The MS Windows 10 upgrade experience thread.
What's your definition of an "age"? I have an ancient Lenovo laptop (c2007) sporting 2GB RAM and it starts Win10 from a hard drive in 45 seconds to the log in screen and usable in less than 3 minutes. That's for a plain Win10 installation, not a laptop manufacturers installation.
You might want to look at all the extra crap Toshiba has lumbered you with loading at startup before you blame Win10.
FWIW Ubuntu is usable in 1:20 on the same laptop.
You might want to look at all the extra crap Toshiba has lumbered you with loading at startup before you blame Win10.
FWIW Ubuntu is usable in 1:20 on the same laptop.
For my surface, once Microsoft initiates updates on shut down it can take up to 2.5 hours ... and on restart at least 10 mins ... but I'm no techie and perhaps there are buttons I need to push (or toggle) somewhere on the control panel ...
My HP Pavilion TouchSmart 10-e011sa 10.1" laptop has never been very quick. Initially it had Win8.1, but Micro$oft 'upgraded' it to Win10 without my knowledge or approval...
Internet connection was poor; I have 70Mbps Virgin broadband and get 74Mbps on my Dell laptop, but the HP struggles to get more than 12-13. Neither does it have 5GHz WiFi connectivity, which was a surprise.
That was bad enough, but over the last month it has been crashing with some obscure 'Thread stuck in device driver' message popping up. Fortunately I've paid for an extended care plan from CurrysPCWorldDigitalDixonsComet so it'll be going back next week for some work...
Internet connection was poor; I have 70Mbps Virgin broadband and get 74Mbps on my Dell laptop, but the HP struggles to get more than 12-13. Neither does it have 5GHz WiFi connectivity, which was a surprise.
That was bad enough, but over the last month it has been crashing with some obscure 'Thread stuck in device driver' message popping up. Fortunately I've paid for an extended care plan from CurrysPCWorldDigitalDixonsComet so it'll be going back next week for some work...
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Beagle
Seeketh and ye shall find:
How to fix Windows 10 Thread Stuck In Device Driver error - windows 10 - Windows 10
Give this a bash.
CAT III
How to fix Windows 10 Thread Stuck In Device Driver error - windows 10 - Windows 10
Give this a bash.
CAT III
For better or worse MS has taken the approach that if it thinks the program is incompatible with the Win10 update it will uninstall it. Not unreasonable from a system stability and usability perspective - users do tend to get upset when their systems stop working or eat their data after an update.
Well, I went to collect my laptop from CurrysPCWorldDigitalDixonsComet today after its repair.....
To find that the operating system had been corrupted. But as well as updating the BIOS, they'd rolled back the OS to the original Win 8.1 state of over 2 years ago...
It was also covered in greasy finger prints and marks where they'd attached repair stickers. Whereas when I handed it in, it was in as new condition.
I refused to accept it until they've restored the current 'anniversary' version of Win 10 - they also said that if I wanted them to restore MS Office, they would charge me £35 even though the system is under extended warranty until July 2019...
To find that the operating system had been corrupted. But as well as updating the BIOS, they'd rolled back the OS to the original Win 8.1 state of over 2 years ago...
It was also covered in greasy finger prints and marks where they'd attached repair stickers. Whereas when I handed it in, it was in as new condition.
I refused to accept it until they've restored the current 'anniversary' version of Win 10 - they also said that if I wanted them to restore MS Office, they would charge me £35 even though the system is under extended warranty until July 2019...
Psychophysiological entity
BEagle, did you buy the 'service' with a Visa or some-such?
I'd be fuming about that and if within the time-scales, resort to the protection of the credit company. The problem will probably be the nature of the purchase inasmuch as it requires decision-making to effect a repair. However, that sounds like blatant bullying to me.
You were entitled, if not obliged by the owners of the software, to have the upgrade. I can not see how it's acceptable to be presented with an out of date OS following what is supposed to be skilled support.
I'd be fuming about that and if within the time-scales, resort to the protection of the credit company. The problem will probably be the nature of the purchase inasmuch as it requires decision-making to effect a repair. However, that sounds like blatant bullying to me.
You were entitled, if not obliged by the owners of the software, to have the upgrade. I can not see how it's acceptable to be presented with an out of date OS following what is supposed to be skilled support.
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This is a bit of a grey area where consumer rights are concerned. You buy the physical computer but the installed software/operating system usually has terms and conditions to which you must agree.
PC World probably have a clause in their extended warrantee to the effect that it only covers fixing faults in the physical parts of the computer and restoring software that was originally supplied with the computer, or installed and set up by them.
