# Microsoft Windows 10 Free Upgrade : The Last Roundup



## MULTIZ321 (Jul 24, 2015)

Microsoft Windows 10 Free Upgrade : The Last Roundup 

http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...soft-windows-10-free-upgrade-the-last-roundup


Richard


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## TUGfan (Jul 24, 2015)

*Free OR Not ??????*

Richard, 

I have read many articles about the Windows 10 upgrade and I am still confused about whether it will be free or not. I have read that it will be free for a year....but cannot figure out what will happen after that year.

I have a laptop which came with Windows 8 and I upgraded to Windows 8.1 when it became available. 

Have you figured out Free OR Not Free??? Free for lifetime or not???

Thanks much!!!


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## Passepartout (Jul 24, 2015)

Win10 is a free upgrade for registered owners of Win7, 8, and 8.1. It will include a 1 year subscription of Office 365. After a year, you can re-up for Office or simply migrate to something like Open Office
Jim


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## SMHarman (Jul 24, 2015)

What he ^ said. 

The OS is free for life. 

The office365 is for 12 months.


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## TUGfan (Jul 27, 2015)

*Thx*

Appreciate the clarification. Thx!


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## MULTIZ321 (Jul 29, 2015)

Your Complete Guide to Microsoft Windows 10

http://time.com/3975117/windows-10-guide/


Richard


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## DazedandConfused (Jul 29, 2015)

With Microsoft, NOTHING is for FREE


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## Sandy (Jul 30, 2015)

I have an older laptop running Vista. I guess I would have to pay. Anyone know how much? It might be better to get a new laptop.


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## dioxide45 (Jul 30, 2015)

Sandy said:


> I have an older laptop running Vista. I guess I would have to pay. Anyone know how much? It might be better to get a new laptop.



I would just get a new laptop. Our old Vista machines are super slow. I would expect them to run even slower on Windows 10.


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## Passepartout (Jul 30, 2015)

I doubt your Vista machine has the capability to run Win10. Most of those had a GB or less of memory to run on and shared video memory out of that. Most Win8 ones will have 4 or more GB of memory and a gig or more of dedicated video.

It's time for a new computer. You'll be happier in the long run, and you need a new doorstop anyway. Use the Vista one for that.

Jim


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## Nancy (Jul 30, 2015)

I loaded it on DH's computer.  It took 3 to 4 hours.  (Sorry didn't pay attention to time when I started.)   

Nancy


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## Passepartout (Jul 30, 2015)

Did you have to enter the product key for your (old) Win8/8.1? I'm semi concerned as the sticker on the bottom of my 'puter doesn't contain it, and it was upgraded from 8 to 8.1 anyway. 

Jim


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## SMHarman (Jul 30, 2015)

Passepartout said:


> Did you have to enter the product key for your (old) Win8/8.1? I'm semi concerned as the sticker on the bottom of my 'puter doesn't contain it, and it was upgraded from 8 to 8.1 anyway.
> 
> Jim


Install keyfinder and get the key you are using.


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## Passepartout (Jul 30, 2015)

SMHarman said:


> Install keyfinder and get the key you are using.



Like Magic. Thanks.


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## bogey21 (Jul 31, 2015)

The box which has been in the tray at the bottom of my screen for months enticing me to load Windows 10 isn't there anymore.  Its absence is of no concern to me as I plan on sticking with Windows 7 as long as I can.  But I do find it interesting that the box is gone.

George


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## Free2Roam (Jul 31, 2015)

Passepartout said:


> Did you have to enter the product key for your (old) Win8/8.1? I'm semi concerned as the sticker on the bottom of my 'puter doesn't contain it, and it was upgraded from 8 to 8.1 anyway.
> 
> Jim


I did not need to enter the product key. 

Thursday evening I upgraded my Windows 7 machine that I rarely use...I just wanted to play with it a little.  I'll probably upgrade my Windows 8 machine in the next week or 2... depending on how I like it. I've already found that some of my addons for Firefox aren't compatible with the new Firefox version for Windows 10. 

Supposedly you have 30 days to "easily" revert back to your prior OS as long as you don't do disk cleanup or something like that.


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## Ty1on (Jul 31, 2015)

MULTIZ321 said:


> Microsoft Windows 10 Free Upgrade : The Last Roundup
> 
> http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...soft-windows-10-free-upgrade-the-last-roundup
> 
> ...



Windows 7 was a great operating system.  If I still had a 7 laptop, I wouldn't upgrade.

10 is currently downloading on this 8.1 laptop

2.7 GB download and moving pretty slow.


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## Nancy (Jul 31, 2015)

I updated my Windows 8 computer last night.  Did not need any key or number, etc.  Not sure how long it took.

Nancy


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## RonB (Jul 31, 2015)

FreeIn2010 said:


> I did not need to enter the product key.
> 
> Thursday evening I upgraded my Windows 7 machine that I rarely use...I just wanted to play with it a little.  I'll probably upgrade my Windows 8 machine in the next week or 2... depending on how I like it. I've already found that some of my addons for Firefox aren't compatible with the new Firefox version for Windows 10.
> 
> Supposedly you have 30 days to "easily" revert back to your prior OS as long as you don't do disk cleanup or something like that.



