Still undecided about Win10? Here’s what to consider, how to reserve the free upgrade, if you want it

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Some no-bull advice about the upgrade, along with a few safe ways to reserve your “free” version. InfoWorld Woody on Windows
[See the full post at: Still undecided about Win10? Here’s what to consider, how to reserve the free upgrade, if you want it]

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Oh Woody! Thank you so much! I’ve been on the fence and almost had decided to let it go – I’m still in love with Win7 and hate everything about M$’s new approaches. It had just never occurred to me before to put in my old system-HDD I replaced last year with a much faster system-SSD to do the update on that one!

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With this being the last week of the free Win 10 promotion, I would like to inject a little positive information to maybe offset all the negative things I’m reading and hearing about.
I was a staunch dyed in the wool Win 7 user. I have been retired from my Electronic Tech. job for the past 38 years. 2 weeks after the start of the free win 10 release, My win 7 machine told me to sit back and relax while win 10 installs. Never 10 or GWX control panel was not out then so I had no choice but to let the operation continue. An hour and 40 mins. later I had win 10 on my PC. It went very smoothly. It even flashed my BIOS for me! Also it cured a very aggravating problem with a browser hy-jacker that bothered me to no end. The forced updates have all gone smoothly, with just the one time HP Solution Center stopped working. The Wushowhide tool took care of that. All cumulative updates have installed perfectly! I’m impressed with that. My opinion for those that are sitting on the fence, is to go ahead and follow Woody’s advice, but know that this whole upgrade process does not have to be scary. (Also hide your stash of nuclear launch codes if you’re worried about the privacy issue. LOL)

Kenney

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I went ahead and did the win 10 upgrade from 8.1 pro last week. It went well, I was surprised that it was so smooth. Here’s my question for the ones who are on the fence about the move.

I noticed that the first thing that came up when I started the update from the windows 10 upgrade icon was a button to click to “download the update”. After the download completed another button asking to “install” now and another to “install” in the future. Could people go ahead and download but NOT install and wait until whenever not worrying about the deadline?

John

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I tried the rollback method and it killed my machine. Would not even boot. Fortunately I had a recent backup disk image and an emergency boot thumb drive to get me back up with Windows 7. I would suggest doing that before you attempt to upgrade and roll back.

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I was hoping to read about the wonderful things that Win10 will do for you that Win7 does not.

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I count about two dozen Win10 reviews from major tech publications that will tell you all the goodies. The most balanced one (other than mine, of course) is Mary Jo Foley’s http://www.zdnet.com/article/first-look-microsofts-windows-10-anniversary-update/ . I doubt highly that Mary Jo will upgrade her Win7 laptop – and for good reason.

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Nope.

Right now you can download the bits, but you have to upgrade before July 29 to get the “free” part.

Or so Microsoft says today. Wait until July 30. :-0

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My current two systems are refurbished no-frills 64-bit HP Compaq 6000 w/Intel E8400 business system boxes circa 2010 with Windows 7 Pro licenses which I purchased back in March of 2015 for about $100 apiece. My original hand-built systems could not run anything above Windows XP and I wanted to at least be able to run Windows 7, possibly Windows 10. I have been running Windows 7 Pro on both since then licensed via OEM boot ROM method (I do have valid Windows 7 Pro COA stickers on both, but I’ve never had to use them to be Genuine). And no, I’m not running a business period–I just wanted plain old no-hassle desktop systems and business systems fit the bill nicely. When Windows 10 first came out, I installed it on one of them but after a week of failing to get the installation to be Genuine I reinstalled Windows 7 and waited, and waited some more. Then finally this May I went and bought two used 250 GB hard drives ($10 apiece) for the sole purpose of installing Windows 10 Pro on them while in my two systems. I swapped out the hard drive on one system and installed Windows 7 SP1 then all the patches just in case. I changed the browser ID to trick the Microsoft site into giving me links to get the downloadable Windows 10 Pro 64-bit ISO Threshold II file and used the free “Pismo File Mount Audit Package” software to let me directly mount the ISO under Windows 7. The upgrade took about an hour and Windows 10 Pro was Genuine immediately thereafter, digitally licensed. I checked that the free DVD player software Microsoft automatically installed worked, but I don’t have any use for it since I play DVDs on my TV and not on my computer. I repeated that process successfully on the other system. I’ve since uninstalled most of the apps that came with Windows 10, I don’t use for any of them anyway, and I could care less about any of the Microsoft Windows Store apps. All the software I use is installed the old-fashioned way from downloadable files just like on Windows 7 and earlier. As such, other than the Windows OS and the browsers (File Manager, Edge and IE11), none of the software I use comes with Windows 10. All the other Microsoft software on the system (and there’s so very much of it!) goes toward the care and feeding of the operating system and its settings and otherwise does nothing useful for me. I deleted all of the icons in the Start Menu and replaced them with operating system tools I occasionally use. I’ve pinned all the software I commonly use to the taskbar and generally never use the Start Menu. That seems to be similar to the way a Macintosh is setup even though I’ve never used one myself. At the moment I’m inclined to keep running Windows 10 stripped down like this. I can swap disks and go back to running Windows 7 anytime should I need to. Personally, I’ve run for a very long time on Window NT and Windows 2000 so running on Windows 7 or 10 is no particular thrill when all it does is just keep morphing how you have to control the underlying operating system. For how I use a desktop computer, I really don’t care what OS I run–be it Windows or some flavor of UNIX (AT&T, BSD, Linux, NeXt, Macintosh …) or for that matter the underlying hardware, 16, 32 or 64 bit; Motorola, Intel etc. So long as it has a real keyboard and monitor I can use it as is.

