Apple, but they are selling cheap hardware with poor build quality that isn’t capable of running effectively in a professional environment (unless you buy a 2015 model MacBook Pro).

I need to run Adobe software, my choices are so damn limited, Windows or Macintosh.  I really would rather run Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver on a Linux box.  PLEASE!  Someone start acting professional, like you give a damn about your OS!

Microsoft?  Apple?  Anyone?

Now, don’t get me wrong, I would rather use a PC than a Mac.  But that is because of hardware issues.  The Apple Macintosh product has become less of a professional product as it caters to the general consuming public in the corporate struggle to increase market share, and now the new MacBook Pro laptops are ill fitting to creative professional lives.  Pros don’t buy MacBook Pros anymore, unless they gran a 2015 model (still available in the Apple Store) because the quality of the design (extremely limited ports means extremely limited professional use), keyboard issues, unservicability and lowered build quality.

But, I am a creative professional too.  I am on the Microsoft Windows platform and have been for an extremely long time.  Despite my many grudges with Microsoft and how they conduct business, it took a lot to convince me to even use the platform.  Apple helped in every way, in that regard. 

Let’s face it, every single release of the Windows operating system sucked and crashed constantly.  To this day, I cannot understand how such an unreliable platform survived.  Even the most up-to-date release of Vista was unreliable.

But I needed a computer to become a digital artist, didn’t I?  I could be just a regular artist, but it wasn’t likely I would do well coming from the midwest where culture has been abandoned almost everywhere.  The conservative values of the area ditch art for sports when it comes to budgeting.

Luckily, my elementary years were all spent in NYC.  I took art lessons every Saturday morning at the Museum of Modern Art and awed at the works of the Masters, laughed at Picasso’s cartoons. 

I was so taken by film, that I wanted to me an animator.  Snow White was cool, Bambi was an emotional journey for me.  But I still, even as a kid, wanted to see more surreal animated works, much like what we have today, only more Dali dream-like. 

In college I studied film and even moved around in an attempt to be able to get into NYU, because I really enjoyed making animated films.  One student at SDSU apparently stole my best film to get her “animated film requirement” in.  I learned right then that have to stop being so gullible and trusting.

With only 2 years of higher education in and still wanting a Bachelor’s Degree over settling for an Associate’s, I grabbed a C64 and started learning to program, I was so inspired my the Mario Bros. arcade game, making cartoon characters with so few pixels.  I thought this is why I told my father I wanted to learn how to type because I would have something to do with computers.  He was a lawyer, pissed-off because he thought I wanted to be a secretary or receptionist.  People can be stupid, too (even my father).

Surely, we can’t be smart about everything.  And when we get a big head, it is extremely hard to admit we are wrong.  So, apparently Microsoft has a great big giant head.  Is this why all the Windows 10 upgrades from Vista, 7 & 8 were free?

After a stint with a failed video game company as an independent Amiga artist/animator, and a bunch of other stuff like trying my hand at running my own ad and tech support business, I knew I had to go back to school.

So, I wound-up going back to school locally here in the midwest when I couldn’t find a way to go to NYC or even retry my plea to go to the Rhode Island School of Design. 

Of course, I learned to use the Windows PC, I had to because that’s what Augustana College (now ‘Augustana University’) was using in the computer labs.  Of course, I learned the Mac OS because that is the platform in all the art and design labs.  I even expanded my knowledge of the Amiga by becoming the Video Toaster and graphics guy for my Sioux Falls College (now ‘University of Sioux Falls’) television show that doubled as a video class.

These three operating systems were quite different.  Looking back now, there is no question that the Amiga OS was much more advanced than the others, by far.  But not a single one of those OSes was reliable.  The Mac was more reliable than the others, and that is why creative professionals flocked to it.  Windows was never reliable until Windows 7.