As a computer user you are free to choose from a huge variety of operating systems and supporting programs. It would be unreasonable to expect PC World or any other supplier to be keen on providing support and roll back for anything other than the software originally supplied by the manufacturer at the time the computer was purchased.
A good general rule of thumb is that software updates should be sourced from the computer manufacturer and not directly from Microsoft. The version supplied direct from Microsoft is generic and should work with most machines, but there are certain parts that are specifically fine tuned and tailored by computer manufacturers to work with their specific hardware set up.
Hewlett Packard in my experience can be a bit slow rolling out tailored versions of Windows updates. That can be a bit frustrating, especially as the default settings of many programs look at the software developer sites rather than Hewlett Packard's support site for updates. That appears to be the source of most incompatibilities and problems that occured with my system.
Good luck with trying to get your computer fixed to your satisfaction. I fear it will become a long and tedious process for the reasons explained above. There is no reason that your computer should come back from repair in anything other than a pristine state. Greasy fingerprints and dirt should never be evident on the casing and are unacceptable.
PC World probably have a clause in their extended warrantee to the effect that it only covers fixing faults in the physical parts of the computer and restoring software that was originally supplied with the computer, or installed and set up by them.
As a computer user you are free to choose from a huge variety of operating systems and supporting programs. It would be unreasonable to expect PC World or any other supplier to be keen on providing support and roll back for anything other than the software originally supplied by the manufacturer at the time the computer was purchased.
A good general rule of thumb is that software updates should be sourced from the computer manufacturer and not directly from Microsoft. The version supplied direct from Microsoft is generic and should work with most machines, but there are certain parts that are specifically fine tuned and tailored by computer manufacturers to work with their specific hardware set up.
Hewlett Packard in my experience can be a bit slow rolling out tailored versions of Windows updates. That can be a bit frustrating, especially as the default settings of many programs look at the software developer sites rather than Hewlett Packard's support site for updates. That appears to be the source of most incompatibilities and problems that occured with my system.
Good luck with trying to get your computer fixed to your satisfaction. I fear it will become a long and tedious process for the reasons explained above. There is no reason that your computer should come back from repair in anything other than a pristine state. Greasy fingerprints and dirt should never be evident on the casing and are unacceptable.
Psychophysiological entity
Reasonable? I'm not sure about that. The cost was for a service, not soft or hardware. I would expect them to take all reasonable care of the installed software even if not repair it per se.
Even cars these days are reliant on the software being in perfect order. The darn things soon let us know if it isn't.
Even cars these days are reliant on the software being in perfect order. The darn things soon let us know if it isn't.
If the OS is corrupt requiring a re-installation of the OS how were they meant to return it to the modified condition you gave it to them in? How would they know what that modified condition specifically was? The responsibility for that falls to you and your back-ups.
Although the BIOS had become corrupted somehow, it wouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to have noticed that the laptop was running Win10 'anniversary', not the >2 year old version of Win8.1 with which it was returned, grubby paw prints fully embodied.
After I went back again to collect the laptop after the store had reinstalled Win10 plus all the updates, it took me a couple of days to remove all the junk 'start' icons and other 'things-for-kids' which the puerile Win10 rams down your throat, reinstall the anti virus, reinstall MS Office, create desktop shortcuts, restore the desktop background, restore the HomeGroup, reinstall the printer etc etc....
To be honest, most of the PITA is due to Windows-bloody-Ten! I far, far preferred the functionality of WinXP, although Win7 is almost as good. But Win10 and Office 2013 between them really are very poor substitutes as far as HMI and funcitionality are concerned.
And don't start me on that Cortana bolleaux!
After I went back again to collect the laptop after the store had reinstalled Win10 plus all the updates, it took me a couple of days to remove all the junk 'start' icons and other 'things-for-kids' which the puerile Win10 rams down your throat, reinstall the anti virus, reinstall MS Office, create desktop shortcuts, restore the desktop background, restore the HomeGroup, reinstall the printer etc etc....
To be honest, most of the PITA is due to Windows-bloody-Ten! I far, far preferred the functionality of WinXP, although Win7 is almost as good. But Win10 and Office 2013 between them really are very poor substitutes as far as HMI and funcitionality are concerned.
And don't start me on that Cortana bolleaux!
Psychophysiological entity
It really is an investment in time to get everything working again and now that one can not just plonk in a spare drive, I'm starting to think the small sum for a second PC is probably worth it. I was going to offload the i5 dual core once the quad was commissioned, but not now. It can just come out for updating and backups. I'm not sure if a laptop would qualify for this job as they are A/ More valuable by far. B/Not as fixable. C/Not possible to fit a huge ('Red' for example) drive for backup. I know little about long-life 2.5" drives.
