Microsoft, stop fucking switching languages!

I’m so fucking pissed right now. I live in Slovenia, but I want my operating system to be entirely in English. Ok then, so I get my Windows 10 installed, set interface language to English and keyboard to Slovene in order to support our special characters not found in English alphabet (and have keyboard layout set right). All fine except fucking stupid OS with mind of its own insists on switching keyboard layout from SL to ENG for no fucking reason. I have it set to ENG/SL, but when I start CS:GO game, it decides to use ENG/US for no fucking logical reason. Stop doing this motherfucking shit Microsoft. I always notice it when I have to type something in the chat (meaning I’m in the game and can’t go out and switch) and it makes my “Y” and “Z” keys reversed as well as replacing “‘” with “-“. It’s fucking infuriating bullshit that makes no sense. Stop changing shit! Stupid garbage broken OS. Never had this problem till Windows 10 and even this looks like it happened now and not few months back.

Get your shit together Microsoft and stop breaking shit that worked fine for years.

Force integrated Windows 10 apps to use English language

Are you living in a non-English country, but you are using English language in Windows? I absolutely hate localized Windows, because my language simply doesn’t work with computer terminology. However, even when you set Windows to use English language during installation, integrated apps like Calendar, Alarm, Calculator, Music, Video etc that come with Windows 10 automatically gets localized in my native language. Meaning entire Windows OS is in English, but the apps that are integrated in it are in my own native language. You can imagine my OCD going insane. It was like this in Windows 8.1, but I could never really find the solution… until now 🙂

Changing language of integrated Windows 10 apps to English language:

• Right click on Start and select Control Panel…
• Click on Add language under Clock, Language, and Region category.
• Click Add language and search for English.

You’ll find bunch of versions, I personally prefer English (United States), you can pick United Kingdom or even Australia… After you’ve picked the one you like, click Add button below.

There should be two languages listed in your panel…

• Select English one and click Move up which will force it to be the default language.
• Click Options on the right (within the English profile) and click Add an input method.

This time, select your own language, so that you’ll have proper support for your local special letters and symbols on your keyboard.

• Click Add when you’ve found your own language.
• Click Remove button next to US language entry.
• Click Save button below.

You’ve set all the necessary things. You can check language of integrated apps by going into Start, clicking All apps and scrolling through the list. If all the integrated apps like Alarm, Calendar, Music etc are in English, you’ve done it right.

To finish it off properly…

• Go to Control Panel and then Change date, time, or number formats.
• Select Administrative tab and click Copy Settings… button.
• Tick both checkboxes below and click OK.

There you go. It looks complicated, but it’s really easy. By doing this last step, you ensure all the future new profiles will use these settings as well as certain locations like Welcome screen that don’t use custom settings by default after you set them.

Windows 10 is a pile of horse shit

TRIGGER WARNING: UNMEASURABLE AMOUNT OF SWEARING AHEAD

Ok, this fucking does it. Windows 10 is the motherfucking worst Windows OS I’ve ever used. No, Vista was a fucking gem compared to this pile of absolute concentrated excrement.

Lets write down why…

I happen to own a slightly older Compaq laptop. Nothing fancy, it’s powered by an AMD E-450 APU and I’ve bought extra 4GB of RAM to make 8GB in total and replaced the crappy HDD with 128GB Crucial M4 SSD. It’s still kinda weak, but for web, music and movies, perfectly capable device. Has served me well with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Popup came along to update to Windows 10 and so I did it. And that’s where thing went downhill. 90° slope…

There is this wonderful thing with AMD E-450 APU where latest Catalyst 15.7 drivers, the very same that also get delivered to Windows 10 through Windows Update, these drivers don’t fucking work at all. Youtube at 480p lags and stutters like I’m trying to run 4K on a fucking Commodore C-128. It’s absolutely unusable.

Gone through Display Driver Uninstaller, manually disabled automatic driver updating and installed old Catalyst 14.12 Omega, the ones that worked fine and where I could playback 1080p Youtube smoothly. All was well and then I stopped using laptop for a while because I didn’t need it.

Like an hour ago, I’ve fired it up and checked for updates since it passed quite a lot of days. And guess what Windows Update automatically without asking me a single thing. Yup, you guessed it. It installed motherfucking Catalyst 15.7 WHQL drivers on its own that don’t fucking work with HD6320 GPU found on AMD E-450 APU.

