OSes Windows 10: Free upgrade for Win 7 & 8 users

[MadamSarcastra]

Was just trying to figure out what your phone has to do with a PC operating system

I was drunk, so sue me. Heeheehee.... and so excited now 'cuz I'm gonna play an old school adventure... but I'll continue this elsewhere.

 

[Naturebound1]

Ok, so I spent two hours last night trying to download something to make my SD card work. I used the link in my last post to download something that finally worked. However, I am still having trouble. The computer now reads the SD card and seems to download everything, but only the videos are showing up on my C drive. The pictures are missing. I'll have to play around with it some more later today. Bookmarking all the other info!

 

[Jeremy]

I was drunk, so sue me. Heeheehee.... and so excited now 'cuz I'm gonna play an old school adventure... but I'll continue this elsewhere.

Lol it's cool... Most of us have been there a time or two.

 

[Jeremy]

Ok, so I spent two hours last night trying to download something to make my SD card work. I used the link in my last post to download something that finally worked. However, I am still having trouble. The computer now reads the SD card and seems to download everything, but only the videos are showing up on my C drive. The pictures are missing. I'll have to play around with it some more later today. Bookmarking all the other info!

I hate that you're having such an issue with it. I'll also work on Chryssie's SD reader later while she's at work to see if I can find a complete solution too. I think Microsoft pretty much decided that SD readers are obsolete and simply dropped support in the OS. I hate it when they pull this kind of ****.

 

[Joe]

Ok, so I spent two hours last night trying to download something to make my SD card work. I used the link in my last post to download something that finally worked. However, I am still having trouble. The computer now reads the SD card and seems to download everything, but only the videos are showing up on my C drive. The pictures are missing. I'll have to play around with it some more later today. Bookmarking all the other info!

I am sorry you are having some trouble with the free software. I hope you can "play around with it" to get it to work completely.

I've done a little more reading about Knoppix since my last post in this thread. It seems they have a version that fits on a CD. This would be much easier to download than the DVD version.

If you want to purchase the CD already burned, this page lists vendors:

KNOPPIX per Post

If you want to try downloading the CD version, then burning it to your own CD, this page lists "mirror" sites:

KNOPPIX Download

Note that sites in England or the US are listed near the bottom of the page.

If you want to purchase the DVD version already burned, go here:

OSDisc.com - Knoppix

It costs $5.95 plus shipping.

ETA: I've "struck through" the section on buying the CD through the mail because, of the two sites in the US listed, one is apparently out of business and the other one apparently does not have the CD available.

 

[Joe]

Gizmo's Daily Tech Treats has an article on how to avoid (unwanted) upgrades to Windows 10, here:

How To Prevent Unwanted Windows 10 Upgrades

 

[Calliegirl]

Everything seems to be for win 7 and 8.1, I have 8.0. I'd prefer to do the registry edit, but only if it'll work for 8.

 

[Freesia]

I will have to go out of my way to stop Windows 10 prompts soon.

It has gone out of its way to annoy me lately, including boxes popping up saying "Your upgrade to Windows 10 is being installed on Friday 10th April at 3pm"
with tiny tiny letters saying "Dont upgrade".

It is completely out of control and I am sick of it trying to push me around.

 

[Joe]

I finally made contact with the fellow (Jeff) who had told me that he had lost DVD function when he upgraded from Windows 8.x to Windows 10. We had an incredibly brief conversation, because he was rushing around, and then he had to leave immediately after work to rush over to his second job.

Apparently, what really happened is this. Windows 8.x has Windows Media Center/Windows Media Player, and he was using this to play DVDs on his computer. Windows 10 has removed Windows Media Center. Worse yet, the Windows 10 upgrade removes or deletes the existing Windows Media Center from the "upgraders" computer. So at this point Jeff was left with nothing to play his DVDs with. Microsoft came out with DVD Player software several months after Windows 10 came out. It made this software available to some upgraders free, but other upgraders had to pay $14.99 if they wanted this software. Jeff was in the second group, and he was totally ****** off that they were trying to charge him $14.99 just to get back to where he was before the upgrade. So he installed freeware DVD player software. He did not remember the name of it, but said "it's the one with the orange traffic cone." It turns out this is VideoLAN's VLC Media Player. VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework!



A good article covering this subject is Microsoft releases Windows DVD Player for Windows 10 -- free for some, but not for others

The article came out in August 2015 and has accumulated many interesting comments from people about Windows 10.

 

[Jeremy]

Yes, Windows Media Center was discontinued quite a long time ago. Though regular old Windows Media Player works for playing DVD's even though Windows Media Center is gone (That's what Chryssie used the other day to play a DVD).

In regards to VLC, I usually recommend it to people either way. Usually not for DVD's but for the vast number of media file formats/codecs it supports. I've been using it for probably close to 10 years.

 

[Joe]

There's a fellow who posts in a freeware newsgroup under the name/(pseudonym?) Bodo Wolff.

He maintains a website that lists many freeware programs. One is a program that will restore many Windows 7 games to Windows 10.

Wolff writes:

Windows 7 Games For Windows 10 installs the broken (or missing) Windows 7
games for your Windows 10
Simply run the installer and choose which games you want to install:
- Solitaire
- Spider Solitaire
- Minesweeper
- FreeCell
- Hearts
- Chess Titans
- Mahjong Titans
- Purble Place
- Internet Spades
- Internet Checkers
- Internet Backgammon
https://www.bodo-wolff.de?id=0871
Autor:
Windows 7 games for Windows 10 Anniversary Update and above

--
More than 40 GB Freeware: https://www.bodo-wolff.de
Now with HTTP/2.0 - Check: HTTP/2 Test | A simple HTTP/2.0 test tool

 

[Mel]

I hate that you're having such an issue with it. I'll also work on Chryssie's SD reader later while she's at work to see if I can find a complete solution too. I think Microsoft pretty much decided that SD readers are obsolete and simply dropped support in the OS. I hate it when they pull this kind of ****.

