Microsoft's Giving Windows 10 Away - Free

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 3 Jun 2015 1:49 pm

I just went to Norton support and the very top of the FAQ's is on this subject. They acknowledge the issue and assure that by the time Win 10 is ready, they will be ready. That was the only fly in my ointment so looks like I'm in. (I voted for "Not Sure" but I'd change that to "Yep" now.)

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Jun 2015 9:38 am

Jack Stoner wrote:You must have KB3035583 installed to get the Win 10 notice.

My laptop that came with Win7 installed shows the icon, and is compatible. But my desktop, which I purchased Win7 for, does not. My desktop does show that I have KB3035583 installed. Why didn't the icon show up for that computer?

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 4 Jun 2015 10:10 am

Richard Sinkler wrote:Why didn't the icon show up for that computer?

Jack might post something additional, but for now, I'll just quote from the MS FAQ:

"If you donâ€™t see the Get Windows 10 app on your PC, it might be because:

1. Your device isnâ€™t up-to-date with at least Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update.
2. Windows Update is turned off or is not set to received updates automatically.
3. Youâ€™ve blocked or uninstalled the necessary Windows Update functionality.
4. Your device is not running genuine Windows.

Running Windows Update and installing any available updates will fix the first three issues. Need more help? Go to our Windows Community Forum.

PCs that we determine cannot run Windows 10 will not see the Get Windows 10 app before July 29, 2015. After July 29, 2015, weâ€™ll enable the icon in the system tray. This is to help ensure that you can easily check your PCâ€™s compatibility if you choose.

If your device is managed as part of a school or business network, please check with your IT administrator about upgrading to Windows 10."

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 4 Jun 2015 10:17 am

Does your desktop have all the updates, including SP1 (required).

However, there are some that must be "forced" to show the update icon. I have a Lenovo Laptop with Win 7 and had to run the utility to get it.

Here is the utility. Copy this to Wordpad on your PC, then Save it as a Text (txt), whatever you want such as get win 10.txt. After saving, rename it to get win 10.cmd
RIGHT click on the program icon and click Run As Administrator. Run the program until it ends - could be up to 30 minutes. Assuming everything else is OK, the Get Win 10 icon should show up (may take a few mins).

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Appraiser" /v UtcOnetimeSend /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

schtasks /run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser"

:CompatCheckRunning

schtasks /query /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser" | findstr Ready >nul

if NOT "%errorlevel%" == "0" ping localhost >nul &goto :CompatCheckRunning

schtasks /run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Setup\gwx\refreshgwxconfig"

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 4 Jun 2015 2:05 pm

Dave...

1. Your device isnâ€™t up-to-date with at least Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 Update.

Running Windows 7 Professional SP1

2. Windows Update is turned off or is not set to received updates automatically.

Set to install new updates and check every day.

3. Youâ€™ve blocked or uninstalled the necessary Windows Update functionality.

??? Where would I check this?

4. Your device is not running genuine Windows.

It is a genuine version I purchased through Amazon

Jack...

Does your desktop have all the updates, including SP1 (required).

Yup

However, there are some that must be "forced" to show the update icon. I have a Lenovo Laptop with Win 7 and had to run the utility to get it.

My laptop is a Lenovo and it showed up on it.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 4 Jun 2015 2:22 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:3. Youâ€™ve blocked or uninstalled the necessary Windows Update functionality.... Where would I check this?

Looks to me that if you have it set to check for updates frequently already, and that's happening, you've covered that base.

All I have left would be the MS caveat where they said

"PCs that we determine cannot run Windows 10 will not see the Get Windows 10 app before July 29, 2015. After July 29, 2015, weâ€™ll enable the icon in the system tray. This is to help ensure that you can easily check your PCâ€™s compatibility if you choose."

I don't know what criteria would make a system incapable of running Win10, so I don't know if that one is the "gotcha".

You may want to poke around the MS Win10 web site and try to find a compatibility check utility outside of the coveted and much sought after "app".

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 4 Jun 2015 3:05 pm

The small program I posted is also on the Microsoft support, Windows 10 thread and what they are pushing as a "fix", assuming all other prerequisites are met.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 4 Jun 2015 9:03 pm

Jack, I created your command procedure and get an error on the last line. (I added the pause so I could see the results before it exited.

C:\Windows\system32>schtasks /run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Setup\gwx\refreshgwxconfig"
ERROR: The system cannot find the path specified.

C:\Windows\system32>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 5 Jun 2015 2:35 am

There must be an issue in your PC.

That is an exact copy of the utility I ran and worked on my Lenovo Laptop with Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit.

That is also the same as posted on this site
http://techdows.com/2015/06/how-to-enab ... skbar.html

I just let it run until it finished. Not sure how long it took as I went off and did some other things. When I got back it had finished and I had the Get Win 10 Icon.

Jim Smith · Post by **Jim Smith** » 5 Jun 2015 7:19 am

I downloaded the script from your command and got this:

Code: Select all

C:\Windows\system32>REG QUERY "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\UpgradeExperienceIndicators" /v UpgEx   | findstr UpgEx
    UpgEx    REG_SZ    Green

C:\Windows\system32>if "0" == "0" GOTO RunGWX

C:\Windows\system32>schtasks /run /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\Setup\gwx\refreshgwxconfig"
ERROR: The system cannot find the path specified.

