Once I clicked on an ‘accept all’ button thinking I was accepting all their suggested changes but it took me to a place to order the upgrade and it wouldn’t let me close that window or back out. Even using the ctrl+alt+delete trick didn’t work to get me out of that screen. I had to turn off my computer which we all know isn’t a good thing to do. Bottom line: When I get more time I have to replace WPS because I don’t like their strong-arm tactics. I’ve tried my Microsoft built-in WordPad but that doesn’t have spell check unless I download TinySpell. I research the stuffings out of anything that requires a download because I’m so afraid of making a mistake that I can’t fix. I might just end up using my tax refund to buy a new computer so I can upgrade to Windows 11 and a good word processing program. I’ll have to do it eventually when they quit supporting Windows 10 which is coming October 14, 2025.
This isn’t the only techie related problem I’ve had this week. I was on Facebook, reading posts from the various Mahjong and animal sites I visit daily when I clicked on one that opened up with scary bells ringing and flashing lights telling me not to turn the computer off and to call a number on the screen for help because my computer was supposedly locked and under attack by someone trying to steal my files. Again, the clrl+alt+delete trick didn’t work but I wasn’t born under a turnip truck so I got my Kindle out and googled the phone number on my computer screen. Not surprising it belonged to a known scammer. So I turned off my computer, let it reboot, did all the security scans for Trojans, viruses, etc. Nothing turned up but what a waste of time that no doubt shot my blood pressure up. I love my computer but stuff like this will be the death of me. Someday they’ll find me slumped over my computer screen and my obituary will say, “Cause of death a false scam alert while using Facebook.”
What’s the saying? All frustrating techie things happen in threes. No? Well, close enough. Also this week my maintenance guy swapped out my dumb TV for my brother’s Roku TV which is a streaming thing I inherited when I helped my nieces clean out my brother’s room down in Memory Care. I wanted it so that I can watch Netflix and Amazon Prime in the living room where I can multitask instead of me having to go to the bedroom to see movies and binge-watch too late into the night. I'm hoping the change will result in a better quality of sleep.
My brother never learned to used a computer and couldn’t manage getting around that Roku TV so he pretty much watched the same, cowboy channel all the time. But even doing that, he’d screw up the settings so often that one of the maintenance guys made it a habit to stop in my brothers room at the end of every shift to get his TV back to TV Land. Fast forward to my hook up appointment happening this week and I assured the maintenance guy that I wouldn’t have the same issues my brother did, that I was pretty computer literate. Still, there is a learning curve and after he hooked up the cable, the WiFi, Netflix and Amazon Prime I was a happy camper.
That is I was happy until I turned the TV off and back on again later on and I couldn’t find the stupid cable channels. So, I downloaded the TV’s manual onto my Kindle and spent several hours determined I could figure it out without having to embarrass myself with a call back to maintenance. Finally, I gave up, shot an email to the guy and not more than five minutes latter I discovered my problem. My mistake was so Micky Mouse I hate to even admit it here. But I will...when I'd see the list of channels open up I thought it was at the top of the list and I’d scroll down looking through all the Roku channels, but what I was missing is that I could scroll up as well! And that’s where they were---a nice, tidy list of my 88 cable channels---above the list of Roku channels. When my stress level can handle it, I’m going to learn how to build a ‘favorite’ list but for now I only have to wade through 88 cable channels to find the five I generally watch. (You can't just punch in a channel number on a Roku remote. It doesn't even have numbers.)
Until Next Wednesday!
It really is a love/hate relationship with technology. I love it and spend way too many hours on my screen. I'm an Apple aficionado (perfect word... knowledgeable and enthusiastic). I can easily use Microsoft documents and Google documents But I have to remember to change my Apple docs to their format before sending.
ReplyDeleteBUT ... Apple suggests you upgrade for a while and then makes you upgrade operating systems way too frequently and things change just enough to make me crazy!
Thanks for writing! I look forward to Wednesdays!!
Love/hate relationship is a good way to describe how I feel about my computer. The jury is still out on whether or not the Roku TV is worth the extra trouble. They make simple radios now for seniors. Someone will come out with a simple TV one day for seniors. Bells and whistles can drive you crazy.
DeleteYes, techie nightmares is a great term for them. I’m happy your Roku TV is almost working the way you want it to.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't work as good as my bedroom smart TV that is hook up to an short little antenna. Where the Roku is hooked up to the complexes cable system. It's effected by the weather and wind too much and when you need it the most---like during last night's tornado alert you could barely see a thing. Of course, that's not the TV fault if I'm to be honest. There is a large disk on our roof.
DeleteI fried a smart TV, along with my router and phone and cable box. Everything attached to the cable box when a lightning bolt must have traveled down the cable somehow.
