GeoffL
Full Member
- Messages
- 934
I've just about had it with the Gates Emporium... without warning, it seems, Windows applied an update. I didn't know about it because it was done silently -- I suspect on the night I left my laptop powered up: forgot to turn it off before going to bed.
The trouble begins:
Yesterday, I attempted to open JASC Paint Shop Pro (OK, I know it's old, but it's paid for and ran fine under Windows 10 and (until the update) Windows 11). Windows told me it had blocked one or more third party DLLs because it couldn't verify their origin; and there didn't seem to be an option to turn that 'feature' off. This was the only application that I could use to scan some stuff needed for an event next weekend. So caught between a rock and a hard place, I had to install something else (The Gimp). I check that the application could talk to my stand-alone scanner and head for bed...
The plot thickens:
Next day, having produced the scanned images, I needed to use Open Office Writer to create my actual document -- and Windows again blocked one or more DLLs. Open Office bleated about not finding a language pack and wouldn't open. I had to reinstall the entire suite. So, I'm now about five hours into a half-hour task and can at last open Writer to create my document.
Trouble always seems to come in threes:
Half an hour later, I've got the document and try to print it -- at which point Windows reports that it doesn't recognise the printer driver's creator and has blocked the printer because it doesn't comply with Windows Protected Print Mode. Jan now leaves the room because I'm turning the air blue at this point. Some research later and it turns out that I cannot disable Windows Protected Print Mode unless I first set it up; and setting it up will uninstall the printer driver I need. With no other option, I click Set Up and wince as my printer driver is uninstalled. Although it worked fine before, my printer is now "obsolete" and I couldn't find a Windows 11 driver. So, I found out how to disable Windows Protected Print Mode and installed the Windows 10 driver only for the installer to report being unable to find the printer on the network. I tried connecting the computer to the printer via USB, but still no joy as it seems direct connection isn't enough and it had to be found on the network. I tried manual uninstallation and reinstalling the driver, to the same effect. Eventually, I found an option to enter the printer's IP address and got the printer side working but still cannot get the scanner running
More than 8 hours of grief for a simple task and I still haven't got back all the functionality that the Gates Emporium sabotaged. I suspect that there are more nasty shocks waiting in the wings and some flavour of Linux is looking more and more attractive...
The trouble begins:
Yesterday, I attempted to open JASC Paint Shop Pro (OK, I know it's old, but it's paid for and ran fine under Windows 10 and (until the update) Windows 11). Windows told me it had blocked one or more third party DLLs because it couldn't verify their origin; and there didn't seem to be an option to turn that 'feature' off. This was the only application that I could use to scan some stuff needed for an event next weekend. So caught between a rock and a hard place, I had to install something else (The Gimp). I check that the application could talk to my stand-alone scanner and head for bed...
The plot thickens:
Next day, having produced the scanned images, I needed to use Open Office Writer to create my actual document -- and Windows again blocked one or more DLLs. Open Office bleated about not finding a language pack and wouldn't open. I had to reinstall the entire suite. So, I'm now about five hours into a half-hour task and can at last open Writer to create my document.
Trouble always seems to come in threes:
Half an hour later, I've got the document and try to print it -- at which point Windows reports that it doesn't recognise the printer driver's creator and has blocked the printer because it doesn't comply with Windows Protected Print Mode. Jan now leaves the room because I'm turning the air blue at this point. Some research later and it turns out that I cannot disable Windows Protected Print Mode unless I first set it up; and setting it up will uninstall the printer driver I need. With no other option, I click Set Up and wince as my printer driver is uninstalled. Although it worked fine before, my printer is now "obsolete" and I couldn't find a Windows 11 driver. So, I found out how to disable Windows Protected Print Mode and installed the Windows 10 driver only for the installer to report being unable to find the printer on the network. I tried connecting the computer to the printer via USB, but still no joy as it seems direct connection isn't enough and it had to be found on the network. I tried manual uninstallation and reinstalling the driver, to the same effect. Eventually, I found an option to enter the printer's IP address and got the printer side working but still cannot get the scanner running
More than 8 hours of grief for a simple task and I still haven't got back all the functionality that the Gates Emporium sabotaged. I suspect that there are more nasty shocks waiting in the wings and some flavour of Linux is looking more and more attractive...