So how is 10 running on your 7 laptop? About the same, slower or faster?

Ron


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## Roger830 (Jul 31, 2015)

Sandy said:


> I have an older laptop running Vista. I guess I would have to pay. Anyone know how much? It might be better to get a new laptop.



I bought this computer from Best Buy a few months ago and love it. 
It has a 15.6" touch screen, plenty of memory for general use and the Intel i3 processor is very fast, much faster than my desktop machine with the Intel Celeron processor. It's a great deal at $400. I'd wait until it comes with Windows 10 installed.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6...rice/3464115.p?id=1219582884490&skuId=3464115


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## SMHarman (Jul 31, 2015)

RonB said:


> So how is 10 running on your 7 laptop? About the same, slower or faster?
> 
> Ron


Remember Windows 10 is actually NT 6.4 and Windows 7 is NT 6.2. 

This is much more an iiterative upgrade than a complete new OS. The kernel is the same, just the UI/UX changes.

More boringly this could be called Windows 7 Service Pack 4. Optimization for touch screens, convertible PC's and web 2.0


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## ace2000 (Jul 31, 2015)

SMHarman said:


> Remember Windows 10 is actually NT 6.4 and Windows 7 is NT 6.2.



Just between you and me (because nobody else probably cares)...  actually it is now on NT 10.0 not 6.4.


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## Ty1on (Jul 31, 2015)

Nancy said:


> I updated my Windows 8 computer last night.  Did not need any key or number, etc.  Not sure how long it took.
> 
> Nancy



It took about 45 minutes to download for me, and about another hour to install.  I read somewhere in MS documentation that upgrade doesn't require restart, but that was untrue.  Restarted many times during the process.

As with any major software install, ensure you have no other applications open when you begin the install.

The only glitch I've see so far is a an error message popping up that an operation failed when I first logged in.  Honestly, though, I did nothing but wake up and log on so it could finish the setup and I could see what the desktop looked like.

A)  The START BUTTON is back!
B)  No more toggling between a funky app desktop and a legacy Windows desktop.


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## Free2Roam (Jul 31, 2015)

RonB said:


> So how is 10 running on your 7 laptop? About the same, slower or faster?
> 
> Ron


I haven't yet had the chance to give it a good work over. But it seems more responsive...which is surprising considering the 1.60GHz AMD processor (3+ yr old HP all-in-one, not laptop). I rarely use it because it was too slow for my needs. 

After about a year of misery, I moved the HP to the family room and bought a Lenovo all-in-one (Intel processor running Windows 8) for my office. That will be upgraded next.


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## Bucky (Aug 1, 2015)

Ty1on said:


> It took about 45 minutes to download for me, and about another hour to install.  I read somewhere in MS documentation that upgrade doesn't require restart, but that was untrue.  Restarted many times during the process.
> 
> As with any major software install, ensure you have no other applications open when you begin the install.
> 
> ...



I'm installing it on my PC while I type on my iPad and the big blue screen says "Installing Windows 10. Your PC will restart several times. This might take awhile."


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## Tia (Aug 1, 2015)

Trying to do the change to 10 now but it keeps saying needs to restart, am on the third restart now......... hmmm


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## MuranoJo (Aug 1, 2015)

Passepartout said:


> Win10 is a free upgrade for registered owners of Win7, 8, and 8.1. It will include a 1 year subscription of Office 365. After a year, you can re-up for Office or simply migrate to something like Open Office
> Jim





SMHarman said:


> What he ^ said.
> 
> The OS is free for life.
> 
> The office365 is for 12 months.



Re. the free Office 365:  Just got a new desktop and loaded Win 10 today.  From what we can tell, Office 365 is only free for 30 days on desktops--the one-year-free offer is only for phones & small tablets.
Is this correct?


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## Ty1on (Aug 2, 2015)

I'm not impressed with the performance.  I had some latency issues with 8.1 on my new laptop, and 10 resolved none of them.


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## MuranoJo (Aug 2, 2015)

I keep getting bumped off the internet, but it may be because we have some glitches in our install process.  Troubleshooting says, "Network cable is not properly plugged in or may be broken."   Will check it out but believe all is plugged in the way it should be.

Yeah, I don't see a Start option, either.


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## Ty1on (Aug 2, 2015)

MuranoJo said:


> I keep getting bumped off the internet, but it may be because we have some glitches in our install process.  Troubleshooting says, "Network cable is not properly plugged in or may be broken."   Will check it out but believe all is plugged in the way it should be.
> 
> Yeah, I don't see a Start option, either.



"Start" button is where you were used to seeing it in Windows 7 and prior.  It's the perspective rectangular window icon from 8 though.


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## Polly Metallic (Aug 2, 2015)

I've been running 10 with no issues so far.


