Geekly Update - 21 November 2018

"Which holiday gift items are most likely to invade your privacy? "

Just remember that the "S" in "IoT" stands for "Security".

My god, shouldn't this have been the default before:

“If we detect that your device may have an issue, such as an application incompatibility, we will not install the update until that issue is resolved, even if you ‘Check for updates,’ so you avoid encountering any related problems,” says Cable of Microsoft.

MS needs a dope slap for this.

Windows 10 re-release: You say "Run the Winver.exe desktop app to see if you got it. If not, use Windows Update to manually check for updates". Common Bob, give people a chance to learn from their mistakes. People who get hit by these bugs are the anxious early adopters. There are already reports of problems with the re-release. Let someone else be the turkey. Happy Thanksgiving.

I have a laptop running Win 10. How do I get the Winver.exe app. And once I have it, how do I run it? Does it open up like the apps on my phone?

Sorry for my ignorance.

Ducklady: Press the "Windows" key + "R" or Start, Run. Type "winver.exe", and then Enter.

@Ducklady

Go to the Windows desktop screen.
Press the Windows key + R on the keyboard.
Type winver in the text field and press Enter.

I feel for the guy who lost $250,000 of videos and feel any software manufacturer should be held liable for the damage caused by a bug like that. However, I would be surprised if Adobe didn't have a disclaimer that they wouldn't be liable for losses like that. How legal that is will have to be determined in court.

On the flip side, the guy is a total moron for not having multiple backups of his data. A few hundred dollars of backup drives and even a good cloud backup business plan is on heck of a lot less than $250,000 with no hope of recovery. Considering the scope of his business, data insurance might have been worth looking into.

Or...

Click the search icon (magnifying glass) in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Type: winver
Click on the first search result.

Anyone who clicks 'Check for Updates' is a fool. I know from experience. I use windows for only one program that I can't find anything similar for Linux. If it wasn't for that one program I would be FREE!

@MyNameBob --
I understand what you mean.
After my attempt to upgrade from 7 to 10 in 2015 bricked my computer, I fired Microsoft. Yes, I'm still using 7, because its slimy tendrils have wormed their way too deeply into my life, but I hear the siren call of Linux (probably Mint).

I have 6 windows computers, 1 running Insiders version 1809, build 18282.1000, and the other 5 running 1809, build 17763.134 (the latest stable version of 1809). Each of the 5 which run stable versions had 1809 installed at the beginning of October, when it first became available. I downloaded the .iso, placed it on a usb flashdrive, and installed. I had NO problems losing data,but one of the 5 had problems running applications. I did a "reset" on that one and have had no problems since.

So, I had success on 4 of 5 win 10 1809 installations and had to reset the other, which took an hour or so (no heavy lifting) with another hour to reinstall applications removed by the reset. Actually, the whole process was very easy and I lost nothing, but gained a very nice operating system.

I'm one of the weirdos that have always used the "Check for Updates" link. I have never had trouble with a major Windows update, other than the time it takes to install (4 hours to 2 days - yes, 2 days!). What has wrecked one computer (now running Linux Mint) and given two others big problems are the Cumulative Updates, about one time out of every three, I think. Anyone clever know a reason for this?

Hi, did I read yesterday that there are a number of new problems with this latest version, iCloud users come to mind,also windows will not even start the upgrade process if you are using any of the offending application?

Maybe Still Wait...
BTW, its never a good idea to"check for updates" as there may be a reason why Microsoft is withholding your upgrade. You might still be protected even if you "check for updates", but then again maybe not!
And if you download the iso & force an update, all bets are off.

Windows 10 October Update Breaks iCloud, F5 VPN

Some users of Apple's iCloud software will be unable to get the latest Windows 10 update right now. It's an example of Microsoft blocking the update rather than causing problems with specific applications.

iCloud is the online backup and sync tool for Apple devices such as iPhones and iPads. It's aimed at people who have iOS mobile devices but also use a Windows PC. iCloud lets users access Apple services and data such as their email, photos and calendar on both the mobile device and computer.

Apple and Microsoft are now working together to produce a version of iCloud that works with the updated Windows 10.

VPN Software Also Glitched

It's not the only software compatibility glitch with Windows 10. There's also a problem for users of a virtual private network (VPN) service from a company called F5.

As with the iCloud issue, if Microsoft spots somebody with the F5 VPN installed, it's holding off the automatic Windows 10 update until there's a fix. (Source: zdnet.com)
https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-1809-big-icloud-problem-were-working-on-fix-say-microsoft-apple/

Re the Adobe Premier Pro "bug" - if the guy in this case hadn't changed his cache folder to his main document folder where he saved all finished files, the bug would not have affected him. Yes he should have backed up if his files were truly worth anywhere near what he claims, but come on - using a single folder for finished work AND as the cache for in progress work? That's just asking for problems.

I finally got tired of fighting with MS Windows 10. I backed up all of my important files to an external 2TB drive, an online storage site, then I wiped the hard drive on my Dell Laptop and install Linux Ubuntu OS. I did the same a while ago on my wife's Dell Laptop and she is very happy with it.
I have not had a problem since with her laptop or mine. I can access all of my files on the external drive and Linux backs up my entire computer each day to the 2TB external drive.
I can access the programs and sites I was using with windows. Got my printers connected via wireless.
So far I am very pleased with the Linux Ubuntu OS. I am not having constant window freezes and unexpected and repeated updates as with MS Win10 which was becoming a nightmare with each update.
All of my older programs work, I can access Google Chrome Web Albums and GDrive. Amazon Prime, Netflix for movies. My wife loves the wide assortment of FREE games.
Goodby MS. Thank you Bob for the articles on Windows that have helped me over the past years to resolve many problems with MS Windows. Especially Win10 which had become more annoying than useful. Could you post more articles about the Linux OS? There are various versions but I like Ubuntu. Mint had a few probs on my old desktop so I decided to stick with Ubuntu when I loaded it on my Dell Laptop. Another bonus, my speed has improved dramatically. Both with the computer itself and the Internet download and upload. Running as smooth as a race car engine. :)