• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Windows 10 Discussion Thread and Information

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
Clean installed Windows 10 Education edition in my new rig (which is apparently even better than Pro in terms of "stuff" it has)
I will have to skim this thread for things to do to help privacy , already I did a quick pass through settings. All in all, its not windows 7 but at least it's not too bad. I think I'll be ok as long as I can shut down updates as so far I can "defer" them but It still annoys me.
I'm just happy my school gave me a perpetual and legal copy of windows 10 as its better than having to buy windows.

So far driver support seems good, at first glance I dont see why the rage comes but I am sure as I read more and more of this thread I'll realize it.
 
Quick question: I haven't been keeping track of all the latest winten developments. Can you now do a clean install without having to install over 7/8.1 first and just use the old OS key to activate?
 
You can do a clean install of windows 10 if you already have windows 10 installed you don't have to use the OS key MS remembers you PC S/N's, if windows 10 was not on your PC you can just use the OS key.
 
In theory it works. In real not always. You don't need key only when you got PC with preinstalled Win10 and key is in BIOS or you got PC with earlier version which was upgraded to Win10.
If you installed OEM version on a PC made yourself then during reinstallation you will still need product key but it will automatically activate. It's signed to the motherboard in MS database but there is no key signed in BIOS. At least in this way it's working on my motherboards.
Also key is not signed to motherboard's SN but to product number so you only need the same motherboard model regardless what BIOS or serial number it has.
 
Last edited:
Can Windows 7/8 be activated on the machine you are installing it on?
If yes, yhen Until July 29, so for another two months +, if you have the latest installation version of Windows 10, activation servers do validate Windows 7/8 keys as Windows 10 keys... so the only question is can you install Windows 7/8 on the same machine without having to call in?

If you can, then it doesn't matter if the key is a valid Windows 7/8 key or a valid Windows 10 key... both get activated on latest versions of Windows 10 install media... but only until the end of July 2016...
 
Microsoft just killed WiFi Sense in Windows 10!


FAST RING members, get your membership cards, badges and BSOD T-shirts ready. There's a new build of Windows 10 in town, brought to you by the numbers 14342.

The headline, buried away at the bottom of Gabe Aul's blog post, is that the controversial WiFi Sense feature has been ditched.

The idea was that participants could share WiFi codes with their contacts, but in reality it wasn't getting used and freaked people out because security.

"We have removed the WiFi Sense feature that allows you to share WiFi networks with your contacts and to be automatically connected to networks shared by your contacts," explained Aul.

"The cost of updating the code to keep this feature working, combined with low use and low demand, made this not worth further investment..."
 
They are slowly chipping away at the "features" that were big negatives for so many people. If they keep this up W 10 is going to be Windows......7. LOL
 
It just interesting they can remove features remotely if they want. I wonder if they pull it out of the registry or do they leave scraps behind?
 
I'm guessing, but it would probably be easier (ie: cost effective) to just make an "update" that removes the OS' access to the registry key and the references to it in various applications. Or disable the registry key and eliminate the "so and so failed to start" alerts.
 
New major build update is kind of like an OS reinstall.
If you like to modify Windows - this is a major problem.

Many modifications are reset after a build update because while it's obviously not a total reinstall... when it comes to Windows settings and Windows features, with the very first major new build, I noticed that it hosed a large number of my Windows modifications...

Things will continue to change with each new major build.
 
Also, it's always the same problem with Microsoft. Continuous identical problem.
If they made Metro optional, people would not have complained. If they made WiFi sense optional as a new feature that those who *for whatever reason* like it, can go out of the way to turn on, no one would have complained.

Instead they offer controversial new options as mandatory default features and then when people predictably complain - they gut them.

If only they simply offered these things as new options we can turn ON, instead of having most people scrambling to disable them...
 
In case that link ever dies, the link was to the news that now we have three options:

• Upgrade to Windows 10 Now
• Upgrade to Windows 10 Tonight
• Click on X to close the popup window WHICH LAUNCHES THE WINDOWS 10 UPDATE IMMEDIATELY!

This is the very definition of malware.



On my family's Windows 8 laptops, I wanted to just upgrade them to 10 in order to register them so that anyone using the laptop in the future can have an option of using Windows 10 for free. When I did that, I found out the hard way that Windows 10 upgrade on them actually changes their partition tables (!!!).

As a matter of standard procedure even before monthly Windows updates (let alone a full blown OS upgrade) - I fully imaged the system and was able to restore the partitions the way they were before what I thought was going to be a temporary switch to Windows 10..... but I would not have been able to do that if I didn't make an image *beforehand* - The going back option Windows gives you doesn't restore the partition table the way it used to be before.
 
c627627 said:
but I would not have been able to do that if I didn't make an image *beforehand* - The going back option Windows gives you doesn't restore the partition table the way it used to be before.
Click to expand...

c6, are they making these partitions GPT?
 
That depends on how many partitions you already had on there, I had GPT before and after, because so many partitions are now used by Microsoft even under Windows 8... but extra partitions were there after Windows 10 upgrade, yes.

The easiest way to have insurance is standard procedure after getting any laptop:

Immediately Format laptop's C: drive so that it is empty.
Now make an image of the entire partition table (which now has an empty C: Drive, so the image file size is significantly smaller) but your image contains the factory restore partition as well as small boot partitions etc.

So then when, and it will be when, your laptop's hard drive dies one day, you can restore that entire imaged partition table to a new hard drive.

Now do a factory restore (to restore C: drive from factory image.)



This approach also allows you to restore the partition table after a temporary Windows 10 upgrade in order to register your laptop in the cloud in case you ever actually want to use Windows 10. You'll be able to for free at any time in the future as long as you install Win10 once before the end of July 2016.
 
Now's the time to start our entrance and exit strategies. If we wait until the last moment July 29th, there will be a crush at the gates so-to-speak. I have a total of 8 win7 COAs to deal with. My family members don't like winten, but they'll only have 3 years until win7 EOL, then they'll have to pay for winten or go with non windows OS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

c627627
What is the LONGEST you can disable downloading Windows 10/11 updates and how?
Replies
12
Views
690
Janus67
Janus67
Kenrou
Microsoft Will Offer Extended Support For Windows 10 IF YOU PAY
2
Replies
26
Views
703
Woomack
W
Kenrou
You'll soon see ads for apps in the Windows 11 Start menu
Replies
2
Views
76
infinitevalence
infinitevalence
Kenrou
Set Your Calendars: Windows 12 is Coming in June 2024 with Arm Support and AI Features
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
mackerel
mackerel
c627627
How to Disable Microsoft Nags to Update Windows 8.1 [to buy a new computer]
Replies
17
Views
2K
Woomack
W
Back