Sigh, my free Windows 10 upgrade hasn't been too "free" so far.

originally posted by: Cygnis
a reply to: imthegoat

There are ways, via registry edits, to remove said annoying banner and pop-ups.

Since it's inadvisable to play in the windows registry, I'll just say to google it.

It what ya gotta do sometimes...I just goto MSDN
(Microsoft Developer Network) and read all the low-level
Documentation so I can read what those registry
keys do and if necessary dissassemble the DLL
or exe files to see what they are used for
and they change the keys IF NECESSARY.

Most problems TEND to come down to Permissions
on the disk ESPECIALLY if you are on a Network Domain.

For home users it TENDS to be outdated Drivers and BIOS
for Network Card, Graphics Card, Motherboard Chipset,
DVD/BluRay burners and USB/Mouse/Keyboards.
THEY ALL NEED TO BE UPDATED BEFORE YOU INSTALL
ANY MAJOR APPLICATIONS on your system!

Wow, I leave for a couple days and come back to a couple pages worth of reading.

And it must have been my primary PC - Just upgraded another one and it worked like a charm? I know they can't predict every possible PC configuration, but Linux sure has them beat there :/

Fellow programmer here. In 30 years of using PCs I've learned this very important point: I never upgrade something unless the product has been out at least a year and has bug fixes. This is especially true for Adobe and Microsoft products. Upgrades usually create more hassles, bugs, and incompatibilities than they are worth.

I currently have Windows 7 and Windows 8. So far no major problems.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: markosity1973

How do they nag you?

Mine only has Win7 on it, and it hasn't bugged me once since I installed it earlier this month and fired it up.

You probably disabled automatic updates - always a wise choice when dealing with Windows products, IMO, because of the way MS pushes out it's updates. The Win10 nagware is pushed out as a "recommended update", which gets auto-installed on your Win7 or Win8 machines when you're not looking.

a reply to: semperfortisi got a new lapyop over the summer that had a win9.1 in it after i turned it on it asked if i wanted to get free upgrade to win 10 i said sure why not it crashed and would not boot back up lickily i made boot disc off the 8.1 version and was able to load that back into my system after that windows kept trying to update to windows 10 on its own so i turned off auto update

originally posted by: nenothtu

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: markosity1973

How do they nag you?

Mine only has Win7 on it, and it hasn't bugged me once since I installed it earlier this month and fired it up.

You probably disabled automatic updates - always a wise choice when dealing with Windows products, IMO, because of the way MS pushes out it's updates. The Win10 nagware is pushed out as a "recommended update", which gets auto-installed on your Win7 or Win8 machines when you're not looking.

Automatic updates are a good idea for most people. The Windows 10 update doesn't matter really.. you have to actually block it. But 99% of updates are fixes for security holes, or issues that cause loss of performance. If people don't auto-update, then they won't ever update, and that is actually a very bad thing.

The Win 10 update is a unique creature, as far as Win updates go.

a reply to: fossilera

This!!!!

6. Don't get Windows 10 until they stop supporting Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

Unless I have to buy a new [read: refurb] and all that is available is Win 10...it will be a long time before I will be going there.

a reply to: fossilera

They hung up when I told them that my Linux partition worked fine, and I could still see my old files from there.

^^ He probably was at the end of his helpsheet.
This has nothing to do with you saying the word 'linux' *slowly waving hands and disappearing backwards into the closet*

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Prepare yourself to stock up on hardware that Win7 supports.

After saying NO many, many times - they scheduled an upgrade - like it or not I had to manually cancel it.

What is the legal situation here Can Microsft force the user to upgrade, like it or not

And if the upgrade causes problems, as they have already informed me that a bluetooth device will not work and I should contact the manufacturer......

Can Microsoft be sued if they force an upgrade that causes problems

a reply to: AlienView

I don't think they can be sued - You signed the agreement to use their software, right? There's fine print

Due to Microsoft dominating the market - they can do whatever they want to their software because they know:
1. You are probably not going to switch to a Mac.

2. The other OS alternatives (cough, Linux) are not quite to the point that someone new can just pick it up; there is a learning curve.

3. They pretty much own the market, outside of Apple.

I'm sure most aren't aware of this either - but the tracking software that Windows 10 uses is now part of Windows 7 and 8/8.1 - they released a critical security bug around the same time 10 came out that installs Telemetry and a handful of other nasties.

I do get why they want everyone on 10 - it's mostly because they don't like supporting older versions of their product (my work faces the same - we're trying to get people off the old versions as it eats our resources).

originally posted by: fossilera
a reply to: AlienView

I don't think they can be sued - You signed the agreement to use their software, right? There's fine print

False. And not all contracts are legal.

Doesn't mean you will win, you can sue.

a reply to: fossilera

I'm sure most aren't aware of this either - but the tracking software that Windows 10 uses is now part of Windows 7 and 8/8.1 - they released a critical security bug around the same time 10 came out that installs Telemetry and a handful of other nasties.

