Your Experience with Windows 10

[TerrorK]

Try doing a clean install. I could point you to ten or twenty threads, that I myself have helped with, that were resolved by simply ditching the Frankenstein results of the upgrade and doing a clean install.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2784691/resolve-unresolvable-issues-upgrading-windows.html

I'm considering that as a last resort, but would prefer not to have to start over. Especially with the amount of games and other programs I have installed, it'd take me literally months to get everything back the way I had it before. If it were a constant issues I'd have probably already done it, but when I can get 2-3 weeks of full speed and no issues for 4-5 hours of lag before it just magically fixes itself somehow, I'm putting up with it for now. The computer is still at least functional in this form, and I've got too many projects I'm using it for at the moment to try and risk a do-over that could result in a bigger problem (such as a complete failure for Windows 10 to even install at all and essentially leave me with an expensive paperweight for several weeks until I can sort it).

I'll definitely keep the clean install in mind though, but unless I can get a verification from somebody who has had the EXACT same issue that doing such will have a good 90%+ chance of fixing it, I'm going to try and explore other options for now.

 

[USAFRet]

Going all the way back to Windows 1.0...a clean install almost always fixes the existing problems, over living with the 'upgrade' problems.

Is a full reinstall a pain? Yes.
Is it more of a pain living with the problems you see? Probably.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Also, all that important data and game files, get them backed up elsewhere before your "magically self fixing" system decides to "magically take a dump" and you lose everything when the system becomes unsalvageable.

 

[TerrorK]

Also, all that important data and game files, get them backed up elsewhere before your "magically self fixing" system decides to "magically take a dump" and you lose everything when the system becomes unsalvageable.

Good point. I do back up critical data regularly, but I should make another one soon. Thankfully all my games and other critical data are on the secondary drive. Windows 10 is pretty much the only thing on my C:\ drive aside from anything that NEEDS to be installed there.

It's looking increasingly likely that I'm going to have to do a fresh install. I'd just hate to go back to square one though and then find out a few weeks later, just as things are starting to come together again, that the problem returns again. That's the other main reason why I'm reticent to make that step just yet: I'd hate it to all be for naught.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You can also try running a disk bootable Linux version. If everything runs well there, you know it's a Windows issue. If you have similar issues, you know it's hardware.

 

[nukemaster]

You can also try running a disk bootable Linux version. If everything runs well there, you know it's a Windows issue. If you have similar issues, you know it's hardware.

This is a great step one for many forms of computer troubleshooting. Eliminating the current operating system(that may have issues making things worse) from the tests is always a good way to test the hardware.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Try doing a clean install. I could point you to ten or twenty threads, that I myself have helped with, that were resolved by simply ditching the Frankenstein results of the upgrade and doing a clean install.

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2784691/resolve-unresolvable-issues-upgrading-windows.html

That is why I build my systems the way I do. Small drive for OS, well I used to partition a single drive like this, and larger drives for data and games. Since I use Steam for most everything game wise all I have to do is reinstall Steam to that drive and all my games work perfectly since Steam will rerun the distributables. My OS has pretty much just the OS and a few programs.

 

[Rafael Mestdag]

At first it was a turn off for me because of the graphics in comparison to Windows 7(much better), but then I started seeing Windows 10 as a balance between the goods in 8.1 and 7, and that's what it effectively is in a way. It's a sort of compromise between the two OS's.

I think it has the best of both, MS has left from Windows 8.1 just enough not to annoy desktop users and on top of that added nice ideas and touches like Cortana and Edge. From Windows 7 they brought back the start menu with a twist, it's got a lot better looking and complete than before.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

I back up my critical data across multiple hard drives and USB devices, as well as on a remote server.

 

[grumpigeek]

Windows 10 - faster but dumber than Windows 7.

- still has the same dreadful blurry grey-scale font anti-aliasing that blighted Windows 8.
- Several UI settings have been removed. You can use 3rd party apps to compensate to some extent.
- File Explorer windows won't open where they should.
- privacy issues

The latest Microsoft mantra seems to be "remove features and call it an upgrade".
MS seem to hoping most people are too dumb to notice. That strategy will work only for the period of time it takes someone else to come up with a better OS.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, we've been hearing that same thing for twenty years or longer, and so far nobody has. I wouldn't expect to see a "better" OS anytime soon. A "different" OS, maybe.

 

[boju]

Win 7 is my favorite, probably best os ive had so far. 10 is meh atm, never ran 8.1 but friends have so can't compare myself, just going by from others saying 10 is an improvement. Seems Microsoft tried to bring 7 back slightly in 10 but i don't think it will happen until Windows 7/11. =D

 

[Rafael Mestdag]

My experience has been frustrating. For the most part it's pretty good... but then every so often I have these massive slowdowns out of nowhere that last several hours minimum. CPU usage and RAM is low still, and temperature isn't a problem, and yet I get this massive lag and slow loading with everything out of nowhere and almost all my games chug. My PC isn't even two years old and I can't nail down anything that would cause it, and it's so random, and will just speed up again to normal after a while. I've had it go for up to three weeks with no issues, or several days before it does it again. Graphics driver clean installs didn't do anything, Malware and virus scans came up empty, CCleaner did nothing, it's not a memory leak since it can strike out of nowhere on a fresh boot up a day later. The only thing I can point a finger to is Windows 10, because it first occurred only about a week after I "upgraded" and nothing else adds up.

