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New win10 Preview Info - Atn WR

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Started 8 years ago by mikiem2
Latest reply from mikiem2

mikiem2
Moderator

"Upcoming changes to Windows 10 Insider Preview builds"
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/06/19/upcoming-changes-to-windows-10-insider-preview-builds/

Please read the blog & judge for yourself, but it sounds to me like Insiders will be able to activate the final build, the same one that is released to RTM. *IF* that is correct, then you'll want to set up as necessary & use a Microsoft account with an installed copy of the win10 preview. And you will separately want to join the Insider program using that account.

To sign up for a Microsoft account...
https://signup.live.com/signup?wa=wsignin1.0&rpsnv=12&ct=1434746638&rver=6.5.6509.0&wp=MBI_SSL&wreply=https%3a%2f%2finsider.windows.com%2fhome%2fregister&id=292672&bk=1434746647&uiflavor=web&uaid=6d3e955325c247908d4165e0953694b4&mkt=EN-US&lc=1033&lic=1

To sign up for the Insider program...
https://insider.windows.com/

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Since the original blog post Microsoft has muddied the waters a bit...

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-subtly-updates-blog-post-creates-windows-10-licensing-hysteria

My advice or suggestion would be if you're thinking about upgrading or adding 10, it would not hurt in the least to do a trial install to make sure it runs on your hardware satisfactorily & that you like it. As Chris pointed out in another post, pulling the trigger, updating win7/8/8.1 may be irreversible in the sense that you're giving up your existing license in exchange for a new one for win10. It's simply safer to find out 1st, especially since the companies that made the hardware in your device may or may not ever release win10 drivers.

And if you're inclined to install a copy of the win10 preview, why not tie it to a Microsoft account? I can't think of any downsides. And if you tie it to a Microsoft account, a couple of clicks & you've joined the Insider program.

Once the final [RTM] version is released, updating whatever build you've installed may result in that RTM version being activated as well -- I'm sure a couple of days after RTM on 7/29, whether or not the RTM is activated or not will be very clear, so you can decide then if you want to perform that update. Once you do, Assuming it's activated with your Microsoft account rather than your win7/8/8.1 key, you will be able to reinstall it if you want using that same Microsoft account. You may also be able to find a key using one of those key finder apps like from Nirsoft, perhaps using it for an upgrade install -- who knows?

At any rate it's relatively risk free, may get you in effect an extra key [bearing in mind the free upgrade is for the 1st year only], & **may** be a way to get a licensed OS when/where you don't already have one [depending on how the final legalese is all spelled out by Microsoft].

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Here's another take on it, this time from techspot.com

"Windows 10 will be free for Insiders, grab your Preview copy now and update to RTM later"
http://www.techspot.com/news/61054-windows-10-free-insiders-grab-preview-copy-now.html

Posted 8 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Thanks Mikiem. :)

Posted 8 years ago #
Lester (Chip)
English Mod

Looking forward to the upcoming official release :D

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

There's a new build out for the fast ring -- that means it's only available through Settings -> Update. If this build is later released to the slow ring [which also means an ISO], **might** be the last one before RTM.

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Well, for the fast ring only, 6/30/15 they released build 10158, & 7/1/15 they released build 10159. According to Neowin, Microsoft hasn't published any known issues with either, but the newer build has a bunch of bug fixes & a fancier sign-in screen. Updating/upgrading is faster with respects to downloading the setup files -- it seems much closer to a normal download you'd do in your browser, meaning much closer to maxing out available bandwidth rather than in fits & starts in the background. I did experience one problem where after setting everything up, Windows Update wouldn't restart when I clicked the button -- I had to restart manually, start up Windows Update again, look for updates, & it picked up where it had left off, & this time the restart button worked.

Here's what it looks like
http://www.neowin.net/news/gallery-windows-10-build-10159

With a bare, win10 Pro 64 bit install in my VM, there was a bit over 16 GB worth of junk to get rid of with Disk Clean Up. In the past it was possible to get the install.wim file from the C:\Windows\ SoftwareDistribution\ Download\ folder, &/or the Recovery folder, &/or C:\$Windows.~BT\ Sources\ -- now I can only find Install.esd in that last folder [which is removed with Disk Clean Up]. To my knowledge that means using something like winreducerwimconverter [I've run it in my win10 VM in the past], to convert that esd file into a regular .wim file you can use. You might do that if you wanted to use dism to put the setup files on a hard drive rather than run the full install.

Problems upgrading/installing have been reported, perhaps more with win10 32 bit. I had to go through a fresh install from the ISO to get a 32 bit copy of win10 on this PC -- upgrading from win7 32 would not work [setup would not properly detect CPU capabilities], & copying the files using dism failed during installation. http://www.neowin.net/news/failing-to-update-to-the-latest-builds-of-windows-10-here-are-5-fixes-to-your-problem

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

And another build today - 10162. I have not updated my regular win10 installs while I wait for the pace to slow, or a slow ring release to come out -- updating a VM is easy, since I can be doing other things, but just don't want to go through the hassle, not being able to use the PC etc., & then do it all again the next day. Because I just updated the VM & not the others, I have no idea how common this is, or any sort of proof as to what caused my problems...