Yes I noticed that a few months back. At least in Windows 7 it's easy to uninstall and hide any updates you don't want. One of the worste possible updates for W7 is the one which prepares for upgrading to W10. Even if you haven't agreed to update, it will randomly run intensive system scans which are supposedly to prepare for the update. First you have to figure out what causing the high CPU usage then you have to find and remove the specific update which causes it. It's crap like that which really chaps my hide.

a reply to: ChaoticOrder

We had that happen on our laptop [Win7].... I finally gave up trying to figure out which update it was...wuaserv ran and ran and ran. Updates would not install...even one at a time.

...and now simply don't update.
At all.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: fossilera

This!!!!

6. Don't get Windows 10 until they stop supporting Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

Unless I have to buy a new [read: refurb] and all that is available is Win 10...it will be a long time before I will be going there.

I won't be going there, ever. There is too much wrong with Win10 for my situation, so I'll be migrating to Linux at the Win7 End of Life. I'm already migrating away from programs I use in Win7 that have no Linux alternative - I'm just weaning myself of of them, getting ready to do without them altogether. I'm currently running a dual boot system, with Zorin OS as the Linux flavor in that tango, and checking here and there to see which current Windows programs I have that will run in WINE, and chucking the rest away.

I feel no pressing need to be tracked or telemetried, and so I've removed those "security updates" that Microsoft tried to stealth into my Win7 installation.

When Win7 reaches end of life, I'll transition to Zorin altogether, assuming that the fine folk there don't try to force me into an internet connected life via any such trash as an "internet of things" and an OS that wants me to be continually connected.

I understand people's issues with tracking in Win 10. However, in this day and age, there's always going to be a trade off on these matters if you spending any time on the Internet. But on the general operation of the OS, I have problems seeing what people are going on about.

I was forced to use a Win 7 laptop a few days ago. And it felt so archaic. It was like having to use Win 95 after XP had been introduced.

But I guess these things are a matter of taste. And I tend to be one of those tech people who likes new stuff. Years ago I thought that was the point of being into tech. But I've come to realize some of the biggest Luddites are to be found in tech enthusiast quarters.

originally posted by: Moresby
I understand people's issues with tracking in Win 10. However, in this day and age, there's always going to be a trade off on these matters if you spending any time on the Internet. But on the general operation of the OS, I have problems seeing what people are going on about.

It's understandable, if you are using say, a personal assistant, that it will need access to more things than software in the past. Addresses, contacts, trends, favorite restaurants, habits, handwriting, and so on. I get that. That's not the issue.

The issues is that MS tracks and saves your info for their own use. For legal reasons, to "improve service," to prove you are pirating anything owned by MS, or to sell to advertisers or push ads to you. What do they track?

A lot. Contacts, credit card info, passwords, browsing history in Bing, voice chat with Cortana, content of emails, and so on. And.. it still can do so if you opt out of all telemetry collections. Even with the Enterprise edition. Where does your data go? All over the place, to over 100 unique IP computers at MS.

When tested with all privacy settings enabled (disabling all telemetry collection), and also using disablewintracking to further curtail data collection, Windows 10 Enterprise STILL phoned home to 30 unique IPs in a 30 hour window.. sending data 2758 times. MS VPs admitted as much.. that it was essentially impossible to turn off all tracking.

Are you comfortable knowing your emails, voice data, CC info, contacts, browsing history, etc.. are sent to a multitude of servers even when you say "don't do that" many of them non-secure? I'm not. While I am being forced to get Windows 10 ready to run at my work, I refuse to upgrade at home, for myself and my wife.

They could allow you to save the data locally. Or perhaps to another FTP of your choice.. be it Box, Dropbox, whatever. But.. no, they have no desire to protect your privacy. They are invading it at unprecedented levels. When you then consider they are also trying to force consumer and commercial users to upgrade at a level never seen before, you have to wonder.. why. I've never seen a push like this one to get as many people on Windows 10 as possible, in the shortest period of time.

originally posted by: Moresby
I understand people's issues with tracking in Win 10. However, in this day and age, there's always going to be a trade off on these matters if you spending any time on the Internet. But on the general operation of the OS, I have problems seeing what people are going on about.

I was forced to use a Win 7 laptop a few days ago. And it felt so archaic. It was like having to use Win 95 after XP had been introduced.

But I guess these things are a matter of taste. And I tend to be one of those tech people who likes new stuff. Years ago I thought that was the point of being into tech. But I've come to realize some of the biggest Luddites are to be found in tech enthusiast quarters.

One thing I have noticed is that Microsoft, since Windows 7, has tried to make OS in your face. XP and 7 were just pieces to the puzzle and nobody really cared about the OS, just opened it and used whatever programs they wanted. Once the mobile arms race came out with all the walled garden stupidity it seemed like Microsoft said "hey, lets control everything"

Now when you open a calculator on windows 8 it clogs the entire screen. With no way out other than pushing the windows key.

Windows 7 may feel ancient in the fact that the user is in charge. We tell the computer what to do. Not "apps" or silly images to tell us why we are on the computer.

I saw windows 8 when it was released and almost cried. The internet has been bastardized. What the hell did they do? So windows 10 comes out and its essentially the same thing and "free". Does anyone anywhere trust Microsoft to do anything for "free"? Of course not.

I just bought a "new" laptop the other day, a refurbed Win 7 box. I wanted a Win 7 install with some decent hardware. Once Win 7 is done I am completely moving to Linux.

I refuse to play in this walled garden. Go to hell Microsoft.