Help is hard to find

[Jm Anderson]

Hello,

I found this site when I was having a melt down yesterday and, as it is the only place I can get into, I hope you don't mind me posting. I am old and do not even understand the language most of you use, but I can use a PC and have had Windows 10 for a while. I usually ignore updates unless it forces me, mainly because things get lost and I can't get them back. I've never really got over losing XP where everything was in a sensible place and nothing was hidden away or tucked under tiny logos.

I did graduate with difficulty through Windows 7 and 8 and was so glad when they said 10 would be the last. I was tricked into going into 10 and immediately lost some vital stuff, but a friend helped get it back. For some time now I have been bombarded with ads for an update which would give me lots of stuff I don't want or need. I use paint and was horrified they would take it away and give me this new 3 D version which I know would bamboozle me. Then, on Monday, because of the ransom virus, I thought I'd better agree to the update in case I was missing out on some protection. It took hours and, of course, I got lots of stuff I don't understand and can't use. In addition they took some of my pictures and started flashing them up and telling me I have 3 new albums. What? Why? Much to my horror - and this is why I'm writing this -- I found I couldn't get into my wav recordings. These are interviews with very old people (some over the course of months) who tell me about their past in their local dialect. I type them up for their children and grandchildren to see. I recently learned to edit out the rough bits as well. All locked on Monday. Everything! Windows no longer supports this format. "Listen to something else". Do what? THIS is what I need to listen to. How dare Windows 10 do that.

I plugged in my camera to transfer pictures to the PC and- yes - that too no longer worked. It also told me it was doing something to the device. That's crazy.

To get help, and even to get to the correct place, I had to Sign In, which proved impossible. I get phone calls every day from people claiming to be from Windows. How could I know which of the websites was the real thing and the ones that seemed genuine cost a lot of money.
My local, friendly computer expert was - naturally - a bit busy because or ransom so I kept looking overnight and eventually found this forum yesterday morning. I signed up. By this time I was feeling really ill about the whole thing, but fortunately just as I was about to speak to you, my computer expert friend phoned and was able to fix things by remote.

I have wav back, thank goodness, and I can use my camera again.

But no way NO WAY would I have been able to do that myself. And here is what I am asking you to do if you can. Please ask Windows 10 to give us a choice. A simple Do You Want? for things like photo albums (no!) and 3D fancy falderols (no, leave Paint alone). Also, ask them to give us a simple way to contact them without giving our life history or complicated log ins which people like me struggle with. If we are receiving the updates, we exist. We should be able to email someone to say: Please give me my wav back or I am going to be in deep deep trouble. And please use simple English.

THIS forum was easy to access and your posts are easy to follow, even if I don't understand the language. I am just asking you to ask Windows10 to give people like me a break and not bombard us with upgrades and not block important things without warning or way of sorting it.

Above all, please ask them not to keep fixing things that aren't broken.

 

[Trouble]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

my computer expert friend phoned and was able to fix things by remote.
I have wav back, thank goodness, and I can use my camera again.

Nice that you have someone like that to rely on in cases like this. Whoever that person is, I hope you are heaping appreciation on him or her, for coming to your rescue and being at your disposal.

There are many here who have had similar experiences and have expressed similar feelings, so......
You're certainly not alone.

I'm certainly not one to make excuses for Windows 10 or Microsoft in general, but....
As is the case with any new Operating System, Windows 10 is predisposed to using certain "default programs" out of the box, many of which lack a certain robustness and can even be complicated or confusing to use because.....
Well.... they're new and different and often minimalistic.

Often it can be just a matter of reclaiming your preferences for other software products, native or third party, by simply setting your "default programs".

here is what I am asking you to do if you can. Please ask Windows 10 to give us a choice. A simple Do You Want? for things like photo albums (no!) and 3D fancy falderols (no, leave Paint alone). Also, ask them to give us a simple way to contact them

While we appreciate your concerns and less than positive experiences recently, it should be said that.....
WE (as a forum) are not associated or affiliated in anyway with Microsoft. We are simple and often frustrated end users, much like yourself.

Thanks for taking the time to join our community and for sharing your experiences and we're glad to hear that you've managed to sort them out.

