Windows 10 free upgrade ends July 29

[V-Tach]

Running 10 on everything but our Point Of Sale system......

Happy with 10.......for now....

 

[Dragunov]

I have WinX running on a 7yr old Lenovo T400. Actually, I have four of these. Three of the four are running WinX without a hitch, and one with Win7.

What you can do to run WinX on just about any machine with few problems (Most problems involve some video manufacturers, not releasing video drivers for their product for winX yet), is to enable the fast boot option, if it's not already enabled, turn off Cortana, Completely remove, or completely disable "Edge" until it's been patched a few times, and stopping/taking control of those obnoxious, forced updates (YES, they can be stopped/controlled).

These T400 machines run fast, lean, trouble free (so far), and play hard on WinX.

I don't particularly like WinX, but I have the privacy issues locked down, and WinX tweaked, so it runs well.

There are other issues in WinX that I don't like, that most people are unaware of. I'm working on those.

My advice to those who don't want WinX, and are on Win7/Win8/8.1, is to use the system imaging utility, get an external USB HDD, and image your system. Make a "repair" disk for Win7/8, make a "repair" USB thumb drive for Win 8.1. For some reason, Microsnot thought it better to use a bootable USB thumb drive, instead of a CD for win 8.1 rescue.

Do this, and it's a quick, and simple matter to re-image your machine if something goes wrong.

BTW, "forced upgrades" to WinX is SUPPOSED to end on 29-July.

You can purchase a USB external drive caddy, and a 160gb HDD (get a higher capacity drive if your image is >160gb), for around $20, from Ebay.

I have several of these, and when I refurb/upgrade a machine to re-sell, it comes with an external USB drive with the image already on it.

 

[coachrick]

Pain in the rear printing problems with 10...never had a problem with 7. Nothing like fixing something that ain't broke!!!

 

[orbitup]

I guess I need to make up my mind quick.

 

[Dragunov]

I guess I need to make up my mind quick.

I wouldn't stress about it much. WinXP is STILL in 25% of households, and 15-20% of small businesses.

Windows XP isn't "obsolete", just unsupported.
It will:
Run office 2007.
STILL get on the internet. With good AV, and a scan of Spybot once in a while, you're GTG.
Still pretty.
Still efficient and stable.
Fly with 2gb/ram.
STILL awesome.

Now, if you're on Win7, supported until 2020, which means you'll probably still be using it in 2025.

Jumping in to WinX isn't necessary.

Jus' Sayin'

 

[Eli]

I wouldn't stress about it much. WinXP is STILL in 25% of households, and 15-20% of small businesses.

Windows XP isn't "obsolete", just unsupported.
It will:
Run office 2007.
STILL get on the internet. With good AV, and a scan of Spybot once in a while, you're GTG.
Still pretty.
Still efficient and stable.
Fly with 2gb/ram.
STILL awesome.

Now, if you're on Win7, supported until 2020, which means you'll probably still be using it in 2025.

Jumping in to WinX isn't necessary.

Jus' Sayin'

Just get Linux. Ubuntu or Lubuntu - either one - is free and easy to install.

Eli

 

[DubiousDan]

 

[TheDan]

Someone will come out with a cracked version of Win10 that is streamlined and all that stuff disabled here pretty soon. It'll probably be a really great OS then

 

[DubiousDan]

Someone will come out with a cracked version of Win10 that is streamlined and all that stuff disabled here pretty soon. It'll probably be a really great OS then

 

[Dragunov]

I'm working on it.

 

[Dragunov]

Just get Linux. Ubuntu or Lubuntu - either one - is free and easy to install.

Eli

I actually use Linux Mint 17.2, and I really like it. Problem is, I like computer games, and WINE won't play the games I like (Linux isn't a good "gaming" platform). Not only that, I have other Windows proprietary software that won't run on Linux.

 

[karlac]

re: Win10 spying video

Been following Barnacules on youtube since he started.
Microsoft really screwed him around, but, discounting the privacy issues, he maintains a pretty neutral stance on Win 10, for the most part.
I'm just having trouble wrapping my head around the "OS as a service" concept.
Lots of pluses, but a hellavu lot of room for screwing the consumer.

 

[TexasBrandon]

There are already scripts on GitHub that disable most everything that watches/records/reports beyond the standard things you can do yourself. From some research though, it also opens up some holes in the system but that shouldn't be a big deal if you run a tight ship.

 

[Dragunov]

There are already scripts on GitHub that disable most everything that watches/records/reports beyond the standard things you can do yourself. From some research though, it also opens up some holes in the system but that shouldn't be a big deal if you run a tight ship.

Never, and I DO mean NEVER run a SCRIPT, or a .REG file, without opening it up, and reading what's in it!

Running a "tight ship" is always advisable.

 

[TexasBrandon]

Well that would be a common sense approach that I had assumed those talking here at least knew. I wouldn't run a script either unless I knew what was in it. You can see everything in it's entirety on Github though for pretty much everything.

 

[45tex]

I'm rethinking Microsoft completely. Windows 10 just notified me I needed to check out the cool album created just for me. When opened it was all my gun pictures stored on my computer. Some of them I doubt a computer would recognize as guns. And that makes me think a person is checking out the pictures stored on this computer.

