- Joined
- Jan 31, 2005
- Messages
- 13,573
- Reaction score
- 1,888
First up, I take no real credit for this, its mostly a copy and paste from a thread over at OcUK, but the info here is well worth sharing. All credit goes to Danny091.
Before doing ANYTHING i highly recommend performing a full backup of your computer so you can recover if anything does go wrong!
Link to Microsoft's own Win 10 FAQs: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-10-faq
I cannot get the tool to reserve windows 10 on my computer
Go straight to download the ISO, you do not need to "Reserve" for the free upgrade! OR Please read through this post on Microsoft's help site: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...i/848b5cce-958b-49ae-a132-a999a883265b?auth=1
I have reserved Windows 10, however my download has not started / It just says notify me when ready. Can i use the ISO instead?
Yes! Just run the ISO from inside windows and it will update.
Be wary of leaving the ISO (DISK) or USB (if you are using this kind of media) in the system during reboots as it might try to boot from it rather than continuing the install.
Which Version Should I download for my free upgrade?
Windows 7
Windows 7 Starter will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home
Windows 7 Home Basic will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home
Windows 7 Home Premium will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home
Windows 7 Professional will be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro
Windows 7 Ultimate will be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro
Windows 8
Windows 8.1 will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home
Windows 8.1 with Bing will be upgraded to Windows 10 Home
Windows 8.1 Pro will be upgraded to Windows 10 Pro
Download
- Windows 10 media Creation downloader / Creator Tool (ISO/USB) The N version's are ones without Media player and Photo's. Essentially it is an install that cant play video files or open photos without third party software.
HELP... Windows 10 wont activate i am getting the error 0xC004F034 or Invalid Key / Key blocked
People are reporting that this a load issue on the servers and after trying for a while it does activate. (This has been confirmed now)
Pushing activate repeatedly until it work's seems to work for most people. Be aware it might take something like 20 tries
For key blocked / invalid try restarting the computer a few times. This should resolve it.
Windows Could Not Update the System Reserved Partition
Thanks to Reddit! https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/3a6znd/we_couldnt_update_the_system_reserved_partition/
Press win+r and type diskmgmt.msc
Click on your C: drive
Below the list of drives there will be a partition map, the first partition will be Data or some such, listed at 100MB, right click on it and go to change drive letters and paths -> add -> now choose Y: for the drive letter
Right click the CMD.EXE start menu icon and choose 'Run as Administrator'.
Type: Y: <enter> in the cmd window
Run these commands:
takeown /f . /r /d y
icacls . /grant administrators:F /t <see note below>
attrib -h -s -r bootmgr
NOTE: for the icacls command you can use your username instead of administrators, to find out your username type 'whoami'
Now open explorer (win+e) go to the Y: drive under computer, Make sure hidden files and system files are visible through folder options. Then go into the Boot folder, and delete all languages other than en-GB. Languages are in the form xx-XX. Make sure to shift+delete and not just delete so they don't go to the recycle bin. Empty the recycle bin afterwards just in case
.
now go back to the admin command prompt, and type this command:
chkdsk Y: /F /X /sdcleanup /L:5000
this truncates the NTFS log to 5MB, it can be very very big, not leaving enough space for the install. At the end of the output it should tell you that you have at least 50MB of free space on the partition
proceed with the windows 8.1 installation
once booted into 10 and set up, you can go back into diskmgmt.msc and remove the drive letter for the boot partition
Press win+r and type diskmgmt.msc
Click on your C: drive
Below the list of drives there will be a partition map, the first partition will be Data or some such, listed at 100MB, right click on it and go to change drive letters and paths -> add -> now choose Y: for the drive letter
Right click the CMD.EXE start menu icon and choose 'Run as Administrator'.
Type: Y: <enter> in the cmd window
Run these commands:
takeown /f . /r /d y
icacls . /grant administrators:F /t <see note below>
attrib -h -s -r bootmgr
NOTE: for the icacls command you can use your username instead of administrators, to find out your username type 'whoami'
Now open explorer (win+e) go to the Y: drive under computer, Make sure hidden files and system files are visible through folder options. Then go into the Boot folder, and delete all languages other than en-GB. Languages are in the form xx-XX. Make sure to shift+delete and not just delete so they don't go to the recycle bin. Empty the recycle bin afterwards just in case
.
now go back to the admin command prompt, and type this command:
chkdsk Y: /F /X /sdcleanup /L:5000
this truncates the NTFS log to 5MB, it can be very very big, not leaving enough space for the install. At the end of the output it should tell you that you have at least 50MB of free space on the partition
proceed with the windows 8.1 installation
once booted into 10 and set up, you can go back into diskmgmt.msc and remove the drive letter for the boot partition
How does the CD keys work Now, Do i need a new Key for a Clean install?
First you should do an upgrade.
When you upgrade to windows 10 it registers a unique ID based on your motherboard with that version of windows. Now when you do a fresh install simply SKIP the Key step. When windows goes online and it realizes your system matches the one that is registered it will activate.
Can I perform a clean install, after upgrading to Windows 10, some time in the future (e.g. after the upgrade period)
As long as you upgraded from Windows 7/8/8.1 to 10 within the upgrade period, you can perform a clean install using the ISO provided by Microsoft. If it asks for the key, skip it and it will activate when it first goes online. Windows 10 is activated against the hardware so you don't need a key, as long as you upgraded and previously had a valid copy of W10 installed.
