Windows 10 Done it.

[floppybootstomp]

Just changed from Windows 7 to Windows 10. And I hate it. But I knew I would and I know I have to give it time so we'll reserve judgement for five days or so. I'm also feeling quite chuffed I actually went ahead and just did it. Just like that.

I purchased and installed Start 10 (£3.58) and that made me feel a lot more comfortable but I still can't set a browser home page, the method seems to elude me. I'm using the default browser, something named 'Edge' and frankly I'm not impressed. I can't find IE anywhere.

MSE has gone and Speccy has gone, Win 10 doesn't like them. I must confess to feeling pretty much lost atm, I'm even having trouble disabling all the power saving settings.

Still, I did expect this so I shall persevere. Cortana has to go, all the 'apps' trying to flog me stuff have to go and a million settings need changing. Hopefully after a lot of kerfuffing about I might like this thing.

And it would be good to be able to disable automatic updates as well but from what I've read that's not possible. I changed from Win 7 Premium which means I get the Win 10 cheapo version which in turn means auto updates are compulsory. Or so it seems so far.

So, here we are, I have changed (note I don't use the term 'upgraded'). One step at a time

 

[muckshifter]

They will Assimilate all mankind!

Edge is the 'new' IE ... it's not finished, yet.
If you want MSE, the new name is Windows Defender. (its as crap, err, I mean as good as MSE)
Don't you remember MS love to change the names of their ... apps. (programs)

Speccy does work, you'll just have to re-installing it.

Go get Spybot Anti-Beacon and one-shot all them annoying fone-home 'apps' from MS.

Good luck in your adventure to tame Microsoft. You'll soon be able to install Ubuntu WITH Windows (as an app?) ... now ain't that something.


"welcome to the darkside, you can enter, but never leave"

 

[bootneck02]

I had Windows 10 on my PC for a couple of months and I couldn’t get on with it that is why I went native and downloaded Mint and couldn’t be happier now. My wife's PC has Windows 10 on her PC and she seems to like it so I think it is horses for courses. Good luck with it Mr Flops but I will not be going back to Microsoft offerings any time soon.


[mucks edit:changed the name to protect my innocence]

 

[V_R]

Edge is crap Flops, its fast, but no extensions and very basic. Get yourself an alternative or IE is in there somewhere, Try typing it into the search bar.

I'm still not a fan of the new Start menu, and I have Start 10 installed, Classic Shell is also very good.

Yeah when I updated it removed Speccy, CPUZ and something else. Kind of odd to be honest, but not a huge deal.

As for the auto updates, its not a big deal, though I did make sure it was set to not install newer drivers, see about half way down here: http://www.howtogeek.com/223864/how-to-uninstall-and-block-updates-and-drivers-on-windows-10/

Also, pretty much every tip / tweak is listed here, have a read though it at your leisure.
https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/5213/complete-guide-to-windows-10

Go get Spybot Anti-Beacon and one-shot all them annoying fone-home 'apps' from MS.

Ah yea that reminds me, added to the software list thread.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I just figured I could have used Classic Shell and saved meself £3.58 but Start 10 does do a good job so no tears there. The Edge Browser has been consigned to the dustbin and I have now found IE11 and pinned it to the task bar. I read that Edge made it difficult to change the homepage so MS could keep directing sheeple to its own interests, including, of course, app sales.

IE11 is in Windows Accessories btw and my Opera Browser install has also survived the transition so that'll do me for browsers for now. If Google Chrome weren't so aggressive/persistent in their marketing I might have considered using it but they give me the hump so the hell with them And I don't like Firefox.

Which means I'm probably not like everybody else. Same goes with Antivirus software, I use what I like, not what people tell me to use. I like MSE/Defender so I will use it and in the past MSE has nobbled nasties for me so I tend to be skeptical of those 'unbiased' reports which crop up all over the web.

Mucks tells me MSE/Defender is crap, I don't care So what do most folk here use? Seems they use either something paid for (which I won't do) or this Bitdefender freebie version. The same Bitdefender that when I used it deleted several *.exe files without first asking me and thus rendered several software apps of mine useless. Now THAT is crap in my book, behaviour such as that is despicable so Bitdefender won't come anywhere near any machine of mine.

Besides, somebody has to stick up for the underdog so Go Opera! Go IE11! and Go Defender!

