Updating to Win10: Definitely a mixed experience

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	TOP STORY Updating to Win10: Definitely a mixed experience
	By Tracey Capen As you’d expect, Windows Secrets contributors jumped on the formal Win10 release, downloading and installing the new OS on their various systems.Not surprisingly, they employed a range of methods just to get Win10 loaded.

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Yeah; tell me about it. lol

Have to admit, it was one of the smoothest update/upgrades I ever done on a Microsoft machine. I had left my machine on all night; when I woke up, I saw that Win10 tried to install but failed. I went through some links and voila, started the install. All went well except Virtualbox 5.0 would not launch my VMs. I repaired it and my XP VM would launch but did not have sound. My Win7 VM would not launch. I un-installed then re-installed Virtualbox 5.0. All VMs now launch but I have no sound. Also, if I wake up from hibernate, VB gives me errors and sometimes it even locks up Win10 (so have to hard boot; happened 3 times on and off during the day). I suppose I won’t bother hibernating; just will shut down my computer and restart like the good old days. lol

Hopefully Virtualbox will fix these bugs soon enough; miss my sound. Still, for sandbox purposes, I only browse using a virtualized OS and am typing this now in my XP VM. Thank God for golden recovery points. 🙂

edit;

As a side note, I thought there wasn’t going to be a newsletter on the 30th. lolol

🙂

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I’ve been running Technical Preview for several months now on two PC’s, a homebrew and a Dell laptop. Yes, they are my main machines. MS uploaded the latest build, 10240, a week or so ago. I noticed at the time that there was no longer a build number in the lower right-hand-corner of the home screen. On Win_10_Day, I awoke, searched around, and found that sure enough, 10240 was the RTM that people were getting, so I’d had it all along! The thing seems to me to be rock-solid and I have no fears about continuing to use it on my “main” machines. (Well, I do backup data daily, so I’m not completely nuts.) I think they have a winner here, if by a winner you mean something that works as it should.

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Downloaded the whole thing, 32 & 64 bit and asked it to write an .iso file on a “remote” drive so I could burn a DVD and use that to do all installs.
This AM, the machine I used to get W10 was screaming at me that its system drive was low on space. It had almost 20 gigs yesterday, today a hair over 5 gigs.

Thankfully I have FileLocator Pro. Ran that for “new files” on the machine…
MS wrote a new hidden directory called “$Windows.~WS” that had all kinds of install scripts (I guess) plus the 32 and 64 bit install files in all kinds of directories below the main one.
FLP allowed me to delete all that stuff and I now have my space back. (Windows Explorer will not show you the directory.)

Shame, but typical of MS. Hide everything possible to keep it from the “unwashed masses”, but don’t delete it after writing the ISO.
AHHHH !!!

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Everything downloaded and installed on both a laptop and a desktop flawlessly. As I usually do, I ran a Belarc Advisor profile for the desktop this morning and found that it reads the operating system as Windows 8.1(build 9600).

The laptop indicated that the operating system is Windows 8 Home Premium(build 9200).

Both were updates from Windows 7.

41500-Capture

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Updating to Win10: Definitely a mixed experience

The issue with file permissions has been present in every edition I have had since joining the insider program.

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On my unit I got the following screen which lasted for three hours.
Being fearful of rebooting, I checked on Google and someone suggested I reboot. Once I did, Win10 loaded as expected.
41502-WAITING

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I chided Woody Leonhard for calling Windows 10 an Update. It is an Upgrade, and should be treated with all the seriousness and respect of a System Upgrade. This is no ordinary Windows Update.

In fact, my ASUS tablet is supposed to upgrade through the Microsoft Store App, not through Microsoft Update or Windows Update. This tablet has a WIM for Recovery, and there may be important reasons (or not) to use only the MS Store App on such devices. (I have the t100ta, just like Lincoln Spector describes, except he didn’t say whether his is 32GB storage or 64GB. Mine is 64GB, so it’s not WIMBoot. And mine does not store its OEM Recovery Image on a separate 8GB ROM.)

In any event, I’ll be sure to use the ASUS BactTracker utility to create an OEM Rescue and a Driver Restore USB stick. And I’ll back up each of these to two real Hard Drives before even considering upgrading anything on this tablet.

