Solved Windows S Mode Computer Bought in Error

bobkn · Mar 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
I will just say this, any computer running windows S mode is junk. Pure garbage and should be returned.

The whole reason s mode exists is for windows to run on low powered hardware, and the reason store apps are locked to it is for performance reasons. S mode literally means, do not buy me. If the price is too good to be true, it is. It would not be such an issue if the windows store had some decent apps in it, but it usually does not. The other issue is storage like others mentioned. Windows updates kill it and leave nothing left.

Sorry you found out the hard way. To get anything remotely decent in the pc space for a brand new Windows laptop, you need to pay a minimum of about $400.

You can search google for best budget laptops, and from what I have found the Acer Aspire 5 is the best cheapest laptop you can get.

Also depending on what they use a computer for, a chromebook might be an excellent choice. If all they do is browse the web and write documents etc. (simple stuff) a chromebook is fantastic. For example this chromebook (which has updates through Jun 2031) is super cheap, and even though the price is super low, it is fantastic for me personally:

Cheap chromebook

Not all cheap chromebooks are bad, but pretty much all windows ones are.

That's not true of some Windows 11 S machines.

New,Windows 11 in S mode Laptops / Notebooks | Newegg.com

Shop New,Windows 11 in S mode Laptops / Notebooks on Newegg.com. Watch for amazing deals and get great pricing.

www.newegg.com

There are some pretty powerful laptops that come with 11 S by default.

One of the purposes of S is a foolproof machine. No software installs that aren't blessed by Microsoft.

Maybe I'd consider a Windows 11 S machine for a user with very limited technical understanding.

I recall seeing desktop machines advertised (Parade magazine) for elders. They were basically all-in-ones (desktop PCs based on laptop components), with a highly locked-down Linux distro. Overpriced. I never had the pleasure of trying to use one.

andrew129260 · Mar 18, 2024

bobkn said:
That's not true of some Windows 11 S machines.

New,Windows 11 in S mode Laptops / Notebooks | Newegg.com

Shop New,Windows 11 in S mode Laptops / Notebooks on Newegg.com. Watch for amazing deals and get great pricing.

www.newegg.com

There are some pretty powerful laptops that come with 11 S by default.

One of the purposes of S is a foolproof machine. No software installs that aren't blessed by Microsoft.

Maybe I'd consider a Windows 11 S machine for a user with very limited technical understanding.

I recall seeing desktop machines advertised (Parade magazine) for elders. They were basically all-in-ones (desktop PCs based on laptop components), with a highly locked-down Linux distro. Overpriced. I never had the pleasure of trying to use one.

I did not realize that nor ever thought to search for premium s mode machines. Good looking out. I have no idea why you would buy an expensive machine that is so gimped though. At least you can disable that, but the average user would have no clue how to do that, or even understand what S mode is.

All of the S mode machines I ever saw were very cheap devices.

Not sure why anyone would want to buy a windows machine in S mode. Especially because you can turn a normal windows install to be safer for the average user by going under settings > apps > advanced app settings > choose where to get apps. And just set it to microsoft store only.

The problem with that is there is not a lot of programs in the microsoft store. I feel most people buy a windows machine for the wide range of software it can run. It has gotten better over the years but it still isn't in a place where it needs to be. It needs a lot more app support and a smoother download and install process before I can take it seriously.

bobkn · Mar 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
(snip)

Not sure why anyone would want to buy a windows machine in S mode. Especially because you can turn a normal windows install to be safer for the average user by going under settings > apps > advanced app settings > choose where to get apps. And just set it to microsoft store only.

(snip)

I'd forgotten about that Apps setting.

Using an account with only User privileges is another safety measure I've never used.

Maybe I'm playing Russian Roulette, but, so far, I've gotten away with it. For nearly 30 years.

andrew129260 · Mar 18, 2024

bobkn said:
I'd forgotten about that Apps setting.

Using an account with only User privileges is another safety measure I've never used.

Maybe I'm playing Russian Roulette, but, so far, I've gotten away with it. For nearly 30 years.

yeah I set my mother in law to that microsoft store apps only setting and removed her admin ability. She kept falling for scams and kept getting infected. After doing that, and setting uac to always notify, she is now consistently clean. It's been nice. The best part is I simply toggle the setting if I have to install or update something.

Wisewiz · Mar 18, 2024

bobkn said:
Using an account with only User privileges is another safety measure I've never used.
Maybe I'm playing Russian Roulette, but, so far, I've gotten away with it. For nearly 30 years.

Me too; me too. Admin account only, and UAC completely OFF. Dangerous? Sure. Have I gotten any grief from this practice? None.

andrew129260 · Mar 18, 2024

Wisewiz said:
Me too; me too. Admin account only, and UAC completely OFF. Dangerous? Sure. Have I gotten any grief from this practice? None.

