Being asked to upgrade to Windows 10

[TheWanderer]

Accidentally clicked on that icon that wont go away a couple of days ago and it now has a roll out date of 29th July for downloading Win 10 it seems. 

 

You can cancel the upgrade if you want.

 

• Right-click on the Get Windows 10 App or Windows icon located at the right end of the taskbar.
• Select “Check your upgrade status”
• Select "Cancel reservation"

That's what I've done, until they're more forthcoming about what's what.

 

I want either a zip file or ISO file which I can then create a bootable DVD or USB stick from, before I'll consider making the jump, also they need to do a lot for Win 10 x64 drivers too.

[gadgetman]

Do you get reoffered if you cancel your reservation?

I thought it was a one time deal, so if you accepted and cancelled that was it?

[devonutopia]

I don't have a check upgrade status on mine.  I seem to be able to either "get it"  "reserve it"  or "try it"

[TheWanderer]

If you click reserve it, you can later change your mind using the method I stated above, whether you get a "second bite of the cherry" I don't know, like I said I'm waiting to see what happens to those who made the jump first.

 

Like I said I prefer to have tangible media, so should the worst come to the worst I can perform a fresh install, how can you do that from a corrupted SSD/HDD? But of course you can with a USB stick or DVD.

 

If it means I have to pay for a DVD then so be it, I'd rather do that than get an unexpected bill for £100, which could come in when it's least wanted and failure to pay that could result in no PC/Windows OS.

[RobClubley]

I've been running the preview on my Surface Pro 2 and it updates smoothly every time a new release comes out. Which is promising.

[langers2k]

If you click reserve it, you can later change your mind using the method I stated above, whether you get a "second bite of the cherry" I don't know, like I said I'm waiting to see what happens to those who made the jump first.

 

Like I said I prefer to have tangible media, so should the worst come to the worst I can perform a fresh install, how can you do that from a corrupted SSD/HDD? But of course you can with a USB stick or DVD.

 

If it means I have to pay for a DVD then so be it, I'd rather do that than get an unexpected bill for £100, which could come in when it's least wanted and failure to pay that could result in no PC/Windows OS.

 

Even if an official ISO isn't available it appears you can create one from the cached files it will download for the upgrade: http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-turn-your-windows-10-upgrade-into-an-iso/

 

This is course assumes they continue with the current distribution mechanism which I would expect they would.

[TheWanderer]

That stuff is way beyond me and as a consequence not interested. Thanks anyway.

 

It has to be simple, just a downloadable ISO image that I can burn to disc or zip file that I can extract to either USB stick or DVD.

[langers2k]

That stuff is way beyond me and as a consequence not interested. Thanks anyway.

 

It has to be simple, just a downloadable ISO image that I can burn to disc or zip file that I can extract to either USB stick or DVD.

 

I'd argue that four steps to give you an ISO is pretty simple, certainly much more than a clean install of windows and ensuring you get the right drivers.

 

Once Win10, is you have any trouble sourcing a DVD let me know and I'm sure I can help out

[TheWanderer]

Now you've confused the hell out of me, because that link is for Win 8/8.1, I'm on Win 7 Pro, I've tried to find that file and can't, unless that's dealing with a Win 10 preview.

[langers2k]

Now you've confused the hell out of me, because that link is for Win 8/8.1, I'm on Win 7 Pro, I've tried to find that file and can't, unless that's dealing with a Win 10 preview.

 

When Win10 is released and you agree to an upgrade, it will download all the needed files and ask you to reboot. Before you reboot I would expect an ESD file to be located in the temporary directory mentioned which you can then extract to an ISO and burn to a DVD for future use.

 

I wouldn't expect it to be there unless you are in the upgrade process and it's very likely to be the same whether you're upgrading from Win7 or Win8.1. I'll confirm when I am offered a download after the 29th

 

To be honest, there is still a good chance that the upgrader will offer you an ISO without the above steps. We'll just have to wait and see! I certainly wouldn't be worried about the restore path, once you have a valid, genuine key finding media is normally easy.

[the mad monk]

 

Can I reinstall Windows 10 on my computer after upgrading?

Yes. Once you’ve upgraded to Windows 10 using the free upgrade offer, you will be able to reinstall, including a clean install, on the same device. You won’t need to purchase Windows 10 or go back to your prior version of Windows and upgrade again.

You’ll also be able to create your own installation media like a USB drive or DVD, and use that to upgrade your device or reinstall after you’ve upgraded.

