Internet/Internet site problems

[Randi]

I occasionally make minor edits to an XML file, but I use Notepad++.

[Maikel]

If it helps, to set or change the default application in Windows 10, open Settings ⚙, go to Apps, then select Default apps from the left-hand menu.
Scroll down a bit and click Default apps by file type.
In this long list you can find .xml and change the default app.

[pommystuart]

I never edit an XML file. Just asking for trouble...

I occasionally change the OW data when I realise I have made a mistake, say in the spellings of places or changing say a weather code.
Never go near the rest of the XML data.

[Michael]

[Randi]

I'm having trouble accessing the National Archives

[ggordon]

I am currently unable to download from the archives.

[ggordon]

Now I can download. Must be having intermittent problems.

[Michael]

This is probably not the right place for this, but:

Possible Firefox issues!

Somehow, yesterday, and I'm not sure of the sequence, Firefox seems to have re-installed itself. But, it was working fine and all seemed OK. When I signed on this morning, I got the newly installed version of Firefox. No menus, no bookmarks, no homepage, no nothing, just a Getting Started page that was not helpful. Needless to say, I was desperate! All my bookmarks gone!!!!

I did have a system backup, which was about two months old, so I closed Firefox, and I replaced the AppData for Mozilla/Firefox with my backup version. I reopened Firefox and got the same version that I'd had when I shut it down. No bookmarks, home page etc etc!!!

I do have a copy of an install.exe program for Firefox and, luckily for me, I decided to uninstall the "new" version before installing the old version. What I discovered, when I click on the Windows Start button, was that there is a Firefox and a Firefox New listed!

So, I did not try uninstalling anything, but I clicked on the plain old Firefox button in the Windows Start list.

Good old Firefox started. However, I got a message that I hadn't used Firefox in some time, and did I want it to do something. I clicked, No, and things were fine. However, my bookmarks etc are two months old. I should not have replaced them with the backup, but I wasn't aware that there were two versions of Firefox on my PC. The normal one, and the horrible Firefox New version.

So, if this happens to you, be aware that your old Firefox is there and it's OK. Don't panic like I did. You can find it and the Firefox New versions in the Windows Start area.

I think that I will open Chrome or Microsoft Edge and import the bookmarks from Firefox. I don't use those two programs, but it would be handy to have my bookmarks saved in another browser. If I make updates to my Firefox bookmarks, I'll just import them again into Chrome or Edge. The new Firefox did give me the option of importing from Chrome or Edge. This would be easier than getting them from a backup on an external harddrive.

[Hanibal94]

The Archives is currently throwing HTTP 503 - a serverside issue, in other words - whenever I try to open a page.
Good thing I downloaded all the pages for Haida 1940 at once when I started working on her!

[pommystuart]

Just updated to Win 11. Nothing really worth the effort.
Apart from having to delete my facial recognition driver (when I re booted it was all well.)

Some icons in different places and different things in function groups but capable of being worked out.
Internet Explorer. has GONE. It does NOT work with Win11
No side start bar, it is now found on the 4square icon on the task bar.
Libra Calc still works.

Happy for the first day.

[Michael]

I'm glad it worked. I got the normal upgrade to Windows 10, and it came up with a message that my PC was not able to upgrade to Windows 11. It referred me to a Microsoft website that lists dozens of conditions necessary to go to Windows 11. I have neither the time nor desire to go through the entire list to see what needs to be changed if, indeed, it is something I can change. You would think that if the software knows my PC isn't fit for Windows 11 it would tell me what the issue is.

[ggordon]

That's part of why I switched to Linux. With Windows I have to buy new hardware every few years to support new versions. With Linux I can upgrade to the latest version but continue to use my hardware until it gets old and fails.

I do have a rarely used Windows computer. When it can no longer run Windows, I'll buy a new Windows computer and install Linux on the old one so as to keep using it.

Or I may just quit using Windows entirely. I have kept a Windows computer for those applications I need that only run on Windows, but at this point there is no longer anything I need on Windows that doesn't have something comparable and just as good on Linux.

[Michael]

Something to think about.

[ggordon]

Microsoft has a financial motivation to continue doing this in the future. Microsoft inflates new versions of Windows or requires specific new hardware to make it necessary to buy a new PC, and in turn the PC manufacturers pre-install Windows on the PCs to encourage its continued use and future hardware purchase requirements.

The Linux developers have shown that new features and new hardware can be supported while continuing to support old hardware. Linux developers are motivated by a desire to encourage its widespread use everywhere possible.

As people buy new PCs to run Windows 11, there will be a bunch of cheap refurbished Windows PCs coming on the market which can run Linux just fine for many more years. Today's PC hardware can live a long life and it's far better for the environment to continue using them rather than disposing of them after just a few years.

[Michael]

You've got that right. I just just get myself motivated. I do most of my work with cygwin which is a unix simulator.

[ggordon]

But you still have to run Windows to use cygwin.

There's also the new Linux system on Windows, but again you're still running Windows.

[Michael]

Yah, I know..

[Michael]

I found a site that gave me the answers about my PC and Windows 11. The downloaded program didn't trigger my anti-virus software. If you want to use it, here's the link: https://www.wisecleaner.com/checkit.html

And, for my PC!



I suppose I'll be on Windows 10 for the foreseeable future.

[ggordon]

I believe the DirectX compatible graphics is the hardware that resolves our spreadsheet image rotation performance issue, regardless of operating system.

I need to check whether the Windows PC I bought last year can be upgraded to Windows 11. I bought it because the Windows PC I bought the year before could not be upgraded from its version of Windows 10 to a newer version of Windows 10. I bought that one because the one I bought the year before that could not be upgraded to Windows 10 at all.

[Hanibal94]

Don't blame you a bit for wanting to switch to Linux, Gordon!

Me, I'm kinda stuck with Windows because of gaming - from what I've heard, it is possible to use Mac/Linux for that, but it requires quite a bit of fiddling around.
But I honestly don't mind so much. I've only had to get a new computer about every 4.5 to 5 years when the old one suffers a critical failure, so that's usually when I start using a new version of Windows.
My current computer is very new, and could be upgraded to Windows 11, but I don't see the point. There's nothing in Windows 11 that I want, so I'll stick with 10 until it's out of support.