Newsletter Archives

• When is a system beyond repair?

  Posted on March 11, 2024 at 02:41 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  I’m giving up. I hate giving up.

  It annoys me, but I’m giving up on repairing operating systems. Why? Because we’ve reached the point where an operating system can become so damaged that not only can we not fully identify the cause, but also the system cannot be repaired with the tools provided for that purpose.

  There’s a reason I’m in this state of mind.

  The other day, someone in the forums asked me to start a section of Patch Watch to track those updates that did this kind of damage to the extent that the system became unbootable. But here’s the thing: no update is designed to make systems unbootable.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.11.0, 2024-03-11).

  Patch Watch Device Manager, DISM, KB5001716, KB5034441, Newsletters, Patch Lady Posts, Registry cleaners, SFC, System File Checker, VMWare, vSphere

• DeviceRescue — So long, Device Manager

  Posted on August 28, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Deanna McElveen • Comment in the Forums

  FREEWARE SPOTLIGHT

  

  By Deanna McElveen

  As frustrating and non-frustrating changes happen to Windows over the years, I wonder whether Microsoft just forgets about Device Manager.

  I doubt that 1998 Deanna (better hair) would find much difference between the Windows Device Manager in Windows 98 and Windows 10 or 11.

  The differences are primarily cosmetic, matching the overall changes in the Windows UI design. The functionality has not changed much in 25 years.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.35.0, 2023-08-28).

  Freeware Spotlight Deanna's Freeware Spotlight, Device Manager, Newsletters

• Recovering from ‘Unknown driver’ issues

  Posted on August 16, 2020 at 20:10 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  By Fred Langa

  Operating-system upgrades and resets sometimes leave behind nonworking, obsolete, or redundant device drivers that can open the door to future malfunctions.

  Here’s how to easily remove any troublesome drivers cluttering up your Windows machine’s setup.

  Plus: An AskWoody subscriber tries the “put the dead drive in the fridge” trick!

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.32.0 (2020-08-17).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList Deleting drivers, Device Manager, Hard drive freezing