Windows 10 . Anybody downloaded it yet?

[Bert Cheese]

I forgot to mention we've also been upgraded to 10 at work, to universal dismay!

"What on earth is it doing now?" is a common question from the girls in the office, while our warehouse supervisor has lost his meticulously kept records for the youth football team he coaches, not very impressed at all...oh and its lost all the remote printer settings so we have to walk bits of paper between offices at present.

It doesn't help that our IT support is limited to someone who occasionally pops in at weekends as a favour, and has said we may have to live with some of the problems because of our network setup.

[melmerby]

I've had windows 10 on the laptop for a good few months now, but its been more trouble than its worth so I'll be reinstalling the original W7 it came with soon.

I have very little need for all the app based features it constantly bombards me with, has lost my printer/scanner/speakers at least twice and now refuses to recognise my Nikon SLR which is pretty much the final straw as far as I'm concerned...my existing photos are all in total disarray too under the new regime for reasons I cannot fathom.

It might be more suitable on a tablet or decent smartphone perhaps, but not for me

I don't understand the problem.

"I have very little need for all the app based features it constantly bombards me"

What are those?

My Win 10 works just like Win 7 only better and I don't get bombarded with anything apart from the system updates which I would rather choose when to apply rather than the default setting MS insist on.

N.B. Win 10 is running on 4 diverse computers in this household without any hassle.

 

This is what my desktop looks like:

 

Keith

[Oldddudders]

We all have different tastes in desktops. I found it easy on my iMac to clear absolutely everything off - I just have the mountain pic they provide, bringing the dock up if I want to run something. Win 10, like Win 8 before it, is utterly cluttered with live links I don't want. In fact I don't want anything at all, being far happier selecting progs from a drop-down list. Your many, many icons simply clutter what I can see is an attractive image.

 

If Win10 made the desktop more easily customisable and less phone-like it might have more friends.

[Butler Henderson]

I am under pressure to work at home some days a week; snag is with the office car park being shared with an exhibition centre its often only available to use a few days a month. Did try taking the work laptop home on the bus which was somewhat crowded and turning round I almost decapitated someone. I then discovered we can use our own pcs but the pincode access does not appear to work on W10. Informed IT from where their has been deadly silence, not too surprising as I'm convinced anyone who is any good at IT would be working for Microsoft etc and that leaves us office staff with the also rans.

[rab]

Well Windows 10 install completed in about an hour,

and when I logged back in and ran Open Office it even gave me the option to recover the document I was working on so not too much lost.

Only problem I now have is no internet connection.

Emailed the stepson who's a bit of a wizkid on these things.

He sent me some instructions, something about deleting network drivers and restarting to allow Windows to reinstall THEY.

I followed them to the letter, or thought I did,

deleted the driver I thought I was using and when I restarted not only did that one not reinstall, but most of the other network drivers have disappeared too!

Can see we'll be inviting him round for a meal soon,

then get him to sort it out while he is here.

In the meantime it's a good job I've got the tablet.

Well after 24hrs the missing network driver

must have reinstalled itself, as when I turned

the PC on again, hey presto I had network access.

The only problem I have now is that Windows 10 email

doesn't seem to like blue yonder accounts.

Fortunately I already have a Gmail account

but now I have the hassle of trying to remember

who has my blue yonder address and making sure

they now have the new one.

 

Apart from that, I have to say the changeover

hasn't been too bad (hope I'm not speaking too soon).

Printed \scanner works OK.

 

Can't say I've noticed much difference in boot up speed.

 

Time will tell!

Edited March 20, 2016 by rab

[melmerby]

We all have different tastes in desktops. I found it easy on my iMac to clear absolutely everything off - I just have the mountain pic they provide, bringing the dock up if I want to run something. Win 10, like Win 8 before it, is utterly cluttered with live links I don't want. In fact I don't want anything at all, being far happier selecting progs from a drop-down list. Your many, many icons simply clutter what I can see is an attractive image.

