Windows 10 [2018]

rcf

Regular
Are there any possible free upgrade paths from Windows XP to Windows 10 (maybe WinXP --> Win7 --> Win10) still available this late in the game?
I read that a free upgrade from Win7 to Win10 is still possible until mid-january/2018, but what about WinXP?
 
Yes, there was no free upgrade offer for XP or Vista - only for 7/8/8.1.

In-place upgrade path from XP to 7/8.x to 10 does not exist either - only XP to Vista to 7 (to 8 to 8.1) to 10.
You can move your files, settings and user accounts by first running Windows Easy Transfer tool from within XP; you will need to reinstall all your programs and device drivers though.

Windows 10 Home is ~US $100-120 for the transferrable full retail version, and <$100 for the non-transferrable (hardware-locked) system builder/OEM version (OEI DSP).
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/best-windows-10-deals-2015-1300938


BTW you can still find DVD packages for Windows 7 Home retail upgrade, Windows 8 retail upgrade, Windows 8 OEI and Windows 8.1 retail licenses - they may come a bit cheaper than full retail Windows 10 Home, are updradeable to 10 Home (until mid-January 2018) and are transferrable to a new PC.
You would need to perform a clean install of Windows 7/8/8.1 and activate it with the provided product key, then upgrade it to 10 Home using the assistive technologies upgrade wizard and skip any prompts for product key.
This will create a digital Windows 10 license for your hardware; you can then clean install Windows 10 on this hardware with no additional activation steps required. You can further set up a Microsoft Account for convenience of managing your devices and activating your licenses on your new hardware.

Note that you cannot transfer Windows 7/8.1/10 OEI licenses to new hardware - once activated, these licenses are permamently linked to your current motherboard model/make. Windows 8 OEI license is the sole exception to this rule.
Also OEI licenses come without phone support, unlike retail licenses.
 
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I'm not sure you'd want to upgrade to Windows 10 on XP-level hardware anyway.
 
I'm not sure you'd want to upgrade to Windows 10 on XP-level hardware anyway.
That's for a relative's computer. She uses it only for printing, word/excel/PDFs and casual web browsing, but now she says that one of her programs requires at least Win7.
It's an Athlon64 X2 system, so it's not that fast but it should be enough for Windows 7/10 and for her needs. A SSD and OS upgrade would make it usable again.
 
You can upgrade the OS to Windows 7 Home retail and also activate a Windows 10 license for a future hardware upgrade - though I'd replace the CPU/MB right away. Don't expect miracles from a SSD upgrade alone, Athlon 64 X2 is slow by today's standards - even the cheapest Pentium G is 3-4 times faster in office tasks - and its RAM expansion options are very limited today.

You can find a G4560/B250/4GB combo and W10H full retail license for a total of $260-290.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rmBKPs
 
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That's for a relative's computer. She uses it only for printing, word/excel/PDFs and casual web browsing, but now she says that one of her programs requires at least Win7.
It's an Athlon64 X2 system, so it's not that fast but it should be enough for Windows 7/10 and for her needs. A SSD and OS upgrade would make it usable again.

If that's all she needs it for, it'd probably be cheaper, faster, and more power efficient to move her to a Pentium or Celeron based Mini-PC. I recently got my father a fanless version for under 200 USD that runs quite well and is more than fast enough for him.

I had gotten him one similar to this (same hardware, different brand and 64 GB storage instead of 32) for 179 USD.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XD2V3Q2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also got him a USB hub so he could attach more storage if he needed to.

Regards,
SB
 
The thing is, I still have tons of Core 2 and Athlon II PCs around me where, thanks to 4GB RAM (purchased long ago), a $60 SSD, and the death of flash ads, it is more than fast enough. Giving it a new CPU+RAM+MB combo would cost an additional $150 or thereabouts. So yes, there is a difference between $60 and $200. Besides, you can keep the SSD when you upgrade the rest.
 
The thing is, I still have tons of Core 2 and Athlon II PCs around me where, thanks to 4GB RAM (purchased long ago), a $60 SSD, and the death of flash ads, it is more than fast enough. Giving it a new CPU+RAM+MB combo would cost an additional $150 or thereabouts. So yes, there is a difference between $60 and $200. Besides, you can keep the SSD when you upgrade the rest.

Sure, but that PC is likely to use more than the ~15 watts (probably around 100 watts or more) of a fanless Pentium/Celeron. Depending on electricity costs where you live, that may or may not make it more economical after a couple of years. If you shop around you can sometimes find them for 100-150 USD.

Regards,
SB
 
FAQ: Windows 10 LTSB explained
Officially, LTSB is a specialized edition of Windows 10 Enterprise that promises the longest intervals between feature upgrades of any version of the operating system.

Where other Windows 10 servicing models push feature upgrades to customers every six months, LTSB does so only every two or three years. That means fewer changes during a set timeline, a less-involved upgrade effort, and fewer disruptions as well as fewer possibilities for applications breaking because of a modification of the OS.
...
A lot that makes Windows 10, well, Windows 10. Eschewing the regular feature upgrades means that LTSB does not include Edge nor any Microsoft Store (Universal Windows Platform, or UWP) apps, whether Redmond-made or third-part, because the browser and those apps constantly change and need updating. Also AWOL: the Cortana voice-activated digital assistant and access to the Microsoft Store.

That said, LTSB looks and runs just like any other Windows 10 edition. No one will be fooled into thinking it's Windows 7.
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3250464/microsoft-windows/faq-windows-10-ltsb-explained.html

 
LTSB is the best Win10 edition but AFAIK it's available only by volume licensing.
But in my opinion Windows Server 2016 is the best Microsoft desktop OS nowadays, except for its price of course.
 
And the start menu decided not to show up again on my new installation. Worst Microsoft OS confirmed

Apparently MS now has a startmenu troubleshooter which attempts to autorepair the start menu. Launched it and.. double fail. They designed a tool with one task and it fails to perform it
 
I had the vanishing start menu the other day, decided to reboot the box on a wing and a prayer (curse is more like it tho), and it somehow fixed the problem.

Last time it happened it wouldn't come back no matter what tho, and MS's "repair tool" wouldn't fix it either. First time I ran it it found errors and then hung while apparently attempting to fix them. Every subsequent run after that it could not find any errors, but the start menu still would not return... Fucking fail to the n:th degree!

Win10 is indeed a fucking joke, but what can you do eh?
 
wrt to the start menu, there a rather big number of advices online ...

I found a new suggested fix though today and after applying it + restart, problem seem to have gone away. All I had to do is to disable in Accounts -> Sign-in options the "Use my sign in info to automatically..."
 
All I had to do is to disable in Accounts -> Sign-in options the "Use my sign in info to automatically..."
Okkkkaaaayyyy..............but what the motherfraking frak does that have to do with the fraking start menu or it not showing up?!?!?!?!!! lol :LOL:
 
Well there's that ShellHardware dection service.. I was getting EventViewer errors regarding it hanging, Also when restarting I get an error saying thas some device might not be installed. So windows somehow thought there's something to be installed and was trying to use the sign-in info of my MS account for it.

The start menu probably is told to wait up because stuff is installing (not saying is reasonable it behaves like this !)
 
Amy fix for the randomly delayed start menu?

It happened on all of my devices. Legit windows 10, pirated windows 10, trial copy windows 10, home edition, single language edition, pro edition everywhere.

It's the worst on the FCU update. Before FCU it was there but the lag is not as often, not as significant.

I also hasn't installed anything new (I use apps without installation))))
 
whenever the startmenu disappears for me on windows 10 (prolly once a week), I kill explorer. It should pop back in a minute
 
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