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UK rail lines blocked by unexpected Windows dialog box (MS-Office uninstall nukes display)
The Register ^ | Nov 8, 2018 | Richard Speed

Posted on 11/08/2018 9:09:54 PM PST by dayglored

It looks like you're trying to run a rail service. Do you want some help with that?

Office 365 dialog on line information screen

The train now arriving on platform 14 is... Office? (pic: Rob Dyke)

Window admins rejoice! It isn’t just you that can’t get Office 2010 to uninstall silently. The mighty brains behind the UK railways have had just as much trouble.

As well as the usual passenger information boards, detailing the day's cancellations and delays, London’s Victoria train station also features displays on every platform showing the state of the lines around the building.

Station staff, taking a break from stopping passengers boarding trains due to inexplicable ticket restrictions, can use the screens to get a handle on what is happening outside the terminus.

Except when an Office 365 upgrade is being deployed.

Yup. Right about now would be perfect. I wasn't looking at that LIVE TRAIN SIGNALLING INFORMATION... #fail #silentuninstall pic.twitter.com/xgiFlsvizV — Rob Dyke (@robdykedotcom) November 2, 2018

Twitter user Rob D noted all the screens last week were requesting permission to go ahead and remove Microsoft Office 2010 with a dialog box obscuring some minor information like, er, the lines from platforms 13 to 19. Regular users of Victoria will know that those serve trains heading to, among others, Gatwick Airport.

Why a copy of Office is needed on a PC tasked with showing line information is anyone’s guess (and two Internet Explorer icons indicates there is double the fun to be had). We asked the UK’s rail operator, Network Rail, if they were having some IT difficulties but have, alas, yet to receive a response.

Rail users who enjoyed spending an expected early morning hour on station platforms earlier this week due to overrunning engineering works can take comfort that perhaps it wasn’t simply down to bad time management. Maybe no one had managed to click "OK" to get Excel to install. ®


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Hobbies
KEYWORDS: microsoft; office; windows; windowspinglist
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Ummm, oopsie!
1 posted on 11/08/2018 9:09:54 PM PST by dayglored
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To: Abby4116; afraidfortherepublic; aft_lizard; AF_Blue; amigatec; AppyPappy; arnoldc1; ATOMIC_PUNK; ...
Windows as a service, sort of ... PING!

You can find all the Windows Ping list threads with FR search: just search on keyword "windowspinglist".

2 posted on 11/08/2018 9:10:47 PM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
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To: dayglored
It's been a while since we poked fun at Windows for its propensity for inappropriate messaging dialogs. This one is pretty funny, although tame compared to the occasional 30-foot-wide BSODs on downtown advertising displays.
3 posted on 11/08/2018 9:13:08 PM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
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To: dayglored

I found one on the display for a gas pump in town over the summer...


4 posted on 11/08/2018 9:19:54 PM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: dayglored

LOL!! Sent the link to my oldest son. He used to be a Conrail dispatcher.


5 posted on 11/08/2018 9:25:18 PM PST by mass55th (Courage is being scared to death - but saddling up anyway...John Wayne)
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To: dayglored

Windows has always been perfect for me, in all versions.

/s


6 posted on 11/08/2018 9:35:36 PM PST by Trump_the_Evil_Left (FReeper formerly known as Enchante (registered Sept. 5, 2001), back from the wild....)
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To: dayglored; Chode; Squantos; Lockbox; OldMissileer; Army Air Corps
You have reached the end of the Internet and Broken IT (That’s I.T.) and now You must Relo...

SYSTEM HAS AN UNRECOVERABLE FAT ON: HDD001,002,003,004.

Now is a good time for You to have Tea, Crumpets and Orange Marmalade.

7 posted on 11/09/2018 1:14:38 AM PST by mabarker1 (Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!!)
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To: dayglored

Pray that our Minuteman missiles are not controlled by computers running Windows 10. Would not appreciate a nuke war started by MS forced updates.

(Shirley our more modern missiles and nukes are not on win-doze)

/s


8 posted on 11/09/2018 1:51:15 AM PST by RebelTex
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To: dayglored; 100American; al baby; Albion Wilde; Allegra; BufordP; EveningStar; Gefn; GunsareOK; ...

BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!

A fun addition to the morning news, amidst all the reports of cheatin’ Democrats.

DANG!


9 posted on 11/09/2018 2:37:33 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks ( The US Constitution ....... Invented by geniuses and God .... Administered by morons ......)
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To: RebelTex

Yah, I picked a bad time to stop smokin’ crack.


10 posted on 11/09/2018 2:38:49 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks ( The US Constitution ....... Invented by geniuses and God .... Administered by morons ......)
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To: dayglored

I feel bad for the IT guy who did the task deployment. He’s got to be catching all kinds of flak.


11 posted on 11/09/2018 3:05:31 AM PST by Hazwaste (Democrats are like slinkies. Only good for pushing down stairs.)
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To: mabarker1

Win-10 update, right?


12 posted on 11/09/2018 4:13:56 AM PST by Chode ( WeÂ’re America, Bitch!)
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To: dayglored

Someone that did software that controlled the routing of London buses said a bug once caused all buses to converge on the train station. Caused a huge jam-up.


13 posted on 11/09/2018 4:44:21 AM PST by cymbeline
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To: grey_whiskers

Having had a 35 year IT Career and being a part of innovation and worked with some bright people that created some things you use every day, I am so disappointed in Windows as it set the expectation with users that problems and crashes are expected and normal. Back in our day we made things dependable.


14 posted on 11/09/2018 5:12:11 AM PST by Jimmy The Snake
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To: Chode

I have no idea.


15 posted on 11/09/2018 6:23:26 AM PST by mabarker1 (Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!!)
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To: dayglored

My shop decided to “upgrade” everything from Office 2010 Standard to Office 2010 Pro Plus. Mind you, they’re hard into the migration process to Win-10 but due to so many software incompatibility issues that ain’t going so well.

So they scripted a deployment of Pro Plus - and managed to break 30% of existing installs in the process. Workers are left with email clients that won’t connect, missing programs, or the entire Office suite gone.

It’s been a laff riot.


16 posted on 11/09/2018 6:56:51 AM PST by rockrr ( Everything is different now...)
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To: dayglored

As an IT person I’ve had this happen when sending out a mass install/uninstall in which I thought was silent... because I tested it 10 times previously.


17 posted on 11/09/2018 8:39:46 AM PST by miliantnutcase
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To: cymbeline
> Someone that did software that controlled the routing of London buses said a bug once caused all buses to converge on the train station. Caused a huge jam-up.

Awesome! /s

One almost might think it wasn't actually a bug...

18 posted on 11/09/2018 9:31:38 AM PST by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
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To: dayglored

WAAD - Windows As A Disservice


19 posted on 11/09/2018 2:08:02 PM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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To: RebelTex

Would you like....to play...a game?


20 posted on 11/09/2018 2:09:50 PM PST by Still Thinking (Freedom is NOT a loophole!)
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