Why Does My Credit Union Want Me to Use Adobe Reader?

I don’t use Adobe anything. Too many security holes keep being discovered and I have enough to keep updated besides keeping track of updating all of the Adobe patches.

I have more than one PDF reader but my favorite one is PDF Exchange Editor by Tracker Software. It has always worked before to read my bank statement, but now it just doesn’t seem to work. When I clicked the link to view my statement I got this!



(Click to enlarge image)

No way! There has to be another option. I clicked the link to view the file and got this:



So I downloaded the file and this is what I got:



I right clicked on the file and selected Open With, but didn’t get much that way.



So I just opened PDF Exchange Editor and clicked Open and selected the file. I did have to change the .pdf to all files.



 



Voila!

I now had my bank statement in a readable file and saved it as a PDF.

This might work with other PDF readers as well, but maybe not.

Most of the time there is always a work-around or a fix when problems arise with PCs.

Microsoft Really Really Wants Us To Upgrade to Windows 10

 

The folks at Microsoft pulled a fast one on some of us by being a bit sneaky with with Windows update.  If Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 computer owners used the default setting for getting updates, they may have had an unpleasant surprise when their computers updated to Windows 10.

Some folks didn’t want Windows 10 and never chose the option to get it. But some got it anyway, much to their sorrow. There is a way to roll it back to the previous Windows, but there are a lot of folks that aren’t computer savvy and have no idea how to roll it back.

I don’t want Windows 10 on my main computer because I want control over how  and which updates are installed. I have had problems in the past with Microsoft’s driver up dates and I don’t want to go down that path again. I am not alone.

My son also does not want Windows 10 on his Windows 8.1 computer. As soon as we found out about those sneaky updates that would install Windows 10, we uninstalled those updates and hid them  when they wanted to download again so they wouldn’t download again. We thought. It worked for me, but not my son.

When this came up on his Windows update screen, he was absolutely shocked and very upset.



He clicked the Show all available updates and there it was in the optional updates.



He un-ticked it and wen back to the update screen but couldn’t get any other updates. Every time he tried that optional update for Windows 10 appeared with the box checked. Needless to say he was getting very frustrated and now very angry.

After many Google searched he finally found a site that helped.

Windows 10 upgrade notification keeps coming back (Windows Update)

Microsoft is not winning friends by this tactic, certainly not me. I have always been a Windows user. But if Microsoft keeps foisting unwanted stuff on folks I am starting to think about a Mac.

If it isn’t too late for you and Windows 10 is unwanted but on your computer, go back to your previous version of Windows by following the instructions here:

How to Uninstall Windows 10 and Downgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1

Once you manage to get your Windows 7 or 8.1 back, make sure you don’t go through this again by changing how you get your updated.





Microsoft has said this forced update to Windows 10 was a mistake, but I have my doubts.

Microsoft stops automatic Windows 10 upgrades, says default checked update was ‘a mistake’

Be sure to go back and uninstall those sneaky updates if they download again and hide them!

Adobe Just Doesn't Go Away

Earlier this year I removed all Adobe software from my computers. I haven't had Adobe Reader for a long time as I use a lighter, safer PDF reader.

Yesterday I was looking at 'Programs and Features' on my Dell 2 in 1 Notebook running Windows 10.

There it was, Adobe Flash! I sure didn't intentionally install it, so how did it get there? I uninstalled it again.  I searched in App Data Local and App Data Roaming and deleted all Adobe and Macromedia folders. I looked in C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) and deleted all Adobe and Macromedia folders.

I opened Regedit and did a search for Adobe and deleted the entries for both Adobe and Macromedia in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

But then in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE I ran into a problem.When I tried to delete Macromedia in this Registry tree, I got the Confirm Key Delete warning 'Are you sure you want to permanently delete this key and all its subkeys?' but when I clicked 'Yes', I got 'Error Deleting Key' Cannot delete Macromedia. Error while deleting key.

I did a Bing search for 'Error Deleting key' and finally found this site:  5 Ways to Solve Error While Deleting Key Problem When Editing Restricted Registry

Hopefully, I won't be plagued with this ever lasting Adobe again. But now I am wondering, how Adobe got back on my computer?

I decided to check my Windows 8.1 computer and there it was, Adobe Air! Again I deleted everything with Adobe and Macromedia and also could not remove it from the Registry!

Interesting enough, on Windows 10 Insider, there was no Adobe or Macromedia folders anywhere and none in the Registry.

Adding Local User Accounts in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10

 

In Windows 8.1, you can setup a local account fairly easily.





All that is needed is a user name and password for a local account.





Click Finish and that’s it.

Windows 10, not so fast!

So I tried  to add a user with just a local account in Windows 10. It doesn’t seem very easy.

I went to Settings/Accounts and selected Family and other users.



Then Windows asked if it was for a Child or an Adult. At this point what followed made no difference what I chose, child or adult, it wants an email address. So I used a valid email address for my domain, but it wasn’t a Microsoft account and it wouldn’t work.



