No cost W10 upgrade ends on Friday

[cadillacmike68]

How many folks are trying this out.

My mom "accidentally" "got" w10 a few months ago. I barely got it reverted in time (you get a month to revert back if you don't like it), so I didn't want to be trapped into something.

My take is I KNOW i don't want it Now, it's also unsupported on my T61s (so is win7, but it works fine), BUT, I don't want to have to fork over $200 per system (6 systems) If I end up Needing it in 2 or 3 or more years.

So this was my solution, and it took a few months to get it all in place. My intent was to have 4 systems (later 6) with working W7 installs and test W10 installs on Different HDDs. I had lots of HDDs hanging around, enough to give each system a 500GB W7 install and a 160GB W10 install with a few HDDs left over for true backups. I wanted to start from a comming image, and would deploy to only T61 only with Intel graphics. Should have been simple.

For the W10 installs:
1. Get a stable Win 7 system with what I want on it and no bloatware. This was difficult because Acronis true Image was surreptitiously causing BSODs on my test machine for quite some time.
2. back it up using to the ATI bootable CDs that I had the foresight to make way back.
3. restore the backups onto an HDD for each system
4. Verify the restore results in an "activated" win 7 system. This was a Royal PITA because there were not readily apparent BIOS issues on the machine I first used as a test subject. Eventually I had to re-flash a few system BOIS
5. rename the systems and HDDs so I don't have duplicate names
6. make other minor adjustment to each system
7. un-hide the "get w10 updates"
8. install the "get w10" updates"
9. let the w10 upgrade run
10. Verify it was still activated
11. make more adjustments

Get this all finished for 6 systems before Friday

Then make W7 installs:
1. restore the previously backed up image to each system on a fresh HDD
2. verify activated w7
3. change computer names, etc as in the above sequence
4. get any new updates, but keep the "get w10 updates" hidden

That was a lot of work. I'm still trying to get the last 2 W10 upgrades finished. The W7 ones can wait until after the weekend.

I used two backups, one to a 2TB USB HDD which I toted around to each system and the other was a 1TB sized internal that I could use in systems that are in advanced docks. With the systems in the docks I can boot from the CD in the dock's ultrabay and restore from the HDD in the Thinkpad's ultrabay to the target HDD in the main bay. For systems with no dock, I booted from the CD in the thinkpad's ultrabay and restored from the USB HDD to the internal HDD.

That all worked out pretty good other than the crazy BIOS related problems which caused one system to keep on trashing the installs. I'm still not sure that one will work out.

If this pans out I will have several ready made W10 setups that I can transition into over a period of years if necessary, while still having robust W7 systems to work on. I can keep the w10 install up to date just swapping the HDDs in and running windoze updates on them once a month or so. documents are simple to keep backed up onto different media for easy transfer.

So, am I off the deep end or was the past week's nightmare worth the effort?

[axur-delmeria]

Today, I formatted my spare X61T, installed Win 7, then immediately upgraded to Win 10.
In fact, I'm typing this post on the X61T.
Still no Thinkpad drivers installed-- still doing research on which driver to use for the graphics and Trackpoint, among other things.

[cadillacmike68]

I started with a fairly clean W7 install. I had power manager, lenovo update and a few other "bloatware" on, but no service bridge or that notification nonsense. I let them all run and after a couple hours each they auto updated a few things. It "learns" the hardware - takes long enough...

That's one thing I don't like about w10 (very little control over "updates"), that and all the spyware that ms worded so deviously. You have to left click the "window" and then select settings and then privacy. You have to basically shut off just about everything.

W10 took out power manger MSE (put in defender in its place) a couple others. Tune Up utilities 11 doesn't work with W10, so IU disabled the startup service.. But it took just about all my settings and carried them over. It even kept some of the windows explorer and browser settings. I like the traditional menu bar up top and want file Details - not some useless list or icons, and those seem to have largely carried over.

We'll see. As I noted, I don't plan on using it - at least not for a while, but want to to have it in my "back pocket" so to speak.

There is a BIG w10 update coming down on 2 August. I'll let the machines all get that update. Maybe they fixed some things. Got to remember to set a restore point first.

[axur-delmeria]

I messed up with the Trackpoint driver. Force-installed the one for the T460, now i lost Trackpoint. Reverting the driver doesn't help.

[cadillacmike68]

I just let it run that "upgrade" and didn't try to force any drivers on it. OIn one system (the only 14" wide system I have) it initially couldn't load the soundmax driver , but after a reboot, it was fine. If you run that "get w10" off the taskbar, it does a pretty good job of "learning" the hardware.

It found a mouse driver a screen driver for my 2nd LCD (samsung), but I left everything else alone. No crashes yet, but it's only been a day or so.

