So after some trial and error along with one hang-up during the upgrade, I managed to get Windows 10 on the Dell Optiplex GX620 or as I call it The Guinea Pig. Now, unlike my two main systems: an HP Laptop running Windows 7 which I use for school and a Gateway Desktop running Windows 8.1, The Guinea Pig did not have the upgrade offer on the taskbar. I had not done much with this system as I had originally picked it up so I could have an end device on my Cisco Network Lab. Once I finished my CCNA certifications back in May everything went into storage, until…
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One of the first things I wanted to check out was how Mozilla had worked around Microsoft disabling the default browser API. I downloaded and installed Firefox 40 Beta on the freshly upgraded Windows 10 machine and upon first run I was asked if I wanted to make Firefox my default browser (Chrome was currently default and then I had switched it to Edge later for testing purposes). Firefox detected it was NOT the default browser Once you click the Use Firefox as my default browser button the Windows 10 Settings > System > Default Apps screen opens which is a…
Note: I have yet to try this, so not sure where and when in the setup process this is presented. Still trying to get Windows 10 installed on one of my two test machines. Yesterday, one of them started acting up (BSOD) while I was researching how to do a forced upgrade to Windows 10. While BSOD use to be common with this system, they seemed to have disappeared when I did a clean install of Windows 7 about a year ago. The timing of that BSOD though makes me wonder if that machine was possessed by HAL 9000. So over the…
Mozilla is not happy about Microsoft’s MSFT 430,53 -7,58 -1,73% changes in Windows 10 when it comes to the user’s default browser. The biggest complaint is users who upgrade to Windows 10 will have their default browser changed to Microsoft’s new Edge Browser. Further, it is no longer as simple as going into Firefox to set it as the default browser. Sometimes we see great progress, where consumer products respect individuals and their choices. However, with the launch of Windows 10 we are deeply disappointed to see Microsoft take such a dramatic step backwards. It is bewildering to see, after almost 15 years…
Windows 10 is finally here and yes there is a mad rush of people getting the FREE upgrade. Here are some details you need to understand about this FREE Upgrade Offer: You have until July 28th, 2016 to take advantage of the offer if you meet the requirements (explained below). If you wait too long and miss this deadline you have some options: Buy a new computer with Windows 10 already installed Pay for the Windows 10 Upgrade ($119 for Home and $199 for Pro) Become a guinea pig and be part of the Windows Insider program In order to qualify for…
For those people who reserved an upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10, it could already be downloading. What, you were expecting Microsoft to ask you if it was okay to eat up your bandwidth with a nearly 6 GB download? Nope, just like the Windows 10 Updates, Windows 10 upgrade is going to be automatically downloaded. To see if your computer is secretly downloading Windows 10 check Windows Explorer for a folder called C:\$windows.~BT note: this is hidden folder so you may need to go into File Explorer and go to: Organize > Folder Options > View > Show hidden files, folders, and…
InfoWorld has put together a very good Fact of Fiction about Windows 10. A couple good ones to point out: Fact: Windows 10 has a 10-year support cycle Like Windows Vista, Win7, and Win8 before it, Windows 10 has a 10-year support cycle. In fact, we’re getting a few extra months for free: According to the Windows Lifecycle fact sheet, mainstream support ends Oct. 13, 2020. Fiction: Microsoft pulled Windows Media Player from Windows 10 One word here seems to be tripping up folks. What Microsoft has pulled is Windows Media Center, which is a horse of a completely different…
In light of this weekend’s Nvidia driver as well as today’s automatic updates causing Windows Explorer to crash, Microsoft has pushed out the “Show or hide updates” troubleshooter tool aka KB3073930. KB3073930 is a standalone (not available from Windows Update) patch for the Windows 10 Insider Preview. From the support document on Microsoft’s site: In Windows 10 Insider Preview, your device is always kept up to date with the latest features and fixes. Updates are installed automatically, with no need to select which updates are needed or not needed. In rare cases, a specific driver or update might temporarily cause issues with…
As if the Nvidia driver update issue (still unresolved on Microsoft’s part) weren’t bad enough another and much more serious forced automatic update issue came to light today. Following the Nvidia debacle, over the weekend Windows 10 pushed ‘KB3074681’ to Windows Insiders running Windows 10 Build 10240. This is presumed to be the same build as the final release consumers and businesses will receive on Wednesday. KB3074681 had no detailed information about what it contained but as it was classified as a ‘security’ patch it installed immediately and without warning to all versions of Windows 10 (Home, Pro and Enterprise)…
Windows 10 hasn’t even been released to the general public yet and there is already a major problem. The cause of this problem was Windows 10 insisting that EVERY update is mandatory, including device drivers (which were optional in Windows 7 and Windows 8). In this case it users of dual monitors with certain Nvidia graphic cards. The flaw revolves around Nvidia graphics cards with users taking to Nvidia’s forums to report Windows Update is automatically installing new drivers which break multimonitor setups, SLI (dual card) configurations and can even stop PCs booting entirely which pushes Windows 10 into its emergency…