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## Bucky (Aug 2, 2015)

Works fine on my newer desktop. Had to revert back to Windows 7 on my 3yr old Acer laptop after discovering on Acers website they won't support Window 10 drivers for my model. Windows 10 downloaded just fine but without updated drivers it's useless for me! Had no wireless drivers and even the graphics card drivers couldn't be updated so the display was skewed!

A word of caution to all. Make sure you have downloaded updated drivers for windows 10 before downloading and installing it. Even though the MS tool told me my laptop was ok for Window 10, if you cannot get the drivers for it, you're out of luck.


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## pwrshift (Aug 2, 2015)

*Brain*

I just bought a new loaded HP laptop from Staples and they are installing Win10 on it for $59 service fee.  It took a long time and told me the download speed is very slow due to the current number of people getting it apparently.  

 When I got the computer they spelled my name wrong!!  (Brain instead of Brian).   

 I took it back and they are having a terrible time figuring out how to change the name and decided they had to reinstall the whole system to change the name.  They had it most of yesterday and at closing time 6 pm it was only 52% installed, so they called to say I could come today to get it as they'd run it overnight...but not to come until they called!

 Whatever happened to Windows 9?  How come they jumped from 7 to 8 to 10?

 Brain Brian


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## Ty1on (Aug 2, 2015)

pwrshift said:


> I just bought a new loaded HP laptop from Staples and they are installing Win10 on it for $59 service fee.  It took a long time and told me the download speed is very slow due to the current number of people getting it apparently.
> 
> When I got the computer they spelled my name wrong!!  (Brain instead of Brian).
> 
> ...



Because when programmers code for a program to do an OS version check, and they do something like "If Version=''Win9%' Then Do Something", % being a wildcard character, Then the program couldn't distinguish between Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 9.


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## Ken555 (Aug 2, 2015)

Ty1on said:


> Because when programmers code for a program to do an OS version check, and they do something like "If Version=''Win9%' Then Do Something", % being a wildcard character, Then the program couldn't distinguish between Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows 9.




That's just a rumor, so you shouldn't state it as fact.

Let's also not discount the possibility that Microsoft was done trying to appear less advanced than Apple since everything is in a number...and now they are equal from a marketing standpoint (even though anyone who spends more than a minute looking into this will know why this isn't true). Regardless, I bet MS marketing prefers Win 10 (which I think of as Win X). 


Sent from my iPad


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## Ty1on (Aug 2, 2015)

Ken555 said:


> That's just a rumor, so you shouldn't state it as fact.
> 
> Let's also not discount the possibility that Microsoft was done trying to appear less advanced than Apple since everything is in a number...and now they are equal from a marketing standpoint (even though anyone who spends more than a minute looking into this will know why this isn't true). Regardless, I bet MS marketing prefers Win 10 (which I think of as Win X).
> 
> ...



I rumor spread by a developer and heartily supported by multiple codemonkeys.


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## bogey21 (Aug 2, 2015)

bogey21 said:


> The box which has been in the tray at the bottom of my screen for months enticing me to load Windows 10 isn't there anymore.  Its absence is of no concern to me as I plan on sticking with Windows 7 as long as I can.  But I do find it interesting that the box is gone.



The box has reappeared after being AWOL for a couple of days.  Do these guys know what they are doing?

George


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## Talent312 (Aug 2, 2015)

I installed Win10 this AM.  It took about 2 hours with 3 reboots.
Looks and functions the same as it did with my "classic 7" desktop.
Using the Win-box in place of start button and ignoring "Edge" at the moment.
.


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## artringwald (Aug 2, 2015)

pwrshift said:


> I just bought a new loaded HP laptop from Staples and they are installing Win10 on it for $59 service fee.  It took a long time and told me the download speed is very slow due to the current number of people getting it apparently.
> 
> When I got the computer they spelled my name wrong!!  (Brain instead of Brian).
> 
> ...



Jimmie Kimmel says the real reason is that Windows 7 ate 9. :rofl:


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 3, 2015)

10 Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Windows 10 - by Michael Muchmore/ pcmag.com

"Windows 10 combines the best of Windows 7 with the innovations of 
Windows 8. Here's how to use it to the fullest..."







Richard


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## SmithOp (Aug 4, 2015)

pwrshift said:


> I just bought a new loaded HP laptop from Staples and they are installing Win10 on it for $59 service fee.  It took a long time and told me the download speed is very slow due to the current number of people getting it apparently.
> 
> When I got the computer they spelled my name wrong!!  (Brain instead of Brian).
> 
> ...




You should scratch them off your list of places to go for computer help, that is some serious incompetence.


Sent from my iPad using the strange new version of Tapatalk


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## SMHarman (Aug 4, 2015)

pwrshift said:


> I just bought a new loaded HP laptop from Staples and they are installing Win10 on it for $59 service fee.  It took a long time and told me the download speed is very slow due to the current number of people getting it apparently.
> 
> When I got the computer they spelled my name wrong!!  (Brain instead of Brian).
> 
> ...


Really. Add new user Brian. Delete old user Brain. 

Windows 10 Or X in Roman numerals like x box etc. 

