Windows 10: The next chapter

It is July 29, 2015 and I've read through the thread and have compiled major questions that are not 100% clear. Please post source of answers to them:


1. Which of these is true:


It is not possible to do a clean install of this ISO
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
onto an empty partition and use a valid Windows 7/8 key.
You can format/install Windows 7/8 then immediately run this ISO to switch to Windows 10 and that is as clean as you can install Windows 10 using a Windows 7/8 key.

In other words you cannot fresh install Windows 10 with a Windows 7/8 key, period.

***OR***

Are you saying:
a. First upgrade from Windows 7/8 to Windows 10 and activate Windows 10.
b. NUKE the partition.
c. Only then install Windows 10 from scratch, which will somehow activate Windows 10 based on what you have done previously when you upgraded to Windows 10 without doing a fresh install first.



2. If you have installed an ISO onto either an empty partition or over Windows 7/8 (in other words, if you have never installed Windows 10 before on that system), what is the BuildLabEx entry for this July 29, 2015 ISO:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

What does it say here:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion]

"BuildBranch"="th1"
"CurrentBuild"="10240"
"CurrentVersion"="6.3"
"BuildLabEx"="10240.16390.amd64xxx.th1_st1.150714-1601"


BuildLabEx number is the important value, not the CurrentBuild value. We need the Build LabEx number to know the ISO version and to figure out what the real RTM version really means. So we need to compare today's ISO vs. the retail media ISO version coming in a few weeks.


3. There are two completely separate topics, Windows insiders vs. non-insider Windows 7/8 upgrade installs.

Is there a way for a Windows insider to install that Windows ISO from scratch onto an empty partition?


5. What is the size of the 32/64 combo ISO vs. individual 32 and 64 ISOs?

I directed the Windows 10.iso download to be saved onto a drive with plenty of space but that doesn't matter. The ISO downloads onto your OS drive FIRST.
That means if you have your OS installed on an SSD where space is not plentiful, you will wait and wait and wait until you reach 100% and the download will not be saved and everything will disappear and your SSD will be out of space with the partial downloaded files taking up space without you knowing what happened...

Your OS partition MUST have enough space to download the full size ISO and then some. It doesn't matter how much hard drive space you have elsewhere.
This, in other words, is amateur hour download setup.
You can also see that from the default download language being Czech. (The Czhech republic is a country of 10 million) - most downloaders list English as default to make the download setup easier for hundreds of millions of people. The official Microsoft Windows 10 downloader now used to upgrade BILLIONS OF DEVICES could have been created in a more professional way if you hired someone off of Craig's List.


6. Will our Windows 7/8 keys work to install Windows 7/8 from scratch between now and Windows 7/8 end of life, if we want to go back to them and give up Windows 10, because, for example, Windows 7/8 TV tuner has watching/recording capability (through Windows 7/8 Media Center) whereas Windows 10 does not. But mostly for reasons of knowing that we have that option if we ever need it for other software/hardware compatibility reasons.


7. Windows 7/8 retail activation key can be used to install Windows 7/8 on a system on which you can change hardware whenever you feel like. Where is the link that spells out that such retail keys can be used to install Windows 10 on systems where you can also change hardware whenever you feel like it, without having issues people who have OEM machines have... Plenty of people bought Microsoft Windows Retail. The few of us in this thread who did are not alone.


If we can get these questions answered - we can have our own Windows 10 FAQ, because at least some of them will be repeatedly asked on the forums starting today.

Possible winten deal breakers:

1. Automatic updates can't be stopped. They can break drivers and take away features at will and you'll have no control long term. With Pro you can delay, but not prevent the eventual updates. If someone comes up with a blocker to prevent auto updates, will the OS eventually expire unless it gets to update?

2. What kind of spying will winten be doing on end users? Retail/OEM versions. Not insiders.

3. DRM lock downs of your files. What has the RIAA, MPAA, et al insisted MS do to secure their interests?

This is just off the top of my head. I'll add to the list as other possible deal breaker issues come to mind.

How intrusive is M$ with this new OS? Are they data mining us and our personal information for the "greater good" or for their bottom dollar? I'm a big advocate on privacy. I don't care as long as they aren't using our personal information as I'm using that term very loosely. I'd rather be identified with the simple key I had purchased from them and not ANYTHING ELSE! But for them it seems like to fight against piracy and the likes, they've taken away our freedoms if we accept their offer. Not sure how to take this all in or to think. They've been beating around the bush with this new OS and haven't got straight to the point on many questions.

Who's not to say they get in bed with the multimedia groups like movie companies and music groups. Are they now going to know if someone has illegal copies of music and movies on their PC? I'm not sticking up for those at all, my point is how intrusive will they be and be able to go through your stuff. Everything seems so intertwined and interconnected in W10.

