Odds and ends

This week: Answers to questions that have come up in the past couple of weeks. Tips about image resizing, Windows 10 Start Menu, and declining the Windows 10 upgrade altogether.

 

When you want to upload or email a photo from your computer, quite often these days the file size is huge. High resolution photos are great for printing but if all you need to do is look at them on a screen, you don’t need and you don’t want enormous files.

You might notice that Windows Live Gallery and other applications ask about resizing images when you try to email them. But you don’t have to rely on the built in component of a program to do that. You can resize your image with a simple right-click.

Image Resizer for Windows is easy to use and does a great job. Find the picture you want to share. Right-click on it, make your decision and click on the Resize button. You’ll have a resized version and your original version in the original folder. It’s just that easy. I’ve been using this tool for years. It works on everything from Vista to Windows 10, and it’s free.

Be sure to download from this site: https://imageresizer.codeplex.com/. It’s adware and malware free. There are other programs with similar names on different sites. I can’t vouch for them. This one is the real deal.

Yes. And… no.

Windows 8 had no Start Menu; rather it had a Start Screen. That Start Screen was just like a Desktop littered with icons, except that lots of these icons flashed.

Windows 8.1 had a pseudo-Start Menu AND a Start Screen. The make-believe menu was a tiny concession to those who hated the Start Screen and never could figure out how to use Search open programs.

The outrage from the public about no Start Menu in Windows caused Microsoft to back down and include a Start Menu in Windows 10. So yes. There IS a Start Menu. Is it like the old days? No. It is not. It’s the combination of the old-style Start Menu and the hated Start Screen. Now we have tiles that flash at you right on the Start Menu.

I don’t care what anyone says, the Start Menu in Windows 10 is disturbingly kludgy. It only makes sense if you came to Windows 10 via 8.x. If you jumped in right from Windows 7, I think you’re going to find this Start Menu shocking.

We have a couple of choices. We can swallow hard and learn to use, customize, (and presumably, love) the new Start Menu. There are lots of resources we can use to do this. This page will get you started: http://www.7tutorials.com/how-configure-apps-items-shown-windows-10-start-menu.

Or, we can do what so many people did to get past the No Start Menu Problem on Windows 8.x: We can install a third-party add-on. If you’re going to do that, I recommend the same program in Windows 10 as I did in Windows 8. It’s called Classic Shell, and it’s available here: http://www.classicshell.net/. This is an excellent alternative to the built-in Start Menu, and it will absolutely make things look and feel just like they did in the previous century. If you were already using Classic Shell in Windows 8 or 8.1, visit that site again and make sure you have the newest version, especially if you’re going to upgrade to Windows 10.

If you’ve changed your mind about your Windows 10 reservation, you can easily opt out.

• Click on the Get Windows 10 icon in your System Tray (lower right corner, by the clock)
• In the new window that opens, click on the icon that looks like three horizontal lines
• Click on View confirmation
• Click on Cancel reservation
• Click on Cancel reservation again
• Click on Close

If you never want to be reminded again about the upgrade, follow the instructions in this article from Make Use Of: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/get-rid-windows-10-upgrade-notification-windows-7-8/.

How’s your Windows 10 experience going? Share your opinions to [email protected] and I’ll share them here.
 

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!

 

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (http://computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected].

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This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.