Free Windows 10 upgrade

[woofy]

Yesterday was the launch of the free windows 10 upgrade and since I have two laptops and a desktop I decided to take advantage of the upgrade on one of my laptops to try it out before installing on my main machine the desktop.

The upgrade to windows 10 pro went super smooth on an HP Elitebook 8460 running windows 7 ultimate, the upgrade took just over an hour and once complete the system had saved all my files and settings, bookmarks and WiFi settings.

I have to say I am impressed with windows 10 so far, when I bought my desktop it came with windows 8 and after and hour I wiped it and put windows 7 on it.
Windows 10 has pretty much a zero learning curve if you have windows 7 since it starts up with your desktop and not all the crazy tiles like windows 8 did.

Windows 10 boots up pretty fast and feels snappy, the control panel and device manager is still present just in a different place than windows 7, it doesn't take long to find you way around the new system. The new browser Edge needs some setting up but seems fast as advertised, but I still like Firefox for now and will stick with it for the time being.

Lot's more poking around to do and now installing on the second laptop, I think this OS will be a keeper for me.

If you have a second machine I would recommend giving it a test run, you just might like it.

 

[eastof111]

Here's a site that covers some security issues that one may opt out.

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2015/07/29/wind-nos/

Windows 10 has just arrived and thereÂ’s a new Privacy Policy and Service Agreement from Microsoft coming swiftly in its wake.

The new policies take effect on 1 August and there are a few unsettling things nestling in there that you should be thinking about if youÂ’re using the companyÂ’s services and software.

The Privacy Statement and Services Agreements combined come to 45 pages. Microsoft’s deputy general counsel, Horacio Gutierrez wrote that they are “straightforward terms and polices that people can clearly understand.” The reality is, you’re probably not going to read them. So I did…

And, like so many other companies, Microsoft has grabbed some very broad powers to collect things you do, say and create while using its software. Your data wonÂ’t be staying on your computer, that much is for sure.

Data syncing by default

Sign into Windows with your Microsoft account and the operating system immediately syncs settings and data to the companyÂ’s servers. That includes your browser history, favorites and the websites you currently have open as well as saved app, website and mobile hotspot passwords and Wi-Fi network names and passwords.

You can deactivate that by hopping into settings, but IÂ’d argue that it should be opt-in rather than on by default. Many users wonÂ’t get round to turning it off, even though they would probably want to.

Cortana knows *a lot* about what youÂ’re doingÂ…
Cortana is a sexy spy in the machine

Turn on Cortana, the virtual assistant, and youÂ’re also turning on a whole host of data sharing:

To enable Cortana to provide personalized experiences and relevant suggestions, Microsoft collects and uses various types of data, such as your device location, data from your calendar, the apps you use, data from your emails and text messages, who you call, your contacts and how often you interact with them on your device.

Cortana also learns about you by collecting data about how you use your device and other Microsoft services, such as your music, alarm settings, whether the lock screen is on, what you view and purchase, your browse and Bing search history, and more.”

Lots of things can live in those two words “and more.” Also note that because Cortana analyzes speech data, Microsoft collects “your voice input, as well as your name and nickname, your recent calendar events and the names of people in your appointments, and information about your contacts including names and nicknames.”

Realistically, Cortana canÂ’t work in the semi-magical way it does without being able to gobble up all that information. But itÂ’s worth being aware of just how wide-ranging its access to your and your friendsÂ’/contactsÂ’ data is.
Whatever happens, Microsoft knows what youÂ’re doingÂ…

The updated terms also state that Microsoft will collect information “from you and your devices, including for example ‘app use data for apps that run on Windows’ and ‘data about the networks you connect to.'”
Advertisers will know exactly who you are

Windows 10 generates a unique advertising ID for each user on each device. That can be used by developers and ad networks to profile you. Again, you can turn this off in settings, but you need to know where to look.

Your encryption key is backed up to OneDrive

Not necessarily a bad thing but something you should be aware of. When device encryption is turned on, Windows 10 automatically encrypts the drive its installed on and generates a BitLocker recovery key. ThatÂ’s backed up to your OneDrive account.

Microsoft can disclose your data when it feels like it

This is the part you should be most concerned about: MicrosoftÂ’s new privacy policy assigns is very loose when it comes to when it will or wonÂ’t access and disclose your personal data:

We will access, disclose and preserve personal data, including your content (such as the content of your emails, other private communications or files in private folders), when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to protect our customers or enforce the terms governing the use of the services.

I’m not suggesting Microsoft and its lawyers are alone in making provision for such sweeping power over your data, but we should all be very careful about relying on the “good faith” of corporations. I’m not even sure such a thing exists.

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Here's the site to download the Windows 10 x64 or x32 pro version iso file you may use to burn to a cd or usb for installation to a computer. All you will need is your old windows 7 or 8 key.

