Windows 10 free upgrade ends July 29

[SA_Steve]

Careful with the new Win 10 Anniversary upgrade. Worked good on my desktop. Totally automated.

Looked to be working well on my laptop but as it chugged along it then asked for the Win 10 product key but offered an option to skip it and put it in later. The Win 10 on that laptop was a free upgrade and it requires a 3rd party program, or some such, to see what the current assigned key is.

Anyway the darn thing left my laptop as if it had done a clean install - wiped out my user accounts and files. No way to restore the previous system.

No problem except for a lost hour (or two) as I had made an image backup and the restore went fine. Others are reporting this so maybe MS will fix it. Then again many are complaining about the new features of the Anniv Edition and its propensity to disable and/or hide old software apps it does not like (such as 3rd party menu/shell progs). My two systems mentioned here are Win 10 Pro 64.

 

[SA_Steve]

Some loads if Win7 aren't upgradable. I have a Toshi Tecra that won't upgrade because it's Win7Pro.
I have another computer that won't upgrade, because of too many incompatable tweaks.

It was Win 7 Ultimate, you are no doubt correct.

I was able to do a clean install of Win 10 32bit on that system (trial). Found it to be highly unstable, probably since it has only 3GB usable memory like all 32 bit Win systems.

Anyway I've ordered 8GB of memory as is required for FreeNAS and will re-purpose that box for a home file server. Probably spent too much on it but for some reason a whopping 8GB is required for FreeNAS. DDR2 memory is old and expensive now.

 

[TexasBrandon]

Enterprise is also not able to be upgraded but it is assumed you are part of an organization with a WSUS server and all the applicable resources to upgrade via the commercial route.

 

[Eli]

It was Win 7 Ultimate, you are no doubt correct.

I was able to do a clean install of Win 10 32bit on that system (trial). Found it to be highly unstable, probably since it has only 3GB usable memory like all 32 bit Win systems.

Anyway I've ordered 8GB of memory as is required for FreeNAS and will re-purpose that box for a home file server. Probably spent too much on it but for some reason a whopping 8GB is required for FreeNAS. DDR2 memory is old and expensive now.

I actually managed to get things going well on a Debian command-line system using SSH, SAMBA, Nautilus on my desktop, and RTFMing a lot! Then I just gave up and bought a WD NAS that had a DLNA server function and learned how to enjoy life!

Eli

 

[Dragunov]

After locking down WinX, I have had no issues with anything. I haven't heard a single peep from Windows update after installing/tweaking it 6 weeks ago. Runs fine, runs stable, runs VERY fast, and most importantly, runs SILENTLY.

No, I'm not getting ANY updates, but what this does, is allows me the time to get it running properly with all my drivers, etc, before I allow it to update. After that, if something doesn't work right, shut off AU again, and more tweaking, BEFORE allowing to update again.

 

[TexasBrandon]

The fact that we even have to go through that isn't acceptable.

 

[SA_Steve]

If you use system restore you want to double check that it is still ON after win 10 anniversary update.

 

[Tcruse]

Been using the Win 10 1st Anniversary pre-release version for several months. Each build is better than the last (mostly) and the last build is what is on the ISO download as released to manufacturing. There are lots of minor improvements, especially in the start menu area and command prompt. Performance wise have seen no change from Win 10 RTM last year.
There were some issues with activation and hardware replacement that are said to be fixed.
Also, via the MS site to support handicapped users, the win 10 upgrade is still offered for free. So, not too late for free upgrade yet. Pro version can be upgraded to Enterprise now. I have seen no stability issues.

 

[Dragunov]

The fact that we even have to go through that isn't acceptable.

I agree.

 

[Dragunov]

Been using the Win 10 1st Anniversary pre-release version for several months. Each build is better than the last (mostly) and the last build is what is on the ISO download as released to manufacturing. There are lots of minor improvements, especially in the start menu area and command prompt. Performance wise have seen no change from Win 10 RTM last year.
There were some issues with activation and hardware replacement that are said to be fixed.
Also, via the MS site to support handicapped users, the win 10 upgrade is still offered for free. So, not too late for free upgrade yet. Pro version can be upgraded to Enterprise now. I have seen no stability issues.

True. But again, those aren't the issues. Privacy and data mining are the issues, and they're getting worse.

 

[Dragunov]

UPDATE:

Ok. The two "test subject" computers that are on WinX, and how they're doing:

Lenovo T400/8gb/ram/500gb, 7200rpm/T9400CPU.

Last update I allowed on comp1 was on 25-July-16.

This computer made it through the 2-August-16 "anniversary" push unscathed. Still runs the same, no additional updates past that date. One attempt to force update was unsuccessful. I had forgotten to shut off the "Background Intelligence Transfer Service" after the 25-July-16 update. Re-scanned my computer, checked everything, and no settings changes, privacy changes, nor any other changes. Cortana, and Edge both still gone.

All settings confirmed by Spybot Anti-Beacon.

No blood, no foul.

Computer 2 has never been allowed to update since the original updates after installing WinX, over 6 weeks ago.

No changes, no updates, Edge still active, Cortana gone.

Live updates service
Background Intelligence Transfer Service
Windows Update service

Still off, and not active.

WinX still completely silent on this system, despite the 2-Aug-16 "anniversary" push.

NO attempt at "forced" updates.

All settings confirmed by Spybot Anti-Beacon.

I allowed "Edge" to remain on Computer 2, because it's for sale, and I don't want to completely chop it up, as whomever gets it, may want to use Edge. So far..... Once Spybot Anti-Beacon is installed and ran, Edge doesn't seem to be the problem. However, I have "Bing" blocked, and use "Duck-Duck-Go, and still no "phone Home" to Microsnot from edge.

Jus' Sayin'.

*EDIT* I must say, I've become quite fond of these Lenovo T400 laptops. Yes, they're older, but MAN! they DO scream, when set up right, and aren't too bad for playing some games that are a little older.

I have a heavily tweaked Win7Pro, Toshi Tecra, with a 4thgen, i5/Ivy bridge CPU, with 16gb/ram installed (I was offered $750 cash for it last week, and turned it down flat!), and these little WinX Lenovos are nearly as quick on boot up (fast boot enabled, of course), and run their software nearly as well as my Toshi. Just to give an example, My Toshi is far faster than my friends brand new Asus, with an i7 processor, and 8gb/ram, he paid $650 + tax + warranty, mouse, and case ($780, OTD) for, at Wal-Mart last week. The Lenovos are faster than his new computer. He kind of wishes he'd bought one of mine now, and saved himself $580.