But now, it seems that Microsoft has stopped considering what an operating system should be, and has forgotten what is required.  An operating system is supposed to be there to help us manage and run our computers and the applications we run on them.  But, that means when we configure how it operates, that we will have the same exact settings each and everytime we start the PC, until we change any particular settings or authorize an app to do it.  No matter how many times we restart a computer, if we do not ever change the settings, it should run the same way, as expected.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has a different idea.  They will and do screw with our personal configuration data and preferences with each and every single update with absolutely no authorization on the user’s part.  This is likely to put Microsoft in big trouble with the EU because it is not securing and protecting the personal data required to run the computer as expected, and compromising that personal user data is in direct conflict with the GDPR.  Without this required user configured data saved reliably, a PC OS is unusable.  You would have to select your country, language, keyboard layout, reinstall drivers such as printers, scanners, every single time you used them, setup all your preferences every single time you used something.  People wouldn’t want to power-off their PCs and we would waste extra power and money.

But, that is already happening, at a small degree, for me...

Every 2 weeks, I boot-up or restart to my 2018 Dell Inspiron 5000 Gaming series model 5577 only to find that the external monitor which I use for a display doesn’t even work.  Because of this, I have deferred Windows Updates for a month, but in the last 3 weeks it has happened twice. 

My 5577 Gaming Dell was purchased very carefully.  I could only afford so much.  I needed quality components with a great airflow (two efficient fans) because previous systems failed due to overheating because of the fact that I live in the real world and don’t have air conditioning.  I also needed a laptop because I have to take the laptop everywhere, even delivering logos, graphics, websites and designs to my client for approvals, and because I need it everywhere I go.  I needed an NVIDIA card for my video editing (and it never had to be the latest, but it did need to be a good one, because video editing software takes advantage of hardware acceleration).  I also appreciate laptops because I don’t have to go out and buy a whole battery backup system, and every computer should always, without exception, be backed up with battery power (preferably for at least one 8 hour work day, which most laptops, including this one, falls way short of).

This has been a great computer for me, except for the Windows 10 Pro operating system that it came with.  The operating system keeps forgetting that I have an external display, that I don’t even open the lid except to turn it on.  It forgets that without shooting a video signal down my connected HDMI cable to the Samsung TV on my desk, that I am otherwise unable to see anything. 

With the lid closed, I obviously rely on an external keyboard.  I have put down some felt so that I can lay a washable Logitech keyboard over that and don’t scratch the laptop.  Because I am a tall guy, the extra keyboard height helps me keep my back straighter and is much more ergonomic, though I would prefer to get a desk that could double as a standing desk, as well.  I have been using a mouse for at least 30 years, now.  I find that all track pads are a pathetic input device, anyway.  I wish I didn’t have to open the lid of this system at all, but that’s where they stick the power button.

It is stupid and completely unprofessional to change any user’s display settings.  Yet, Microsoft is doing it with each update.  This appears to be a consipracy to allow them to show ads and collect the ‘performance’ data that I and others don’t want to send them.  Because even though I upgraded my system, at Dell, to a Windows 10 PRO operating system distribution, Microsoft is still trying to rest my settings and show me advertising and conduct personal espionage in order to have as many profiles on its users as Facebook. 

All right, that is a reach, yet still, I am a professional, I specifically picked the professional version so that I wouldn’t have to ever see a single consumer advert that the Windows 10 operating system has already shown users.  I don’t even allow desktop notifications, nor will I ever, not even for email.  When I sit down at this computer, I am working, I need to be in the zone and stay in the zone.

I juggle tasks and projects like no other.  I will not pretend to be able to multitask, we all know the human brain is incapable of that.  Any damn distraction is a damaging destructive force that wastes my time and energy.  And a part of the reason is that it is, is because notifications are alerts that need to be dealt with immediately. 

When a creative person gets in the zone, that’s where they need to be.  If someone sent me an email, I will see it when I check my email.  If they want to discuss something now, they can call me and talk, I am always reachable by phone and love to have a good conversation.

I look at it this way, if I am working on something, I am focused.  When my son says ‘goodnight’ to me, he always makes me jump.  I am concentrating.  But when gizmos notify me it takes me out of that concentration effort.  It destroys my creativity. 

Even when I go from the kitchen to the garage for something we store there, I go through a door and I am in a new environment.  When we were cave dwellers, we were competing for that space with wild creatures such as bears.  We had to be on the alert.  As I open the garage door and go from a cool air environment and step down into the hot, humid heat of the outside and my eyes adjust because of the reduced light, I am assessing a whole new chamber and my senses are overwhelmed by the environment.  What did I go out here for again?  This is a natural and necessary occurrence in the human mind.  No matter how smart we become, we still need to be able to survive.

