Windows 10

Mike - B states that Microsoft will withdraw support for Windows 7.  When is that likely to happen?  By withdrawing support does that mean that Windows 7 will vanish from my computer or that just the support will end (like stopping production of spare parts to a classic car).  I suppose all the computer minded people (who know how to do streaming) are exasperated by my attitude, but Windows 7 has proven to be safe and useful to me so why the hell change it..? Especially as modern technology is not the 100% improvement as people would expect, eg when it comes to computers and electrics installed in cars, an error of process can be fatal. I had a Ford Fiesta which would switch off all electrics in the middle of a journey, so the engine, lights and anything else electric simply went off.  In those situations I prayed that no other car was close behind me, I would hand signal to all other cars that I am slowing down. After stopping the car would turn on again after I turned the key. Took the car to be fixed and the mechanic said that that particular model was known to have problems with the computer system controlling the electrics. At the end of the day I got rid off the car. .  

Windows 7 won't spontaneously vanish when MS withdraws support and when that happens you would hope that MS will have fixed all the bugs it's been installing updates for over the past few years. 10 didn't work for me. Two days of my life wasted and I don't know who to invoice at MS for my time.

If 10 didn't work for you what will you do instead?

Did the W 10 upgrade on my laptop this morning with no issues; took about an hour or so all told.  Will do my desktop either tonight or tomorrow.

I also have an old laptop that is still running XP - the machine is almost 8 years old so I figure if it died today it doesn't owe me a dime.  Use it as my "travel" machine when traveling domestically by car; I have an old Netbook running Windows 7 Starter for plane trips so I can toss it in my carry on with minimal space consumed.

Much more concerned that the air conditioning is on the blink as of this after noon...

In the first instance I hit the support forums. But no obvious solution was apparent. My network and connectivity issues have subsequently emerged as an issue and there are work arounds for some of them. However, at the time my problems with Win 10 were not reported and were business critical, so I had to get sorted out fast.

I tried to roll back to 7 Pro but 10 Pro told me I could not do this. So I burnt an installation ISO from MS, which bricked the PC (an i7 with 32GB memory less than 2 years old).  I did a format C: and reinstalled 7 Pro.

Lesson learned. Now, who at MS do I invoice for my lost productivity time?

Not sure whether people are aware but Windows 10 uses P2P technology to deliver its updates in order to relieve stress on its own servers. By default it uses your computer to torrent update files to other computers on the internet and vice versa. This can increase the speed at which your computer receives W10 updates but may cause you issues if your broadband contract has a monthly traffic cap.

Windows Update no longer appears in the Control Panel but is accessed via the Settings app i.e. Settings >  Update & Security > Windows Update.

You can amend the Update settings via the Advanced Options > Choose how updates are delivered where the default setting is "Get updates from more than one place > Get updates from Microsoft, and get updates from and send updates to PCs on my local network and PCs on the internet"

You can disable the "more than one place" option or limit it to sharing updates solely with other PCs on your own network.

I would recommend a 480/500GB at minimum.  I have the 240 GB and I'm hitting the wall for space due to the software I have on it - VMware, Adobe, Office et al - even with my Documents stored on a secondary hard drive, it has 70GB of user files under my profile on the C.

When I got the drive a few years ago it was like $300, now I can get 480GB for the same, but for $500 I can get a 960GB.   Intel, Sandisk Extreme and Samsung all seem good.  I have the Intel currently but will likely move to the Sandisk as it has faster read/write and 10 year warranty.

I am also in the process of downloading an ISO and USB image to 'force' on my VM which won't auto update due to a 'graphics driver' issue.

Having the ISO/USB image also mitigates any issue in download connectivity and is handy in case of future issue or re install needs.

As an update on the VM, using the ISO image worked and got round error message during 'auto update'.

......   I've confirmed its something from the PC that's causing the 30 min wake-up.  With the PC off or sleeping nothing happens,  open it up & Synology hibernation is awake every 30 mins.  

I've looked at the various windows network event reports & found its something in Win-10.  Question is what,  that is a hard one to trace.  

I've switched off a load of snooping. sync'ing & linking services I do not need - TBH its ll the stuff that the Microsoft marketing seems to have so much excitement about !!!   What the actual cause is, I don't know & am not going t dig around to find it,  I've fixed my problem.  

If you are a Synology & hibernation user, then Win-10 might be a problem for you & you need to look at the "sharing", information, cloud & sync'ing stuff & rationalise what you actually do need.

Wake up every 30 mins is not too bad, right? I would leave it as is, not sure why you are bothered?