 

[Jm Anderson]

Thanks for your reply. I didn't know exactly what the forum was. Just that I can't get through any other way. With any luck someone from Microsoft looks in here sometimes. I have no idea what a default programme is or how to access it. I have a history of pressing the wrong button and making things worse. My friend is a paid consultant and I do value him enormously. When he thinks I can sort something myself he tells me to keep looking. This time he didn't. Simply stopping my access to the wav files without any warning or help was almost criminal and I am surprised they get away with it.

 

[ram1220]

One thing I want to add. If the OP is getting calls daily from someone claiming to be from "Windows" do not in any way allow them to remote into your computer. And do not give them your credit card number. These callers are 99% of the time scammers just out to get your money. Microsoft will never call you and ask for money to fix your computer. This is what those scammers do. They are not associated with Microsoft.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Jm Anderson,

in case you don't know about it, there is a recovery point (system roll-back) with which you can restore your PC to an earlier state should things go wrong for you!.

https://www.howtogeek.com/237230/ho...ore-and-repair-system-problems-on-windows-10/

There is also "Quick Assist" for your computing friend (I'm sure they know that!) to help you remotely:

https://www.howtogeek.com/268808/ho...assist-to-remotely-troubleshoot-a-friends-pc/

 

[Jm Anderson]

One thing I want to add. If the OP is getting calls daily from someone claiming to be from "Windows" do not in any way allow them to remote into your computer. And do not give them your credit card number. These callers are 99% of the time scammers just out to get your money. Microsoft will never call you and ask for money to fix your computer. This is what those scammers do. They are not associated with Microsoft.

Thanks for this additional advice. I am aware of the fact that these people are scammers. I think I mentioned it just to show how easy it is for those of us to fall into those traps when we are bamboozled and searching around for help. More recently, the same kind of people have more often said they are from BT, which is interesting because I know so many people having problems in that direction. The difference is that BT are a lot easier to check with. You are right to warn me because at my level everything is a mystery. Thank you.

 

[Jm Anderson]

Hi Jm Anderson,

in case you don't know about it, there is a recovery point (system roll-back) with which you can restore your PC to an earlier state should things go wrong for you!.

https://www.howtogeek.com/237230/ho...ore-and-repair-system-problems-on-windows-10/

There is also "Quick Assist" for your computing friend (I'm sure they know that!) to help you remotely:

https://www.howtogeek.com/268808/ho...assist-to-remotely-troubleshoot-a-friends-pc/

Thank you for taking the trouble to help me. Yes, I'm sure my friend knows that second one. As for the rest, I have not been able to log in to any of it so I am still at their mercy. They don't seem to realise ordinary people need a simple way of telling them we are having a problem, even if that problem is that we can't access their help in the first place. I still think it would help if they just offered a "no thanks" to anything that is not vital for safety and security and a warning about what could be lost when the change happens. I wish there was a site like this for us ordinary mortals. Thanks for your kindness.

 

[Wolfie]

HI Jm Anderson,

if you list everything it is you want to do, the good people on this forum will walk you through it with stacks of pointers. Just think about what you want to say and type it all in here, then we can get you up and running!.

We all began as beginners and no one here will think less of you for it!.

 

[Frank Newbie]

Hello,
But no way NO WAY would I have been able to do that myself. And here is what I am asking you to do if you can. Please ask Windows 10 to give us a choice. A simple Do You Want? for things like photo albums (no!) and 3D fancy falderols (no, leave Paint alone). Also, ask them to give us a simple way to contact them without giving our life history or complicated log ins which people like me struggle with. If we are receiving the updates, we exist. We should be able to email someone to say: Please give me my wav back or I am going to be in deep deep trouble. And please use simple English.

JM,
What your not grasping is that Microsoft et.al, are going to CONTROL computing to your disadvantage.
I too am an "old" person who has been into computers since the "286 " and DOS.
When I first got into computing things were less complicated and more collegial. One could get information and fix the problem themselves. Today not only is computing more complicated but obfuscated. The profit motive is such that now one must pay for the education to get into the inner sanctum of the app/program. So the "techie class" is now elevated to an acolyte of the publisher to heal your sins......kind of like religion. You might note that many programs now you can only rent not buy. And then there's the "cloud". Talk about big brother.
Don't hold your breath for a "de-complication" of computers. People are hired just to get you to go around your elbow to get to your thumb. I'm getting off my soap box.
Frank