Windows 10 Qs and a clicking iPad…

It’s mainly about Windows 10, this time, since Microsoft officially released it last week. That’s prompted a few questions, though, so I’ve answered a few of the things many people are wondering below… Oh, and there’s something about a clicking iPad…

Question: I’ve reserved the upgrade to Windows 10 but nothing’s happened yet… what’s going on – I thought it was out by now?
Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten you. They aren’t sending the update out to everyone at once, partly because it’s a big file and would cause problems if everyone on the internet was downloading it at once, partly so if there are any bugs they can fix them before everyone gets it.

Unfortunately they haven’t announced what order people will get it in, so I can’t tell you when it’s likely to be.

Since I’d recommend most people wait a month or so before actually installing it anyway, in case of bugs they’ve missed, it’s not a problem. But if you really want it straight away, you can go to Microsoft’s website here and download it. It’s trickier doing it that way, though, so I wouldn’t recommend it for most people – only if you’re desperate and fairly confident with technical stuff.

Question: I had the little symbol to reserve Windows 10 (it’s a window of four white panes in the bottom right hand corner of the screen) but I haven’t done it yet and it’s disappeared! How do I get it back?
I’ve noticed on some PCs it comes and goes, so you’ll probably find that if you leave you PC alone for a bit, it’ll reappear. Or if you restart you PC it might come back.

If it really won’t appear again, you could download Windows 10 from Microsoft’s website as above – but I’d leave it for a good while before resorting to that as chances are if you wait, you’ll get the upgrade symbol back again.

Question: I never got the symbol to reserve Windows 10 – but I have Windows 7 (or 8) – why hasn’t it appeared for me?
There are a few reasons it could be. One is that before Windows 10 came out (and I suspect until they’ve caught up with everyone who’s already registered for it) Microsoft were only giving it to computers there were really sure would run it properly – that had enough memory, a big enough hard drive, a suitable processor and so on. They said that once it’s out they’ll allow the symbol to appear on a wider range of PCs – this isn’t a problem as each time it installs, it’ll more carefully check that PC to make sure it will run all right. So you might have to wait until they’ve caught up. (Or you could download it as above.)

The other reason is that if you have Windows 7 you need to have Service Pack 1 installed – the simplest way is to turn on Windows Updates, if they aren’t already on. (you can check if you have it by right clicking on computer in the start menu and choosing properties – it should list Service pack 1 near the top, underneath the copyright bit).

If you have Windows 8 you need to make sure you’ve got the upgrade to Windows 8.1 first. You can get it from the Windows Store option on the start screen.

Oh, and one other possible reason: if you have a dodgy, pirated version of Windows, you won’t get the upgrade. But I hope that doesn’t apply to any readers of the newsletter!

Question: I have Windows 8 but I installed some extra bits to make it more like Windows Vista (or XP) – will that count as Windows 8 (so I’ll get the free upgrade) or Windows Vista (so I won’t)?
That still counts as Windows 8, so you’ll be fine. The extras just make it look and work a bit like an earlier version, but underneath it’s still Windows 8, so that’s what Microsoft will see it as.

That clicking iPad…
No, I’m not using clicking as a euphemism for something ruder… I really mean clicking.
It’s something that occurred to me when we were staying in a hotel room recently and I was using the iPad to do a little bit of work after the boys were asleep. I turned the volume right off so it didn’t wake them, but that didn’t affect the clicks that it makes as you type.

The idea is these clicks make it easier for you to type on the screen because you can hear it as you press each key a bit like on a real keyboard. I find it does help, but I didn’t want it waking the boys (or Julie, who’d dozed off with a book in her hand after a busy day).
On some tablets (I think most Android based ones) when you turn the main volume down, it turns the keyboard sound down as well… but not on an iPad.

But don’t worry, you can still stop it clicking. Go into settings by tapping the icon on the main screen that looks a bit like the inside of a clockwork watch. Choose Sounds from the left hand side (you might need to scroll down a bit), then find the keyboard sounds option (again you might need to scroll down) and tap it to set it to “off”.

That’s it – no more clicks. Later on you can do the same thing again to turn it back on again if you find them useful.

It worked – the boys slept ‘til morning (well, their idea of morning)… and Julie slept until I turned in and took the book out of her hands.

Oh and by the way, at midday today I’ll be letting new members into the Inner Circle again.  If you’re not a member, watch out for an email from me at midday – if you are a member, watch out for some new members on the Clubroom!