Last week I thought I’d try out Windows 10 before the free offer expired. I’d actually tried it out months ago, so probably was already digitally entitled. But just to make sure, I did it again before the free offer expired.
My initial impression?
I liked it. I enjoyed the funky blue/black color scheme. I had fun playing around with MS News, Edge and asking Cortana to look things up as I blogged.
The whole experience made me feel more “connected” and current.
I also liked the clean install from an ISO, which means no bloatware whatsoever. Win 10 leaves about 450 gb of my supposedly 500 gb (really 466 gb) hard drive free after installation, and that included a recovery partition. Whereas Win 7 only leaves about 393 gb free on the hard drive, including recovery.
Okay, so all good, right?
Well, no.
The only fly in the ointment, and it was a nasty fly, was the fact that Win 10 and my Broadcom WiFi adapter were not a good fit. It worked, but intermittently. And yes, I tried every suggested fix on the web. I even did MS support, which didn’t help—not directly, anyhow.
So giving up, I decided to go back to Win 7. But oh! My computer was now telling me that I could not go back.
Ouch.
This is when MS inadvertently sent me to computer camp. Looking back, it was a good experience. But really, why did the MS scan say my computer was compatible when it was not?
I fiddled with this thing for a week. And I’m not saying it wasn’t fun nor enjoyable. But it was also a bit stressful. Had I not time to fiddle with it, I probably would have been forced to buy a new computer.
Am I ticked off? Not really. As I say, it was a good challenge. But I’m clever with these things when I have to be. And not everyone is.
My solution involved learning about partitions, volume labels, and related software; also, making an ISO image of a System Repair CD. To create the ISO I used an older version of Image Burn, a freeware program that now uses Open Candy (not so great). But using the older version, I avoided the Open Candy.
From the ISO I made a bootable USB using a really nifty and free program called Rufus. I also made a system image backup to my external HD, using the native Win 7 tool. So I never have to restore Win 7 OEM with DVDs again (keep my fingers crossed!).
Anyhow, I got it all together. Everything works fine now.
I learned a lot. I had fun. But I think MS should have been more honest in the first place.
Win 10 and my computer are NOT compatible. Even though MS said they were.
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Just My Stuff 
Open Candy is showing up in a lot of good software. I’m downloading the Windows 10 anniversary update now. From what I’m reading on the tech sites theres really nothing new that interests me. One thing is, this is the longest I’ve played with Windows 10. It’s a mess
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At first the square icons were appealing but after a while they started to bother me. Let me know if it’s any good (new Win 10 edition). I’m set up now so I can go back and forth without any major nail biting. 🙂
The guy at Image Burn says that if you install with your internet off, there’s no problem. But I just didn’t want to take the risk. Malwarebytes lists Open Candy as PUP, I think.
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First the lock screen and sign in screen are one. All the bloated junk apps reappeared. I opened Edge, which I never use, and tried to install extensions and it took me to a blank store page. The volume was cranked up to 70. I had to reinstall classic shell start menu. All the settings were turned back on for apps running in the background. Some new spyware was installed and turned on by default. All of my default settings were reset. Some insecure wifi settings were installed and turned on. I had to go through every setting to make sure they were back where I had them. About half were reset and new ones appeared and were on. Other than that, I don’t see anything different. It runs, I guess
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Yeah, at first I liked all the razzmatazz but soon realized it was a bit too “Big Brother” for me. Using Cortana means that your data is sent and, I think, shared with who knows. Windows Defender comes back on “automatically” even if you want it off permanently.
I hope this is not the future of software. I like to choose. And when companies try to force their stuff down your throat and make alternatives impossible or difficult, to me that’s a sign of weakness, not strength. Like a country that won’t let it’s people leave… If you’re really confident about how your system works, let people leave it. If they stay, it’s because it’s good, not because they’re “wired” to stay. 🙂
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