Windows 10 FAQ

[surge]

Is it possible to do a straight clean install to a new drive using Win7 key without first doing the upgrade on current Win7 drive?

Yes I would like to know that too..

 

[squerble]

I think this is a dumb question, but can I buy just a key for Win 10 somewhere? I just got a new SSD and I'm going to put Windows 10 on the new build but I'm being impatient and want to install now.

I know I can "upgrade" from 8.1, but 1) I don't want to upgrade 2) I should really pay for Windows.

 

[Glaucus]

Is it possible to dictate which gfx chip is used for certain applications, pretty sure everything uses gfx card which then needs cooling fan, when just playing videos integrated gfx should be more than ample. This is on a laptop

 

[Rroff]

Probably the only way around that is to turn off any hardware acceleration features in the video player settings (which depends on your CPU being powerful enough to process video) and/or if you have an nVidia based setup make sure power management is set to adaptive to minimise GPU use.

 

[GAM8LE]

Anyone having issues with the embedded flash player in Microsoft edge and ie?

4od for example is saying I don't have the most up to date version but its embedded into windows 10 hence I cant download from adobes website.

Not end of the world but weird as edge says its enabled but the online test says its disabled.

 

[Freefaller]

I'm sure this has already been asked but do any of you have trouble with explorer being slow to open?

 

[Rroff]

Explorer in 10 has always been slow handling certain things especially drives that have certain complex configurations of files and folders :S

As I think I mentioned before I find one of my 10 installs stuff like that starts to slowdown after a few weeks or months, goes back to fast again if I do a fresh install but degrades over time again repeatedly and I have no idea why (several bits of hardware including the HDD have been changed since the original build so don't think its related to a drive or RAM failing).

 

[GAM8LE]

Anyone having issues with the embedded flash player in Microsoft edge and ie?

4od for example is saying I don't have the most up to date version but its embedded into windows 10 hence I cant download from adobes website.

Not end of the world but weird as edge says its enabled but the online test says its disabled.

OK so I found windows update had installed two different things related to Adobe Flash which matches when this error occurred.

The updates aren't showing in the "uninstall" list so will need to uninstall them another way.

Freefaller - do you have any network storage mapped? I had my Raspberry Pi mapped on my computer and when it was turned off - explorer was super slow to open even if I wasn't going into the Pi

 

[Freefaller]

Yup I have a Windows home server box I haven't actually mapped drives but do access it regularly. It runs my mail server as well.

 

[new boy]

sooo

I turn my monitor on this morning (I leave my pc on 24/7) and apparently its decided to upgrade from windows 7, to windows 10 all by itself without me pressing ok (Yay?)

assuming I decide this is good, should I be looking to do a fresh install sometime soon, or are upgrades pretty good these days? (my install on win7 was what I would call fairly recent)

Bonus question. I have no disk or key for my windows 7, how would I got about retrieving what I need?

 

[Danny75]

sooo

I turn my monitor on this morning (I leave my pc on 24/7) and apparently its decided to upgrade from windows 7, to windows 10 all by itself without me pressing ok (Yay?)

assuming I decide this is good, should I be looking to do a fresh install sometime soon, or are upgrades pretty good these days? (my install on win7 was what I would call fairly recent)

I've been running on an upgrade from Windows 7 for 9 months and no major issues. Not many minor ones either. But I've noticed that clean installs of Win 10 take up that bit less of space and also the System Managed Page File sets a lower size than on my upgraded version. So for these reasons plus any possible other benefits, I'm about to do a clean install.

Bonus question. I have no disk or key for my windows 7, how would I got about retrieving what I need?

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/find-windows-product-key

If the suggestions in that link don't work for you, then http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html is what worked for me. Lots of info is displayed so find the key easier by Ctrl+F "key" on the results page.

 

[delpy8]

hi all, quick question about upgrade paths from 7 to win 10, I have a windows 7 ultimate sp1 64bit key, Can I upgrade my win 10 home on my laptop to win 10 pro using the win 7 key? If so am I right in saying all I need is a copy of win 10 home and do a fresh install or upgrade?

thanks Derek

 

[sastusbulbas]

I too have a querry.

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit on a few computers, with Homegroup used sometimes.

I keep getting prompts for the Windows 10 upgrade, but in all this time since the W10 release, have never been aware of what W10 version I would get, and what to do if there were any issues that changed my mind on having W10. Would be a bit of a joke to have the most expensive version of 7 replaced with the home edition of 10.

One of the PC keys isn't even in use as the motherboard was damaged a while back, will that still qualify if I build a new PC.

And what about hardware changes? You can or cannot change CPU's, motherboards, memory, GPU's?

I would also rather do a fresh clean install than update and do what seems like a hope for the best one click solves all with current installed software and drive contents scenario, but what path would I need to take?

 

[nightmare99]

Ultimate 7 upgrades to 10 Pro, you have 30 days to roll back to your previous setup should you so wish.

 

[Sighn]

^ Once the rollback occurs will Windows 7 initiate another upgrade at some point?

 

[GAM8LE]

The only way to fully disable Windows Update in 10 requires 3rd party software/scripts and has a fair few potential side effects. Some security updates will be pushed through regardless unless you take more drastic steps as well for instance you can set all your connections as metered connections - but then that means if you actually need functionality that distinguishes between metered and unmetered connections you are a bit stuck.

Group policy editor allows for windows update to notify only but not auto download updates.

Takes 30seconds and stops it from automatically downloading stuff.

 

[demonix]

^ Once the rollback occurs will Windows 7 initiate another upgrade at some point?

There is a tool in the other stickied windows 10 thread that you can use to get rid of the upgrade so that it can never update to windows 10 again.

 

[Badger_grr]

Is there currently a large windows 10 update going on?
Had a phone call from my dad moaning that's it's been updating for over an hour and is at 11% only. Seems a bit odd to me but I don't have 10 so was wondering.

 

[Rroff]

Is there currently a large windows 10 update going on?
Had a phone call from my dad moaning that's it's been updating for over an hour and is at 11% only. Seems a bit odd to me but I don't have 10 so was wondering.

It can be a bit staggered when people's systems actually update to a release - some people will still be trickling onto 1511.

Its not unusual with Windows updates for it to take a very long time or stall and/or revert to the previous version and then have to be updated again before it succeeds.

 

[Furton]

I've been renovating my house for the last year or so, as such my PC has been put in storage for over 12 months.

It currently runs Windows 7 Pro and the main OS drive is on 2 WD in RAID 0. I want to change these to an SSD drive, and eventually upgrade the graphics card.

If I update my current PC to Win 10, then buy a new SSD drive, and perform a clean install, can I then perform a new install of Win 10 on the SSD?