What can I /shouldI I do ??????????

[jimbo 111]

Some month ago I dropped my lap top {Windows 7} smashed it
I bought a new Lap top that has W10
I could not get on with the W10 and was eventually able to put my old laptop together with a bit of luck with the ’inards ‘. and a hot glue gun
Wonderful !!!!!
but on Xmas day my old faithful finally gave up and I had to use the W10
I persevered with this for two days ,but in desperation I got the chap who has previously repaired my computers to ‘fit’what I believe is called a Classic Shell ‘
this was a bit of improvement
BUT
my computer world is in tatters I cannot believe how slow and complicated W 10 is
I am devastated , because of my hearing problems {telephones}and failing eyesight {television } I use the computer perhaps more than most
Now I am spending most of my time frustrated and irritable trying to come to terms with this ********W10
I even bought a book called ‘Windows 10 for Seniors
I can read the book fine but trying to put the advice into practice is beyond me
{old age creeping in }
We read frequently about the government encouraging the older generation to use computers, but I don’t think Microsoft did much to help with this monstrosity
Windows 10
jimbo

 

[nitram]

Let's take possible sources of confusion one by one.

Do you sign in with a Microsoft account or a local account?

Microsoft sign in used email address and password.

Local account uses username and password.

You may be set to sign in automatically, if so you can find out what type of sign in you have
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5387-local-account-microsoft-account-how-tell-windows-10-a.html

 

[Tin]

Nitram will help. I too had problems with W10, but slowly got the hang of it, mostly making mistakes - still do, but I play around with it-maybe that's why I make so many mistakes. It has been 3 years since I got this new technology and I still do not understand all of it, I am below novice stage!!!!!!

 

[nitram]

jimbo

I think you live in MK, if so here's something local you could try

University of the third age (U3A) Milton Keynes

https://mku3a.org/groups

Click on the link, scroll down and click on 'computer group'.

It may or may not be too advanced but if you turn up you might find somebody local who will be only to glad to sort out your problems.

<U3A is a fantastic concept, I make full use of it locally:-

Members share their skills and life experiences: the learners teach and the teachers learn, and there is no distinction between them.

http://www.u3a.org.uk/>

 

[gringo]

As one relic to another...I used Windows XP until they started all these improvements, each one worse than the one before. So I switched to Apple and their OS operating system. It didn't take long to get used to it. They tweak it from time to time , but I've never had a problem, the basics remain unchanged. Of course one is confined to Apple hardware, but that may even be the best thing about it.

 

[jimbo 111]

Thank you

nitram

I have looked up the local U3Aand will contact them
their meetings are in the mornings ,unfortunately not very practical for me
but will give it at try

As far as I could follow it{ I' m as thick as two short planks ) I think I have a Microsoft account ( email address & password)

gringo & Tin Thank you

I have friends who are always praising Apple compared to Microsoft
Bearing in mind my current frustration and the thought that my toil on this planet may not be that long
I might think about changing to Apple if I thought it would give me some peace
jimbo

 

[cett]

I too couldn't understand windows 10. My daughter and I went shopping for an iPad which she set up for me and it's so easy to use. Since I only surf the internet, watch films on YouTube, use Facebook and messenger and read and send emails with it, I find it suits my needs perfectly.
When, initially, I was stumped, I phoned my daughter and she would talk me through the problem. I have now discovered that if I have a problem, I can go to YouTube and I can actually SEE how to solve it. And the people at APPLE are very helpful.

 

[cett]

Oh, and there are so many people here on talking point who use the iPad, that I'm sure you will find someone to give you a hand if you need.

 

[nitram]

A local account will help make things look more like W7.

As far as microsoft is concerned an ms account is the default on set up it's not obvious how to do anything else.

You can change to a local account with you own chosen username and password
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5374-local-account-switch-windows-10-a.html

You also said W10 was slow.
Is it slow when you open a stored document?
Is it slow when browsing?
Trying to discern whether your internet connection has problems.

 

[jimbo 111]

A local account will help make things look more like W7.

As far as microsoft is concerned an ms account is the default on set up it's not obvious how to do anything else.

You can change to a local account with you own chosen username and password
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5374-local-account-switch-windows-10-a.html

You also said W10 was slow.
Is it slow when you open a stored document?
Is it slow when browsing?
Trying to discern whether your internet connection has problems.[/QUOTE

Hello nitram
Seems like I was mistaken
I am on a local account
Having had another frustrating day with this ******** I am virtually at the stage where I daren't press a button without making a mistake , even to logging into my email account , ( and I know I haven't forgotten that )
While I was browsing I saw some articles that suggested you can change back/ or install W7 onto a new computer that had W10pre-installed
Most of the information was about going back to W 7 but I never had W7on this computer
Bearing in mind that I am a complete idiot would you have any comment about this possibility ???????????????

jimbo
Ps I would of course have to get a local computer firm to do it

 

[Cherryade]

Windows 10 is very easy to use. You should still have a desktop screen with all the icons on it that you normally use and the little bar at the bottom so you can access the most commonly used ones like google chrome or internet explorer. Perhaps it would be a good idea to make a list of what you use the computer for and get your chap back to make it easier to access the stuff. There should be no need to install the classic shell, that was only used in windows 8 to give you back a 'desktop'.

