Latest News On W10 Spring 2018 Update.

[Togo]

It seems to have been put on the backburner somewhat, with a big upgrade planned for later in 2018. Interesting. I know that Guilbert53 , as was I, was looking forward to the latest edition, but we will have to be patient it seems.

//While everyone is waiting for Microsoft to push the go-ahead button for the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update, the company appears to be increasingly focused on the Redstone 5 feature update launching in the fall of this year.
Today, Microsoft released Windows 10 Redstone 5 build 17643 for users in the Skip Ahead ring, and the change log includes several new features.//

http://news.softpedia.com/news/microsoft-releases-windows-10-redstone-5-fall-2018-build-17643-520662.shtml?utm_source=spd_sidebar&;utm_medium=spd_newspage&;utm_campaign=spd_related

[EDDIE51]

I am still on W7 and it works perfectly. Can anyone give me a reason to change? Will I gain anything?

[Togo]

No, you stay there Eddie.
This news is not for you.

[EDDIE51]

^ That's what I intend to do. All I hear about W10 is problems.

[Guilbert53]

I have 6 computers on my house (two for me, one each for my wife and son, plus two "spare").

As they are all desktop PCs it is easy to swap in and out the hard disks.

So for each PC I have a Windows 7 hard disk and a Windows 10 hard disk (the free upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 allowed me to keep both versions of Windows active)

I must admit that I currently run Windows 7 on each of the PCs as the "main" operating system.

But I put the Windows 10 disks in now and again to up date them to the latest version of Windows 10.

And while Windows 10 in itself is fine the "problem" is that Microsoft are basically rewriting and redesigning almost all of Windows to make it work better on touch screens / tablets and to add new function.

And this means that they provide a complete replacement of Windows 10 about every 6 months. They give names to each new version such as Creators Update, Fall Creators Update etc.

The one due about now is called (we think) Spring Creators Update.

The "problem" is that you cannot stop these huge Windows 10 updates installing on your PC, and sometimes the download and update can take a couple of hours.

I had a PC a few months ago with an oldish version of Windows 10 on it, and when I plugged it in it began to check for Windows updates and I could not use the PC for the next 4 hours while it downloaded and installed all the various Windows updates.

So personally I would suggest to most people to stay on Windows 7 as long as possible.

Note the "free" upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 has now stopped so to upgrade you either need to buy Windows 10 for your existing PC, or buy a new PC with Windows 10 on it.

But if you are happy with Windows 7 stay on it for now until Microsoft have stopped doing all these huge updates.

[EDDIE51]

^ Every time I get a W7 update I have to do a system restore as something stops working. Just had to do another one yesterday as after the latest update I could load AB or eBay.

[EDDIE51]

Actually, I have a spare hard drive that I have never used. The idea of using one drive for W7 and the spare for W10 has not occurred to me.
But this brings me back to the question. Is there anything I can get/do on W10 that I can't do on W7.
Also Is it really just a case of taking out one drive and putting in the other?

[Togo]

I think Guilbert that we are entering a time where patches and massive systems upgrades are going to be a way of life. We are on the verge of the next generation of super fast chips and quantum computers will soon be with us. So the providers of operating systems have to keep an eye on the future more than ever. The new fast systems will not be worth a whit if the operating systems cannot take advantage of them. Microsoft come in for a load of unnecessary stick for trying to keep abreast of times. Apple have also hit the such problems yet seem not to attract the same approbation. The new Sierra system for macs was virtually useless for a while on initial release but much less was made of it. It is "fashionable" to pan Microsoft of course, all in the name of appearing "clever" to the impressionable.

[Guilbert53]

>>> It is "fashionable" to pan Microsoft of course,

Togo, I am not critisizing Microsoft.

I worked for IBM for 30 years and we had our run ins with Microsoft, but I have a lot of respect for them and admire the way they have made Windows the de facto standard for PCs (I use Windows every day).

I am also registered as a Microsoft Business Partner so I am hardly anti Microsoft.

However I do feel there is a certain arrogance the way they are bringing out these huge Windows 10 updates and forcing users to download them even if they don't want to.

For example I help a lady neighbour (in her 70s) with her computer.

She has a basic HP desktop PC.