Bitdefender, Firefox and Google Chrome - go take a long walk off a short pier

I am now regularly using Libre Office and very good it is too. Due to recently changed circumstances I am now no longer using MS Office 2007 *cough* which means I am no longer using Outlook as a mail client. So I need something new for my emails. Does Win 10 have something similar to Win 7's Windows Mail? Can anybody recommend a good (free) email client?

I am all lugholes

 

[nivrip]

Can anybody recommend a good (free) email client?

I am all lugholes

Gmail, but there again you don't like Google Chrome so you probably will be anti anything Google.

in the past MSE has nobbled nasties for me so I tend to be skeptical of those 'unbiased' reports which crop up all over the web.

Of course, other AVs may have also nobbled those same nasties. We will never know.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Gmail, but there again you don't like Google Chrome so you probably will be anti anything Google.

I have a gmail address and I use Google as a search engine, I just don't take kindly to constant attempts to shove something down my throat. Like Google Chrome. So I think in this instance the word 'probably' is erroneous.

Do Google make a free program similar to Outlook then? I know my gmail account has it's own page but I'd always assumed it just dealt with mail on that account. I need something to deal with accounts with gmail; pcreview, Zen and Hotmail.

Of course, other AVs may have also nobbled those same nasties. We will never know.

Of course, of course. But the point I'm making here is not that supposedly superior AV programs could NOT detect and deal with viruses but the fact that MSE (reminder - dubbed 'crap') did manage to also deal with them.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I read there is a built in email client with Win 10 but I had no luck at all trying to find it and make use of it so in the end I just went with Thunderbird. Simple, efficient and dead-easy-to-set-up Thunderbird. Sorted All 4 accounts now doing what they're supposed to do.

 

[MJChappell]

I was very comfy with Win7 Starter on my Notebook, Toshiba N505B. Heck, it's YEARS old...but I did max out the memory to 2GB. Then came Win10..free mind you..'rot roh'. Anything free has it's good and bad sides. The bad side and the only side I am VERY concerned about. Though everything, meaning my desktop from Win7 loaded..the only 'slight' issue was AVG. I had to go to the website and download the Win10 version, no biggie. MAIN problem... ZIP FILES!! When I open zip files with WinZip..it changes every THING back to default of Windows. Googled the issue and they have a fix that is somewhat complicated..well to me it is. Any one else having these issues opening zip files?

 

[rodcarty]

I am now regularly using Libre Office and very good it is too. Due to recently changed circumstances I am now no longer using MS Office 2007 *cough* which means I am no longer using Outlook as a mail client. So I need something new for my emails. Does Win 10 have something similar to Win 7's Windows Mail? Can anybody recommend a good (free) email client?

I am all lugholes

I recommend Mozilla's ThunderBird. I've been using it for years on Windows since XP and it comes preinstalled on Ubuntu if you ever give up on Windows 10

Libre Office Writer and Calc are preinstalled on Ubuntu as well..

 

[rodcarty]

And it would be good to be able to disable automatic updates as well but from what I've read that's not possible. I changed from Win 7 Premium which means I get the Win 10 cheapo version which in turn means auto updates are compulsory. Or so it seems so far.

So, here we are, I have changed (note I don't use the term 'upgraded'). One step at a time

The only choice I've been able to set on Windows 10 boxes is to change the setting to allow me to decide when to reboot. The update process appears to have changed so now the computer goes into a semi-shut down state to install updates, then always reboots to finish the install plus return to the desktop. It's no longer possible to continue working while updates install.

Here's a registry change to make that gives you the choice to schedule the (install and) reboot or to do it now, if you don't see those choices in Windows 10's Windows Update window. As always, Windows needs to be restarted for the registry changes to take effect.

1. Type regedit in RUN or Start search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

3. Create a new key under Windows key and set its name as WindowsUpdate

4. Create another new key under WindowsUpdate key and set its name as AU

So the final key path would be:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

5. Now select AU key and in right-side pane create a new DWORD AUOptions and set its value to any of following according to your requirements:

2 (To notify for download and notify for install)
3 (To auto download and notify for install)
4 (To auto download and schedule the install)
5 (To allow local admin to choose setting)

 

[floppybootstomp]

I recommend Mozilla's ThunderBird. I've been using it for years on Windows since XP and it comes preinstalled on Ubuntu if you ever give up on Windows 10

Libre Office Writer and Calc are preinstalled on Ubuntu as well..

See post # 8 - I've already installed and am using Thunderbird.

Thanks for the pointer about Libre Office/Ubuntu but I do also use Mint which also comes pre-installed with those software applications.

