Windows 10 Upgrade Thread (Questions, observations, experiences)

[Jeff Head]

...when we bought Win 7, the agreement between us and Microsoft was ... Microsoft to support the OS until 2020.

That deal is pretty much the standard deal in terms of extended support. Here's what I mean.

In my work I deal directly with Microsoft.

For Windows 7, mainstream support ended in January of this year. This just meant that they do not sell it any more, that requests for design changes and future major releases ended, and that their "extended support" kicked in on that date, which lasts five years.

Microsoft confirmed to our agency that mainstream support for all versions of Windows 7 ended then. But users continue to receive free security updates under their extended support until January 14, 2020. The quote Microsoft gave out in that regard was this:

Extended support lasts for five years and includes security updates at no cost, and paid hotfix support. Microsoft will not accept requests for design changes or new features during the extended support phase.

My guess is that this is what you company is talking about. It's pretty much the same for everyone.

Now, a person can pay Microsoft a lot of money (if they are a big enough customer) to purchase custom support in the form of paid for personnel to maintain things even longer...but that is rare, and only for specific, very high level customers.

Most people who do not absolutely have to, do not do so, because it ends up putting them further and further out of date as a corporation as a whole.

 

[Jeff Head]

"Officially", yes, but unofficially?

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That particular security patch/fix was really a "one off" situation that MS did not long after extended support ended. And they didn't have to do it.

There haven't been any released like that since to the whole legacy user base.

 

[solarz]

Make sure you delete the old windows files by following these instructions:

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In my case, those files took up 25gb, which is quite significant on a 128gb SSD.

 

[JayBird]

Paranoia or legitimate privacy concern? I guess depending on what you doing with your computer.

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Fears surrounding Windows 10's online connectivity and data collection are continuing to run rampant. The latest fallout is something that Microsoft probably won't be too upset about: some private BitTorrent trackers that trade entirely in pirated media appear to have banned the use of Microsoft's operating system.

According to a

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, the iTS tracker has banned the use of Windows 10. The reason? "Amongst other things Windows 10 sends the contents of your local disks directly to one of their servers."

To the best of our knowledge, this is nonsense. Windows 10,

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, does connect to numerous cloud services, and there are certainly privacy implications to these. But sending the contents of disks to Microsoft? There are no signs that Windows 10 does anything of the sort.

Microsoft reserves the right to share some data collected by Windows 10 with certain third parties. This particularly alarms iTS because of an existing Microsoft partnership with a company called

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. iTS describes MarkMonitor as an "anti-piracy company." That's true in a sense—the company helps brands stop things like the sale of counterfeits, domain squatting, and fraud—but it seems that Microsoft's

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with MarkMonitor is of a kind that even dedicated pirates shouldn't find too offensive. Microsoft's brands are routinely used to defraud people, with tech support scams, phishing, and counterfeit install media all being rampant. Working to prevent this is an entirely reasonable thing for the company to do, and partnering with MarkMonitor doesn't mean that Microsoft wants to inspect everyone's hard disk.

TorrentFreak

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that other private trackers are considering copying iTS' move. It writes that the BB tracker told its users that Windows 10 "will be gathering information on users' P2P use to be shared with anti piracy groups." It is not clear what Windows 10 feature is believed to be responsible for this behavior.

Again, the concerns around Windows 10's privacy impact appear to be tremendously overblown. There is the kernel of legitimate concern: Windows 10 collects a lot of data, and it's

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to disable this collection. Windows 10 also seems to

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even when configured for maximum privacy and minimal online integration. There are also reasonable concerns about what precisely is sent to Microsoft.

But these concerns are not "Microsoft is capturing the contents of your disks." They're more subtle; they're things like, "some requests are sent with a unique identifier, which would allow some searches and other online activity to be correlated." The inferences that can be drawn are not entirely precise, and there are concerns that they might be used for things such as targeted advertising—with, for example, the operating system using local search terms to influence Web ads—blurring the lines between "local" and "online" in a way that leaves some people uncomfortable.