Around the 45% download range Windows Update stalled -- no network activity at all. Restarting the update service had no effect. After restarting Windows & running update, win10 took a while with it's error reporting, & then seemed to again stall before it got started. It was then I saw I maybe made a rookie mistake -- too focused on update not working I hadn't noticed a new notification -- it said to sign into my Microsoft account. Signed in & update took off as with prior builds, though it started from 0. :(

Microsoft's announcement from the Insider Hub...

So we have something of a surprise for you today! Our last build to the Windows Insider Fast ring was just yesterday, but we’re following it up with another build today – Build 10159, releasing to the Fast ring.

Why two builds so fast back to back?! As you probably know, we validate builds that we produce in internal rings where they’re used by engineers in OSG and Microsoft. If they pass all of our criteria we make them available to Windows Insiders, first to Fast and then to Slow once we know it’s a stable build. We’d been using 10158 for almost a week and knew it was going to be a strong build, and the data backed that up so we released it yesterday. Hot on its heels though was build 10159, which in addition to more fixes (over 300 of them!), took in one very interesting change. We didn’t want to wait with 10158 so we went ahead and released that build while we were still evaluating 10159. As it turns out though, 10159 is also a great build and passes our criteria for the Windows Insider Fast ring.

We could have held off on it and picked a later build to give you some time with 10158 but we thought that you’d want to see that one change… Let us know if we chose correctly, or if Fast suddenly got *too* fast with 2 builds in 2 days.

We’ll be publishing the build later this afternoon and it should be available everywhere by end of day. If you’re actively downloading 10158 when 10159 is published, you may get an error 0x80246017. If that happens, just reboot your PC, go back to Settings and check again and you should see 10159 offered to you.

----

"Microsoft details Windows 10 rollout strategy and why you may not get the OS on July 29th"
http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-details-windows-10-rollout-strategy-and-why-you-may-not-get-the-os-on-july-29th

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Microsoft has released the ISOs for build 10162 ahead of their appearing in the slow ring

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

"Failing to update Windows 10? Here are several more fixes"
http://www.neowin.net/news/failing-to-update-windows-10-here-are-several-more-fixes

"Some users are experiencing issues activating the latest builds of Windows 10"
http://www.neowin.net/news/some-users-are-experiencing-issues-activating-the-latest-builds-of-windows-10

"Windows 10 will be completed this week"
http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-10-will-be-completed-this-week

Posted 8 years ago #
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru

Thanks for the updates

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

"Windows 10 will not RTM this week"
http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-10-will-not-rtm-this-week

"Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10166"
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/07/09/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-10166/

Hi everyone, we have a new build for PCs we’re releasing today to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring – Build 10166. Just like the 3 builds we released last week, this build is all about bug fixing and fit-and-finish.

For those of you on older builds – now is definitely the time to upgrade to the most current build. Grab 10166 from Windows Update today or build 10162 ISOs from the Windows Insider Program website.

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

1st off came across this app which some might be interested in - it's free, it's for win10 only, it lets you set volume levels individually for each running app. http://www.neowin.net/news/ear-trumpet-a-windows-10-audio-utility-worth-checking-out

Updated a win10 64 in a VM & on my hard drive, with no major issues. Trying to (re)set the sign-in PIN did not work, & adding the Insider Hub app took forever in the copy on my HDD.

I have speculated that the win10 file system is a step towards the new file system Microsoft has been working on for years. If you go to run a disk check in 10, it 1st says you don't have to, but gives you the option to scan anyway. Checking the disk in another running copy of Windows 7 takes forever -- however it *might* be more accurate...

The 64 bit upgrade on my hdd left a bunch of corrupted files behind in C:\Windows.old\. Win10 gave 2 options for scanning the disk -- a regular version that said it would tell me if there were errors, & a repair version. I do not know if the 2nd option is similar to win7's "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". If it is, you don't want to run it on a NTFS disk/partition. For that reason I chose the 1st option which fixed 2 files -- disk check in win7 fixed them all.

I've got a copy of win10 32 on my HDD as well -- a recent addition I hope may eventually take the place of the win7 32 bit copy of Windows I use very occasionally. I'm half guessing, half hoping there will be another ISO released between now & the 29th -- I'm holding out for that build to set up a 32 bit VM, hoping that it works better than the latest build. [The idea is to eventually replace my win7 32 & 64 bit VMs.]

For now though, the 32 bit copy of win10 on my HDD would not detect the available upgrade build, so I went with the last ISO, which worked OK. It still would not detect the latest build however. That combined with problems just getting the 32 bit version installed are what makes me want to wait.