I have now disabled auto-update within Win 10, I wasn't keen on the idea of Microsoft updating drivers as well as OS updates.

I haven't got shot of Cortana yet though. From what I've read of Cortana online I think maybe MS should rename it 'Albatross'

 

[rodcarty]

Classic Shell gives a normal search field when you click the start button, a little confusing with it being just above the Cortana field. It seems to me then the only reason to remove Cortana is to remove that confusion and to reclaim TaskBar space.

Somehow I missed post #8. Glad to see you're using it. With my tech work I get a very high volume of emails, and I would not be able to manage without the filters which I use to move the majority of new messages into various folders. The free utility MozBackup makes migration to another computer a snap.

 

[Ray Kirkwood]

I have had every Windows OS on my main desktop PC since 2001 and now find Windows 10 by far the fastest and most stable home PC OS so far. It is massively faster in rendering large HD video files than even Windows 7 and copes well with my need to run program combinations such as large Word documents and Naturally Speaking dictation together, whilst allowing other files such as my Outlook Calendar and a connection to the Open University on-line files I need in my work as a distance tutor, to be open in other windows. All this and I still am warned of the arrival of emails over the top and it is still able to take disk image incremental saves of my OS and Data drives, in the background.

I have no connection with Microsoft but have become rather weary with seeing the amount of ill-founded criticism of their new OS.

Setup of my PC is : Built my own PC from parts 8 years ago, with Gigabyte motherboard and Intel Quad 2.8 CPU, 8 GB RAM, OS running in 64-bit on Samsung 250 GB SSD. Amateur computer hobbyist only.

 

[bootneck02]

Hi Ray, welcome to PCR as I see this is your first post we are generally a welcoming bunch and like new members and contributors so please join in and enjoy.

I think it is horses for courses, what I did not like was the privacy issues with W10 also the fact that they were downloading updates automaticly and I felt I was losing control of my PC which like you I built.

The spec of my PC Home built PC:- Linux Mint 64bit, CPU Asus A88X-Plus, Hard drive Seagate SSHD 2TB, Ram 8 GB, Sound Card XONAR DS, Speakers Microlab FC360 2.1, Video Card GeForce GT640.

As far as I am concerned if you are happy with Microsoft's offerings great, but I found that there are many different operating systems out there that are as good as Microsoft and Mac and are as easy to use for the novice where you can dual boot or go completely over to. Yes there are many who love W 10 and good luck to them but I felt I was losing control of the PC that I built and have gone over to an alternative OS which I have control over. Once again as I have said if you are happy with it great but there are alternatives to Microsoft offerings.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I have no connection with Microsoft but have become rather weary with seeing the amount of ill-founded criticism of their new OS.

Is criticism of MS's latest offering ill-founded? There's no smoke without fire and there sure is a lot of criticism. There are usually two distinct camps when it comes to Microsoft Windows - for and against. I am neither, I tend to see both the bad and the good.

Just a few days after installing Win 7 way back when I had formed the opinion it was the best OS MS had ever offered. I tried Win 8 when it was released, that lasted 2 days - imo it was awful. Again, I tried Win 10 last July but this time thought it showed promise but I've waited 8 months before fully committing myself.

Most of the criticism levelled at Win 10 is not usually the inner workings and it's speed but almost always about Microsofts' attitude. Specifically the way they try and nanny their users, tie them into things the way they want them to run, constantly try and take users money for 'apps' and foist rubbish like Cortana upon us.

Cortana is useless without a microphone and/or camera, neither of which I use on my desktop PC and as such it should be optional. But no, MS have integrated this travesty to be part of the central OS code and to remove it without help from outside software is to more or less cripple Win 10. That is, if a user can figure out how to get shot of it, MS don't make it easy do they? And I'm quite capable of doing a search online, I don't need Cortana for that.

When it comes to auto-updating I'm told MS will install software such as video drivers without asking permission and in some instances this has led to crippled PC's. Not good. So I've disabled auto-updates like this: Administrative Tools >> open Services >> scroll down to find Windows Update Service >> Double click; click stop button then set startup type to disabled.

To check for updates: (PC settings; Updates & Security) enable those services again in reverse order. Before I apply updates I'm backing up my OS (240Gb SSD) using Acronis True Image, the free Western Digital version.

