Windows 10 - are you upgrading?

[alpal]

Hi Everyone,
I have windows 7 & it seems that almost every day I
am reminded to upgrade to Win 10.

I am concerned that many of my essential programs may not work if I do.
Photoshop CS5 is the main one but I also
have Fitswork4 which is invaluable for processing especially Gradient Removal.
I also use NASA FITS Liberator, Stellarium, Worldwide Telescope,
Astro Tortilla & many other programs.

I use Windows Live Mail for my main mail plus my old hotmail address
& I've already had a reminder yesterday that it won't work by mid January
unless I download a particular file.
When I downloaded that it wouldn't install because
there were "un-named files missing".

I wish that Win 10 had never existed as already I have found the above problem
before I even get into the starting line.

What are you all going to do?

cheers
Allan

[mswhin63]

Thanks for the heads-up on Fitswork4. I just installed it on my Windows 10 PC and it worked fine. I haven't processed anything yet but if there is something that you want to know then let me know and I maybe able to test it.

In general I have found no problems as yet. Some have but not sure about the other programs

[leon]

Not a chance, I will stick to what I've got.

Leon

[Atmos]

I upgraded my cheap laptop from Windows 8.1 to 10 and it improved the computer dramatically. Haven't had any issues with MaxIm DL, TSX, SGP, ASCOM, PHD2. I don't do any processing on Windows however, purely imaging laptop.

Recently upgraded my main laptop from Windows 8 to 10, it is running via Parallels on my MacBook Pro. Haven't had any issues yet.

[uwahl]

Flight Sim X crashes every time with Win 10. That's a deal breaker so I removed it. It seemed to work OK with Photoshop in the two weeks I had it installed.

Ulrich

[jenchris]

Win 10 is ok if you want to relinquish all thoughts of privacy.
If they insist I have Win 10 I'm going for Ubuntu.

[alpal]

What version of Photoshop?

[vlazg]

I upgraded to Win 10, as yet no problems with any programmes, CS6, all astro programmes running ok.Don't use astrotortilla but align master running ok

[alpal]

Thanks George -

people here seem to be having some problems:

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1920362?start=0&tstart=0

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1945418?start=0&tstart=0

https://www.reddit.com/r/photoshop/comments/3ez2lu/will_upgrading_to_windows_10_have_a ny_effect_on/


I wonder if I can perhaps buy an SSD hard drive and reload Win7 on that
then download Win 10 & try out all my programs.
If they work - great -
if they don't I can just unplug the SSD & plug my old HDD in & nothing will have changed?


The only thing is that my OEM Win7 license might not allow me to load
Win7 & get it registered with another Hard Drive?
I'm in the dark here but over the Xmas holidays I'll have time to try that.

cheers
Allan

[jenchris]

If you ghost your hard drive complete, I would expect that Microsoft would accept the swap over.
Once you are connected to win 10 you can't turn off any update or trace.
You'll always be switched to win upgrade even if you turn off the switch..... it sees it as a fault and turns it back on everytime you boot up.

[alpal]

Hi Jennifer,
That's a pain - sometimes I don't want their updates -
it's for things that aren't important.
As for spying - we are already spied on with everything we do -
the computer world is full of nosey parkers.

I don't want to ghost my hard drive but reload a whole new one so that
I leave my working hard drive alone.
That way I can revert back to it if Win 10 ends up not working
properly with all my current programs.


cheers
Allan

[RobF]

Threw caution to the wind and upgraded my desktop from 8.1 to 10 yesterday. After a couple of hours and at least a few reboots (all automatic) was actually a bit gobstruck my old desktop astro picture was still there, along with all my existing desktop icons.

Put classic shell back on and all seems well so far.
Did a full SSD ghost before and after of course, just in case.

[RobF]

Actually I upgraded to fix something that was bugging me in FSX TBH. :ashamed:
FSX etc running quite happily after the operation. Haven't had to re-install anything as yet. Its quiet out there.....too quiet.......

