I am not reverting the Dell desktop to Windows 7, but I might not run
logging software on it.
I have been using several USB-to-serial adapters made by Gigaware, bought at
my local Radio Shack while that existed. There is new driver software for
those adapters on my Windows 7 computer, but it fails to install. This is
probably a good thing. According to a posting on IFamilySoftware.com,
newsletter 37, Prolific (the company that makes some of the chipsets that
are used) found that their chips were being cloned in China and selling for
a lower price. All USB devices carry a vendor ID, as well as their class and
other capability information. These knock-off chips identified themselves as
Prolific. Prolific found a way to identify genuine chips and created a
driver that disables USB-to-serial adapters that are not manufactured by
them. I am not totally sure about this, but this seems to be the driver that
I am getting with Windows 10, and it also affected people under Windows 8.1.
So the adapters that worked for me on the desktop while it ran Windows 7
fail to start when run under Windows 10. Apparently, if I want to use this
computer for logging and other functions under Windows 10 I need to buy two
or more of these cables. I know that FTDI has the best reputation for these,
but they have had some cloning episodes, too.
These wires in our wireless shacks!
Other than the serial port fiasco, Windows 10 is working pretty well for me.
Manually entering the frequencies into N1MM+, I made 115 QSOs and over 7,000
points in the NA QSO Party yesterday. Narrowly missed working KW3A again.
73,
Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, MD
http://lras.home.sprynet.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Lloyd Rasmussen
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 7:02 AM
To: For blind ham radio operators
Subject: Re: Windows 10 Upgrade
I have now upgraded the desktop computer on which I run N1MM+ and Office
2013 to Windows 10 from 7. There were times when I had no feedback as to
what was happening. As you might expect, I put an AM radio in front of the
computer and found a frequency where I could hear hard drive and other
activity so I would know when things had really quieted down. Narrator
worked well, and Window-Eyes 9.2 came up, too. But I tried to shut down (it
was midnight) and the system had more work to do. I had to leave it running
overnight, and it came up talking this morning. I haven't tested things very
much yet (that's a weekend project). The layout is quite different from
Windows 7, but eventually I will find things. I don't know whether File
Explorer will be slow on this system or not.
On a 24 MBPS FiOs fiber-optic connection, the download took most of an hour,
and the upgrade itself took more than an hour. This desktop has 8 GB of RAM
and a Core i-5 series processor, and was bought early this year,
manufactured by Dell last year.
If you have multiple computers, take your time and install it first on a
less essential computer. It probably makes sense to keep some equipment
running on Windows 7 instead of doing this upgrade. We'll see what happens
with OneDrive, Cortana, Windows Phone 10, etc.
73,
Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Kensington, MD
http://lras.home.sprynet.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Tinney
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2015 12:21 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Windows 10 upgrade versus clean install
I have upgraded two computers from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. I had no
sighted assistance in upgrading and have not had any problem in doing
the upgrades. Why are so many people afraid of something new? I have
noticed one annoyance in Windows 10. File Explorer seems slow to
respond. That is not a deal braker, I'm sure that problem will be fixed
soon.
Bob, K8LR, [log in to unmask]
On 8/5/2015 11:43 PM, Harvey Heagy wrote:
> It's not that I'm crazy about Windows 8 because I'm not. I would have
> much
> preferred 7 if I could have gotten it. But since I don't like to take
> chances with my operating system or virus protection, I plan to at least
> wait until the bugs are worked out of it which there are certain to be.
> Windows 8 should have never been released in my opinion.
> Harvey
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Dave Allen
> Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2015 9:41 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Windows 10 upgrade versus clean install
>
> Hi!
>
> Yes, that's the biggest reason to just hold off on going to W10 for now.
> Your free upgrade promise will last up to a year after release, so no need
> to get in a hurry about it. Perhaps the hardware issues will be resolved
> by
> the end of that year, or perhaps they won't, but taking the risk now is a
> certain recipe for disaster. In short, if you want to keep doing
> everything
> you now can, just sit tite, and keep doing it.
>
> 73,
> Dave
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