Windows 10, a cold caller in a box?

Farmer John · #1 16th July 2017, 17:12

I have recently bought a computer with Windows 10 as operating system. I would dearly love it to do some things for me, but it is so busy telling me what to do, finding bits of news that don't interest me and generally farting about, it doesn't seem to have time to do what I want. It is always asking me if I want it to.....

No, I don't, I want it to do what I tell it to do, I have been using computers since Apricot came out with their go at the market, and before, but Windows 10 is a nag at the wrong time, a wanton that does it's own thing and something that constantly interrupts me when I have set it a task. Mr Paperclip, you have spawned a devil child and put it in charge of my computer.

Gulpers · #2 16th July 2017, 21:16

I am so glad I binned Microsoft - iPad and MacBook Pro take care of all my I.T. needs nowadays.

Tom Alexander · #3 17th July 2017, 00:25

I picked up a refurbished laptop with W10 installed to use as a back up while my regular laptop with W7 was in the hospital for a short while. I have only plugged W10 in once since first use just to keep the battery charged. I agree wholeheartedly with Farmer John, plus it is more nosy than the neighbor across the street. My preference is to carry on using my Windows XP pc at home. IMHO it is more simple to use than any of the "upgrades", and in spite of claims to the contrary I do seem to get the odd upgrade from time to time. It doesn't want to keep changing what I type all the time either.

Harlequin · #4 17th July 2017, 08:07

I also binned Microsoft a soon as the warranty expired on the laptop I'd bought. Installed Linux Ubuntu and have never regretted it, a really simple operating system that just works, plus everything is free. I can't understand why more people don't use it, or at least give it a try.

Ray · #5 17th July 2017, 09:20

I had windows 7 when I bought this laptop, changed to windows 10 when it first became available in the uk, never had a problem.

BobClay · #6 17th July 2017, 15:59

Operating systems are basically about what you are used to. Hence the screams and wails when a new version is released and the learning curve is back. But you have to bite the bullet on that one, valves and big lumpy components soldered onto racks are GONE people.

I'm yet again in the middle of upgrading dozens of laptops for the village school, a new version of Windows 10 is going to be on the cards every year according to Microsoft (but ... you don't have to pay for it !!) I personally have never had much of a problem with it. All this notification behaviour is down to how people want the Internet to be these days (I'll admit I'm not that keen on it) but the fact is you can turn most of this off if you look into it.

As for Linux ? Well I run Linux Mint and Ubuntu and Windows 10 on an old (but perfectly good) desktop (plug in drives, none of this dual boot nonsense) and for sure it is a good system. But my background from the late 80's early 90's was working in Unix, which is the forerunner of Linux, so I manage it ok, but I have found though that many people find Linux intimidating and less user friendly than Windows or Apple OS and for sure it is a bit more geeky. But since it and Open Office are all FREE !! ... it's a good deal.

As for Apple, well beyond being ridiculously overpriced I don't like their attitude that 'thou shalt not meddle' with the innards of the system, 'but payeth Apple to fixeth it.'

But different strokes for different folks as they say. This joke diagram pretty much sums it all up:

Frank_P · #7 18th July 2017, 09:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farmer John

I have recently bought a computer with Windows 10 as operating system. I would dearly love it to do some things for me, but it is so busy telling me what to do, finding bits of news that don't interest me and generally farting about, it doesn't seem to have time to do what I want. It is always asking me if I want it to.....

No, I don't, I want it to do what I tell it to do, I have been using computers since Apricot came out with their go at the market, and before, but Windows 10 is a nag at the wrong time, a wanton that does it's own thing and something that constantly interrupts me when I have set it a task. Mr Paperclip, you have spawned a devil child and put it in charge of my computer.

You can personalize win 10, you can start by turning off all the microsoft invasive programs that you are not going to use...

I am quite happy with win 10 now that I turned off Cortana and some other stuff...