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I read the linked article, though I was most interested in hearing what #kenney found useful about Win10 vs. Win 7.

My feeling is that given the controversy over its implementation, advocates of Win10 ought to spell out precisely what user benefits they find in it. User benefits, not features.

The linked article is interestiong but does not support its conclusion: “Whether or not you care about Windows Ink, Cortana, or Hello, this update to Windows 10 makes the operating system and the apps integrated with it more reliable and better performing.”

More reliable?

Better performing?

Where’s the evidence?

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None of my machines will see W10. Everything works well with fully maintained W7 and that’s due to my being in complete control of what’s in and what’s not. It’s easy with W7 and I like that. That’s apparently not the case for W10. That’s not likeable.

As most here, I have read extensively about W10 and agree with what wdburt1 states above. In my view, for my needs, there is nothing compelling about W10. The reasons to stay away are weighty, at this point. Others have differing opinions, certainly, and there may be some attractive new functionality for them in W10. For those, go get it.

Kenney, where does an OS “upgrade” install implement a BIOS flash update during the process? Never have heard/seen that one after hundreds of installs.

Kenney: “Also it cured a very aggravating problem with a browser hy-jacker that bothered me to no end.”

Really? So the OS install package also includes a PUP cleaner that runs unattended? It knows you’ve been infected by TopDiscountShopping.scam? Wonder what was the prescription?

“hy-jacker”? Spam. BS.

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wdburt1,
I’m not going to say one OS is better then the other, number 1. Number 2, the only thing I can think of to explain myself is to give you an old saying “One man’s junk, another man’s treasure”.
When you went to say buy a car for example, you got into one and took a test drive. Even though each different car had the same or similar features, there was something about one of the cars that made you pick it over the other. It could be that say the heated seats of one car got warm faster then the other car. Anyway, for me the fact that Win 10 fixed some problems that I could not get rid of in Win 7, was good enough for me to keep it.
Also for the record, I think that Microsoft trashed the good work of Win 7 and 8 for that matter, just to get folks off those OS’s and into Win 10. There is no big wow factor in any of the window systems I think. That wow came when the industry went from the command line structure of DOS to the windows graphical interface system. That to me was one great benefit. Point and click is alot better then sentence structure, spelling, and syntax.
The real benefit for me was in the test drive of Win 10. I’m pretty sure that it will get better as time goes on.

Kenney

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Thanks Woody. I was curious and asking for a friend who was wondering if she should wait.

John

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Please. DOS to GUI? Relevation.

“then” or “than”; “alot” or “a lot” (similar to “acar” or “aperson”.

For the record: please?

“It could be that say the heated seats of one car got warm faster then the other car.”

CTRL-ALT-DEL

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OK, everybody. Here is the deal. I mentioned that I have been an electronic technician for 38 years. I have seen some things that machines do that defy logic. I have had customers tell me what their machine was doing, but when I get there, can not get the machine to malfunction. Yes it makes the customer look silly, but what can you do? Yes my PC had it’s BIOS flashed during the installation of Win 10. The only explanation I can give is it could have something to do with where the computer has been. I bought it from Staples as a refurbed unit to save cost since I have been retired and on a fixed budget. The refurbishing company is Called Joy Systems. I can only guess that it could be something that they added to the machine that triggered something else. I don’t know. I can understand the disbelief. That’s ok. The same goes for the fix of the browser Hi-jack. My last resort was going to be a clean install of Win 7, but Win 10 came along and what can I say, the problem is gone. Call it a coincidence. Not trying to offend any ones intelligence.

