Why Windows 11 is the "odd dog" poor Microsoft OS (11, 8, Vista, ME)

 I've just upgraded to Windows 11 and regret it for the following reasons:

1. It has no obvious improvements over 10
2. Jump lists on Start Menu pinned icons (the ones people use frequently) have gone, either you have to pin all of them to the Taskbar (making pinned icons on the Start menu redundant) or open the app then use the file list, an extra operation.
3. Taskbar can't be moved to the left hand side of the screen, with a wide screen I prefer to have it there, Microsoft have bizarrely just removed this feature.
4. Right-click Taskbar brings up very little, certainly no Task Manager I use daily to see what's going on.

HEVC extension on Windows 10 for free

Open a command prompt as Administrator, run:

start ms-windows-store://pdp/?ProductId=9n4wgh0z6vhq

And click Install from the Microsoft Store window that opens.

That's it.

Thanks to:

https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2294440-opening-heic-format-windows-10#entry-9242330

 Windows 10 Hyper-V and NAT using ICS

• Create VM
• Hyper-V Manager > Virtual Switch Manager > 1 Virtual Switch, Internal
• Hyper-V Manager > VM > Settings > 1 Network Adapter > Default Switch above
• Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings > Wi-Fi > "Allow..." > vEthernet (Default Switch)

Windows 10 2004 BSOD - i1Profiler

0x00000050 Page fault in nonpaged area

I ran the Windows 10 Update Assistant and on the "Safe OS phase" it blue screens with a "Page fault in nonpaged area" error.

I ran the Microsoft SetupDiag and SetupDiagResults.log had:

Error: Found crash information in rollback log.

BugCheck Code: 0x00000050

Driver: aksdf.sys

SetupPhase: OOBEBoot,Start

aksdf.sys is Aladdin Knowledge Systems Data Filter Driver, part of the Sentinel license protection software, now owed by the Gemalto division of Thales. Searching for it in Windows Explorer showed the install date of the folder, Programs and Features showed that this had been installed with iProfiler software that supports my x-rite i1DisplayPro monitor calibration device.

I did report this to x-rite support but they seemed fabulously unconcerned that all their customers might not be able to upgrade to Windows 10 2004, they just pointed me to "distribution partner X-Rite Photo Europe" and a set of FAQs that I'd already read and were hopelessly irrelevant. Not sure what's worse, if they'd not read the support request at all before palming it off or that they'd read it and didn't care.

Solution to follow if I find one.

Google Backup and Sync, Google Photos and Google Drive

So I'd replaced Google Photos Backup with Google Backup and Sync but then, even though I was using "High Quality", my photos used up all my free 15GB allocation.

After much reading of Google support articles I finally worked out that I'd somehow put the photos inside the Google Drive folder on my laptop.

The trick is to use Google Backup and Sync to back up your photos but keep them out of your Google Drive folder. Right-click the Backup and Sync icon in the Notification Area and select Settings > Preferences. Make sure, under your Computer, you select your "Pictures" folder (or choose an appropriate folder) and select "High Quality" if you want to use the free storage. And I'd recommend selecting "Upload newly added photos and videos to Google photos".

Then go to "Google Drive", select "Sync My Drive to this computer" and check the folder location is separate from where your photos are stored and you can use up to 15GB of free storage.

I found some of my photos couldn't be converted to "High Quality" and did use some of my 15GB quota, but it was only a few MB.

You must use "Turn windows features on or off" in the Control Panel to install or configure Internet Explorer 8.

Quickbooks 2012 Pro with Mar 2012 update on Windows 7 Ultimate with SP1 and all updates to March 2012 including IE9 and .NET 4.0 Full.

Intuit's support article SLN55044 hints at the solution I needed:

http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/articles/SLN55044

I had to use regedit to add the iexplore.exe key with default and path values to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\IEXPLORE.EXE.

You can copy the ones from:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\IEXPLORE.EXE

Why Intuit don't just come out with this...

I think it may have been because I installed Opera.

iphone tracker (note this is from 2011)

A friend of mine was talking about how your iphone keeps a record of everywhere you've been and then another sent me a link showing how to have a look: http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/ but it's only for Macs. However, you can have a look on a PC thus:

1. Download SQLite browser from http://sourceforge.net/projects/sqlitebrowser/files/sqlitebrowser/, extract the files and run SQLite Database Browser 2.0 b1.exe
2. Find your latest iphone backup folder in C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup
3. Open a command prompt (Start > All Programs > Accessories)
4. Run the following command: findstr /M CellLocation C:\Users\Andykn\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\[latest backup folder]\*.*
5. In the SQLite browser select File > Open and browse to the file found in the previous step.
6. Select the "Browse data" tab and use the "Table" drop down to select "CellLocation".