 

that answers that question then, i cant find the answer to the one asked about free updates for a year and what happens after that year? think ill stick with win7 though, mines slightly hot so im not risking it even though i have the offer. might try it on my tablet though as it cant be any worse than win8.1 and my old lappy although i do wonder what will happen to the restore partition on the laptop?

[David 8]

The restore partition should stay there will still be there provided you don't delete when installing 10, it will show up in a list of partitons when doing a clean install.

[TheWanderer]

Would it be possible to transfer that partition to a second SSD/HDD?

 

The reason being I don't want it on my main drive as I see it as lost space and a liability should the drive go kaput.

[David 8]

In theory you could but in my experience it gets a little complicated, best would be to just clone your drive now and keep that as a back up, it tends to be a built in system from the manufacturer so it's tied into the hardware sometimes(press f11 etc), so it's not just a case of copying the partition onto a usb stick  put it this way it wouldn't be easy whatever way you did it as a casual user. If the drive goes and you still have the serial key you can always get windows disks to match the key so I wouldn't worry about that too much. 

[kentphil1]

In theory you could but in my experience it gets a little complicated, best would be to just clone your drive now and keep that as a back up, it tends to be a built in system from the manufacturer so it's tied into the hardware sometimes(press f11 etc), so it's not just a case of copying the partition onto a usb stick  put it this way it wouldn't be easy whatever way you did it as a casual user. If the drive goes and you still have the serial key you can always get windows disks to match the key so I wouldn't worry about that too much. 

Sorry to Hijack this thread, but I have an 18 month old i5 Acer laptop with a recovery partition.

 

I would like to do as you have described above, but I cannot find the serial anywhere on the machine.

 

I have had to restore from the partition on it in the past, so I know the key must be stored internally,

 

I just need to know how to access it If I was to get a 2nd hard drive for a clean install on Windows 10.

[David 8]

If you unplugged the drive and swapped you could just keep the old drive safe and plug back of needed. Restore would still be there no need for the key on most restore sections.

If you hang on until later I'll link you to a key finder which will pull your key form the system for you.

[kentphil1]

Cool, thanks

[David 8]

https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

 

 

Try that, did you check under the battery, it's gotta be there somewhere,

[langers2k]

Just a word of warning, there are machines that will licence automatically when using media from the manufacturer so the key you extract may not work with a non branded windows install disk.

 

These OEM SLP keys are well known online so you can easily check if yours is or not. If the key is one of these SLP keys then you will also need an OEM install disk or the OEM SLP certs (normally a xrm-ms file) installed to activate windows. It will use a combination of the key, the certs and the computers SLIC table to decide if it can be activated or not.

 

Hopefully you have a restore disk with you machine so you can avoid most of this.

 

SLP - System Locked Pre-installation

SLIC - System License Internal Code

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer (In kentphil1's case, Acer)

[TheWanderer]

I'm a home builder so I always use OEM software from various sources.

[David 8]

Just a word of warning, there are machines that will licence automatically when using media from the manufacturer so the key you extract may not work with a non branded windows install disk.

 

These OEM SLP keys are well known online so you can easily check if yours is or not. If the key is one of these SLP keys then you will also need an OEM install disk or the OEM SLP certs (normally a xrm-ms file) installed to activate windows. It will use a combination of the key, the certs and the computers SLIC table to decide if it can be activated or not.

 

Hopefully you have a restore disk with you machine so you can avoid most of this.

 

SLP - System Locked Pre-installation

SLIC - System License Internal Code

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer (In kentphil1's case, Acer)

 

 

I was going to say about this but wasn't sure of the specifics, good info there. 

[kentphil1]

Have Acer been known to use SLP in the past langers2k?. I was going to clone the drive across to a new drive with Paragon, then install 10 on the new drive. Presumably the recovery partition should clone ok if I clone the entire drive?. Can I clone from say a 750gb hard drive to a 1tb drive without too many issues?.

 

Sorry TheWanderer, last question hijacking your post I promise.

[langers2k]

There are certainly Acer SLP keys available online and I'd be very surprised if they hadn't used this method at some point.

 

Assuming Paragon is evenly remotely competent I wouldn't expect any problems cloning the drive from one to another. I'd hope it would also be able to expand partitions to use any extra space. However, I've never used it so your milage may vary.

[gadgetman]

HP?

[langers2k]

HP have definitely used them. Almost every large PC manufacturer will have used SLP keys at some point, google will give you a list of keys if you look for "brandname slp key".

 

I don't believe there are any issues with sharing them as they are useless unless the PC has a SLIC table which supports that key.