Kenney

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I’d say you live a charmed life!

Stranger things have happened….

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@Kenney: While I know far less about all this than our esteemed host and many of those who follow this blog, I would say that you have attributed your happy experience to Win10 when starting over with Win7 would have given the same result. In other words, we should be cautious about inferring that your experience tells us anything at all about Win10.

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Hi Woody,

I have an 8.1 Intel Compute Stick. Is it worth reserving the upgrade?

Thanks

Brian

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I’m seeing reports that the Intel Compute Stick won’t even run the upgrade – it bombs out with insufficient space. Intel has a lengthy discussion here:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/boards-and-kits/intel-compute-stick/000016164.html

It doesn’t look like the Compute Stick will be able to take advantage of many of the new features. Of course, you’re the ultimate arbiter…

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The MS tool in GWX that checks if your PC is compatible with W10 seems very flawed. I ran it on two of my systems which are standard OEM preloads and both got the nod from the program. When W10 was installed both had serious issues with drivers. Microsoft supplied drivers on one system was a no-go and on the other there was nothing available. WiFi issues were difficult to diagnose and solutions were hit and miss. Both systems had to go back to W7.

I see that MS has just announced the ‘Upgrade Analytics’ tool which is supposed to be better than the tool in GWX. Maybe they are admitting that the tool in GWX is useless. This new tool is just out now!

“Upgrade Analytics is a new service from Microsoft which leverages telemetry in order to provide customers with insights which allow them to quickly evaluate application and driver readiness and mitigate potential problems.”

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I know lots of people who are happy with Win10. (I’m one of them.) But it isn’t for everybody – and Microsoft should have its feet held to the fire, to meet their obligations for Win7 and 8.1 customers.

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Hi Woody, that link, entitled “Windows® 10 Update Instructions for Intel® Compute Stick”, is what inspired me to ask the question! Along with the sticker on the box referring to the free windows 10 upgrade…

I was only thinking of reserving the licence, just to enable me to keep working with it after support for 8.1 drops. All I use it for is a teamviewer client with a hard disk attached as the only thing on my router when I’m away from home. This enables me to download stuff to my home when I’m away on a flaky expensive internet line.

Thanks!

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I say ain’t broke, don’t fix.

But if you want to play with it, by all means, have at it and let us know what happens!

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I saw that. It’s being pushed to enterprise admins – it requires a MOMS account, and the installation is daunting.

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/upgradeanalytics/2016/07/19/meet-upgrade-analytics/

https://technet.microsoft.com/itpro/windows/deploy/upgrade-analytics-get-started

It also sounds like MS won’t release the “for real” version until after free upgrades are over.

It seems clear to me that this is a much more advanced version of the compatibility scan that currently accompanies an upgrade. Looks like Microsoft only wants to hand it out to big companies.

Stop the presses: Looks like there’s a treasure trove of snooped data buried in the docs. Hang on. I’ll make a separate post about it. Thanks!

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Charmed? Naw
Charmed is when you win the power ball lottery.
I have a brother who has a degree in computer science, and is also the IT person at his job.
I asked him if what happened with my BIOS is possible. His answer was yes code could be written in Basic Input-Out System to kick in and flash the Bios if some major event should happen such say a larger hard drive is installed or in my case the introduction of a new operating system. He has written code to do that on some of the machines under his charge and is a common practice for some that know how to do it. Again, I’m only giving information on what has happened with me in this Win 10 program. My original intention was to get my copy of Win 10 this week and test drive it. Microsoft beat me to the punch, and it just so happened that it all worked out great. The main thing is I am satisfied that I have a machine that meets my needs and works like I want it to work. That for me is the real benefit. If you are satisfied with your system whether you have Win 10,7, 8/8.1, Vista, Win 2000, 98, 95, or Linux. If it works for you, and you are satisfied, good!
Kenney

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+1

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All that scaremongering from January about Skylake not being supported on the older platforms seems to have very quietly disappeared and been replaced in March with:
“After July 17, 2018, Microsoft will continue to deliver all critical updates for these devices through the respective end of support dates.”

Which, frankly, is all we ever really wanted. Let’s face it, if we have a problem with Windows and a PC, we NEVER really call Microsoft. 🙂

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Yep, that’s what MS said back on March 18

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/11675/windows-7-windows-8-1-skylake-systems-supported

The list of supported systems is extensive – manufacturers know it isn’t wise to arbitrarily limit their systems to Win10.

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