My favorite web browser is Firefox. But lately it was so slow. Some pages (sites) didn't seem to open at all and other pages were oh so slow. I was getting 'not responding' as well when trying to load pages.
After awhile I decided to just use Chrome as my default browser because it was so much faster. Chrome is OK and I do like it, but I missed Firefox.
So I decided to try to 'fix' Firefox. That was an exercise in frustration. All of those tweaks I found while searching for a fix for Firefox were just a little bit of help or no help at all.
I tried removing all of the settings, extensions and other stuff from Firefox by going to Help/Troubleshooting Information and selecting 'Reset Firefox to default state'.
This saved all of my stuff in a folder called 'Old Firefox Data' and supposedly set it back like a new install. No help there, still as slow as molasses in January.
I decided to go the uninstall/reinstall route. I had done this before and it seemed to help a bit, but this time Firefox was still way to slow.
I decided to get drastic. I backed up my Bookmarks and used Revo Uninstaller to uninstall Firefox. I selected the Advanced mode to uninstall Firefox and it uninstalled everything, including the Registry entries and all of the stuff in AppData. Nothing remained of my old Firefox. (One thing I noticed when I selected Mozilla Firefox in Revo, it showed version 15 and I had version 16 installed. I am thinking all those older versions may have still had bits and pieces still lingering on my system and eventually let to the terrible slowdown for Firefox.)
I opened Chrome and downloaded a fresh new copy of Firefox and installed it.
Wow! It's fast! I am still testing it , but oh, yeah, I've got my Firefox back!
Martha
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Windows 8 or Windows Hate?
Which will it be? So far I am not enamored of Windows 8. I am not using a touch screen, but a regular laptop. The Metro screen has a few good points, but not enough to make it worthwhile for me. I miss the Start button, and I find the navigation to be, well, challenging.
There are seemingly some folks that like Windows 8. I suppose once a user gets used to using it, more will like it. The key here is getting used to it.
I started trying out this new version of Windows when the very first Windows 8 Developer Preview was made available for download. I couldn't believe my eyes when it installed. I was totally dismayed by this 'Metro-style (Modern UI)' screen. I tried finding my way around and eventually managed to 'find stuff', but it seemed that for everywhere I wanted to go, it took more steps than in my Windows 7. This is progress? Maybe I just needed to look longer and figure it out. The 'Charms' bar wouldn't come up without a lot of clicking. (This could be related to the notebook which really isn't top of the line.)
Then Microsoft released another build of Windows 8, so I figured that maybe this one would be better, easier to use, so I downloaded it and installed it. I didn't see much difference, but it was probably stuff 'under the hood' that had been changed. That ugly (and yes to me it IS ugly,) Metro-style (Modern UI) was still there.
There are some good things about Windows 8 I like, if only I could overlook that awful 'Metro-style (Modern UI)'.
It installed very easy. It found my wireless network with no problem. (That was a big plus.) I still had problems with getting the Charms bar to come up and the so called improved method of
capturing screenshots would not work. (It did once, but never again. I still suspect my hardware.) I just couldn't 'get in to it' and didn't even try much, as other more important stuff had my
attention. However, I experimented with a combo of keys and at least for now, pressing the Win key, Fn key and Prt Scr key simultaneously did work. (Previously it worked once by pressing the Win key, Ctrl key and Pr Scr key) If I used the onscreen keyboard it worked just fine.
Then Microsoft released the last version 'Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation'. Same stuff. I still don't like it. I have a computer, not a tablet! What didn't work on the previous version still doesn't work n the Enterprise Evaluation. However, the Charms bar is easier to get to. There are tweaks galore available on the Internet, but I haven't tried any of them yet. My feeling is a new Windows should work out of the box and not have to be tweaked in order to use it.
I will get Windows 8 when the final version is available to buy and install it on my Compaq but I won't buy a new computer with Windows 8. I will buy an extra copy of Windows 7, just in case I need to install it.
Now since I just hate to give up on anything computer related, I am going to make Windows Hate into Windows 8 or at least try! (But I think the majority of folks, especially those who used Windows XP for a long time, will totally and absolutely hate Windows 8.)
I do hope that Microsoft will do a better job for desktop and laptop users when they come out with the next version of Windows. In the meantime I am saving for a Mac. At least Apple computers don't look like my iPad!
So listen up, Microsoft! My computer is not a tablet! I don't want it to be a tablet, I want to use it like a computer! Seems like Windows Desktop and laptop users are being totally disregarded in favor of the tablet users.
Guess maybe we've been thrown under the bus!
Martha
There are seemingly some folks that like Windows 8. I suppose once a user gets used to using it, more will like it. The key here is getting used to it.
I started trying out this new version of Windows when the very first Windows 8 Developer Preview was made available for download. I couldn't believe my eyes when it installed. I was totally dismayed by this 'Metro-style (Modern UI)' screen. I tried finding my way around and eventually managed to 'find stuff', but it seemed that for everywhere I wanted to go, it took more steps than in my Windows 7. This is progress? Maybe I just needed to look longer and figure it out. The 'Charms' bar wouldn't come up without a lot of clicking. (This could be related to the notebook which really isn't top of the line.)
Then Microsoft released another build of Windows 8, so I figured that maybe this one would be better, easier to use, so I downloaded it and installed it. I didn't see much difference, but it was probably stuff 'under the hood' that had been changed. That ugly (and yes to me it IS ugly,) Metro-style (Modern UI) was still there.
There are some good things about Windows 8 I like, if only I could overlook that awful 'Metro-style (Modern UI)'.
It installed very easy. It found my wireless network with no problem. (That was a big plus.) I still had problems with getting the Charms bar to come up and the so called improved method of
capturing screenshots would not work. (It did once, but never again. I still suspect my hardware.) I just couldn't 'get in to it' and didn't even try much, as other more important stuff had my
attention. However, I experimented with a combo of keys and at least for now, pressing the Win key, Fn key and Prt Scr key simultaneously did work. (Previously it worked once by pressing the Win key, Ctrl key and Pr Scr key) If I used the onscreen keyboard it worked just fine.
Then Microsoft released the last version 'Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation'. Same stuff. I still don't like it. I have a computer, not a tablet! What didn't work on the previous version still doesn't work n the Enterprise Evaluation. However, the Charms bar is easier to get to. There are tweaks galore available on the Internet, but I haven't tried any of them yet. My feeling is a new Windows should work out of the box and not have to be tweaked in order to use it.
I will get Windows 8 when the final version is available to buy and install it on my Compaq but I won't buy a new computer with Windows 8. I will buy an extra copy of Windows 7, just in case I need to install it.
Now since I just hate to give up on anything computer related, I am going to make Windows Hate into Windows 8 or at least try! (But I think the majority of folks, especially those who used Windows XP for a long time, will totally and absolutely hate Windows 8.)
I do hope that Microsoft will do a better job for desktop and laptop users when they come out with the next version of Windows. In the meantime I am saving for a Mac. At least Apple computers don't look like my iPad!
So listen up, Microsoft! My computer is not a tablet! I don't want it to be a tablet, I want to use it like a computer! Seems like Windows Desktop and laptop users are being totally disregarded in favor of the tablet users.
Guess maybe we've been thrown under the bus!
Martha
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