Fixed the issue: the language bar is missing in the task bar after the downgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 7

I bought my acer laptop 5 years ago. Before upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10, I would not install any software in this laptop from my testing experience. This is the best way to prevent any software incompatibility. If I have a lot of software installed, it takes a long time to finish the upgrade. That’s not what I want.

I downloaded the Media Creation Tool to install Windows 10. It was easy and fast. 

After the installation, I noticed the performance in acer laptop was really bad. When using Microsoft Edge to open Internet Explorer or using Chrome to search online, the laptop was in the heavy load, which caused DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION screen all the time. 

One day later, I decided to downgrade to Windows 7. It has “Go Back to Windows 7”  feature. After the downgrade, the performance is really FAST and one issue happened:

The language bar was missing in the taskbar even if my keyboard setup looked good in Regional and Language. I couldn't switch to Chinese language via Ctrl+ Space. Ctrl+ Space has been used for more than 10 years before Windows 8 was released. In Windows 10 & Windows 8, we need to use Win Key+ Space. I believe it is the downgrade bug. I finally found a way to make it work.

Go to the registry key : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Right Click to create a new String Value on the right side.

Enter the value:  ctfmon=CTFMON.EXE 

Reboot the laptop.  I can see the language bar in Windows 7 again

If you have the old laptop, upgrading to Windows 10 is not a good idea. 

Parasoft SOATest issue: Assertion tests still pass when the data returned is all blank in WCF response

Today I find one interesting issue in SOATest tool. Our developers have recently updated the namespaces in the data contracts that support “http”. For example,

Old: <ns1:Addresses xmlns:ns1=www.XXX.Com/member/06/01/2015

New: <ns1:Addresses xmlns:ns1="http://www.XXX.com/member/06/01/2015"

We have so many tests that it is not easy to tell which one has refreshed the WSDL in WCF methods. Our tests are using Value Assertion to validate the data elements in WCF response. After running all tests, all tests passed.

I noticed that in some tests, the data returned was all blank in WCF response. I could not believe that all assertion tests still passed.  That’s really surprising.

After updating WSDL again, the data returned can show all elements in WCF response. 

The appraisal tool called CoreLogic ValuePoint4 is not persuasive!

I applied the HELOC in BECU in June and finally noticed that BECU uses CoreLogic’s tool called ValuePoint4. After reviewing the report, I felt very surprised and disappointed.

The comparable sales section is totally not persuasive because all properties are from my neighbors. We bought the houses and moved in between last May and last Sep. We knew sales prices of the houses very well.

A lot of properties have been sold nearby in other communities in 3-6 months. I don’t see them in comparable sales section. What a surprise! This is very basic real estate knowledge. I can't believe CoreLogic does it this way

If the tool itself is not tested well and not persuasive, why give the appraisal report to customers? In my opinion, don’t waste the money to buy this appraisal tool- Core Logic ValuePoint4 .