Question: Since I bought my Windows 10 PC six years ago, I’ve been copying pictures from a camera memory card to the PC. Until late last year, the process was easy.
Each year, I’d set up an annual picture folder that contained 12 subfolders for the months of the year. Each time Windows 10 copied photos from a memory card to the annual folder, it would automatically sort the pictures into the correct monthly folder based on when the photos were taken. Typically, Windows 10 would avoid downloading the same photo twice.
But beginning late last year, Windows 10 stopped sorting the photos into the monthly folders when it copied them from a memory card. Instead, it copied them all to the main 2020 folder, which meant I had to sort the pictures manually. What’s wrong? — S.B., Altoona, Wis.
Answer: You’ve accurately described a problem that many amateur photographers have complained about. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about it yourself, because the change is the result of an automatic update to Windows 10. Only Microsoft can fix that, and it’s unclear whether the company intends to do so.
The photo-sorting feature disappeared during a Windows 10 update in 2020.Beginning in December, Microsoft’s online forms were deluged with complaints by PC users like you (see tinyurl.com/er9yu885). The people who ran the forums didn’t seem to know what had happened or why. As a result, they could only suggest that Windows 10 users submit their concerns to Microsoft’s Feedback Hub, an online forum you can access through the operating system (to use it, simultaneously press the Windows and F keys.)
You don’t need a Microsoft online account to send a comment to the Feedback Hub. But you will need an account if you want to view comments that other people have made. (To create a Microsoft account, see tinyurl.com/epbnub5s).
Question: The Chrome browser has quit working on my 7-month-old Windows 10 desktop PC. When I double click on the Chrome icon or click on the “open” menu option, the “blue circle” spins for a few seconds, then stops. Nothing else happens. I’ve uninstalled Chrome and downloaded it again several times, but nothing helps.
Meanwhile, the Chrome browser on my laptop PC works fine. How can I get Chrome to work on my desktop PC? — G.S., Colorado Springs, Colo.
Answer: Your desktop PC might have been a crash dummy in a Google browser experiment that went wrong. A fix is available, but it might not help you because it assumes you can open the browser (see tinyurl.com/ar53nx45). I suggest you download Chrome again on the assumption that new copies have been fixed as well.
Google hasn’t spelled out exactly what happened but said that on May 21 it started receiving complaints about Chrome unexpectedly crashing. The affected consumers were using PCs running the Windows or Linux operating systems or using Google Chromebooks.
Some observers believe the problem occurred because Google was testing experimental Chrome browser features without telling anyone. The evidence lies within the fix for Linux, which instructs users to delete the contents of the “Origin Trials subdirectory.” Origin Trials is Google’s way of testing experimental browser features on a limited number of users at a time.