[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

Glad to hear things are well 

 

The batteries are still available but rather costly, example here please note that I personally would not use anything other than a genuine Sony replacement, there are too many generic imported types that are both unreliable and some downright dangerous, overheating, melting and some have been known to go on fire.

 

All you can do is pass the info onto your daughter who will then either heed the advice or ignore it, also worth mentioning is that a charging battery generates heat which as you will be aware is not good.

 

You are welcome 

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Hello again Phill,

Am not sure whether or not to buy the new battery. I think I will probably leave it for now and just see how the notebook does over time. The temperatures are still a little erratic, even with the battery removed - although they are vastly better than they were back in July. The Crystaldiskinfo results have not changed at all though. If they start to change, will that mean a new hard drive will need to be fitted very soon? And if a new drive is needed, I assume that you would recommend getting a shop to do it because of the potential problems with working inside a notebook?

Sorry..... you know I always ask too many questions!

I have been feeling a bit reluctant to swap too many files over from the desktop to the Sony. I brought some Word files over via a thumb drive, but then I have to remember to update the files on the thumb drive and then change them on the desktop. The external drive automatically backs up everything on the desktop, so I want to keep a copy of the files there. It gets a bit confusing sometimes! I should probably keep the files only on the notebook now, using the thumb drive as a back-up. 

It is great having the notebook when my husband wants to use the desktop though, as I can get on with my stuff at the same time!

Cheers,
Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 20 October 2016 - 10:19 AM.

[Channeal]

Hello again Phill,

Am not sure whether or not to buy the new battery. I think I will probably leave it for now and just see how the notebook does over time. The temperatures are still a little erratic, even with the battery removed - although they are vastly better than they were back in July. The Crystaldiskinfo results have not changed at all though. If they start to change, will that mean a new hard drive will need to be fitted very soon? And if a new drive is needed, I assume that you would recommend getting a shop to do it because of the potential problems with working inside a notebook?

Sorry..... you know I always ask too many questions!

I have been feeling a bit reluctant to swap too many files over from the desktop to the Sony. I brought some Word files over via a thumb drive, but then I have to remember to update the files on the thumb drive and then change them on the desktop. The external drive automatically backs up everything on the desktop, so I want to keep a copy of the files there. It gets a bit confusing sometimes! I should probably keep the files only on the notebook now, using the thumb drive as a back-up. 

It is great having the notebook when my husband wants to use the desktop though, as I can get on with my stuff at the same time!

Cheers,
Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 20 October 2016 - 10:19 AM.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

If you do not intend using the Sony on your travels I would not bother to replace the battery and continue to use the AC adaptor.

 

Any change for the worse in CrystaDisk and I would suggest swapping out the HDD, the same if you get and disk check warnings, just keep a regular check on things to be on the safe side.

 

It would appear that replacing the HDD in your model of notebook is a little more straightforward than others, see info post by Rachel here

 

Only transfer to the Sony what you actually need to from the desktop, as you have found things can get confusing, ideally you could have done with a separate partition on the external HDD to back the Sony up to.

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

If you do not intend using the Sony on your travels I would not bother to replace the battery and continue to use the AC adaptor.

 

We do very occasionally go away in the UK and when we do, it would be good to be able to use the laptop. Would most probably still have access to a power socket though, so you are probably correct in that it would not really be worth the outlay. Having said that - me being me, a part of me would still like to get one!

 

 

 

Any change for the worse in CrystaDisk and I would suggest swapping out the HDD, the same if you get and disk check warnings, just keep a regular check on things to be on the safe side.

 

It would appear that replacing the HDD in your model of notebook is a little more straightforward than others, see info post by Rachel here

 

Yes, there is a video on YouTube for the Sony Vaio NS Series which does not really look too difficult. I would probably still find a way to mess it up though!

 

 

 

Only transfer to the Sony what you actually need to from the desktop, as you have found things can get confusing, ideally you could have done with a separate partition on the external HDD to back the Sony up to.

 

 

I think it would be easy to set up my Tauro Mobile external drive to back-up both computers. It would mean having to keep swapping it from one computer to the other though. And it might still be confusing if I ended up with 2 versions of the same files. Will think about it.

 

I had myself a lot of fun today though playing with the Home Group file sharing mentioned earlier in this thread. I managed to do it (though it took me ages to suss out that any files on the notebook which I want to share with the desktop have to be in the 'Public' folder!  ). It is all very clever stuff! I will still have to remember though to change the version of my files on the Dell once the Sony versions have changed, as I don't think there is any way to get the Touro Mobile external drive to automatically back up the shared files direct from the notebook.

 

 

 

Thanks once again for your help.

 

Have a nice restful weekend.

 

Chris

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

Glad to hear that you are having fun with the Home Group 

 

You are welcome and likewise have yourself a good weekend 

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

I think I spoke too soon when I said all had been going well with the notebook!

 

Microsoft edge is refusing to open. The initial blue screen comes up, but quickly disappears.

 

I tried to perform a clean boot to see if that would help. I managed to clear everything except Avast Internet Security which I just could not get to stop.

 

I tried running a command with 'start microsoft-edge:http://www.cnn.com' - but it told me: 'the remote procedure call failed'.

 

I tried safe mode, but that came up with: ' Microsoft Edge can't be opened using the Built-in administrator account. Sign in with a different account and try again'.

