Free Upgrade to Windows 10

Quote by tuvak

I'm debating about upgrading my Win8.1 laptop to Win10 to give it a whirl. It's an old dinosaur that I put 8.1 on because I had an extra license when XP was going end of life. It's an old Dell D630. I wonder if it would even take the upgrade. Guess I better check out the system analyzer thing to see if Win10 will work on it or not. It's surprisingly peppy in Win8.1 and I have it pretty much maxed out. It's like a tank and just won't die.

The system requirements are actually pretty low (which is great considering the dinosaur I'm using). My only complaint after having it installed for two days is that I can't access my external hard drive. It installs a generic driver but it just won't access the drive. I've already checked on the manufacturer's site and they don't have anything out yet. Hopefully, MS shakes a leg and updates their stuff.

Other than that, I've been pretty happy with it. I've gone through and removed Cortana and One Drive. If you choose to remove Cortana, Microsoft -claims- that it's part of the OS, blah, blah, blah. So I installed Classic Shell and have a Win 7 Start menu back.

finally managed to get it to install , so far its ok ( ish) only thing i'm unable to figure out is Cortana ...she no want to talk to me apparently its not available in my region, but when i check it should work in UK... *bangs head on desk*

Quote by Ergonal

finally managed to get it to install , so far its ok ( ish) only thing i'm unable to figure out is Cortana ...she no want to talk to me apparently its not available in my region, but when i check it should work in UK... *bangs head on desk*

I know that whole typing thing is a pain but ubaright.

:P :P

Quote by Ergonal

finally managed to get it to install , so far its ok ( ish) only thing i'm unable to figure out is Cortana ...she no want to talk to me apparently its not available in my region, but when i check it should work in UK... *bangs head on desk*

i spent the last few hours trying to fix that (and also loss of sound...and of course lots of "old" site tech using activex no longer work in Edge or firefox) UGHD!

anyway, rant over - for cortana - change ALL your settings (location, region, language, keyboard) to English US...then run cortana...set her up, then once she's up n running, change your settings back to English UK, should be ok then

So now that so many of us have upgraded and had a few days to figure it out, what do you all think of the Windows 10 experience?

Personally, I'm missing the ability to snap Metro apps to the desktop. It was really easy and convenient way to keep my to do list app, Wunderlist, always present, visible and keep me on task. The new windowed Metro apps just don't work as well.

This will probably be heresy for most, but I really liked the full window Start menu in 8.1. One of the first things I did was set the start menu back to full screen, but tiles don't behave the same as they did. I'd suggest to everyone to give the full screen Start menu a try. Pin all your most used or even commonly used apps on there, organize them in a logical way, and give it a try for a couple weeks. It's so much more convenient than hunting for it in the All Programs list now.

Quote by NicholasJohn16

So now that so many of us have upgraded and had a few days to figure it out, what do you all think of the Windows 10 experience?

it's a trap! :dry:

Damn Nick. Damn, I hated Windows 8 and damn, I hated the metro apps and damn, I hated the way they were full screen and damn I hated the way they snapped.

REST IN UNRELENTING SHAME WINDOWS 8!

During the entire duration of my time using windows 8 and 8.1 I had installed a program called "Start8" to restore the windows 7 start menu and completely obliterate the metro start screen.

But now the start menu is back, YAY! and the metro apps run in desktop windows! It's exactly what windows 8 should of always been and I'm super happy with it.

I don't use my desktop to launch programs. My desktop is 100% clean and except for the occasional short-term storage it's always that way so I normally have my start menu sorted into lots of folders as minimalistic as possible so that I can easily find everything I need.

With Windows 10 I've tried to limit the apps/programs on my start menu and those that I occasionally use I will find using the Cortana search bar.

[attachment=3136]mydesktop.jpg[/attachment]
Full Size: http://halish.co.uk/stuff/mydesktop.jpg

I really wanted to give Microsoft Edge a chance but the inability to change the default search to Google (may have been fixed by now?), the inability to right-click on my bookmarks to open all and the lack of extensions made me quickly shift back to Google Chrome.