 

[DubiousDan]

I'm rethinking Microsoft completely. Windows 10 just notified me I needed to check out the cool album created just for me. When opened it was all my gun pictures stored on my computer. Some of them I doubt a computer would recognize as guns. And that makes me think a person is checking out the pictures stored on this computer.

Damn, that's kind of creepy. Follow the instruction on the video that's posted. It's pretty simple and should stop that kind of thing.

 

[Dragunov]

Someone will come out with a cracked version of Win10 that is streamlined and all that stuff disabled here pretty soon. It'll probably be a really great OS then

I've already done this.

My biggest obstacle, one I'm still working on, is when CORTANA is removed, and yes, it can be removed, You lose your search function. There are work arounds for that though. A small price to pay. If anyone is interested, I can post instructions on how to do this, what to download so you can see the results for yourself.

 

[PhulesAu]

What implements of destruction, does it take to kill cortana????

 

[Dragunov]

What implements of destruction, does it take to kill cortana????

This was a post I wrote on another website. I copy/pasted/adapted it for all, Y'all here:

BIG DISCLAIMER HERE!!!! BACKUP YOUR HARD DRIVE, MAKE SURE SYSTEM RESTORE IS ON!!!

Because the video shows you how to do the other things I have already done, my
First advice.... FOLLOW the instructions in the video posted in this thread earlier.... THEN:


"Some of you were "forced" into WinX, some upgraded because they wanted to, but either way, Microsnot has control.

TAKE CONTROL BACK!

Here' how to STOP Automatic Updates from randomly updating your computer, OR updating your computer at all:

GOTO: START, then type in "Services" (no quotes). This will bring up your SERVICES console.

In your services console, STOP, and DISABLE the following services by RC (Right Click) on the service you wish to stop, then LC (Left Click) "Properties".

These are the services you'll want to stop and disable:

"Background Intelligence Transfer Service" *FIRST*. This service is required for Microsnots Automatic Updates, to access your computer remotely.

"Windows Update".

"Live Updates".

You may not get the STOP option for Windows Update. If this is the case, RC on that service, LC "Properties", then DISABLE. After a few reboots, the service will be stopped. There is a way to completely remove this service, although, it's ill-advised/not recommended, unless you're COMPLETELY comfortable with screwing around with windows.

NOTE! If you have updates in the queue, you'll have to wait until the updates are applied for this to work. You have to wait until automatic update, is "sleeping".

I KNOW this works, because I'm going on 4 weeks, and no WinX updates...... So far.


DISABLE EDGE PERMANENTLY!

If you want to disable EDGE completely......

Download a free program called "Unlocker" (Link, further down).

Install it, let it install with defaults (explorer extension, etc.). This program will unlock ANY file. It's easy to use, and even if you're a n00b, very safe to use. Not difficult.

GOTO: the "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wek yb3d8bbwe" folder.

In that folder, you'll see two executables with blue "Edge" icons.
MicrosoftEdge (Application)
MicrosoftEdgeCP (Application)

Right click (RC) each one of those. "Unlocker" should be in your RC menu. LC "Unlocker".

"Unlocker" will ask you what you want to do.

Choose "rename". You may want to use Edge later.

Rename each file to something like "MicrosoftEdge1.exe" and "MicrosoftEdgeCP1.exe"

Click on "Rename" to confirm your action.

Do this with both files.

THEN: go back up to, "C:\Windows\SystemApps".
RC the "Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe" folder.

Choose "Unlocker" once again, and rename same as you did with the executables.

Close out, and return to your desktop. You'll see a blank on the taskbar where Edge once was. RClick on that, and "Unpin from Taskbar".

REBOOT.

You're done! No more edge.

KILL CORTANA!

This works for CORTANA also, Here's how to do it:


Rename the "C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy" folder with Unlocker.

Unlocker will probably prompt you to REBOOT. Do so.

Indeed! It completely removes Cortana... BUT, you lose your search function. You'll have to download and use IObit Start menu 8, or Classic Shell, to get the basic, Win7 search function. A small price to pay to keep your PRIVACY, IMHO.

Here's the link for those:

Classic Shell

http://everydownload.net/usa3/classic-shell/?t202id=49693&c1=classic+shell+for+windows+10&t202kw=classic+shell+for+Win+10&mkwid=T5i6C4qM&crid=31266167447&mp_kw=&mp_mt=e&pdv=c

IOBit Start Menu 8

http://www.iobit.com/en/iobitstartmenu8.php

Here is the link to get "Unlocker":

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/unlocker.html

And in case you missed it in the video, here's the link to SpybotAntiBeacon:

https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/

*NOTE*:

You also lose your fast boot if you shut down through Start Menu 8. You must Ctrl, Alt+Del, and shut down from the Task Manager screen. STILL, a small price to pay."

The following will be the results of this work:

Locked down WinX, with basic Win7 search function.
Completely disables both Edge, and Cortana, 100%
Completely STOPS Automatic updates, until you re-enable the services you shut down.
You can still Fast-boot.
Still stable.
Faster than ever.

Good Luck!

Dragunov.