# Fuck you, Microsoft, once again **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 25, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015 "2010-09-25T16:20:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/41 "2010-09-26T03:22:10Z")
kindly check the attached LOVELETTER coming from me Download Attachment: LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/42 "2010-09-26T03:50:25Z")
I thought this was a very simple issue. I don’t think somebody else should be deleting files from my computer without my permission - even if they believe they’re doing it for good reasons. Am I so far out on the fringe here? You guys are really okay with that? If so, then I guess I just have a different view on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/43 "2010-09-26T03:55:39Z")
If ScanDisk deleted your file, **it was already gone**. ScanDisk looks for files that have been damaged beyond repair. You couldn’t have used the program anymore anyway. I’m sorry that a dying hard drive ate your 10-year-old browser, but count yourself lucky for the early warning and back-up your files before something really important is lost. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/44 "2010-09-26T04:19:19Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > If ScanDisk deleted your file, **it was already gone**. ScanDisk looks for files that have been damaged beyond repair. You couldn’t have used the program anymore anyway. I’m sorry that a dying hard drive ate your 10-year-old browser, but count yourself lucky for the early warning and back-up your files before something really important is lost. No, they were not gone. They were files I used every day and had been using only an hour before. Hell, it was files like the URL of this message board and you can check my posting history to verify how often I used it. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/45 "2010-09-26T04:37:32Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@Rysto](#): > > > > If ScanDisk deleted your file, **it was already gone**. ScanDisk looks for files that have been damaged beyond repair. You couldn’t have used the program anymore anyway. I’m sorry that a dying hard drive ate your 10-year-old browser, but count yourself lucky for the early warning and back-up your files before something really important is lost. > > No, they were not gone. They were files I used every day and had been using only an hour before. Hell, it was files like the URL of this message board and you can check my posting history to verify how often I used it. No other possibility, then: Bill Gates obliterated your ancient browser to demonstrate the power of the Microsoft Death Star. Your Doom WADs and ASCII porn will be the next to fall. ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/46 "2010-09-26T04:38:40Z")
Yeah there’s a disconnect here. It’s already been explained. But, I will try my best to go on and explain it again. Even include links that probably explain it better than I could. ScanDisk checks your hard drive for errors. It checks two things. Physical errors, and file system errors. These checks are independent of the software that is running. It is just as likely to find problems with Microsoft files as it is to find problems with software created by outside developers. ScanDisk runs automatically when a critical error is found on the disk. While you might have used the HDD an hour earlier with no problems this does not mean that the file was not on an affected portion of the hard disc drive in the meantime. It sucks that it happened. And, I am sorry about that. But, I do think your anger is misplaced. Be angry at the hardware for not lasting. Or, sure be angry for ScanDisk running with your asking. But, remember the fact that it is running is a sign that there might be problems. And, if the bookmarks are the thing you most want look around your hard drive for a file called Bookmarks.html. I think that’s what Netscape called it’s bookmarks file. Hopefully that survived. > **[Microsoft ScanDisk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCANDISK)** > > Microsoft ScanDisk (also called ScanDisk) is a diagnostic utility program included in MS-DOS and Windows 9x. It checks and repairs file systems errors on a disk drive, while the system starts. > The program was first introduced in MS-DOS 6.2 and succeeded its simpler predecessor, CHKDSK. It included a more user-friendly interface than CHKDSK, more configuration options, and the ability to detect and (if possible) recover from physical errors on the disk. This replaced and improved upon the limited... [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/186365](http://support.microsoft.com/kb/186365) > **[How to Scan Disk - Tech-FAQ](https://www.tech-faq.com/how-to-scan-disk.html)** > > Scan Disk is one of the most common maintenance tools bundled with an operating system such as Windows. This is an application that checks the computer's hard drive for errors and bad sectors. Once Scan Disk finds an error in the hard drive, it will... ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/47 "2010-09-26T04:59:03Z")
Given the Department of Justice Consent Decree that Microsoft signed, it would be, _cough cough_ a complete act of madness to actively be deleting competing software. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/48 "2010-09-26T05:21:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@Rysto](#): > > > > If ScanDisk deleted your file, **it was already gone**. ScanDisk looks for files that have been damaged beyond repair. You couldn’t have used the program anymore anyway. I’m sorry that a dying hard drive ate your 10-year-old browser, but count yourself lucky for the early warning and back-up your files before something really important is lost. > > No, they were not gone. They were files I used every day and had been using only an hour before. Hell, it was files like the URL of this message board and you can check my posting history to verify how often I used it. I drove in my car 30 minutes ago and it’s fine. There is no fucking way that a tire could possibly be flat now that I want to drive again! Obviously, it’s a conspiracy by the Michelin Man to slash my tires to make me buy new tires from them. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/49 "2010-09-26T05:36:09Z")
Sounds like you have a problem with PEBCAK. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/50 "2010-09-26T07:53:56Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > My condolences to the OP for his loss of bookmarks. That would be the **last** thing I would think to backup if my PC was fried … I know this is BBQ Pit, but can a Windows novice do a minor hijack to ask a question? _ **How do I backup my bookmarks from Windows IE 7 ?** _ > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > If you ignore the greater wisdom of the developers of these products, complaining when you get bit is rather silly. Although his diagnosis of his specific problem here may be flawed, I agree with OP about the undesirable behavior of some PC software. I’ve even thought of starting my own BBQ Pit thread to complain about some egregious examples. But reading some of the responses OP got in this thread convinces me not to try arguing the matter here. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/51 "2010-09-26T10:13:34Z")