 

Oh, I also ran the scannow check, but that failed to come up with any problems.

 

Do you ever hate computers?

 

Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 22 October 2016 - 03:41 AM.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

I don`t use Edge and have it disabled, I find it to be tedious tbh and have Chrome as my default browser, Googles steps below;

 

On your computer, click the Start menu.

Click Settings.

Select System and then Default apps.

At the bottom, under "Web browser", click your current browser (typically Microsoft Edge).

In the "Choose an app" window, click Google Chrome.

 

To easily open Chrome later, add a shortcut to your taskbar:

 

On your computer, open Chrome.

In the Windows taskbar at the bottom, right-click on Chrome.

Click Pin to taskbar.

 

Please note that you can still use IE from the Ask me anything/search field, I find this handy for adding shortcuts to the desktop that Google sometimes does not like.

 

Are you aware that Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 have an updated version of Windows Defender that offers the same real time protection as Microsoft Security Essentials, you do not need third party AV protection and by not installing any you are reducing the possibility of potential conflicts and freeing up resources on your computer, information courtesy of admin here

 

Do you ever hate computers?

 

 

No, I quite often see them as a challenge though, so much so I`m off to the pub shortly.

 

Will check back later to see if you need help with any troubleshooting steps, SFC not reporting any problems is a good sign btw.

[Channeal]

Thanks Phill,

 

I have disabled Microsoft Edge (though I wish I knew why the stupid thing wouldn't open! )

 

I am glad you mentioned the Antivirus thing. I had read conflicting things about whether or not an Antivirus program is needed with Windows 10. I will get rid of Avast later.

 

Please can you tell me how to change the settings for 'Ask me anything' (Cortana)? It still tries to open Microsoft  Edge.

 

 

 

 

No, I quite often see them as a challenge though, so much so I`m off to the pub shortly.

 

  I think I like computers exactly because they are a challenge...... but every now and then they still make me tear my hair out!

 

Enjoy your visit to the pub.  

I am going out for a drink now too.... unfortunately only a coffee though!

 

Chris.

 

 

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

Please can you tell me how to change the settings for 'Ask me anything' (Cortana)? It still tries to open Microsoft  Edge.

 

 

Right click on the Ask me anything/search field on the task bar, you should see Cortana near the top of the pop up list, set as either Hidden or like myself the Show the search box option.

 

Enjoy your visit to the pub.   

 

 

I did thanks and a chinese 

[Channeal]

Hello Phill.

 

Right click on the Ask me anything/search field on the task bar, you should see Cortana near the top of the pop up list, set as either Hidden or like myself the Show the search box option.

 

 

I think perhaps you misunderstood what I was asking. 

 

 

Cortana is already set to the 'Show the search box' option, but any answers which involve opening a website are directed to Microsoft Edge, even though Chrome is now the default browser. And of course, Edge will not open (getting rid of Avast did not help, btw).

 

I found something about this on a web page http://www.makeuseof...ogle-windows-10 which says: -

 

In April, Microsoft made its Edge browser and Bing search engine the exclusive choice for Cortana search results. In other words, Cortana will ignore your default browser setting.

 

So, it appears that it may not be possible to stop Cortana attemping to open Microsoft Edge.

There is a work-around on the site, but am not sure whether I should try it or not.

 

I am assuming that Cortana still opens searches in Chrome on your computer though? 

 

 

I did thanks and a chinese  

 

Sounds great! Good brain food for Geeks perhaps? 

 

Chris.

Edited by Channeal, 23 October 2016 - 08:53 AM.

[phillpower2]

Have you disabled Edge as the default browser in System Settings, if not, BT guide here

 

You are correct in that Google opens when I use the search field, only difference is that I am running Windows 10 Pro.

 

You are right not to have anything to do with the registry btw 

 

 

Not too sure about the brain food, I need a sleep 

[Channeal]

Hello Phill,

 

Yes, I already went to settings and made Chrome the default browser there.

 

Maybe I just have to leave things as they are then!

 

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hello Chris,

 

Hmm, sounds like a recent update has tripped Edge up, not an uncommon problem and one that Microsoft seem to be slow in putting right, was Edge mentioned as an option in settings.

 

If you would like to fix Edge there is a tutorial here or you could try the Windows AIO repair tool, info below;

 

Download then run the Windows All in One Repair (free)  from here, disregard the malware guidance but follow the other steps to the letter and in particular ensuring that you first create a new restore point and perform a proper Windows clean boot before running the repair, details for the clean boot here.

[Channeal]

Thanks Phill,

 

Hmm, sounds like a recent update has tripped Edge up, not an uncommon problem and one that Microsoft seem to be slow in putting right, was Edge mentioned as an option in settings.

 

Yes, maybe it was an update. I keep thinking though that perhaps it was something to do with what I was doing with the Workgroup thing, as it seemed to be then that it started doing this. I always tend to think it must be my fault when something goes wrong though!

 

Yes, Edge is still an option in Settings. I just tried setting it as the default browser again, but it still won't open. 

 

 

If you would like to fix Edge there is a tutorial here or you could try the Windows AIO repair tool, info below;

 

I have already seen the tutorial, but wasn't sure whether to try it. I think I will try to All In One Repair thing first.

 

Will let you know how it goes. 

 

Chris.

[phillpower2]

Hi Chris,

 

When you try the AIO tool please make Edge the default browser.