Windows 10 upgrade

[stuart]

Has anyone had the notification of the FREE Windows 10 upgrade for Windows 7 or 8 users?

I have noticed a small Windows icon appeared on the taskbar... if you click it you register to get the upgrade... Worth it for free is suppose... Seems a couple of things on my laptop may not be compatible but bot seems to be what came with my computer and I never use them.

[mckee25]

Yep sure have.... I think most users of a genuine copy of Windows 7 or 8 will get this offer, there was chat when Windows 10 beta version was first released that it would be given away free... Nice to see the start button back!


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk Pro

[Guest 2]

i'll give it a go, if i don't like it i'll just reinstall 7. the preview pics look pretty good though, a vast improvement over the much hated '8'!

[Speedy624]

I'm not a Windows user but would recommend you guys waiting approx 2 months or so after its release to upgrade. No doubt Windows will drop a number of updates once it is released.

[johnca]

I have windows 7 and sticking with it because anything new comes with problems so it will take a good year before i have it.

[stuart]

Bit of an old thread of mine, but as today was the last day to install and get activation of Windows 10 for free, I have taken the plunge and updated my Windows 7 laptop...

First impressions are... I like it! :)

Took around 90 mins to upgrade, and everything seems to work OK except for 2 items...

1. The bluetooth set up on the laptop came up as incompatible once the upgrade was completed, but Windows installed its own drive and that still works...

2. When new the laptop came with, what I have found to be a very useful piece of software, Stardock fences... I would never use this, but you may be aware that Windows 7 had a habit of re-arranging the desktop icons for no reason.. Windows 10 is reported to do the same... Stardock Fences allows you, amongst other things to take a "snapshot" of the desktop, and with a couple of clicks you can put it all back how you like it...

v1 was not compatible with Windows 10, and actually locked the desktop so you could not move the icons at all :) .. Simple update using the 30 day trial of v3 (which I have now licensed) fixed that, but the update to v3 is only $9.99 so that is a cheap fix.

Only negative so far, boot up seems a little longer, but again this is a reported issue..

So, my 5 year old HP laptop seems OK with Windows 10 ... Happy so far.... Seems a little faster once booted..
Stuart

[stuart]

OK, been using Windows 10 for a couple of day's now, and I must say I like it... Don't think I will be reverting to Windows 7 :)

Seems a lot quicker and smoother than Windows 7... I did think the boot up time was a little slower but for some reason that seems OK now :)

Recommended upgrade for me so far. :)

[fest0r]

Windows 8/10 Shutdown is more of a hibernation/hybrid sleep than a proper shutdown and is much quicker than a Restart that’s needed after an update or installation. Restart is a full reboot which closes all kernel sessions and performs a proper cold boot. It’s worth doing a restart once a week to fix glitches, complete pending updates or if you lose connection to a network device like a wireless printer etc.

I would recommend going to Start > Settings > Privacy and disable everything. Also change Feedback to “Never” and turn off all background apps to get a further speed boost.

BTW, be prepared for a major update on Tuesday that will unfortunately stop people disabling Cortana… expect a third party fix for this about 20min after MS release the update :biglaugh:

[Guest 2]

ended up not installing it, i like W7 too much!

[stuart]

Windows 8/10 Shutdown is more of a hibernation/hybrid sleep than a proper shutdown and is much quicker than a Restart that’s needed after an update or installation. Restart is a full reboot which closes all kernel sessions and performs a proper cold boot. It’s worth doing a restart once a week to fix glitches, complete pending updates or if you lose connection to a network device like a wireless printer etc.

I would recommend going to Start > Settings > Privacy and disable everything. Also change Feedback to “Never” and turn off all background apps to get a further speed boost.

BTW, be prepared for a major update on Tuesday that will unfortunately stop people disabling Cortana… expect a third party fix for this about 20min after MS release the update :biglaugh:

I know Windows 10 is supposed to tell Microsoft everything, including when you go to make a coffee...Lol But I must say I do like it...

I have read about the "fast boot" that it uses and if you need to enter the bios/setup options you need to shut down in a certain way.. Look forward to the update now... :)


ended up not installing it, i like W7 too much!

