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Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

The place to chat about audio/video devices & software, mobile phones & mobile plans, computer hardware & software, and other electronic gadgets.
bmw
Posts: 7749
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:02 am

Re: Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

Unread post by bmw »

I have to correct some factual inaccuracies in that article.

First, from the article:
Windows 7 users who don't upgrade to the new version will no longer be able to get Microsoft's security updates or fixes, or technical support for any issues, leaving your computer at greater risk from viruses and malware.
This is outright FALSE. While Microsoft is sticking to their guns with regards to Windows 7 Operating System Updates, they did reverse course at the last minute with regards to virus protection. You can still download and install Microsoft Security Essentials for free (now baked into Windows 10 but available as a separate download for 7) and it will still receive daily virus and malware definition updates for the foreseeable future. Microsoft had originally said that these updates would cease on January 14, but they changed their minds just days before. I am not surprised given Windows 7's strong market share. Microsoft had to compromise somewhere, and it appears that this is where they did so.

Next:
It should be noted that if you have a Windows 7 or 8 Home license, you can only update to Windows 10 Home, while Windows 7 or 8 Pro can only be updated to Windows 10 Pro (the upgrade is not available for Windows Enterprise.
This only partially true. You can, in fact, use a Windows 7 or 8 Pro license to update to Windows 10 home, just not the other way around. In fact, if you use a Windows 7 or 8 Pro license to attempt to activate a Windows 10 Home installation, it will prompt you asking you whether you want to keep home or upgrade it to pro.

As someone who does this stuff for a living, the amount of misinformation out there, especially from otherwise reputable sources, drives me crazy.

One other thing - that article only deals with upgrades. You can also do fresh installs on any Windows 7 or 8 machine. Particularly interesting is Windows 8. If you have a Windows 8 machine, its COA license is likely embedded into the BIOS without a COA sticker to be found. If you put a fresh install of Windows 10 on such a computer, upon connecting it to the internet, it will AUTOMATICALLY ACTIVATE ITSELF using the Windows 8 COA embedded into the BIOS. Lastly, while this would technically violate your TOS with Microsoft, you can use any Windows 7 COA you might have on an old computer to activate Windows 10 on a newer computer.
bmw
Posts: 7749
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:02 am

Re: Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

Unread post by bmw »

From boot-up until usable desktop, a barebones installation of Windows 10 takes virtually the same amount of time to boot as does Windows 7. I've tested both on various different hardware, and side-by-side, the boot time is basically identical.

As to cloud computing, again, this is anecdotal, but the majority of my clients prefer stand-alone installation of Office and their files saved to their local computer. Some do use OneDrive, but I'd say a small majority doesn't use any cloud storage whatsoever.

As to compatibility issues - honestly I haven't run into many with Windows 10. Generally speaking, Windows 10's automatic driver installation is solid. I have occasionally run into issues where I have to do driver rollback because the update just plain doesn't work (the worst case I ran into was just last week where I had an older laptop upgrade the Intel HD graphics driver and the desktop literally turned to gibberish, like when you crack an LCD screen. I had to boot into safe mode to roll it back, and then all was good.

One specific area where Windows 10 is great is in regards to printers. Most of the time, you just plug your printer's USB cable in and minutes later it is ready to go without having to do anything. If your printer is on the network, simply search for printer, click on it, and you're good to go.

The two biggest gripes I have with Windows 10 are the never-ending, auto-installing updates that are still very difficult to disable or slow down unless you know what you're doing, and also the lack of an F8 safe mode option. You basically have to hard-power down your PC 3 times during start up to force a safe mode option, and I hate doing that.

All of that said, I NEVER do an in-place upgrade. NEVER. Don't think I've ever done one. If someone wants Windows 10, I install it from a base image I have personally created myself onto a new SSD and then afterwards transfer their data and settings from the old drive to the new one. On a solid state hard drive, I can blast a full Windows 10 image onto a hard drive over a SATA-to-USB 3.0 connector in about 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Pop that drive into the target PC, let it auto-update the drivers, activate Windows, and it is good to go.

MW - if your laptop came with Windows 8 and you're doing a fresh install of Windows 10, it should auto-activate itself. If not, open a command prompt and type the following EXACTLY as follows:

wmic path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey

That will display the BIOS product key and you should be able to activate windows with that key.
km1125
Posts: 3789
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:09 pm

Re: Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

Unread post by km1125 »

bmw wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:41 pm ....
The two biggest gripes I have with Windows 10 are the never-ending, auto-installing updates that are still very difficult to disable or slow down unless you know what you're doing, and also the lack of an F8 safe mode option. You basically have to hard-power down your PC 3 times during start up to force a safe mode option, and I hate doing that.
....
I know you probably know this, but for others: You can set your network connection to "metered" and will will slow down or stop most of these updates. You can put it back to "unmetered" when you want to do the updates. You can do this for any wired or wireless connection, or just do it for some to have a bit more control over when the updates happen.
thatonedude
Posts: 427
Joined: Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:39 am

Re: Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

Unread post by thatonedude »

MW, you might want to get rid of Avast, especially after this scandal:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3516502 ... grams.html

I personally use Windows Defender and Malwarebytes on my Windows machine; on my Mac, I use Sophos and Malwarebytes (Macs can get malware, I don't care what anyone says).

Windows 10 is fine as an OS as long as you know what features to disable, especially the telemetry.
take this job and shove it
User avatar
audiophile
Posts: 9236
Joined: Sat Dec 04, 2004 9:21 pm
Location: Between 88 and 108 MHz.

Re: Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

Unread post by audiophile »

Plus it's almost worthless. MalwareBytes is much better at finding actual problems.
Ask not what your country can do FOR you; ask what they are about to do TO YOU!!
Deleted User 4520

Re: Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

Unread post by Deleted User 4520 »

The transition to Windows 10 was a bit rough way back when due to the lack of a start button. Glad later updates corrected the issue and gave us back the start button.
bmw
Posts: 7749
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 1:02 am

Re: Windows 10 upgrades are still available for free!

Unread post by bmw »

MW - have you upgraded your computers to using solid state hard drives? If not, you should DO SO IMMEDIATELY. You won't believe how much faster they boot up and how much snappier and more responsive they are to literally everything. And considering where prices are now, there's no excuse not to.
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