 

If Win10 made the desktop more easily customisable and less phone-like it might have more friends.

My desktop looks the same as it did under Win 7. There a few more media programs than before but most were there before I upgraded.

 

Keith

 

EDIT you can remove them all (they duplicate those I want from the "all apps" list) and just access them by clicking the window icon in the bottom LH.

Edited March 20, 2016 by melmerby

[russ p]

Well mine finally downloaded and installed on Friday.

Everything seems to work, but what's all the hype about it? It has the buttons on the bottom but other than that it doesn't seem to do anything my windows xp did

[keefer]

 

 

When I put Windows 10 on my laptop, I found wifi a bit hit and miss, particularly when running on the battery. Discovered that Windows 10 had put the wifi into a low power mode.

 

Right click the "Start" button, select Control Panel > Power Options > Change Plan Settings > Change Advanced Power Settings >

 

Expand the Wireless Adapter Settings > Power Saving Mode, and make sure they are set to Maximum Performance for both battery and plugged in.

 

Brian

Thanks for this, i will try this with my father-in-law's laptop - wife and i go up there about once a week and have noticed once or twice what seems to be connection issues that only resolve by restarting. Thought it was the router/internet service, but today noticed that the WiFi tile in the notifications bar was greyed out and the Airplane mode was selected. This certainly seems to be a power saving issue, so i'll try your suggestion.

 

On my own laptop, i felt no rush to go to win10 from win7, but had been having annoying problems which a restore to a previous system image did not cure (inc the wuauserv memory/processor drain). tried lots of fixes with no result so tried going to win10 many times since january - install always stopped at the 24% mark and restored back to win7.

What finally worked was using an ISO disc and selecting 'keep nothing' i.e. all personal files and settings lost - tried this and it went through no problem. Just had backed up my files and kept a note of programs i used, so i could download them again. Another advantage of this approach is the disappearance of any 'bloatware' that came installed on my laptop, but which i could never quite get rid of.

Only had a couple of driver niggles but just did 'update driver' in properties and all was ok.

 

I'm mostly sorted now (did it on Thursday), but like any change in OS/platform, it'll take more time to get into all the tricks and/or deviousness built in

It would also seem that you can use the start screen as much or as little as you want - they're really only shortcuts anyway

Finally, I'm not saying it's either the best thing ever or the biggest turd ever, but for what i do it does me fine. My laptop is about 6 yrs old now and came with win7 - which at first actually really annoyed me, mainly because of all the little things it DIDN'T do that my previous XP laptop did!

[Bill]

Well - That's it then - Windows Ten - which has been functioning Ho Hum since I reinstalled it for the third time three months ago.. is now up to its usual tricks.

First icons vanished and sometimes reappear elsewhere..

Then when playing video the old buzz and jump routine returned - on and off..

And now - yes you guessed it - the Start menu has vanished for the umpteenth time.

And no way is considering to return..

The question now then is..

Re-install Windows Ten and get it to limp along for another three months - if I'm lucky..?

Put up with this lame excuse for an operating system in its current state of dysfunction ?

Upgrade to Apple?

Buy a new IBM style computer..?

As a final thought - Maybe Windows Ten is not really meant to correctly upgrade on a windows 7 computer?

Is it, then, designed to drive the hapless upgrader to distraction and force them to buy a new computer.?

On which they will now have to run the new expensive subscription only software that is starting to infiltrate the app sphere..

This is the first time in my life I am beginning to think that conspiracy theorists are actually on to something..

I hope you are all having a much greater success with your love affairs with Window Ten..

Me - I'm looking for a divorce..

Edited March 21, 2016 by Bill

[vitalspark]

Well - That's it then - Windows Ten - which has been functioning Ho Hum since I reinstalled it for the third time three months ago.. is now up to its usual tricks.

The question now then is..

Re-install Windows Ten and get it to limp along for another three months - if I'm lucky..?

 

Upgrade to Apple?

 

 

 

You've hit it on the nail..upgrade to a Mac and forever forget the constant frustrations and problems that seem to be inherent in the recent Windows software.