If this was the scenario with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, I could simply uncheck the driver in the Windows Update panel where you decide what driver updates to install and what to ignore. Problem would be solved in 5 seconds and I’d have no need to write this rant. But nope in Windows 10. No such thing. Microsoft just forcibly stuffs ALL MOTHERFUCKING DRIVERS down your throat whether they work or they don’t (and most of the time they don’t work, say hello to all the broken wireless drivers from the past). And this is exactly what I’ve been warning about when “new” Windows Update was revealed. Bad shit will happen when Microsoft decides to forcibly install all drivers. And it’s already happening.

I’d blame AMD for not providing functional drivers, but it’s not AMD that is forcing broken drivers onto my system, it’s fucking Microsoft.

How can a multi-billion company like Microsoft fuck it up so badly is beyond any level of comprehension. It’s so terrifyingly bad it’s almost surreal. Fucking hell. And I’ve actually gone and bought a GTX 980 so I’ll have a DirectX 12 capable GPU to properly utilize graphics on a new OS. Which turned out to be this piece of crap (the OS, GTX 980 is fine). And I’ll eventually be forced to use Windows 10 because DirectX 12 will not be available on Windows 8.1 (which works like a charm). I always install all system updates in Windows 8.1 but skip most driver updates per my selection. It’s brilliant, keeps system up to date and under my full control because I know how to handle computers you fucks at Redmond. And then there is Windows 10 with its pathetic forced auto updating of motherfucking everything.

Microsoft, fuck you and fuck your Windows 10. This is by FAR the worst Windows I’ve ever used. It’s so fucking bad it makes Windows 8, Windows Vista and Windows Millennium look like fucking perfection. At least it was under MY control and it fucking worked. Windows 10 is apparently entirely under Microsoft’s control and it’s fucking non functional pile of shit.

Microsoft, STOP breaking shit and forcing it on us. You CAN’T possibly know what drivers we want so stop doing this shit. Fuck. Just fucking stop it! Aaaaaargh!!!!

O&O ShutUp10 – Windows 10 Privacy Tool

We all know how weird Windows 10 behaves with its data mining. But since we’ll have to eventually switch over, here is a solution. O&O’s ShutUp10 tool that gives you easy way of disabling all the (or at least majority of) data mining or otherwise privacy related crap in Windows 10.

I currently don’t have Windows 10 installed anymore, but the tool is made by a well known German software studio “O&O Software”, better known for their O&O Defrag tool. O&O ShutUp10 requires no installation so you can easily run it without any crap left behind by the tool itself. And it’s free!

LINK:
http://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

There is also another tool with similar functionality. Check it out here:
https://rejzor.wordpress.com/2016/02/13/disable-windows-10-tracking/

Win10 forced driver updating is retarded

Ok, Microsoft, can you stop behaving like total morons? Like I’ve predicted, Windows Update in Windows 10 is absolute pile of junk.

I don’t know what retard thought it would be smart forcing driver updates down the users throats. I generally didn’t have problems with drivers and I always used latest versions. Until few days ago when I updated my AMD E-450 powered laptop to Windows 10. All went well, Windows 10 installed without problems, Windows Update does its updating and then I found out drivers installed from Windows Update provide ZERO video hardware acceleration. When Youtube can’t be played smoothly at 480p in year 2015 on hardware that used to even run 4K somewhat ok, you know someone fucked shit up badly.

Had to install older Catalyst 14.12 WHQL in order to make it functional again and guess what, when I was using it, screen starts flashing. And then I find out retarded Windows Update again installed the non-functional driver on its own, just because it’s a newer version. Stop fucking doing that you dumb OS. I’ve installed older version because the latest one is crap.

But noooo, you must use dem latest drivers because some dork at Microsoft feels like he or she knows it better than users.

Fucking hell this shit is pissing me off. Force install security updates for all I care, but for the love of all that’s holy, leave drivers the fuck out of it. They are not critical for security and they just fuck shit up.

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Redistributable Downloads

Programs often fail to work because of missing Visual C++ Runtime libraries, even more so without any error messages. Programs or games simply don’t run or they crash in a second or two after start… You can only see the real reason for these problems within Event Viewer which 99% of people never look at. By installing all C++ runtime libraries, you’ll most likely solve large majority of such issues.

IMPORTANT

For Windows 32bit editions, you only need to install x86 versions. For Windows 64bit, it’s recommended to install both, x86 and x64 versions. Perform Windows Update after installation of all packages in order to fully update them.

