"Searching for Windows Update"

[Kavik]

Why does Windows have to search for a driver update for a keyboard that has already been used several times before? This seems to be more of an issue at work. For example, I usually use a Model M with an  orihalcon SDL to USB cable. I've used it for months on end, but, this week, I've been using my KBP V80. When I switched back to the Model M, I couldn't use it for a couple minute because Windows had to find an update first. Why? The computer should be very familiar with this keyboard, and plus, it's just a regular keyboard; why are special drivers needed? The same thing happens when I hook my V80 up to other work computers outside of my office.

I don't think this happens on my home desktop. I think it happens on my laptop though. What's up with this?

[xtrafrood]

Could it be that it searches for drivers after an update?

[Leslieann]

Windows updates the driver cache on occasion and if something's not connected at the time, in theory it could have been purged.

If nothing else though, drivers do get updates on occasion and if it hasn't been used in a while it could be due for a check. Not that the Windows driver database is exactly all that up to date anyhow.

[Tactile]

"Searching for an update" also means "Searching to verify the currently installed driver is up-to-date".

[Kavik]

I guess that all makes sense, but it seems ridiculous that the keyboard is completely useless while it's doing this. It seems a better design would be to use the existing driver while searching for the update.

[Leslieann]

It seems a better design would be to _____

Said everyone who has used Windows for a short time.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

Why does Windows have to search for a driver update for a keyboard that has already been used several times before?

There are at least two problems. The first one is that you tend not to use the same USB socket that you used before. Even when you make a point of noting which one the plug came out of, you still forget. Windows remembers the choice of driver but only for that single USB socket: use another socket, and it has to search for the driver all over again.

The other problem is that it seems not to index the driver database, so it has to check every single .inf file for the USB vendor and device codes supplied by the device to see if one matches. A simple index on this data would make this process instantaneous.

It seems a better design would be to _____

Said everyone who has used Windows for a short time.

Strangely enough, things are getting fixed. Windows 10 now integrates the behaviour of wheel rotation scrolling the window under the cursor, instead of whichever control has focus. Third-party software that offers this feature introduces a flaw whereby under heavy load, the cursor slows to a crawl, and the native implementation seems to share this bug.

The Windows 10 Creators Update finally gives Registry Editor an address bar.

Maybe one day we'll be allowed to pin icons to secondary taskbars. I know that the notion is broken, but I may as well be allowed to use it anyway. One flaw is that certain monitor types (I'm still not positive I understand which) rip away the entire desktop when they're turned off, so just switching off the monitors will scramble your desktop as now you have no monitors connected. Whoever was responsible for that atrocity should be shot. When I switch off the light bulb, my desk doesn't dematerialise and dump its contents on floor! In addition, docking/undocking a laptop can cause the monitor count to change, meaning that taskbar buttons on secondary monitors need to work around and survive these situations.

TLDR:

[Leslieann]

Strangely enough, things are getting fixed. Windows 10 now integrates the behaviour of wheel rotation scrolling the window under the cursor, instead of whichever control has focus. Third-party software that offers this feature introduces a flaw whereby under heavy load, the cursor slows to a crawl, and the native implementation seems to share this bug.

The Windows 10 Creators Update finally gives Registry Editor an address bar.

One flaw is that certain monitor types (I'm still not positive I understand which) rip away the entire desktop when they're turned off, so just switching off the monitors will scramble your desktop as now you have no monitors connected. Whoever was responsible for that atrocity should be shot. When I switch off the light bulb, my desk doesn't dematerialise and dump its contents on floor! In addition, docking/undocking a laptop can cause the monitor count to change, meaning that taskbar buttons on secondary monitors need to work around and survive these situations.

That... Doesn't sound like it's getting better.
They fix one thing and give you a minor feature, but break something important.

So many things on Windows 10 have just completely turned me against Windows at this point, it's insane. If people actually knew they had choices, or were not so lazy about it, or Mac was cheaper, Windows would be dead because of this crap.

[Daniel Beardsmore]

That... Doesn't sound like it's getting better.
They fix one thing and give you a minor feature, but break something important.

So many things on Windows 10 have just completely turned me against Windows at this point, it's insane. If people actually knew they had choices, or were not so lazy about it, or Mac was cheaper, Windows would be dead because of this crap.

Windows is definitely getting better, but very slowly, and it's a bumpy ride. I was fairly happy with Windows 8 for three years (now upgraded to 10), although 8.1 had pretty poor performance (post-hibernate, File History and Start screen search were all very slow).

As alluded to with that video, I don't believe that there is a magic solution. macOS and Windows are drastically different: neither one is simply the other one "done right". Within my lifetime, we're more likely to see Windows get fixed than we are to see the Linux world agree on anything.