I moved on to a Mac three years ago for just this reason and although it was twice the price and more compared to a PC it has been well worth it.

Never crashed..thats right never..in the three years I have had it and I use it for business as well as home use so on several hours each day.

No anti virus needed..,many use one but its optional..don't ask me why Macs are less prone to viruses but it seems to be the case.

No noisy fans..totally silent and start up measured in seconds not minutes.

You will hate it at first ..I did..but after a week or so you will begin to appreciate the more intuitive operating system.. another couple of weeks you will never go back to a PC.

If you do move up to a Mac the main problem you are likely to encounter is Windows files not opening.

I downloaded many Apple apps to combat this but they were only partially successful then I went on line and downloaded a free app that did the trick.

Do it..its the best advice I can give and to back it up have you ever heard of a Mac user considering moving back to Windows?..neither have I.

Dave. 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2016 by vitalspark

[rockershovel]

Seeing mention of W10 "not liking" blue yonder accounts, MacBooks certainly have problems with hotmail or lookout accounts.

[melmerby]

Considering three of my PCs have upgraded from Win 7 to Win 10 postulating that "Maybe Windows Ten is not really meant to correctly upgrade on a windows 7 computer?" is a non starter

One of those PCs also also upgraded from Win XP to Win 7 previously!

 

These days using a Mac without security software "because they don't get attacked" is IMHO somewhat risky as there have been and are an increasing number of attacks on the Mac system.

Historically the nefarious turds that do this couldn't be bothered as there were millions of unprotected Windows computers out there and the way in was harder on a Mac.

Now with more protected Windows PCs around a greater number of attackers are turning to the Apple system.

 

Keith

[Horsetan]

I'm in the office, going back to Windows 7.

[Metr0Land]

I'm in the office, going back to Windows 7.

 

....and going back to in-house wi-fi?

[Bill]

Further update -

Edge has now vanished without a trace - and just as I was getting to like it..

And..

No more free upgrades and support for Windows 10 - so it is now impossible to re-install unless I buy a copy for over 100 bucks..

..... 

So I think I shall now have to bow to the inevitable and buy a new computer..

Which is probably what they wanted me to do in the first place.

My instinct said "Don't upgrade to Windows 10"

But curiosity has killed the cat ...

Edited March 21, 2016 by Bill

[vitalspark]

Agree re non protecting Macs with Firewalls and anti virus is a bit risky..I certainly use them..belt and braces maybe but worth it.

 

Macs can mismatch with many windows programs and e mail is better on their own system however once set up it has definitaly been more stable over the years.

 

The huge advantage they have over Windows as I see it is that the software is written by Apple for use in Apple hardware..unlike Windows which would appear to have many more fingers in the pie and used in PCs from many manufacturers.

 

In saying that I have not updated my Mac o/s as like Windows they upgrade every year or even less but I have always taken the view that if the current o/s is working fine and the

 

new one offers no advantage to my needs then leave well alone.

 

Especially with i phones..never upgrade to the latest o/s as you will invariably lose out on something and it seems to be a one way street as in you cant re install the old system.

 

'If it aint broke don't fix it' definately applies imo.

 

Dave.

[Horsetan]

 

I'm in the office, going back to Windows 7.

 

....and going back to in-house wi-fi?

 

Now back on Win 7, and everything works just as it should. Except the scanner. No idea why. Not got any time to sort that one out, because I've got to catch up with all the work I missed when our network was out of action.

 

Meanwhile, BT have grudgingly told us that they will be in on Thursday to sort out our broadband.

[Butler Henderson]

Further update -

Edge has now vanished without a trace - and just as I was getting to like it..

And..

No more free upgrades and support for Windows 10 - so it is now impossible to re-install unless I buy a copy for over 100 bucks..

Care to clarify that, there are far too many false tales going around.

