Software Tip # 27

fffred · ‎06-21-2021

Be wary of "tip" articles on internet web sites. They may not be as up-to-date as they seem.

I use my Windows 10 computer a lot, creating a lot of files in Excel, Word, Access, pdfs, and other applications. There are probably a few hundred files that I access regularly (and I have some techniques to make these relatively easy to access) and there are several thousand more that I might access occasionally (few times a year) to rarely (every couple years). And new ones are regularly being created.

I would like to have something more adept than the built-in Windows "search" function to help me search for files. I found a number of articles, like this one https://thegeekpage.com/13-best-desktop-search-tools-for-windows. This has a current date of June 5, should be good!

But the article is at least 10 years old! Many of the recommended search utilities are defunct. The author proclaims one utility as compatible with Windows Vista! She also proudly describes Google Desktop, which was discontinued in 2011!

So I learned something new today, watch out for old rehashed information. I should stick to some tried-and-true resources.

aruzinsky · ‎06-23-2021

@fffred wrote:
Be wary of "tip" articles on internet web sites.

Ya think? How many times have you been "tipped" to update your software? Do you really know what happens when you don't? 99.999% of the time, nothing bad happens. I stopped updating Windows 10 two years ago and I am so happy I did. On the other hand, I updated my Firefox browser and lost all of my custom settings. And I have to play Where's Waldo to get my settings back. And if I do a Google search to find Waldo, the results only apply to a past version of Firefox. Look at this idiocy:

99.99% of the time, I click Bookmarks but I have to move the mouse cursor across all the nonsense that comes before it. I don't even know what Save and Sync Data is and I don't want to know. And, then I'm still not there because only the most recent bookmarks are displayed.

And I hate tabs so much that I don't ever want to see a tab or the word "tab" mentioned. But there is no setting to do this. I have all tab settings unchecked:

Open Link in Tabs option is flagrant lie because, if I highlight text and select Search from the right click context menu, which is very often, it opens in a new tab.

Then when I close the tab that I never, ever, ever wanted to see in the first place, a popup asks me whether I want to close all tabs. I wish the person who invented tabs and all the yes men around him would die.

Anonymous · ‎06-23-2021

Hi @aruzinsky I no longer have the patience for software updates. With my 3-year old Dell Laptop's motherboard dying last month, I told my daughter no more. Lol, too old and traumatized from the 3 very long years of Windows Warfare!!! 😂🤣

Anonymous · ‎06-21-2021

@fffred I gave up on Windows 10 finally when the motherboard died in my 3-year old Dell Laptop. Now I have an ipad with only Youtube on it for my Spanish. Lol Windows 10 wore me out. Too many sleepless nights trying to get updates and so on.