[GrampianStars]

Originally Posted by jenchris
If you ghost your hard drive complete, I would expect that Microsoft would accept the swap over.
Once you are connected to win 10 you can't turn off any update or trace.
You'll always be switched to win upgrade even if you turn off the switch..... it sees it as a fault and turns it back on everytime you boot up.

Not quite right

if you don’t want Windows 10 automatically downloading updates on your home network connection, just set it as a metered connection.
To change this option, open the Settings app, select Network & Internet, scroll down, and select “Advanced options” below the list of Wi-Fi networks. Enable the “Set as metered connection” option. This option only affects the Wi-Fi network you’re currently connected to, but Windows will remember this setting for each individual Wi-Fi network
:thumbsup:

[gregbradley]

I have switched to Wins 10.
Overall I like it.

No real issues with it. The Microsoft Edge internet browser is simplified but I would keep Internet Explorer 11 as Edge makes it hard to download files for some odd reason.

Greg.

[Shiraz]

upgraded and regretted it. win10 is very slick and nice to use, but it has twice required a complete reset on my HP Quad i7 laptop (some aspect of the system is marginally stable, but I don't know enough to figure out what is failing). The last crash followed a system update and the effect was that a critical component would not start, so neither would win10.

It takes a long time to rebuild the astro software - a Win10 reset removes every app and it all has to be reinstalled from scratch - so this last time I decided to dust off an ancient Vista machine and put the astro stuff on that. Since Microsoft is no longer supporting Vista (?), it is likely to be unaffected by disastrous updates. Took a while to dig up all the passwords and old 32 bit drivers and I had forgotten how iffy Vista was with driver management, but it seems finally to be a working system. Seems a retrograde step, but maybe the best approach for now - sometime I must buy a new laptop and see if my astro stuff will run reliably on that under win10. Will also have a look at Linux, to see how much can be done in that environment.

[alpal]

Hi Ray,
what a pity -
after reading that I don't think I'll update to Win 10 -

I'll leave well alone - everything is working correctly now with Win 7.

cheers
Allan

[Atmos]

If it ain't broke, don't change it :P

[gregbradley]

I might add that I do not use the Wins pc for astro.
Greg

[alpal]

Hi Colin,
Yes - I am starting to agree with that.
I don't feel like re-installing about 20 or more other programs
& then find that some of them either don't work or have bugs -
when they work perfectly now under Win7.

I know at work - my company will keep Win 7 on our computers.


cheers
Allan

[Paul Haese]

No and won't upgrade. Having no option to turn off updates is no good for remote imaging. That could result in the destruction of equipment.

[AstralTraveller]

Given some of the horror stories around here about Win I'm surprised more people don't make the switch. No privacy issues that I'm aware of (please correct me if I am wrong) and installing updates doesn't require a restart.

I left Ubuntu after they inflicted the Unity desktop on me and switched to Mint, which is Ubuntu under the hood but with the MATE, Cinnamon or KDE desktops. I notice Ubuntu now supports MATE so perhaps I could switch back. On the other hand AFAIK the Astro Distro is just Mint running the MATE desktop with a shed load of astro apps pre-installed and a night-vision mode. I haven't played with it much so I can't comment on whether there are any down sides but I doubt it.

[alpal]

But Rob says

[Paul Haese]

So what does a metered connection mean? Does it mean I will decide when to do the updates or does it decide when the system is connected to the internet, which always in the case of remote imaging? If it decides it will do a reboot in the middle of the night after it installs an update this will cause a failure in the roof drive system to close should the sky conditions change. I know this because I have had this once before in the early days of setting up the automation. Fortunately it was a cloud free night but it could have been catastrophic. I now have windows updates turn off all the time. And; hence my comment. Failure is not an option in this situation. I am sure Microsoft just wants everyone on the same system so that each computer is always up to date. No doubt this sort of situation is not even in their purview, but remote science experiments would also potentially suffer from reboots.