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

 

[eastof111]

Had some free time to tinker the other night and wanted to experience a clean install. I backed up my Win8 drive and rebooted to a dvd with Win10 pro since I didn't have a usb stick handy. Then proceeded to install over Win8. Used the custom setting (to block some of the spyware settings) and it took about half an hour or less to complete the install. The install did save Win8 in its own directory (read only).

Played with Win10 gui, settings and updates for a while. Finally decided to restore my Win8 so that when the upgrade notification arrives, I'll compare it to the clean install.

Rebooted into Win7 and used R-Drive image to restore Win8 to the appropriate drive. Took about ten minutes to restore the 14,000,000 kb image. Rebooted to Win8 and it did an fdisk on the drive prior to logging in. It found a few discrepancies which it corrected, nothing major. After logging in, the MS icon was present on the status bar. I signed up for notification for the upgrade.

Rebooted to Win7 and again I found the MS icon in the status bar indicating an upgrade was available. Signed up for the upgrade and will see how long it takes for the upgrade to arrive.

 

[eastof111]

Destroy Windows 10 Spying 1.5.0 Build 279

Available at http://sakliada.com/destroy-windows-10-spying-1-5-0-build-300/

Posted info about the program:

Destroy Windows 10 Spying is a portable app that can block anonymous data being sent and remove apps that canÂ’t be removed by the standard way and more. It can remove some of the Windows default programs that can't be removed under Apps & Features, an annoyance.

But, you can block these yourself manually in your hosts file with 127.0.0.1 if you want. The program allows you to clear or view the hosts file in Notepad. The program does the same thing but just in case you wanted to see where your information heads to or you wanted to update your hosts file manually, a log file will be left in the folder you run it from.

Some of the domains that send anonymous information back to Microsoft include:

vortex.data.microsoft.com
vortex-win.data.microsoft.com
telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com
telecommand.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
oca.telemetry.microsoft.com
oca.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com
sqm.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
watson.telemetry.microsoft.com
watson.telemetry.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
redir.metaservices.microsoft.com
choice.microsoft.com
choice.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
df.telemetry.microsoft.com
reports.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
services.wes.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
sqm.df.telemetry.microsoft.com
telemetry.microsoft.com
watson.ppe.telemetry.microsoft.com
telemetry.appex.bing.net
telemetry.urs.microsoft.com
telemetry.appex.bing.net:443
settings-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
vortex-sandbox.data.microsoft.com
survey.watson.microsoft.com
watson.live.com
watson.microsoft.com
statsfe2.ws.microsoft.com
corpext.msitadfs.glbdns2.microsoft.com
compatexchange.cloudapp.net
cs1.wpc.v0cdn.net
a-0001.a-msedge.net
statsfe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
sls.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
fe2.update.microsoft.com.akadns.net
diagnostics.support.microsoft.com
corp.sts.microsoft.com
statsfe1.ws.microsoft.com
pre.footprintpredict.com
i1.services.social.microsoft.com
i1.services.social.microsoft.com.nsatc.net
feedback.windows.com
feedback.microsoft-hohm.com
feedback.search.microsoft.com
rad.msn.com
preview.msn.com
ad.doubleclick.net
ads.msn.com
ads1.msads.net
ads1.msn.com
a.ads1.msn.com
a.ads2.msn.com
adnexus.net
adnxs.com
az361816.vo.msecnd.net
az512334.vo.msecnd.net

 

[eastof111]

This app will improve your Windows 10 experience and it’s completely free.

"It can be difficult to separate the successes of Windows 10 from its failures in regards to user privacy, but the latest operating system from Microsoft is one of its best yet. I’m constantly surprised by how few issues I’ve run into since upgrading to Windows 10, but despite its relative stability, there are still a few things I’d change if I had the ability to do so.

If you have some gripes with Windows 10, you might want to check out Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 for Windows 10, the latest release from The Windows Club. It’s a tiny program with a file size of just 495KB, but it offers over 200 tweaks for Windows 10 devices, all of which are exceedingly easy to activate.

Here’s are just a few of the modifications you can make to the OS with UWT4:

Remove the taskbar
Disable the lock screen
Customize power options in the Start menu
Disable start animations
Auto-end non-responsive programs
Turn off user tracking
Disable the Windows Store, Cortana and taskbar web searching
Hide your entire network from the Network Neighborhood

Some of these aren’t going to apply to every user, but you’re bound to find something worth tweaking once you look through all the potential alterations. It’s worth noting that some users have had issues with the software, but UWT4 gives you the ability to create a restore point before making any changes. The creators also recommend that you only apply one tweak at a time, both to ensure that your system still runs correctly and so you can keep track of what you’ve changed."

You can download Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 at TheWindowsClub.com. There are many other free apps on that site along with hints and suggestions.