ART6 · #8 18th July 2017, 10:57

I have one MS tower PC on which I was originally running W7. During the free upgrade period I decided to try W10 on it since I already had a laptop that came with W10 and worked fine. However, being aware of the potential issues with simply upgrading the original OS I installed a second, blank, hard drive in the W7 machine and put W10 on that. Now, when I boot that computer, it asks me which OS I want to use. With a clean install like that I have found W10 to be excellent once past the (relatively simple) learning curve, so I hardly ever boot into W7 nowadays.

I suspect that many of the problems that new W10 users have encountered have a lot to do with upgrading an existing OS to W10 rather than doing a clan install. You never know what fragments and bits are lying around in the registry to upset the new OS!

BobClay · #9 18th July 2017, 11:19

I upgraded all the laptops and desktops in the village school to Windows 10 from Windows 7 and all went smoothly. The trick was preparation, I say was because you can't do it anymore, not for free. Full disk checks, defrag and cleans. Remove AV software (you can re-install it afterwards) and ensure it's fully up to date.
While a clean install would probably have been quicker, re-installing all the school software would have been a pain. Personally I've never had much of a problem upgrading any machine either schools, private or my own, although all have been from Windows 7 with only my own laptop coming up from Windows 8.1 (the demon operating system.)

ChasD · #10 31st July 2017, 16:46

Hi Bob, (or anybody else with the relevant experience !) Have you any experience with Windows 10 in a mobile phone? Decided to move up to the modern world by upgrading from my existing 1990's Nokia 3510. This does have it's advantages in that it will run a week or more on a single charge and with a spare battery I can wander away from civilisation quite happily without worrying about 'going flat' at an inconvenient moment - but, there comes a time when one might consider the advantages of modernity. How thinkest thee ?

BobClay · #11 31st July 2017, 18:23

Sorry Chas my phones are running Android so I've no idea what it's like on a tablet or phone.

ChasD · #12 31st July 2017, 18:35

Yep, I have a mini laptop & tablet on Android, but with airlines getting twitchy about anything bigger than a phone, thought an upgrade might have it's points, might do a bit more research !

Malcolm G · #13 31st July 2017, 20:43

I don't know about using Windows on a mobile phone - I only use my (Android equipped) mob phone for calls and SMS.
But, I do use a Windows tablet. Main one is a Linx 10 with a clip on keyboard and also I have a Linx 8 to slip in my camera bag. They are both way better, for me, than an Android tablet but each to his own.
Also much cheaper than an iPad!

Windows 10 has 'Tablet mode' I use this on the 8" but just use the normal mode on the 10".

BobClay · #14 31st July 2017, 22:08

I do have a tablet, an Ipad 4 which of course lives in Apple Land IOS. Quite old now but still going strong. Anything by Apple is pricey but I can't fault the quality.

ChasD · #15 18th August 2017, 11:28

After a bit of research, looked at 'Nokia Lumia' series but eventually settled on Linx 8 following Malcolm's advice. Seems to meet what I need and is an impressive piece of kit.
Thanks Guys !

Roger B · #16 18th August 2017, 11:45

Initially had some problems with Windows 10, got some good advice from Bob Clay, and it has worked seamlessly downloading updates etc., without any problems. Many thanks Bob. Cheers, Roger

Dave McGouldrick · #17 19th August 2017, 09:19

I have a selection of tablets - none of them apple flavoured. I take 2 twice a day, one once a day etc, Known as the 'keeping me alive operating system.'

Seriously Windows 10 fine once the 'stupid stuff' is disabled/removed.

BobClay · #18 19th August 2017, 10:39

For those who are not fond of updates all I can say is you should give it some more thought. With regard to full upgrades this is the way it is going to be from now on, which is surely better than having to purchase a new operating system every few years.

I believe the current issue of Windows 10 is 1703 version 15063.54. My current version on test is shown below. It hasn't upgraded now for three weeks, which is the longest time this year between new builds but I suspect the boys in California are taking their vacations.This only applies to one machine, all the rest I run are on the current Windows 10 Pro issue. But I set all general updates to fully automatic.

