Microsoft's offer of "free" Windows 10. I checked their site to see if

[shraby]

I could get it free, and found this:
In order to get it free, you have to have a special icon on the right side of your task bar. I had none, but they said I could get one anyway..click here.

I clicked there and found I could get the icon if I had the update KB2952664. I don't have it, so tried to get it. Found I can, tried and they don't send it out anymore..it should have been in one of my updates. Checked (control panel/updates) and it wasn't on my list.
Soooooooooooo

I have come to the conclusion that they have some empty advertising going on. If I can't get that update piece, I can't get the free Windows 10.
Microsoft has done it again!!

[cocainecowboy]

1. Here

32Bit: http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2014/04/windows6.1-kb2952664-x86_0d194075316e8e2a5c70c2ffeda1def37eddd5e1.msu

64Bit: http://download.windowsupdate.com/c/msdownload/update/software/updt/2014/04/windows6.1-kb2952664-x64_64fa470c9532bb78dfae728f0c0122dd65eff933.msu

These are the KB2952664 update you're looking for...

FWIW: I looked at 10 today at a local computer store - I'm impressed that the start button returned, but the metro part of it is annoying.

I will probably end up upgrading one of the laptops to 10 and see what it can do - I do have a reservation for one..

[shraby]

7. I'll give it a shot and see if I get that icon.

[cocainecowboy]

15. Thanks!

Oh, and what's Resound Lynx for iPhone?

[cocainecowboy]

20. Ah..I've got Phonaks..

Like you, deaf since birth, so it's nice to see other deaf people here.

Do you use sign language?

[cocainecowboy]

31. Ah - probably why I can't use Resound Lynx

I'm profoundly deaf - I can hear whispers at 120db - that's about as loud as a jet engine starting up...

With hearing aids, it still doesn't do me much good, it goes up to about 100db for me..

The Navy wanted me - but had to pass when they found out my disability.

You know that Israeli Army does take deaf people and train 'em?

[SidDithers]

47. ...

Sid

[hobbit709]

2. Why? If your computer wasn't broken why "fix" it.

[shraby]

6. I use two and thought I'd try 10 on the one that has 7 on it. It can be

taken back off if I don't like it. At least it says it can be removed.

[hobbit709]

9. MS says a lot of things. Most of them in real life are a PITA.

From what I've seen it doesn't do anything that 7 doesn't. 7 is also a license good for as long as you have that computer. 10 goes to a subscription model where you just rent it and have to renew every year.

[whatthehey]

10. The last part is not true

Windows 10 does not become a subscription model any more than Windows 7 does, and will remain free and permanent on your device.

The NEXT planned Windows update will be a subscription model, but Windows 10, 8, 7, XP etc users can simply keep using their software without installing this new subscription model. Eventually security updates and other support will no longer be provided, but that will not impact 10 uniquely or more severely than any other permanent version.

[steve2470]

13. it's supported lifetime of the device, which even MS says is more like 2 to 4 years

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2949230/microsoft-windows/all-editions-of-windows-10-get-10-years-of-updates-support.html

The phrase first popped up in January, when Microsoft announced an unprecedented free upgrade offer to Windows 10 from several SKUs of Windows 7 and 8.1. "Once a device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will be keeping it current for the supported lifetime of the device," said Terry Myerson, then the head of the Windows group,.

Myerson used the same phrase in a blog post last month when he revealed the OS's July 29 release date. "And Windows 10 provides the most secure platform ever, including Windows Defender for free anti-malware protection, and being the only platform with a commitment to deliver free ongoing security updates for the supported lifetime of the device."

In late June, Microsoft described a support timeline in a presentation aimed at Wall Street, saying there that Windows revenue would be deferred "over the estimated period the software upgrades are expected to be provided by estimated device life, which can range from two to four years."

A Microsoft spokesman confirmed the two-to-four-year stretch, saying in an email exchange last week that, "The upgrades will be for [the] life of device, which we estimate to be 2 to 4 years."

I think MS should have just set a time limit of, say, 3 years. Much more honest and easy to understand. So, nothing has really changed. You run it for 2 to 4 years, then they demand payment for a new license. eta: They will support it for up to ten years with security updates. I'm guessing the latest and greatest features will be gated behind a new license. Who knows. MS has done a horrible job of being clear about all this.

[Logical]

25. So you still running windows 98 I assume. nt

[hobbit709]

29. I should have known you would throw in an illogical non sequitur.

[Logical]

38. The "if it isn't broken" line was about as illogical as you can get. IT not your strong skill. nt

[hobbit709]

41. If a Win 7 computer is working just fine then 10 won't do anything 7 won't on that machine.

win 98 won't even work on any machine past any early XP level motherboard and cpu.

And I've been doing this since 1975. I cut my teeth on TI 960, 980, 990 computer systems. I worked in TI RMR troubleshooting and repair down to component level.
I built prototype boards at IBM for their early model PCs.

I'd say my IT hardware skills are more than competent.

[Reter]

54. Did you type that on your Commodore 64 or Atari 800?

[hobbit709]

60. Nope. I typed it on my 8-core Overclocked to 5 GHz system with NVidia GTX650Ti graphics

On a 30 inch 2560x1600 monitor.

Never owned a Commode Door or Atari.

[Reter]

61. Wow, put some Windows 10 on that bad boy!

And you missed out. Both were unbelievable amounts of fun in the 80's. Were you a gamer back then?

[LuvLoogie]

66. What's your sound set up?

[arcane1]

3. I wish I could give you mine! I get pop-ups all the time about it

Having never owned a new computer, until I bought this one earlier this year, I had no idea how much the manufacturer builds in spam and advertising!

[hobbit709]

18. Why buy one? You used to able to download .iso of them but MS quit doing that.

But if you know someone who has an OEM install disk, make a copy of it and your product key will work with it.

[hobbit709]

28. The bloatware isn't on the actual windows disk.

It's all preinstalled by the manufacturer and if you do a factory restore or make their rescue disks, you get the bloatware all over again.
A Windows OEM install disk just puts on a clean copy of Windows itself, none of the crap.
All that's on it is Windows and the basic Windows features, like Internet ExploDer. No Office or any othe MS products.

[NobodyHere]

35. You can create an .iso of windows 10

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

[hobbit709]

42. We were talking about 7.

[LuvLoogie]

40. Try this for deleting unwanted programs; use the free download

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

[edhopper]

44. One of my must haves

been helpful for years. Good advice.

[arcane1]

49. Thanks!! n/t

[enlightenment]

4. Well, I downloaded the update to Windows 10 yesterday.

Free.
So far, it's working well - my major bugbear of Windows 8/8.1 (the stupid "app tile" screen) is gone and the start menu is back and can be configured to look pretty much the way I want it (except it has a gray background that I don't like and can't figure out how to change - yet).

Hopefully, the links provided in the post above will help you out, but I can tell you it's not a scam or empty advertising. I signed up for it about two months ago and yesterday they let me know it was available.

[Stellar]

48. MS sent me an email and said the would notify me when I could download it,

is that not true.

[enlightenment]

53. I'm not sure.

I know that a couple of months ago, the Windows icon appeared on the righthand side of my taskbar. When I clicked on it, it gave me the option of "reserving" a free copy of Windows 10.

Over the course of weeks, I received a couple of messages reminding me that the roll-out would be 29 July. Yesterday, I clicked on the icon - which had remained on the taskbar - and it said that it was ready to download (actually, if I recall correctly, it said "activate&quot , with a button to click.

I clicked, it started the process . . . and here I am. Finally figured out that the background color of the new start menu did change - but I had to restart (which I had to do anyway because I needed to install new drivers for my touchpad).

It is possible that they have had to throttle the downloads; I had read that they anticipated the 29th as the busiest Internet day ever - but if you have the icon, try clicking it and see what it says.

My icon went away after I installed 10, by the way.

Good luck!

[Stellar]

57. Thank you!

Yes, I have it and it says that I am a part of the largest software upgrade ever and my PC is almost ready for 'Window 10'! They are rolling Window 10 out in waves.

Thanks for making me aware of the 'Windows icon', I've seen it there so long, I ignored it, LOL! I hope you are enjoying your upgrade.

[enlightenment]

63. Happy to help.

So far, I think this incarnation might be more stable - and certainly more useable - than the disaster that was Windows 8. We'll see, I guess.
My only suggestions:
As others here have said; don't do the bog-standard installation - select custom and turn off the intrusive bits that you really don't want. It takes mere moments and will save you some grief.

Also, do try googling when you run into issues or just can't figure out how to do something. Folks have been beta testing this for months, and they have figured out most of the little issues that irritate.

I did have to reload drivers for my touchpad. I use a mouse and suddenly couldn't turn off the touchpad (after the update, I was able to do it).

I use AVG Free anti-virus - that required a "repair" as a file was corrupted during the installation, so be prepared for maybe needing to fix a few things.

That's all I can think of . . . have fun!

[Blue_In_AK]

68. I had a notice from AVG a couple days ago

telling what to do if their icon doesn't show up when 10 is installed. I'm going to put the whole thing off for a while. I'm running 7.

[davidpdx]

69. I have the icon on mine, but I'm also going to put it off for awhile

I'm thinking late September to move over to Windows 10. I just bought a new computer a month ago and it's running Windows 8.1. Windows 7 was my favorite. We'll see if I can resist waiting that long.

[steve2470]

5. answer

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

From that link, you can download the iso and install it. If you're running a legit license of Windows 7, Windows 8 or Win8.1, you can install that iso on top of your current install. Of course, backup all your stuff before you do that. If you install on top, it's free. If you wipe your hard drive and try the iso, you probably will not get activated and be forced to pay MS for a license.

As hobbit said, you don't have to do this. I do it because I like to try out new things, and so far I'm happy.

eta: Even if you install on top, it saves your previous install in a Windows.old folder in case you want to roll back.

[Renew Deal]

8. How old is your computer?

[shraby]

12. The one with 7 on it is about 3 yrs old, the other one has XP which I

dearly love and older, but I had a new hard drive put in it a couple of years ago. I actually use both at the same time. The XP to add info to my website and the other to check and make sure I don't already have that information on the site.
If Windows 10 is subscription type license, I'm sticking with 7 without a doubt.

The Windows 7 is Professional and has dual 32 and 64 bit so it runs my old programs A-Okay.

[Stellar]

59. What is it about Windows XP...I really loved mine too.

My windows 7 has been sitting in its box for almost a year before I decided to plug it up to get all the upgrade done before windows 10 was available. But, loved my XP.

[shraby]

64. Worst thing they did was replace it with another os.

I guess they wanted to get all the new gadgets in on their os so we who actually work with our computers got screwed.

[LuvLoogie]

65. I support Macs and PCs in networked, multi-user environments.

XP Professional was cool, but Microsoft and developers have moved on. The thing is, how do you keep high use PCs running over 10 years? Most were 32-bit deployments.. You hardly ever see an XP machine with over 2GB of RAM. People want to do everything you can do now with a 10 year old PC. But hard drives, powersupplys, optical drives, start to fail.

XP is perfectly usable in a lot of ways, but when you buy a new or even refurbished machine, it will come with windows 7 at least.

Vista? blah
Windows 7 Pro? Good
other flavors of 7? meh
Windows 8? Yuck DO NOT give an executive a laptop with a Metro touchscreen!!
Looking forward to Windows 10

[Turbineguy]

11. It also depends on the state of your computer.

It would not install for me until I repartitioned my hard drive.

[winter is coming]

50. How did you have to repartition it?

I'm thinking of going back to a dual-boot machine (I'm running ubuntu-only at the moment), but would rather not give Windows much disk space because I doubt I'll be spending much time in the Windows partition.

[Turbineguy]

51. Last time I ran recovery

(from a USB stick) it allocated 100 MB to the recovery partition. Windows 10 seems to require at least 3 gig. I downloaded and used Partition Wizard.

[winter is coming]

52. Thanks. When I went to dual-boot, Windows 8 wouldn't let me shrink the disk space

beyond half of the space on the drive, which was WAY more than it needed.

[NRaleighLiberal]

17. I downloaded 10 last night (was on 7) - it's all good (so far)!

[Bradical79]

21. Protip: Don't do express setup

If you get the installer going. There's some invasive advertising "features" on by default. You can opt out of some of that stuff through the custom setup.

[1StrongBlackMan]

58. Good to know ...

It's downloading as I type. At 15% 15 minutes later.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

22. Someone at work just sent me this privacy-related feature list

There are some interesting features, but there's a continued march toward less privacy (keylogging, no provision to disable updates, and freaking ads in the start menu).


http://prntscr.com/7ykzbh

[Logical]

24. FFS, I have 8 PCs and all of them have the special icon. Drop the conspiracy theroy. nt

[L0oniX]

26. Ubuntu rocks. Fuck MicroShit!

[LuvLoogie]

67. OS neutral here...

I was a MAC guy for a long time. Started to support PCs a few years ago. Got to know Windows a bit. Became a novice Linux user when I reprovisioned a Laptop that was going to be recycled. I ended up using Mint. I use Ubuntu, too.

Do you ever catch Nixie Pixel on Facebook? She's a good Linux advocate. Funny & Cute & Smart--of course.

[Cleita]

32. Stuff like this which is made me switch to Apple. eom

[irisblue]

33. advice from a Tumblr user about Windows 10

YMMV of course
btw for anyone updating to windows 10 in the near future:

don’t click the “use recommended settings” button that pops up right after it installs, click the advanced options one and actually read through the stuff you can accept to because there’s some pretty creepy stuff like “use personalized advertising”, “send browser history to microsoft” and “automatically connect to public networks” that you’re gonna wanna turn off

[starroute]

36. Here are a couple of links describing the privacy issues with Windows 10

Windows 10: Here are the privacy issues you should know about
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/07/29/wind-nos/

The Pros & Cons Of Windows 10 Sharing Your WiFi Passwords With Your Contacts
http://consumerist.com/2015/07/29/the-pros-cons-of-windows-10-sharing-your-wifi-passwords-with-your-contacts/

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

37. We've got the icon on the bottom panel of a laptop, we've been ignoring it.

The 'even' releases of windows always turn out to be godawful.

[TM99]

62. Well, technically this release is an odd release

as it follows Windows 8. It was going to be Windows 9, however, they went ahead & named it Windows 10. This keeps them on par with Mac OS X as far as advertising goes. That's all.

I beta'd 10 and it is a serious improvement over 8. 8.1 did correct some of the flaws in 8, but 10 goes even further. I think that 10 is what 8 should have been, a really serious expansion passed 7.

Some of the privacy issues are there but in this cloud based, walled app garden based, and socially networked based modern world, all OS's do this to some extent. And yes, that includes Apple.

Do a custom/advanced install and all of this can be turned off easily.

[DavidDvorkin]

39. I had the icon, but it disappeared

But that's okay. I'm not interested in updating yet.

[m-lekktor]

43. i didnt reserve a copy but i found a link today to download it and did it successfully.

I havent read through all the posts so maybe you already have this info but if not here it is. I googled "link to downoad windows 10" and found this for people who supposedly reserved a copy and didn't want to wait . just read through the instructions.

"Jump the Line and Get Windows 10 right now"

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/jump-the-line-and-get-windows-10-right-now/'

on edit: i just now read through your problems with some update you were supposed to have so maybe this won't work after all. i have no idea whether i had that update i just dont remember ever having that icon in the bottom right hand corner i was supposed to have. i just know i went to the above link and successfully downloaded it. it took almost 2 hours but i got it!

[Tripper11]

45. I've had the icon for a couple months....

...and was kind of looking forward to trying something new.
It won't download, I get the spinny thing and then I close out the window and that's it.
Tried rebooting, but still nothing.

[jeff47]

46. From reviews I've read, 10 needs a couple more months to wring out bugs.

Might want to hold off for a bit.

[1StrongBlackMan]

55. I'm downloading it on my laptop ...

As I type on my tablet.

[Lil Missy]

56. I upgraded last night. Didn't have a problem.