Misc/Questions

verno · Post 03-04-20 10:22

I was half joking but thanks Myles. Don't give yourself anymore work though.

Myles · Post 03-04-20 21:49

Oh! just reading this now! It's already done anyway

Actually it was a good idea, the less limits the better.

verno · Post 06-04-20 17:44

Lupo Pazzesco · Post 07-05-20 13:11

Anyone on here use a Mac or have any knowledge of OS 10.15 Catalina? Is it worth updating from OS 10.14 or is it actually a lot of Windows 10-esqe problems to use the lastest OS? Thanks.

verno · Post 28-09-20 22:40

Now that Freesports has done a disappearing act from my list of channels where can I watch Milan games ?

Lupo Pazzesco · Post 29-09-20 10:29

The free LiveScore phone app shows some Serie A games or get a sub to Premier Sports channels.

Lupo Pazzesco · Post 29-09-20 16:16

https://www.freesportsplayer.tv/

:multiplecooldancers:

verno · Post 05-10-20 19:57

Cheers Lupo.

Dels · Post 17-02-21 21:11

Two questions:

1. Has anyone used Restoro to help fix a pc/laptop problem? Is it legit? I've looked for answers and some say yes and some say no.

2. Anyone know how to fix or even know what "server execution failed" is?

That's the problem I'm having and i panicked and let someone from Restoro into my laptop and now I'm worried.

Myles · Post 17-02-21 21:28

I don't know what restoro is but i wouldn't let anyone install restoring software or onto your machine. If the operating system can't fix the issue then restore software won't do it either.

What's the error code?
What happens when you power on the machine, does it load or attempt to load the operating system or does it crash before that?
What operating system is it, Windows 10?

Dels · Post 17-02-21 21:49

It was a downloading problem I was having. Restoro did resolve the problem to be fair to them but they told me I had many more problems, but fixing that would cost me £144, I said no to that. I probably wouldn't use them again, its just that with this bloody lockdown the people that I go to with computer problems is closed. I panicked. :rollyeyes:

Myles · Post 17-02-21 22:17

No need to pay a shop.

Windows has a builtin system restore so you can restore the machine back to a previous date, like when you first bought it, while retaining all your data, photos etc.

On Windows 10 you just type in Reset in the searchbar at the bottom of the screen and chose the option to Reset this PC.

It might take a few hours, as when the reset (it reinstalls Windows) might take a while plus it might need to reinstall the Windows updates that occured since the restore date so make sure it's plugged in and you have many hours left in the day, and never interrupt it once you've started it.
A reset will retain your drivers, which make the hardware work, i.e. camera, graphics card, wifi card, etc.

If you bring it to a shop, they will just do this and charge you for it.

Tip, never use more than one anti-virus software, else they will fight each other (they see each other as malware) and slow your machine down, and never use free anti-virus as they will slow your machine down with bloatware which defeats the purpose of anti-virus which is suppose to keep your machine fast.
Ideally, don't install anything that's free, unless it's reputable open source with an active community around it.

Lupo Pazzesco · Post 18-02-21 14:35

Great advice Myles, I wish I'd known the above before junking my Windows 10 computer after one too many problems with another crap update. In the end I went back to a second hand Apple which does the trick.

I may dig out the old PC though just for a bit of fun!

Dels · Post 18-02-21 17:13

Aye, that is some good advice Myles.

I usually don't pay the shop, i only had to do it once to get the screen on my laptop replaced. I normally just go in and tell them the issue and they give me advice
Most of the time it just involves me shutting it down properly.
I think ive refreshed a device before, long time ago, and it did sort out whatever problem it was i was having.

Myles · Post 18-02-21 19:11

Lupo Pazzesco wrote: ↑
18-02-21 14:35
Great advice Myles, I wish I'd known the above before junking my Windows 10 computer after one too many problems with another crap update. In the end I went back to a second hand Apple which does the trick.

I may dig out the old PC though just for a bit of fun!