It's upgraded almost weekly for most of the year and as you can see the build number is way ahead of the general release. This of course is a test version, which is put out all over the world and performance data and glitches fed back to Microsoft. In the several years I've been doing this I've only had one major problem during an upgrade which involved recovering the system from an image. Bear in mind if you're beta testing problems are to be expected and prepared for, which is why I dedicated just the one desktop to the job. This does make you a bit paranoid about backing up any files you value ... but I see that as a good thing.

Microsoft seem fond of bolting on extra bells and whistles admitted but the fact is software like everything else moves on. Not doing updates or general release upgrades is dangerous these days with the amount of malicious software flying around.

This applies to all operating systems regardless of flavour.

Dave McGouldrick · #19 20th August 2017, 19:48

The question to ask yourself is : If Ford (e.g), offered you improvements to your new car for the next 3 years, included in your purchase price, would you ignore that offer?

Frank_P · #20 22nd August 2017, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave McGouldrick

The question to ask yourself is : If Ford (e.g), offered you improvements to your new car for the next 3 years, included in your purchase price, would you ignore that offer?

Another angle. If the Ford dealership tried to sell you a car with bits missing e.g the passenger seat and told you to come back in 3 months time and they would fit it for free, would you buy the car?........

Cheers Frank

ChasD · #21 7th September 2017, 19:49

Just a comment on the Linx8 series with Windows 10, after some experience with it.
Overall impression – excellent, like having a hand held desktop PC. Very fast (like muck off a stick!) Quad core processor, SSD hard drive, all the content and facilities of main line W10. Only constraint is the limited amount of memory and RAM, Memory can be fixed with the addition of an inserted chip. Limited RAM is not easily up-rated (won’t do readyboost because of the SSD)and this means it can’t upgrade to Creators update /1703 without manual assistance. This can be achieved with a USB Stick loaded as a media creation tool so not a real problem. Makes my old Android kit look well old fashioned.
Shout if you need any advice on this ...
Regards ... Chas

BobClay · #22 7th September 2017, 20:36

How much RAM does it have Chas ?

ChasD · #23 7th September 2017, 21:21

Hi Bob, It has 30 gigglybits hard drive, and 1 gig RAM, perfectly useable for normal purposes but 1703 upgrade needs 2gig RAM or it won't handle it using the usual upgrade assistant, via normal updates.

Once the upgrade has been achieved (and you can then dump Windows Old and all the other junk) then you have plenty of both for normal activity; it is just the creation of the 'RAM Disc function' using internal RAM that causes the problem. On a 'normal' system you could use 'Readyboost' to give you the extra RAM but this is disabled if an SSD is installed.

Using a main PC to create an installation media USB stick, then using that to load the upgrade into the tablet works fine. You need a USB stick of at least 5Gig (I used 8GB) plus an 'On the Go' (OTG) adapter to feed it in and it works. Recommend uninstalling the 'Upgrade Assistant' (which will have installed via updates) before starting and of course doing all the usual housekeeping and making sure you are fully charged before kick-off.

Just a word of caution re 'ONE DRIVE' - this can be very useful for shoving stuff from the main comp to the tablet, however, if you delete stuff in the system, either on the tablet or 'in the cloud', it can delete that stuff in the main unit - not a good idea ! To be used with caution !

Regards .... Chas

ChasD · #24 15th September 2017, 07:12

This is doing the rounds now, a big one, though not as big as the 1703 one. I've yet to explore the full implications, though I have it installed on main and portable units with no problems. Recommend the usual housekeeping before and after.

Regards ... Chas

BobClay · #25 16th September 2017, 09:44

With respect to One Drive the syncing with your PC or other device can indeed be dangerous as it endeavours to keep your documents etc on the device the same. However this can be adjusted in settings to stop that.

I've just had a two day stint with a new beta build 16288.1 of Windows 10. Several attempts to install it online failed and I was getting close to giving up when I noticed some services had somehow been set to manual rather than automatic. No information was given on the failures other than an obscure error code which I Googled for hours before getting a clue.

Some sites are putting it down to malware but repeated scans with Malwarebytes and Hitman Pro and Defender found nothing.

Last night I reset the services start up to where I think it should be and left it overnight to try again. Happily got up this morning to find the build had gone in. I'll be keeping an eye on those services in future.