I still sit on the fence about the wisdom and safety of required Automatic Updates. Traditionally, it’s not so much the Driver Updates which have caused occasional serious issues (NVidia’s current and ongoing issues notwithstanding). It’s what Susan Bradley calls kernel-level driver security updates. She is (and I also am) quite gun-shy of these security updates, which under Windows 10 (it appears) cannot be blocked, removed or deferred by Home and most Pro users. Even the Tool does not allow for this, according to Woody Leonhard. (My tablet is a Microsoft Signature Edition, so it does get genuine ASUS driver updates through Windows Updates.)

So my Windows 10 Upgrade will definitely be deferred several months, until we all can see how safe the upgrade waters are, and what to do if we get shark-bitten by a wayward security update thereafter. I’d rather let others get into the water before committing myself to any possible risk. I’ve already used up my one free ASUS Factory Reset RMA on the tablet.

-- rc primak

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Traditionally, it’s not so much the Driver Updates which have caused occasional serious issues (NVidia’s current and ongoing issues notwithstanding).

Nvidia driver issues are not current or ongoing:

The information posted by Microsoft yesterday on Insider Hub was:

Updated Nvidia graphics driver available on Windows Update
This has been addressed and customers with Windows Update will receive the update. If you need to get the latest NVidia driver (version 353.62) immediately, the best way is to launch Windows Update and scan for the updated driver, and then reboot once the driver has been installed.

It’s what Susan Bradley calls kernel-level driver security updates. She is (and I also am) quite gun-shy of these security updates, which under Windows 10 (it appears) cannot be blocked, removed or deferred by Home and most Pro users. Even the Tool does not allow for this, according to Woody Leonhard.

Where did Woody say that the Show or Hide Updates Tool (KB3073930) will not deal with kernel updates?

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Nvidia driver issues are not current or ongoing:

Where did Woody say that the Show or Hide Updates Tool (KB3073930) will not deal with kernel updates?

Check out Woody’s report of using the tool at Infoworld.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2951214/microsoft-windows/on-the-road-to-windows-10-problems-with-forced-updates-and-kb-3073930.html

and for the NVidia Driver fiasco:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2952996/microsoft-windows/on-the-road-to-windows-10-botched-nvidia-driver-tests-kb-3073930-patch-blocker.html

He said he didn’t even see most of the MS Updates, and no security updates were shown as updates which could be hidden. So, if they are listed as Security Updates, the kernel-level driver updates Susan doesn’t trust would never show up when using this tool as it looked when Woody tried to use it. Maybe the tool has evolved since then?

-- rc primak

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Check out Woody’s report of using the tool at Infoworld.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2951214/microsoft-windows/on-the-road-to-windows-10-problems-with-forced-updates-and-kb-3073930.html

He doesn’t mention “kernel”.

and for the NVidia Driver fiasco:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2952996/microsoft-windows/on-the-road-to-windows-10-botched-nvidia-driver-tests-kb-3073930-patch-blocker.html

The issue lasted for less than two days and had been fixed by Microsoft three days before you posted.

He said he didn’t even see most of the MS Updates, and no security updates were shown as updates which could be hidden.

He only tried two. He was able to hide the second, but not the first (perhaps it had been superseded?). He also rebooted during the first test, and told us not to do that.

So, if they are listed as Security Updates, the kernel-level driver updates Susan doesn’t trust would never show up when using this tool as it looked when Woody tried to use it.

I can see how a severe failure caused by a bad patch may be difficult to deal with by means of an after-the-fact blocking tool. But a single inconclusive test proves nothing.

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I did not try updating yet. My coworkers reported lost of Microsoft Office after update. Does anybody else experienced this issue?

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I have Win 8.1 dual boot with Win 10 preview. Both work well with my Nvidia GT730 Graphics card. I have updated both systems with the latest Nvidia drivers.
I now want to upgrade my Win 8.1 system to Win 10 but get that error dialog can’t upgrade because driver not supported. Also trying to install the Win 10 driver on Win 8.1 won’t work because system not compatible.
So it seems I have to upgrade to Win 10 before I can Install Win 10 drivers but can’t upgrade because I can’t install win 10 drivers on win 8.1. Going nuts chasing my tail.
How can I get Win 10 on this machine?
Thanks

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I did not try updating yet. My coworkers reported lost of Microsoft Office after update. Does anybody else experienced this issue?

Just upgraded to Win 10 yesterday and my Office 2013 works fine (obtained through O365). What version of Office did they lose?

