Windows 10: The next chapter

[Audioaficionado]

I can add the other OSes on other drives later using a BDC editor. I've had windows place the boot loader files on another drive other than the target drive. It didn't ask for permission either.

 

[c627627]

I think the wisest approach, as you pointed out, is to remind people to physically disconnect all their hard drives. Thanks for reminding me!

The thing that troubles me are multiple partitions, will have to use a dedicated single hard drive just for this and figure out how to avoid that.
I somehow managed to install Windows 7 on a single partition back in the day, with BCD info and OS on the same partition, for easier imaging.
I am hoping to do the same for Windows 10, figure out how to keep it all on the same partition, for easier imaging in case of trouble.

 

[petteyg359]

I think the wisest approach, as you pointed out, is to remind people to physically disconnect all their hard drives. Thanks for reminding me!

The thing that troubles me are multiple partitions, will have to use a dedicated single hard drive just for this and figure out how to avoid that.
I somehow managed to install Windows 7 on a single partition back in the day, with BCD info and OS on the same partition, for easier imaging.
I am hoping to do the same for Windows 10, figure out how to keep it all on the same partition, for easier imaging in case of trouble.

You're supposed to have two (or more) partitions with EFI. The bootloader(s) go in the ESP, not the OS partition. I couldn't figure out how to trick the installer into letting me set that, though. I could get it to a single partition by letting it do its automatic four-partition thing, then deleting the first three, creating a small primary partition, deleting the last primary, then extending the first to the whole drive, but that leaves me without an ESP and of course the install refused to continue with those partition settings. If I kept the "System" partition (100 MB, which is the default ESP size for everything I've seen), then I lost 300 MB at the start from the "recovery" partition, since it won't move partitions back if you delete an earlier one.

 

[c627627]

Thank you for that post.
I do not have UEFI BIOS and was therefore happy to see that after disconnecting ALL hard drives and only connecting an empty drive, Windows 10 Beta installed itself onto a single partition. It took up just 13.5 GB - which imaged to 4.72 GB, which is the equivalent of a standard single layer DVD + 365 MB.

When Skylake comes out, I will get back to the UEFI issue, until then I hope you guys figure it out. My hardware upgrades are only when Quantum Leap technology innovations come along: Athlon XP (2002) - first i7 (2008) - Skylake (2015/16)

Windows 10 Beta was the first Windows Beta I ever installed in my life that went through without a hitch. Although when powering down, I do get a DDE Server Window having trouble closing, hopefully it will all be miraculously fixed in the RTM, as Microsoft did with their other Betas - RTM fixes so many problems...


When I got to the Sign in step, I did not Skip it > Signing in immediately identified me as a Microsoft Insider and displayed my join date upon booting into Windows 10 - thereby registering my status one would assume. I was given a key when downloading Windows 10 Beta yet was not asked to enter it when installing, I assume this was because I signed in - which automatically entered my key?


Connecting all the drivers after Windows 10 Beta installed went without any problems and Windows 10 became part of my multi-boot, easily switchable from any of my previously installed operating systems. Installing EasyBCD under Windows 10, also immediately recognized all my other OS, without me even setting up anything.

 

[Alaric]

Holy cow ! That's a bunch of Windows !

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Thank you for that post.
I do not have UEFI BIOS and was therefore happy to see that after disconnecting ALL hard drives and only connecting an empty drive, Windows 10 Beta installed itself onto a single partition. It took up just 13.5 GB - which imaged to 4.72 GB, which is the equivalent of a standard single layer DVD + 365 MB.

When Skylake comes out, I will get back to the UEFI issue, until then I hope you guys figure it out. My hardware upgrades are only when Quantum Leap technology innovations come along: Athlon XP (2002) - first i7 (2008) - Skylake (2015/16)

Windows 10 Beta was the first Windows Beta I ever installed in my life that went through without a hitch. Although when powering down, I do get a DDE Server Window having trouble closing, hopefully it will all be miraculously fixed in the RTM, as Microsoft did with their other Betas - RTM fixes so many problems...


When I got to the Sign in step, I did not Skip it > Signing in immediately identified me as a Microsoft Insider and displayed my join date upon booting into Windows 10 - thereby registering my status one would assume. I was given a key when downloading Windows 10 Beta yet was not asked to enter it when installing, I assume this was because I signed in - which automatically entered my key?


Connecting all the drivers after Windows 10 Beta installed went without any problems and Windows 10 became part of my multi-boot, easily switchable from any of my previously installed operating systems. Installing EasyBCD under Windows 10, also immediately recognized all my other OS, without me even setting up anything.

I'm all jelly. Love the fact you have so many different OSs. I still have my Windows 95, Windows 98 ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 7 and now Windows 8.1. I have enough drives to do the same. Did you install the other multi-OS on single mechanical drive with each of their own partition or does each OS have its own drive?

I have a similar upgrade platform as well. My first custom PC was built in early 2000 but can't remember the exact time lol and my next second one was X58 in 2009 and now I have the upgraded X99 platform (2015).

Can't wait for a Quantum desktop either.

