The Reading Vent & Rant Thread

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You keep writing this opinion as fact. But Microsoft admits not all Win7 are entitled to free Win10 upgrade. Also some HW isn't suitable at all or poor.

I was able to upgrade an old Acer netbook a few months ago. But it barely ran until I upgraded the DIMM. Now it runs as poorly as it did before. Been meaning to find some Linux that would maybe do better.

[Apache]

I had an HP laptop that I bought around 2007 or 2008. When I eventually upgraded to Win 7 it ran better than it had on XP. I eventually upgrading it all the way to Win 10. I finally died last year.
Apache

[Martinoptic]

Originally Posted by Apache

I finally died last year.
Apache

Sorry to hear of your demise. Too many windows updates. What a way to go,

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You keep writing this opinion as fact. But Microsoft admits not all Win7 are entitled to free Win10 upgrade. Also some HW isn't suitable at all or poor.

I know the Win10 upgrade is still free. That is fact. As for the hardware, that's why I asked if it was good enough to run Windows 10. You don't need a super-duper system to run Windows 10. My Surface Pro 2 is not great, but it does run Windows 10 no problem.

This article from last year us still valid and the link to download the Windows 10 upgrade still work.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-a...0-what-to-know.

Surface Pro 2 specs
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4300U CPU @ 1.90GHz 2.50 GHz
8GB RAM
512GB SSD

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Martinoptic

Sorry to hear of your demise. Too many windows updates. What a way to go,

Apache

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I know the Win10 upgrade is still free. That is fact.

It's NEVER been free for all Windows 7 users. Only most. MS says so. I have seen win7 systems that can't be upgraded.

CNet isn't official.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Quoth

It's NEVER been free for all Windows 7 users. Only most. MS says so. I have seen win7 systems that can't be upgraded.

Yes, you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade. Here's how

Try this on one of those Windows 7 PCs you mentioned. If it fails, then come tell me about how you couldn't upgrade.

[Quoth]

You can download Win10 freely. But Microsoft on their own website says not all Win7 systems are eligible for a free upgrade. Some Win7 product codes will not work.
Of course not all Win7 HW is suitable even if the product code is valid to activate Win10.
You'll be told to purchase a key.

Even with a valid Activation they will periodically nag at boot to create a Cloud account.

Oh, and they have turned off the activation server for Win7 and older versions of office. However there is a free phone number and a utility that puts up a massively long number. You type that in with touch tone phone keypad and a synthetic voice tells you something to type in. Takes ages and if phone drops or you messup, redo from start. But at least no interrogation by a call center operative.

I used to do this stuff for a living. Glad I don't. I have XP, win7 and Win10 VALID installs, activated, on VMs on Linux. I have a pair older PC boxes with XP & Win7 for games I never play and XP laptop & Win2000 laptop in the attic. My son has a Win10/Linux dual boot game machine he never uses, he has a Linux laptop, and a bunch of consoles, tablets, phone etc for games.

Free install doesn't equal free activation!

Some newer computers have key in the BIOS. A Linux Live USB stick can read that. I've encountered the opposite problem on a Dell and 3 x Lenovo Laptops that had Win7. The BIOS key was for Win10 only. The key on a running Win7 box obfuscated in the registry and Lenovo has a free tool to read it on ANY Windows 7. Not much good if the PC won't boot or SSD/HDD is bad.

Before installing Win10:
Extract the Win 7 key from Registry using Lenovo utility
ALSO use Linux Live and terminal command to extract any BIOS key that might differ.
Make sure you backup all your data.
Make sure you have an install media of Win7 to go back. You can't always go back and W10 may not install, may run like a pig, or may not activate or you may hate it.
Taking out the SSD or HDD and installing on a fresh on is good.

But it's simply a lie that all Win7 users can upgrade. Downloading the equivalent Win10 is simple. But not all HW will work and not all licence keys will activate the Win10. Microsoft makes no secret of it and does not make the crazy claim that EVERYONE can upgrade from win7 free, even on suitable HW.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Yes, you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade. Here's how

Try this on one of those Windows 7 PCs you mentioned. If it fails, then come tell me about how you couldn't upgrade.

That article is misleading. MS never ended the "free upgrade", but some systems that can be perfectly installed won't activate Win10 with the valid code of that PC. That was true on day 1 of Win10 and MS have an article explaining why you need to buy a licence after you successfully installed (assuming compatible HW). Certain OEM licences, but who bought a retail Win7? I suspect ones where the maker got Windows free or was even paid to preinstall (XP on some Netbooks years ago).

