Just wanted to remind DUer's that Windows 10 free upgrade from 7, 8.1 still works.

[cayugafalls]

I know it has been posted in threads here before, but I just wanted to let everyone know it still works, almost seamlessly.

There is a caveat. If you used Windows disks to install and automatically format your hard drive during the install, you may have a 100mb System Reserve drive that contains all your initial boot files and may act as a constraint towards getting the update to install.

Check your hard drive setup to insure install success.

1. Check your drive setup.

2. Click Start Run, type "diskmgmt.msc"

3. This will bring up a listing of your disks in a window.

4. Check to see if you have a 100mb "System Reserved" or "Data" partition (no drive letter). If you do not, quit Disk Management and skip to 7.

5. Check the free space column to make sure you have 15mb free space. If not, there is still hope, read on.



6. If you have 15mb or greater free space, then you should be able to install Windows 10. A safer number is 18mb, but MS says 15mb is good. Quit the Disk Management application.

6a. If you do not have 15mb free, here is a website that shows you what to do, but at this point, you need to be careful as you can mess up your pc and make it unbootable if you make a mistake.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3086249/we-couldn-t-update-system-reserved-partition-error-installing-windows


7. I'll refer to this website now for a list of things to consider and do before upgrading and links the to the Windows 10 Update Tool,

https://mspoweruser.com/how-to-upgrade-to-windows-10-for-free/

The upgrade/update tool will check your system to verify if it can handle windows 10.

[TruckFump]

1. Miss Windows 7!

Never liked 8 or 10.

[angstlessk]

2. I use a windows 7 skin

https://www.google.com/search?q=windows+7+skin+for+windows+10&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS890US890&oq=windows+7+skin+for+&aqs=chrome.0.0j69i57j0l6.27011j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[TruckFump]

3. My IT guy changed 10 all around and it sorta looks like 7.

But, it still is NOT Windows 7.

Thanks the info...that was very nice of you! :

[cayugafalls]

4. I understand. Biggest problem though is no more support and Windows 7 exploits are well known.

Making it a security risk. No more support means that soon, video cards, certain printers, and other peripherals will not support being connected to a Windows 7 PC's, you would be stuck having to buy second hand off eBay to replace a component.

There is always risk and I am in no way trying to push Windows 10...just trying to point out that there are free options for upgrade still out there for those that want it.

I've always been part of the change management team in IT so I have had to deal with change regardless of my opinions and try to find a happy medium. The Windows 7 themes and skins for Windows 10 are nice, but like you said, it is not Windows 7.

I have yet to see anything about Windows 10 that is that big of a change or difference. I am still running the exact same 64 bit apps I ran on 7 and besides getting used to the layout and how to do certain things, it is really not much different. There are tips and tricks for shutting off some of the built-in features and reducing overhead, so all in all, you can still customize it to your liking.

Don't get me wrong, your opinion is extremely valid and I am in no way trying to minimize it. To be honest, I felt the same way when they discontinued Windows NT, it was the most stable OS Microsoft had ever released, imo.

[TruckFump]

5. Thanks.

What got to me is that all my laser printers, etc., do not work with Windows 10. So, I spent a ton on new laser printers.

[cayugafalls]

6. I completely understand. MS is great at deprecating our hardware without asking us.

It is why I spent nearly 20 years hating MS...now, I don't have the energy to hate them, I just have to get stuff done...lol.

I wish there was a better answer...

[TruckFump]

7. I hear ya!!!

It use to be that computers made things easier. So much for that!

[hunter]

8. I haven't touched my Windows laptop since the middle of March.

Thanks, covid!



Years ago I decided I wouldn't touch Windows machines unless someone was paying me.

My home computers run Debian. Those are home-built, often from parts diverted from the e-waste stream.

I also have an inexpensive Chromebook, and two Raspberry Pis.

I recently upgraded my Debian desktop to a new terabyte SSD drive, not for any speed advantage really, but because I don't like the noise spinning hard drives make.

Linux upgrades are easy in comparison to Windows because there's no fiddling around with licenses or registration, no hacking through discontinued file formats, activation codes, etc.

The last Windows version I used on my home machines was 98SE.

For less than $100 the Raspberry Pi can be a way to gain some confidence building computers and using Open Source software. Installing some Linux version like Mint or Raspberry Pi Debian on an older abandoned machine is another way.

I've been building and using computers since the 'seventies. I'm still a huge fan of Atari 8 bit machines and BSD Unix and its derivatives.( As an undergraduate student I practically lived in the computer labs.)

When it comes to getting things done I learned a long time ago to keep it simple. Proprietary software only complicates my life, usually with no real benefits.

[cayugafalls]

9. Don't get me started...lol

I have all my old laptops running Linux, several Raspberry PI's running RasPlex connected to my Plex server (which runs on my FreeNas server) and our older 60" big screens (I can't get a new TV when the old ones work fine for what I watch).

My main desktop runs Win10 as that is my work/consulting machine. It was running Win7 Pro until my most recent job, then I had to upgrade, but it was no big deal for me, since I consult all the time.

Like you, I have been around computers since the 70's, (heck, my mom was a Systems Analyst and we use to play on mainframes when she got called in to work back in the 60's - paper clip wars with my brother using the office chairs as horses was more fun though).

Back in the mid to late 90's, a buddy and myself, played around with Beowolf clusters built using old Xeon processors and motherboards that we got from the local electronic recyclers. I had a lot of old desktops due to my consulting and upgrading of businesses so most of the parts were free.

I have way to much old tech laying around, Kaypro's, Sinclair's, early Apples, my original IBM 5150 with a 20mb hdd (sucker cost nearly $6,000 new), off brands, etc...

Thanks for the reminisce.

[hunter]

10. My garage is a computer museum.

I don't often power up any of the older hardware up for fear of capacitors exploding like firecrackers.

I suppose I could replace capacitors but it's easier to emulate. I've always made a habit of transferring all my old files and software to my newest machines. Stuff I wrote in the 'seventies still plays on my desktop.

The first modern microprocessor computer I built used an 1802. I later cannibalized that machine to build another computer, which I still have. Both computers are emulated on my desktop.

The first computers I built as a kid used junk telephone company relays. One of those machines got me an "honorable mention" in the county Science Fair. I kept the Nixie Tube display, the rest of the computer may still be in the attic of the home my parents sold a long time ago.

My favorite Sinclair is the 2068.

I'm not someone to ask for Windows advice. If anyone is asking me then maybe it would be easier that they got a Chromebook. Or a Bluetooth keyboard for the Android or Apple phone, or tablet, they already own.

The "what it cost new" has frequently been my downfall. I'm the proud owner of a local television station's entire AMIGA kit.