Vista 7 8 and X are iterations of the same underlying OS. NT6.n


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## Ken555 (Aug 4, 2015)

SmithOp said:


> You should scratch them off your list of places to go for computer help, that is some serious incompetence.




+1

Some people just don't realize the (lack of) training employees at these big box stores really have, nor how much they are paid. I'm always amazed at those who hire companies like this for business systems which cost thousands and expect professional level service without fully realizing the tech the company has on staff is paid $15-18/hr. This is TUG, so I have to state the obvious: of course there are exceptions, but in general this is the case. You'd probably have better luck hiring the kid down the street to help you out next time.


Sent from my iPad


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 9, 2015)

The Five Biggest Changes to Media Playback in Windows 10 - by Ty Pendlebury/ Operating Systems/ News/ cnet.com

"With Windows 10, Microsoft has made some big changes in the way the operating system deals with your media files. Here are four reasons to cheer, and one to boo..."


Richard


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## hvsteve1 (Aug 18, 2015)

For those of you still reading this topic who have not yet loaded Win 10, it's still too early. You NEVER want something like this as soon as it's released.  There are always burps in the initial release and you don't want to be part of the early adapters who are victimized. For example, they already had a minor disaster.  Win 10, unlike earlier versions, does not let you opt out of automatic updates (unless you really know how to get down in the weeds with WIN 10 Professional). MS did an update which had a problem and, as it is now set up, your computer will keep restarting the download over and over if it doesn't take.  Users had their machines tied up for hours as they kept getting a message to allow the download to finish and restart.  You have a year to download this thing. Be patient and wait for them to work out the kinks.


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## pedro47 (Aug 18, 2015)

hvsteve1 said:


> For those of you still reading this topic who have not yet loaded Win 10, it's still too early. You NEVER want something like this as soon as it's released.  There are always burps in the initial release and you don't want to be part of the early adapters who are victimized. For example, they already had a minor disaster.  Win 10, unlike earlier versions, does not let you opt out of automatic updates (unless you really know how to get down in the weeds with WIN 10 Professional). MS did an update which had a problem and, as it is now set up, your computer will keep restarting the download over and over if it doesn't take.  Users had their machines tied up for hours as they kept getting a message to allow the download to finish and restart.  You have a year to download this thing. Be patient and wait for them to work out the kinks.



Great advice, I did not know that you have a year to download Window 10.


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## Passepartout (Aug 18, 2015)

hvsteve1 said:


> For those of you still reading this topic who have not yet loaded Win 10, it's still too early. You NEVER want something like this as soon as it's released.  There are always burps in the initial release and you don't want to be part of the early adapters who are victimized. For example, they already had a minor disaster.  Win 10, unlike earlier versions, does not let you opt out of automatic updates (unless you really know how to get down in the weeds with WIN 10 Professional). MS did an update which had a problem and, as it is now set up, your computer will keep restarting the download over and over if it doesn't take.  Users had their machines tied up for hours as they kept getting a message to allow the download to finish and restart.  You have a year to download this thing. Be patient and wait for them to work out the kinks.



There have been some kinks and burps, but the VAST majority are short-lived (like the one described above that lasted a day due to the 'magic' of continual, background updates), and largely caused by older, less capable hardware. Like attempting to load a fully loaded Win 10 on a 5 year-old machine with marginally enough RAM to run Win7, and with shared video memory and old, proprietary drivers.

Truth is millions and millions of people have downloaded and installed Windows 10 with no issues at all. But as stated, there's no rush. You do have a year to get it for free.


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## SMHarman (Aug 18, 2015)

My Dads 5 yo Pentium was running like a dog on 7. Did a Windows migration backup and then a reinstall of 7 then restored his files. The the 10 upgrade. That is working great now. He's happy and deferring a purchase to replace that machine. 

I'm holding off on my machine and with mymovies on it can't do it anyway due to the database that uses. 

Sent from my LT26i using Tapatalk


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## mas (Aug 18, 2015)

*Win 10 works fine  --  so far*

I have loaded win 10 on a laptop and two desktops with no problems so far.  Takes roughly an hour or so and have not been asked for product key on any of the installs.  

Interesting point is that win 10, like 8 and 8.1, does not include DVD playback 
(have to buy it from win store) but supposedly if you install over win 7, a future windows update will install a free DVD playback program.  This appears to be the case as I have the program on my laptop (previous OS was win7) and don't have it on either desktops which both were win 8.1 updates.  Not a big deal as free ware VLC works better anyway.


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## rapmarks (Aug 18, 2015)

regarding Staples:   paid $99 to transfer data to new computer I purchased from them.   My user name is Pstricia instead of Patricia; none of my pictures transferred; my Itunes transferred the titles, but not the music.  they sold me the wrong version of Word, and they reinstalled the correct one but it wouldn't stop installing.   They told me I would ruin my new computer if I stopped it.  Waited two hours, still installing; they had me drive home with it open and still installing.  The next morning it was still installing.   i called the store and they told me to turn it off.  it worked fine.