[AstroJunk]

Windows 10 is absolutely fantastic. I love it - seriously. But I don't recommend it for your remote observatory for the reasons you state. Stick to 8.1 for the moment that has all of the benefits and none of the drawbacks.

I have run into update issues with my remote observatory already. It waits until you are doing nothing before an update which is great unless you are waiting for an occultation! MS will have to relax that behaviour for businesses to adopt it, so maybe it will be a short lived policy to get over the inevitable glitches...

(Thinking about it, I wonder if I set the observatory LAN to Metered and fool it to not update!)

[uwahl]

Photoshop CC. I have the $10 a month subscription so it offers me updates quite regularly.

Ulrich

[alpal]

Hi Paul,
I don't know what a metered connection means.
I agree that a re-boot would be disastrous for an observatory.
Microsoft needs to make their software better - not worse.

cheers
Allan

[alpal]

OK thanks - I'm using PS CS5.

cheers
Allan

[Geoff45]

I upgraded on Monday 14/12/2015. Mostly works, but File Explorer is frustrating the Hell out of me and lots of other people as well
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/windows-10-file-explorer-is-working-on-it/c26b2c1a-1552-4a83-88b5-a82448f2e1e3?page=1
I'll fiddle with it for a while, since there are lots of other things I like, but an OS with a troublesome file explorer is just not on. I have a month to return to Windows 7 and I'll be keeping that deadline in mind.
Geoff

[alpal]

Hi Geoff,
so you can return to Win 7 -that's great.

Let us all know how you go.

cheers
Allan

[Bassnut]

The OBs PC has a very specific task. Point, take pics and guide. Once it does those perfectly, their is absolutely no reason to update ANYTHING. The only possible result of updating something that does exactly what its supposed to do is the same or something less than what its supposed to do. Golden rule for an OBs PC, once its working, LEAVE IT ALONE. Ill be happy with win 7, sky 6, DL5 for the next 10 yrs (unless im forced to upgrade with new astro hardware).

[GrampianStars]

Absolutely just set your PC’s home Wi-Fi connection as metered and you’ll get to choose.
Note: this only works for Wi-Fi

I've set up a second router with the same SSID connected via ethernet in the obs and use high speed wi-fi to connect the computer
NO more automated downloads of windows ever :thumbsup:

[RobF]

Yes, must admit I have no plans to touch all the astro applications on my Win 7 lappy. If its working, don't touch it. Like DAW software, too much hardware and O/S dependence to be risking any tweaking (unless there is a clear massive performance increase with new hardware as well).

As per Fred - if its taking pics ok, no reason to change for an astro data acquisition PC.

[alpal]

My computer almost upgraded to Win 10 on Thursday night.
It didn't give me a way to opt out.
Many people I know have been "upgraded" to Win10 without their permission.

The solution -
I loaded this program called never10 from Gibson research:

https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

It works well & removes the Win10 symbol in the task bar too.

cheers
Allan

[Sarge]

Mid last year I bought 2 new Toshiba laptops (one for the wife and one for me, saves her borrowing mine ). They came with Win 8.1 with free upgrade to Win 10.
Couple of months ago, I did the Win 10 upgrade on my wife's laptop. It all seemed to download and install ok. Then we noticed constant internet wi-fi drop outs, extremely long startup (over 10 mins) and very slow cpu speed. I spent several days trying to fix all the issues, but that barely made any difference.:mad2:
So went back to Win 8.1. Not even thinking about upgrading my laptop.

Clear skies
Rod
:D:D

[alpal]

Make sure you load never10 - or it will do it without permission.

[alpal]

I am so angry with Microsoft.

I got the email below about my email client which is Win live mail.
I can't understand it.
It seems that Microsoft want me to pay $89 a year to use their
new email client & that it only works in Win10.
My WinLive Mail is also connected to a hotmail account along with my providers account -
so 2 different email accounts.
It doesn't say whether the old Winlive mail will synchronise with the
new email account so that all my folders & sent messages will still be there.
It looks like the new email account for Win10 won't work with Win7 that I have.
If I click the link for a free Office 365 personal it doesn't work.

