Author Topic: The computing stuff rant thread (Read 414415 times)

Biggsy · « **Reply #1025 on:** 09 February, 2016, 12:36:32 pm »

I'd kill the task and do the move manually outside of Acronis. You can make Acronis aware of the backup's new location afterwards.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1026 on:** 10 February, 2016, 07:16:40 am »

That occurred to me after I'd started but I decided to let it run its course as otherwise Acronis would almost certainly break.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1027 on:** 10 February, 2016, 07:01:11 pm »

Oh look! Acronis is b0rked again, or at least not responding to simple enquiries.

Right-click system tray icon, click "Status". Result: nothing.
Start application from Start Menu. Result: nothing.

See that bike? The one that's just spent a decade at the bottom of Tottenham Lock? That's you, that is!

Wombat · « **Reply #1028 on:** 11 February, 2016, 08:14:35 am »

My pet gripe with Acronis is its sometimes inability to find its own backup when it is staring it in the face.

Basically it all starts with "hello Acronis, I'd like to back up" "would that be to the virgin USB3 3TB disk you have attached?" "Yes, please, that's the one" "Ok, lets go".

A week later, plug disk in, start Acronis, "Can't find backup location" "excuse me, you are showing it there, waddyamean you can't find it" I ended up having to create a new location, which it couldn't fimnd the next week, so I eventuially managed to persuade it to go to the original one. One one occasions it utterly refused, so I had to delete the backup, and say "Look, here's an empty disk, pick your own spot" again, which it did. I look forward with trepidation to this weekend's episode.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1029 on:** 11 February, 2016, 12:15:18 pm »

Sometimes if you LART it by re-running the install program and selecting "Repair" it magically remembers stuff. Software waterboarding.

Andrew · « **Reply #1030 on:** 11 February, 2016, 12:33:20 pm »

Quote from: Andrew on 07 February, 2016, 04:55:38 pm

.Net will not install on my Windows 7 system

Ok. You win. I've give up.

I didn't need .Net anyway. I can control my Sonos system without the .Net needing Sonos Windows application anyway.

barakta · « **Reply #1031 on:** 11 February, 2016, 01:37:12 pm »

Windows update rebooter nonsense. Don't fucking pop up when I am TYPING on things and just decide to steal focus cos you took that as permission to start shutting my system down. Thankfully some unsaved state stopped shut down so I could say "FUCK OFF".

But after I have said "FUCK OFF" for the 4 hour max allowed I don't appreciate the horrid little rebooter shit thinger to reappear 10 mins later and try to kill my state. I am fucking busy. I don't need state lost and rebootage to happen. FUCK OFF till 5pm!

SoreTween · « **Reply #1032 on:** 20 February, 2016, 11:39:26 am »

Wow, what a steaming turdpile Foxit reader has become. Used to be a fast, simple alternative to Adobe reader. I've been thoroughly unimpressed with it since installing the latest iteration, seemed awfully slow and noone will ever convince me the ribbon is an improvement. Then a couple of weeks ago I noticed an updater thread that gets silently launched and never shut down, that would have got it uninstalled if I'd had time. Then today I wanted to print a bunch of small pdfs 2 pages per side and duplex. First try it defaulted to flip on short edge cos yeah, landscape A4 ringbinders are the norm right? When I changed the printer to flip on long foxit reversed the page order so that for a 5 page doc page 1 ends up on a sheet on it's own instead of page 5 and 3 is to the right of 4.

FFS.

Uninstalled. Adobe going on. Oh goody, more Adobe software to update at 5 minute intervals.

[ETA]
I couldn't do it. As soon a I got to the download page, 'Offer: would you like to install this useless shit as well?' I just couldn't do it. So I installed Sumatra PDF instead. Small, fast to start, great. Print the first doc duplex 2on1 and I get... a blank piece of paper. Print the same doc 1on1 fine. Try again 2on1 - blank paper. Uninstalled.

F##k it, I'll use firefox, that has a (poor) built in reader. Click doc, 'Would you like to save or open this document?', Open please. <new tab opens with nothing in it>. 'Would you like to save or open this document?', Open please. <new tab opens with nothing in it>. 'Would you like to save or open this document?', Open please. <new tab opens with nothing in it>. Move file to desktop instead of opening from network drive. 'Would you like to save or open this document?', Open please. <new tab opens with nothing in it>. ARGHHHH!

[ETA again]
With a heavy sense of foreboding I installed Adobe Reader DC - DC? Document Cloud - Uh oh. Sure enough it now wants me to create a cloud account, log in here, see all your documents on any device, upload all you personal data to f##k knows where so that f##k knows who can see them too when Adobe drop the security ball. Uninstalled.

http://get.adobe.com/uk/reader/enterprise/
Reader 11 installed.

I would be so happy to pay for the full Acrobat again if I could have version 8 with security fixes. That version did everything I needed, in particular the document compare was excellent. It still is excellent so I still use it in a non persistent XP VM. Document compare in 9 onwards is close to useless. Unfortunately I can't let 8 near my network safely.

woollypigs · « **Reply #1033 on:** 20 February, 2016, 12:38:16 pm »

Yeah I remember Foxit, at about 1.4Mb then it bloated to to about 4.5Mb, last I saw it was 26Mb+ and not at all fast. Who ever invented .pdf will be among first against the wall when I take over. Just to read a simple file, Adobe makes sure that your 'puter grinds to a halt etc.

I try when it is possible to read .pdf in Gmail/Google Docs, but my browser and laptop struggles often.

SoreTween · « **Reply #1034 on:** 20 February, 2016, 12:47:00 pm »

My hatred of all things cloud rules anything Google straight out. Chrome seems well liked though so Chromium is something I may look in to next time firefox gets on my tits too much to endure.

