The folder you tried to unselect is the Windows Desktop folder

How it all began

• I bought a new laptop.
• I started up the OS.
• I clicked Next (assuming that whatever options that I didnt check will not be implemented). I was wrong (Fig. 1)
• Now I have to suffer from figuring out how to resolve the issue of OneDrive automatically syncing Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders.
• Fortunately I have the solution.

MS proposed solution

• Go to OneDrive icon at Win notification area, click Help & Settings > Settings > Backup > Manage backup (Fig. )
• In the backup your folder dialog, deselect the folders, click stop backup. A dialog prompt, are you sure you want to stop folder backup?.
• Hell yes!
• Now, at least I know if I want to backup to OneDrive, I just have to create a folder in it. Just like old time, yes?
• I dont have to worry about sensitive documents or photos being sucked into the cloud
• It didnt work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This worked

• Unlink the darn OneDrive
• Go to C:\Users\Myname\OneDrive folder
• Delete the darn three folders named Desktop, Documents, and Pictures.
• Please make sure you have backup
• Then, login in again with OneDrive and choose the default folder option.
• This time, make sure deselect the darn folders who dont want to sync
• It will show a button skip
• Click on skip
• You have just gained control of OneDrive. You drag and drop things that you want to backup and not all the things that happens on desktop.

Personal vault (is this safe?)

This is encrypted. I am guessing that all the most important documents are stored there. So, if anyone wants to waste their time decrypting files, the vault will be the most lucrative place to start (though challenging). I hope the encryption used in the vault is many fold better than the encryption used in all other folders and files in OneDrive? Or, is the encryption only cover the file transfer? I will have to explore this.

Reference

1. Back up your Documents, Pictures, and Desktop folders with OneDrive (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/back-up-your-documents-pictures-and-desktop-folders-with-onedrive-d61a7930-a6fb-4b95-b28a-6552e77c3057)
2. Files save to OneDrive by default in Windows 10 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/files-save-to-onedrive-by-default-in-windows-10-33da0077-770c-4bda-b61e-8c8e8ca70ac7#bkmk_setwherefilessave)

This is not a solution. Updated: I know how it began and what to do to stop it (ref. 1)

I have a problem. Microsoft OneDrive went rogue and stole my data and kept them in their cloud server without my permission. The total file size was 300 GB. I tried to pause syncing so that I can deselect the folders. It didnt work. The setting was grayed out when I paused.

When I resumed, clicked on the setting, and tried to deselect or unselect any of the three folders, it produced an error Cant stop syncing folder. The folder you tried to unselect contains the Windows Document folder, which is an important folder in Windows and is currently pointed to OneDrive (Fig. 1).

I tried many things then and it didnt work:

• Rummaged through the Settings. There was nothing.
• Uninstalled and reinstalled. Same problem the setup FORCED you to include the 3 folders into OneDrive, i.e. Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders (Fig. 2).
• Tried web version to search for any setting that will stop the syncing of these 3 folders. Nothing.

Finally, I gave up. I delinked my OneDrive, deleted my folders from the web version, permanently deleted the sensitive files there. Then I disabled the OneDrive from startup. This can be accomplished by Ctrl+Alt+Del. Under task manager, click Advanced setting, go to Startup tab, search OneDrive and click disable.

I will try to get help from MS. I dont think this is a fault. It is very likely a business practice to pull data into their server so that users will have to circumvent this predicament, or pay for the space. This is unsolicited, unethical, and disrespectful business practice. What can I say? Unless I missed out the tiny hidden button that allows me to deselect the sync

The above business practice reminded me of the automatic opt-in for paid TV subscription in Malaysia. This was for all the subscribers and unless they contacted the service provider to cancel this automatic opt-in, they will be charged every month the additional unsolicited services. As predicted, that move didnt go well with most loyal subscribers and Astro TV was heavily criticized for implementing such unfair, unethical, and disrespectful business practice. Same here with MS OneDrive.