You could try at least one of 2 things:

A fresh install and/or this guide:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3f38ed/guide_how_to_disable_data_logging_in_w10

I was having the same issue with random slowdowns until I tried this guide above and voilà! Windows 10 has been fast and responsive ever since.

Hope it helps!

 

[nukemaster]

Windows 10 - faster but dumber than Windows 7.

- still has the same dreadful blurry grey-scale font anti-aliasing that blighted Windows 8.
- Several UI settings have been removed. You can use 3rd party apps to compensate to some extent.
- File Explorer windows won't open where they should.
- privacy issues

The latest Microsoft mantra seems to be "remove features and call it an upgrade".
MS seem to hoping most people are too dumb to notice. That strategy will work only for the period of time it takes someone else to come up with a better OS.

Regular cleartype style AA does not work when monitors are rotated and with Windows 8/8.1/10 all targeting mobile devices, I think this may be hard to avoid until a proper solution can be designed.

Removal of some settings are in preparation of the app model I would guess.

The explorer issue will be fixed with a patch in the future. Insiders are running newer builds with and giving feedback all the time. Some new features are re-introducing the colored titlebars(but it still needs work to match 8) and some fixes issues users have reported.

I do NOT recommend joining insiders unless you understand you may run into more crashes because it a large scale beta test.

 

[spin498]

I read somewhere that Win 10 was ideal on older laptops and PC’s because it had a ‘smaller’ footprint. I subsequently installed it on one of each. It’s a dog. I’m particularly annoyed that if I have foobar2000 playing music and then attempt ANY other task at the same time the music playback cuts out. I went to System tag the new Computer Properties page and it reports that I have 4 gigs ram but only 1.32 gigs are usable. Where have the other 2.6 gigs gone? I tried a Readyboost prepped usb stick and it had no effect on memory use. It’s basically made the PC unusable because of the annoyance factor.

OH and when the music is playing the whole system just bogs down to a crawl.

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

I read somewhere that Win 10 was ideal on older laptops and PC’s because it had a ‘smaller’ footprint. I subsequently installed it on one of each. It’s a dog. I’m particularly annoyed that if I have foobar2000 playing music and then attempt ANY other task at the same time the music playback cuts out. I went to System tag the new Computer Properties page and it reports that I have 4 gigs ram but only 1.32 gigs are usable. Where have the other 2.6 gigs gone? I tried a Readyboost prepped usb stick and it had no effect on memory use. It’s basically made the PC unusable because of the annoyance factor.

OH and when the music is playing the whole system just bogs down to a crawl.

I hear you. Windows 10 uses twice as much RAM for basic background applications than Windows 8.1. I just cannot seem to figure out why that is.

 

[nukemaster]

You can disable background modern apps in Settings.

Remember if you disable some of them the livetiles may stop working.

 

[allstar312]

Windows 10 is a good piece of software i can at least find everything i need without having a full screen start menu however windows 10 is to me the best computer equivalent of comedy. you know its funny when i play a game on windows 10 and i can't record because my pc doesn't have a compatible graphics card but my pc can still play the xbox one without any video lag and just a 0.25 millisecond control lag.

 

[deuce_23]

I have gone back to windows 7 and i will not upgrade to windows 10 until i am forced, or they bring out a game that i can not run on direct x 11. All i have found are problems and there seems to be limited driver support for a lot of devices. I would advise people to wait till they sort out the bugs and drop a few services packs on us. There is no game that requires direct x12 only so dont be in a rush when a game comes that you like and you can not play it on direct x 11 then i would say upgrade. I feel we have over a year or more unit this is the case.

 

[boju]

I have gone back to windows 7 and i will not upgrade to windows 10 until i am forced, or they bring out a game that i can not run on direct x 11. All i have found are problems and there seems to be limited driver support for a lot of devices. I would advise people to wait till they sort out the bugs and drop a few services packs on us. There is no game that requires direct x12 only so dont be in a rush when a game comes that you like and you can not play it on direct x 11 then i would say upgrade. I feel we have over a year or more unit this is the case.

Thats how i felt. + Win7 is much nicer looking, better than 8 and 10 imo. DX12 would be nice with certain aspects of it that is appealing but i agree, will be awhile yet before games are optimised for it.

I returned to 7 oem with 5 days left on Win10 trial period before Win7 license was gobbled, so bit of pressure making up my mind at the time, but im happier now with 7.