I usually use an external mouse but space constraints have me doing one system with only the internal trackpoint and that has worked fine so far.

[Cigarguy]

Super happy that this "upgrade" ends Friday and hopefully the nagging will end with it. Hopefully but it is MS.

I've played around with Win 10 on my Surface Pro 3 for about 8 months now. Win 10 is not for me. If I could I'd load Win 7 onto my Surface Pro 3.

It's Win 7 or Linux for me. I've been playing with Linux a lot over the past 6 months and I'm loving it. Linux have come a long long way. I've pretty much migrated to Linux Mint now for daily use and I'm surprise how little I miss or want to use Windows.

[cadillacmike68]

Linux is my next avenue. I installed it on an old system way back in the 90s and know how to sift through getting it installed. The W10 test installs are just that - tests. If I dislike it enough, I just won't use it. If I find it useful, for me or my wife, I have them ready to go.

[Cigarguy]

No harm in trying it out cadillacmike68. It's the only way to know if it's for you or not. After 8 months, it's not for me. After Win 8/8.1 I was prepared to like it. MS have gone partially Apple and partially Google.

[cadillacmike68]

No harm in trying it out cadillacmike68. It's the only way to know if it's for you or not. After 8 months, it's not for me. After Win 8/8.1 I was prepared to like it. MS have gone partially Apple and partially Google.

Tell me about it. w8 was their attempt to make PCs into gargantuan i-phones

W10 seems a little better, BUT my tune up utilities 11 is incompatible, they just wiped the ThinkPad power manager out, and there are DOZENS or spyware settings that you have to finds, go through and shut off one by one.

AND, you have almost NO control over updates. I have all my XPP and W7P systems set to NOT download or install updates, only to notify me. Then I go through them by hand. I found a bitlocker "update" - useless to me with W7pro since it's not in it, and all those w10 and telemetry "updates" Some keep coming back, like that bar burrito I ate in college....

Quickbooks 2014 is not compatible - that kills it for my mom (she's on w7 home prem), but if I need to run QB on my computer, I couldn't do it with w10.

At least it kept Firefox and some of my other often used programs. I have all the T61 machines with good w7pro installs on them as well, so I can use that for years if need be.

I made all the W7 installs with 500GB Hitachi drives. I made the W10 test installs on whatever 160GB drives I had lying around, so you can see where my priorities are.

[TonyJZX]

Finally our long national nightmare is over.

[pianowizard]

A couple days ago I did take advantage of the last chance for the free upgrade by doing the following on three Windows 7 desktops:

1) Changed the Windows Update Settings from "Install important updates only" to "Install recommended updates as well", so that I received the free upgrade offer, but I didn't accept the offer yet.

2) Cloned the HDDs, and replaced the original HDDs with the clones.

3) Rebooted from the clones, accepted the free upgrade offer, and finished the upgrade.

4) Double-checked that Windows 10 was activated successfully.

5) Removed the clones, and put the original HDDs back in to continue to run Windows 7. I won't be holding onto the clones, but instead will erase them for other purposes.

I like Windows 10 more than 7, but I cannot run 10 on these three machines right now because they are controlling lab equipment for which the manufacturer's driver is incompatible with 10. But someday I may retire these machines and sell them, and the Windows 10 license will increase resale value.

Super happy that this "upgrade" ends Friday and hopefully the nagging will end with it.

Finally our long national Overused word is over.

You guys should have just changed the Windows Update Settings to "Install important updates only". Over the past year, I never received any Windows 10-related nonsense on the abovementioned desktops until a couple days ago, when I purposely changed that setting to "Install recommended updates as well". Microsoft's "recommended" updates have always been lame; nothing's new there.

[TonyJZX]

You guys should have just changed the Windows Update Settings to "Install important updates only". Over the past year, I never received any Windows 10-related nonsense on the abovementioned desktops until a couple days ago, when I purposely changed that setting to "Install recommended updates as well". Microsoft's "recommended" updates have always been lame; nothing's new there.

You obviously do not know that they moved the update from recommended to important.

The smart people will know there are tools like never10 and gwx panel. However they have already lost one lawsuit and have two pending. Who are we to side with? Microsoft? Nah.

[cadillacmike68]

A couple days ago I did take advantage of the last chance for the free upgrade by doing the following on three Windows 7 desktops:

1) Changed the Windows Update Settings from "Install important updates only" to "Install recommended updates as well", so that I received the free upgrade offer, but I didn't accept the offer yet.

2) Cloned the HDDs, and replaced the original HDDs with the clones.

3) Rebooted from the clones, accepted the free upgrade offer, and finished the upgrade.

4) Double-checked that Windows 10 was activated successfully.

