Windows 10, Yay or Nay?

[Father Guido]

I'm no Windows fan. It sucks and Win 10 does look kinda goofy out of the box. But a little fiddling around has it looking and working very much like a Win XP or Win 7 installation, but a little slicker, more polished. A Good Thing in my book. No additional desktop software used, just some different backgrounds and attention to configuration. And I have to admit, Win 10 runs nice. Heavier on resources than Fedora + Cinnamon, but still fast and stable.


I have no problem aligning icons along the bottom edge. No need to futz around in the friggin' registry. Just right-click on the desktop, select 'View' at the top of the pop-up box and make sure 'Auto arrange icons' is Unchecked. I like to leave 'Arrange to grid' checked.
That should do it.

As for the 'update KB2267602' error, I have not had this problem. But take a look here (2nd post):

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...ng-retry/fdc0fd17-60c2-41fc-bae3-c632a2b6e45f

...and follow this liink in the above posted answer:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/971058

Good reply

There are many things I do to make Win10 "behave." First thing that I put on a fresh install is Classic Shell to get the native Win7 start menu back. Next, I right-click on desktop/personalize/themes/Desktop icon settings, and tick "Computer." This places "This PC" on the desktop which gives you handy right-click shortcuts to access "Properties" and "Manage" (ala Win7, etc.) instead of digging through a bunch of crap. I also like to keep things tidy in the task-bar by setting "show small icons."

As for the unwanted update, there is a tool you can use to hide it, thus preventing the prompt to install it again (article here). I also set all of my WiFi connections to "Metered," so I can defer updates until I can review what it does (or breaks) from the reports of others. Doesn't work on an Ethernet connection though, but my laptop is used on WiFi almost exclusively.

Depending on if you have Home or Pro, there are means to tweak lots of things. You will need to Google some of these to suit your needs. Here are some I do:

Thoroughly review every privacy setting and disable what you can
Create shortcuts for cold shutdown (to clean boot from other media)
Enable "God Mode" - Many options are easily accessible from there
Remove Windows store or just apps (globally for me)
Disable (or remove?) Cortana
Stop *behind the scenes* update file sharing
Disable or uninstall "One Drive" so Explorer++ works correctly
Ad nauseam...

And I almost forgot the most important thing about Windows - Create a normal user account to use, else you are running on the Internet as root! Bad, really REALLY BAD...

Once everything is verified working, I do a "disk cleanup" (including system files) and install ccleaner to rid even more. Then I image it to external disk so I have something to return to if I screw the pooch really bad.

While I once thought Linux to be convoluted (back when you had to manually configure an X-Server to have a GUI), it seems that Win10 is now nearly as bad (or worse). Linux has evolved into a really user friendly and secure OS since those days. I really prefer Mint Cinnamon, and I have full control of EVERYTHING

 

[Xyro]

This places "This PC" on the desktop which gives you handy right-click shortcuts to access "Properties" and "Manage" (ala Win7, etc.) instead of digging through a bunch of crap. I also like to keep things tidy in the task-bar by setting "show small icons."

To be fair, right clicking on the Win10 start icon gives you those same shortcuts, no digging through crap required:

 

[Crashdamage]

Some good tips Father Guido. I would nitpick a few things.

Xyro pointed out one - no need for the 'This PC' shortcut.
I would argue there is no need for Classic Shell.
I would never use CCleaner as it is well known to be trouble. Can get a little overly aggressive in cleaning 'junk' files with negative results.

"Linux convoluted"? Are you kidding me? Click on this link for the MS 'fix' for the 'update KB 2267602' error and tell me again about Linux being convoluted:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/971058

I use Fedora 23 + Cinnamon and find it far easier to deal with than any version of Windows.

 

[Dngrsone]

To be fair, he called Linux of yore convoluted, which it was, back when most things were done from the CLI

 

[Father Guido]

To be fair, right clicking on the Win10 start icon gives you those same shortcuts, no digging through crap required:
View attachment 99772

Didn't know that, thanks.

 

[Father Guido]

To be fair, he called Linux of your convoluted, which it was, back when most things were done from the CLI

Exactly. I think that the only distro easily obtained back then was Red Hat and you needed to know your monitor scan rates and other stuff just to get a GUI. Not at all difficult anymore.