I use an admin account, but have UAC set to always notify. And I always run every installer through an analyzer or a windows sandbox/virtual machine to see how it behaves before I install it.

I am slowly trying to see if any of my apps can be found in the microsoft app store, as auto updating the apps would be nice

Winuser · Mar 18, 2024

bobkn said:
One of the purposes of S is a foolproof machine. No software installs that aren't blessed by Microsoft.

That's exactly why I think MS released the Windows S mode. MS wanted to release an OS that doesn't require the user to be computer literate. I look at it as Microsoft's version of K.I.S.S. . The OS can be upgraded for free if one doesn't need or want S mode.

andrew129260 · Mar 18, 2024

Winuser said:
That's exactly why I think MS released the Windows S mode. MS wanted to release an OS that doesn't require the user to be computer literate. I look at it as Microsoft's version of K.I.S.S. . The OS can be upgraded for free if one doesn't need or want S mode.

That's probably what they wanted, but in reality what happens is the user goes to download a program, something as simple as chrome or firefox, and get told they cant. Then they try to do anything else and are told they cant.

So they get mad and return it and get a mac or something else lol

I have seen threads on this forum before someone not understanding why they cant install stuff and it was because of S mode.

Winuser · Mar 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
That's probably what they wanted, but in reality what happens is the user goes to download a program, something as simple as chrome or firefox, and get told they cant. Then they try to do anything else and are told they cant.

So they know how to download and install programs but don't know how get the OS out of S Mode. That would also mean they probably don't know how to do an online search. I'm sure this happens but I would imaging it's a small percentage of users.

andrew129260 · Mar 18, 2024

Winuser said:
So they know how to download and install programs but don't know how get the OS out of S Mode. That would also mean they don't know how to do an online search. I'm sure this happens but I would imaging it's a small percentage of users.

I mean most average users would never of heard about S mode. If you search for computer/windows wont install programs (which is how someone would probably look it up) you don't get many good results. A thread where this happened was here.

You usually get one of these errors:

OR

None of them really explain anything and are not the expected behavior. And yes, plenty of people know how to download and install stuff. But a lot of them don't know how to use control panel or the new settings page, or even understand that the taskbar can be changed or customized. It happens a lot. The average user does not really know a fraction of what you can do with windows. I know a lot of people (from work) that can install programs but dont know how to turn on bluetooth in windows 11 or how to change their screen layout etc.

bobkn · Mar 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
That's probably what they wanted, but in reality what happens is the user goes to download a program, something as simple as chrome or firefox, and get told they cant. Then they try to do anything else and are told they cant.

So they get mad and return it and get a mac or something else lol

I have seen threads on this forum before someone not understanding why they cant install stuff and it was because of S mode.

That inspired me to check whether Chrome is available from the MS Store.

It isn't, but many others are. (Firefox is.)

I suspect that many low level users aren't supposed to have any idea what a Web browser is. I believe (without proof) that is the basis of why the "N" versions of Windows for the EU don't bundle MS Edge. Either the PC maker includes a browser, or the user has to choose one.

andrew129260 · Mar 18, 2024

bobkn said:
That inspired me to check whether Chrome is available from the MS Store.

It isn't, but many others are. (Firefox is.)

I suspect that many low level users aren't supposed to have any idea what a Web browser is. I believe (without proof) that is the basis of why the "N" versions of Windows for the EU don't bundle MS Edge. Either the PC maker includes a browser, or the user has to choose one.

its funny because firefox is, yet the thread starter stated:

Wynona said:
I proceeded to open edge so that I could download Firefox. Nothing I did would get me to Firefox. So, the next thing was to install from one of my external drives. Imagine my shock and surprise when I was told that this computer would not allow Firefox to be installed because it wasn't certified by Microsoft.

Which is the constant issues with S mode. It should have offered to get it from the store, and its supposed to, but it doesn't always work. If there was a tutorial for S mode telling everyone they need to get their apps from the microsoft store and showing them that, it would probably be a much better experience.

bobkn · Mar 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
its funny because firefox is, yet the thread starter stated:

Which is the constant issues with S mode. It should have offered to get it from the store, and its supposed to, but it doesn't always work. If there was a tutorial for S mode telling everyone they need to get their apps from the microsoft store and showing them that, it would probably be a much better experience.

I don't know, but I'd guess that was because the attempt was to download Firefox from the Net, rather than the MS Store.

That's a charlie foxtrot, all the same.

Wynona · Mar 18, 2024

pparks1 said:
Correct and maybe they don't have the money for it. I found it funny when they said...yep its going back to walmart....but that's more or less up to the person who owns it, not the person helping out.

