Cognitus interruptus.. once again
LoopyByteloose
Posts: 12,537
I suspect there are of multi-level definitions of this.
A. interruption of your thought process without a technologic device dependent task
B. interruption of your current task on your computer which in turn interrupts your thought process and diverts you to something else.
C. interruption of your computer access which in turn interrupts your thought process.
Whichever it is... all cause the same problem. One just gets less done and may get upset. And it is getting to be more and more tied to what your computer is doing.
I just had a Class C event. My main desktop wouldn't boot and appeared to be a dead mouse and dead keyboard. I suspected a damaged USB port which in turn upped the drama as the USB ports are part of the motherboard.
Had I actually done something stupid by trying to rob a bit of +5VDC from my primary computer?
Should I have used an AC to USB wallwart to specifically be safe?
That is a Huge Scare as the solution is to replace the whole motherboard and maybe have to do an upgrade as well. (And of course, I would loose my Windows Vista license by the changeover).
===========
Conclusion --- Avoid using USB +5 to power any project? Or at least, avoid using USB +5 from any computer you value
Why? Well I started with a USB cable that had non-standard color code -- Black, Red, Orange, and Brown. And it seems that +5 comes from the Orange, not the Red.
Apparently my USB problems lie elsewhere as I bypassed the switching device I have for two computers sharing a monitor, keyboar, and mouse; and I am working on the computer now.
==========
Cognitus interruptus
I am deeply relieved, but my desk is still a huge mess and the problem is not fully resolved. So whatever that original reason for using the computer has been completely diverted and I have had to switch over to trouble shooting mode. I just hate the 'cognitus interruptus' aspect of using computers.
Of course, this was a Class C event. The Class B events are equally annoying.
What's a Class B event?
1. Computer Pop-ups with dire warning to update software or A/V programs
2. Computer or software lock ups that force a reboot of the computer
3. Computer OS seizes control on bootup and goes into automatic update mode that takes 10-20 minutes before you can start your task.
4. Computer OS rejects your attempt for an immediate shutdown of a laptop, notebook, or other mobile device when you need to immedately relocate or travel for a scheduled meeting, and then runs update processes that take 10 minutes or unpredictably longer.
Class B events might be avoided by changing to another OS. (I have) Some OSes just don't realize that they conflict with productivity.
We all have to tolerate Class A events. That's life. But the Class B and Class C events really need to be addressed by improving products to respect the end-user's productivity.
A. interruption of your thought process without a technologic device dependent task
B. interruption of your current task on your computer which in turn interrupts your thought process and diverts you to something else.
C. interruption of your computer access which in turn interrupts your thought process.
Whichever it is... all cause the same problem. One just gets less done and may get upset. And it is getting to be more and more tied to what your computer is doing.
I just had a Class C event. My main desktop wouldn't boot and appeared to be a dead mouse and dead keyboard. I suspected a damaged USB port which in turn upped the drama as the USB ports are part of the motherboard.
Had I actually done something stupid by trying to rob a bit of +5VDC from my primary computer?
Should I have used an AC to USB wallwart to specifically be safe?
That is a Huge Scare as the solution is to replace the whole motherboard and maybe have to do an upgrade as well. (And of course, I would loose my Windows Vista license by the changeover).
===========
Conclusion --- Avoid using USB +5 to power any project? Or at least, avoid using USB +5 from any computer you value
Why? Well I started with a USB cable that had non-standard color code -- Black, Red, Orange, and Brown. And it seems that +5 comes from the Orange, not the Red.
Apparently my USB problems lie elsewhere as I bypassed the switching device I have for two computers sharing a monitor, keyboar, and mouse; and I am working on the computer now.
==========
Cognitus interruptus
I am deeply relieved, but my desk is still a huge mess and the problem is not fully resolved. So whatever that original reason for using the computer has been completely diverted and I have had to switch over to trouble shooting mode. I just hate the 'cognitus interruptus' aspect of using computers.
Of course, this was a Class C event. The Class B events are equally annoying.
What's a Class B event?
1. Computer Pop-ups with dire warning to update software or A/V programs
2. Computer or software lock ups that force a reboot of the computer
3. Computer OS seizes control on bootup and goes into automatic update mode that takes 10-20 minutes before you can start your task.
4. Computer OS rejects your attempt for an immediate shutdown of a laptop, notebook, or other mobile device when you need to immedately relocate or travel for a scheduled meeting, and then runs update processes that take 10 minutes or unpredictably longer.
Class B events might be avoided by changing to another OS. (I have) Some OSes just don't realize that they conflict with productivity.
We all have to tolerate Class A events. That's life. But the Class B and Class C events really need to be addressed by improving products to respect the end-user's productivity.