But the good news is that Chrome seems to run faster now ... unless that's just my post-windows 10 excitement fooling me.

But yeah so far my windows 10 life has been good.

I've completely skipped the whole "Windows 8" era (much like I skipped Vista). Under Windows 7, I utilized a Quick Launch/custom toolbar setup. Old school for sure but it works for me. Thankfully, the software kept the customization when I upgraded. I've also used Chrome for years now. Like Halish, I've noticed a significant improvement in not only Chrome but many of the programs I use in regards to response times.

My only real complaints revolve around compatibility. First, it won't communicate with my main external hard drive (which I've ranted about previously). However, it will pickup a secondary hard drive. It's smaller in size but I've been able to copy the files that I use the most. The other compatibility issue that I suffer is that 10 won't run Zone Alarm. Either by incompetent programming or malicious intent, MS has forced me (for the time being) to use their firewall.

All in all, I'm pleased with Windows 10 and it has delayed me taking out a personal loan to upgrade the dinosaur.

I"ve been very happy overall. Strangely enough, after over a decade of unrelenting hatred for Internet explorer, I have been using edge.

Good news to that end: Their first round of updates will include extensions support for the Edge browser.

Regardless of what you use though, I have to agree...everything launches noticeably faster. However, If you have older hardware you may have trouble getting things to work until more software/HW brands catch up. I have a Sound Blaster Z sound card (not but a year old) and Creative Labs hasn't even released Win-10 drivers for it yet. I had to poke around their forums to find a workaround using the Windows 8 driver package until they update their software. A minor annoyance, but I eventually got it working.

TL:DR - After successful upgrades across three machines (1 that's five years old) and a tablet, I'm very pleased. And it's only going to get better.


BTW Nick, Windows Pro-tip: You can snap windows side by side (Metro or desktop apps) by holding the Windows key and hitting the left/right arrow keys to snap windows to the left or right side of your screen(s), respectively. Once you do this with one window/app, it will give you clickable previews of what you have open that you can select one to run on the other half of the screen.

Quote by Rasilek

BTW Nick, Windows Pro-tip: You can snap windows side by side (Metro or desktop apps) by holding the Windows key and hitting the left/right arrow keys to snap windows to the left or right side of your screen(s), respectively. Once you do this with one window/app, it will give you clickable previews of what you have open that you can select one to run on the other half of the screen.

Yup, this is what I'm doing, but it's just not the same. Before, if you snapped an app, it would shrink the desktop area and the rest would be available for desktop apps. That was great for me, but with this system if I accidentally maximize a window, it'll cover my to do list and I have to reset everything again.

So far, I like it! :D Convenient! Cortana is pretty cool B)

[attachment=3137]Mydesktop.jpg[/attachment]

Quote by NicholasJohn16

So now that so many of us have upgraded and had a few days to figure it out, what do you all think of the Windows 10 experience?

Personally, I'm missing the ability to snap Metro apps to the desktop. It was really easy and convenient way to keep my to do list app, Wunderlist, always present, visible and keep me on task. The new windowed Metro apps just don't work as well.

This will probably be heresy for most, but I really liked the full window Start menu in 8.1. One of the first things I did was set the start menu back to full screen, but tiles don't behave the same as they did. I'd suggest to everyone to give the full screen Start menu a try. Pin all your most used or even commonly used apps on there, organize them in a logical way, and give it a try for a couple weeks. It's so much more convenient than hunting for it in the All Programs list now.

Yup I turned off my start menu as well. I like the full screen Start Window. Plus you can find anything from it just by starting to type and even that now has upgrades. I am loving Win 10. (also don't use those Metro Apps (or even know what they are) and I don't snap windows too and fro like some of you other beasts do) Keep it clean Keep it simple.

I'm not really techy, so I'm not sure if I'm explaining this well, so I'll try my best.

So, my computer has a really weird quirk in that I had to set up a secondary desktop, not the one that is associated with my Microsoft/Hotmail account. In order for me to get on my computer, I have to go to open the secondary desktop, connect to wifi there, then log out of the secondary account and into my regular one. I can't connect to my primary account any other way because it won't do so without being connected to the internet, and my computer can't connect to wifi automatically.