 

[nitram]

If a system has been upgraded to W10 from either W7 or W8 the resulting digital licence will activate both the original operating system and W10.

Your new W10 system may have been upgraded from W8 but not W7.

W7 support for security updates does not expire till Jan 2020
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

If you really want to change to W7 you have to talk to your friendly computer man.
He should be able to take an image of your system so that if it all goes pear shaped he has an escape route. He should already have the install media and product keys can legally be bought for around £15 , they are retail keys from decommissioned systems e.g.http://softwaregeeks.co.uk/product/...y-label-coa/?gclid=CMu0vortodECFUHnGwoddsAP5w His only problem may be in finding W7 drivers.

You mentioned an email problem.
How do you access your mail?
Do you browse to the email site, gmail.com, outlook.com.....or do you click on something else, if so what?

 

[nitram]

Cherryade

The native W!0 GUI does not suit everybody, jimbo has already said that using Classic Shell to get a W7 start screen was an improvement.

Personally I don't like the icon approach and use Classic Shell two column, I also don't use apps and as such there is no link to them on my start screen.

 

[jimbo 111]

If a system has been upgraded to W10 from either W7 or W8 the resulting digital licence will activate both the original operating system and W10.

Your new W10 system may have been upgraded from W8 but not W7.

W7 support for security updates does not expire till Jan 2020
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

If you really want to change to W7 you have to talk to your friendly computer man.
He should be able to take an image of your system so that if it all goes pear shaped he has an escape route. He should already have the install media and product keys can legally be bought for around £15 , they are retail keys from decommissioned systems e.g.http://softwaregeeks.co.uk/product/...y-label-coa/?gclid=CMu0vortodECFUHnGwoddsAP5w His only problem may be in finding W7 drivers.

You mentioned an email problem.
How do you access your mail?
Do you browse to the email site, gmail.com, outlook.com.....or do you click on something else, if so what?

I log onto BT home page
then click on 'emails on that page
When the sceen changes I click on the new ' e' icon=that opens my emails
jimbo

 

[Steve115]

Hi Jimbo,

I spent 45 years in IT and have to say that I do not always find it easy so you are far from alone.

I would suggest that you persevere with W10 as this is the supported gold standard as far as MS is concerned. The W10 screen (GUI) is icon based but that has been around within MS since 1995 and was copied from Apple, so it is not actually new.

The difficulty you will have with moving to another MS operating system, W7 or W8 or XP, is that it is non standard and any problems that arise may not be supported or may be expensive to correct if things go wrong. W7 is very old so beware.

I have used W10 for about 9 months now and generally do not have any problems and think that it is very much like XP or W8. I do not have any problems with speed on the whole. It has been suggested that you may have WiFi/internet problems but it is not clear from your response whether this is the case.

If you can describe your issues here someone will be able to help.

Steve

 

[nitram]

"I log onto BT home page
then click on 'emails on that page
When the sceen changes I click on the new ' e' icon=that opens my emails"

What happens when things go wrong.
Nothing?
Error message, if so what does it say?
Blank screen?

Try going direct to
https://signin1.bt.com/login/emailloginform?s_cid=con_FURL_email
to get your email

do you use BT Yahoo mail
https://signin1.bt.com/login/emailloginform

 

[nitram]

It looks as if BT email has been having problems

https://downtoday.co.uk/bt-email/

http://downdetector.co.uk/problems/bt-british-telecom

You could check your internet connection

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/speedtest2.html

You should get nice straight lines for both download and upload, here's mine

Is there a big difference between the green and yellow download graphs?

 

[jimbo 111]

It looks as if BT email has been having problems

https://downtoday.co.uk/bt-email/

http://downdetector.co.uk/problems/bt-british-telecom

You could check your internet connection

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/speedtest2.html

You should get nice straight lines for both download and upload, here's mine

Is there a big difference between the green and yellow download graphs?

hello nitram
I tried the link
Result was
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html?id=148335065421155641428

Congratulations you're faster than the average in South East England
Your TCP latency is:31ms
jimbo

 

[nitram]

No problem there.
Unlike me you are on fibre.

 

[nitram]

You said some things were slow.
What are slow?
Are they always slow or just sometimes?