 

[c627627]

Making images allows for easy placement wherever you want them. The starting point is sensible size and not installing large apps/games on the OS partition.
My Vista is on a mechanical, which only adds to it being a performance dog in comparison to others on which identical programs are installed, allowing for easy comparison.

I have an 180GB SSD, which I don't plan on upgrading until Skylake comes out, so currently I have:


C: drive Windows 7
D: drive Windows XP
E: drive is where I keep large apps for each OS, in separate folders, so that each OS can be imaged from the other, in only a few minutes.
V: drive is Vista
W: drive is Windows 8

It was an adventure making all the drive letters identical on all operating systems. Figuring out how to install Windows 8 on a drive calling itself W instead of C was quite a project...

Spoiler

Unlike previous versions of Windows, you may *not* select a custom drive letter for Windows 8. It always sets drive letter C: to the partition where it is installed, regardless of where you install it from: DVD/USB or from another version of Windows. Therefore, Windows 8 developers force us to use this workaround to keep all drive letters uniform on all operating systems on our multi-boot machines: To select a drive letter for Windows 8, other than C:

1. From previous version of Windows installed on another partition, set the drive letter of the empty partition where you want to install Windows 8, for example drive letter W.

2. Stay inside the previous version of Windows and from there first install onto drive letter W either Windows Vista or Windows 7. Installing retail DVD version of Windows 8 from Windows XP is only possible for the 32-Bit version of Windows 8. This is because you cannot install 64-Bit version of Windows from 32-Bit version of Windows and if you try to install 64-Bit version of Windows 8 from 64-Bit version of Windows XP, you will get an error message about Windows XP Service Pack 3 being required. It seems that Windows 8 developers forgot that there is no such thing as SP3 for Windows XP 64-Bit. Service Pack 3 is only available for 32-Bit Windows XP.

3. Now reboot into drive letter W: and from there start Windows 8 installation which will then preserve all existing drive letters including its own drive letter W and will rename existing Windows folder to Windows.old and install to \Windows folder on the same drive letter as the current Windows installation. Follow instructions below on how to delete Windows.old folder:

[If you upgraded] To free up a considerable amount of disk space, including removing Windows.old folder: Hover mouse over top right corner > Search icon > click on Settings > type this in the search box:
clean > Click on Free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files > Select the system drive > OK > Click on Clean up system files button > Select the system drive > OK > CHECK: Previous Windows installation(s) and scroll down and CHECK: Temporary Windows installation files > OK > Delete Files

I plan on installing Windows 10 onto my current Windows 7 C Drive partition and moving Windows 7 away from my SSD. Classic Shell makes Windows 7 obsolete.
Windows 95-98-Me-2000 are what my other computers in the house are for. I have all of them running in the house!


I am so impressed with Windows 10 Start Menu, that I may not install Classic Shell.
The wicked Charms is gone completely from Windows 10 and there doesn't appear to be any metro on Windows 10, separate from the Desktop, is that true?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Are you manually installing programs for said OS to their respected Program folders or do you do some registry hack that I've heard about countless times that automatically does it for you like a common PC on just one drive?

 

[petteyg359]

The wicked Charms is gone completely from Windows 10 and there doesn't appear to be any metro on Windows 10, separate from the Desktop, is that true?

The whole thing looks a bit too square-y and "metro" for my taste This ridiculous all-UI-must-be-flat-and-almost-monochrome fad makes UI elements not stand out at all like they should. Ran into an issue on mine - the start menu doesn't respond to mouse clicks (though using the keyboard to open it works fine) and it can take several clicks to get the search field to actually focus. Need to grab another large SSD so I can install it outside of Hyper-V and see if it behaves better.

 

[c627627]

Are you manually installing programs for said OS to their respected Program folders or do you do some registry hack that I've heard about countless times that automatically does it for you like a common PC on just one drive?

I install all small programs to the OS partition and manually install large programs to,
for example, E:\Program Files 8 folder, in case of Windows 8. So: Microsoft Office, WordPerfect, any program taking up half a gig or more, give or take, goes there.
This isn't hard, as using express setup instead of custom setup is PC performance suicide, I never use express setup for anything, so custom setup allows me to manually enter installation location. I have a program intercepting anything that tries to insert itself to start with my PC, and manually allow for that too.


petteyg359, Classic Shell awaits you! It works under 10, and you can setup the Start Menu however you want it to be!
I plan on heavily editing the original menu, hopefully Microsoft will let me do that when I dive into 10, once RTM comes out. I suspect you can get rid of all the square stuff if you choose?
But that is irrelevant as Classic Shell will give you what you want, a CHOICE, since Microsoft did not. But I do like what Microsoft did with the Start Menu, much to my surprise. I did not expect to keep it but if basic customizations are there, I will.

I have only just installed Windows 10 and do not get any problems with mouse clicks. Either way, original or Classic Shell, this will not be a problem for anyone who is allowed to install programs on the PC they are using...
I look forward to customizing Windows 10 to make it easier to use (for me) - other than that, the only thing I *really* need to figure out is how to install Windows Media Center on Windows 10. I can't really do that now since RTM is the only version on which the process will count....

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I install all small programs to the OS partition and manually install large programs to,
for example, E:\Program Files 8 folder, in case of Windows 8. So: Microsoft Office, WordPerfect, any program taking up half a gig or more, give or take, goes there.
This isn't hard, as using express setup instead of custom setup is PC performance suicide, I never use express setup for anything, so custom setup allows me to manually enter installation location. I have a program intercepting anything that tries to insert itself to start with my PC, and manually allow for that too.


petteyg359, Classic Shell awaits you! It works under 10, and you can setup the Start Menu however you want it to be!
I plan on heavily editing the original menu, hopefully Microsoft will let me do that when I dive into 10, once RTM comes out. I suspect you can get rid of all the square stuff if you choose?
But that is irrelevant as Classic Shell will give you what you want, a CHOICE, since Microsoft did not. But I do like what Microsoft did with the Start Menu, much to my surprise. I did not expect to keep it but if basic customizations are there, I will.

I have only just installed Windows 10 and do not get any problems with mouse clicks. Either way, original or Classic Shell, this will not be a problem for anyone who is allowed to install programs on the PC they are using...
I look forward to customizing Windows 10 to make it easier to use (for me) - other than that, the only thing I *really* need to figure out is how to install Windows Media Center on Windows 10. I can't really do that now since RTM is the only version on which the process will count....

Oh I see. Yeah I remember hearing about the registry hack where said OS drive or partition if you will, installs the program to w/e the edited drive letter was set. I always hit custom too just to see nothing funny is being installed and to get to know the program a bit better. I almost never do express.

As for the Classic Shell, it works great on Windows 8 and glad to hear it works on 10 just in case I don't like the menu. I hate the whole "APP" touch pad look to it though. I want it very very similar to what it has always been. This dumbing down UI is killing me.

The irony here is just like when everyone complains (including myself lol) about how the gaming industry looks like now since console, well to me it looks like the tablet and smart phones are taking over now and have been for some time now as the PC will being taking a back seat waiting for its turn. Money talks and its just how free markets work and I'm fine with that as I'm fine complaining as well. lol

 

[c627627]

YES I agree with you and and love Classic Shell but I also have an open mind and do not resist change for change's sake and once I installed Windows 10, and actually experienced the change, I am telling you it's good.

I may only install Classic Shell if the author made an identical Windows 10 menu - only maybe with *more* customizable options. Matter of fact, I will go over there and try to see if I can post a thread asking the Classic Shell author just that.

But if you can remove the APP Touch tiles in Windows 10 natively then there would be the solution for you? I believe you can, next time I reboot into Windows 10, I will test it for you.

 

[c627627]

I rebooted into Windows 10 and yes, you can (of course) UNPIN every tile and resize the Start menu to be without tiles at all. So I believe this addresses your concern.


You may have to disconnect the internet when installing Windows 10 and only connect it after you've set things the way you want them to be in Windows 10 because as soon as you sign in, first of all, your user account name is ASSIGNED, you are not asked what it should be, I tried to click on every custom install option and do not recall there being one for you to choose your Windows 10 user name, Windows 10 took the first part of my sign-in email and added a letter after it, incorrectly assuming that is my last name, and that is now my user name on Windows 10 Beta, I am assuming the way to prevent this is to make an install making sure internet is OFF. As a matter of fact, I will do an install run without internet just to see.

Windows 10 starts downloading and installing drivers without asking you. All of a sudden, without me doing anything AMD Catalyst driver was installed. This is *very* useful for a regular user but if you are into controlling your system, everything you want to set up needs to be setup *before* you allow first internet connection to take place under Windows 10. Or else, uncontrolled downloading and uncontrolled installations begin upon first boot...

All this is fine, as long as there are options to customize everything.

 

[c627627]

Just to be clear, I know we seemed to have covered this but no one here has heard of a need to fill out feedback forms or anything of the like in order to have the Beta install converted to RTM for free, correct? The act of using your Windows Insider email as your Windows 10 installation email qualifies you for Windows 10 final legal license, this is how we all understand things to be, correct?

 

[Audioaficionado]

My sign up email is my gmail account. So I'll keep using that one to communicate with MS.

 

['Cuda340]

Re: Old Keys & Windows 10 Re-install

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Source

 

[Janus67]

Ugh

 

[Audioaficionado]

I'm definitely unplugging my win7 HD before installing anything. Don't want that sucker reading my win7 coa key behind my back while installing.

 

[medo145]

Am I understanding this correctly, I can upgrade my existing install of win7 to win10, but I don't actually get a upgrade key for my retail copy of win 7? So down the line when I get a new machine, I won't have a copy of win 10 to install.

 

[caddi daddi]

so what happens if I take the upgrade from win7, that I have on a disk, to win 10 and down the road sell my rig without an os.
I pop the drive, over write the drive, pop it back in and deliver the rig.
do I own an operating system at this point that I can install on my new system? or am I going to have to buy another os?