Eliminate spare time: start programming PowerShell

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Just upgraded to Win 10 yesterday and my Office 2013 works fine (obtained through O365). What version of Office did they lose?

One lost 2010, another 2013. Other people did not lose Office. This is just a warning to have key available to be able to restore

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In fact, my ASUS tablet is supposed to upgrade through the Microsoft Store App, not through Microsoft Update or Windows Update. This tablet has a WIM for Recovery, and there may be important reasons (or not) to use only the MS Store App on such devices. .

I have an 8.1 Asus Flip and I am likely in the same situation, I too will be holding off for a while. I bought it to learn W8.1 and still want to experience 8.1 before I switch to much friendlier W10.

🍻

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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I’ve run every incarnation of windows since its initial release and have always installed updates as soon as they are released. I have never had a problem I wasn’t able to recover from. By far, the vast majority of Windows Updates are trouble free. I find it amazing that there are as few problems as there are considering the backwards compatibility issues and vast amount of user hardware and software they support.

Jerry

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I’ve run every incarnation of windows since its initial release and have always installed updates as soon as they are released.

Jerry, +1
I am with this stuff only since Windows 3.1 but my experiences AND those of my many customers are the same.

I can only imagine how partially crippled the boxes must have been where people got all the update install angst from.

Still I never have done an in place OS upgrade with Windows and you know why. BUt I need to let go of this good ol’ habit I believe.

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As long as you aren’t having any known issues with your current install, an upgrade install should be OK. They have come a long way since the XP days. But I know what you mean when you say its hard to give it up. You can still do a clean install afterwards once the upgrade install has been done and activated. It might ask for a product key but is should still work if you leave the field blank. I haven’t tried it myself but that’s what I’ve read on the Microsoft forum.

Jerry

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Ya, but how would you recover? I would always use system restore to back the prow of the OS off the rocks after an update went haywire. Seems that would only be a temporary solution now with W10 unless MS identifies the bad update and sends in the cavalry pronto. I’m also thinking specifically of KB2670838 platform update which wreaked some havoc with some older systems running AMD processors and/or graphics I believe. I had to backtrack and block that update many times.

I let one system update to W10 via ISO and it went alright, network settings got scrambled so a novice would not have been able to straighten that out, a surprising number of programs don’t work or are not compatible yet but the system itself seems to be functioning pretty much as it should.

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… a surprising number of programs don’t work or are not compatible yet ….

F.U.N., did you run the compatibility advisor and have you read it’s output?

Either way, PLEASE give names, names, names!

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Run? Read?…no, this W10 thing is only a side project of a side project for me so I’m lucky I even got around to making an ISO. As far as programs not working or incompatible, just the ones I’ve tried, all the Stardock software went haywire so I checked and it’s not compatible yet, most of my Corel software, if not all, won’t start even with direct run as administrator and the Psi service is running. Pinnacle software likewise won’t start, GBridge is clobbered both network setting-wise and driver-wise but that may still correct with reinstallation. Nero suite on the other hand, which can be problematic in some XP and W7 installs, seems to be running like a champ.

I only have some major suites installed since I was only using W8.1 on rare occasions so of those, two thirds have stalled out.

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So is Windows Update automatically and forcibly installing graphics driver updates? If so, that would be a massive reason for me to avoid Windows 10 as my gaming stability is very much dependent on being able to stick with drivers that work rather than automatically installing every new driver. With all drivers I always follow the maxim “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and it’s amazing how often my 2 or 3 years old drivers run games flawlessly while the forums are full of people using the latest drivers and complaining about crashes, over-heating, and graphic glitches etc.

I can sort of understand why Microsoft would want to force the installation of their own updates (although I fear it will end in tears) but they really shouldn’t be in the business of forcing third party updates on you, and certainly not hardware driver updates which they shouldn’t even be offering in the first place. You should go to the manufacturer for those.

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I was a little hesitant to upgrade, but there were equal amounts of pro and con feedback – so I took the plunge. It was a really easy upgrade and actually ran fine for a few days. Then I hit a wall and any activity caused a hard lock-up to entire system, keyboard included, that required restart. After searching for help with this on my phone, I found a solution that has me up and running and so far no issues. It was resetting my internet options – start menu, control panel, internet options, advanced, reset (or restore advanced settings.) Easy install and easy fix. Now we wait for other surprises. Good Luck everyone!!