Cloud storage services, including Microsoft's OneDrive and Google's Drive, raise the prospect of automated (or other) analysis of files stored online. Both of those services, for example, will attempt to detect child pornography. E-mails stored in Gmail, Office 365, Outlook.com, or any other online mail provider are also susceptible to inspection by service providers (something that Google does but that Microsoft doesn't) or government seizure.

Concern over these things is reasonable; while many will decide that the trade-offs are fair, some may feel that they go beyond what an operating system should do. The ability to opt out is important, and we feel that Windows 10 would be improved by making this opt-out simpler (for example, in addition to the piecemeal controls, offer a single switch between "fully cloud-connected and online" and "no cloud connectivity, go online only for updates") and stricter (turning off cloud connectivity should really turn it off, no exceptions).

But the notion that Microsoft gives a damn about some bootleg copy of a movie that you downloaded with BitTorrent and wants to report you to an anti-piracy organization? It's absurd. The company has literally nothing to gain from the backlash that this kind of intrusion would provoke. Collecting data so that Redmond can better understand how Windows is used or offer better recognition of the people, places, and events that you care about when you ask Cortana about them is one thing, invading privacy just so that MPAA or RIAA can get their pound of flesh is quite another. It's paranoia unrelated to any real privacy threat from Windows or any other operating system.

 

[SteelBird]

I read from the web that Windows 10 will be the last version of Windows, and the statement was released from Microsoft, however, not officially. Speculation suggests that future Microsoft operating system will transform into service like Office 365. Time to shift to Linux or Mac?

 

[lcloo]

I know there is a Window 10 thread somewhere, I tried to search everywhere but just can't find it.

Anyway, my question is has anyone encounter this message? And what is your recommendation? I like Window 10's EDGE for browser, is it really that un-secure?

 

[bd popeye]

I know there is a Window 10 thread somewhere, I tried to search everywhere but just can't find it.

Anyway, my question is has anyone encounter this message? And what is your recommendation? I like Window 10's EDGE for browser, is it really that un-secure?

View attachment 20070

Yep.. it is also unsecured for Norton. We don't use the edge browser.

My suggestion is to use the FREE ;

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According to the IT guys where I once worked Microsoft essentials is as good as any anti-virus protection a person can buy.

Here's a link to the windows 10 thread;

Windows 10 Upgrade Thread (Questions, observations, experiences)

 

[ahho]

I did a quick search using the search function and I did not see this. You can now do a clean install on windows 10 upgrade. All you have to do is download the Windows Creation Tool from Microsoft. It will automatically detect which version of windows 10 to download and it will ask you if you want to make a bootable disk or USB. When installing you have to select customer to do a clean install by wiping your drive. Additionally, if Windows installation cannot detect your windows key, you can activate after you have install it. All type of key works (including OEM kets)

 

[SinoSoldier]

I did a quick search using the search function and I did not see this. You can now do a clean install on windows 10 upgrade. All you have to do is download the Windows Creation Tool from Microsoft. It will automatically detect which version of windows 10 to download and it will ask you if you want to make a bootable disk or USB. When installing you have to select customer to do a clean install by wiping your drive. Additionally, if Windows installation cannot detect your windows key, you can activate after you have install it. All type of key works (including OEM kets)

A few caveats:

1. The Windows Creation tool only works for that specific computer and/or user, and hence you can't transfer it between PCs without having multiple valid product keys.

2. OEM versions of Windows cannot be made into boot files. The reason is that the OEM builds were custom-made for mass production of computers, and hence works only for that specific PC. I would imagine that this kind of specificity also exists for OEM product keys.

 

[ahho]

That is true, but the installation USB and Disk allows you to clean install windows 10 if you need to reformat, which is great for people that upgraded from Windows 7 and 8.

From what I remember, there is only Window 10 Home and Pro to select. Pretty much all home variation of Windows 7 to 8 get Window 10 home for free. Once you make a installation disc or USB, your OEM key will work with that version. Once you activated your Windows 10, it will register on your hardware. So for people that are reformatting Windows 10, they no longer have to go through the upgrade route and you don't have to re-enter your key.