5) Removed the clones, and put the original HDDs back in to continue to run Windows 7. I won't be holding onto the clones, but instead will erase them for other purposes.

I like Windows 10 more than 7, but I cannot run 10 on these three machines right now because they are controlling lab equipment for which the manufacturer's driver is incompatible with 10. But someday I may retire these machines and sell them, and the Windows 10 license will increase resale value.

...


You guys should have just changed the Windows Update Settings to "Install important updates only". Over the past year, I never received any Windows 10-related nonsense on the abovementioned desktops until a couple days ago, when I purposely changed that setting to "Install recommended updates as well". Microsoft's "recommended" updates have always been lame; nothing's new there.

Pianowizard,

you should have done # 2 before # 1. Now your w7 machines have the "get w10" nonsense on them.

I don't let winblows install ANY updates on it own. this is what I set it to:

To recap, I have updates set to NOT download Or install any updates, but only to notify me that there are updates available.

Control Panel / Windows Updates / Change Settings / Important Updates:
Drop Down and select "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them"
Make recommended updates the same.

This way I can check every update to see what it is doing before letting it potentially mess up my system.

[ajkula66]

Win 10 is not for me.

+1 and then some...

It's Win 7 or Linux for me. I've been playing with Linux a lot over the past 6 months and I'm loving it. Linux have come a long long way.

Indeed. And make no mistake: by the time that extended support for W7 is dropped in 2020, the *nix world will have gone even further in its ability to replace Windows for many of us...

Never have I thought that the things would take this route, but am willing to accept the reality of W7 being the last MS OS that I'll ever use on my systems...

[Cigarguy]

For about the umteenith time I've gone back and tried Linux again on a test machine. I'm very impress with Linux Mint and Zorin. So much so that Linux Mint Cinnamon have become by daily use OS and is replacing Win 7 on many more machines that I thought I would at this stage. In terms of interface, it's been an easy transition with a lot of customization available if I wish. OS update after fresh install takes minutes vs hours. Didn't think I'd be here for another few years.

[axur-delmeria]

I'm very impress with Linux Mint and Zorin. So much so that Linux Mint Cinnamon have become by daily use OS and is replacing Win 7 on many more machines that I thought I would at this stage. In terms of interface, it's been an easy transition with a lot of customization available if I wish.

Good to hear that you've managed the transition beautifully.

My reasons for upgrading to Windows 10 are as follows:
1. It's just a spare laptop, so I can tinker and experience it without fear. Already the Wifi (Intel 3945ABG) is refusing to connect (it was fine last night), so I'm hunting down an Atheros wifi card I know is buried somewhere in my pile of boxes.
2. I have to stay current with computers as part of work.

I've made the jump to Linux with Debian 4.0 (Etch) around 2008 I guess, though I do remember playing around with Ubuntu, Mandrake, and Vector before that.

[pianowizard]

You obviously do not know that they moved the update from recommended to important.

Then explain to me why I never got the update until I asked for "recommended updates" earlier this week. All my computers download and install "important updates" automatically, and they have done so for over a decade, yet they never upgraded to 10 automatically.

The smart people will know there are tools like never10 and gwx panel.

Yes, I knew about never10 but "Install important updates only" was all I needed to avoid the automatic update to 10.

BTW, you do realize that what you wrote meant "People who don't know there are tools like never10 and gwx panel are not smart", right? Do you seriously believe that?

you should have done # 2 before # 1. Now your w7 machines have the "get w10" nonsense on them.

Nope. It's all gone since this morning, after I restarted those three machines. Why would Microsoft leave this "Get Windows 10 for free!" stuff behind after July 29th? Microsoft needs to start making money, you know.

But regarding why I didn't do #2 before #1: I wanted to make sure I could receive the 10 update before spending the time and energy to clone the HDDs. When so many people on the internet had claimed that their computers were downloading 10 without permission, and yet these three computers never did, I wasn't sure that they were eligible for the free update.

I don't let winblows install ANY updates on it own. this is what I set it to:

To recap, I have updates set to NOT download Or install any updates, but only to notify me that there are updates available.

Control Panel / Windows Updates / Change Settings / Important Updates:
Drop Down and select "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them"
Make recommended updates the same.

This way I can check every update to see what it is doing before letting it potentially mess up my system.

And here's my recap: I have been automatically installing all "important" or "critical" Microsoft updates since the early 2000s. Nevertheless, my computers never got automatically updated to 10. Am I the only one so lucky?

[cadillacmike68]

Pianowizard,;

That's interesting, that the get W10 is no longer on your systems, but the "updates" are still there taking up disk space and perhaps a little bit of CPU. It probably doesn't amount to much.