 

[thedon57]

Well...Windows 10 = Windows 8.2. Same screwed up theme...with the mini version of the startscreen. I'm writing this from a PC running the latest build. It is fast but so would be Windows Vista with a classic theme, you know...there is no excuse for sticking to this '95 theming system they scrwed us up in Windows 8 with. The OS feels old by design...even the icons look like imported from Windows 95. There are still bugs to be sorted out like:

The taskbar doesn't maintain its position upon a restart. It always defaults to the preset height. (people who use a lot of software like me have to go through the hassle of unlocking the taskbar, pulling it up and locking it again after every single restart...)
Pinning something in the start menu is a pain in the neck...the pinned item goes all the way to the bottom of the list and you have to scroll like crazy to get to the bottom, grab the icon and put it where it was supposed to appear (right in the section that was visible at the moment of pinning the app).
The fact that some settings are located in Settings and some other are located under Control Panel is also disturbing and confusing whenever it comes to investigating issues and fixing stuff.
They managed to make the start menu resizable, now it's back to default size / full screen. The option for a custom size is gone. Scrolling is only allowed vertically, as if we buy TALLscreen monitors, not Widescreen monitors.

I'm not sure why the c**ts want to disable acces to My Computer, but the thing is...I had to go through hell and back to make Computer available under Start and make that damned icon open My Computer instead of the EXTREMELY IRRITATING AND USELESS explorer windows (FYI: Explorer-> View menu->Options (the old Folder Options menu)-> first setting: Open File Explorer to: This PC).

Did I mention how retarded the theme feels like? There are thousands who want Microsoft to bring Aero back and I really hope they don't act as if nothing happened and Windows 8 wasn't the same as Windows 95 SE. Yes, Windows 8...or isn't it the exact same s*itty so-called theme? Am I missing anything? Nope.

Windows 7 was actually BETTER at dealing with multiple screens (I use 3) and the side screens are set at 1680x1050 while the main is at 1080p. Well...try moving one window from the side screens to the main window and you'll see it's not possible...because W10 blocks the window atthe edge of the screen assuming it is because of a resolution difference.....again THIS THING WORKED PERFECTLY FINE IN VISTA AND 7. Even under XP.


We live in an era when GPUs are getting more powerful, and OSes look older and older and older and use less and less GPU horsepower...Really? Is it really that hard to provide a Classic mode for those with iGPUs and a true successor to Vista / 7 in terms of design?

RAM usage could be better too...I mean..I upgraded from 16GB to 24GB yet Windows is only using 1.7GB cached and 3.6GB are comitted out of 27.8GB.
We all love low RAM usage, but when it detects more RAM, it should make use of it to speed the system up.

Oh and I think I should also mention that something must have happened (Probably Microsoft released an update or something) since the release of Windows 8...because it seems Windows 7 PCs boot slower after some time...slower means a 1-minute long waiting time in front of a black screen after the Welcome screen. Happened on various computers with different configurations. Could be Microsoft forcing users to switch to bullshit OSes. But I guess it works...one of my reasons to switch to Windows 8.2 was that slow boot (off a Samsung SSD830 through SATA 6Gbps & FX8350).

I Installed Windows x64 Home and it went in with no hitch at all but found that IE11 still tried to take over.
So what I did was remove IE11 completely not just disable it but completely remove it now my computer can start up from pressing the button to getting onto what ever site or forum is 2 mins 30 seconds instead of 5-6 mins then IE 11 hanging and giving out the sorry but internet explorer needs to close.
See below what I have done with the new
Edge Browser

I have been playing around with the Edge Browser having removed IE 11.
I have found that if you bring the web page up you want like
Face Book (social)
Outlook.com (mail)
Youtube (Entertainment)
Google (Browser)
Twitter (Social)
Groove
Right click and add them to the Favourites Bar,
They show up on your home menu found at top of page like msn, or bing once there all you have to do is click on the one you want and it will take you straight to the page you want.
Thought it might help some members.

Have been trying it now for several days and I have had no crashes and no black or blue screens, Printing is quicker.
So you see I for one am very happy with Windows10 and will never for one go back to 8,1.

 

[LeRennais]

Many stupid irritations.

Login - endless problems, finally identified as number key pad not working at login time. Have to use number keys at top of keyboard. Possibly common on USB connected keyboards?

Edge browser is not yet fit for use. No favourites management, and stupid "reverse order" loading of existing favourites from IE.

 

[thedon57]

Many stupid irritations.

Login - endless problems, finally identified as number key pad not working at login time. Have to use number keys at top of keyboard. Possibly common on USB connected keyboards?

Edge browser is not yet fit for use. No favourites management, and stupid "reverse order" loading of existing favourites from IE.

I got favourite's and favourite bar on mine Edge browser also working as good as gold

 

[Joseph DeGarmo]

Many stupid irritations.

Login - endless problems, finally identified as number key pad not working at login time. Have to use number keys at top of keyboard. Possibly common on USB connected keyboards?

Same issue here. Number lock is never active on Windows boot despite number lock being active in the UEFI settings. I just tap the NumLock key, then the pin, rather than clicking the mouse button to launch the login screen.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Let's face it, every Windows is just a modification to the previous one. Windows experienced the most change in the 90s. Ever since XP, they added some security, some new software, and a GUI change. They're all built off the code of the previous one.

Microsoft said "Windows 10 will be the last Windows". What does that mean? Perhaps that is why they named it 10, because 10 seems like a good number to end on? Will they maybe ditch their traditional code that's probably still in there from Windows 95, and start fresh with a whole new operating system?

For all we know, they may already be working on one, and may have been doing so for a few years already.