Official: Microsoft's 'Get Windows 10' nagware to vanish from PCs in July

[Temp]

Good news for a few folks around here I suspect.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/05/06/windows_10_update/

Cheers.

[Folderol]

... unless it means they are going to do the updates without bothering to tell you

[Exalted Wombat]

"It quietly downloads and installs Windows 10 automatically for you, and then cheerfully offers to switch your PC over to the new operating system for free..."

Interesting definition of "install".

[Wonks]

They always said the update would only be free for a year, which is up in July.

[Exalted Wombat]

And if they DO withdraw it, a whole new lot of screaming and shouting will start...

[muzines]

I recently was asked to install Win10 for my Dad on his laptop.

It was the most comical computing experience I'd had since... well.. since installing Win 8/8.1 for him some years ago.
(after three days of headscratching, we got there in the end...)

No wonder he uses his iPad more than anything else these days...

[bill555]

I didn't make the switch. I foresaw only possible headaches and it not giving me anything ie improvements of any kind, even on my Win 8.1 machine (I already have a shell installed to get my start button/menus back). And trade Win 7 (which is a good, solid OS) for that? LOL - MS can bite me.

From what I hear of future Windows versions, I think this is the beginning of the end of my affiliation with that horrific joke of a company...LINUX here I come.....

[James Perrett]

Just seen an article which tells you how to get a free update but delay installing it until later - just go to

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/softwar ... wsignin1.0

and scroll down to the Media Creation Tool download. Running this tool will then download the appropriate version of Windows 10 and allow you to save it as an .iso file or to a USB drive.

[Martin Walker]

That does indeed look like the most painless approach if you're still unsure about Windows 10 but don't want to miss the free offer James

Martin

[4TrackMadman]

It looks like it might do the trick but it is kinda vague on how exactly...maybe if you run it and create the media.

I have a PC I just reimaged, I'll play around and see what will happen.

[Martin Walker]

Just click on those '+' signs on the Microsoft page and all the details will appear:

"Run the media creation tool.
If you’re upgrading the device that you downloaded the tool on, select Upgrade this PC now.
-or-
If you want to create media to upgrade a different device, select Create installation media for another PC.

If you chose to create media, follow the steps to create the media. After the media has been created, select Finish, then follow one of these instructions:

If you’re using a USB flash drive or a DVD, insert it into the device that you want to upgrade, then run setup.exe.

Once the upgrade starts, remove the USB flash drive or DVD before the first time the installation restarts your device. If you don’t, the device will boot from the media again and will restart the whole installation process.

If you created an ISO file, move the ISO file to that device, mount it, then run setup.exe.

Follow the instructions to finish upgrading to Windows 10."

Martin

[Agharta]

Just seen an article which tells you how to get a free update but delay installing it until later - just go to

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/softwar ... wsignin1.0

and scroll down to the Media Creation Tool download. Running this tool will then download the appropriate version of Windows 10 and allow you to save it as an .iso file or to a USB drive.

I really don't think that is how it works as just downloading an ISO doesn't activate a license on a PC.
Try the link below as it explains how to do it and it involves actually installing and activating Win10 and then reverting back to your older version within 30 days.
It means that Win10 is then permanently activated on the MS servers for your PC and you can reinstall it in the future and it will automatically recognise that you are eligible.
If you change your hardware significantly in the meantime it will likely fail to reactivate in the future although a phone call to MS may solve that or not.
It's quite a lot of work for anyone that is not used to the processes involved.

http://www.howtogeek.com/253901/get-windows-10-for-free-after-july-29th-with-a-little-prep-now/

[4TrackMadman]

Running the "Media Creator" now...download takes forever.

BTW - I already have a Win10 upgrade that my wife purchased from school as it was cheap. Wonder if I can use that as the installation media?

If I don't install right away on my other machines, which I won't as there's no use breaking wonderful Windows 7 installations, I wonder if the update will really go forward after the cutoff date, say a year from now I loose my mind and want to go Win10...

From what I read about privacy on Win10, unless you're running corp edition, it keeps on sending "telemetry" which is undefined as what kind of data to mothership M$ and can't be turned off. M$ is also considering making it in the future "pay as you go" monthly subscription ransomware, like their Office365 or Adobe's whole current product range.

[James Perrett]

I really don't think that is how it works as just downloading an ISO doesn't activate a license on a PC.

The tool actually warns you not to change anything between downloading and installing so I wonder whether it does a little more than simply download and .iso image...

I'm afraid that I'm downloading on a machine that I don't want to upgrade at the moment so I'll only find out if I ever actually try to upgrade. I'm happy running Windows 10 in a virtual machine at the moment.

[Agharta]

You linked to the Upgrade Assistant not the direct ISO download and the Assistants checks for hardware and software compatibility which is why you get the warning not to change anything.
If you download the ISO direct you get no warning.

MS want people to upgrade to Win10 now so it wouldn’t make sense for them to allow people to just download the ISO and be able to install and activate at any time in the future.
That’s also why they have a deadline in place for free ‘Activation’. There is a way around it but it’s fairly complex so see my earlier link.