 

[mikedt]

To be fair, he called Linux of yore convoluted, which it was, back when most things were done from the CLI

Back in 1996 I purchased a 900 page book called Linux Unleashed, that came with a Slackware CD. But after weeks of late nights and a lot of head scratching, I never did get it "unleashed".

 

[Dngrsone]

Back in 1996 I purchased a 900 page book called Linux Unleashed, that came with a Slackware CD. But after weeks of late nights and a lot of head scratching, I never did get it "unleashed".

LOL; I did unleash Slackware, though without the benefit of a 900 page guide.

Though I learned a lot about Linux during that evolution; the experience delayed my migration to Ubuntu by a good two years or so.

During that time, my interactions with *nix systems were largely restricted to installation and remote management of specialty OSs (such as the firewall OS Smoothwall).

 

[argedion]

My first breed of linux was open Caldera 1. When I got it installed it wouldn't work with my win modem nor would it pickup the cdrom. I installed it via cd. After combing the bulletin boards I discovered to get the cd to work I needed to add some files and recompile the kernel. Windows 95 was back on that evening. I stuck with windows until mandrake. It picked up everything except that win modem. I kept it dual booted for a while. Then I discovered openSUSE. I've used XP Vista 7 and 8 but can never give up the freedom I have with Linux

 

[mikedt]

My first breed of linux was open Caldera 1. When I got it installed it wouldn't work with my win modem nor would it pickup the cdrom. I installed it via cd. After combing the bulletin boards I discovered to get the cd to work I needed to add some files and recompile the kernel. Windows 95 was back on that evening. I stuck with windows until mandrake. It picked up everything except that win modem. I kept it dual booted for a while. Then I discovered openSUSE. I've used XP Vista 7 and 8 but can never give up the freedom I have with Linux

That sounds like me, after my failure to get Slackware unleashed, didn't touch Linux again until Mandrake. And that was OK, I could just install it and everything worked as it was supposed to.


Back on topic, my Windows 10 tablet is still running fine and very happy with it, does everything I need.

 

[jefboyardee]

Thanks all for the tips. Already tried or use most of 'em, but a couple will get a peek the next time I boot w10.

The icon 'problem,' which sometimes corrects itself for a few seconds right after booting, is nothing more than this:

W7:

W10:

I think there's something invisible pushing the icons up, like having Cortana hidden.

Neither of the issues I mentioned are serious, especially since I just use w10 a dog that I can kick into the basement on occasion... I'm just killing time by pretending to take it seriously.

(Don't fret, I don't even have a basement.)

 

[AZgl1500]

I am typing on my new ASUS laptop which came with Win10...

I tried it for 3 months and gave up, even though I know Win7 inside and out.

this laptop is now running Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa/Cinnamon which has the best Desktop Windows 'look alike' that I have seen.

Cinnamon enabled me to take a kludgy Win10 slow critter, and turn it into a fast, clean, and easy to use PC that is even enjoyable to use now.

I didn't even bother to save a Win10 image of the HDD, for me, Win10 is gone forever.
I will now try and learn Linux a bit at a time..... but today, it is just a joy to be able to turn on the laptop and be on Firefox in 30 seconds from the time I touch the Power Button.

Windows in any flavor cannot do that from scratch.... recover from Hibernation, yeah, but not a cold start.

 

[Father Guido]

Most definitely. I can boot Lubuntu from a flash drive faster than a native Windows *anything* from a cold boot.

 

[AZgl1500]

Most definitely. I can boot Lubuntu from a flash drive faster than a native Windows *anything* from a cold boot.

Downloading the ISO and will take a look at it tomorrow.
Thanks for the hint on that one...

I want to put it on a Flash drive also, and move around with it to help me service some PCs out in the hinterlands.
Will be nice to have all of my tools on one flash drive stick.

 

[Father Guido]

Downloading the ISO and will take a look at it tomorrow.
Thanks for the hint on that one...

I want to put it on a Flash drive also, and move around with it to help me service some PCs out in the hinterlands.
Will be nice to have all of my tools on one flash drive stick.

