Windows 10: Two simple questions about unwilling Windows 10

Perhaps the people I pity are the amateur IT staff for schools and small businesses.. I've encountered one case where a small firm responsible for railway engine maintenance inadvertently upgraded one PC to Win 10.. and some specialised software no longer worked.

 

Yep, that's truly a problem. Just now, trying to install some fix to a program the software maker sent me... but it says 4 dll's are missing - QtCore4.dll / QtGui4.dll / QtOpenGl4.dll / QtNetwork4.dll. Going to take that up with those software people, but I just don't understand that since upgrading to Win 10 I keep being confronted with those annoyances. Nothing dramatic, but it all costs time. Oh, how I wish I could still be on Win 7!

H

 

We're still rather early in the product lifecycle for '10. I've not had problems with desktop apps I've installed in general, and '10s been stable for quite some months. But next month I get a new 'custom' laptop, '10 preinstalled..

Those dlls should be related solely to your application.. they may well appear multiple times on your disk, but not in Windows folders.

 

Hello again,

Well I've tried everything - and I mean everything that is suggested in related forum posts, which is quite a lot - and have tweaked and re-tweaked, but nothing doing: the horrid Windows 10 keeps reverting to its clunky and slow Edge and Photos associations for my most often used graphic files (png... tif... jpg...) and all pdf related documents. So, I am at the end of my tether and repeat my often lament of how I wish I were in Windows 7 again, where the user was not yet treated like a child in tutelage. I guess that by now, and countless lost hours, I'll have to rely on "Open With" in the Right Click context menus (which, by the way keep getting longer and longer - wish I could eliminate some of the items there!)

Stable Windows 10? Probably - but full of quirks and annoyances all the same. Shall I perhaps allude to some windows not keeping their "views" but reverting constantly to large icons instead of details, and more of the same annoyances (and yes, I have a wonderful utility called ShellFolderFix to keep windows in size and view check, but like so many other programs it does not seem to work so well under Windows 10 either.)

This upgrade has cost me more time than I care for but I don't even dare to revert back to my trusted Win 7, for fear that some other problems would arise then. A catastrophe, if you ask me.

Best regards nevertheless,

H

 

Not really. Depending on how badly you want to do that.
If you have Win 7 installation disk or a set of recovery disks, you can revert back to Win 7.
( I would prefer not to try the Back to Windows 7 option in Settings > Update & Security > Recovery ....)

I have had reinstalled my pre-installed Windows 7 Home Premium after I had upgraded to Windows 10.
Win 7 was back running as before. I eventually returned to Win 10 Home just for the thrill of a new OS.

 

You certainly have a choice.. if I may expand it:
1. Use disk imaging to image what you have now

2. Clean install Win 10
3. Now start to keep a simple log of all you do.
4. When you've got the drivers for your essential hardware working ok, and you've checked sleep, hibernate, Cortana, Start menu all work, install a disk imaging program e.g. Macrium Reflect or Aomei Backupper (free) and image that too.
5. Create the boot disk for your imaging program, and ensure you can boot from it.
6. Now install some programs you want to make your defaults, and do so.
Check those defaults.
(Note: hyperlinks (http, https at the bottom of the list) require special manual intervention using the traditional control panel).

7. Update your image.

8. Continue installing, configuring things, and at key points update your image.

Your disk image means you can readily revert to a previously working Windows in less than 40 mins typically- hopefully faster.

Throughout this process, periodically check your associations are ok, Cortana and the Start menu are working.
Recommended: Classic Shell (start menu) - free.
- you can still use your Win 10 menu, and Classic Shell also supports launching universal apps.

 

As dalchina suggests in item #2 above, do a clean install of Win 10. Windows upgrades have NEVER been a reliable way to move to a new version and it has always been recommended to do a clean install over an upgrade.