Is it worth updating to Windows 10? Some queries

[SkyHawksGamers]

Hello. I currently have Windows 7, but I am considering upgrading to Windows 10 whilst the offer lasts. The only reason I would ever consider upgrading is to have access to Microsoft's exclusive titles in the future, such as State of Decay 2. Could anyone with experience in both operating systems answer the following queries, please?

• 
  ■ Are there any risks of upgrading? I've recently upgraded my GPU and am still having some driver issues. Would upgrading now cause any more severe issues?
  ■ How did your update experience go as a whole? Is there any chance of file-loss?
  ■ Is the OS still actively "spying" on you as many claimed at first?
  ■ If you are a gamer, how has it affected games?

Thank you very much. Here are my specs, if they help:
i7 3770k, 3.9GHz
GTX 1060 6GB
8GB Patriot RAM
1TB Hard Drive

 

[inerax]

I went from 7 to 8. Stayed on 8 for about 5 months then went to 10. The upgrade was smooth on the 3 computers I upgraded.

I like 10. Very active gamer and game performance has been great.

If you are worrying about Microsoft spying, search good. See what they look it. I personally dont care because I encrypt everything on my computer and anything that goes over my computer. You can also opt out of some of the "spying"

 

[jossrik]

i have upgraded on two of my machines, one from win 8.1 the other from win 7 and both went smoothly. On my main gaming machine, I did do a clean install later on, but because I upgraded a lot of my computer. I had to call microsoft about the key but that went very smoothly and took very little time. My experience has thus far been good. All my games run and run well, and now that I'm used to win 10 a little more, I'm finding it to be a good OS. Hated 8/8.1. Loved 7. Like win 10 a lot. It's kinda like you may love your 25 year old modded out civic, but man, new cars smell good, and you can mod them too.

 

[wpgwpg]

There's nothing wrong with 7 or 10. 8.1 is fine with Classic Shell. I have the insider version of 10 Pro on two test desktops and the OEM version of 10 Home on my laptop. I recently upgraded 28 five year old desktops from 7 Pro to 10 with no problems. 7 is supported until 2020 so I'm keeping it on my 3 year old main desktop; there's nothing wrong with 10 on my 8 month old laptop either, outside of bugs in some apps and in Edge. 7 is supported until 2020, 8 is supported until 2023. Whenever you make changes to your OS, there is some risk that Murphy can get you so my philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"! That is especially true with laptops because they use so many proprietary parts.

Good luck.

 

[Solandri]

If you're unsure whether or not you should upgrade, make a backup of your system and create a restore point, then go ahead and do the upgrade. That will register your computer with Microsoft as having taken advantage of their free upgrade. You can try it out, and roll it back to Windows 7 if you don't like it (it keeps your old Windows around for 30 days). Because you're now registered, you can switch back to Windows 10 again any time in the future for free, even after July 29. (The backup is because sometimes the upgrade uninstalls some programs or drivers, and restoring the backup may be easier than re-installing them. Or rather, trying to figure out what was uninstalled so you can reinstall them.)

As for Windows 10's data collection, most of it can be blocked by Spybot's Anti-Beacon software. Instead of having to search through a dozen different scattered settings to turn off, it does it with one click. You should also run this even if you're using Windows 7/8.x, since Microsoft added a lot of Windows 10's telemetry to older versions of Windows as "important security updates."

https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/

Even with those options turned off, there's still some encrypted data being sent to Microsoft. Microsoft claims it's benign, but nobody knows for sure. I would've been inclined to believe them in the past. But after their recent shenanigans trying to force Metro down our throats with Windows 8, I simply don't believe that they are looking out for their customers anymore. The only way to avoid it is to switch to a different OS, or manage to get a copy of Windows 10 Enterprise, or set up blocks on your router.

https://www.google.com/search?q=block+windows+telemetry+at+router

 

[photonboy]

1) Windows 10 works great for me.

2) DX12 and other reasons will force you to get W10 anyway (or miss those features)

3) *I would use an SSD (later since no time now) and do a clean install. For now just do the upgrade and choose to "KEEP DATA AND FILES" or however it is worded.

Then perhaps do THIS:
a) buy Samsung 850 EVO 256GB or similar
b) test and update firmware (i.e. Samsung Magician software)
c) download W10 media creation tool, then burn a DVD or USB (ask for help if needed)

d) write down programs to reinstall etc.
e) shut down, unhook HDD
f) boot to W10 (note you must install the SAME version such as W10 Home 64-bit)

g) do NOT enter a key when prompted (one will be auto assigned as MS knows you had W10 installed already)
h) finish install, finish Microsoft Updates
i) Install antivirus, other programs etc.

j) shut down and attach HDD (may need to change BIOS' boot order if it boots to the HDD instead of SSD)
k) COPY over game saves to the appropriate Documents folder

about STEAM:
For a clean install you can
a) install Steam to default, C-drive location, then
b) create a new folder on the HDD (from within Steam settings, such as E:\Steam2)
c) then MOVE your "Steamapps" HDD folder to this new location (might be at "E:\Program Files (x86)\Steam" now if Steam was originally on the HDD which moves to E-drive).

d) MODS are problematic. I make a Vanilla backup in Steam before mods so I can restore it, then add the mods back (so WRITING DOWN MODS used is a good idea as well).

So a clean install is a bit of a hassle, though at least if you buy an SSD later you can toggle to the HDD W10 install if you forgot something.

Once that's sorted then delete anything on the HDD you don't need and make a backup IMAGE of the SSD to HDD.