Just upgraded to Windows10

[Deadeye]

I was on W7, but prompted to change by the end of support/vulnerability patches.

I used the process here, about 2/3rds of the way down (upgrade from 7/8):

https://windowsreport.com/windows-10-free-upgrade-2018/ 13

I thought I'd need the W7 product key, so I used this (with the "full install support" link below the feedback section). As it turned out, it wasn't asked for:

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_c ... iewer.html

The upgrade took ages (overnight). There's one choice to make early on (an hour or so in), about fully clean install or keep your data. Then I went to bed after about 4 hours and this morning it was done and asking me questions about whether I wanted targeted advertising.

So, slow, but easy and free.

My other box wouldn't go - it thought the wireless card is too old. It ran fine once I removed the card, but then wouldn't recognise the reinstalled card. Solved by paying £10 for a dongle.

Both machines had a legitimate W7 licence to start.

I was braced for an absolute horrorshow, but it was suprisingly painless.
Hope that may help someone who's toying with doing the same.

 

[Myfordman]

Im sticking with win7 because my drawing package - visio 2000 technical, wont run under win 10. and I'm not spending any more money with m$ to buy the new version which has changed so much I'd have to re-learn it.
So lappy is on win 10 which my bank insists on, but for real work win7 is on my desktop machine in the office.

 

[RogerS]

If I wasn't already on a Mac then being asked by the OS :shock: if I wanted targeted advertising would have me running a mile.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Does targetted advertising mean:

1. Targetted or "none", or,
2. Targetted or "swamped with lots of rubbish"

 

[Robbo3]

Im sticking with win7 because my drawing package - visio 2000 technical, wont run under win 10. and I'm not spending any more money with m$ to buy the new version which has changed so much I'd have to re-learn it.
So lappy is on win 10 which my bank insists on, but for real work win7 is on my desktop machine in the office.

Should you need to, you can run Windows 7 in a Virtual Machine (VM) in Windows 10
I run Windows 10 in Oracle Virtual Machine (free) in Windows 8.1 so that I can keep up with all the latest changes. Both operating systems have to be licensed to comply with the terms & conditions.

 

[Keith 66]

At work (school) my trusty W7 machine was unceremoniously ripped out by IT & replaced by a laptop, as i use it for 2d design drawing work for the kids i was not a happy bunny.
I find it painfully slow & a pain to get to grips with. Our home pc is being replaced by a new one with W10, Im keeping the old one on W7 & will be trying linux in near future!

 

[RogerS]

At work (school) my trusty W7 machine was unceremoniously ripped out by IT & replaced by a laptop, as i use it for 2d design drawing work for the kids i was not a happy bunny.
I find it painfully slow & a pain to get to grips with. ....

Often one of the overlooked benefits of running a Mac. Ours are both over nine years old and yet just as spritely as they were when we bought them despite several newer versions of OSX.

 

[Rorschach]

At work (school) my trusty W7 machine was unceremoniously ripped out by IT & replaced by a laptop, as i use it for 2d design drawing work for the kids i was not a happy bunny.
I find it painfully slow & a pain to get to grips with. ....

Often one of the overlooked benefits of running a Mac. Ours are both over nine years old and yet just as spritely as they were when we bought them despite several newer versions of OSX.

That's a bit of myth I am afraid.

 

[RogerS]

At work (school) my trusty W7 machine was unceremoniously ripped out by IT & replaced by a laptop, as i use it for 2d design drawing work for the kids i was not a happy bunny.
I find it painfully slow & a pain to get to grips with. ....

Often one of the overlooked benefits of running a Mac. Ours are both over nine years old and yet just as spritely as they were when we bought them despite several newer versions of OSX.

That's a bit of myth I am afraid.

Not from where I am sitting.

 

[Rorschach]

Not from where I am sitting.

Widespread myth + confirmation bias + not a proper comparison = anecdotal evidence

 

[RogerS]

Not from where I am sitting.

Widespread myth + confirmation bias + not a proper comparison = anecdotal evidence

Um...no...if I'd read it in a newspaper then yes, possibly anecdotal.

But evidence of my own eyes? Evidence of my own timings etc ? I'll believe that.

 

[Rorschach]

Not from where I am sitting.

Widespread myth + confirmation bias + not a proper comparison = anecdotal evidence

Um...no...if I'd read it in a newspaper then yes, possibly anecdotal.

But evidence of my own eyes? Evidence of my own timings etc ? I'll believe that.

Of course you believe it, that's my point, but it's anecdotal to the thread without scientific evidence to back it up.

I tell you what, I'll do the same, also true but purely my own observations. I have an 8 year old windows laptop, started on 7, now running on 10. It runs as fast if not faster than it did when new and works perfectly.
I have a 6 year old laptop, same situation, works perfectly.
I have a 3 year old laptop, shipped with Win10, works as well now as it did when I bought it.

So there we go, my evidence is 3x better than yours lol

 

[devonwoody]

I'll enter the discussion and state that my IPad around 7 years old is getting a bit crockity like me, it takes ages to boot up etc and not reliable with free library books at Devon CC as an example. my recent upgrade to w10 on a laptop runs well its connected to a yamaha keyboard for reading music scores and jobs mac cannot do.

