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Microsoft "extremely careless"
I have a dual-boot machine with Win10 on one partition. This morning, Windows installed a large update with the comment "your machine will restart several times". Sure enough, the update took forever, and afterwards...there's only Windows 10 left.
I haven't yet gone spelunking with a LiveCD, but Win10 updates have been known to nuke entire partitions, not just the bootloader. Time will tell...
For what it's worth, the Windows update history shows: KB 3176937, 3176935, and 3193494. This would appear to be a group of updates that lead to "Windows 10 version 1607".
Microsoft Delivers Another Broken Windows 10 Update
This week, Microsoft pushed out another cumulative update and reports of installation problems are widespread. While I don't know how many users are impacted, based on comments sent to me, it's certainly widespread enough that this is well beyond an isolated issue.
The update that is causing the problem, KB3194496, is not installing correctly for users. The update, when it does fail, is causing some machines to restart, often multiple times, as Windows 10 attempts to remove the failed update. Worse, after a restart, the file will attempt to install again resulting in the loop of failed install, reboot, re-install and failure again.
Some users have reported that the cumulative update did install correctly on the second or third attempt while others have said that it fails every time.
[...] Microsoft is pushing the idea that you should always patch your machine on the day the update is released as they often release security patches that fix vulnerabilities. But, until the company can get a handle on their quality control issues, such as the Anniversary update breaking millions of webcams, it feels like every time you run Windows update you are rolling the dice.
Some have found a solution to their problem here.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ShadowSystems on Monday October 03 2016, @03:46AM
I'm totaly blind & require a screen reader to use my computer at all.
Under Win7 I can wait a day or two to find out if any given update might cripple the system (reading other forums like this one to hear the hue & cry) & if the update is broken then refuse to install it.
If push comes to shove I can ask someone to help me restore the system prior to the update should the update cripple my screen reader & make it impossible for me to fix it myself.
I can't do that under Win10.
Forced to accept the update even if it cripples my computer & no way to restore to a previous point means even if I can get Sighted help it won't do any good.
All I can do is sit here, listen to all the various SNAFU's that MS is causing, & shake my head.
On the one hand I'm glad I stuck with Win7 rather than upgrading, but on the other hand I'm frustrated that my next computer will have to be something OTHER than Windows based.
I *want* to move to Linux & get off the MS treadmill, but without the ability to testdrive a Linux distro on my current computer(*), there's no way for me to learn the screen reader in order to be productive.
(*): I know there are "Talking Distros" like Adriane Knoppix, Sonar, & Vinux. Unfortunately there's no screen reader during BIOS/POST, so I can't interact with the boot menu to choose the LiveCD or USB boot options. =-\
I need a separate computer with a talking distro already installed that I can learn upon, so I can switch to the Windows one when I have trouble figuring out what's happening on the other; a quick Google search to find the answer, then back to the Linux box to continue.
TL;DR: Windows 10 is actively hostile to the Assistive Technology community & is unfit for purpose.
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Monday October 03 2016, @04:41AM
I have two computers (a laptop and desktop) running Win 10. The 1607 update really messed up my laptop, but I was not too concerned as it is basically a copy of the desktop that I use when visiting clients but I was alarmed at it messing up my main dektop
After investigating, I found this article [infoworld.com] about using a MS utility to block updates, which I used to block 1607 from touching my main desktop. So far, all is well.
I do not know what the effects downstream might be, particularly regarding subsequent updates but at this point I can't risk the update messing up data and software I use with several clients. It is not only the loss of revenue, it is the possibility of losing the clients as well and maybe even facing a legal problem.
Now, it doesn't help if the update was installed prior to your blocking it (obvious) so you must exercise more detailed control of updates before they get you, meaning, being on top of what updates are released and how they might affect you.
Cheers
(Score: 4, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Monday October 03 2016, @05:59AM
So, after Microsoft has proven to put your business at risk, have you already made plans to move away from it? If not, why not?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Monday October 03 2016, @04:24PM
Oh, man!
I wish I could dictate to my clients what they should do, but mostly I'm involved as a troubleshooter, fixing messes made by someone else and I have no choice but to use the software (O.S. and applications) they already have... I do suggest that they change, but people are too deeply involved.
It's like being trapped in quicksand, they don't realize the more they move, the deeper they sink, meaning, the more they keep on using the same stuff the more trouble they'll get. The solution is not spending more money on the same stuff that put them in trouble in the first place, but somehow either I lack the skills to convince them or they are dumb.
I use Linux (mostly Ubuntu but sometimes SUSE for server stuff) wherever possible and could not be happier. But, on the other hand, I make a good living because of the M$ mess :-)
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday October 03 2016, @07:05PM
Let me know when you find a cure for PowerPoint addiction. And a therapy that actually works to help people overcome FUD, especially that nebulous kind that portrays open source and libre software as unreliable, unpolished, unmaintained, not standardized, and stuck in a small network. Many times I've heard lusers say they have to use MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint not because they're in love with it but because they're afraid alternatives are worse and that's what their correspondents use and insist upon. It's incredible how strong MS's hold is on people with a more authoritarian or fearful mindset. I wonder if there's any correlation between being a Catholic, what with the highly hierarchical organization with a Pope second only to God and Jesus, and being an MS Office user, while Protestants are more likely to use libre software.
After a trip to the Argonne National Laboratory, I got an email with an attached survey asking me for my opinions about the visit. The survey was a freaking Word file. It's still big news when a government dumps MS Office to switch to libre software.
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Monday October 03 2016, @06:29AM
Unfortunately there's no screen reader during BIOS/POST, so I can't interact with the boot menu to choose the LiveCD or USB boot options.
