Windows 10 again (and again)

[tractorian]

The patient is an Acer laptop upgraded from 8.1 to 10 Home. Whoever did the installation created a local account with Administrative permissions.

The installed 2013 version of Word is unable to display .docx attachments to emails, so we downloaded Libra Office. Libra Office would not install from the Downloads folder, but would install from a copy on a memory stick. This was repeated, when the update to Libra Office and a copy of Malware-bytes were downloaded. Neither would install from the C: drive, but would install when copied to the memory stick. Nothing seemed out of place when looking at the settings for the C: drive Download folder. Any ideas would be gratefully received.

As an aside, the owner doesn't know the password for the 'main' account, but as everything is now working as required this is not an immediate problem. However, who knows what the future might bring, so it might be useful to access the 'main' account. In the past I've used Pogo-stick to overcome this problem, but have not tried it with Windows 10. Does anyone know if it works, or can suggest an alternative?

[supremetwo]

The patient is an Acer laptop upgraded from 8.1 to 10 Home. Whoever did the installation created a local account with Administrative permissions.

The installed 2013 version of Word is unable to display .docx attachments to emails, so we downloaded Libra Office. Libra Office would not install from the Downloads folder, but would install from a copy on a memory stick. This was repeated, when the update to Libra Office and a copy of Malware-bytes were downloaded. Neither would install from the C: drive, but would install when copied to the memory stick. Nothing seemed out of place when looking at the settings for the C: drive Download folder. Any ideas would be gratefully received.

As an aside, the owner doesn't know the password for the 'main' account, but as everything is now working as required this is not an immediate problem. However, who knows what the future might bring, so it might be useful to access the 'main' account. In the past I've used Pogo-stick to overcome this problem, but have not tried it with Windows 10. Does anyone know if it works, or can suggest an alternative?

First, download the docX attachment to the downloads folder.

Does it open from there?

If not, open Word - File tab - Options - Trust Centre - Trust Centre Settings - File Block Settings.

Click 'restore defaults'.

Admin account password? Create a new admin account and when that is working delete the old one should work, but I have never tried it.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/hel ... or-account

[Breelander]

The patient is an Acer laptop upgraded from 8.1 to 10 Home. Whoever did the installation created a local account with Administrative permissions.

This is perfectly normal (and, in fact necessary). A clean install of Windows 10 will make your first account an administrator. Never (ever) demote your only administrator account to a standard user or you will never be able to control all of Windows' settings, create new users or install software. The built-in Administrator account is disabled by default so you'll be stuck without at least one administrator.

It's not as bad as it sounds, because even signed in as an administrator in Windows 10 you will be running almost everything as a standard user. When admin privileges are required you will be asked to confirm that you want to use them. If you really want to use a standard account, then create a second account and use that. Or create a second account and make it an administrator, only then would it be safe to demote your account. For safety, I make sure that all my machines have at least two administrator accounts available.

The installed 2013 version of Word is unable to display .docx attachments to emails, so we downloaded Libra Office. Libra Office would not install from the Downloads folder, but would install from a copy on a memory stick...

This is because the file in the Downloads folder is marked as 'blocked' having been 'downloaded from another computer' and therefore potentially unsafe. Right-click on it and select Properties. You can unblock such files there. The reason the copy on the usb isn't blocked is that this 'blocked' property is only supported by the ntfs file system. The usb's Fat32 does not support it so the 'blocked' property has been lost when you copied it to the usb.

[tractorian]

Thank you supremetwo and Breelander for your responses.

From what you are saying, Breelander, it sounds as if Word 2013 has been updated to handle .docx files - something I wasn't aware of. However, I suspect the complication of having to apply the 'work-around' you suggest to unblock each and every emailed .docx file makes it unusable - we're talking of elderly users, who can just about manage emailing.

Unfortunately, I am still using Office 97 on my own machine, so I am certainly without such an update.

Again, many thanks for you responses. I was certainly unaware of the Fat32/NTFS difference. Perhaps I'd better reformat the hard drive as Fat32.

[Breelander]

From what you are saying, Breelander, it sounds as if Word 2013 has been updated to handle .docx files - something I wasn't aware of...

.docx has been the standard format for Word since Office 2007. Windows 10's built-in WordPad can also open .docx documents.

However, I suspect the complication of having to apply the 'work-around' you suggest to unblock each and every emailed .docx file makes it unusable....

I was explaining about 'blocked files' more as an explanation of why your LibreOffice would only install from your usb. The ntfs format has other options not supported by Fat32, including file ownership and permissions. For proper operation of Windows it is best to keep using ntfs on your C: drive.

As for Word 2013 not being the default for opening .docx, that is more likely to be because it is not currently set as the default file association for .docx files. In Windows 10 you can set default apps by file type in:

Settings > Apps > Default apps > Choose default applications by file type

[tractorian]

Well Breelander, that's something else I've learned today. Many thanks.