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## baybee210 (Aug 18, 2015)

I upgraded my windows 8.1 PC to Windows 10 yesterday. Upgrade was free and also hassle  free... very easy... and now my PC seems to run faster! I am very happy with upgrade.


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## Passepartout (Aug 18, 2015)

rapmarks said:


> regarding Staples:   paid $99 to transfer data to new computer I purchased from them.   My user name is Pstricia instead of Patricia; none of my pictures transferred; my Itunes transferred the titles, but not the music.  they sold me the wrong version of Word, and they reinstalled the correct one but it wouldn't stop installing.   They told me I would ruin my new computer if I stopped it.  Waited two hours, still installing; they had me drive home with it open and still installing.  The next morning it was still installing.   i called the store and they told me to turn it off.  it worked fine.



Sorry you had the difficulty. There was a caution upthread about using Staples/Office Max/Depot/Geeks for computer stuff. They simply don't know (or care) what they're doing. You may as well put the neighbor kid on the project.

Now, that said, when you finally shut it down and restarted, did that fix it? (you said 'it worked fine.') If not, you can have a Microsoft technician call you and fix it remotely.

It is my understanding that a 'fix' was out for the continuous installing. Obviously you didn't get it. And as to Word, the current edition is Office 365, and it's a subscription. Free for the first month then it's something like $100/yr. Too high for me. Adobe Open Office does what Office does, and is free and is compatible with Windows 10.


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## rapmarks (Aug 19, 2015)

If you switch to Windows 10, will the copy of Microsoft Word you have installed on computer continue to work

and all the Staples stuff happened almost two years ago when i bought the computer from them.    Unfortunately my computer chose to pass away when i was in my remote summer home with no choice but Staples (and that a 40 minute drive).


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## ace2000 (Aug 19, 2015)

rapmarks said:


> If you switch to Windows 10, will the copy of Microsoft Word you have installed on computer continue to work



Yes, I'm sure it will work fine.  

And there really is no need to rush the Windows upgrade.  I've upgraded mine, but couldn't really tell you one thing I like better.  Besides a different look and feel, the Start menu is about the only thing worth mentioning that is different.  And that was never a big deal for me the way it used to work.


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## Kal (Aug 19, 2015)

I upgraded two laptops and it was a very simple process.  I really had to search out the differences between W10 and W8.1.  The one challenge was that Microsoft went to great lengths to bury Internet Explorer 11 and make it difficult to find for the casual user.  I have a software program that works with IE so I need to use IE in the interim until there is a patch for the new browser.

 Other than that just a few twists and turns to locate settings, etc.  All the software and drivers that were in the W8.1 O/S appear to work perfectly.

 Now I need to upgrade my other two Windows 8.1 machines (desktop and tablet).


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## Elli (Aug 19, 2015)

I upgraded my Lenovo laptop from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and have no problems at all.  Everything is working the same way as it did with Windows 7.


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 20, 2015)

Windows 10 is Already Getting New Features Via Microsoft's Insider Program - by Napier Lopez/ Microsoft/ TNW News/ thenextweb.com

"As promised, Microsoft is continuing to preview new features for Windows 10 before they’re rolled out to the public. The company today launched build 10525, its first desktop Insider build since the official launch of the OS on July 29.

There isn’t too much in the way of new features, but two changes are notable. First up you now have a bit more flexibility in choosing a UI color: Windows 10’s ‘accent’ color will now apply to an app’s title bar as well..."

Richard


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## artringwald (Aug 23, 2015)

*Windows 10 activation for clean installs*

Since my desktop PC has two disk drives, I decided to keep 8.1 on my SSD drive, and do a clean install on the other drive. When the Windows 10 installer asked for my product key, it wouldn't accept the one I had, and wouldn't activate. I finally found this article.

http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

To do a clean install, you have to install Win 7 or 8 first, upgrade it to Windows 10, activate it, and then you can do a clean install. Once it’s activated from the upgrade, you don’t need the key to do the clean install. The servers remember that your hardware is activated for Windows 10.


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 26, 2015)

Windows 10 Is Now Installed on 75 Million PC's After Just 4 Weeks - by Tom Warren/ TheVerge.com

"Microsoft released Windows 10 four weeks ago today, and now the company is providing a fresh update on its upgrade figures. 14 million machines had been upgraded to Windows 10 within 24 hours of the operating system release last month, and that figure has now risen to more than 75 million in just four weeks. Microsoft has been rolling out Windows 10 in waves, as a free upgrade for Windows 8 and Windows 7 users. While it's difficult to compare exact figures between Windows 10 and Windows 8, Microsoft "sold" 40 million licenses of Windows 8 a month after its debut. It took Microsoft six months to get to 100 million licenses of Windows 8, and it's clear the free aspect of Windows 10 is obviously driving higher adoption rates..."