Waiting for the "Press F12 for the boot menu" prompt beore pressing F12 (sometimes it's Esc) takes quick reflexes. I'm not that quick, so I press the key repeatedly from the moment I turn on the computer until the menu comes up. Unless your computer detects your USB drive erratically, the menu should always be the same. If you were to go over the use of it a few times with a sighted person, you could, I would think, work out what keys must be pressed and how long to wait between key-presses.
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Monday October 03 2016, @06:34AM
Regarding Linux distributions with speech support, the Debian project claims that
Support for software speech synthesis is available on all installer images which have the graphical installer, i.e. all netinst, CD and DVD images, and the netboot gtk variant. It can be activated by selecting it in the boot menu by typing s Enter. The textual version of the installer will then be automatically selected, and support for software speech synthesis will be automatically installed on the target system.
—https://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch05s02.html [debian.org]
I don't, personally, have experience with its speech support, but Debian would be more of a mainstream choice than the distributions you listed. It does, however, include the dreaded systemd.
(Score: 1) by ShadowSystems on Monday October 03 2016, @03:11PM
Thank you for that info.
Enjoy a six pack of your favorite imbibement on me in gratitude.
*Raises my caffeine tankard in toast... Clink*
I'm aware of using either Escape or F12 to reach the boot menu & hoping it presents the options in the same order, unfortunately Murphy likes to mess with me.
She hates men, her relatives, & especially her male relatives... which makes my life most troublesome indeed being her nephew. =-}
My Intel NUC seems to enjoy randomizing the boot menu on me so that it's never the same layout from one boot to the next, even using the same devices attached each time.
Plug in the USB DVD & try to boot from it? Sorry, that option is now third from the bottom & mis-identified as "Chicken Gumbo Souffle".
Slap in a different DVD media, reboot, & now it's the fifth option labeled "Marmite Nipple Lasers".
Unplug the DVD & replace it with a USB FlashDrive, & suddenly the option is seventh (out of two) & called something stupid like "Press this option to reformat your computer."
*Cough*
Ok, I may be joking about the names but not so much about their locations or being misidentified.
Murphy loves to f&@# with me like that.
I pretty much need a Sighted Person every time I try to boot from anything other than the main drive, since only they can see where the option I need has wandered off.
=-\
As for Debian having a talking-capable installer, that was new to me.
I knew Ubuntu had one (Super+S?) but that still required me to find the right boot menu option to get there in the first place.
Unity or SystemD, choices, choices, choices... =-j
I've decided to fix the problem by avoiding having to do that part in the first place.
Rather than dual booting my single machine, I'm buying a second computer from System76 with Linux already installed.
I'll set it up beside my NUC, put a Keyboard/Mouse/Video switch in there so I can swap back & forth, & have the best of both Worlds without having to reboot at all.
Then I can practice on the one while still having the other ready to help get answers to questions.
...
And then the world is DOOMED! Doomed I say! For I will be free to begin my Evil Plans for World Domination!
MUH Hahahahahahahahahahaha*Cough*
*Sputter*
Ummm... I uh, I mean ummmm...
*Jedi Hand Wave*
You heard nothing. Nothing at all. Shoo!
*Jedi Hand Wave*
=-)p
(Score: 2) by Unixnut on Monday October 03 2016, @03:55PM
> It does, however, include the dreaded systemd.
And for those who desire Debian without systemd, there is devuan (https://devuan.org/), which is the same as Debian (includes the same installer and assistive technology) but without Pottering-ware.
As for the BIOS and assistive tech, that is a bit harder. The new UEFI system that replaced BIOS is supposed to be smart enough to support assistive tech at boot. Otherwise you can look at installing coreboot BIOS, which is a linux kernel that replaces your BIOS and give you more features.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday October 03 2016, @03:55PM
If systemd is an objection, try Devuan, which is Debian without systemd, and without anything that truly depends on systemd. But I don't know how good its accessibility support is.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Monday October 03 2016, @07:51AM
Just a crazy idea
But if you have any OCR-capable screenreader, will it pick up the fonts of BIOS when feed images of it via a webcam?
(Hitting the magic key to get to options normally is done from memory for sighted as well - due to too short delay (tends to be that the POST-beep is when to hit the key))
(Score: 1) by ShadowSystems on Monday October 03 2016, @03:34PM
First, I don't have a webcam. I know they're useful for stuff like Skype & such, but as a blind person I can't see (metaphoricly nor physicly) the use.
It's not like I can see whom I'm talking to anyway, so why should I let them see me?
Besides, that means wearing clothes... pants? BAH!
=-D
Second, since there's no pre-OS-load Screen Reader Environment (SRE), that means there isn't a SRE available to interact with the webcam during boot.
I need the OS to load & give me the SRE so I can know if the webcam was able to OCR the screen during the boot menu.
*Makes fingers pointing across each other gesture in classic "I need one to do the other" frustration*
=-J
Seriously, I'm not sure it would work anyway.
Since I can't see to aim the webcam, how would I know I've got it pointed at the screen in such a way as to let it see the boot menu?
For all I know I've got the dumb thing pointed up my nose, covered with part of my thumb, & getting a prime view of booger miner's motherload.
(It's the view most often captured in my days of photography, so it makes sense that it'd be the image I captured now as well.)
*Cough*
=-Jp
I'd need a second computer using the webcam to try & capture the first computer's screen during boot.
And that supposes the SRE can OCR the screen fast enough to let me start smashing keys.
*Sigh*
*Hands you a fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookie for effort*
Thanks!
I'd give you a silver star for effort but I think I baked them into the cookies.
=-D
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday October 03 2016, @12:33PM
A quick web search turned up this site:
https://opensource.com/life/15/8/accessibility-linux-blind-disabled [opensource.com]
Perhaps one of the eight distros mentioned will be to your liking.
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr