How to Disable Windows 8 Left Sweep--even on Asus!

I have slowly gotten used to Windows 8, and appreciate it's advantages--though I hate that it was forced upon me. I installed a program to emulate the Start button, but I eventually found I can do all I did with Windows 7 by just patiently rearranging Windows 8. But some things are still annoying.

I hate it when I brush I move from the left of the touchpad and it takes me into a previous screen! I disabled the left charm sweep, but it still did it because Asus touchpad drivers also do it. I think Asus is determined to make Assus of us all. I disabled Asus,and everything else. I've disabled so much that Starbucks gave me a Disabled PC pass.  And it worked, but then the left sweep started up again after a few weeks, though I've disabled everything possible and some things that are not possible.

But I've finally solved it. In the Asus program, I enable the left sweep, save it, and then again disable the left sweep--and it will work for a few days or weeks. But now that I know to do that, it is the work of a few seconds to resolve it.

Here are the steps to disable the left sweep, starting with windows.

Disable Left  Sweep in Windows 8
1. Open the Charms bar on the right (Sweep from right edge of screen or touchpad to the left and you will be, according to Microsoft, Charmed--though I don't find it charming at all).
2. Click on Settings on the bottom right

3. Click on Change PC Settings on the very bottom right

4. Click on PC and Devices on the upper left
5. Click on Corners and Edges (getting close now!)
6. On the right, under App Switching, turn OFF the line (3rd down) for "When I sweep in from the left edge..."

That should solve it--unless you have Asus...

Disable Left Sweep on Asus notebooks
1. Move cursor to Taskbar on lower right, double-click the gray square icon for Asus SmartGesture.
2.Tap the Edge Gesture tab on the top, second from the left.
3. Unclick whichever you don't want (I unclicked all of them, because Windows Charms still work on my touchscreen even with Asus non-so-SmartGesture disabled).
4. Click Apply at the bottom right.
5. Exit! Voila--left sweep is disabled--for a few days or weeks at least. But if it happens again, at least now you know it only takes a few seconds to fix it.

If it recurs--go back into Asus not-so-SmartGesture, enable the left sweep, click Apply, and then disable it and again click Apply. Yeah, I know. Weird--but it works (at least on mine).

I hope it works, and that Asus doesn't think of more ways to make Assus of us.

Enjoy Amoy!

Bill Brown 
Prof., Xiamen University MBA Center

P.S. Learn more about our adopted home of Amoy, China, from these 2 eBooks on Amazon:

"Discover Xiamen"(only 2.99)

"Fujian Adventure" (only 1.99)

Android cannot open Google Play

 Greetings from Amoy! (Xiamen, China),

Today I faced, for the umpteenth time, the error message when trying to access Google Play from Android,  Authentication is required. You need to sign into you Google Account. But I could not sign in, even though I was signed in to Google on Mozilla. The answer turned out to be part of another problem--both easily solved. So I simply copy below the other post. I've faced this same issue 6 times over the years--with Android, PC and iPhone, and the solution is so simple that I overlook it each time and waste hours. I've no idea how it happens in the first place, but hopefully in future both you and I will think of simply checking the date (including year).

 When connecting to the internet on Android, Mozilla Firefox said "This connection is untrusted." I knew there was no problem with the connection, so I clicked, "I understand the risks," and then "Add a permanent exception."  I was then able to go onto websites, but I had to keep adding exceptions--and Android Gmail absolutely refused to work, though I could check Gmail with Firefox.

Worse--I could not get into Google Play. It kept saying "No Connection" and "Unfortunately, Google Play Services Has Stopped." And als, Authentication is required. You need to sign into you Google Account.

I finally found that, somehow, my date had changed to the year 2019. No idea how, as I'd not changed any settings. I changed it back to 2014, rebooted--and everything works perfectly now.

There may be other reasons for your problem, but after having done this, I remembered I had faced the same issue twice before on Android and twice on my PC (and once on an iPhone). So when stuck, go the easy route first. In this case, clear the apps caches and reboot, but if that doesn't work, confirm you have the right date (including the right year!). If that doesn't work, remove and reinstall your Google account. And if that doesn't work....

Well...so far, I've not encountered a situation where none of those work, and I take care of, all total, about 11 devices.

Warm regards from Amoy, China!

Dr. Bill

P.S. Learn more about our adopted home of Amoy, China, from these 2 eBooks on Amazon:

"Discover Xiamen" 

"Fujian Adventure"

ill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

Solved Android: This connection is untrusted

Greetings from Amoy! (Xiamen, China),

Today I faced an unusual problem, and after an hour of trying everything under the sun, I finally remembered I'd faced the same problem a couple years ago on Android, as well as my PC--and the solution (at least this time) was so simple. Of course, there are many possible causes, but should you find yourself with this message, on Android, iPhone or PC, try this simple fix (no idea how it gets messed up in the first place).

 When connecting to the internet on Android, Mozilla Firefox said "This connection is untrusted." I knew there was no problem with the connection, so I clicked, "I understand the risks," and then "Add a permanent exception."  I was then able to go onto websites, but I had to keep adding exceptions--and Android Gmail absolutely refused to work, though I could check Gmail with Firefox.

Worse--I could not get into Google Play. It kept saying "No Connection" and "Unfortunately, Google Play Services Has Stopped."

I finally found that, somehow, my date had changed to the year 2019. No idea how, as I'd not changed any settings. I changed it back to 2014, rebooted--and everything works perfectly now.

There may be other reasons for your problem, but after having done this, I remembered I had faced the same issue twice before on Android and twice on my PC (and once on an iPhone). So when stuck, go the easy route first. In this case, clear the apps caches and reboot, but if that doesn't work, confirm you have the right date (including the right year!). If that doesn't work, remove and reinstall your Google account. And if that doesn't work....

Well...so far, I've not encountered a situation where none of those work, and I take care of, all total, about 11 devices.

Warm regards from Amoy, China!

Dr. Bill

P.S. Learn more about our adopted home of Amoy, China, from these 2 eBooks on Amazon:

"Discover Xiamen" 

"Fujian Adventure"

Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

Wifi keeps disconnecting Solved! (at long last).

Hi from Amoy! (Xiamen, China)

After getting used to its quirky pad, I've come to love my Asus laptop, but for almost a year I've been frustrated because, unlike my other devices, the wifi keeps shutting off, sometimes every few minutes, for no reason. Turns out the problem was not the internet or router or even Asus, but Microsoft.

I'd have to disconnect and reconnect 3 or 4 times just to get an email out, and I first suspected it was the Great Wall of China playing games with me, but I ruled that out because our Toshiba and Lenovo laptops had no problem, nor did our phones and tablets. I finally found the problem was that Microsoft was every few minutes, by default, cutting power to the wireless adapter  to save power--even when I was actively surfing online!

Sounds like nice green thinking--but kind of ridiculous to shut off the wifi 4 or 5 times in 10 minutes when I'm actually online using the thing.  So here's how to fix it (and I've had no problems since doing these 6 very simple steps).

1. Open Device Manager. There are several ways:
    A. You can move the cursor to the very low left corner and when the Windows symbol appears, right click it, and then left click on Device Manager (6 from the top). 
   OR...
    B. You can hold down the Windows key and at the same time press "r", typedevmgmt.msc and left click on OK.
2. Left Click on Network Adapters
3. Right Click on Wireless Network Adapter.
4. Left Click on Properties (at the bottom).
5. Left Click on Power Management tab at the top (probably far right).
6. Uncheck the tiny square to the left of Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

Problem Solved!

Again--I'm all for saving power, but come on, Microsoft! Cutting off the wifi connector every 1 or 2 minutes when I'm actively on the internet? If anyone at Microsoft ever uses the internet, I hope they figure this out that this should, by default, be OFF, not ON.

I hope it works for you. Happy surfing from Amoy!

Dr. Bill
Want to learn more about our great little China island and province? Check out my 2 eBooks on Amazon:

"Discover Xiamen"  

"Fujian Adventure"
Xiamen University
www.amoymagic.com

Createspace won't upload (Please check your internet connection) SOLVED!

Ahoy from Amoy! (Xiamen)

I finally have typeset a Print-on-Demand version of "Discover Xiamen" for Amazon (I'm still working on Fujian Adventure) but I could not upload the createspace interior file! (the file with the book's content). Every time, for 3 days, I got "Please check your internet connection and try again. We highly recommend using a high-speed broadband internet connection."

Well--I was using high speed broadband. I was on a trip to the U.S., and using Comcast. Though I think they're billing dept. should be called Con-cast, the internet speed was blazing fast on all other sites. I downloaded a 2 Gb file in only a few minutes! I tried everything for 3 days--PDF, DOC, DOCX. I tried checking the files for errors. Nothing worked. I read other people's ideas. Most people thought it was a trick by Createspace to get them to pay the minimum $199 for professional services. Turns out the solution was simple--at least in my case.

I finally gave in and clicked the button to contact CreateSpace by phone. They called back within seconds, and a very professional man worked me through every step (remember to have your CreateSpace account number handy--not your ID and password). But I had already cleared the cache, cleared cookies, restarted Mozilla Firefox (which he said was best)--I even rebooted the computer. Finally, he suggested I try using Chrome to upload. I don't have Chrome, but I tried Internet Explorer (always a last resort for me)--and it worked like a charm, uploading the 12 MB file in just one minute.

Three days I tried to get this to work. And now I need to go through the entire file again because too many of the photos were not high enough resolution. CreateSpace automatically checks everything in the file--but a good thing; I see clearly the issues they raised. I just wished I'd have known these issues days earlier.

I suggested that since CreateSpace reps themselves recommend using Mozilla Firefox, they should also warn users that, as of now, it does not work!

Enjoy Amoy!

Bill

Bill's 2 eBooks on Amazon:

"Discover Xiamen" 

"Fujian Adventure"
Bill Brown Xiamen University www.amoymagic.com

SOLVED! [Android] Skype cannot be signed in at this time. Please check your mobile network settings

Skype works so well on Android that I have taken it for granted--until it suddenly began giving me the message, "You cannot be signed in at this time. Please check your mobile network settings."

I was using T-mobile (during a trip home), and tried everything. The phone had 2 bars (as good as  ever get with T-immobile) and had no problem getting on the internet or checking email. I could get into my Skype account on another Samsung Galaxy Note phone and on my PC, so it wasn't my Skype account's problem. I rebooted my Samsung Galaxy Note but that didn't help. I cleared the Skype program's Cache and Data files and rebooted. Still nothing.

Finally, I discovered on Google Play that there was a newer version of Skype, which I promptly downloaded. Problem solved!   As it turns out, the phone had installed an Android update, which was not compatible with the older version of Skype.

So if you find you cannot connect to Skype, try these steps:
1. Make sure your phone can connect to the internet (Yes, that is a no-brainer, but I've had the internet go down before and not realize that was the problem, especially in China, where I spend most of my time.
2. Clear Skype's cache and data files (Click Settings, click Applications, click Skype, click Clear Data, click Clear Cache) and reboot.
3. If the above fails, go to Google Play to insure you have the latest Skype version.


Happy Skyping!

Dr  Bill Brown

Bill's 2 eBooks on Amazon:

"Discover Xiamen" 

"Fujian Adventure"