Biggsy · « **Reply #1035 on:** 20 February, 2016, 12:58:36 pm »

Sumatra is nice and bother free. No browser integration, but you might as well have it as your default offline PDF viewer.

www.sumatrapdfreader.org/free-pdf-reader.html

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1036 on:** 20 February, 2016, 02:23:21 pm »

Wot Biggsy said. Browsers thesecdays appear to be able to cope with PDF so unless you need to do clever Stuffs Sumatra is fine.

Adobe keeps trying to sneak onto various machines around the place and has to be ruthlessly LARTed back into its hole.

SoreTween · « **Reply #1037 on:** 20 February, 2016, 02:41:53 pm »

Tried Sumatra, see first ETA.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1038 on:** 20 February, 2016, 03:07:38 pm »

No problems doing d/s printing from Sumatra here

SoreTween · « **Reply #1039 on:** 20 February, 2016, 03:30:09 pm »

Hmm. I didn't try duplex only before, my test print between the two blank sheets was just one page.
So I downloaded the portable version and tried again - duplex = fine, 2on1 simplex or duplex = blank page.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1040 on:** 20 February, 2016, 06:45:46 pm »

Those interfering cockshafts at Microsith have changed my default programs under Win10, such that PDFs are associated with Microsith Edge

TheLurker · « **Reply #1041 on:** 20 February, 2016, 07:29:26 pm »

Quote from: Mr Larrington on 20 February, 2016, 06:45:46 pm

Those interfering cockshafts at Microsith have changed my default programs under Win10, such that PDFs are associated with Microsith Edge

Explanation here
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/29.27.html#subj4

"Woody Leonhard, InfoWorld, 16 Feb 2016
The cumulative update not only knocks out PCs' default settings, it prevents users from resetting them
http://www.infoworld.com/article/3032751/microsoft-windows/windows-10-forced-update-kb-3135173-changes-browser-and-other-defaults.html"

barakta · « **Reply #1042 on:** 20 February, 2016, 09:15:52 pm »

Another strike against Win10 then!

mcshroom · « **Reply #1043 on:** 20 February, 2016, 10:10:09 pm »

For the record my Win10 laptop hasn't changed any defaults. Perhaps M$ don't like you Mr L

TimC · « **Reply #1044 on:** 20 February, 2016, 10:11:52 pm »

I have 5 computers running W10. None have been displaying this behaviour. All are fully up to date.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1045 on:** 21 February, 2016, 03:08:12 am »

Microsith certainly don't like Bruiser McHuge, the machine in the Estate Office. The "upgrade" to W10 decided to turn itself into a complete no-turning-back fresh install which meant I spent an entire day re-installing everything. Then something removed half the Stuffs from the Start Menu (including Word & Excel!) so I have to add things back whenever I run something for the first time since it went buggrup.

But it hasn't "forgotten" that I changed the image editor to paint.net

The other three Win10 boxes are all OK though Spencer The Halfwit hasn't been switched on this year so dog knows what they'll do to him once he is.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #1046 on:** 21 February, 2016, 06:55:52 pm »

No, Microsith, just because that cell has the "/" character in it does not mean it's a date. It's text. I told you it was text. I selected the entire fucking sheet and did "Format Cells...Text". So when I do a replace all from "nn/62" to "nn/68" I do not want to see it turning into for e.g. "Apr-68". Just do as you're fucking told. Also, stop opening local .htm(l) files with Edge. It's not big, it's not clever and IT'S NOT THE DEFAULT BROWSER!!1!

I bet Charlie Babbage never had to put up with this kind of bollocks

Ham · « **Reply #1047 on:** 22 February, 2016, 10:53:41 am »

Quote from: Mr Larrington on 21 February, 2016, 06:55:52 pm

No, Microsith, just because that cell has the "/" character in it does not mean it's a date. It's text. I told you it was text. I selected the entire fucking sheet and did "Format Cells...Text". So when I do a replace all from "nn/62" to "nn/68" I do not want to see it turning into for e.g. "Apr-68". Just do as you're fucking told.

Sorry, that's user error. Format text does odd things and you RARELY want to use it. Use a leading quote ' to ensure you get what you want appearing visually. You can also set Excel's over excited auto formatting, but that's probably not what you want mostly.

Quote

Also, stop opening local .htm(l) files with Edge. It's not big, it's not clever and IT'S NOT THE DEFAULT BROWSER!!1!

I bet Charlie Babbage never had to put up with this kind of bollocks

In W10, type "File Type" into the start menu and you should get "Choose default app for file type". Scroll down to htm/html and robert is your mother's brother.

Wombat · « **Reply #1048 on:** 22 February, 2016, 01:11:45 pm »

I disagree. I am NOT going to type a leading quote into every sodding cell, just to allow it to display the leading zeros on an entire column of phone numbers. I have to format the column as text. What is so effing difficult for MS to allow Excel to show leading zeroes? My spreadsheets are often garnered from assorted sources of data, so I cannot control how it arrives. On this note, why does Excel sometimes decide, when copying data from one text formatted cell to another text formatted cell, to reset the formatting to number?

In my view, the number formatting dialogue should have a bit saying allow leading zeroes, yes/no.

barakta · « **Reply #1049 on:** 22 February, 2016, 01:20:47 pm »

Windows update... eleventy of eleventy zillion... Now decided it's failed to configure so it's reverting them... I have spent 4 hours on this machine and not yet tested what I need to test cos it needed SO much work done... I foresee me having to hoik it home with me to beat it up and hoiking it to the away day where we're sposed to use it tomorrow and make it someone else's problem to get back to office for first thing Wednesday where it's needed for scheduled stuff. IT haven't provided the desktops they were promising in September yet... .

And I haven't even looked at the shitty fire alerter I need to RTFM on for Wednesday's test. Might RT that M now.