Richard


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## JEFF H (Aug 27, 2015)

Windows 10 has some serious privacy issues that anyone installing it to their machine should know and understand.
Microsoft has the right to use your Internet browsing history, Email and Chat usage and content for whatever they deem appropriate.
Anything you do on that win 10 computer they have the right to monitor, capture and reveal to whoever they want.
I have installed the free upgrade on one machine but after reading all the user agreements have held off on my other machines.
I think the reality is we no longer have any personnel privacy with what we do online or thru any electronic communications. With Windows 10 Microsoft is just putting that fact into their user agreements so their is no possible way a user can sue them for releasing any information at any time the choose.


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## bogey21 (Aug 29, 2015)

I have Windows7 and have no intention of upgrading to Windows10.  But I think Microsoft is costing me money with what they are doing.  I have a laptop with an air card for Internet access and pay by the Gb used.  Usually I use 5Gb, maybe 6 Gb in a month.  Last month it was 10 Gb.  In the last 4 days I used 3 Gb.  I checked with my provider to see when I incurred the heavy usage.  It all seems have come when I received updates (I accept automatic updates) from Microsoft.  My guess is that they are going back and doing things to Windows7 to facilitate the upgrade process from Windows7 to Windows10.  If I am wrong, tell me and I will look for other reasons.

George


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## dioxide45 (Aug 29, 2015)

bogey21 said:


> I have Windows7 and have no intention of upgrading to Windows10.  But I think Microsoft is costing me money with what they are doing.  I have a laptop with an air card for Internet access and pay by the Gb used.  Usually I use 5Gb, maybe 6 Gb in a month.  Last month it was 10 Gb.  In the last 4 days I used 3 Gb.  I checked with my provider to see when I incurred the heavy usage.  It all seems have come when I received updates (I accept automatic updates) from Microsoft.  My guess is that they are going back and doing things to Windows7 to facilitate the upgrade process from Windows7 to Windows10.  If I am wrong, tell me and I will look for other reasons.
> 
> George



Perhaps your system just downloaded the Windows 10 upgrade, now waiting for you to now install it?


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## Passepartout (Aug 29, 2015)

dioxide45 said:


> Perhaps your system just downloaded the Windows 10 upgrade, now waiting for you to now install it?



That's possible. George, is there a little 'Windows' (4 panes) logo at the bottom of your screen in the 'tray? If so, that would be the mystery download.


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## Passepartout (Aug 29, 2015)

JEFF H said:


> Windows 10 has some serious privacy issues that anyone installing it to their machine should know and understand.
> Microsoft has the right to use your Internet browsing history, Email and Chat usage and content for whatever they deem appropriate.
> Anything you do on that win 10 computer they have the right to monitor, capture and reveal to whoever they want.
> I have installed the free upgrade on one machine but after reading all the user agreements have held off on my other machines.
> I think the reality is we no longer have any personnel privacy with what we do online or thru any electronic communications. With Windows 10 Microsoft is just putting that fact into their user agreements so their is no possible way a user can sue them for releasing any information at any time the choose.



The above statement is only marginally accurate. Importantly, NOBODY is reading your emails, or chats or browsing history any more on Windows 10 that occurs in any other Operating System or browser. Period.

Following is the Microsoft Privacy Statement for Windows 7- 8- 8.1- and 10. It also outlines step-by step instructions for how to turn off or on any of the features- like private browsing and updates, etc. 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/ie10-win8-privacy-statement

I'm all for internet privacy, but this is not like NSA (having the right to) listening to your phone calls.

Really- Windows 10 is the BEST Windows EVER! To demonstrate it's power, I just asked Cortana (by voice) how to find MS's privacy policy and it popped up on my screen. Easy-peasy.

Jim


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## bogey21 (Aug 29, 2015)

Passepartout said:


> That's possible. George, is there a little 'Windows' (4 panes) logo at the bottom of your screen in the 'tray? If so, that would be the mystery download.



Yeah, the box is there.  I have been afraid to click on it figuring I would start the process of installing Windows 10 which I have no interest in.  If I don't want to activate Windows 10, can I just do nothing or is there something I have to do?

George


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## Passepartout (Aug 29, 2015)

bogey21 said:


> Yeah, the box is there.  I have been afraid to click on it figuring I would start the process of installing Windows 10 which I have no interest in.  If I don't want to activate Windows 10, can I just do nothing or is there something I have to do?
> 
> George



You can just do nothing. However, if you click on that Windows logo, it doesn't necessarily and irreversibly start the installation process. The first thing it would do is check your computer to see if it's up to snuff to run that new version of Windows, and it would check the license code for your Windows 7. After it does those checks, it would ask you to click a button to start the installation- at a time you select- like 0200 on a morning you would be sleeping, or away- or right now. It takes a couple of hours, restarts the computer 2-3 times, needs to be connected to the Internet. And EVEN THEN, if you try Windows 10, and decide it STILL is not for you, you can click a couple of dialog boxes and undo the whole shebang.

I know you've been adamant about dying before Windows 7 dies, but just between us chickens, you might just like Windows 10.

