+9 more
posted on Feb, 28 2016 @ 07:44 PM
Hopefully, this rant can help to save other people from the hassle known as Windows 10. First of all, I am not computer illiterate; my degree
is in software engineering, and I've been around multiple operating systems since Windows 95. I've set up new laptops, dual boots, triple boots, and
even kicked Windows 8 off my primary laptop and got Windows 7 to run flawlessly. However, my main enemy has come to haunt me: Windows 10.
This has been a hellhole for a while now, and because I'm rather quick to the chase, here's the events that happened that should make you want to
stay away from Windows 10:
1. Originally, I had Windows 7 Pro. Life was great. And then, I decided to download the Windows 10 upgrade via Windows Update. For the first two days,
everything worked fine: I didn't lose any of my files or settings.
One day, I noticed I could not log into Windows 10: What I got was a variant of the "infinite spinner" (where the PC takes forever to boot because
it's stuck on something internally). So naturally, I went for the repair disc, as Startup Repair worked wonders on Windows 7. Startup Repair in
Windows 10 is worthless - All it would say is "I cannot repair this PC". At least Windows 7 gave me more to work with.
Called up Microsoft Support, and they told me a stock answer (it was a corrupted hardrive). They hung up when I told them that my Linux partition
worked fine, and I could still see my old files from there.
I also found that the revert to previous version of Windows also didn't work, even though I was only a couple days into the 30-day max.
2. After that mess, I ended up resetting my PC. Seemed to fix the issue, despite me losing almost all my files and programs. And then, I discovered
that it restored the wrong version of Windows 10 (Seeing as I was originally on Windows 7 Professional, it should have been Windows 10 Pro).
More than fed up at this point, I just clicked the "buy now" option, which wouldn't work unless I was logged in with a Microsoft Web account. So I
created the account, logged into it, and found that they didn't charge me for Windows 10 Pro upgrade (still don't know why). All was working
again.
3. Two days later, I go to log into my machine - And find that I cannot log in. What I found was that somehow, my online account got locked due to too
many password tries, which rendered my PC useless. After resetting the online account from another PC, I was finally able to get in - Changed the
account to a local non-internet account, and all was good.
4. Here's the last straw for me: My motherboard died yesterday. So, I went out and bought a new Laptop. Now, in Windows 7, you can actually swap the
hardrives between computers, so that you basically have the same drive you always use in the new PC (you might need to install some new drivers and
utilities, but it's doable). All I used to have to do was run Startup Repair, and Windows never asked for Activation.
Windows 10 is officially tied to your PC - so if you change too much, then it needs to activate again (which usually fails because it's tied to your
old hardware). Despite my previous attempts with Microsoft Support, I tried again, explaining that my old PC died, and that because I just wanted to
use my existing hardrive, I wanted to use it in the new laptop.
The first thing they ask for: What was my old Windows 7 Pro license? (Which I purchased as an upgrade a long time ago). Don't have it. They then
looked at my existing Windows 10 Pro key (still on my hardrive). I basically let him bill me for a full Windows 10 Pro license ($200).
So, if you've managed to read through this all the way - Here's a quick summary:
1. Do not do the free upgrade - Buy a physical copy if you have to. The Windows 10 key will help for disasters.
2. Do not trust that you will be able to revert back - Some PCs have (in my experience), and others like my old machine do not.
3. Before Upgrading - Write down your existing Windows 7/8 key (there's free software online to do this - I also recommend Hiren's Boot CD, as it
will help you in more ways than one).
4. Microsoft Support will only give you a canned answer; you are better off using google + their support forums and seeing what other people have gone
through.
5. Do not create an internet account! At least with a local account, the only way it can get messed up is if I do it myself.
6. Don't get Windows 10 until they stop supporting Windows 7 and Windows 8.1
I've officially decided that at least for my home use, Mac and Linux are the best. Even now, My Windows 10 is just big enough so that I can remote
from home; Linux Mint is my main OS, because I know that at least I can transfer that from machine-to-machine.
-fossilera