Comments
All my machines have a Windows dual boot with Linux, so the advice helps.
But Linux does allow you to continue working while the update process occurs, Windows will shut you out whenever you elect to do it.
Will that work as well with Anti-virus software pop-ups?
And what of pop-ups in general?
I am finding my new Android 4.4 in my Asus ZenFone is a bit distracting as well. So Windows is not the only OS that distracts.
And it can be a browser or email program. I have given up on Google Chrome as I get far afield from allowing me uninterrupted work sessions.
http://www.citeworld.com/article/2600338/consumerization/what-to-do-when-chrome-keeps-crashing.html
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/q5wS3awLWpk
If you install a web filter like Untangle on your network you can stop all the nonsense before it hits your LAN. This is a very good way of increasing productivity and provides a layer of security that Windows cannot.
I do admit that I have strong personal preferences that others might disagree with. But we all have our own needs and resources to work out productivity. I gave up on Chrome as I didn't want to have to fiddle with the installation when what came with Debian (IceWeasel) is working well for me. I also have an extreme prejudice against pop-ups, especially those that intentionally hide what I am trying to read.
So, feel free to mention any tweaks or discoveries that make your computer time more productive. And mention which OS works best for you.
+++++
The USB problem was a very big scare. I do have a USB AC power unit and will stay with that in the future.
About a month ago, I destroyed my Palm Zire72 PDA because the barrel plug for it (at 5VDC) was the same as the barrel plug for my Asus EeePC (at maybe 19VDC). Big time interruption as I had to locate a replacement for the PDA which I relied greatly on for Chinese translation. It only took momentarily plugging in the higher voltage to do complete damage.
Not true unless you have a significantly overburdened machine. Even on my Win7 Celeron-based laptop with 4gigs, I can continue working during the update process. Windows sets its update CPU priority below normal, just for this purpose.
I have to keep an XP machine for some client work. It has 1.5 gigabytes of RAM. It suffers the problem you mention, but that's not the fault of Windows per se.
If you are using AV software that doesn't allow you to turn off the notifications get a different AV. Problems like this are easily solved if you don't want the distraction, but consider that most people appreciate the interactivity. It helps them to stay informed regarding the trustworthiness of the sites they visit. I think few people want to be blithely unaware a site they are using is attempting to install malware downloads.
Well said, HIGH 5 !!!! - typing while standing
NoScript and Ghostery plug-ins for Firefox. NoScript is the front line protection, for the most part I don't bother with sites that break. For the odd site that I do allow some scripts to run I rely on Ghostery to clean out the trackers.
Loopy,
How different our experiences can be.
I have Chrome open all day and every day on multiple machines that never get rebooted and a dozen or more tabs open at a time.
I almost never see a crash. Occasionally when I leave slashdot.org open for more than a day I return to it to find it has bombed. No great loss there, just means I have less incentive to read the gibberish on that site.
Occasionally my odd webgl experiments have bombed a Chrome tab. Not so much recently.
Pop Ups. What are they? Where do you see them?
It's not clear what you mean by pop ups, I rarely see anything like that. When and where do these appear? Which programs trigger them? Or are you just referring to the info bubbles that appear from the notification area sometimes?
On my computers, individual programs are set to check for new versions on their own, I never let Windows do that. Windows is set to check for "important" updates only, for Windows only. Other programs will typically show a window when they start up, but only if a new version is detected, and that doesn't happen all that often.
Don't use Adobe's pdf reader, it seems like they have to update that security breech every week.
You also may be able to skip all the "optional" updates. I have 57 "optional" updates on one computer that have never been installed and it's been running fine for years. These seem to be mainly fixes for obscure problems, problems related to Windows Server based business networks, or to fix compatibility issues between Windows 8 and the rest of the Windows world.
Anti-virus software hasn't really done much to protect me in Taiwan. Had major loses in XP.
I simply gave up on Windows when Microsoft decided that an upgrade of my Vista from Chinese to English and Chinese would cost me a mere $990 USD and I needed to buy a new version of MS Office. And of course, A/V and Registry cleaners were still an issue at that time. The cost of software licenses versus what using MS to my income was obviously a negative cash flow.
I have Windows 7 working on a few machines and it seems to have its own A/V that has blocked trouble. But I get dire messages that I should buy something.
Linux gave me both English and Chinese with a LibreOffice suite at no cost. And I found that downtime for backups, anti-virsus scans, registry scans, and so on drastically dropped. I didn't have to buy Norton Ghost for BU either, as dd and rsync do it all for free.
It seems a LInux server in a Windows office is even a productivity boost. I simply suspect that Unix based systems are more productive than what MS has created.
But in certain occupations, all the productivity is dependent on proprietary software. Commercial artists seem to insist on Apple OS X and won't work with anything else.