Did you clean the USB port with more water? 
Nerd/Boffin Technical corner. Page 96
While I wasn't looking, laptops/netbooks have changed just enough for me to not know what I need any more. What I do know is that I'd like it to be about 14", and it doesn't have to be a 2 in 1 touchscreen affair. Also, I'd like to be able to load my own copy of Word onto it rather than shell out for it again, so presumably I either need a DVD drive*, or a clever way to load it without one. Also, Chromebooks have taken the stage. Help!
*So they're now called optical drives, are they?
Quote: Nogget @ 19th October 2015, 6:59 PM BSTWhat I do know is that I'd like it to be about 14"
You're not alone there, Noggett.
Quote: Nogget @ 19th October 2015, 6:59 PM BST*So they're now called optical drives, are they?
The generic name always has been "Optical Drives" since they first came in.
The name covers CD drives, DVD drives and Blue-Ray drives and used to cover the earlier cartridge optical drives and even the big BBC Doomsday Book Drives.
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DVD drives with a USB connector are readily available and you can plug one into a netbook and probably into a Chromebook.
Office 365 which includes the latest Word is normally downloaded over the Internet and doesn't need an optical drive. Office365 is lower cost but you have to renew (and pay for) the licence each year.
Most programs supplied on CD/DVD can be copied, using a machine that has an optical drive, onto a USB memory stick/dongle and then installed onto a Netbook from the stick.
There are even tools around which can format all or part of a USB memory stick so that it 'looks like' a CD/DVD and a bootable system can be installed on such a stick.
I'm trying to share my photos, videos and music files from my laptop over my home network. But I can't figure out what settings I need to change. I'd like them to be available to all devices, including other laptops, media players and mobiles.
This used to be a simple task on previous versions of Windows. But Windows 10, nothing is ever straight forward, even though they have supposedly streamlined it.
The only thing I can do is make a homegroup but that generates a password, which is no good for non Windows devices.
Please, send help!
I've somewhat figured it out :/
My laptop won't shutdown properly, the screen goes off, as does the fan and most of the lights, apart from the WiFi light and I think I can hear the HDD spinning. It's a pain because I have to hard reset it to turn it on.
Don't really want to reinstall Windows 10 as I did that not lomg ago 
I'm at last contemplating upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, but I'm nervous od losing things - documents, programmes etc. How does it actually work? Will it remove anything in the process so that the thing is lost forever. It tells me the upgrade will take about an hour.
You can upgrade without losing your documents, programs, pictures etc. However, it is always best to backup regardless.
Do you have OneDrive currently on your computer? That is the easiest way I can think of at the moment to quickly and efficiently back your stuff up. You just have to drag want you want to keep into THAT folder OR include the folders you want in the permissions (can't think off the top of my head how to do that though).
I wouldn't guarantee ALL your programs would still work afterwards or that they'd even remain.
The best thing to do (in the long run) is to treat it as a fresh install, wiping everything and starting again (after backing up). But you will probably have to endure the pain of relocating drivers, etc.
Also, consider that Microsoft may in the future "force" you to upgrade, so it might be best to do it now and get used to it on your own terms.
To sum up - you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
I have an external hard drive which I use to backup pictures and documents (when I remember) and I got a flash disc at Christmas which I haven't used and which allegedly has massive space. I just don't know how to save programmes.
Quote: keewik @ 15th March 2016, 10:24 AM GMTI have an external hard drive which I use to backup pictures and documents (when I remember)
You need to set that up so it automatically saves to the external hard drive, but I can't tell you how to do it as my savvy son set it up for me. Sorry I can't be more help than that.
I don't know how to do that either, but I don't keep it switched on all the time because it makes a constant hissing noise.
Quote: keewik @ 15th March 2016, 11:28 AM GMTI don't know how to do that either, but I don't keep it switched on all the time because it makes a constant hissing noise.
Oh dear....can't hear mine at all.
Quote: keewik @ 15th March 2016, 10:24 AM GMTI just don't know how to save programmes.
I don't know either, sorry! I'm quite happy to download/reinstall whenever I need to, so I've never learned how to back them up.
I'm sure billwill will pop in soon 
Quote: Lee @ 15th March 2016, 10:16 AM GMTYou can upgrade without losing your documents, programs, pictures etc. However, it is always best to backup regardless.
Do you have OneDrive currently on your computer? That is the easiest way I can think of at the moment to quickly and efficiently back your stuff up. You just have to drag want you want to keep into THAT folder OR include the folders you want in the permissions (can't think off the top of my head how to do that though).
I wouldn't guarantee ALL your programs would still work afterwards or that they'd even remain.
The best thing to do (in the long run) is to treat it as a fresh install, wiping everything and starting again (after backing up). But you will probably have to endure the pain of relocating drivers, etc.
Also, consider that Microsoft may in the future "force" you to upgrade, so it might be best to do it now and get used to it on your own terms.
To sum up - you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
NO NO, you do not want to do a clean install until AFTER you have allowed Win 10 to do an in-place install, because that in-place install will regeister your computer as a legal Win 10 system computer. A clean install would ask for a product key and you would be stuck until you bought one.
Hovever before doing an inplace install it is best to make an exact copy of your C: drive (a clone) on an external disk drive. This is easily done with a tailored version of Linux called Parted Magic, but is best done by some one who has practiced beforehand. https://partedmagic.com/downloads/
With an external clone of C: you know that if it goes topsy you can always copy the clone back over your C: drive and be back as-you-were in Win 7/8
The Win 7 backup tool built-in has a facility to make an IMAGE (same thing as a clone) on the backup drive and I presume this facility is in Win 8 too. So you could use that instead of Parted Magic.
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Whatever, it would be unwise to allow a Win 10 upgrade without first making sure that you have reliable backup copies on external media of Documents, Photos, Video, Music, Emails (received and sent) and bookmarks and website account passwords etc.
You PROBABLY won't need them but you need to BE SURE.
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As for the extra programs that you have installed on Win 8, you may need to re-install afterwards so be sure that you still have your licence information. For boxed programs you should still have the suppled media and activation codes; for those you bought on-line you may still have the downloaded installation files in your "Downloads" folder, back them up too. Those activation codes probably came by email, print out those particular emails.