Jim


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## bogey21 (Aug 30, 2015)

bogey21 said:


> I have Windows7 and have no intention of upgrading to Windows10.  But I think Microsoft is costing me money with what they are doing.  I have a laptop with an air card for Internet access and pay by the Gb used.  Usually I use 5Gb, maybe 6 Gb in a month.  Last month it was 10 Gb.  In the last 4 days I used 3 Gb.  I checked with my provider to see when I incurred the heavy usage.  It all seems have come when I received updates (I accept automatic updates) from Microsoft.  My guess is that they are going back and doing things to Windows7 to facilitate the upgrade process from Windows7 to Windows10.  If I am wrong, tell me and I will look for other reasons.



I *may* have solved my problem.  It looks like I was set up to accept "automatic" updates.  It looks like Microsoft was firing updates at me for Windows 10 that my laptop was rejecting because I hadn't signed up for it.  It looks like because the updates were rejected Microsoft would send them over and over.  I changed the setting so that I now can pick and choose which updates to download.

George


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## Passepartout (Aug 30, 2015)

bogey21 said:


> I *may* have solved my problem.  It looks like I was set up to accept "automatic" updates.
> [snip]
> I changed the setting so that I now can pick and choose which updates to download.
> 
> George



How do you know which ones are valuable and which ones aren't? I isn't like having a pop-up ad blocker that just keeps you from seeing commercial advertising. Often those MS updates are security and privacy enhancements and esoteric code updates for known viruses and malware. I'm not smart enough to tell the difference. Happy to hear that you are.


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## bogey21 (Aug 30, 2015)

I looked at the history of what they had sent me.  The ones that were rejected all had the words "Windows 10" in them.  It looks like I can go to a list of "Available Updates" and check  boxes next the ones I want to process.  Only time will tell.

George


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## Passepartout (Aug 30, 2015)

bogey21 said:


> I looked at the history of what they had sent me.  The ones that were rejected all had the words "Windows 10" in them.  It looks like I can go to a list of "Available Updates" and check  boxes next the ones I want to process.  *Only time will tell*.
> 
> George



That's about it. You probably will see a lot of Win10 updates, because that's the way it works. Instead of 'Service Pack 1' or periodic new versions (don't look for Windows 9- 11- 12- etc.) Windows 10 is designed to continually update and upgrade itself in the background as you use it. A new whole set of code came out last week to fix suspected security flaws, and hardware glitches- the touchpad problem on my Lenovo that the in initial install of Win10 'fixed' went back to the way it was before after an update.

All in all, Win10 is getting better all the time. Now if developers will get up to speed on add-ons for the new Edge browser. So far, there's only a marginally effective ad-blocker.

Some you win, some you lose, some get rained out. [shrug]

Jim


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## Talent312 (Aug 31, 2015)

Power-User Tips:
I've been messing with user accounts - adding and removing.
Using Settings-Accounts is clunky. So I found two alternatives:

1. The old Control Panel: Right-click on the Start button.
Using Control Panel - Users, you can delete users + their files.
I elected to delete an old user's files. That was a wrong move!
Alll my docs were in that account. I discover all my docs gone.
_I have backups, but this is going to be a royal P-I-A._

2. Running "netplwiz" command from the "Run" box.
R-click on Start and select Run (or use <win-key>"R").
There's an option to skip passwords when signing in.
Make that at least one user is in the "Administrator" group.


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## Passepartout (Aug 31, 2015)

Talent312 said:


> 1. The old Control Panel: Right-click on the Start button.
> Using Control Panel - Users, you can delete users + their files.
> I elected to delete an old user's files. That was a wrong move!
> Alll my docs were in that account. I discover all my docs gone.
> _I have backups, but this is going to be a royal P-I-A._



Will a 'system restore' back to an earlier time fix this and restore your settings?

I'll make a small friendly wager that there was a dialog box that warned you that doing this would permanently delete files and you elected to go ahead. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy.

Hope it doesn't take too long to remedy.

Jim


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## MULTIZ321 (Aug 31, 2015)

Microsoft Windows 10 Free Upgrade Revisited: Seven More of Your Questions Answered - by Jack Schofield/ Technology/ Ask Jack/ theguardian/ theguardian.com

"More than 75m PCs were upgraded to Windows 10 in the first month, and readers still have questions about installation disks, product keys, downgrading and more..."



Richard


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## BobDE (Sep 1, 2015)

Took the plunge yesterday. Upgraded 2 desktops and my laptop. Had to do my wife's via the manually downloaded installer as hers was stuck on "Please wait". Mine got the evil black screen, but a reboot fixed that.

So far all seems to work fine and fast with the exception of my home network. Seems to have disappeared. Maybe a little research this afternoon.

Other than that all went pretty smooth and it seems faster for sure.


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## Talent312 (Sep 1, 2015)

Passepartout said:


> Will a 'system restore' back to an earlier time fix this and restore your settings? I'll make a small friendly wager that there was a dialog box that warned you that doing this would permanently delete files...



Yeah, there was a warning, but I had already copied all my photos, desktop, bookmarks and other app-data to the new user, so I plowed right thru the stop sign. I forgot about the docs.

I could'a tried a system-restore, but elected to simply copy the docs from a 6-month old backup DVD. A few had change, but for those I had recent backups. It's all good, now.
.