Take a look at YUMI to make a multi-boot flash drive. You can put several distros on it along with many great tools. Don't forget to peek at Knoppix. Really nice

I can suggest quite a few things to add, but I just put in a very long night shift and need some sleep. Pendrive Linux site has YUMI and lists some very useful stuff it supports. Also boots many non supported ISO's. I never leave home without it - lol...

 

[Dngrsone]

Take a look at YUMI to make a multi-boot flash drive. You can put several distros on it along with many great tools. Don't forget to peek at Knoppix. Really nice

I can suggest quite a few things to add, but I just put in a very long night shift and need some sleep. Pendrive Linux site has YUMI and lists some very useful stuff it supports. Also boots many non supported ISO's. I never leave home without it - lol...

I have a YUMI drive on my keychain, and it certainly has come in handy in the past. Actually, I ended up breaking it trying to fix a friend's computer and have to reinstall... got to make it bootable in Safe Mode.

 

[Crashdamage]

+1 for YUMI.

 

[argedion]

i'm just to old school i just use dd to make my bootable usb drives. I never needed to multiboot a usb as I only needed one system on it. I did look at yumi though its mainly in Windows flavor and Debian/Ubuntu flavor. Not much good for us who don't use either of those.

 

[psionandy]

Take a look at YUMI to make a multi-boot flash drive. You can put several distros on it along with many great tools. Don't forget to peek at Knoppix. Really nice

I can suggest quite a few things to add, but I just put in a very long night shift and need some sleep. Pendrive Linux site has YUMI and lists some very useful stuff it supports. Also boots many non supported ISO's. I never leave home without it - lol...

Another BIG fan of Yumi here... Its turned my USB stick into a really useful toolkit... and lets me play with linux distros to see what they are like.

 

[jefboyardee]

I guess, unless I stay with my ancient beast, I'll have to learn to like W10...

Microsoft says new processors will only work with Windows 10 ​

Soon, when you buy a new PC, it won't support Windows 7 or 8. Microsoft has announced a change to its support policy that lays out its plans for future updates to its older operating systems, and the new rules mean that future PC owners with next-generation Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors will need to use Windows 10.​

 

[Dngrsone]

I guess, unless I stay with my ancient beast, I'll have to learn to like W10...

Microsoft says new processors will only work with Windows 10 ​

Soon, when you buy a new PC, it won't support Windows 7 or 8. Microsoft has announced a change to its support policy that lays out its plans for future updates to its older operating systems, and the new rules mean that future PC owners with next-generation Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors will need to use Windows 10.​

... or a non-Microsoft OS...

 

[jefboyardee]

Like I've said, I've tried a bunch of distros, still have Mint on a flash, but none of them do everything I already expect from Windows. And I don't want to resort to Wine to make a distro capable of doing something I'm already doing with Windows. My only hitch is making W10 behave as well as the now-ancient W7, but so far, even that's not an essential task.

 

[argedion]

... or a non-Microsoft OS...

that's where I'm staying. I can do everything I need in Linux

 

[Father Guido]

that's where I'm staying. I can do everything I need in Linux

While I can't stay Windows free (yet), I am currently ammasing/testing some new drives for my main desktop. I plan to run Mint exclusively, and dual boot a gutted Win7 installation only for using some of the flashing utilities that require direct access to USB via Windows. Anything else needing win7 (TurboTax for example) can be used in a VM. Once all happy with this, the laptop is next. Screw M$ and their conspiracy with the chip makers. The "so-called" secure boot was just the beginning to cram windows down your throat in a factory configured rig. I foresee much worse ahead, and don't plan to be a part of it. The day I am *forced* to run it to use MY computers is the day I go offline and smash them to bits.

 

[Father Guido]

Like I've said, I've tried a bunch of distros, still have Mint on a flash, but none of them do everything I already expect from Windows. And I don't want to resort to Wine to make a distro capable of doing something I'm already doing with Windows. My only hitch is making W10 behave as well as the now-ancient W7, but so far, even that's not an essential task.

Did you actually install it to the flash drive and tweak it to your particular hardware and preferences, or just run it "live?" Makes quite a difference.