Reference

1. OneDrive dilemma started with this deceptive option (https://wp.me/p7PdhG-pl)

I bought this laptop at Dell online (ref. 1-2). It costs $1950 with 3 years warranty. I have added Win 10 Pro.

The laptop is light at less than 1 kg. It runs on i7-1165G7 12 MB up to 4.7 GHz. 8 GB DDR 4.2 GHz, 512 GB SSD etc. The rest can be gleaned from the website.

My impression.

• At first I didnt know why the keypad had very bad contrast, e.g. the letter and the keypad colour were almost similar. Then I realized that the backlight was switched on. Once it is powered down, the contrast was much better. So when I need to type at dim place, I can power up the keyboard backlight.
• The keyboard layout (Fig. 1) was disappointing. There isnt any functions that I loved, e.g. airplane mode, entertainment buttons, etc. I especially loved the airplane mode that comes with my HP laptop where I can switch to offline (wifi and bluetooth) with a Fn button.
• The preinstalled apps are very irritating. I guess I can always uninstall the useless apps.
• I hated OneDrive. The app imposingly synced my desktop, document, and pictures folders without my permission. When I tried to stop it and deselect the folders, it produced this error warning, Cant stop syncing folder. The folder you tried to unselect contains the Windows Document folder, which is an important folder in Windows and is currently pointed to OneDrive (Fig. 2). Bloody idiot MS, that important folders are what I dont want pointed to OneDrive!!! That is my personal space! Anyway. I have unlinked and disabled OneDrive during startup. I will write to MS to ask for a solution to this issue.
• I think Dropbox is doing the same thing. They are stealing all your property and keep them in the cloud server and once the space is full, they will bug bug bug you to pay up pay up pay up for upgrades. Is this ethical?
• McAfee is for 30 days. I used AVG and Norton.

Reference

1. It is big hassle to order from Dell laptop online to delivery (https://siedareview.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/it-is-big-hassle-to-order-from-dell-laptop-online-to-delivery/)
2. Singapore Dell delivery is disappointing (https://siedareview.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/singapore-dell-delivery-is-disappointing/)

I bought my Dell online (ref. 1). My order reached Singapore on Friday (13 Nov 2020). I got a call from Singapore Dell Delivery to confirm the time to receive the goods. The options were 9.00 to 13.00 and 13.00 to 17.00 on next Monday. I chose the morning slot.

I have waited since 9.00. So, at 12.00 I called the number to confirm the delivery status and time. The person confirmed that the item is on the way.

15 min later, I received a call from the delivery person. He said he is on the way. I asked the ETA and he shared around 10-20 min. Note that it takes about 40 min to travel from the far East to the far West on the highway. So, 20 min is reasonable plus/minus traffic.

The delivery reached after 30 min. Well 10 min late is better than not.

Summary

• Delivery estimate 9.00-13.00 is unpredictable if item reach at 12.40 pm. I would have appreciated if the delivery can narrow the 4 hours window. If not, a courtesy call 1 hour in advance would have helped.
• The delivery person was very eager to deliver the item. Probably it was already past his lunch time. Imaging if he was preparing to have lunch and got a call from management relaying that they had forgotten about the last delivery (my assumption).
• I am disappointed with the delivery of my Dell. I am anticipating my disappointment for future repair service that need Dell Singapore to collect my laptop.
• About the machine, I will provide a review soon.

Reference

1. It is big hassle to order laptop from Dell online to delivery (https://siedareview.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/it-is-big-hassle-to-order-from-dell-laptop-online-to-delivery/)

I had a choice to order my DELL laptop from my favourite places, i.e. Best Denki (https://www.bestdenki.com.sg/) or GainCity (https://www.gaincity.com/). I could have gotten it that day, but I chose online.

Previously I have tried Samsung, NEC, Acer, Asus, and HP laptops. First generation Samsung were the best, followed by NEC (comparable to Samsung). Subsequently, Samsung had been disappointing with their deteriorating quality. Acer was bad (overheating issue). Asus was mediocre. I am still using HP, but it is slower and with noisier HDD (noisier than an average spindle HDD).