If I clicked ‘The person I want to add doesn’t have an email address’, then it wanted me to get one. I can’t find anyway to bypass this and setup a user account as a local account

So I tried a Gmail account.





Then I had to verify the email address in Gmail.

However, at this point I got an error screen:



Eventually the verify email appeared in my Gmail account, so guess that account is now a Microsoft account. But since I had to put in a new password for a Microsoft account, now if I want to sign in as the new user I must use that password.

Microsoft really, really wants us to be connected.



To ‘Switch User’ just tap your name at the top of the menu.



Once you get signed in to the new user account, you can change the account to a local account by going to Settings/Accounts and selecting ‘Sign in with a local account instead’.



Now the process will continue just like signing up for a local account in Windows 8.1.

Scammers Never Quit

Today I changed my default browser to Chrome, but I may just change it back.

I was looking at Facebook and clicked on a link to one of those silly quiz sites. I don’t usually waste my time on them but this was a science quiz and I was a bit curious.

When I clicked the ‘Start Quiz’ button, all at once loud music started blaring, a BSOD screen in the background with this ugly message imposed over the BSOD:

All the time a loud voice was speaking the same message that appears in the screenshot, and I do mean LOUD!



The web-link:  (Click to enlarge)



I tried to copy and paste the web address, but everything was frozen. I had to go to Task Manager to close Chrome.

I re-opened Chrome to capture these screen shots and then re-closed Chrome again using Task Manager.

Next I used CCleaner to remove the cache and went back to Facebook to see if it happened again.

Nothing happened, but now I doubt I will click on any more links in Facebook.

Just goes to show, you can never be too paranoid.

This nasty piece of javascript was designed to scare folks into calling the toll free number so the scam folks can get money from unsuspecting users.

I can’t figure out how they did it,  everything was frozen so couldn’t look at any code.

I have AdBlock Plus on Chrome, so it evidently didn’t work for this nasty. We can't let down our guard, who knows what they will try next!

Going Back (From Windows 10)

There are a lot of reasons to restore your Windows 10 install to the previous versions of Windows. Maybe you just don’t like it or maybe something isn’t working right.

In my case, I wanted to get an older computer ready to donate. It would be easier to just restore it to the original state using the restore disks, but I wanted to test the procedure to see how it works, so I booted the computer and went to the Settings.

There I selected the Recovery option:

And 'Go Back to Windows 8.1':

Now Microsoft wanted to know why I want to go back, so I just told them I want to test the process. (True!)

Then Windows wants to make sure I know what will happen!

The process starts:

In less than 15 minutes the computer booted and now I have Windows 8.1 back.

At first I thought the process had failed, because I had forgotten I had put the new Windows 10 wallpaper on Windows 8.1, But a right click on This PC and selecting Properties let me know the process was successful.

So easy. Too bad the restoring back to the original state wasn't so easy! Tons of updates for Vista took forever!

Keeping the Thread in a Conversation in a Yahoo Group

It all depends on how you read your messages.

On the Yahoo Group’s Web site it is really easy. When you reply to a post, just click that ‘Show message history at the bottom on the message pane on the site.



Now you can see the original post.



That is easy!

If you are using Yahoo Mail to read messages and reply, I believe the thread is automatically attached. However, Yahoo is always changing stuff so that may or may not be always be true. Folks using Yahoo mail should always send replies in plain text and that can be accomplished by checking those arrows at the bottom on the posts.



Many folks use an email program to to read  and reply to their Groups messages. Nearly all email programs have‘Options’ for how messages are composed, replied to, formats, etc. can be found in the Options.

The Taskbar in Windows 10

The Taskbar still has a lot of options in Windows 10. A number of old familiar options are missing like adding the Run command, but the Run command is available by just right clicking on the Start button, along with other stuff like the old familiar Control Panel and the task manager.



The Task Manager has always been accessible by right clicking on a blank spot on the Taskbar, selecting Properties and that hasn’t changed. But some things have changed, and some of the buttons don’t seem to be active now, maybe when the final release is out those things will be active.

   

 

I have seen several sites telling us  how to remove the Search from the Taskbar as it does take up a lot of space.



It involves editing the Registry on the sites I have seen, but it isn’t necessary! On the Toolbar Screen click the down arrow where is says

Show search box and select Show search Icon.



Now the toolbar has a lot more room and no editing the Registry needed. If you just don’t want any search on the Toolbar, you can also disable Search.



How easy is that!

Windows 10 Settings

The old Control Panel is still there, but most folks will now use Settings to make changes.



 

This is where I found out how to turn Cortana off. (Cortana is Windows 10 virtual Assistant. I need assistance but right now NOT from Cortana!)

 



 

I want it off!



That’s it for now!

Windows 10 (I am going to Love it!)

You can get from here to there, once you know how!  In the new build I don’t have to go through the rigamarole of clicking on the Taskbar, changing the settings and rebooting to get to the Start Screen

Now it is so much easier!

I just click those four arrows in the upper right corner of the new and improved Start menu.



 

When I want to go back to the Desktop, I just click those four arrows again.



So much easier!

 

But I do wish Microsoft had named these screens a bit easier to tell which is which!