I have two problems with my PC, this is the first one.

A few days ago my mouse suddenly started behaving badly. Sometimes, too often, I would click once (or double click sometimes) and it would act like I clicked several times. I would double click on a folder and it would act like I not only did that, but clicked or double clicked one of the files inside the folder. I have tried messing with the settings (cursor speed, double click rate) and it still behaves (badly) in exactly the same way. What is causing this and how to do stop it? Is the mouse going bad?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - 10:47 pm: Edit

This is the second problem. I do not understand how to search for a file on the PC's hard drive.

On the Mac, I open a little program called SHERLOCK and type in what I want and it finds every file with that word (or part of a word) in the filename. For example, typing in "panzer" gets me photos of Panzer-II, video of Panzer-IV, the song Panzerleid, the video Girls & Panzers, text files like Panzer Division Organization, the game Panzerblitz, the notes for Star Fleet Panzers, and so forth. It never ever searches the internet for "panzer" unless I do it through the browser (not the Sherlock program).

When I do that in the PC I get stuff all over the internet. I try to tell it "search only the hard disk" and I get "no files found" while I know I have hundreds of "panzer" files.

Either PC's have the stupidest search system in computer history (compared to Macs, this is true but not the point) or there is something I do not understand. I really need to find my photos of "damaged Panzer-V in Ukraine war" without having to go through the entire hard disk one item at a time.

Any help is welcome.

By Jason E. Schaff (Jschaff297061) on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - 10:53 pm: Edit

For the first problem, one simple thing to try is to go into the mouse settings and switch it to left-handed mode (primary mouse button = right). This will flip the right click / left click functions (and drive you crazy if you leave it like that for too long! )

If you _don't_ see the screwy behavior when using the right button as the primary button, it probably means that the springs and/or contacts on the left mouse button are going bad. Toss it and buy a new one. If it's still flaky using the right button, I have no idea.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - 11:21 pm: Edit

I just replaced my mouse a few days ago, due to erratic behavior (the scroll wheel, in my case). I'd speculate the little microswitch under the mouse button is going bad.

If you have another mouse around, hook it up and it should inherit the settings. If it works, then you'll know the original is bad.

Regarding searching for files, do not use the search box that's part of the Windows task bar (i.e. the one the comes up when you hit the "Windows key"/Start button). That one does indeed search the internet in addition to your machine.

What you're wanting is available by opening Windows File Explorer (the icon looks like a yellow file folder) and at the top right corner of that is a search box that will only search for files and only on drives connected to the PC. It will search wherever you have selected in the left-hand pane, so make sure that's not highlighting something useless like Quick Access.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, October 18, 2023 - 11:28 pm: Edit

That actually seems to work. The right click works normally. I'll go buy a new mouse tomorrow.

THANKS!

RESEARCH BAR FOR JASON SCHAFF

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, October 19, 2023 - 12:52 am: Edit

Will, that helped A WHOLE LOT, although PC search is light years behind 25 year old Mac searching. The PC search doesn't tell me what folder the picture is in, for example; Mac Sherlock does. It might be the screwy mouse, but I can drag or option drag things in Sherlock that I cannot get to drag in PC search. All I seem to be able to do is open it in the fairly dumb editor it has and do a save as, which is five times the work of option-drag.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, October 19, 2023 - 01:18 am: Edit

RESEARCH BAR FOR WILL McCAMMON

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Thursday, October 19, 2023 - 02:04 am: Edit

Windows is very "right-click" oriented. Once you have some search results, right-clicking on them will give you options, one of which is "Open File Location" which will take you to where it is. Not quite the same as just displaying it with the search result, but usually more-useful.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, October 19, 2023 - 08:05 am: Edit

Thanks!

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, October 20, 2023 - 08:25 am: Edit

How do I get rid of that annoying "activate windows" text in the lower right corner of my screen? I found instructions on internet and they work,but it comes back in 5 minutes.

By Jeff Guthridge (Jeff_Guthridge) on Friday, October 20, 2023 - 12:27 pm: Edit

Steve, that is usually the result of the Product key not being stored correctly, or not being present at all.

The 'fastest' way to deal with this is to re-enter the product key you got with the computer.

Go to Settings -> Updates & Security -> Activation -> Change Product Key and enter the Product Key you received in the documents with the computer. Depending on the age of the computer, there may be a sticker on the case somewhere with this key as well.

If you no longer have the product key (or didn't get one), things get a little more complicated.

First thing to try is to see what Windows thinks your key is (or if you even have one installed)

This requires using the command console. Next to the start menu (in THAT search area) type "CMD",y you do not need to hit enter. When you see the icon for "Command Prompt" RIGHT-CLICK on it, and select "Run as Administrator" and click yes when it asks you if you want to make changes and it will bring up a DOS looking C:\Windows\system32> prompt.

Next, type this long command exactly, and all on one line.

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

I suggest selecting the command from here and copying it to the clipboard (CTRL-C) and then pasting it (CTRL-V) at the command prompt to prevent typos.

It will return the current product key. It will be five, five character 'code' groups. You can try using that key again in the steps at the top.

If there isn't a code stored, you didn't get one in the paperwork with the computer (or as a sticker on the case), or the Product Key stored or with your paperwork fails then you have only a few options to fix this permanently.

First contact Microsoft's Support for this, they may be able to fix this on their end. I hope I'm not recommending a patience eroding endeavor here, but I've known people they have helped.

Second, if that proves fruitless (or your patience with them expires) seek support from where you bought the computer. OEM Computer sales are supposed to be bundled with a valid Key, but some shops are less than ethical and will sell discounted machines without keys, I hope this is not the case with yours.

Third, would be to buy another license key from Microsoft. There are third party vendors that sell these too, at much cheaper rates than Microsoft as well. If requested I could email you the one I know of. To the best of my knowledge these are legitimate Product Keys being offered at discounted prices, not stolen or abused Product Keys. I have used services like this in the past to obtain a valid and legal Windows key for bootcamping on my Macs.

Failing that, there is status quo. I agree its annoying, but the watermark is all it is, not like a lockout or performance derate or similar digital-hostage-taking. There are known ways to hack this problem away, but I don't know of any that work reliably and don't render your computer vulnerable to all sorts of issues, plus your stance on piracy is well known.

By Will Culbertson (Willhc) on Monday, October 23, 2023 - 09:56 am: Edit

There is a program called "Everything" for Windows. Get it and it will quickly search your computer for the files you want. It's amazing and fast. You can set it to exclude certain directories (no need to search the system files) as well as including network directories. It's a real game changer and soooo much better than the stock Windows search, which is horrible.

It's at voidtools . com

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, October 23, 2023 - 11:17 am: Edit

Interesting!