I thought that, the icon and pop up has been bugging me for 12 months, then on the last day I thought sod it ... why not... and I must admit I am glad I did, I really do like it so far..

[Guest 2]

I thought that, the icon and pop up has been bugging me for 12 months, then on the last day I thought sod it ... why not... and I must admit I am glad I did, I really do like it so far..

I found a handy little tool called GWX Control Panel which disables and blocks the W10 prompts and installation files, suppose I don't need it now that the free upgrades have stopped.

[fest0r]

IMHO Windows 10 is a very, very good operating system. Secure, robust and unlike 8 it works well on all types of devices. It’s also much lighter on hardware than 7 and Vista so it’s fast. I don’t really mind about the telemetry as Apple and Google do the same and have done for years.

The only drawback is “Windows as a service” without an update opt out means you’re left at the mercy of Microsoft. You can defer non critical updates for a few months, but you will eventually have to toe the line. You will be forced to take Windows 10.5 in a few days and what otherwise would have been Windows 11 in a few years.

Let’s just hope the next versions are as good :aargh4:

[stuart]

I think everything we use no knows were we are, look at any mobile phone....

I did notice that you can't turn off windows update, but that does not really bother me as long as the updates all work, for instance if I install service pack 2 on my old Vista desktop, Windows update stops working until I remove it....

[fest0r]

Well Microsoft are still are still offering the free upgrade to anyone using assistive technologies. It’s exactly the same version and no checks are made at any point ;)


Windows 10 upgrade for assistive technology users (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/accessibility/windows10upgrade)

[SammoVWT]

I will never use windows 10. Windows 7 works just fine. I don't like being spied on, nor this tabletised PC nonsense.. Not that I have anything to hide - plus it will mess up all my work tools on my PC. That old saying springs to mind, beware of microsoft bearing gifts.

[stuart]

Lets face it, everything these days tells people what we do, what we buy, were we are... Mobile phones, supermarket cars, fuel points, they all have one hidden purpose ... to spy on us ;)

[fest0r]

I will never use windows 10. Windows 7 works just fine. I don't like being spied on, nor this tabletised PC nonsense.. Not that I have anything to hide - plus it will mess up all my work tools on my PC. That old saying springs to mind, beware of microsoft bearing gifts.

Do you use a mainstream browser such as IE or Chrome? Do you have an email account with gmail, yahoo or Microsoft (live, outlook, msn, hotmail)? Do you run AVG? Have you been allowing Microsoft updates over the past 18 months on Windows 7? Do you use a UK based broadband provider?

You are already being spied on ;)

If you want to properly opt-out then take a look at Linux Tails or Kali and a decent VPN such as PIA or if you don’t minds the lack of speed switch to a Tor network browser.

BTW, don’t let the shortcomings of Windows 8 put you off 10. It works very well on conventional desktops/laptops and touchscreen devices.

[bigfub]

Eldest came to me on Saturday (30th) and asked about upgrading to Windows 10... Nearly 20 and no common sense at all :p
I'll have a look at that assistive option though if he's still interested ;)

[SammoVWT]

Do you use a mainstream browser such as IE or Chrome? Do you have an email account with gmail, yahoo or Microsoft (live, outlook, msn, hotmail)? Do you run AVG? Have you been allowing Microsoft updates over the past 18 months on Windows 7? Do you use a UK based broadband provider?

You are already being spied on ;)

If you want to properly opt-out then take a look at Linux Tails or Kali and a decent VPN such as PIA or if you don’t minds the lack of speed switch to a Tor network browser.

BTW, don’t let the shortcomings of Windows 8 put you off 10. It works very well on conventional desktops/laptops and touchscreen devices.

I limit what I have on my PC, I have various firewalls - use firefox, VPN's for work. I don't mind the ads although I block most of those too, cookies and such also - also manually install my windows updates and drivers. But windows 10 is as creepy as the new xbox spying on you with the camera.

Windows 8 and windows 10 are far too heavy, dont let the illusion of SSD's fool you. (I still weep over the loss of XP!) - they remove most forms of user control. Hide everything behind idiot panels, being in a tech job I find it a great annoyance. Say I'm coding some firmware interface etc, not great for development work.

Keep it simple, keep it windows. None of this apple-dows nonsense.