I don't know what to do now.







Reminder: Action required for users of the Windows Live Mail 2012 application Dear User,

Earlier this year we introduced a new Outl*ook*.*com (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd76003083ee80f2c2fdd 84de03c280808a5037a77487110d0744e5a be35a0217c5388) that will help you collaborate with others, focus on what matters, and get more done. The new Outlo*ok*.*com delivers an exciting set of new experiences across web, phone, and desktop, and we’re eager for you to start using it. It appears that you are currently using the Windows Live Mail 2012 application to connect to your Out*look*.*com account. The Windows Live Mail 2012 application does not support the synchronization technologies used by the new Outl*ook*.*com. When account upgrades begin at the end of June, you will no longer be able to receive email sent to your Out*look*.*com account in the Windows Live Mail 2012 application. Rest assured, you can always access your email by logging into Out*look*.*com from any web browser, and you will continue to have access to all your data that is currently in the Windows Live Mail 2012 application. If you currently use the Windows Live Mail 2012 application, we recommend that you switch to the Mail app in Windows to*day. The Mail app is built in to Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10, and has a more modern design. To begin using it, simply launch the app and add your Out*look*.*com account. If you are using Windows 7, you can upgrade to a newer version of Windows (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd760029e8844a6d168e9 df728de8b11a38b8a12604aa24df880c305 9986bf303195ba) to enjoy the Mail app and the other benefits. If you do not wish to upgrade, you can access your account via a web browser, or, you can take advantage of a free one-year subscription of Office 365 Personal (https://www.microsoftstore.com/promo?promoID=90562900&prod=pyar&ver=2013&dest=Cart&WT.mc_id=PART_OL_OneRM_WLMDep_GetO3 65Offer), and use Outl*ook 2016 to connect to your account.* This Off*ice 365 subscription also includes other productivity applications such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel. It works on Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 10. Please take action before Ju*ne 30th, 2016, which is when we’ll begin upgrading accounts that currently use the Windows Live Mail 2012 application. If you have more questions, please find answers to common FAQs in this help article (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd7600fcc4b3c0ccc9fe7 e6c35802701feb055c5022e4a301ff52c7b f0ab91358a867b), or you can contact Microsoft support (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd7600f9de909750705ac 007b12cbffe8ad3e6f1f5f7df9d5baa20ad ce29b5791dfc40). We recognize that changes like this can be difficult, and apologize for any inconvenience this causes you. We hope that you’ll enjoy the benefits of moving to the new Outl*ook*.*com. Sincerely,
Outl*ook*.*com team https://asgcdn.azureedge.net/general/mslogos/ms_logo_g_double.png (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd76003fb952b5a91b56b 1f744bf3ff0c9819f4a0f2792aab402f907 17c884cac6f686) *Must redeem by October 15, 2016. Valid for first time Office 365 subscriber. Credit card required; cancel anytime at www.office.com/myaccount (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd7600618b6f93c1428ae f2fe8061fb717d1954ba23cafef32acab51 ae4aa92a8a5af0). See full terms here (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd76001b147593359fc62 68e0ceab0af8fdea5825876987e0404832b 0f5e0c342e9a03). Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our Privacy Statement (http://click.microsoftemails.com/?qs=bfa44ee523fd76007fe5318a947b5c6 2a8a2d12a91100e0c56ad7a9ba8bb291ce8 28d3e7984a1b12). Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052 http://click.microsoftemails.com/open.aspx?ffcb10-ff3310757567-fe5612757161027c7213-fe8f1372766502797c-ff961677-fe531275716101757012-ff60137576&d=70012

[alpal]

Hold on - the link is working now:

https://www.microsoftstore.com/store?Action=DisplayPage&Locale=en_AU&SiteID=msaus&id=ThreePgCheckoutShoppingCartPage&WT.mc_id=PART_OL_OneRM_WLMDep_GetO3 65Offer

$89 every year - thanks Microsoft - you thieves.