I don’t just expect to survive, I need to get stuff done.  Windows 10 Pro should not be so stupid that it will forget my display settings, ever, not even once.  I am a very visually oriented guy and I am expecting a professional product to behave professionally. 

Get with it, Redmond!  Any destruction of my time destroys my productivity.  I have deadlines to meet and you are screwing with me.  Windows 10 Pro should never be allowed to waste anyone’s time.  That’s completely unprofessional and we pros have a great deal of work to get done.  Stop slacking off on us!

Are You Looking for a Really Cool, Affordable & Useful Tech Christmas Gift for a Friend, Loved One or Yourself?

Just plug this little stick into your HDMI port.  Add a wireless keyboard and mouse, or if you prefer substitute the mouse for a touchpad, trackball, virtual pointer.  The result is a complete Windows 10 (32 bit) computer that you can put in your pocket or purse.  It's only the size of a pack of gum.

Want to use your wired keyboard and mouse?  You can, it does have a couple of USB posts, but remember, you will lose them for something else.  Optionally, you can turn your Android or iOS device (ie: tablet or smartphone) into a remote command center with an app like Intel Remote Keyboard, Unified Remote Control, or one of the other many such apps.

In fact, the only cable you really need is the power cord to plug the Windows 10 device in with.  But, you can literally take it with you almost anywhere on the globe, because it has an adapter for outlets all over the world.

One of the USB ports supports USB 3 for fast data transfers, while the other is USB 2.  It’s so cool though, a PC for your pocket that you can use on any TV with an HDMI port.  Awesome!

It comes with 2GB memory and is powered by a Quad-Core Intel Atom Processor which in turn feeds graphics through an Intel HD Graphics chipset.

The networking capability is 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac wireless and Bluetooth 4.0, so there are no limits for networking.

There is a built-in 32 GB Flash drive, and it offers an expandable storage solution through an SDcard slot, so you can actually upgrade the storage as required, and with few limits (unlike a tablet or phone's set storage capability limits).

And as you may be using an HDTV or compatible display for it, why not take advantage of the fact that this thing offers NetFlix, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Hulu and more!

The whole device is an Intel product available now for Christmas, and it only costs $131.46 at Amazon, and Pime members can get it for just $119.99!

Windows 10 on a Stick

($131.46, or $120 for Prime Members)

But, get this, there are actually others available, with upgraded processors, should you require something with some more oompf...

4GB RAM, 64 bit Windows 10 w/Intel Core m3-6Y30 processor, 64 GB eMMC & 3 USB 3.0 Ports

($395, or $350 for Prime Members)

Retailers are often using a handheld PC they use to scan UPC bar codes.  The ones I use all seem to be Windows CE based.  We use the scanners to check prices, availability, product information, back stock stockroom location, and connected to a portable printer we may print out new price tickets or mark them down with clearance tickets.

Now, I know that this is old technology.  We have been using these slow-ass time wasting devices for at least the 4 years I have worked the store. So why the hell even use them?  Once a ticket is scanned it will usually take a second or more to spit out a printed ticket.  Obviously, these are not multiple processor machines.

But why doesn't business recognize the improvements required for this system, address, improve it and replace the outdated system immediately?  

Think about it.  In one night we might have anywhere from 6,000 to 17,000 pieces to mark down, but we literally have to scan many times more. Even if no ticket is required, the devices are still pathetically slow as you wait on what to do next.

6,000 peices to mark down means that I am wasting at least 12,000 seconds scanning everything if I am scanning all the clearance products for further additional markdowns.  12,000 seconds is 200 minutes wasted, every single night that we do mark downs.  Now, times 1,000 stores and the corporate entity has just wasted over 200,000 minutes, at bare minimum,  3,333 hours where its employees could be getting more done, or doing other things.

3,333 x 8.50 (min wage) = $28,330.50 of wasted labor every night there are price changes.  And we usually have price changes every couple of weeks or so.  Sometimes, there are so many products to scan, it takes 2 nights.

And our corporate leadership fails to see how pathetic this system is, anyway?