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Loading two of my computers with Win10 went flawlessly. However, the third did not. The problem was in my language setting. As a Canadian, I had my language set for Canada. The update will not work unless you change it to English (US). Otherwise you end up with the “Something happened” screen.
Go to Control Panel, Select Language & Region, select US, select Administration tab, select English (US)
This applies for all non-USA English languages.

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I am having doubts now about the upgrade. After the initial problem that I could fix, it went downhill. I spent a day without access to the computer. For some reason the power button was on but no display. Tried to reboot without success. So, I walked away for a day frustrated. Tried again the following day and it started right up. I am not sure where the issues are or what the next crisis will be. I have read we have a month from initial install to revert back to our old configuration. There are also stories that this will be free for a year then cost. Not sure if the latter is true or just rumors floating around. I have backed up everything and now pondering the downgrade to Windows 7 where I started. Decisions, decisions….

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There are also stories that this will be free for a year then cost. Not sure if the latter is true or just rumors floating around.

No true; just FUD.

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The ability to freely upgrade legal Win7 SP1 & Win8.1 Update systems is available for one year from July 29, 2015. Microsoft has not announced what the policy will be then. Once you upgrade a system Win10 is free, all Win10 patches are free, and all Win10 enhancement updates are free for the life of the device. Microsoft recently announced the normal 10 year support cycle for Win10.

Joe

--Joe

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After running the preview in several VMs, I decided to try the released version on real machines.
Clean install on HP ProBook (from dvd). No problems. All major devices work. Fingerprint reader has driver, but no software to access it yet.
Upgrade on old Asus netbook (from 8.1). Worked fine, every thing functional. Took an extra reboot to self-repair something, but fine after that.

Upgrade on a HP Pavilion g6 (from Win 7). Everything works except Wi-Fi (WLAN). The adapter shows functional and happy in device manager, but the status is ‘off’ in properties, and won’t toggle to ‘on’. LAN works fine, though. No help from MS or HP forums yet.

Next is my dev and gaming box. I’ll try an upgrade, but I am fully prepared to wipe and do a clean install.

Then my wife’s laptop, which needs a clean install since I got too fancy on moving system folders and it’s stuck on Win8.

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I did not try updating yet. My coworkers reported lost of Microsoft Office after update. Does anybody else experienced this issue?

Microsoft has a fix for Office 2013 attachments if upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10:

Error opening Office documents after upgrading to Windows 10

Next is my dev and gaming box. I’ll try an upgrade, but I am fully prepared to wipe and do a clean install.

Then my wife’s laptop, which needs a clean install since I got too fancy on moving system folders and it’s stuck on Win8.

You have to upgrade first, to get Windows 10 activated from Windows 7/8, before doing a clean install if necessary:

Windows 10 Tip: Associate Your PC with Your Free Windows 10 License

Otherwise, a clean install would require a purchased Windows 10 key.

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For what it’s worth a few observations about my HP Stream 7 tablet update to Windows 10 via Microsoft auto-update. I wanted to see how a non-tech install would work out.
FYI: tablet is not my main computer – used to check email, lite internet cruising, play some very basic games (cards, chess, etc), run the occasional video or audio file, and as an e-reader.
1) Be warned, on a tablet, Windows 10 “update” runs long and is a huge power drain. Make sure you are charging during the process.
2) Yes, auto-update sucks big time, especially on a tablet. Notification screens get buried easily, updates can occur at the most inopportune time and
are a huge drain on the battery. 3 updates in 4 days since the install seem a bit extreme.
3) Windows game aps all now all connected to X-Box. Not a gamer so the auto-installed X-Box is a hassle, not an improvement and cannot be un-installed.
Noticeable issue when running Windows game aps like Solitaire, and a huge pain when playing without an internet connection. Microsoft games have been removed.
4) Didn’t need or use Skype, resent the auto-install during the ‘update’
5) Windows 10 a bigger drain on the battery than 8.1 Not good news as the HP Stream battery life not the best.
6) Windows 10 feels slower than Windows 8.1

Overall, for tablet use, Windows 10 may be a bit better than 8.1 – finally get a working battery status icon, start menu is back, better display on book aps.
Outside of Microsoft produced games, no issues found with any of my installed aps.

However, I will not be installing 10 on my Windows 7 desktop any time soon.

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