Tech Corner

[jaylach]

Finally have a good clone of my Win 10 install from the main's current clone drive with 10 to a spin drive. Another is in progress.

I solved the failure issue by hitting the side of my head to wake up a dormant brain cell. Why was I trying to clone to an external when I have internal power and data SATA cables hanging out of the box? Plugged the drive into the internal cables and it went well.

Actually I thought it had failed when I tried booting to the new 10 clone but hung in and waited. Boot was successful but took forever and a day. Still it worked using Diskgenius. The current clone going on is with EaseUS ToDo. Never hurts to have a couple backups with different software.

I figure the extremely long boot from the new 10 clone was due to the target drive, not Diskgenius. I mean I cloned to a 640 GB 5400 RPM 2.5 inch drive that originally came with my Asus laptop that is probably over 14 years old. Not worried about the age of the drive as it has been just sitting without being used for 12-13 years. Really not worried about the extreme boot time as it is just a backup in case Win 11 fails. Boot time does not matter to me in this case as it is just to clone back to a system drive if needed.

Next step, assuming that the EaseUS clone is good going to a 2 TB Hitachi drive, will be to store the new clone drives and then clone my system Win 11 system install to the internal M.2 clone drive.

I don't blame Windows or the clone software for all this hassle. It was totally my fault for not totally thing things out. That is actually unusual for me as I often spend more time thinking through what I'm going to do than I do actually doing.

 

[MaloK]

I took a look but the free download link goes to a page that won't load due to the following error.
Error code: SSL_ERROR_RX_RECORD_TOO_LONG

<edit>
Actually I got it through their Google Drive link but it won.t clone to an external.

Their google drive .!!..??.. Not sure about that, but one of the best $ I put on a software.

My mom has windows 11; i hate the task bar and lack of a good old fashion start button. I think i'll stick to 10 - sides i only play games on 10.

Ten is the new Seven. And people are going back to 7... I don't understand...

I lost support for ten ... 14 days ago... They still deliver antivirus updates...

And I ran Windows 7 for 14 years without one.

Why would you even try, to go back to Windows 7 ?

... General Protection Fault error !

 

[jaylach]

Their google drive .!!..??.. Not sure about that, but one of the best $ I put on a software.


Ten is the new Seven. And people are going back to 7... I don't understand...

I lost support for ten ... 14 days ago... They still deliver antivirus updates...

And I ran Windows 7 for 14 years without one.

Why would you even try, to go back to Windows 7 ?

... General Protection Fault error !

I have no intention of going back to Win 7. I just consider it one of the best operating systems ever put out by Microsoft.

As to getting future updates for Win 10 their cutoff of 10/14/25 does not seem to be real. I got the extension for updates for 10 a week after the supposed cutoff. You DO need to have a Microsoft account to do this.

 

[jaylach]

Happy to say that I'm finally done with my clone backups.

I have two spin drives that will happily boot to Win 10 even if very slow.

I now, also, have a working clone of my Win 11 system drive internally.

Bottom line is that all is good and I have fully working clones of, both, Win 10 and 11. Since this was my goal I consider this a total success even though I could have done it easier if I had really thought things out. Still, it all ended out well and I'm happy. )

 

[Colin_T]

Oh, I don't know... Here is my Win 11 Pro taskbar and start menu. Of course there is tewaking involved. The walpaper is even animated.

How did you get the start menu on the left side of the taskbar in win11?
Mine is stuck in the middle of the taskbar and you have to right click it to get some stuff and left click opens up a bunch of programs I never use.

 

[MattW]

How did you get the start menu on the left side of the taskbar in win11?
Mine is stuck in the middle of the taskbar and you have to right click it to get some stuff and left click opens up a bunch of programs I never use.

Go through settings instead if the right click is causing issues. Taskbar behaviours then Taskbar alignment.

 

[Colin_T]

where is settings located in win11?

 

[MattW]

Should be able to type in the search bar when you click the windows icon. I’m at work so can’t sent screenshots rn sorry

Search settings

 

[anewbie]

where is settings located in win11?

Yes the most needed things are the hardest to find. And the ai bloat they are adding to make things worse is pretty outrageous - of course google and samsung are making it mandatory on their phones without disabling options.

 

[jaylach]

As @MattW said look for a gear looking icon in the start menu of just enter settings in the search.

As to the appearance I use a little gem called Start11 by Stardock. WOW, their price sure has gone up! I paid $4.00 for a lifetime license and now it is $15.00 although the $15.00 covers 5 installs so it is really $3.00 each.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

www.stardock.com

​

 

[anewbie]

As @MattW said look for a gear looking icon in the start menu of just enter settings in the search.

As to the appearance I use a little gem called Start11 by Stardock. WOW, their price sure has gone up! I paid $4.00 for a lifetime license and now it is $15.00 although the $15.00 covers 5 installs so it is really $3.00 each.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

Start11: The ultimate Start menu replacement for Windows 10 and 11. Restore the classic look and add new functionality.

www.stardock.com

​

I know several large companies that use stardock interface but the whole thing is bullshit. Knowing someone who works at MS frequently change like interface doesn't occur because they see a good way to improve it but because they have a mandate to change it to make it 'new'. Unfortunately this sort of forced change is usually not 'improved' but 'yucked up'

 

[MaloK]

W11 is the first release in a long time that I don't replace the start menu... It's buried under your profile and all users profile, and for some reasons made very difficult to personalize... But compared to the useless W10 start menu... It's improvement... OpenShell has always been one of the best, start menu replacement and used it over 7-8-10 at large and it supports 11 very well...

I made a compilation of shortcuts (lnk) files that are able to load the original dialogs that are still hiding in W11 and quick access to the start menu items, the good old sound mixer... I also included the whole GodMode folder in...

Just dump anywhere and enjoy. It's like the second thing I put in W11 when installing.

 

[seangee]

Oh, I don't know... Here is my Win 11 Pro taskbar and start menu. Of course there is tewaking involved. The walpaper is even animated.
View attachment 373173

That's quite similar to mine. Its also what I deployed to my users when I upgraded their machines from 10-11. Nobody complained and if I hadn't told them they probably would not even have noticed.

 

[jaylach]

I know several large companies that use stardock interface but the whole thing is bullshit. Knowing someone who works at MS frequently change like interface doesn't occur because they see a good way to improve it but because they have a mandate to change it to make it 'new'. Unfortunately this sort of forced change is usually not 'improved' but 'yucked up'

I've never seen any issue with Stardock and I've been using for many years. Of course I don't use all their stuff such as Fences. I just use Start 11 and Deskscapes. Deskscapes does the wallpaper animations. Think Win Vista's Dream Scenes.

My main system is the heart of my entertainment center and I just like it to look nice and how I want.

 

[anewbie]

I've never seen any issue with Stardock and I've been using for many years. Of course I don't use all their stuff such as Fences. I just use Start 11 and Deskscapes. Deskscapes does the wallpaper animations. Think Win Vista's Dream Scenes.

My main system is the heart of my entertainment center and I just like it to look nice and how I want.

I never said otherwise; their windows10/11 gui fixes are generally recognize as being 'good' and that is how they make most of their money. Their game market i believe is a lot smaller - though in truth it has been a long time since i look at their financial. While a private company i believe that brad had released some break down of revenue if not recently then in the past.