But, that's not the half of it.  There is an official ignorance about product life.  Batteries go dead and no one replaces them.  I put a sign on a battery saying "Dead Battery" and someone takes the sticky note off and puts it in the charger, but it won't charge because the battery is completely dead and useless.  I change the sign to "Useless Battery" and they rip the sign off and put it in the charger, still.

Because of this ignorance, batteries don't get recycled and we wind-up with more dead batteries than we have good ones.  This means we spend up to an hour trying to find a battery that works with our handheld PC scanner.  Of course, it is more complicated than that.  Some batteries will work in certain PCs.  So nothing gets thrown out or recycled, and no one knows how to combat this.

Then, when you connect a printer, the PC has to be able to work with the printer. Sometimes they don't work together and you have to trade out printers once you have a PC and printer combination that works.

We tell management about all these issues and more (scanning a QR code by accident freezes-up many of the PCs, and the QR codes are placed right next to the UPC codes), and yet no one does anything.  This is a pathetic set of circumstances, and I am quite honestly convinced that my corporate retailer loves frustrating its employees with poor pay, poor equipment, unreal expectations, no real benefits and complete ignorance.

Ignorance is not bliss.  It is stupid when it is preventable.  Especially in a corporate environment.

UPDATE March 11, 2018 (post originally written at Blogger March 23rd, 2015):

I haven’t worked in a retail setting for years, now.  Though I enjoy communicating with new people on a daily basis in the retail industry, I also enjoy getting to know my client and delivering his best option whether it be in a domain name, identity & branding solution, a modern website experience, building him or her a new PC, solving technology issues, advancing website search ability or crafting an effective marketing, I do relish the relationships and teaching small business effective paths and resources for accomplishing real challenging goals, as opposed to selling stuff we really don’t need.

A replacement for the Windows Explorer 'copy' funtion?  HELL YES!

You may be asking why anyone would want to replace Windows Explorer, it is the actual foundation of the User Interface.  Well, the problem is that Windows Explorer is not even close to being stable to do rudimentary tasks such as copying files, which is a vital part of any GUI based OS.

Long gone are the days when files were small.  Now we are copying large galleries of digital snapshots and video between our smart phone and our PC, or top our family share and back-up cloud hard drive.

But if Microsoft's Windows Explorer is constantly restarting, we can't even copy 25 or 50 GBs of stuff.  Heck, My old Windows Notebook has been upgraded to a hybrid 1 TB internal hard drive and its almost full.

But I don't want to simply backup this drive to the cloud, I want to setup the cloud hard drive to allow my family to copy all their photos, video and documents to it, as well as have it available as a central software archive repository.

But every time I copy stuff over using the provided Windows Explorer user interface, once logged into the network drive window, I select a directory to copy in the source window and drag it to the destination directory on the cloud hard drive only to return a day later to have a dialogue window asking me if I still want to copy a file without all of its properties.

First, this WD My Cloud network hard drive was supposed to be Windows Compatible.  I am extremely disappointed that it isn't.  When I copy something, I expect it to copy everything, including the properties right down to the creation date and the date the file was last modified.  So this is an issue I need to address with Western Digital, for sure.

But the fact remains that the WD My Cloud 3TB ethernet hard drive came with no extra software aside from some added drivers.  So I only have Windows to accomplish this task, and yet everytime I click 'Yes' to go ahead and copy a file minus a few properties, Windows Explorer fails and restarts, loosing my place where I was in the copy and not re-initializing and re-instituting the task at hand.

These WD My Cloud hard drives have been out there an awfully long time, now. You would think that this problem would have been solved long, long ago.  After all, in order to access your gallery and files through the cloud, it needs to be there.  So every one else had to copy their stuff over, too.

Now, I will say that I am a professional web designer.  I am also an amatuer photographer, videographer and animator.  I do have a large stash of imagery.  But I am only copying 25 to 50 GB directories, one at a time. These are not 1/2 TB backups.  And the whole idea is to have easy access to the original file in the first place.

So now begins my search for a Windows Explorer replacement, as I cannot simply replace the copy command, it is Windows Explorer itself that is constantly failing and restarting and screwing up my life, wasting all my time.  Heck, I've had the drive for a week and haven't been able to get it working with my system, there is no included software, no mention of downloads (though after some research I found a download for backup and a few utils), and the little documentation that there is shows no special software requirements in the first place (Connect both PC and My Cloud directly to router via Ethernet for optimal performance and then copy your data to your My Cloud device).