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/07/09/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-10166/

"Update 7/13: We’re only a couple of weeks away now from our public release of Windows 10, and we’re preparing for the world to begin the upgrade process. Windows Insiders have been the first to see our work on Windows 10 at every stage. Now you will also be the first to get a build flighted to you using the channels that we’ll use for targeting and deploying to PCs for our staged rollout.

We’re suspending the availability of Windows 10 builds briefly while we prepare for that, and the next build that we flight to you will be delivered using the production channels. Starting tomorrow, we will also not be delivering any additional ISOs at this point as we really need Insiders to be using, stressing, and validating our distribution and upgrade processes. We’ll make ISOs available again in the future, but for now we ask you to upgrade your current build via Windows Update once the next build is released.

Specifically, this means that in the next 24hrs:

Builds 10162 and 10166 will no longer be offered over Windows Update, and whatever build you’re on will show as “up to date” if you check for new builds.
ISOs for build 10162 will be taken down from the http://insider.windows.com site and prerelease keys will no longer activate builds.

Once we have a new build available we’ll let you know through here with a blog post, Insider Hub, and on Twitter."

Today [the 13th] will be your last chance to install build 10166, or 10162 via the ISO. There will not be any more ISOs till after the 29th. There may [I've read it's likely] be at least one more build through Update before the 29th, perhaps more than one.

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Getting close now, as win10 has made it to RTM. There's a new build for both the fast & slow rings, & the notice about it being an Insider Preview has been removed from the desktop. I've updated the 64 bit VM & the 32 bit VM from my tablet [that's going back on the tablet] without issues. While I haven't done the 32 & 64 bit copies on my hard drive, my son reports updating 10 when you have software installed seemed to take Much longer than prior builds.

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

In the earlier post I noted you can no longer install win10 from ISOs... the activation of any new installs, & **possibly** any needed re-activation are also turned off until the 29th.

Gabe, the guy from Microsoft who's apparently in charge of their communications efforts re: win10, tweeted that a fresh or clean install, even if tied to an insider acct. where win10 was previously activated, will not activate any longer.

The way I read this, FWIW, is if your existing win10 install matters, back it up before attempted to update builds. My guess is that the activation is stored in Windows, & the on-line end of things required for (re)activation has been turned off. If something goes wrong with the update process, then potentially that copy of 10's activation is toast. OTOH if it's been turned completely off, hopefully it will not know or remember that Windows needs re-activation, so no problem once you restore the backup.

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

[https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10]

[http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install?ocid=ms_wol_win10]

[http://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-finalizes-1gb-day-one-windows-10-patch]

Posted 8 years ago #
Dragonlair
Member

I was reading up on the first day of release of Windows 10 and not only is there the one big patch, there's a bad bug with the "restored" start menu that potentially affects a great many of use who use this site for games! Some coder decided that nobody needed more than 512 shortcuts. If you have more -- uh-oh! I have almost 1300 games and Shortcuts Manager reports something like 1500 shortcuts total (a little more, I think but it's too slow to load to fuss with for this post). Microsoft is working on it.

They admit -- they expect some bugs and glitches to be found when it goes truly live. No amount of beta testing will find everything. Since most beta testers were not doing it on their main live machine (at least I hope not), they would only have a subset of what they normally use. This is the original reason I had for waiting before upgrading and I'm still not sure I want to upgrade. I've seen images of the new "start menu" and I DO NOT like it. Replacing "All Programs" with "All Apps" with NO sub-structure available is not gonna cut it with me.

Also, Windows 10 has totally eliminated Windows Media Center. That would be no big loss for me -- I didn't even know I had it!

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

Also, Windows 10 has totally eliminated Windows Media Center. That would be no big loss for me -- I didn't even know I had it!

It was common in 7, then MS made it a $10 add-on with 8, though for the 1st little while you could add it for free. It seems it has 3 main, popular uses... People can copy their DVD collection [Not Blu-Ray] to hard drives, then use WMC to catalog or index & play them all. And you can buy an external box or internal card that gives you your cable TV channels in WMC, where you can watch &/or record them using WMC as a DVR. And if you use an antenna to receive digital over-the-sir broadcast TV, you can save that to your hard drive, same as with cable but without DRM.

In the grand scheme of things WMC became somewhat of a niche product that forced Microsoft to jump through hoops to keep the DRM people [hollywood etc.] happy enough, while infuriating users. They have come up with a replacement DVD player for 10, but you have to buy it from their store if WMC is not already installed in the copy of Windows you're upgrading.

Posted 8 years ago #
mikiem2
Moderator

They admit -- they expect some bugs and glitches to be found when it goes truly live. No amount of beta testing will find everything.

"Here's what's next for Windows 10"
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/30/9072271/microsoft-windows-10-updates

The first bigger collection of fixes will come with what Microsoft calls Service Release 1 (SR1). Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that SR1 is due to be released in early August, possibly as early as next week. While SR1 won't include new features, it will fix some of the issues people have been experiencing with Windows 10.

;)

Posted 8 years ago #

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