ReplyDeleteWow! Your techie nightmare is worst than mine. I feel your pain.
DeleteI feel ya, it took The Son an eternity to teach me how to even turn on my Smart TV which requires three different remotes to do it! I just now learned how to do my NetFlix on my own and The Daughter is now teaching me how to use the Utube Channel to get my Music Videos, which I prefer rather than watching actual TV. I have Series in the New Truck and don't really know how to use it properly so when the Free subscription to it runs out that the Dealership provided, I doubt I'll renew. I hate enhancements too, have to learn something more Tech complicated all the time AND get hit with the added fees they always build in when they upgrade systems and cancel out the old ones so that eventually you have no choice and options. I can't recall which Windows I'm now using, so thanks for the Heads Up about the 2025 thing with Windows 10... I think I might be on Windows 11 if the Kiddos upgraded this thing for me??? LOL
ReplyDeleteWindows 11 has been out a while so you may have it. The trouble with using unsupported versions of windows is they are ripe for viruses, etc. because they can't be updated as new ones come along. They try to stay one step ahead of the bad apples. At least you have kids to help you and at no cost. We have IT help here but the cost they charge is something shameful...probably the same as taking something in someplace, but we do have to wait a week or more sometimes for our appointments.
DeleteI can still remember, decades ago, when our little family decided to bite the bullet and buy cell phones. Our daughter was driving back and forth to college, and my main motivation was to have them for safety. Fast forward to today--I cannot believe how important our phones have become. I'm a big fan of laptops, too, and whenever my phone or laptop don't work properly, I truly panic. A few months ago, I upgraded my iphone and signed up for insurance. It's around $18 extra per month, but I think it might be worth my peace of mind. Who knows??
ReplyDeleteAs for AI, our banks are even pushing it. I'm not comfortable with it. Sometimes I remind myself that the world has always pushed change in the pursuit of progress, but I'm not sure...
I have a smart phone but not an apple. Mine only cost $175 and works fine but I try only use it for phone calls and a contacts list. I don't want to load it up with stuff I can do on my computer or Kindle. Knock on wood, so far that's working out okay. It's surprising how fast we seniors have joined the cell phone craze. It's not unusual here to have a table full of seniors all playing on their phones, seeing who can find the answer to something the fastest.
DeleteI feel your pain! We wasted over an hour trying to figure out why our printer no longer connected to Wi-Fi. Eventually we turned off the router and rebooted it which fixed the problem. Wish we had a maintenance guy to call.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how often just a simple reboot will fix problems and how often we forget to try that first!
DeleteGosh, remember how computers and technology were supposed to make our lives easier? LOL
ReplyDeleteI just compose right in the Blogger interface. I find it easy to use, but I understand how it might not suit you. And I hate when I get anything new and have to learn something all over again. It's good for the brain, but I have very little patience, and I don't like feeling stupid.
Composing in my Blogger interface would be my back up plan but I have to do so much editing when I write that I'm afraid I'd accidentally publish something before it was ready and then I'd really be embarrassed.
DeleteIt is good for our brains but I'd rather pick the place and time when I want to be challenged in that way.
I will say this. YOU are articulate and conscientious about spelling and grammar. Many, many others are not. They need the kick-in-the-butt those annoying drop-downs provide…if they even “get it” that they’ve written something clumsy.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of those toothless trumpers soaking in every nonsensical word their “orange genius” rambles, thinking what they’ve just heard is literary masterpiece.
I’m so sick of having to be on alert every single second for scams and financial traps buried in fine print. I need a new desk top printer, prefer HP brand, but not sure I can figure out how to install one without also signing up for the ink delivery service that will ship a mountain of cartridges to someone who prints a one page recipe twice a year.
I went through that printer replacement last year. I, too, wanted an HP but ended up getting an Epson because it's a brand I've used and understand for a long time. With any luck, it will be the last one I have to get.
DeleteI suppose you're right about some people needing all that AI drop down stuff.
I think it is awful the people in the world that try to pull scams on others. They keep finding new ways to try to trick us. Terrible.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy having Roku with access to Netflix and HBO Max. On Max, I've been watching The Great British Pottery Throwdown and it is so fun to see what the potters create.
I'm mostly a news junkie on TV and binge-watcher of Netflix. I can see why a pottery throwdown would be interesting. Anything arts and crafts would be fun to watch. I like to watch wood turning and carving on Facebook Shorts.
DeleteI HATE
ReplyDeleteI hate AI! Somehow it is on my facebook now! And I googled (my tech support, too) and it says I can't delete it from my facebook account. Bah Humbug. I just spent a week at my daughter's babysitting teens. They have newer Roku tv's than my Roku tv and it was a big learning curve, too. My head hurts.