C:\Windows\system32>pause
Press any key to continue . . .

I think "UpgEx" got added the first time I ran it, but I don't have a "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience" or "\Microsoft\Windows\Setup" directory.

I guess it's because I'm running an Enterprise version, and I don't feel like playing with the registry to fix it, so I'll wait.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 5 Jun 2015 8:55 am

Enterprise versions are not included in the free Win 10. Enterprise versions usually are in corporate systems and most corporates control what OS is being used.

Gil Berry · Post by **Gil Berry** » 5 Jun 2015 4:25 pm

Jon said:

"I got it too.
I figured 'why not'.
But it also tells me that I've got a couple of utilities that won't work. One is no big deal but the other is my Norton 360 . That is a problem. For one thing, I just renewed.
So far I've just registered for 10. When they notify me of its availability, maybe by then Norton will be compatible."

I use 360 as well, Jon. I received a notice from Norton that they would have a windows 10 version of Norton 360 available "very soon".... Like you, I'll wait until the new version of 360 is available (and free, I might add) before I try windows 10. Anyway, without a touch screen, what will windows 10 do that my windows 7 ultimate can't?? anyone know?

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 5 Jun 2015 4:39 pm

Yeah, Gil----see my follow-up at the top of this page. Not surprising.

Like you, I'm not touch screen and I don't know what new wonders 10 will dazzle us with in the world of tomorrow. I have no doubt it will tick me off, shaking my old ruts.
If I read reports of massive confusion, maybe I'll pass. I'm growing less and less adaptive. But new & shiny has appeal just because.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 6 Jun 2015 5:14 am

Gil Berry wrote:Anyway, without a touch screen, what will windows 10 do that my windows 7 ultimate can't?? anyone know?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=windows+10+vs+windows+7

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 7 Jun 2015 11:02 am

Well, the batch file didn't work. Time to throw in the towel and leave my desktop on Win7. I might upgrade my laptop, as it is my main computer these days anyhow. I wish I could get away from windows (Microsoft really SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!), but I have too much invested in Windows programs and can't afford what it would cost to re-purchase software.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 7 Jun 2015 1:59 pm

You can still get Windows 10, just won't automatically get downloaded for you.

The batch file didn't work for me the first time I ran it. Did you try running a second time?

There are some other pre-requisites. I can't find the link with all the requirements. If I find it I'll post it. One thing I remember you have to have automatic updates checked.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 7 Jun 2015 5:06 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:I wish I could get away from windows, but I have too much invested in Windows programs and can't afford what it would cost to re-purchase software.

Well, without knowing what about MS makes you as bitter as you seem to be, I think I understand that with an Apple computer, there's software that lets it emulate a Windows box. If you really want to bail out, that seems like an option.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 7 Jun 2015 5:54 pm

My hatred for Microsoft goes all the way back to the early 90's, my 'C' programming schooling an programming days. I wish all my software would run on Linux. I can't even afford to get my truck running, much less buy an Apple.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 8 Jun 2015 2:21 am

Take a look at the Computer section of www.gearslutz.com sometime. It has a lot of posts from Apple users. A lot of it is about buying the $3500 MAC's.

I have no problems with Windows. I can't tell you the last time I had a program bomb, that was Windows fault.

I use Cakewalk Sonar (now owned by Gibson) for my recording studio DAW program it is a Windows only application. They do not make a version that will run on any other OS. I tried ProTools and several other recording programs but prefer Sonar.

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 25 Jun 2015 4:17 am

Dave Potter wrote:Do you have the app yet? If so, left-click it to open it, then, in the top left corner, left-click the menu icon at the top left cornerof the box, and you'll see a drop-down which includes the item "Check Your PC".

Here's another way to get the icon:
Read all the instructions and go to the drop-down "Check Your PC." Run it, and it will ask for the money to fix it.
Then, have your computer crash from what may be a phish*; take it to your repairman for a fresh copy of 8.1,
where the icon, now four Windows panes, will appear as if by magic.
-------------
*or possible user error

Charlie McDonald · Post by **Charlie McDonald** » 25 Jun 2015 4:59 am

However, if I've missed it, will Win 8.1 remain ready on my drive if I want to return to it from Win 10?

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 25 Jun 2015 5:30 am

Charlie McDonald wrote:However, if I've missed it, will Win 8.1 remain ready on my drive if I want to return to it from Win 10?

As I understand things, no. This is one reason I will be making a drive image just prior to upgrading, just in case it fails, or I decide I want to go back.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 25 Jun 2015 9:11 am

I save full system images once a week, using both the built in Windows (system image) Backup and Acronis True Image. When the time comes that I decide to try out Windows 10 as an upgrade, I will manually save new images using both programs. If anything goes wrong, or if I simply don't care to keep W10, I can simply boot from the appropriate CD and run a full disk restore. I am confident that at least one will work (Acronis image restoration has always worked for me in the past).

I advise others to do something similar, just in case.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 25 Jun 2015 11:07 am

Wiz Feinberg wrote:I save full system images once a week, using both the built in Windows (system image) Backup and Acronis True Image. ...I advise others to do something similar, just in case.

Yeah, I do it about the same, except I'm using Macrium these days.

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Microsoft's Giving Windows 10 Away - Free

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