 

[Irish Rover]

There is a downloadable tool on the My Digital Life forum that enables W7 Extended Service Updates.

This would give you W7 updates for 3 more years.
Not automatically as before, you would need to download them manually every 2nd Tuesday, but better than no updates.

 

[Bod]

I've just up graded to W10 from W7. W7 running on a computer designed for Vista Basic, all ok, just out of date according to Microsoft.
W10, running on a new HP laptop, total waste of money!
Nothing is even vaguely similar!
Ok, the laptop doesn't have a built in DVD, but using a new external one, W10 needs an "App" to be purchased to play a DVD.("Free" app means a 1-7 day trial before purchase.)
Printing. Forget unless you have a new printer that is W10 compatible.
W10 is nothing but a data mining exercise for Microsoft, and HP is no better!
Looks as if I shall have to have the same Office programme on both machines, create the document, on W10, transfer by memory stick, then print off by W7!
Progress!
I shall stick to woodwork, at least Noah might understand some of the tools and joints.
Rant over.
But advice on how to view dvds via W10 or print would be welcome.

Bod

 

[worn thumbs]

I think you might be little harsh in your condemnation of Microsoft.Just a little,but not too far from the reality.W7 had a fair amount of data harvesting going on and admitted it in the EULA for those who bothered to read it.

If W10 had detected an built in DVD there is a good chance it would have recognised it and got it working.Adding an external DVD might be possible in a number of ways and I have never tried it,but if I had to I might start with a look at the HP website and seeking any information they might have.
I recently had an eleven year old laptop displaying erratic behaviour and did two things,first I connected an external hard drive and backed up everything useful and then I looked around for a replacement.I found a rebuilt Dell with W10, a 500 Gb hard drive and 8Gb RAM for £150.It has a DVD too.

I have used W10 a bit and don't particularly like it but there are a few programs that require it and it did get to work with my HP printer after I used the HP app on their website to get everything harmonious.I suggest you try their site and see if it does the trick.

I prefer the security of Linux and the freedom from trouble so within three hours of the laptop arriving it had been converted to a dual boot machine with Linux Mint 19.3 as the primary operating system.I estimate that in the few weeks I have had the laptop is has been running Linux 98% of the time.I use Libre Office as it does everything I need and the files remain mine and under my control.Updates are at a time of my choosing and there is a vast amount of totally free software out there for all sorts of things.In the case of the desire to watch DVDs I recommend VLC media player as it has never yet failed me for anything and there is a version for Windows that may well be useful and i have it on my rarely used Windows partition too.Maybe a few more people should download an .iso image of a Linux distro -look at www.distrowatch.com-put it on a memory stick and try it live.You just need to interrupt your boot sequence to tell the computer to select the memory stick as the primary boot device and it will run from the computer's memory.I have an old W7 desktop that boots in 28 seconds from a memory stick and when active,everything just works-no loading drivers.Or you can remain a hostage to Microsoft.

 

[Rorschach]

What app do you need for the DVD, just a player? If so VLC is free.

As to the printer, don't know why you are having issues, my 10 year old printer works fine.

 

[AndyT]

Playing DVDs - you can install the well-established free and open-source VLC Player from here - https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
It plays every sort of audio and video you will ever find. No need to pay for an "app".

As for printing, I hit a similar problem with a Canon printer. Windows 10 said no go. Fix was to download the windows 7 drivers, then right click and run as 'troubleshoot compatability' and tell W10 it ran ok in W7. Could be worth a try.

 

[flying haggis]

I had W10 home on both pcs and wanted (coz i can) W10 pro. to upgrade costs a lot of money BUT if you buy a key from e-bay for W7 pro the microsoft website lets your computer upgrade for free. think it cost £1.99

 

[AES]

I really DO sympathise with you mate.

My wife has had Win 10 for some time and from the amount of anger and frustration that comes from "her side" of our "office" (she's normally a pretty mild and calm person) I decided some time ago that when my "current" Win 7 dies I will NOT go to Win 10.

Apart from the frustrations that I've seen her having with it ,I really AM getting highly "p----- off" with the MS business "ethic" of selling you something that automatically drops dead after a certain time. If "I" ,as just a general customer, want to continue using something which everybody else considers old hat, having bought that something (OK, "only" a licence, but it's still mine, I paid for it), that should be my right. Not to mention MS getting all sorts of my personal data to try and make Mr. Gates and his successors even richer!

I haven't yet made a change of OS, but as I was "threatening to" in a post end of last year, I'm seriously considering changing to some form of Linux. (Apple and it's computers are far too expensive here).

In the meantime, thanks to a member here (I forget who, sorry) I've "found" a Forum called "My Digital Life", which I've joined (FOC, just like here). A helluva lot of the content is WAAAY above my head, but I did find a way of updating my Win 7 so that it is (apparently) "safe" to use for the rest of this year. That'll give me plenty of time to reconsider my options, but 1 thing is absolutely definite - it will NOT be upgrading to Win 10!

I don't think I'm breaking UKW rules when I post the URL for MDL's home page here (sorry if I'm in transgression mods):

https://forums.mydigitallife.net/forums/introduction.

HTH, good luck mate