Yes, I was surprised one needed cortana for Windows to function so not possible to zap it altogether. I do turn everything off however, which happily leaves the box for searching. It seems possible to turn any item back on if needed.
I've created a restore point called 'Microsoft Edge only' which is also auto-dated and timed. Next one will hopefully be 'Firefox and Office' etc., etc.
But still I'm risking everything on one drive - fast as it is. (25 seconds from pressing the power button to active desktop.) I know they meld Apps with the OS but while having the full un-installed copy on another partition buys some insurance, there's nothing like having a separate boot drive which can also back up top priority files. One remote drive as well and One can start to breath easy.
Yes, I was surprised one needed cortana for Windows to function so not possible to zap it altogether. I do turn everything off however, which happily leaves the box for searching. It seems possible to turn any item back on if needed.
I've created a restore point called 'Microsoft Edge only' which is also auto-dated and timed. Next one will hopefully be 'Firefox and Office' etc., etc.
But still I'm risking everything on one drive - fast as it is. (25 seconds from pressing the power button to active desktop.) I know they meld Apps with the OS but while having the full un-installed copy on another partition buys some insurance, there's nothing like having a separate boot drive which can also back up top priority files. One remote drive as well and One can start to breath easy.
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Dear Rivits (again)
2.5" drives do tend to be more life sensitive in terms of operating temperatures. There are statistically valid studies out there.
You may consider buying a Laptop capable of accommodating both a SSD and a HDD. Off hand I cannot think of one but I did own an Ailenware Laptop that had this capability.
OK modern SSD do have lots of what is referred to as Over-provisioning. In other words The physical write/read capacity of the SSD is a lot more than its data holding capacity. (the same applies to Magnetic media too but SSD's are by their physics different.
The specialist Tech web pages contain the required Info.
To conclude from a professional data storage perspective, if you are going SSD, make systematic regular copies of your critical data and make systematic regular image backups so that using the methods previously noted.
The problem being SSD's do fail and without warning.
CAT III
You may consider buying a Laptop capable of accommodating both a SSD and a HDD. Off hand I cannot think of one but I did own an Ailenware Laptop that had this capability.
OK modern SSD do have lots of what is referred to as Over-provisioning. In other words The physical write/read capacity of the SSD is a lot more than its data holding capacity. (the same applies to Magnetic media too but SSD's are by their physics different.
The specialist Tech web pages contain the required Info.
To conclude from a professional data storage perspective, if you are going SSD, make systematic regular copies of your critical data and make systematic regular image backups so that using the methods previously noted.
The problem being SSD's do fail and without warning.
CAT III
Last edited by Guest 112233; 27th Oct 2016 at 17:58. Reason: SSD technology. plus a correction to the mods sorry.
Despite its alleged repair and reinstallation of Win10, my HP is still freezing and crashing...
31 Oct - rang Knowhow who advised a short test. That showed a C:drive error, so they told me that once that was corrected, to check again.
I did - no better.
1 Nov - rang Knowhow again, this time they advised an extended system test, then to check again.
I did - no better.
2 Nov - rang Knowhow again, this time they advised a system reset to reinstall Win10, then my antivirus program, then check again.
I did - still freezing and crashing, with the occasional 'Thread stuck in device driver' BSOD and reboot. I rang Knowhow again and they told me that there wasn't anything more which they could recommend over the phone, so to take the computer back to CurrysPCWorldDigitalDixonsComet again...
During the evening, the computer managed to download and install more Win10 updates, but it still doesn't work correctly. This morning it froze yet again; after a restart I tried watching YouTube and that was nigh on impossible - audio crackling, a few seconds of motion then long periods of static image...
Knowhow have been very courteous and understanding, but the computer will going back to the shop today on double secret probation - last chance before it gets an involuntary flying lesson!
31 Oct - rang Knowhow who advised a short test. That showed a C:drive error, so they told me that once that was corrected, to check again.
I did - no better.
1 Nov - rang Knowhow again, this time they advised an extended system test, then to check again.
I did - no better.
2 Nov - rang Knowhow again, this time they advised a system reset to reinstall Win10, then my antivirus program, then check again.
I did - still freezing and crashing, with the occasional 'Thread stuck in device driver' BSOD and reboot. I rang Knowhow again and they told me that there wasn't anything more which they could recommend over the phone, so to take the computer back to CurrysPCWorldDigitalDixonsComet again...
During the evening, the computer managed to download and install more Win10 updates, but it still doesn't work correctly. This morning it froze yet again; after a restart I tried watching YouTube and that was nigh on impossible - audio crackling, a few seconds of motion then long periods of static image...
Knowhow have been very courteous and understanding, but the computer will going back to the shop today on double secret probation - last chance before it gets an involuntary flying lesson!