I am bothered because its not correct !!! .

And NO its not "too bad, right"   

Its supposed to stay in hibernation until I choose to play music from the NAS,  my choice,  not Windows-10.

It's not a new issue. It has been a "problem" since at least 7.

I just ignore it.

It was not an issue for me with Win-7 or 8.1.  

I have fixed the 30 minute repeating wake up,  its now waking once in a while,  yesterday afternoon it hibernated 4 hours.  

Thanks for "ignore it"  advise, I will ignore that & it will get fixed.

Do you have it sitting on your desk so that you can time it?

Maybe it's trying to remind you to listen to some music?

Just used the wife's PB i3 laptop, she took it upon herself to update it.

Seems a little quicker to me, but I don't use it much so I'll see what she thinks when she comes in.

Mike, I take it you've turned off all the "Make everything visible everywhere" / "Let me run a coach and horses through your data security" options that Windows 10 kindly defaults to on.

Sure have Huge,  that was the first area that I got into

.......  previous note I said ...... I've switched off a load of snooping. sync'ing & linking services

Problem is knowing if & when you've caught them all

I've gone into other areas of OS stuff & I'm working on the one step at a time principle.  

Just had a look at this thread for the first time.  I currently use Windows 8.1 in Bootcamp.  Anyone tried the Windows 10 upgrade for a Windows installation in Bootcamp?

Trackpad usability in Bootcamp is a big turnoff for me, heat generation is another issue.

There are instructions for doing it on the web

I finally seem to have got Windows 10 working on my PC, all bar one problem.  It's been a struggle, despite both PCs being 'compatible'

Anti-malware

In both cases the anti-malware was disabled by Windows 10.

A    In one case it reported this so that I could investigate and fix it (the anti-malware in fact could do it itself when told to do a manual refresh).

B    In the other case it was disabled with no notification and the UI couldn't be activated, so a complete re-install was needed, in the mean time it left my PC unprotected.

Microsoft's compatibility checker lied about this.

Audio Driver

On one PC, Win 10 identified a VIA audio chip-set, but couldn't identify the actual version, so it installed a very old driver (whereas the current one is 10.1200a).  Reloading the motherboard driver caused a hard crash in the PC (not even a BSOD).

The cure for VIA VT120# series chip-sets is not obvious

1  Upgrade via Windows drivers doesn't work

2  Manually download and install the latest driver direct from VIA (10.1200a), ignore compatibility warnings.  This still won't work though.

3  Use Windows to search for a driver - it'll now find the right one

Microsoft's compatibility checker also lied about this.

Virtualisation software

Windows 10 thinks VirtualBox is compatible; Oracle (the manufacturer of VirtualBox) disagrees.  Oracle are correct - it isn't compatible.

Microsoft's compatibility checker lied about this as well, and as yet there's no fix.

Has anyone detected higher DPC latencies with Windows 10 compared to Windows 7? I recently upgraded and Windows 10 seems to give me higher DPC latencies which can cause dropouts with audio playback. Latency Monitor shows that the problem is mostly in USB drivers/ports and it seems to be very difficult to solve, as always. 

My PC upgraded over 8.1 perfectly in ~40 mins,  & everything works as it should.

Per my previous note:  

I'm not seeing any changes in security or malware protection.

its working OK with my BT Netprotect (McAfee) that runs a constant virus/malware scan & another McAfee package I use.   It shuts down Win Defender & tells you so & asks if that's OK  & if McAfee is shut down, then Defender takes over until McAfee comes back.

The annoying thing with Win-10 Edge is it does not link to McAfee Web Advisor (warns about searched www sites on the search line & again if you try to open them)  whereas Chrome does, so I don't use Edge so much.  

Mrs-B's Win-7 upgrade was a disaster.  The MS upgrade system showed it was compatible & ready to upgrade - no it wasn't -  Corrupt something inside that ended up going to IT shaman  for a complete clean up & reinstall.  The IT peeps said she had not done anything with MS updates & routine maintenance & had messed around with other stuff.   (I've made sure her Win-10 does all this automatically)  

I had to install the BT (contract) McAfee package & it to runs OK & works perfectly & complimentary with Win-Defender.

My brother has installed www sourced Malware programs & he too has issues with Win-10,  not sure of details but last I heard he was considering buying a Norton package.  

My take on it so far is it works well if you surrender all your PC activities to its control (not for me).   But anything outside the standard MS box can be a problem.  

You do not really need 3rd party anti-virus/anti-malware in Windows 10, unless you do not think the built-in Windows defender is good enough. I am personally happy with it.