Kinky Kobolds

Gotta love it when Windows Update forces itself on your PC, only for the update to go so spectacularly wrong that you can't get to the login screen and attempting to use automated system recovery fails to even write the log file about what it didn't accomplish. This basically confirms we're not going to use Microsoft products on anything that's actually important to us, and despite having a Windows license for this mini PC we're seriously tempted to wipe it and install Linux anyway.

And to the inevitable tech bro replies: we're already comfortable running Arch Linux as our daily driver. We just kept a low power Windows install around for a couple of utilities that are more convenient to run on Windows.

#FuckMicrosoft #FuckWindows

May 18 at 7:18pmWeb
Show threadKinky Kobolds1d ago
We've had to fully wipe the system and do a fresh install of Windows using downloaded installation media. This computer previously had an activated Windows install on it with a local account, but it seems we're not going to have that option and we can't tell if the existing license was carried forward or not. If we're forced into using a Microsoft account and all their online bullshit, we're gonna be irritated. If we can't even activate the OS, we'll be installing Linux feeling comfortable in the knowledge we've done everything we could to fix Microsoft's bullshit.
Show threadKinky Kobolds1d ago

We were forced to set up a Microsoft account to get Windows installed. We also got stuck with Edge basically telling us it was going to automatically import data from other browsers with a window we couldn't dismiss even with Alt+F4. We know it's intentional that the opt-out doesn't work, but it's still infuriating.

So far we haven't gotten an activation nag, but we have had some major issues with network performance. Windows claims it's getting a 150 Mbit/s connection, but the networking hardware says the speed is less than a tenth of that. It's not connecting to the 5 GHz network and it's not clear it's even trying to. So while this is just about enough speed to watch an HD video, it's nowhere near sufficient for game downloads. Again, it's just stunning seeing the OS blatantly lying about things that can be easily verified elsewhere. Microsoft feels they can outright lie about the performance and behavior of Windows because they're a corporation with a near-monopoly and we're just some creatures who are paying attention to what's really happening.

Once the initial setup stuff is complete, and assuming it is actually stable, we'll probably stop messing with it until it (perhaps inevitably) breaks again. Though the longer we sit here looking at downloads running at a tenth of the speed Windows claims it's getting, the more tempting it is to grab our Garuda Linux install media and fix the problem for good.

Show threadndoto1d ago
@KinkyKobolds For whatever it’s worth, some folks have been able to solve that issue by going into their network settings and changing their connected network to be set as “Metered”. That apparently cuts out a bunch of stuff it tries to do at all times in the background to be ‘helpful’ (updating weather, news, stocks, etc).
Show threadAlkaris  2d ago
@KinkyKobolds Something Microslop should learn from Linux is; "Don't break userspace!"