[johnarcher]

I have only just had a look at this thread, and I am feeling a little insecure. I have heard of laptops updating themselves to 10 (I have ignored all the invitations to upgrade so far), and then many people have problems, which require arcane magic like doing things to drivers (what are they? I thought they were the wheels with crankpins in), and going back to the previous version (8.1 in my case), none of which I would have the faintest idea how to do.

Can someone who does understand this stuff suggest somewhere where such procedures are explained in a way that doesn't require the reader to know so much computerese that they probably don't need the explanation anyway? In particular I can't risk losing internet connection, I work on Skype (teaching).

Edited March 21, 2016 by johnarcher

[RFS]

Further update -

Edge has now vanished without a trace - and just as I was getting to like it..

And..

No more free upgrades and support for Windows 10 - so it is now impossible to re-install unless I buy a copy for over 100 bucks..

 

 

If you've upgraded to Windows 10 then you have a permanent licence for that PC (if the PC was bought with Windows pre-installed) or for any PC (if you bought a separate full licence, or upgraded from a W7 full license) - in the latter case it's only one PC at a time (so you can do a hardware upgrade if you want). You can re-install any time you like - just download it from here - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

Don't understand what you mean by Edge having disappeared.  Go to start, all apps and scroll down to Microsoft Edge.  If you've lost the task bar short-cut then right-click on that, then "more"  and then "pin to task bar".

Edited March 21, 2016 by RFS

[raymw]

the easy way to find anything in w10 is to use Cortana (the circle/bar next to the windows logo on bottom-rh of task bar). simply type in edge/whatever (where it says 'ask me anything', and then you can run it from there (or pin it wherever you want)..

[Butler Henderson]

Cortana might be simple to use but it tracks your activity and for anyone concerned over what info Microsoft is gathering should disable it

 

I have only just had a look at this thread, and I am feeling a little insecure. I have heard of laptops updating themselves to 10 (I have ignored all the invitations to upgrade so far), and then many people have problems, which require arcane magic like doing things to drivers (what are they? I thought they were the wheels with crankpins in), and going back to the previous version (8.1 in my case), none of which I would have the faintest idea how to do.

Can someone who does understand this stuff suggest somewhere where such procedures are explained in a way that doesn't require the reader to know so much computerese that they probably don't need the explanation anyway? In particular I can't risk losing internet connection, I work on Skype (teaching).

Was the laptop new with W8, if so I would not be overly concerned. Have upgraded three W8.1 machines without any major problems, the worse being a mini laptop that defaulted it screen display to an extreme contrast setting which meant nothing could be seen, a quick goole on another machine came up with the solution.

 

Seems to me to be people upgrading fom W7, and then quite possibly on low spec machines, who have problems.

[Bill]

Butler Henderson, on 21 Mar 2016 - 19:37, said:

Care to clarify that, there are far too many false tales going around.

 

I went online to the Microsoft website to download Edge..

The location only produced a docx file and no plausible functional download..

Next I tried to find a download of Windows Ten -  many locations indicated it was possible..

But they all wound up on the same impossible to download page of the Microsoft Website..

It was -to say the least a very frustrating experience..

It was pretty convincing evidence that  - Yes the party is over..

No more free downloads of Windows 10 ..

......

What a wrecking ball this whole experience has proved to be...!

[beast66606]

Windows 10 is still happily or otherwise available to download for free - until 29 July at least.

[RFS]

I went online to the Microsoft website to download Edge..

The location only produced a docx file and no plausible functional download..

Next I tried to find a download of Windows Ten -  many locations indicated it was possible..

But they all wound up on the same impossible to download page of the Microsoft Website..

It was -to say the least a very frustrating experience..

It was pretty convincing evidence that  - Yes the party is over..

No more free downloads of Windows 10 ..

......

What a wrecking ball this whole experience has proved to be...!

 

Have you tried going here - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10  . You can download a copy of W10 to put on a Flash drive or ISO - scroll down to "download tool now".  You do need to do so with an account that has administrator rights.

 

Edge is integrated into W10 and I don't believe there's a separate download for it.

Edited March 22, 2016 by RFS