WinTen provides the ability to turn off or on a lot of privacy and sharing keys. I remember registering a lot of products with MS over the years which made updating or reinstalling better than it could have been. Same with hardware and other programs. My info is out there. Everyone's is out there. Fact of life any more. Get used to it.

As far as I can tell the same privacy features that were enabled in Win8/8.1 are there for Win10. Location, typing, voice (if you use Cortana for example), bug reports (as usual), etc. I have them all disabled minus location turned on for weather app and maps.

Audioaficionado,


1. Please comment on if/how this can block updates on all installs: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930
2. EULA was studied already and it does NOT contain anything to validate previous suspicions.
3. DRM locks down what files? What happens with that that does not already happen under Windows 7/8?


GTXJackBauer, EULA has been studied and does not contain any surprises.

We need specific examples - all the talk you guys are posting is pre EULA talk that has been proven false. That doesn't mean that there aren't concerns. It's time to list specifics, time for speculation is over, the OS is out EULA is out. Whoever posts concerns needs to post proof - not speculation.

Audioaficionado said:

Possible winten deal breakers:

1. Automatic updates can't be stopped. They can break drivers and take away features at will and you'll have no control long term. With Pro you can delay, but not prevent the eventual updates. If someone comes up with a blocker to prevent auto updates, will the OS eventually expire unless it gets to update?

2. What kind of spying will winten be doing on end users? Retail/OEM versions. Not insiders.

3. DRM lock downs of your files. What has the RIAA, MPAA, et al insisted MS do to secure their interests?

Click to expand...

How to temporarily prevent a Windows or driver update from reinstalling in Windows 10

Click to expand...

Not good enough c6. I want to permanently shut off specific updates at will without jumping through hoops.

Agreed. What do they mean by 'temporarily', until when?

M$ is obviously going to gather and store enough data to identify a particular machine and allow the OS to be authorized (re-install) without a product key. The EULA doesn't tell us how much/what kind of data , and M$ changed their privacy terms not long ago. I am not the sharpest tool in the shed on these issues but I see enough questions to stop considering W 10 as my future OS altogether for the moment.

It's not like this deal will expire tomorrow if you don't act today. We've got lots of time to watch and wait. I don't fully trust MS and their somewhat tricky EULA language and refusal to answer many questions with specific answers. If and when I install the real deal (not insider plaything), I'll not be using my online account, but a local account. Not trust and verify, but first verify and then trust

I might just go ahead and upgrade my wife's laptop from 8.1 which I updated from 8 right after we bought it. She's on facebook a lot and plays a ton of online farming games, etc. Not much more harm can be done there

I wholeheartedly agree with some of the comments here. I'm going to slap this thing on my Backup/Folding x58 Win 7 (OEM OS) machine. I'll play with it there and see any incompatibilities there. I'm still weary with the whole privacy thing as we all should be. In the meantime, I'm still waiting for the download.

c627627 said:

Agreed. What do they mean by 'temporarily', until when?

Click to expand...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/07/28/microsoft-windows-10-should-you-upgrade/

You guys will have to tell me, but this is the best "all in one place" article Ive read

To this end users have already talked about hacks to stop updates installing, but in April senior Microsoft product marketing manager Helen Harmetz said users who forcibly stopped any Windows 10 updates would eventually have their security updates cut off.

Click to expand...

Punishment for not playing ball their way. No , thank you.

Yes you can create and iso and clean install but you have to update first at this point http://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-prepare-your-pc-for-windows-10/

I keep having 2 issues... first it wants to scan and fix drive f but i got no drive f, so it fails to scan... then after running and getting to about 14% of the install phase it reboots, restores and i get this error..

the installation failed in the safe-os phase with an error during the apply_image operation

already updated all drivers and disconnected all usb stuff.

Windows 10 Shares Your Wi-Fi With Contacts

Not liking this at all

Yeah, it's opt-in for that, not exactly sure the reason I guess than to otherwise have a shared 'guest' network without giving out the password explicitly at your place? /shrug disabled it

Audioaficionado said:

Winten just updated to 10240 and now is updating a kb. Lets see if any #s are changed.

"BuildLabEx"="10240.16390.amd64xxx.th1_st1.150714-1601"

"BuildLabEx"="10240.16393.amd64fre.th1_st1.150717-1719"

OK there we have it. The true version # as of this update.

Click to expand...

10240.16393.amd64fre.th1_st1.150717-1719

Looks like this was the 7-29 release version after all.

Audioaficionado said:

Windows 10 Shares Your Wi-Fi With Contacts

Not liking this at all

Click to expand...

You an opt out, chill. Also, hello from Windows 10. It's awesome, install it.