As 2015 comes to a close there have been many common problems we have had to deal with. Below is an update on some issues we have faced during the year.
Windows 10 upgrade
Microsoft announced Windows 10 in 2014 and are still pushing the Windows 10 update on user profiles. This burden of a pop up is seen after switching on or rebooting your machine. The Windows 10 upgrade is free of charge and combines features of Windows 7 and 8, although this is a good idea, we have found that navigating around Windows 10, specifically changing simple system settings appeared to be some task compared to operating systems we are used to e.g. Windows 7. Our recommendation and advice is to not go ahead with the update as we have experienced many calls from customers telling us that their machine has become unusable due to the update. The Windows 10 update has caused many problems to applications such as Edge, Outlook and file explorer files. Microsoft have not yet confirmed when the Windows 10 free upgrade will stop but there have been reports of it stopping in July 2016. As mentioned in a more recent blog post, there is one piece of software that can remove this pop up and delete Windows 10 folders to free up some space on your machine. You can download it by clicking here.
Outlook search function
While we are still waiting for Microsoft to fix the Outlook Search function, there is a temporary fix, and that is to start Outlook in ‘Safe Mode’. By starting Outlook in ‘Safe mode’ you run the application without extensions, without reading panes and without toolbar customisations. If you are fine living with these limitations in Outlook then you can get into safe mode by holding ‘CTRL’ and opening the application up, alternatively you can use the command line by using the command ‘outlook.exe /safe’. Although this method works, it is still unclear what is the cause of this problem and when it is going to get resolved.
Office 2010/2012 Windows 7 issue.
Back in November, Microsoft released an update on Windows 7 operating systems. This update disabled Outlook 2010 and 2013 and we had several calls that day which were all the same issues with Outlook. Finally Microsoft released a newer update to combat this issue and to this day there has been no outstanding issues with Outlook relating to this update (KB3097877).
PC Repair Leeds works hard to find solutions for these types of issues and in some circumstances, issues are beyond our control.