Very true that it's up to the person who bought it but when I told her what she had she's as ticked off as I am. I ran into almost this exact thing several years ago. I don't remember the particulars but the basic was that it had a very small hard drive and could not be updated past 1 or 2 updates and it was an expensive paperweight.

It looks like they are recycling those same stupid computers which are nothing more than a glorified tablet.

She had already decided to take it back but then when I found out we could get it out of S mode we almost changed our minds Until I found out there was only 57.2 gigabytes of hard drive.

I've gotten plenty of good things from Walmart, so it's not like Walmart was out to cheat. At least I don't think so because I've always been happy with Walmart's return policy.

bobkn · Mar 18, 2024

Wynona said:
Very true that it's up to the person who bought it but when I told her what she had she's as ticked off as I am. I ran into almost this exact thing several years ago. I don't remember the particulars but the basic was that it had a very small hard drive and could not be updated past 1 or 2 updates and it was an expensive paperweight.

It looks like they are recycling those same stupid computers which are nothing more than a glorified tablet.

She had already decided to take it back but then when I found out we could get it out of S mode we almost changed our minds Until I found out there was only 57.2 gigabytes of hard drive.

I've gotten plenty of good things from Walmart, so it's not like Walmart was out to cheat. At least I don't think so because I've always been happy with Walmart's return policy.

Do you have any idea what she paid for it?

A "glorified tablet" should have been pretty cheap.

Just out of curiosity, I checked Costco. $300. https://www.costco.com/acer-aspire-...0---windows-11-s-mode.product.4000138614.html

Weakish, but it still has 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD.

pparks1 · Mar 18, 2024

Probably something like this, at $169.

Winuser · Mar 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
I mean most average users would never of heard about S mode. If you search for computer/windows wont install programs (which is how someone would probably look it up) you don't get many good results. A thread where this happened was here.

You usually get one of these errors:

View attachment 90690

OR

View attachment 90691

None of them really explain anything and are not the expected behavior. And yes, plenty of people know how to download and install stuff. But a lot of them don't know how to use control panel or the new settings page, or even understand that the taskbar can be changed or customized. It happens a lot. The average user does not really know a fraction of what you can do with windows. I know a lot of people (from work) that can install programs but dont know how to turn on bluetooth in windows 11 or how to change their screen layout etc.

This is good example of why MS decided to release a Windows S mode. I also see that MS explains not only why the program won't run but provides a link to explain how the user can get the program to run if they still want to use it.

cereberus · Mar 18, 2024

andrew129260 said:
yeah I set my mother in law to that microsoft store apps only setting and removed her admin ability. She kept falling for scams and kept getting infected. After doing that, and setting uac to always notify, she is now consistently clean. It's been nice. The best part is I simply toggle the setting if I have to install or update something.

The target audience for S versions is primarily school children to run basic apps including MS Office (at a cost of course).

However, it is a good fit for more scam vulnerable (especially old folk) whose basic needs are primarily light surfing and emails.

I had a relation who was so click happy and always got infected with malware.

His actual needs were modest so I created an S mode version, and since then no problems.

So if you only have minimal needs but want added security without any real understanding, S versions have their place.

Re. getting a 64GB emmc S device from Walmart, did OP not read the specs?

I actually have a travel laptop with only 32GB emmce drive but it is adequate to run MS 365, surf and email. So 64GB emmc would be a luxury.

Even on my main laptop, with lots of apps, I only use around 40 GB. With MS 365, I get 1 TB of onedrive storage space.

So why do I have a basic travel laptop - simply cost and if laptop does get stolen, no major financial lost.

So as for S modes, the cheap emmc devices have their place.

So people who say they are useless have not considered all aspects/usage of such devices.

Winuser · Mar 18, 2024

pparks1 said:
Probably something like this, at $169.

View attachment 90707

Seeing those specs, that might be what my wife's niece bought. The one she bought was either pink or purple. I don't remember for sure. If she still has it I might buy it from to experiment with light versions of Windows. @TechnoMage2021 has peaked my interest in experimenting with light version of Windows. I just haven felt like finding where I put my laptop. It's either in a closet, shed or my storage unit.

Winuser · Mar 18, 2024

cereberus said:
The target audience for S versions is primarily school children to run basic apps including MS Office (at a cost of course).

However, it is a good fit for more scam vulnerable (especially old folk) whose basic needs are primarily light surfing and emails.

I had a relation who was so click happy and always got infected with malware.

His actual needs were modest so I created an S mode version, and since then no problems.

So if you only have minimal needs but want added security without any real understanding, S versions have their place.

Very well said.