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## MULTIZ321 (Sep 2, 2015)

Windows 10 Grabs 5.21% Market Share, Passing Windows Vista and Windows 8 In Just One Month - by Emil Protalinski/ Apps/ VentureBeat.com

"The effects of a free upgrade to Windows 10 are starting to trickle in. Available for just over a month, Windows 10 has now captured more than 5 percent market share, according to the latest figures from Net Applications.

In just four weeks, Windows 10 has already been installed on over 75 million PCs. Microsoft is aiming to have 1 billion devices running Windows 10 “in two to three years,” though that includes not just PCs, but smartphones, consoles, and other devices as well.

Windows 10 had 0.39 percent market share in July, and gained 4.82 percentage points to hit 5.21 percent in August. This is the fastest we’ve seen an OS hit 5 percent, and while we’re unlikely to witness growth like that again, we doubt the firsts will stop here..."

Richard


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## MULTIZ321 (Sep 5, 2015)

Microsoft Steering Windows 10 Users Away From Non-Microsoft Browsers - by Lauren Goode/ Microsoft/ Tech/ theverge.com

"Microsoft is aggressively pushing its own Edge browser when you run a Bing search for another browser..."


Richard


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## tompalm (Sep 6, 2015)

I just upgraded to Windows 10.  It was easy and went well.  However, it seems slower than Windows 8.1.  Has anyone noticed this?


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## Passepartout (Sep 6, 2015)

Another anecdote: My DW is a bit of a Luddite. Not that she is opposed to technology, but she hates to change. She just likes what she is used to. If that means there are workarounds to get her trusty laptop to do things, that's fine. So with her trusty ol' laptop overheating, screen blacking out, having to go to the freezer for a blue ice thingy to keep under it, (finally- after at least a year)she finally bought a new 'convertible'. With Windows 10. And had a local tech shop (no Geeks) remove all the bloat ware and move her files and photos from the old one to the new one.

Bottom line, She's LOVING it. She's taken a little time - a couple of days to put the tiles where she's used to seeing them, and customize some of it's processes. Windows 10 seems to take some time to find your stuff. Like to populate the 'live tiles' with things like your photos, music, people, automatically load your most popular websites and remember your chosen newsfeeds. So, as you use Windows 10, it learns how you use it, and it becomes better, faster, and easier to use.


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## Free2Roam (Sep 6, 2015)

I haven't taken the time to research, but I miss having the "Recent Documents" link on my start menu. Has anyone else missed that and figured out how to add it?


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## MULTIZ321 (Sep 6, 2015)

FreeIn2010 said:


> I haven't taken the time to research, but I miss having the "Recent Documents" link on my start menu. Has anyone else missed that and figured out how to add it?



Hi Juanita,

Try this - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307875#bookmark-2

Don't know if it will work, because I don't have Windows 10 but it's worth a try.


Richard


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## Passepartout (Sep 6, 2015)

FreeIn2010 said:


> I haven't taken the time to research, but I miss having the "Recent Documents" link on my start menu. Has anyone else missed that and figured out how to add it?



Are you in Office? What kind of documents or files do you seek? The easy way to find anything in Windows 10 is to ask Cortana. Just click the little circle either in your tray or in your start menu and type your request. Of course you can click the microphone in Cortana and ask verbally. ("Cortana, where are my recent documents?") Then when found, you can right click and put them on the start menu or add a tile with them.

Jim


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## Free2Roam (Sep 6, 2015)

MULTIZ321 said:


> Hi Juanita,
> 
> Try this - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/307875#bookmark-2
> 
> ...



Thanks for checking Richard. But there's no "customize" option when you right click the start button in Windows 10.


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## Free2Roam (Sep 6, 2015)

Passepartout said:


> Are you in Office? What kind of documents or files do you seek? The easy way to find anything in Windows 10 is to ask Cortana. Just click the little circle either in your tray or in your start menu and type your request. Of course you can click the microphone in Cortana and ask verbally. ("Cortana, where are my recent documents?") Then when found, you can right click and put them on the start menu or add a tile with them.
> 
> Jim



Haven't asked Cortana... I'll see what she says. Thanks! 

FYI Recently opened documents of all types would show there.


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## Bucky (Sep 8, 2015)

FreeIn2010 said:


> I haven't taken the time to research, but I miss having the "Recent Documents" link on my start menu. Has anyone else missed that and figured out how to add it?



I have "File Explorer" on my task bar. Was there when I installed Windows 10. All my recent files are listed right there along with "Frequent Folders". All are listed under "Quick Access".


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## Passepartout (Sep 8, 2015)

Cortana gave me a link that said there is a 'Home' selection in File Explorer that contains recently opened files. Sure enough, there it is.

Jim


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## Free2Roam (Sep 8, 2015)

Bucky said:


> I have "File Explorer" on my task bar. Was there when I installed Windows 10. All my recent files are listed right there along with "Frequent Folders". All are listed under "Quick Access".


That's very helpful. Thanks! Not as convenient as the prior version, but much, much better than nothing!


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