I'm actually having SD card issues now. I didn't before (with Win 10 that is).

I rooted my phone and had to add ROMs to a MicroSD card and had no issues doing it on my laptop that has Win10 on it. Fast forward a few weeks later, I try again to put files on my MicroSD card through a USB adapter and no go. I also tried with the SD adapter. They both came with the MicroSD card.

I finally made contact with the fellow (Jeff) who had told me that he had lost DVD function when he upgraded from Windows 8.x to Windows 10. We had an incredibly brief conversation, because he was rushing around, and then he had to leave immediately after work to rush over to his second job.

Apparently, what really happened is this. Windows 8.x has Windows Media Center/Windows Media Player, and he was using this to play DVDs on his computer. Windows 10 has removed Windows Media Center. Worse yet, the Windows 10 upgrade removes or deletes the existing Windows Media Center from the "upgraders" computer. So at this point Jeff was left with nothing to play his DVDs with. Microsoft came out with DVD Player software several months after Windows 10 came out. It made this software available to some upgraders free, but other upgraders had to pay $14.99 if they wanted this software. Jeff was in the second group, and he was totally ****** off that they were trying to charge him $14.99 just to get back to where he was before the upgrade. So he installed freeware DVD player software. He did not remember the name of it, but said "it's the one with the orange traffic cone." It turns out this is VideoLAN's VLC Media Player. VideoLAN - Official page for VLC media player, the Open Source video framework!

View attachment 8999

A good article covering this subject is Microsoft releases Windows DVD Player for Windows 10 -- free for some, but not for others

The article came out in August 2015 and has accumulated many interesting comments from people about Windows 10.

VLC is great. It's the only media player I use.

 

[beancounter]

Windows 10 Anniversary Update: A guide to the builds

 

[Jeremy]

They have changed the layout of the start menu in the Insider Builds to try to tidy it up. Easily enough to adapt to, but some people will be confused and angry no doubt.

 

[Pirate]

Bloody SD card problems. Is nothing sacred?! It's a SD card not a complex bit of machinery - I wouldn't have even considered it'd stop working so thanks for the heads up. I use my DSLR a lot and don't like the idea of not being able to transfer photos.

I'm going to stick to Windows 7 for as long as I can because the hassle of upgrading doesn't seem worth it. I'd rather wait until I replace the laptop in a few years and it's the default OS.

 

[Naturebound1]

I've had to download several apps to get photos from my phone or from my camera to the computer now since installing Windows 10. Before I simply plugged them in via USB cord or SD card and photos automatically downloaded to my computer. Last weekend I learned to download SideSync on both my Android phone and my computer so now I can transfer photos back and forth again. I had to call Verizon to figure this out with Windows 10. I still can't access my start menu. I just never have enough time to spend hours trying to figure that one out. The online instructions seem so complicated. Sighs.

ETA: I have not been able to play Spider Solitaire since I downloaded Windows 10 since I can't access my programs unless they are on the bottom bar for shortcuts. THANKfully my MS Word and Excel have shortcut buttons on the bottom bar. I can't access numerous other programs either. I'm still considering moving back to Windows 7.

 

[Jeremy]

The Start menu not working is a bug that seems to occur with upgrades vs full/fresh installations. Rule of thumbs since the beginning of personal computing; a clean full install of an OS is always better than an upgrade (Or at least that's the rule when it's a Microsoft OS).

Use Cortana to find programs. The button beside the Start button that looks like an O. Just click it, and search for the program you want to use.

 

[Joe]

... I still can't access my start menu. I just never have enough time to spend hours trying to figure that one out. The online instructions seem so complicated. Sighs.

One thing you might consider trying is downloading the Belarc Advisor program. It is free and also has a portable version.
www.belarc.com/free_download.html

It gives you a detailed report on the hardware and software on your system.
The report takes the form of an .HTML file. The section that lists the software has links to the executable files of your programs, and you can use these links to launch the programs.

 

[Jeremy]

One thing you might consider trying is downloading the Belarc Advisor program. It is free and also has a portable version.
www.belarc.com/free_download.html

It gives you a detailed report on the hardware and software on your system.
The report takes the form of an .HTML file. The section that lists the software has links to the executable files of your programs, and you can use these links to launch the programs.

The question is, why? When a solution is already right there that comes integrated into Windows 10. If you know the name of the program you want to run, all you have to do is start typing in Cortana and matches start coming up in real time. Even if the Start menu were functional using Cortana is easier and faster than messing with desktop icons, unless they are pinned to the task bar. Sorry, but this just seems very silly to me.

 

[Joe]

The question is, why? When a solution is already right there that comes integrated into Windows 10.

Why do books have Tables of Contents? Why do people use Tables of Contents to find the contents in their books?
Why do restaurants have printed menus? Why do people read the menu when selecting what they want instead of just fishing their choices out of their memories?

If you know the name of the program you want to run, all you have to do is start typing in Cortana and matches start coming up in real time.

I would say that is a big "if." One of the purposes of Belarc's Advisor is to let the computer user know the software that is on the computer. There may be hundreds of programs to choose from. I have not memorized the names of all the programs on my computer.

Even if the Start menu were functional using Cortana is easier and faster than messing with desktop icons, unless they are pinned to the task bar. Sorry, but this just seems very silly to me.

Different strokes for different folks. I am a poor typist so prefer using/clicking on icons. Besides, the Advisor provided links that can be clicked on, not icons.