If redistributable downloads never start, try downloading them with Internet Explorer.

Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Mega Pack (RMP)

Contains all the Visual C++ Redistributable Runtime packages in a single easy to use installer that takes under a minute to install. Contains both, 32bit and 64bit libraries. You might get errors for 64bit packages under 32bit Windows. Just skip them over.

RMP Download

Official Separate downloads

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2019
x86 / x64

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2017
x86 / x64

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2015
x86 / x64

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2013
x86 / x64 / ARM

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2012
x86 / x64 / ARM

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2010
x86 / x64

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2008
x86 / x64

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime 2005
x86 / x64

Microsoft’s own Help section list:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

I will update this blog post in the future when new versions get released. If any of the links ever goes dead, let me know so I can fix it.

Registry cleaners that you can rely on

I’ve tested tons of registry cleaners through all these years. In fact, I’ve been testing them since year 1999 through Windows 98 up to current Windows 8.1. It’s kinda my obsession I guess. But over all these years, I’ve learned that in case of registry cleaning, cleaning less is in fact more!

Let me explain why. Large majority of registry cleaners want to show user how effective they are by finding massive number of entries to clean. And majority of users actually prefer cleaners that clean more. But the thing is, majority of these cleaners will mess things up sooner or later. You can trust me on that one. And if you’re not the kind of type of person who is willing to do a manual cleaning of registry using RegSeeker, RegScanner or old freeware JV16 PowerTools, you want to stick with easy to use, automated, but tested and trustworthy registry cleaners.

And out of all of them, only two got my “certification” for being absolutely problem free. I’ve been using both of them for years and never ever had a single error because of them being too eager at cleaning. And best of all, they are both free!

CCleaner

I’ve been using CCleaner for years and years and while it probably cleans the least out of all registry cleaners, it is probably the most reliable of them all. Very reliable tool that also comes with few other goodies like cookies cleaning, system startup control, junk files cleaning, but I mostly use it for registry cleaning.

DOWNLOAD: https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Wise Registry Cleaner

The second one that I’ve been using for quite a while now, might even be years already is Wise Registry Cleaner. It usually finds a bit more than CCleaner, but seems to be just as reliable with one important condition that I’ll describe below…

It is very reliable, but only if you set it to search with “Safe Scan” mode. Those that are found to be potentially risky to remove are entirely ignored and I suggest you keep it this way. Otherwise I cannot guarantee for problem free cleaning. Open the settings and select “Safe Scan” option. Like so…

Best thing about Wise Registry Cleaner is that it also comes in a portable version so you can throw it on USB drive or if you simply prefer if registry cleaning program itself isn’t making the registry more dirty with its own presence 🙂

You can also use the Registry Defrag option which compacts the physical registry files, but I highly recomend you DO NOT use “System Tuneup” feature. While registry cleaning works amazingly well, the Tuneup part is something I’m not so sure about. Avoid it if possible…

DOWNLOAD: http://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-registry-cleaner.html
PORTABLE VERSION: http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/wise-registry-cleaner-portable

AMD Catalyst 14.6 BETA released!

AMD has released a new Catalyst driver package version 14.6 BETA. Most significant changes are removal of the Windows 8 support, so make sure you update your Windows to Windows 8.1 Update 1 which is currently the latest version. It’s just so much better, so I’m wondering why you haven’t done so already 😛 Other important changes are quite big performance improvements, mostly for R9-290 series, but maybe even older HD7xxx users will benefit from it. Who knows, I will update anyway as I always do. Oh and AMD also added support for GPU accelerated JPEG images decoding, resulting in twice as fast JPEG images rendering. Too bad only a limited set of APU’s and GPU’s is supported, so I don’t think my older AMD E-450 will be getting any love from it.

Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst™ 14.6 Beta Driver for Windows

• Performance improvements
  • Watch Dogs performance improvements
    • AMD Radeon R9 290X – 1920×1080 4x MSAA – improves up to 25%
    • AMD Radeon R9290X – 2560×1600 4x MSAA – improves up to  28%
    • AMD Radeon R9290X CrossFire configuration (3840×2160 Ultra settings, MSAA = 4X)  – 92% scaling
  • Murdered Soul Suspect performance improvements
    • AMD Radeon R9 290X – 2560×1600 4x MSAA – improves up to 16%
    • AMD Radeon R9290X CrossFire configuration (3840×2160 Ultra settings, MSAA = 4X)  – 93% scaling
• AMD Eyefinity enhancements:
  • Mixed Resolution Support
    • A new architecture providing brand new capabilities
    • Display groups can be created with monitors of different resolution  (including difference sizes and shapes)
    • Users have a choice of how surface is created over the display group
      1. Fill – legacy mode, best for identical monitors
      2. Fit – create the Eyefinity surface using best available rectangular area with attached displays.
      3. Expand – create a virtual Eyefinity surface using desktops as viewports onto the surface.
  • Eyefinity Display Alignment
    • Enables control over alignment between adjacent monitors
  • One-Click Setup
    • Driver detects layout of extended desktops
      1. Can create Eyefinity display group using this layout in one click!
• New user controls for video color and display settings
  • Greater control over Video Color Management:
    • Controls have been expanded from a single slider for controlling Boost and Hue to per color axis
  • Color depth control for Digital Flat Panels (available on supported HDMI and DP displays)
    • Allows users to select different color depths per resolution and display
• AMD Mantle enhancements
  • Mantle now supports AMD Mobile products with Enduro technology
    • Battlefield 4:  AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1366×768; high settings) – 21% gain
    • Thief: AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1920×1080; high settings) – 14% gain
    • Star Swarm:  AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1920×1080; medium settings) – 274% gain
  • Enables support for Multi-GPU configurations with Thief (requires the latest Thief update)
• AMD AM1 JPEG decoding acceleration
  • JPEG decoding acceleration was first enabled on the A10 APU Series in AMD Catalyst 14.1 beta, and has now been extended to the AMD AM1 Platform
  • Provides fast JPEG decompression
  • Provides Power Efficiency for JPEG decompression

Known Issues  

• Running Watch Dogs with a R9 280X CrossFire configuration may result in the application running in CrossFire software compositing mode
• Enabling Temporal SMAA in the AMD Catalyst Control center under a CrossFire configuration when playing Watch Dogs will result in Flickering
• AMD CrossFire configurations with Eyefinity enabled will see application stability with BattleField 4 or Thief when running Mantle
• Catalyst Install Manager text is covered by Express/Custom radio button text
• Express Uninstall does not remove C:\Program Files\(AMD or ATI) folder

Download:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows%208.1%20-%2064#amd-catalyst-packages

AMD driver webpage is experiencing some weird problems, which makes only a 64bit version available for download. I hope they will soon fix the webpage problems…

Create bootable Windows USB drives

There are two tools (that I’m aware of and are worth using), one that I use for years and another one that was sent to me by a reader. The reason for these tools is that fast USB drives are usually A LOT faster than DVD drive for installing Widnows. Besides, more and more laptops these days don’t even have optical drives. I had such “problem” with ACER Aspire One years ago and that’s when I started using WinToFlash. And continued to do so with the use of Lexar Lightining II USB drive which is really fast and makes Windows installation a breeze. Lets start…

WinToFlash
This one is the one which I’ve been using for ages. It might look complex at first glance, but it’s actually very simple to use. It is ad supported, so make sure you read screens properly during first startup.

Link: http://wintoflash.com

ZOTAC WinUSB Maker
This one has been sent to me by a reader. It’s a ZOTAC branded program, but doesn’t come with any ads and is also a much better looking program with nice GUI. It’s also made with drag&drop design in mind, so you have to drag all the drives and elements selected to make a bootable USB drive by dragging them inside the GUI window.

Link: http://joshcellsoftwares.com/products/zotacwinusbmaker/

USB Device Not Recognized error popping up on startup

Ok, this has to be one of the most bizarre problems and solutions i’ve come across in well, many years.
I was doing the AMD Catalyst driver cleanup with DriverSweeper because of some other problem.
After the cleanup and reboot, i was greeted by the “USB Device Not Recognized” error popup.

After clicking it, i got this:

Ok, since i was clever, i made a System Restore before fiddling with my system. Just to find out restoring it back does exactly nothing. What? How on Earth is that possible? Then i tried reinstalling Intel chipset drivers. Tried restoring stuff in DriverSweeper. Nothing. I was like wtf, i’m not going to reinstall Windows now for fucks sake.

Best way to fix this issue temporarely is to shut down the system and unplug it from the AC. This will somehow fix this stupid issue until it will happen next time randomly. Somehow, power supply unit also has to be without power so that motherboard also loses it and that somehow fixes the issue. Heh…