Windows stores its bookmarks in your Favorites folder. In WinXP, this used to be at C:/windows/favorites. In Vista or Win 7, the favorites folder is located at C:/Users/\/Favorites. Just copy it to your back up drive (or ideally, have a regular program to sync it with your back up drive). You might be happy just copying the Favorites Bar subfolder. But the get the whole folder if you’re not sure. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/52 "2010-09-26T11:13:22Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I thought this was a very simple issue. I don’t think somebody else should be deleting files from my computer without my permission - even if they believe they’re doing it for good reasons. Am I so far out on the fringe here? You guys are really okay with that? If so, then I guess I just have a different view on the subject. The files didn’t exist, that’s why they were “deleted”. The section of the hard disk that the files were stored on is almost certainly damaged (especially if you’ve been using the same computer for the past ten years). ScanDisk attempted to fix them, but they were beyond repair. You’ve already ignored the good advice given to you: your hard drive is probably going to fail sometime soon. You need to start backing up now. Losing a hard drive is shit, and a time consuming process to put right (I’ve just been through it). Stop with the conspiracy bullshit and start backing up. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/53 "2010-09-26T11:54:31Z")
If you hadn’t kept on skipping scandisk you might not have lost your data, sometimes you have to swallow your pride and accept that the professionals who program the software know more about your PC than you do. It has nothing to do with the age/developer/race/religion of your web browser or any other piece of software on your PC, it is down to an aging hard drive that had been showing signs of failure that you blithely ignored until it was too late to do anything about it. The files that were ‘removed’ could equally have been audio files, picture files, text documents or any other type of file. Scandisk and Microsoft did not target your browser for deletion, scandisk targeted the faulty area of your hard drive which by pure coincidence happened to contain your browser. Hard drives fail all the time, especially when the warning signs are ignored and the person using the computer actively tries to stop the operating system from repairing the damage. I have no sympathy for you whatsoever on this one, the only person jeopardising the reliability of your PC is you, not Bill Gates. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/54 "2010-09-26T12:00:23Z")
I’m still trying to figure out what the hell you do with 10 years of bookmarks. I could probably count the number of sites I went to in 2000 and still visit regularly today on one hand. Note that I’m not counting the “big” websites I never bookmarked to begin with such as Google, Yahoo, NY Times, Amazon, etc. The amount of cruft that must be in a 10-year list is probably huge. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/55 "2010-09-26T12:39:09Z")
Netscape? _Netscape??_ NETSCAPE??? _ **NETSCAPE???** _ ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/56 "2010-09-26T12:59:47Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out what the hell you do with 10 years of bookmarks. I could probably count the number of sites I went to in 2000 and still visit regularly today on one hand. Note that I’m not counting the “big” websites I never bookmarked to begin with such as Google, Yahoo, NY Times, Amazon, etc. The amount of cruft that must be in a 10-year list is probably huge. I have a lot of bookmarks for things that I might visit **irregularly** and probably want to again, like recipes, knitting patterns, video game hints, that kind of stuff. However, I also tend to back up files like that semi-regularly. And yeah, for surfing/computer safety, you should really be using a modern, supported browser that can put out prompt updates should vulnerabilities be found. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/57 "2010-09-26T14:17:53Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Sounds like you have a problem with PEBCAK. Reading through this thread, it sounds more like an ID10-T error. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/58 "2010-09-26T14:30:28Z")
**Little Nemo** , I’m not trying to pile on, nor be overtly rude - but it is pretty clear that you don’t fully understand what is happening at the OS level and as such are blaming MS for something it hasn’t done. Since you don’t have a fundamental understanding of how the things work, it is difficult to explain the details of what has failed and I’m afraid you’ll have to trust the tech people who tell you that there is something wrong with your files on your hard drive. This may be due to your hard drive going bad, or it may be that you have turned off the computer without shutting down Windows, but the files have been corrupted. In any case, scandisk was trying to fix that. Every time you ignored the prompt to run it, things kept getting worse. This is not a secret plot by MS to get rid of Netscape. Forget about all that for now. Understand that your hard drive has some problems and you need to try to address them - if it isn’t already too late. If you don’t get the corruption taken care of soon, it will eventually get so bad that you won’t be able to save anything. I’ll be honest, I suspect it has already gone on long enough that you will lose a lot, maybe even the Windows installation. If you know someone that can help, or have some where to take it, I strongly suggest that you do so. I wish you luck. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/59 "2010-09-26T17:02:43Z")
FYI, regarding bookmarks backup, there’s a nifty add-on called Xmarks, for IE, Chrome and Firefox, that syncs your bookmarks to the Xmarks server. It’s not only useful for backup, but it will sync them between different browsers and different machines. [http://www.xmarks.com/](http://www.xmarks.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015/60 "2010-09-26T18:47:07Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > I know this is BBQ Pit, but can a Windows novice do a minor hijack to ask a question? > > _ **How do I backup my bookmarks from Windows IE 7 ?** _ In addition to the method already described, you can export your favorites. The Help topics will describe how to do this. > [@](#): > > Although his diagnosis of his specific problem here may be flawed, I agree with OP about the undesirable behavior of some PC software. I’ve even thought of starting my own BBQ Pit thread to complain about some egregious examples. But reading some of the responses OP got in this thread convinces me not to try arguing the matter here. No, legitimate complaints are fine, and you’ll often find people agreeing with you. Feel free to complain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-you-microsoft-once-again/555015.md?page=4)