Unfortunately Microsoft forces the updates since Windows 10 so if they send a dodgy update that affects specific machine models it can kill your machine Whereas before with the option of manual updates it was less likely as you could wait a week after each major update to see if there were any issues reported in the news first. They force it now because they want to make sure everyone uses any new products/features that they rollout. Personally i think you should be able to make the updates manual as you paid for the machine and also Windows so you should be able to properly 'own' it.

Myles · Post 18-02-21 19:40

Dels wrote: ↑
18-02-21 17:13
Aye, that is some good advice Myles.
I usually don't pay the shop, i only had to do it once to get the screen on my laptop replaced. I normally just go in and tell them the issue and they give me advice
Most of the time it just involves me shutting it down properly.
I think ive refreshed a device before, long time ago, and it did sort out whatever problem it was i was having.

Also, if you ever do a restore back to the beginning you will get all the bloatware from the laptop manufacturer, for example HP are decent machines but they always have loads of crap installed by the factory, free trials etc. Don't be afraid to uninstall all that kind of stuff. Technically, you can uninstall all the apps and just leave it with the operating system and it won't affect it, it will actually perform better. You only have to have the apps that you are using. Like your smarthphone, less is more. A spring clean once a year.

To make your machine startup and run faster;
So once you uninstall any app you don't use, then you can type in the searchbar msconfig, then open the System Configuration and in the popup box go to the Startup tab, click on Open Task Manager, disable everything listed, the operating system doesn't need anything there, they are just the apps starting automatically on startup, which slows your startup and they keep running even if you don't use them.
Then on the previous popup go to the Services tab, enable the checkbox for Hide all Microsoft services, then it will only show you the third-party services, mostly updaters, you can disable everything there too EXCEPT your anti-virus third-part software if you've purchased one.
Note: don't disable any of the Microsoft services, that's why you choose to hide them to avoid that mistake.

The reason for disabling all them is because the third-party services (i.e. iTunes, Skype) run in the background so that when you click on them on your desktop they open immediately, but the tradeoff is that your machine is constantly slower because they are always-on, so it's to give you the preception that they are great and fast, but really they are slowing your machine. By disabling they will still work, this just switches them to manual, so you are only calling them when you need them, so when you open them from your desktop they might open a bit slower but at least your machine is faster in general. You can still update them from within the apps themselves so autoupdaters are not necessary.

When installing any software, always choose custom install, not the recommended quick install, so you can disable the autoupdater from the beginning, also you will see if they are installing other free trial crap on the sly and you disable those from the beginning too. No such thing as a free lunch.

The reason i mention iTunes and Skype is because they use a lot of resources just to run in the background, so you might see a marked improvement by disabling them (if you have them on your machine).

Once finished disabling stuff, reboot for it to take effect and you should notice the different then.

Myles · Post 18-02-21 19:42

Also never install anything that says we will make your machine perform faster, that's just horseshit.

Lupo Pazzesco · Post 19-02-21 05:59

Myles wrote: ↑
18-02-21 19:42
Also never install anything that says we will make your machine perform faster, that's just horseshit.

Myles speaks the truth!

Dels · Post 19-02-21 14:55

Thanks again Myles, excellent advice. I'm going to bookmark this page.

Liam · Post 19-02-21 18:24

Myles wrote: ↑
18-02-21 19:11
Unfortunately Microsoft forces the updates since Windows 10 so if they send a dodgy update that affects specific machine models it can kill your machine Whereas before with the option of manual updates it was less likely as you could wait a week after each major update to see if there were any issues reported in the news first. They force it now because they want to make sure everyone uses any new products/features that they rollout. Personally i think you should be able to make the updates manual as you paid for the machine and also Windows so you should be able to properly 'own' it.

I hate auto Windows 10 updates, they seem more disruptive and less convenient than on earlier versions of Windows. And yes, they can break stuff.

I used to switch off things on startup to make a PC quicker too, although I've never had to do it since I started using PC's that ran from an SSD as they never seem to slow down over time. PC's just seem to accumulate so much rubbish over time without you even realising it.