Tech help

[Asmodean]

Yep. My probably-oversized suite of "general-to-highly-specialised nonsense" also runs (subjectively) smoother on Win11.

[Tank]

My wife is resisting going from windows 10 to 11 because.

1) She has read that the file location/handling is different. If so how so?

2) You are forced to use Onedrive?

3) Does G-Mail work with Outlook?

[Asmodean]

1. Not really. Some reversible cosmethic changes (Like your bottom menu is in the middle rather than on the left side of the screen - such-like)
2. Not really. You could have a purely local user, if you so desired.
3. Yes, you can add Gmail account to Outlook. You will have to jump through a few security hoops on Google-side, but it is configurable if desired. Other [subjectively better] options for Gmail in Windows are available.

I can go in-depth if there be specific questions.

[Tank]

1. Not really. Some reversible cosmethic changes (Like your bottom menu is in the middle rather than on the left side of the screen - such-like)
2. Not really. You could have a purely local user, if you so desired.
3. Yes, you can add Gmail account to Outlook. You may have to jump through a few hoops with Google, but it is configurable if desired. Other options are available.

I can go in-depth if there be specific questions.

No need at the moment if further input is needed I'll be in touch

[Asmodean]

Certainly.

It must be said that copy/paste being changed from text menu items to icons was a bit annoying to get used to, but that was one of those cosmetic changes I alluded to.

Personally, I found Win11 learning curve rather flat, all things considered. It's more a matter of either changing the theme/lauyout or just getting used to a few changes. You will still find "the usual suspects" where they usually are, such as your applications, file explorer, the clock... so forth. Besides, the search function is formidable and worth learning and using. It's been a bit and a half since I navigated the menus looking for a program, for example. Even in Win10, if I wanted, say, Excel, I'd just click the Windows key on the keyboard, type "ex," then press enter and Excel I get. It even does net searches, albeit slightly "clunkily" at the moment. (Say, if you type in "happyatheistforum" or such-like)

That's not to say that the more change-averse user would not find a thing or five to be annoyed by, but they didn't make anything I can think of more difficult.

[Dark Lightning]

The latest "upgrade" dicked up the start menu, for openers. It only shows "pinned" apps, and you have to click on "all apps" to get to the rest. The only way to get the old start menu where everything you have comes up is modify the registry. I'm averse to trying that. This was a change for the sake of change, like a lot of MS' stuff.

[hermes2015]

One of my biggest complaints about Win11is the terrible search utility, but there is an easy solution, a free program called Everything. I urge you guys to install it or run the portable version that does not require installation:

Everything

I rely heavily on it.

[Asmodean]

If I may inquire, what do you find lacking with the native search utility?

[hermes2015]

in my experience, it sometimes fails to locate files that are on one of my two working drives. My C: drive, a 1T SSD, is used solely for the operating system to keep my Macrium Reflect images small. All applications are installed on a secondary 3TB hard drive. I have a third drive, a 1TB SSD to keep backups of critical files and operating system images. The native search simply does not find files, while the free Everything tool finds them as fast as I can type the names of the files.

[Asmodean]

That is a bit strange.

Might it help to rebuild the Windows search indexer, or have you tried that?

That said, is your secondary drive a (external) HDD? Some of those have a tendency to "hibernate" when not actively accessed, which may affect indexer performance. On the other hand, however, keeping the disk a-spinnin' just for the purposes of search may lead to shorter lifespan for the disk itself.

Still, I have not seen that particular issue with search (problems across a disk array or multiple independent disks). I'll try to replicate.

[hermes2015]

Yes, I have rebuilt the indexer, but it did not help. All my working drives are internal. I only use external ones for backups (in triplicate, since I am paranoid). I don't really care about this, because that Everything utility works brilliantly for me, so please don't spend any time trying to discover why it is happening in my setup.

On another topic, I must say that the operating system images of my C: drive have saved my bacon many times. Recovery takes less than 5 minutes, because the images are only around 28 GB in size.

[Asmodean]

Nono, it's a new and interesting problem, so I'll be happy to try and replicate it. See what's what.

Also, yes. I use a smallish SSD for OS only. It was good pre-SSD, and is pretty great with SSD.

Oh, there are a few downsides, but even for my professional setup, they are "practically nothing."

[hermes2015]

[The Magic Pudding..]

We're not expecting a search in file explorer to search all drives/partitions are we?

[hermes2015]

We're not expecting a search in file explorer to search all drives/partitions are we?

I am referring to the search box that one can show on the taskbar in Win11.

This is what I use instead: