[Discussion] Windows 10: Upgrade Path Experiences

Alright,

Windows 10 launch is in two days (on the 29th) and a lot of us are getting ready to upgrade. Some of us have been getting ready for a while, some of us are getting ready now and some of us will get ready in two days when comes the time to upgrade. This thread is dedicated mostly for the users that will upgrade their current version of Windows: Windows 7 SP1 and/or Windows 8.1 Update to Windows 10 via the upgrade process and not a clean installation. In this thread, I would like if the users that upgrade to Windows 10 can share how it went for them:

• Did the upgrade went well?
• Were you missing anything after the upgrade?
• Was there a last minute issue you had to fix before upgrading?
• Did you need to disable/uninstall a program (like an Antivirus) before upgrading?
• Did you have to update drivers after the upgrade?
• If you have a tablet with limited disk space, how did you go throught the upgrade process?
• Etc.

Basically, I created this thread so the users who upgrades to Windows 10 can share their experience and how it went for them. So if other users encounter the same issues or have the same questions, they can find answers and solutions in this thread. I'm sure this thread will help a lot of users that are less tech-savy on BleepingComputer and that want a bit more feedback on the upgrade process before going throught it themself. You can also post any kind of relevant information on your setup that can help:

• Current version of Windows you are upgrading from;
• Version of Windows 10 you end up with;
• Computer brand and model (even the specs if you need, mostly the CPU since there's prerequisites);
• Special system tweaks which you think could affect the upgrade process;
• Special combinaison of software which you think could affect the upgrade process;
• Etc.

For now, you can post your preparations here, and then let us know in 2 days (or whenever you upgrade) how to upgrade went.

This thread is meant to share experiences on the upgrade and also advices concerning the process. This is not a debate topic so every post that can turn this thread in one will be reported. As always, be respectful to each others and follow the BleepingComputer Rules. Also, please stay on topic.

Looking forward to read the experiences and comments here.

Edited by Grinler, 29 July 2015 - 06:20 PM.

Well I myself am doing this the smart way, I am cloning my windows 7 drive to another to ensure I have a copy of windows 7 at the ready just in case anything goes wrong.

I think its something everyone should do, external or secondary drives are your friend.

My actual update experience with build 10162 was good, 64-bit.  The updates though build 10240 et seq. have been good, too.  Clean install first 8.0 then 8.1 upgraded through Windows store (32-bit Pro), fine.  Partitioned for Win10 and it even suggested that same new partition, fine;  another clean install.  Dual boot is smooth.  Download took an hour and installation another hour.  I'm on Xfinity with Blast.

 

No driver problems, but I purchased this Dell specifically for its compatibility with Windows 8, though the machine itself is originally Windows 7.  I switched out the original hard drive and installed a retail Win8.0 on a brand new blank drive (Scorpio Blue), then upgraded to 8.1 via the store, then the dual boot as described above.

 

So for ONLY the upgrade experience itself, yeah, fine.  Machine is Dell 6510 4 GB RAM, first-gen i5,BIOS A04, drive 500 GB, split 50/50 with Win8.1 (Legacy not UEFI, both partitions NTFS), and am typing in Firefox 39 now in Win10.  It has bluetooth but I didn't try it yet.  Rumors were that usb 2.0 and floppy support would be dropped, but neither of those claims are true (floppy external drive recognized immediately, so too the 2.0 ports in this machine).

 

• The Dell's native screen resolution is 1366x768.  In the original 10162 build, the OS resolution was actually better than native to the machine. After that, resolution is not good in the later build, for the dialogue boxes.  As if they are pasted pictures then parts turned into clickable items, but that has already been reported elsewhere.
• Customization is limited, nowhere near as nice as Windows 7. 
• Opting out of 'sharing' is a pain, but the main options are in Privacy Settings, search bar. 
• Need to opt out of web search to avoid ads. 
• Need to put a url like Rockey Bennett cleverly did into Edge as the 'home' page, to get rid of msn ads. 
• There is no ad blocker in Edge, and all its supposed features don't work, esp. Favorites (they wont' sort rightly);  so ads abound no matter where you go.  No extensions available. 
• So download another browser like Firefox or Chrome, the meanwhile. 
• Same problem in IE11, which is totally different from the IE11 in Win7.
• Need to go into power settings to turn off hibernate ('fast boot').  Eliminate 'hibernate' from all the Power Profiles or you won't be able to trouble shoot any problems in Windows, using Linux, and you can actually do more damage to the machine when you carry it, if it's in hibernate.

 

All the post-OS installation software installs have gone well too.  I use mostly older software from the 1980's and early 2000's, like Lotus, DOS programs and MS Office 2003. No driver or software problems to report so far.

Edited by brainout, 27 July 2015 - 06:08 PM.

To avoid issues, be sure to 'get ready' and understand what to expect with installation:  click here and here.  The former explains what you go through, and the latter link shows the download steps, live.

 

Click here for initial download-iso installation experiences of people who read Paul Thurrott articles.  Lots of issues.

 

Also, click here  and here for the hassles folks in tenforums are going through, who clicked on the GWX instead of downloading the iso.

 

Related answer page for activation problems, here.

Edited by brainout, 29 July 2015 - 11:00 AM.

Hey,

Well I have upgraded to Win 10. I didn't go via the upgrade assistant via the Windows Update Center. I got impatient and went straight to the Microsoft website and downloaded and installed it manually. It was pretty easy and straight forward and I didn't have to do anything extra.

• Did the upgrade went well? yes it did nothing to report that was annoying or keeping me from upgrading.
• Were you missing anything after the upgrade? yes I lost Bitdefender but redownloading the installer package and reparing it seemed to fix it just fine.
• Was there a last minute issue you had to fix before upgrading? No
• Did you need to disable/uninstall a program (like an Antivirus) before upgrading? Not at all
• Did you have to update drivers after the upgrade? yes I do infact AMD told me I needed to update my Catalyst program after I installed Windows 10.
• If you have a tablet with limited disk space, how did you go throught the upgrade process? No tablet for me.

• Current version of Windows you are upgrading from: I came from Windows 8.1 Pro
• Version of Windows 10 you end up with; Windows 10 Pro
• Computer brand and model (even the specs if you need, mostly the CPU since there's prerequisites); It's a custom built PC. My CPU is a AMD FX 6 core no problems
• Special system tweaks which you think could affect the upgrade process; none that I can find at the moment but I didn't have many system tweaks.
• Special combinaison of software which you think could affect the upgrade process; Nothing really like I said before the only issue that I had was with Bitdefender and that was solved pretty easily.

 

My only word of advice here is to update Bitdefender first before installing the new Windows. As per their website it won't cause any issues.

 

So far so good though. I am a insider so I have been playing with it for quite some months before it came out. I think this OS is prime right now and I am really happy to see that it has come to full furition.

So is it still free upgrade if you download the ISO and install that way?

Yes. You can choose the Upgrade method from the .iso as well.

Thank you Aura!

Installed perfectly on my Windows 7 machine, only problem was the installation froze on 76%, but a re-start solved that problem!

A couple of niggles though: The Narrator reads everything and won't shut up, and I have absolutely no idea how to talk to Cortana?  

I was surprised when I received notice that the upgrade was available. I bit the bullet and installed Windows 10 Pro.

• Did the upgrade went well?  Yes
• Were you missing anything after the upgrade? No
• Was there a last minute issue you had to fix before upgrading? No
• Did you need to disable/uninstall a program (like an Antivirus) before upgrading? No
• Did you have to update drivers after the upgrade? No
• If you have a tablet with limited disk space, how did you go throught the upgrade process?  Not applicable
• Etc.

 

• Current version of Windows you are upgrading from;  Windows 8.1 Pro which was upgraded from Windows 7 Home
• Version of Windows 10 you end up with;  Pro
• Computer brand and model (even the specs if you need, mostly the CPU since there's prerequisites); Laptop, HP did not pay attention to the prerequistes. All I know is that the upgrade worked
• Special system tweaks which you think could affect the upgrade process;
• Special combinaison of software which you think could affect the upgrade process;
• Etc.

It took approximately an hour from start to finish. The upgrade process was flawless. At 87% I thought it had gotten stuck but eventually it got past that.

 

I like the way the start menu is laid out, which the various apps in alphabetical order.

I removed a few things from the bottom task bar, one was the search field.

Then I removed tiles for things I won't use from the start menu.

 

So far, so good. As of now, I like it much better than Win 8/8.1

 

If Microsoft would return the ability to disable tabbed browsing in IE 11 I would be a very happy camper.

At least I can disable tabs in SeaMonkey, which I am now using instead of IE 11.

 

I did check out Edge. It is different and I won't use it much since it also uses tabbed browsing, which I do not like.

 

 

 

 

 

Does the ISO offer a clean install for free? Or do you need to have a purchased license for that?

You need to have a product key in order to use the clean installation option.

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



A user confirmed it in another thread here:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/584459/windows-10-product-key/page-3#entry3774327

I'm currently using the ISO Method, seen as the original upgrade option is taking a farcical length of time to download for me. Up to %16 now, hopefully nothing mammoth goes wrong during the current process i have chosen.

Ok, I just noticed one thing that had to be changed.

 

I looked at the clock and noticed that the time was for United States Pacific time zone, which is the default whenever any version of Windows is installed (at least in the US)

Had to set it for US Central time zone.

Edited by Queen-Evie, 29 July 2015 - 01:57 PM.

My experience was really time consuming. It took about one hour to download the ISO, about 45 minutes to install a clean version of Windows 10, and about 5 hours worth of updates. It is now afternoon and I began this adventure at 4:00 AM. It will take me a few days to reinstall all of my programs and software.