I wanted to Dell. I ordered online. It was easy until the time I wanted to track my order. My Dell online stated that I had no order. My email confirmation stated I had ordered. My subsequent credit card stated I have paid. I emailed Dell customer service, the person replied with all the information required and thereafter updated me the status of my order. She was very helpful.

Here is the timeline of my order to delivery.

Use excel to calculate the time lapsed since order date. Use this formula =datedif(selected_cell,today(),d).

Since 30 Oct 2020, it has lapsed 17 days. Almost 2.5 weeks.

Was it worth ordering online? No. I should have gotten my item from my favourite stores in Singapore. However, the experience was worth it. At least I know I wont revisit Dell Online store.

The first sign that the laptop was bad came as an audible spindle from the hard disk drive. Then the laptop took 1 min 45 min to load a chrome browser (ref. 1). In addition, its USB ports are bad design, you cant use a wireless mouse and USB drive at the same time. It will not work because you lose the mouse control when you plug your external HDD next to the available USB port (ref. 2). I bought the machine at Best Denki Singapore for a total of $1010.31 in Nov 2018. I added 5 years warranty (ref. 3). Today, it couldnt boot it. Autorepair using power +F8 failed. I will try again later. For now, I hope I have backed up all my files especially those in the cloud.

Talk about bad experience.

So far, I have had good experience with Samsung laptops, but the third one disappointed me. I have used NEC laptop and it was fantastic. I tried Acer with big disappointment (because it was overheated and I had to repair the machine few times while under warranty. The service unit even suggested upgrade at discounted price which I declined). Next, I tried Asus, but had a bad electrostatic shock once in a while with its aluminium casing. I wanted to try HP because my company IT dept uses HP. Unfortunately, that didnt work well. Next, I will try Dell

I ordered a hybrid bicycle online. During checkout, there was only one delivery date and time to select. I paid for the product. This was done via Android App.

I received a simple email acknowledgement. In it, there was no useful information. It contained receipt number, amount paid, date paid, and payment method. The summary was was a redundant information, i.e. payment to Decathlon Singapore Pte Ltd $220.00 amount paid $220.00. This amount had been repeated three times.

There was no confirmation of purchase information, e.g. bike model, size, colour, delivery date, time, or other useful reference.

I went back to the Android app. Under App Purchase and Orders, it stated Couldnt find what you were looking for? This purchase history only contains orders placed through Decathlon App. For orders placed through website, please check All Purchase and Orders (Fig. 1).

I followed its suggestion and selected All Purchase and Orders. This produced nothing (Fig. 2).

Now, the only thing that I have as proof of purchase and payment is the email confirmation (Fig. 3) and my credit card bill.

I have emailed Decathlon for support and advice. Hopefully they will respond to my email to confirm that the delivery date is as indicated during checkout. If there is no response in three days time, I will have to call the number. To be updated

We bought a smoke detector to increase our awareness of any risk of fire at home. This was important because in 2018 to 2019 there were several fire reported in HDB. Having two children motivated us to get one (including fire extinguisher).

We found several options from Gaincity, DIY shops, and Challenger. Challenger had one unit under promotion. It was $19.90 (UP $29.90). We bought this in 15 Feb 2019.

The unit uses a 9V battery. There was a test button, buzzer (speaker), and LED light. The sound was audible. The test button is recommended weekly, but doing the test fortnight is ok. We installed the smoke detector in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, the smoke detector failed on us after 1 year and 8 months (the fault could be earlier because we did not test the unit for many months). Replacing the battery did not help.

How does a smoke detector work? The unit emits light and this is detected by the light detector (within the optical module). The emitted light is detected continuously. If there is any interference, e.g. due to smoke, the unit will blare its buzzer and LED. This continues until the smoke is cleared or the battery runs flat.

Is it important to have a smoke detector? Yes. This is provided that the detector is reliable, else it is just a false sense of security. If I hadnt realized that the detector is faulty, I would still assume that my home is covered.