Shopsmith Forums

Majones1 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:17 am First, check to see if you can correct your icon size problem by clicking on a blank area of the desktop, then push and hold the Ctrl key while you scroll the wheel on your mouse. This should increase and decrease the size of your icons, depending on which way you scroll.

Thank You for the tip. Yes, it works as you described.

Depending on the computer/video card manufacturer, I would go download and install their latest video driver. Microsoft is always updating things, to make things more secure (which they have been doing a great job with over the past few years) or to make things better for us (which they frequently fail at). These updates frequently cause unexpected problems, especially with older hardware. If your computer is older than, say, four years old, you may see problems crop up after an update. They do often fix those problems in a future update, but that doesn’t help much in the interim.

The "problems" that I have encountered have been because I no longer knew how and not because something had been broken.

If I see weird problems show up on a computer, I I assume it is either an update problem or some form of malware. I install the manufacturer’s driver and firmware updates, including the latest BIOS update. I’ve often seen a motherboard BIOS update fix several weird problems over the years. The problem here is that companies cannot do full integration testing, like they used to do back in the glass computer room era; there’s just way to many variables (hardware and software types and versions) and not enough time to do all that testing. And we users like to pay $500 for a super computer, which won’t pay for extensive integration testing. Therefore, we can assume that Microsoft, and really any software or OS vendor, will likely only test using recent hardware and the latest drivers.

I avoid bios updates unless I have problems. If there are lingering issues that I have not discovered - I don't fix them.

I then install and run Malwarebytes AntiMalware (MBAM). After installing it, be sure to find and enable the “Scan for Rootkit” option. Also, if I’m not going to buy the subscription, I disable the Trial Mode feature, and then disable the auto-start and upgrade check and notification options so it doesn’t bug the hell out of you. If you don’t disable the trial mode, after the trial period it will bug you to buy the subscription. But if you disable these options, you can do very good manual scans of your computer, and it will find and clean things your antivirus will miss.

I use Trend Micro and I swear by it.

Another thing I found that may help you is to follow the procedure below to Minimize the changes. This will change a Windows 10 default, so it might also have an unintended consequence.

Prevent Themes from Changing Icons
1. Go to Control Panel. Right-click Start (Windows icon). Select Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, find Appearance and Personalization > Personalization.
3. Open the Desktop Icon Settings box.
4. Near the bottom left of that box, uncheck Allow themes to change desktop icons. Click Apply > OK to exit.

Hope this helps.

I love computers! {said with great sarcasm}

Majones1 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:04 am Trend Micro is a good AV and I would not suggest replacing it. Malwarebytes is intended as a supplement to almost any AV. Most computer techs have been using it as an additional tool in their toolbox to manually scan and clean forms of malware most AVs miss. It also removes traces of malware that the AVs miss, and sometimes even repairs the OS. For clients that habitually open things they should know to ignore, or are willing to spend a little for more protection, we have them purchase a subscription to Malwarebytes as an added level of protection. As I said, it does not replace your AV.

Yes, I used to avoid BIOS updates, but the better quality manufacturers typically have a great history of fixing bugs in their firmware without causing crashes. Plus, they fix security issues that hackers can exploit. While I don’t typically keep BIOSs up to date (not enough time), I do install their updates when I see a weird, unexplainable problem. The interaction of the BIOS with the OS and the other hardware drivers and firmware can create problems that are a challenge troubleshoot.

Most of my experience is with business level Dell computers and I’ve found their BIOS and firmware updates to be safe to install. For the past 15 years the company I work for has mainly sold and used Dell servers, graphics workstations, desktops, and laptops, and I sold them for the seven years before that when I had my own company. Before that, I used primarily Compaq or HP servers and desktops, and their BIOS and firmware updates sometimes created issues so we generally did not update them except, like you said, we needed them to fix a specific problem. That was not just a problem with Compaq, but also with HP, Dell, and any other manufacturer. But all the big name manufacturers have increased the quality of their firmware programming so that we don’t see serious problems with their updates. I haven’t seen a crash from doing a BIOS or firmware update on many years now, so I don’t fear them like I used to. These days I’m actually much more afraid of the security risks inherent in old firmware.

Majones1 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 11, 2022 3:17 am First, check to see if you can correct your icon size problem by clicking on a blank area of the desktop, then push and hold the Ctrl key while you scroll the wheel on your mouse. This should increase and decrease the size of your icons, depending on which way you scroll.



Prevent Themes from Changing Icons
1. Go to Control Panel. Right-click Start (Windows icon). Select Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, find Appearance and Personalization > Personalization.
3. Open the Desktop Icon Settings box.
4. Near the bottom left of that box, uncheck Allow themes to change desktop icons. Click Apply > OK to exit.

Hope this helps.

I love computers! {said with great sarcasm}