Hosts
Troy Brown • Hillary Greer • Brandon Chapman
Key: IHLS Library
Troy Brown: Good afternoon everyone! I hope you have lots of questions! I believe all the IT staff will be here soon.
Troy Brown: Well that's enlightening!
Hillary Greer: Are all you Windows 10 users enjoying your experience?
Troy Brown: We've had great luck with Windows 10 testing and I'd highly encourage everyone to talk with your tech people to install Windows 10. It's only free for one year.
Brandon Chapman: Also, as a reminder, when using Polaris with Windows 10, use Internet Explorer, not Microsoft Edge.
Hillary Greer: Good to know, Brandon!
Brandon Chapman: If Edge opens, you'll have to click the (...) at the top right hand corner and select "Open with Internet Explorer."
Brandon Chapman: Also, for those of you that prefer to use Macs, we have instructions on our website on how to use Polaris with a Mac.
Troy Brown: I haven't had any issues with an upgrade to 10. Nothing gets lost as far as files go. I have seen some very old printers not work, tho.
Troy Brown: I should have told Brandon not to vote. :) He's the mac vote
Kim: We haven't had any problems running Polaris or Leap on Windows 10.
Troy Brown: Thanks Kim! Is this Kim Kellor from Salem?
Kim: Kim Heft from Onarga
Troy Brown: Great! Thanks
Brandon Chapman: I've upgraded several PCs internally from Windows 7 to 10 and haven't had any real issues to report. (I've also done a few Windows 8.1 to 10 upgrades as well)
Hillary Greer: Can we move the poll? I'm having issues reading the chat.
Hillary Greer: Thanks :)
Troy Brown: Is anyone using the new 2D scanners that can scan driver's licenses?
Karen Sinks, Brighton: All this talk of Windows 10 makes me nervous ... I feel like I'm on a freeway that's going to abruptly end and I forgot to take my exit. My patron computers are running Vista Business (gasp!). At what point will I be dead in the water?
Brandon Chapman: Keep in mind that Windows 7 and 8 Enterprise Editions are not eligible for the Windows 10 upgrade. Only Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Windows 8(.1) Home and Pro are eligible.
Brandon Chapman: Unfortunately Vista isn't eligible for the free upgrade. As I always say: computer years are worse than dog years!
Brandon Chapman: You could upgrade Vista to Windows 7 (not free), and then to 10, but double-upgrades usually make me nervous...
Brandon Chapman: ((Single upgrades make techies nervous overall, but upgrading to Windows 10 has been a lot smoother than expected))
Troy Brown: I agree. 2 big new advantages that I've used. 1. Much better real time backup utility. 2. The ability to "Refresh" your system and save all files, but reset everything else back to factory defaults. This gets rid of a lot of viruses as a last ditch effort.
Karen Sinks, Brighton: I'm not feeling any better about my personal situation, but I'm happy for all of you ... sigh.
Brandon Chapman: One thing to keep in mind about Vista: Microsoft will no longer support it after April 11, 2017, so it'll be in the same boat that XP is in now...
Troy Brown: What can we do to answer your questions about Vista to 10, Karen?
Troy Brown: Also, we can answer several questions at once if anyone else has something.
Karen Sinks, Brighton: Oh, don't let my budget problems rain on your IT chat! I'm sorry! I was really just curious if I was going to smack into a wall at some point. It sounds as if I'm just going to have to pay for new operating software - at some point. But, based on Brandon's comments, I don't know if I should jump straight ahead to 10 or baby step to 7.
Dawn Rutschke & Anita Walters Sherman PLD: We updated one of our work computers to Windows 10 a short time ago from 7 Professional. Big mistake...It took awhile to get it completed because we had to find a patch and then a route around. Since the upgrade(?) we have had to search for everything and file that used to be easily accessible. Everything is lost or hidden. We hate it.
Brandon Chapman: At this point, unless there's software that you're running that won't work on 10, just go straight to 10 (likely clean install with the help of an IT professional). As a not-for-profit, you likely qualify for discounts through www.techsoup.org.
Karen Sinks, Brighton: It'll cost me a new version of Quickbooks in the process, so it may be awhile. Thanks for all of the information!
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: Techsoup is a great resource for software--especially Microsoft products. I have used them to get software updates for both Windows and MS Office.
Brandon Chapman: No problem!
Brandon Chapman: Ah, QuickBooks...it is always picky about new Windows operating systems...
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: You can get Quickbooks through Techsoup too. Very cheap!
Brandon Chapman: Esther: Now THAT I didn't know! I wish I had known that when I was consulting! :)
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: We got our last update through Techsoup. They have some great deals on Adobe products too.
Brandon Chapman: Dawn/Anita: Did all your files disappear or were they in places that they weren't before?
Julie Jarman/ StauntonPL: We really like Techsoup here in Staunton as well, Wonderful deals there for our small budget.
Dawn Rutschke & Anita Walters Sherman PLD: They are where they were not before. Still there somewhere just have to search and search to find them. Several of the programs are the same.
Brandon Chapman: I see. That new Start Menu can be a little tricky (although nowhere near as jarring as Windows 8's Start Screen).
Kim: At Onarga, our IT person did our upgrade to Windows 10 on all our computers. I told him what we wanted where, on the desktop etc. and he did it for us.
Kim: He also gave us a quick tutorial about what was where and how to sign in and sign off.
Brandon Chapman: It's always nice to have someone go through the most important changes when it comes to a new version of Windows (or in some cases a new version of Office).
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: Karen--I looked it up and Quickbooks is $50 through Techsoup.
Troy Brown: We understand that upgrading an operating system is difficult, especially when everything is working fine. I'd encourage you to watch some youtube videos first if you don't have a tech team to walk you through the new version of Windows. There's a lot on youtube. Just search for something like "Windows 10 for beginners" or "Windows 10 what's different"
Karen Sinks, Brighton: Thanks, Esther!
Esther Curry--C.E. Brehm Memorial PLD: You're welcome
Troy Brown: I think we'll wrap it up for today. I think this was a good coversation to have and to help you all know that you're not alone in your reservations about upgrading. We're here to help in any way we can. Have a great week everyone
Hillary Greer: Have a great day, everyone!