What the #$@# is an ASP.NET?

Last night my computer suddenly went bonkers on me, and reverted itself back to the tiled desktop of Windows 8.1.

My computer updated on March 13, so I assume it had something to do with the update, but I'm not sure.

At any rate, I realized my computer was showing a new account called ASP.NET machine account. Ever heard of that?

Me neither.

Apparently this is some kind of developer thing that has shown up as a problem for folks since Windows XP. Yep, that far back, and apparently Windows still has issues with it.

Really, Microsoft?

This is what Microsoft says about it: "ASP.NET Machine Account is created when the 1.1 is installed onto a Windows machine."

I don't know what the 1.1 is, nor do I know how to install it or uninstall it. I don't even know what that sentence means.

After snooping around and looking at various responses to other concerns about this issue, I decided first to try removing the account in my settings. That didn't help.

I rebooted a couple of times. That didn't help either.

The instructions to fix this issue talks about going into the REGSTRY to make changes. I am not big on doing that, though I have.

One thing I do that many people do not do is I set a restore point every time Microsoft tells me it is going to update my computer. I learn that the update is on its way either by a message from Microsoft that says "Hi, we have an update for you that will take place at such-and-such a time" or by noticing when I go to shut down my computer that it says "Update and shut down." There is no option not to accept an update from Microsoft anymore.

What I do when an update is imminent is this: I go into the control panel and create a restore point. You can figure out how to do this by typing "create restore point" in Cortana if you're using Windows 10. It is easier on older operating systems like Windows 7. I honestly don't know if all Windows 10 users can create a restore point or if I can do it because I upgraded from Windows 8.1.

Anyway, since I had a restore point from March 13, I simply went back to that to restore the system, and when it finished sometime around 2 a.m. this morning (when I woke up and checked), things looked normal. I shut the computer down and when I woke the first thing I did was double check my backups on documents and photos.

This thing of downloading updates just to update is getting old. I have made peace with Windows 10 after its second or third upgrade made it more stable, but it remains a source of aggravation. I don't need development codes or things to code or whatever. I just use software on the computer like most people and do my writing on it. This kind of update should be optional for us normal folks who don't care to be developmental IT engineers.