So my question is, will I still have a log-on screen when I turn on my computer so I can log onto the secondary account?


(This is really weird. It took the tech folks at the university awhile to figure out what the problem was, they don't know why it is the way it is, and they say they've only ever seen one other computer like this.)

Quote by calx

Quote by Ergonal

finally managed to get it to install , so far its ok ( ish) only thing i'm unable to figure out is Cortana ...she no want to talk to me apparently its not available in my region, but when i check it should work in UK... *bangs head on desk*

i spent the last few hours trying to fix that (and also loss of sound...and of course lots of "old" site tech using activex no longer work in Edge or firefox) UGHD!

anyway, rant over - for cortana - change ALL your settings (location, region, language, keyboard) to English US...then run cortana...set her up, then once she's up n running, change your settings back to English UK, should be ok then

Oh it got so much better after i did that, so eventually when she was installed she still didn't wake up , but i kept getting the screen that said "learn more" or "not interested" so i kept clicking "learn more" but kept being sent back to the start almost like in a constant loop, in the end i gave up and pressed "not interested" and WOW she started to install but at every stage of the set up process where i was presented with the option to "continue" or "cancel" i pressed "Continue" and it canceled it...so i went back and pressed "cancel" and it continued it......so long story short she is now up and running and we have a fabulous relationship... i still cant find away to change the "Hey Cortanta" to just simply "computer" but thats just my inner star trek geek :silly: :silly:

Quote by Ergonal

Quote by calx

Quote by Ergonal

finally managed to get it to install , so far its ok ( ish) only thing i'm unable to figure out is Cortana ...she no want to talk to me apparently its not available in my region, but when i check it should work in UK... *bangs head on desk*

i spent the last few hours trying to fix that (and also loss of sound...and of course lots of "old" site tech using activex no longer work in Edge or firefox) UGHD!

anyway, rant over - for cortana - change ALL your settings (location, region, language, keyboard) to English US...then run cortana...set her up, then once she's up n running, change your settings back to English UK, should be ok then

Oh it got so much better after i did that, so eventually when she was installed she still didn't wake up , but i kept getting the screen that said "learn more" or "not interested" so i kept clicking "learn more" but kept being sent back to the start almost like in a constant loop, in the end i gave up and pressed "not interested" and WOW she started to install but at every stage of the set up process where i was presented with the option to "continue" or "cancel" i pressed "Continue" and it canceled it...so i went back and pressed "cancel" and it continued it......so long story short she is now up and running and we have a fabulous relationship... i still cant find away to change the "Hey Cortanta" to just simply "computer" but thats just my inner star trek geek :silly: :silly:

Or you could of clicked in the search box located in the Taskbar.
> When the Search window comes up, click on the Notebook icon on the left side of the window.
> click on the Settings icon
> There you'll find a switch button to enable Hey Cortana. Click on it to slide it to the On position

(I put this here just incase anyone else is having a problem finding her... like you & I.


ALSO......

I starting to get to like it.. after updating my drivers.. and sound.

However..

I normally put my PC to "Sleep" when im away from it... but when I go back to it, after a few hours.. I activate it.. the tower pumps into action.. but no display.
Just a blank screen like its dead.
The first time I paniced, thought my graphics card burnt away,, Finaly i found help online.. but its annoying, I have to take out the mains plug from the back of the tower.. and press the start up button several times to get rid of the electro currents that are still hanging around.

Plug it back in, and it works.

Its annoying as i like to rest the comp.. but now it looks like i have to shut down all the time :(

So I hate windows 10

Just in case some of you haven't seen this yet:

http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2015/08/windows_10_privacy_problems_here_s_how_bad_they_are_and_how_to_plug_them.html

Just turned all that shit off!

I'm reverting back to Windows 8.1 !

To many bugs for me atm.. The sound comes on and off when it chooses, drivers incompatible, Ill wait until they have ironed it out a little more.

I have a year to choose to upgrade it again, .. at least I think :P