If it ain't broke, please don't fix it.

For who knows what reason, which even the company can't explain, Lenovo has now changed the layout of the keyboard on some of its new Thinkpad laptops.

The F1-F12 Function keys now work very differently from the familiar function keys on other Thinkpads.

At least this is obvious from the keyboard labelling and easy to avoid by buying another manufacturer's laptop if you don't fancy relearning what had become second nature.

The fact that Windows PCs all continually need new software updates seems a pretty clear admission that Windows is a basically broken system.

If we want or need to use Windows, we are stuck with wasting time and twiddling thumbs while the download, install and reboot process grinds through.

But with a mobile broadband connection, especially abroad, downloading updates can cost a fortune in data charges.

So here's a tip I learnt the hard way. Before travelling, check that the software update settings on any portable PC or PDA or smart phone are set to manual, not automatic.

That way you can download all updates at home or in a hotel with Ethernet or wi-fi connection.

For who knows what reason, Microsoft changed the whole look and feel of Windows 7 to "make the things you do everyday faster and easier".

It's now impossible to buy a serious PC without Windows 7, so again we are stuck with it.

So here's another hard-learnt tip: test the search option before your business life depends on finding an old letter or document in a hurry.

With XP, it was possible do a "global" search, easily and automatically search through every document file stored on your PC, looking for keywords inside a document.

Say, for instance, you know you wrote a letter to the taxman about 'storeroom renovations' but cannot remember what name the document was saved under, or in which folder, or on which hard disk. XP just ferreted through all the PC's hard drives looking for any file containing the word 'storeroom'.

Windows 7 has a completely different search option, which promises to do the job even better and faster. But it doesn't.

I recently found that some old-format files are just ignored, even when all the search settings have been set to search the full content of all files.

User forums on the internet are now bursting with complaints.

Microsoft Support responded to my detailed description of the problem with a standard form email, apparently from India, telling me to check the forums.

My heartfelt advice is to take a few quiet minutes now, rather than later, to try a test search through old files looking for keywords you know are there. You may be surprised at what you don't find.

The only solution I have so far found is to keep an old PC running XP to do global searches for vital documents I know are there, but that wonderful Windows 7 can't find.

That's progress?

Barry Fox