About 9 months ago it upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 without her knowledge or agreement.

After that she said the PC was almost totally unusable so I went round to have a look.

When I turned the PC on the hard disk was running at 100% and I could hardly do anything with it.

Norton reported that Microsoft Telemetry was using a lot of resource.

I stayed there for about 2 hours trying all sorts of things but all the time I was there the hard disk was hammering away and it made doing even a simple task hard work.

She has lived with it for a while now, but finds she uses the PC less and less.

A few weeks ago the PC updated to the next level of Windows 10 and the same problem happened. The PC is almost unusable and she hardly uses it.

She has now decided to buy a new PC.

This was a lady who was happily using a Windows 7 PC until Microsoft decided to upgrade her PC to Windows 10 and now she will probably have to go and buy another one.

Why one earth could they not have left her PC (and hundreds of thousands of others) happily working on Windows 7 instead of forcing people up to Windows 10.

If you have not got a PC with much "power" (or a fast broadband) then stay on Windows 7.

THAT is why I suggest people stay on Windows 7 for now if they are happy with it.

[murraymints]

I leapt from XP to win 10 and am more than happy with it..updates are part of life these days

[bhg481]

You might also find that some of your current hardware and software won't work on Windows 10. I lost a printer when I went from one Windows to another because the printer manufacturer thought it wasn't worth creating drivers for an old model. A friend had to upgrade some software at about £100 only to find he didn't like the upgraded version - features added but a useful feature removed.

[Guilbert53]

Eddie51,

If you have a desktop PC then swapping hard disks is usually very easy.

Case designs do vary but you just take off the side cover(s) to see the hard disk.

It will be connected by two cables, a power cable and a data cable. Remove them (note they only reconnect one way so don't force them back in when you reconnect).

Unscrew the 2 or 4 screws that hold in the hard disk (depending on case design).

Take out the "old" hard disk and put in the "new" one.

Note some cases have room for two hard disk so you could put BOTH hard disks in, and then it is a simple job to move both cables from one hard disk to the other.

You can download Windows 10 from here:

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

You need to then put it on DVD or USB flash drive.

I have found it does not fit on a normal DVD (too large?) so maybe you need a dual layer DVD.

However putting it on a USB flash drive is the other option, as long as your PC can boot from a USB drive.

Make sure you have the EMPTY hard disk plugged in when installing Windows 10 or you could accidentally overwrite your Windows 7 disk !

Putting back in the Windows 7 is hard disk is just a reverse of taking it out.

[Togo]

I know you do not criticise Microsoft Guilbert, I can assure you. My comment was a general observation. If you read some of the "forums", as I am sure you do, You would get the impression that some of the contributors could do a better job. I was under the impression that when W10 was being planned there was a option available for months where the choice was to opt out of the "queue" to receive w10. I did the opposite and forced it through on day 1. I run 10 on a desktop, HP laptop, and a Surface Pro(nice bit of kit) and was all revved up to upgrade all 3 this week. Haha will have to wait. My desktop installed and was ready to go in just under an hour with the original w10 upgrade from 7, and I have no problem apart from the lappie now getting to be a little slow. That though is my fault for not installing a hybrid hard drive as I intended. I put one in the desktop before upgrading to 10.

[Togo]

Just an aside, if anyone is thinking of replacement, or running a secondary hard drive. A hybrid or solid state one does not "need" partitioning. Makes it even easier for the not fully teched up.

[EDDIE51]

It is a Toshiba Lap top.I have another identical one with a cracked screen and damaged keyboard but good hard drive as a spare.

[bhg481]

If you do choose to have two operating systems on separate hard drives you can leave them both connected and choose at startup which one to boot from. I think Guilbert's suggestion of disconnecting your current drive whilst installing the new OS is a good one, just to make sure you don't overwrite, but once installed you can reconnect the old one to save physical messing about when you want to swap systems.

[bhg481]

Ah! If it's a laptop you might not have room for two discs, especially if it's a small one. It will be obvious when you take off the back but you might need to buy a holder for it.

[Old_Geezer]

Well we had something come through recently. Insisted that I answered a load of annoying questions along the lines of, "Do you want us to nose at this ?", "Ok, then do you want us to nose at this ?" ...