[issybird]

I have been working my way through all of P.G. Wodehouse; I’ve finished 70 of his books. I’ve bought all that are available as ebooks, which leaves some gaps which I fill at the local university library. Alas, I picked up The Old Reliable and it’s a 1968 Pan paperback which has been rebound and has yellowed pages and infinitesimal type.

Reading this is going to be a struggle and I suspect I won’t enjoy it much, which should be impossible for 1950s Wodehouse. I doubt I’ll be able to manage more than a page or two at a time. It’s a good thing the university has a liberal renewal policy.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I have XP, win7 and Win10 VALID installs, activated, on VMs on Linux.

Sadly, this isn't a permanent solution, either. When your Linux rig eventually dies, moving the Windows VMs to another computer will cause them to deactivate.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Quoth

That article is misleading. MS never ended the "free upgrade", but some systems that can be perfectly installed won't activate Win10 with the valid code of that PC. That was true on day 1 of Win10 and MS have an article explaining why you need to buy a licence after you successfully installed (assuming compatible HW). Certain OEM licences, but who bought a retail Win7? I suspect ones where the maker got Windows free or was even paid to preinstall (XP on some Netbooks years ago).

Sorry man. Unless you can show a first hand example of a PC running Windows 7 or 8 that meets hardware requirements (you keep bringing that up even though the very first post acknowledged hardware requirements) I am just going to assume you are ill informed.

I upgraded several old PCs from Windows 7 to 10 and have not yet had a single instance where I was unable to do so.

This conversation is tiresome and derailing the thread. You are wrong and I'll leave it at that.

[Aleron Ives]

I just had my first experience with our glorious digital future. I checked the Kobo store to see if one of the books I bought was still on sale, and not only was it not on sale anymore, but it wasn't available at all. It's been replaced by another edition. This got me wondering how Kobo would handle the book I bought: would it disappear, be silently replaced by the new edition, or still be available?

From a practical standpoint it didn't matter to me, as I decrypted the book the moment I bought it, so Kobo can never take my purchase away from me. Still, I wanted to know if Kobo would have the integrity to preserve the exact item I purchased. I checked my account, and the original book was indeed present and available for download, so Kobo passed the test, at least for now.

When I started buying e-books, I expected that some of them would disappear from the storefront over the years as distribution deals expired, but I wasn't expecting to be reminded of the impermanence of virtual goods less than a month after my first purchase!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

I just had my first experience with our glorious digital future. I checked the Kobo store to see if one of the books I bought was still on sale, and not only was it not on sale anymore, but it wasn't available at all. It's been replaced by another edition. This got me wondering how Kobo would handle the book I bought: would it disappear, be silently replaced by the new edition, or still be available?

From a practical standpoint it didn't matter to me, as I decrypted the book the moment I bought it, so Kobo can never take my purchase away from me. Still, I wanted to know if Kobo would have the integrity to preserve the exact item I purchased. I checked my account, and the original book was indeed present and available for download, so Kobo passed the test, at least for now.

When I started buying e-books, I expected that some of them would disappear from the storefront over the years as distribution deals expired, but I wasn't expecting to be reminded of the impermanence of virtual goods less than a month after my first purchase!

Happened to me with paper books all the time. They constantly went out of print and I had to hunt for an used copy (difficult to do from another country) or just drop the intention to read that specific book.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

I just had my first experience with our glorious digital future. I checked the Kobo store to see if one of the books I bought was still on sale, and not only was it not on sale anymore, but it wasn't available at all. It's been replaced by another edition. This got me wondering how Kobo would handle the book I bought: would it disappear, be silently replaced by the new edition, or still be available?

From a practical standpoint it didn't matter to me, as I decrypted the book the moment I bought it, so Kobo can never take my purchase away from me. Still, I wanted to know if Kobo would have the integrity to preserve the exact item I purchased. I checked my account, and the original book was indeed present and available for download, so Kobo passed the test, at least for now.

When I started buying e-books, I expected that some of them would disappear from the storefront over the years as distribution deals expired, but I wasn't expecting to be reminded of the impermanence of virtual goods less than a month after my first purchase!

I have a few Kobo books no longer available. They appear in My Books and are still downloadable on both devices and website.

Thanks to Kindle Unlimited forcing exclusivity, I've had several of my wishlist items get pulled off Kobo with the dreaded "Item has changed" message on the wishlist.

I've heard a few horror stories of Kindle redacting books and deleting them from devices, but if I remember right it was because the publisher was violating copyrights or something.