I've been using Win 10 a few days now and much to my surprise I'm starting to like it. And this is before I've fully tweaked it. It's definitely faster than Win 7 and with the help of Start 10 I'm now feeling familiar with it. I'm now used to Mozilla Thunderbird mail client, that took a little getting used to.

Speccy latest version 1.29 does install ok, I used it to find out which makes my five HDD's were and as one of them is Western Digital I qualified for the free version of Acronis True Image from Western Digital. I had to use this as Win 10 told me my 2013 version of ATI wasn't compatible with Win 10. There are usually software casualties when MS change OS's, I accept this.

I was given a Kingston HyperX Fury 240Gb SSD HDD free with my video card purchase and this is faster than the 3 or 4 year old Crucial SSD HDD I have in there atm so using ATI I'm going to clone the Crucial to the Kingston HDD for, hopefully, faster speeds.

No other anomalies to report so far and I have to say, all in all, a cautious thumbs up.

 

[V_R]

Mucks tells me MSE/Defender is crap, I don't care So what do most folk here use? Seems they use either something paid for (which I won't do) or this Bitdefender freebie version. The same Bitdefender that when I used it deleted several *.exe files without first asking me and thus rendered several software apps of mine useless. Now THAT is crap in my book, behaviour such as that is despicable so Bitdefender won't come anywhere near any machine of mine.

I've been using Bitdefender free for ages not had much of an issue with it until recently, a few times now its randomly started using 100% CPU and slowing down my PC and only a reboot fixes it. So I've sacked it off and installed Avira Free which I used to use years ago, I quite like it so far. Time will tell.

Cortana is useless without a microphone and/or camera, neither of which I use on my desktop PC and as such it should be optional. But no, MS have integrated this travesty to be part of the central OS code and to remove it without help from outside software is to more or less cripple Win 10. That is, if a user can figure out how to get shot of it, MS don't make it easy do they? And I'm quite capable of doing a search online, I don't need Cortana for that.

You can turn Cortana off, But I agree, removing it would be preferred.

When it comes to auto-updating I'm told MS will install software such as video drivers without asking permission and in some instances this has led to crippled PC's. Not good. So I've disabled auto-updates like this: Administrative Tools >> open Services >> scroll down to find Windows Update Service >> Double click; click stop button then set startup type to disabled.

To check for updates: (PC settings; Updates & Security) enable those services again in reverse order. Before I apply updates I'm backing up my OS (240Gb SSD) using Acronis True Image, the free Western Digital version.

No need to do that tbh: http://winsupersite.com/windows-10/stop-automatic-driver-updates-windows-10

 

[nivrip]

Well, I've gone and done it too.

Realising that the free upgrade is coming to an end soon I decided to give it a go. I had looked at it when the upgrade became available last year but it seemed so complex then. There was all this stuff about a Win 10 Upgrade Tool which kept telling me that I didn't have all the updates required to set it going even though the updates were present in the update list ! I got so frustrated with this that I gave up and decided to try again this year.

So, this time I simply went on to MS website and clicked on Download Win 10. It was that simple, although a bit time consuming, taking about an hour to download and install. Into it straightaway, although I must admit that I had a little experience of Win 10, having practised a bit on my daughter's laptop.

I moved onto IE 11 and set up the home page I had used previously so things are much the same. I don't use Edge at all, nor do I use Cortana, although I might look at it later. I am still using Kaspersky AV with no problems. I also found Windows Media Player which I have always used and liked, so that remains the same too.

Hoping to get away from MS Office I have downloaded Kingsoft Office which is free and, I think, very effective. I have a very complex Excel programme on my PC and I have been looking for some time for a free replacement for MS Office. I tried both Open Office ( now called Apache) and Libre Office but neither could cope with the complexity of the programme. However, Kingsoft Office (also known as WPS Office) copes without problem and provides Writer (Word), Presentation (Powerpoint) and Spreadsheets (Excel). I think it is probably good enough to be included in the list of recommended programmes in VR's sticky.

I shall be looking at the Autoupdates section which others seem to have disabled. That appeals to me too.

All in all, it was very straightforward.

 

[bootneck02]

Great stuff nivrip I wish you all the luck with Windows 10, and Kingsoft Office comes with a good reputation.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Well done nivrip and I wish you luck with Win 10.

I might just have to try this Kingsoft Office, it's a new one on me, though so far I've managed to save a lot of my old Excel spreadsheets in *.ods file format for Libre Office, no probs.

I'm pretty much used to Win 10 now, I'm also using IE11 and I've grown to like Thunderbird email client.