In my search, I ran across an article which offers extensions for Windows Explorer, including a couple of replacements.  I won't list the source article, because most of the crap offered included malware or unwanted programs.  Good Lord, you have to be careful these days.

One of the copy utilities that was safe is TeraCopy.  It specifically addresses the issue that I am having with speed and where Windows Explorer chokes on copying large amounts of data.  Errors can be recovered from, copying paused and resumed.  Why isn't this a standard Windows feature?  Duh!  Microsoft, shame on you.

https://codesector.com/teracopy

I highly recommend it.  I went and purchased a license for the pro version right away (about $21 USD at the time).

There are some other options out there, but most of the others require you to replace Windows Explorer, and I just got it to display all image thumbnails correctly (including Photoshop image files) with the Fast Picture Viewer Pro Codec (which I also purchased because it works so well and does exactly what I need).

http://www.fastpictureviewer.com/

With these two utilities I hope I have upgraded Windows Explorer enough so that it is finally useful again.  The best thing about these programs is that they aren't bloatware by any stretch of the imagination.  And even though Fast Picture Viewer doesn't aid in copying, at least you can find the right Photoshop/Illustrator image file that you want to copy when you are working on more than one.

So for now I will stick with my enhanced version of Windows Explorer.  But there are replacements for it, as well.  Still, I think these are super oversights by an extremely inattentive and clueless Windows graphic user interface software development team.

It does make me wonder what a Windows Explorer replacement might offer.

UPDATE March 26th, 2015:

I have uninstalled Teracopy because I was still experiencing issues. However, these are all the same issues, which means that the original issue appears to be a network one.  So I intend to either reinstall Teracopy or try a Windows Explorer replacement, but I think I have to fix my network issue before I will be able to change the system again. That means that I am now saving up for an AC router.  However, the Fast Picture Codec keeps working beautifully and I wouldn't dare uninstall that.

UPDATE March 11th, 2018:

Just grabbed a new system and I set myself up with a lot of the free apps you can select and download through Ninite.com. One of the apps I grabbed was Teracopy and I must say that I have been quite pleased.  Although I would not say that it works flawlessly (it has struggled when the system was updating and apparently extremely slow for a few moments), I selected to move a tiny file, twice.  So, the second time it followed my repeated command, the file was moved and therefore deleted from the original spot.

Where Teracopy shines, though, is in moving/copying around large video production files, and even large Photoshop layered photography, or complex Illustrator renditions.

Having seen its capabilities now, and as I start to move into the video editing arena with even much larger clips and finished videos, I sure am glad it’s available.  I will probably go to the pro version once this new Dell laptop is updated with some expensive parts (NVMe & RAM) and all squared away.

I am adding one of my licensed copies of FastPictureViewer to my new laptop, as well.  I just cannot stand it when I only see Photoshop icons as opposed to glorious thumbnails of my work representing the actual work, which helps in hunting down a certain image, ten fold.

You just can’t go wrong with these vital system utilities that fix Windows.

Welcome to Windows Notebook.  At one time this domain hosted all sorts of helpful articles about Windows and then it was demoted in the search engines because they weren't original articles.

Since then, I started my own blog at Blogger, but for some reason (maybe because I am critical of Google?), my blogs weren’t showing up there, so now I have moved this blog to a new home at to Tumblr.  That’s kind of crazy, because Tumblr has so many kinds of blogs and vlogs, from one extreme to another.  But WordPress is showing ads on my blogs, which is why I preferred Blogger, and that is the kind of thing I write a blog for, is to promote my own services, so I don’t want anyone competing with my offers.

The old blog (at Blogger) won’t show up using my domain name, but you can find it using the old Blogger address.  I have to wonder if Microsoft complained because they decided to use a very original name for a generic peice of equipment, and called something the Windows Notebook?

A link to the old blog at blogger: https://windows-notebook.blogspot.com

-You’ll notice I changed this “Welcome” article a bit.  Now, I’m on Windows 10.

