I know I've looked at Task Manager before but this time I found the Outlook line and ended the task and the problem is solved for now. The fact that I never use Outlook but it had turned itself on is troubling.

Now for the really odd event this week: The old HP desktop came back to life.

I have a newer (2019) desktop Dell that I bought because my 2010 quad core HP (also Win10, upgraded from 7) had stopped communicating with the outside world in 2019. I found the place in the code that the problem was happening and was able to fix it twice, but the third time it refused. I think I may have the only extant working copy of Windows Movie Maker in there. I have some of the last versions of Adobe and a couple of other programs in there that were loaded from disk, so to reinstall Windows and erase the existing software wasn't an option, since I don't have those disks here (it had to do with workplace use, installed at home and work).

I have older versions of that software on the new computer (disks I do own) but I go to the old computer for the more robust work and then use a transfer cable to move the results to the new computer. I'm trying to avoid the expensive monthly subscription that Adobe has now. There is no way to buy any software and install from disks.

This week I figured out the problem I was having with a mouse on the Dell and replaced it with a high-end version and it works better but also has a feature to work on two computers. It's bluetooth on the Dell, I would use the WiFi dongle that came with it for the old computer. Except the old computer OS hasn't been updated since 2019 so Logitech refused to operate there. Through a series of tedious steps I used the Windows Update calendar for my WinPro 1803 release and managed one update, but finally found a way to load the update to the newer 22H2 onto a thumb drive (goodbye everything else that was on that drive) and update the HP without it being online.

Then I got to wondering, did that update fix other things? - so I plugged in a line from the router and it now talks to the Internet. Six years later a lot is out of date, and I don't really want this on the Internet, but I updated a few things. It's old enough that it will never have another OS and I want that software more than the new OS (that's why the new computer to begin with) but it would be nice to move things between the two a little more smoothly than the transfer cable. The mouse has a feature to move data, and I'm looking into that. I think a Wireless adapter that plugs into USB (versus a card installed inside) will work and I can plug it in when I want to communicate on my network.

How's that for a weird week at the literal end of the Windows 10 world? I have a 12-year-old laptop with the same issues - newer software, can't be updated to Win11. Now that the old desktop is working the laptop is less necessary as the backup machine. This world of obsolete software and technology always gives you something to think about.