Windows 10

[boatbuilder]

Latest post of the previous page:

Is that just the download that was successful or was it also installed automatically, Meryl?

[Meryl]

Is that just the download that was successful or was it also installed automatically, Meryl?

The whole lot BB. Thankfully I don't seem to have lost anything. All my stuff plus loads more[don't ask me what the more is ] It took about 2 hours 20 mins. automatically .After it was finished I had to create an account and a password to use when opening up. This apparently gives me scope to access lots of different sites. As I say the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

[boatbuilder]

Glad to know all seemed to go well for you.

[SL-Dave]

One issue I have is that the Start menu is completely different to that of Windows 7 or before. Programs are now Apps, and they are in alphabetical order. I would prefer to have them in order of most used, especially important when you can't remember the name of a program! Plus, My Computer is now called something completely different!

[boatbuilder]

I haven't found it a problem at all. In fact I think it is better than the old W7 and earlier ones where you had an endless list of programs and then the folders that you had to click on to see what was in them. They are much clearer on W10 and you can drag your most used/popular programs (apps) onto the main desktop part of the display which is completely clear of icons (if you have hidden them) when not required. You can also arrange them however you want so surely that is much the same as having them in order of most used.

'My Computer' is now 'This PC' which is no big deal anyway. I also find that having the option of pinning any number of folders under the 'Quick Access' in the File Explorer extremely useful.

[Meryl]

Ah well I ve ticked the box to reserve it may as well it s got to be better than all the movement you get with 8 I only have to look at it and the font changes

The free offer finishes on Friday

[Meryl]

I am sorry to say that I am disappointed with windows 10. There is so much stuff on there that I will never use. So Iwill be reverting back to W7 . At least I proved to myself that I could do it and if I hadn't done so I would never have known

[frankiesays]

I have decided to take the plunge this evening - first problem: the downloader detects that my display is not compatible and will not proceed. Hmmm.. the monitor is fairly new but I am running two monitors so maybe it is that which it doesn't like? A quick search on Google produces no information about this but there are lots of results showing people having problems using two monitors with W10. So, now downloading the upgrade onto a pen drive and have disconnected the second monitor in the meantime. So, when the download is complete I will reboot the pc with a single monitor and see what happens then. I had a feeling this was going to be hard work, I haven't even got to the bit where I suspect it will inform me that I have a pirate copy of W7 yet - which I don't.

[frankiesays]

I've dowloaded the W10 upgrade files to my pen drive and rebooted with a single monitor and run the W10 PC checker again and again it has flagged up a display issue. The requirements for W10 are the same as for W7 so if my dispplay runs on W7 it will run W10. Also I am supposed to be running Directx 9 or above, I am running v11. So second monitor plugged back in and system put back to where it was. Mission aborted, I thought I might have got a bit further than this though.

[boatbuilder]

If you had the setting for two monitors set did you reset it back to one.

There is a setting on W10 giving various options (see image) and maybe the setting on your W7 has to be set to just the one monitor before it will upgrade. I have never used two monitors simultaneously with W7 so don't know what settings there are on that. This is only my thought on the issue and of course might not be your problem

[frankiesays]

I'm sure that is not the problem BB. Lots of people have upgraded with 2 monitors and the problem has only appeared on some of them after the upgrade. I've just checked the AMD site which now owns ATI as I have an ATI Radeon 4800 graphics card. I'm running DirectX 11 but according to AMD the card only supports up to 10. The card is currently not compatible with W10 unless I install a particular driver which they have provided out of goodwill for MS W10. They advise that this driver must be installed via Windows Update. Unfortunately Windows Update tells me everything is fine and there are no drivers to install. AMD also state that the W10 driver would automatically be installed by the W10 upgrade process - this may be the case but if it won't let me install W10 because of the display incompatibility then that avenue is closed. I think I need a Windows Upgrade that knows I want to upgrade to W10 rather then one which looks to see if I have the right display drivers to satisfy W7.

[boatbuilder]

Sounds very much like a vicious circle to me, Frankie. You specifically mention the graphics card. Did you install that yourself or was it the original equipment with the computer when you bought it, and have you installed any other different hardware?

Hearing all these problems, I'm glad I didn't attempt to upgrade my W7 on the other laptop I have. Not that I ever received the upgrade icon so I guess there was something on there the W10 upgrade checks didn't like, though I don't know what. I did check everything it said like the DirectX version and they were all OK so there may have been some incompatible software I had on there that was the problem.

[frankiesays]

I'm pretty sure it was the card which came with the PC when I bought it around 6 years ago, it was pretty high range then but these things improve very quickly. Its just annoying that Microsoft as basically saying that if your hardware works with W7 it will work with W10 and that is simply not the case. I probably need to upgrade my graphics card if I want to go to W10 but that will be the only factor that dictates it, I don't play PC games so that is not driving the requirement. I'll see how much it is to upgrade. I have W10 on a memory stick now so presumably I can now take my time about it.

[SL-Dave]

This is one of the reasons why I am still on Windows 7, my Nvidia graphics card too old and incompatible with 10. As mentioned, many people are having issues with multi-monitor cards being incompatible, with the only solutions being to upgrade the card or to stay on 7.

Congratulations Meryl on trying - and succeeding - with the upgrade. As you said, it may not be what you want or need, but at least you tried.

Once again, I advise everybody considering a future upgrade to download 'now' onto USB stick, as in 3 days time Microsoft will be charging people.

[boatbuilder]

Might be worth getting some expert advice before spending money on a new graphics card upgrade in case it is something else. I don't know about upgrading from the memory stick if it's after July 29th. There could be a Microsoft quirk in there that might not permit it. You know what these organisations can be like.

[beachgirl]

Its been a while since anyone wrote on this thread but I was wondering if there is an easy way to transfer a database from W7 to W10. I've been able to transfer spreadsheets and the word processing but can't find anything of help with databases. Any help would be appreciated.