So anyway, I set the domain name aside a while after the publishing articles didn’t work well.  It had been years since I actually used the domain name, WindowsNotebook.com, before I set it up as sort of a blog for myself for everything Windows related.

Since that time, I had 5 computers go down in rapid succession over the past 2.5 years or so.  All of my older desktops running XP are no longer viable machines and pose a security threat if connected to the internet.  Apparently, an AMD Semperon is so old that you can’t even load working antivirus software on it.  So much for participating in Malwarebytes’ “Lifetime Pro user” licensing, right? 

Now I am using my Windows Notebook less because I am using my Android tablet more for the phone, contacts, calendar, weather, email and news.  But I still require my Windows machine as a professional creativity and productivity tool a great deal because I need Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Office and many other robust programs that simply are not available on the Android platform. Even some free apps that were available on Android seem to graduate to Windows & Apple Macintosh platforms only to never be updated on Android again.

I have upgraded a few computers around the house to Windows 10.  But, to be honest with you, Windows 10 is a major, quantum leap backward for me.  It kind of reminds me of Windows 3.1, which by itself is scary as hell.  And everything is different.  You can’t even access everything in the control panel on Windows 10 (things like; “Let me choose what the computer does when I close the lid.”, are now hidden and you have to search for them, so a user doesn’t actually have UI access to everything in the control panel (aka, the “Settings”).  When they do pop-up after a search, if you have experience with Windows 7, you easily recognize the familiar control panel user interface, now a holdover from Vista.

Windows 7 had finally become a thing of beauty.  But I did have issues with it.  I  just couldn't yet rely on it at first, and for a long time.  Eventually, it improved, but then my main Sony VAIO laptop went on the fritz.  I had replaced a number of hard drives that kept going bad.  And I am talking several right in a row. 

Still, I do have a great deal more issues with Windows 8 than I do with 7.  In fact, I upgraded the VAIO I was using from Vista to 8 at first, but was so upset with the operating system that I purchased Windows 7 Ultra, then reverted back to Windows Vista and upgraded all over again to Windows 7.  What was Microsoft thinking?

Now, Microsoft is apparently going to make Windows 10 a free upgrade to both Windows 7 and Windows 8 users.  But, what happened to Windows 9, by the way?  You can’t say that Windows 8.1 was actually 9, because that OS was released in a hurry to address all the mistakes that Microsoft introduced with Windows 8.  I believe that Windows 8 was so bad that Microsoft decided it needed to get on board with 10, and forget about 8 or 9 to compete on the grand stage with Apple before Mac OS X bites them in the butt.  

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Macintosh products.  They are becoming even more popular with their ease of use and simple digital lifestyle integration with iPhones.  They are surely very professional products.  But they are also exceedingly overpriced.  The value is there for pros who rely on the platform, but the only reason that Apple can charge what they do for the Macintosh experience is because of the top notch components of each day, which are available to mere consumers, using the best build quality, introduced in a timely manner with an extremely easy to use OS.  But don’t think that Apple doesn’t have security issues, it has way too many.  There are plenty of Mac viruses out there, and users don’t think they should be worried.  Then, because Apple keeps technology, systems and everything else so well up-to-date, it often makes hasty decisions in the pursuit of supporting the new fangled tech with disasterous results for elder technology, often making something only a couple years old absolutely obsolete.  I remember when Apple went from Motorola processors to PPC and jumped in, only to see them go to Intel and make my brand new PPC Mac worthless with the next OS update.

But now that Macintosh are firmly on the Intel platform, remember that with only a little coaxing, the Apple platform can now run Windows.  Fancy that.  Maybe it is worth a second look for me?

That said, my wife grabbed a MacBook Pro for my son and it was quite beautiful.  It seemed as if a bit of a role reversal to me, as I had been handling the tech support for the Macs at the University of Sioux Falls, am a graphic artist that also does some photography and video editing, and I even create logos and websites for a living.  You would think that I would have a Mac with a Retina display, being an artist.  But, as an artist, I count every penny.  Every decision I make is calculated, and I have had better luck with Windows.  To top that off, my son seemed to prove me right when his MacBook Pro took a header trying to use it on those tiny, not stable, auditorium mini desks you see in college.  Just a tiny dent, really not noticeable unless you know how to look for it, has mucked up his beautiful Retina display, and I don’t think he had the thing even a year.