ReplyDeleteNot on Facebook!!! I will hate that, too, when it they add it to my Facebook page. You'd think they'd give us an easy way to turn it off but that doesn't seem to be the case WPS. We're going to end up all sounding/writing the same if we are forced to adapt to the AI way of phrasing stuff.
DeleteYes! I tried to search for something on FB yesterday and AI came up. Ugh.
DeleteMy blood pressure went up just reading about these tech problems. And I'm creeped out by Facebook trying to get me to AI. We got a "smart TV" for our bedroom when we moved a few years ago, and it's almost more trouble than it's worth. It came loaded with a bunch of junk that Samsung wants me to watch and real trail of steps to get to what I wanted -- which was just the local channels off our antenna.
ReplyDeleteSame here and there is no way to bounce back and forth between two channels.
DeleteOh yeah we all have these tech nightmares, even in the middle of a nice sunny day.
ReplyDeleteI think the tech nightmares enjoy spoiling a sunny day when we're rather be outside.
DeleteYou'll be fine with Windows 11. I don't know this WPS program but it sounds like it's not the best! Frustrating to the max. I think I'm glad I just got the roku express stick to put in my regular TV! But I do like having the roku... lots of options. After I got my roku stick, I dropped cable, signed up for Hulu live and cut my bill in half.
ReplyDeleteI'm not worried about making a transition to Windows 11, it's just a lot of money and time to buy a new computer. My current one doesn't have enough memory or way to expand it. We get free cable here or I'd try Hulu too. I need to explore more with Roku channels There is so much choice it's intimidating.
DeleteI can so relate to this technical issue. I recently got a new cable box, and setting up those channels was so confusing. I hate to blame it on my stroke-damaged brain or anything like that. I did programming in my pre-stroke life and programmed for user interfaces. I hate it when those user interfaces are not intuitive. I have a master's degree in computer science, but I still hate it when computers or these gadgets don't work the way they're supposed to, and those engineers don't do proper testing or bug fixing. Anyways, my rant is over. But when they work, they make life so easy and exciting. I am so happy with AI for now proofreading my text and making me sound smart by checking grammar for me
ReplyDeleteAsha
I doubt your stoke had anything to do with the confusion of setting up your cable box. But agree with all our technical stuff works right it makes life so much easier.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGaylord. That was not a comment, that was a blog post with way too many links embedded.
DeleteI agree AI is a pain, when it tries to correct my writing I fume and deliberately scramble my writing just to fox it, but of course it isn't, then I have to unscramble my scrambling!!
ReplyDeleteI tried the same thing!
DeleteYep, using technology gadgets, my term for all of them, is frustrating. The supposed logic that makes them work makes almost no sense to me. I admire your tenacity about trying to understand your Roku, for that alone you are my hero.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting used to the Roku TV but I still long for the easiness of just trying a TV on and clicking in a number to jump to the channel I want to watch. It takes 4 steps in the right order to do that.
DeleteEvery now and then a post like yours makes me give thanks again for the WordPress platform. It's simplicity itself, but has a number of nice features, like the ability to switch between a visual and a text editor, as well as providing a place to save drafts. There's been no attempt to impose AI; in fact, there now is an option to prevent anything we publish being used to 'educate' AI.
ReplyDeleteAs for those scary bells and flashing lights, that happened to me once, and it was nerve-wracking until I figured out that I could get rid of it by doing the off/back on routine. Now, I haven't been bothered for years. I subscribe to Malwarebytes premium, and they take care of everything from malware to popups. My computer is scanned on a daily basis, and various threats are removed without my having to do anything. Between Malwarebytes, my ESET anti-virus, and WordPress's Akismet spam filter, I'm living the good life -- thank heaven.
I have pondered adding a new tag line to my blogs: "Powered by Human Intelligence."
I love that new tag idea. You definitely should do it.
DeleteI went along for years without getting those scam, scary popups but they aren't actually doing any damage to my computer as my anti-virus and malware control takes care of them, But the bad actors must have figured out away around them for me to even get the popups and they depend on you calling the number.
I don't just blog, I write a long of other documents so just having a way to write a blog post like at WordPress or Bloggers isn't enough to me.
I feel your pain. I'm using my daughter's big Fire TV and she took my small Roku. I had so much trouble for a while but I finally got used to it. I dread the day I have to change again.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting used to mine but I still wish for the simplicity of days gone by and I hope there won't come a day where I'll struggle to remember the order in which to click on what.
DeleteI'm sitting here with my eyebrows all scrunched together. What is WPS?
ReplyDeleteIt's a word processing program that is compatible with Word. It came loaded on my computer when I got it 2-3 years ago.
Delete