I want to change my motherboard system ext... I originally had a Retail version of windows. Can i move my windows 10?
It is not currently clear what will happen with this. Their is conflicting information on microsofts own site |:
Some tweaks to do after Install
Outlook Will Not Send Emails After Upgrade
Emails stay in the mailbox with an error 0x800CCC13. Run sfc /scannow as that seems to fix it.
How to get the start screen back (for those of us not trapped in 1995)
Settings > Personalization > Start, Toggle "Use Start full screen" to on.
How to stop auto driver updates
Control Panel - System- Advanced System - Hardware - Device Installation Properties > turn off the Always install drivers through updates.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930 This tool also allows you to hide / skip updates.
Wifi - Sharing
Remember if you upgrade on a mobile device e.g. Laptop or surface you might accidentally share Access to your WIFI. If you DON'T want to share access to your WIFI with your Skype, Outlook, Facebook friends then;
1) Don't tick share when your inputting your password.
2) Go to Settings, Wifi > Manage wifi settings and check the one's in the known network list have not automatically gone to shared. (If they have i recommend unsharing it and changing your password)
3) If you want to make sure no one can share your network (e.g. a friend inputs your password and clicks share by accident) If you add _optout to the end of your WiFi Network Name then it will not be shareable... E.G. Change 'SkyH39Rjk' to 'SkyH39Rjk_optout'
Peer to peer updates
Also by default windows 10 could be peer to peer sharing updates (uploading with your connection) go to updates and change this to LAN only if your worried about bandwidth issues!
Updates from other places
Go to Start then Settings > Update & security > Windows Update , and then select Advanced options.On the Advanced options page, select Choose how updates are delivered, and then use the toggle to turn Delivery Optimization off. When turned off, you'll still get updates and apps from Windows Update and from the Windows Store.
Cleaning up old files (If you are sure you don't wish to roll back!)
Right click your C drive > properties > disk cleanup > click the clean system files > Tick all old installs and ok it.
Using Photo Viewer Instead of Photo's
This reg edit will re-add "Photo Viewer" like in windows 7 and 8 to the default options for photo files! This will allow you to open them inside the desktop rather than being thrown into pictures.
https://mega.co.nz/#!WMU13Cxa!cZK2Z0DJYhgbrNPiXRKtUQyCkSZC8M7iaHgwo8GnZO4
How to use
1) Run and let it add the registry entries
2) Right click a photo and change the default application to photo viewer
Cortana Wrong Language
Your speech is most likely set to US or some other language.
My guess is your default install language was US? You need to go to Time and language in settings > Region and Language > Install the UK pack. Keyboard / Speech / Handwriting.
Restart
Go to Time / language and > speech change it to UK (it will now be an option.)
She should now work for you.
Disable Login Screen Background
Here is a quick guide on disabling the windows 10 login screen background and just having the theme accent colour:
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Win dows\System
Create a new DWORD file
Name it DisableLogonBackgroundImage
Set value data to 1
Other stuff
Disable Web Search
Start, type random gibberish. Click Cog, turn off Include web search results
Default Browser
Start > Settings. System > Default apps.
Shrink Start Menu
drag edge to make narrower (may need to remove tiles first)
Disable Lock Screen Splash (pointless keystrokes or clicks)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Win dows\Personalization]
"NoLockScreen"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\TestHooks]
"Threshold"=dword:00000000
Remove Search Bar
Right click taskbar, Search > Hidden
Remove Task Switcher
Right click taskbar, Show Task View button
Snap Behaviour
Start > Settings. System > Multitasking disable When I snap a window, show what I can snap next to it
Make File Explorer Open to “This PC” Instead of Quick Access
To make File Explorer open to the This PC view, click the File menu, and select “Change folder and search options.” Click the “Open File Explorer to” box at the top of the window and select “This PC” instead of “Quick access.”
Privacy
ALSO SEE THIS POST
Start > Settings. Privacy
General
advertising id (tracking)
how I type (tracking, pw leakage?)
language list (tracking)
Location - turn off
Account Info - turn off sharing
Contacts - turn off
Messaging - turn off
Background apps - turn off
Camera / Microphone - turn off
Enable Hibernate
Control Panel > Power Options > Choose What Buttons Do. Shutdown Settings. (may need to do powercfg -h on)
To remove the AWFUL ClearType/Font AA
Disable ClearType (Type ClearType in start to find setting easily)
Open Regedit, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Delete FontSmoothing named string (REG_SZ)
Set DWORD FontSmoothingType to 2
For nVidia
Open 3D Settings in nVidia Control Panel
Set Global AA setting to 'Off'
Configure per application based settings to preference.
How to remove built in apps
Paste these comments into Powershell (as Admin)
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.3DBuilder | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.Getstarted | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.SkypeApp | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.WindowsMaps | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.BingWeather | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.Office.OneNote | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.XboxApp | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.ZuneMusic | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.ZuneVideo | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.BingSports | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.BingNews | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.WindowsPhone | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.BingFinance | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.Windows.Photos | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.WindowsCamera | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.WindowsAlarms | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.People | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Remove-AppxPackage