Windows is a good old reliable stand-by that is capable of all sorts of stuff.  And there is a professional market that we don’t see out there, with multiple NVIDIA graphics cards to power multiple 8K processors, i9 and Xeon processors, and external rendering engines available.  As consumers, we just don’t see these machines.  Why?  The same as Macs, we skip over the stuff that cost too much money.  The trick here is that these systems are available to graphics and video studios, businesses that need company servers to handle mainframe and strained high capacity internet loads, etc.  You can find lots of Windows based professional systems out there, I guarantee it.

Anyway, I am sort of rewriting this blog.  Eventually, I’ll get the domain name moved over, if Tumblr doesn’t throw the blog under the bus and show advertising on it.  Hey, I own a lot of websites providing very vital internet services and resources that every business requires.  There is no way I want my own blog leveraged against me.   

You will probably find that I have more gripes than answers if you decide to continue reading this blog. But I already have a great many reviews in the works, and we are supposed to be critical when we review stuff.

It just strikes me funny that after bullying half of the world Microsoft has squashed the Amiga (very purposely), BeOS, as it expands into the hardware market with mice, 2nd best keyboards, one of the two best consoles and among the very best tablet line available from anyone, the Surface tablets and Surface book.  Failures are out there, including one of the three very best phone  platforms, sitting abandoned.  We are all expected to feel chummy and lovie-dovey with the 800 pound gorilla that had previously destroyed my life several times as an Amiga animator, as a Video Toaster videographer, and left me with the taste of blood in my mouth after being knocked around so much. 

In the end, I got stronger, I now know a smattering of computer OSes, including C64, Amiga, the Video Toaster, Unix, Linux, Windows (and had a quick stint with Gateway as a phone support guy), even Macintosh.  

So, I am not actually a fan of the OS that spurned me with the big blue screen of death.  I am miffed why I can't get the system to copy 50+ GB of data from one drive to another network drive without crapping out and restarting still, to this day, in Windows 7.

I don't understand why Microsoft still uses so many resources and doesn't share them.

I am miffed why Microsoft does things the way it does and survives (like a ramrod).

So this blog is sort of going to be a learning experience.  I learn something everyday.  But most of the time I am laughing at the strange things that go on with Windows.  I mean, it can backup a whole hard drive if I use a certain backup program, but if I dare try to use the OS copy function within Explorer to copy a directory over to another drive, it craps out? What sense is there in that?  And Windows 10 has huge privacy concerns that put it on the level of an automated spam and corporate spy machine.  So I will be going over how to protect yourself in this blog.  But do note that Apple and Android and even Alexa and Google Home raise important security issues themselves, which prompt yet another blog still to come, because that is yet another story.  But Cortana is listening, and just because her voice is female oriented, don’t think she isn’t ‘Big Brother’, they all are. 

So I will be looking at the Windows 10 and jotting down my notes in this Notebook with both amazement with great bewilderment.  I just do not understand how Microsoft gets away with what it does.  Like, it was fined billions, so it works a deal to give its overstocked older useless software to assist inner city education systems... a “win-win”?  I don’t think so, because it is unloading all sorts of obsolete software that it can't sell to anyone.

This is the kind of crap that Microsoft gets away with everyday while us little guys try to do great work and make our customers happy by doing good work and delivering projects on time. Yet somehow Microsoft always wins.  The Commodore and the Amiga have been completely written out of computer history.  That takes muscle, to change history and warp the truth thusly.

So I am not a fan of Microsoft.  But I do watch them and laugh.  So maybe this will be more of a humor blog than a help to anyone, because I will be seeking answers for myself.

Nevertheless, they won’t be able to shut me up, either.  I am going to use Windows Notebook to review desktops, laptops, tablets, (even Windows phones when they reappear), and other devices that run on the Windows operating system, as well as Microsoft devices and hardware such as mice and keyboards, even software and accessories that benefit the Windows user (even things that might be useful to a Windows user from their on-Windows smartphone or tablet).

I’ll call everything as I see it, pull no punches.  No one is sending me stuff for free, but I would happily accept it if they did, as long as they are certain that they want an honest and critical review of their product (or service).