I just prefer to review the updates before letting them install. It also lets me set a restore point to get back to if an update trashes the system.

[RealBlackStuff]

You can regain a fair bit of free space here:
Go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete everything in there.
Repeat every month or so.

[mpcook]

You can regain a fair bit of free space here:
Go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete everything in there.
Repeat every month or so.

Wow, never knew about that, just deleted 4GB. Thanks for the tip.

[pianowizard]

I just prefer to review the updates before letting them install. It also lets me set a restore point to get back to if an update trashes the system.

How often does a Windows/Microsoft update trash your systems? Only once for me, about 10 years ago, when XP gave me an update that led to a blue screen. It turned out to be my own fault because it was caused by a bent pin on my EIDE hard drive, and that update simply exposed that issue. After unbending that pin, everything was fine.

In the past year, there were 3 or 4 drivers automatically updated by Windows 10 that I didn't want updated, and I had to manually revert to the older drivers. But that's far from "trashing the system".

Again, am I the only lucky guy whose computers (>100 of them) have never been trashed by Windows Update?

You can regain a fair bit of free space here:
Go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete everything in there.
Repeat every month or so.

I run the "sage mode" of Cleanmgr (/sageset and /sagerun) every month, with all options checked. That takes care of these downloads. I run CCleaner daily as well, with nearly all options checked. With all crap cleaned up regularly, Windows 10 (including all important updates) takes up only like 10 GB.

[cadillacmike68]

You can regain a fair bit of free space here:
Go to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and delete everything in there.
Repeat every month or so.

There's 1.1GB in my system there right now. Is there any downside to erasing these files / directories?

[shawross]

No I don't think there is any problem to delete the contents of that directory. If Updates needs it then it will rebuild the directory again when it searches for updates.

[Johan]

Although Microsofts "offer" for Windows 7-users to upgrade to Windows 10 for free just ended, several sites on the 'net claim today (Aug. 1, 2016) that it is still possible to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for free... see e.g. You can still get Windows 10 for free with this trick

If anyone "here" is trying this (succesfully!), please report back.

Johan

[cadillacmike68]

Although Microsofts "offer" for Windows 7-users to upgrade to Windows 10 for free just ended, several sites on the 'net claim today (Aug. 1, 2016) that it is still possible to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 for free... see e.g. You can still get Windows 10 for free with this trick

If anyone "here" is trying this (successfully!), please report back.

Johan

I have that page bookmarked, but I just upgraded all 6 of my T61s to W10 (on spare HDDs) so i don't have an immediate need for it. I might try it next month on another spare HDD, If I can spare the several hours of babysitting: (restore an image to a new HDD, un-hide all the silly "updates and run them, and then run the actual W10 upgrade...).

[RealBlackStuff]

Successfully applied that free W10-upgrade on August 4, 2016 on myT420: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 26#p785226

On August 2, 2016 I did the same on my W510, but used this: http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10 ... duct-keys/
No key was needed, M$ still lets you get away with a free upgrade.

Both machines had Slic2.1 in BIOS and ran a W7-Pro/SP1 from a Lenovo Recovery set (in other words OEM).

[Cigarguy]

Make sense that MS is allowing people to still do upgrades. They are pushing hard to roll out Win 10 to as many machines as they can so why not allow it.

[shawross]

Installed the Redstone update on my X301 and a T43 and everything is quite good.

MS appears to have virtually boxed my old Windows 10 install and Redstone is a separate setup.

Even though most settings are copied over I found quite a few Privacy and notification settings changed.

Also found Defragment SSD scheduled ON and I haven't as yet been able to remove background picture from Lock screen.

Also had to apply Power Manager fix again. Other than that it went very smoothly from an ISO install.

[cadillacmike68]

Installed the Redstone update on my X301 and a T43 and everything is quite good.
MS appears to have virtually boxed my old Windows 10 install and Redstone is a separate setup.
Even though most settings are copied over I found quite a few Privacy and notification settings changed.
Also found Defragment SSD scheduled ON and I haven't as yet been able to remove background picture from Lock screen.
Also had to apply Power Manager fix again. Other than that it went very smoothly from an ISO install.

I think that screen is hardwired into W10. It's all over the stores, etc.

Power Manager Fix? Where?

It's sorely missed when my T61s are in W10 mode.

[Hans Gruber]

I started another thread regarding upgrading to W10 after the July 29th cutoff. I figured people would find this forum on google searches for anything regarding thinkpads. I upgraded my T420s never actually installing W10 because of the display driver issue. I did a clean install via a Win 10 USB downloaded from the Microsoft site. You simply need to input your Win7 key so long as you attempted the free update by July 29th. It's not success that matters, just attempting it means your machine is eligible (logged) by Microsoft.