I would use linux, but most of what I work with wont work, or is too much hassle to get to work. If I was web developing I would consider it.

[fest0r]

Windows 8 and windows 10 are far too heavy, dont let the illusion of SSD's fool you..

Not sure what you mean by this? I can assure you they are both lighter on identical hardware than 7 (10 more so than 8) regardless of storage drive used. It’s demonstrated with various synthetic benchmarks and real world application/encoding tests. Apart from the smaller idle and Explorer RAM footprint, the lightweight GUI also makes it “feel” faster too. With the uptake of DirectX12 and further Win10 specific optimisations the gap will only widen too.

Although I agree the UWP introduced a split personality it’s actually heading in a good direction with Project Centennial (Desktop App Converter). More of a Linux based config file approach instead of central registry. 10 runs very happily in desktop mode though.

I’m not an MS apologist, I just don’t think they are any worse than any other of the large platforms. They are just being pulled kicking and screaming into a Google business model. With recent legal wins against the US government and shifting of Azure datacentres outside of US territories I’m no more worried about what they are doing with my data than any other company. In fact, I would be far more worried about running a Facebook account than running Windows 10.


But windows 10 is as creepy as the new xbox spying on you with the camera.

I wouldn’t have any device in my house/workplace with an uncovered camera. We are on the brink of an IoT security nightmare. LG and Samsung TV’s, Google Nest and most worryingly of all, baby monitors and home security cameras have been collecting data and/or been breached recently. If you sideload apps or even grab brand new stuff from official app stores before they have been properly vetted then your mobile might be comprised already.

If you haven’t done it already then perform the following to disable telemetry in Windows 7 ;)

Remove the following updates if installed:

KB3068708
KB3022345
KB2952664
KB2990214
KB3035583
KB971033
KB3021917
KB3044374

*cmd:

sc stop Diagtrack
sc delete Diagtrack

*Task Scheduler Library:

Everything under "Application Experience"
Everything under "Autochk"
Everything under "Customer Experience Improvement Program"
Under "Disk Diagnostic" only the "Microsoft-Windows-DiskDiagnosticDataCollector"
Under "Maintenance" "WinSAT"
"Media Center" and click the "status" column, then select all non-disabled entries and disable them.

*services.msc:

"Remote Registry" to "Disabled" instead of "Manual".

[Whippy53]

Tunnel Bear helps.

[stuart]

Well, a week later and I still quite like Windows 10... I have had a couple of issues which I think I have fixed, or should I say HOPE I have fixed... One being if the computer is put to sleep and the laptop lid closed when it is woke up again it wakes to a black screen.. have to turn off/restart to fix..

This seems to be a known issue for some, so I have disabled the "faster startup" as suggested, and so far, and I do say "so far" it seems OK... plus the computer now shuts down and restarts fully, so maybe that is better for my 5 year old laptop... I also ran a couple of file cleaners so maybe that helped by removing some rubbish... :)

Will see how it goes, but on the whole "so far-so good" for me :)

[stuart]

Spoke too soon... left on sleep mode again today for a couple of hours, opened lid, black screen... Did the same yesterday and it worked perfect... very odd...

This is a known issue doing a search, I have now disabled hibernate as suggested in one post...

[stuart]

OK, So I really like Windows 10, but it has caused a few silly issues with my HP laptop which was 5 years old... The main issue was a black screen when the laptop was woken from sleep mode by opening the lid. I tried all solutions but non seemed to fix it... The last 2 days I actually had to use system restore to get it working..

It seems that although upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 may work in a lot of cases, I think older laptops like mine may have issues... This morning I tried to revert back to Windows 7 and that screwed up completely so a full restore is in order...

Yesterday I went out and purchased a new HP laptop already installed with Windows 10, and that seems OK

Reading the internet almost all issues I can find seem to be with machines UPGRADED so I have a feeling that is the issue..

I may try a clean install on my other laptop to see if that improves things, it is only going to be used to replace my very old desktop so I can try things :)

[Brownpants]

A lot of folks I've talked to found they got massive performance improvements after a clean install as well as bug fixes. Worth doing

[RedGum]

Yeh - I always clean install. It's good for the soul. :-)