3 Common Windows Complaints

Windows 10 has only but recently overtaken Windows 7 as the most popular operating system, at over 40% of all computer users, and with Windows 7 nearing its end of life, we can only expect that number to grow.

Windows 10 is constantly rolling out new updates, which makes it one of, if not the most stabled operating system to date, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its own bunch of problems. From significantly low storage space, to workflow disruption, there are so many issues and bugs that need to be ironed out.

Microsoft has recently implemented a new feature, which allows the end user to postpone a Windows update for a month, this way they can determine whether or not the update will do any harm to your system, and then make the necessary alterations beforehand. But there is still so much work that needs to be done.

Upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 can be an issue for many users. Those end users that have used Windows 7 for years, may find it difficult having to adapt to all the new changes, some of which they may feel aren’t as intuitive as before.

But fear not, any issues that you’ve experienced on your system, has been experienced by others. Which brings me to the most common complaints that Windows users experience while in the workplace, and the things that you can do, as a computer savvy somebody, to alleviate the problem.

1. Slow Computer & Network

This is a complaint that is all too common. Every place that you may have worked, that uses computers, you’ll find people complaining about how slow their system is, how slow it takes to boot up, and load a web page or open their word processor program. Such problems don’t look like they could ever be eliminated, but there are certain steps an end user can take to reduce these effects. For example, we could guarantee that users who perform similar job functions in the workplace, at the very least have similar machines. This would eliminate any comparisons, where one system may run faster than another.

System performance complaints are so common, that it’s almost tempting to simply disregard it. But that’s definitely not the approach that I would recommend. I think, cutting down on such complaints is as simple as just letting those end users know that there is very little that can be done to actually fix their situation.

That’s not to say that you should dismiss every complaint that people may have, especially in situations where the systems performance took a very sharp dip over a couple of days or even hours of computer use. You’ll want to carry out the typical procedures, such as check for viruses, spyware, adware and other things, as it will reassure everyone that the problem is actually being dealt with.

2. Restricted Web Access

This is probably another complaint that is very frequently heard. Complaints of an inability to purchase from their favourite shopping site, due to a sudden restriction. Or, why are they only able to access their PayPal account for no longer than 10 minutes per day? How is it known, what they are doing while on such services?

This problem is very similar to spam filtering in many respects. Both web access and email are introduced into a working environment, without much thought to how they were/are to be used. Thus, after years of unrestricted use, the IT professionals are thus forced to implement certain restrictions, this is because of the amount of resources that are expanded by the IT department to have to keep up with the large number of issues that occurred, when users are doing whatever they liked. The IT department is thus forced to act, and as a result, are forced to feel the brunt of their decision, as they are met with confusion, anger and unhappiness. Although I can at the very least understand the motivations behind such a decision, I think the IT department’s sole role is to implement, advice and administrate, and not to enforce any policies onto anyone.

3. Windows Update Won’t Work

Issues with Windows Update are all too common, and are consistent across the board, irrespective of what version of Windows you may be on. If such a problem occurs on their operating system, end users must ensure that the system has all the appropriate software on it. If the problem persists, then there’s a troubleshooter that can be used.

If that little program is unable to fix the problem, then there are other solutions that must be attempted. Such as, running System Restore, but before they do that, they’ll need to ensure that the tool has been enabled. There are also certain tweaks that can be adopted, one of which entails stopping the entire Windows Update component, then removing all the contents of the SoftwareDistribution folder, then re-enabling the feature and then restarting the computer.

All in all, this is a very common problem, with 100s of different error codes to describe all the different causes.