[alpal]

To me it looks like Microsoft is deliberately getting rid of basic vital
functions like email & your old programs that work perfectly -
in order to make a new business model to get money out of every person
who wants to send an email or 1000 other things.

This is a new way they have invented to make money.
I notice that Adobe is trying the same trick with Photoshop on a subscription plan.

Windows 10 is a straight money grab for things that you used to get for free
or that you've already paid for in older versions.

I had a trial version of Outlook 2013 for an email client &
it can't retrieve the email files from Win Live Mail even
though it's a Microsoft product!

If you try to go the other way & export them from Win Live Mail
to Outlook it doesn't work either -
it asks for some sort of corporate installation of Outlook &
then doesn't explain what that means.

Microsoft has created a nightmare for everyone in order to make money.

[alpal]

I am thinking of downloading Mozilla Thunderbird.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/

Any comments?

[luka]

I used Thunderbird years ago and was happy with it. The only reason I moved to gmail in a browser was because I was swapping computers a lot. It was just easier to log in wherever I was than to carry an USB stick with my email.
Not sure how much it changed over the past 5 years or so.

[AstroJunk]

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/kb/980534

Or use a different mail client - there are plenty out there.

BTW, Office 365 is brilliant and a bargain in every way - especially if you make use if the family deal for up to 5 users. I've got over a terrabyte of files and photos up in the cloud now and can access them from anywhere on any device. I have the very latest office suite kept up to date and it works fabulously with my mobile devices both on and off line!

[RickS]

I have been using it for 5 years for work and personal, email. I would get a couple of hundred emails on a typical day and it deals with that OK. I use filters to shunt lower priority email into folders. The search capability is OK but not fantastic. It has been very reliable and I've never lost folders or individual emails due to software crashes or corruption. There are some minor irritations but overall I'm pretty happy with it. Prior to Thunderbird I was using Outlook. I don't miss it ;)

Cheers,
Rick.

[astroron]

Please explain, what happens after July when the free version is supposed to finish.
What will happen. :question:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[alpal]

Yes - I use Optus Webmail quite a lot but
windows live mail could allow me to use it from home as an email client.

Unfortunately I have used a Hotmail account for over 14 years & it only works now through win live mail.
So many of my forum addresses etc - even Ice in Space -
are through that address that I will have to go & change my email address
on a dozen websites.
Thanks Microsoft for creating a huge problem.
The only consolation is that everyone else is in the same boat -
it's not just me.


cheers

Allan

[alpal]

God knows what will happen.
It's a computer nightmare.

[RobF]

That's what I've used for a couple of years at home Alan without any issues. A little bit different if you're used to Outlook at work, but easy enough to get used to.

[alpal]

Thanks Rob,
I decided to bite the bullet & just pay so that everything would work.
It's $12 a month after the first month trial & I can cancel that & uninstall it if I want.
So I downloaded all of Office to get that which includes the latest Outlook as well.
It does work with Win7.

see here:
https://products.office.com/en-us/office-365-home

I use Outlook at work & it's the email client I prefer.
I just couldn't afford to have my emails not working -
not even for one day as they are so important for me right now.

It was quite a job to get it all working - about 4 hours.
There was a bug where I couldn't export one folder from Win Live Mail to the new Outlook but it's not an important one.

Hopefully with updates coming in automatically -
Microsoft will fix that bug one day.

So I now have 2 email accounts working in outlook
& it seems to work OK - sending & receiving emails.
I'll test it out over the next month.

cheers
Allan

[skysurfer]

Upgrading ?

Yes to macOS Sierra 10.12 this spring.

I run Win10 flawlessly in VirtualBox under macOS 10.11 for DSS.

[alpal]

Well - I'm not happy with the new Outlook 365.

My new Outlook 365 has a problem
It is stuck in IMAP mode not POP mode
so it synchronises all my emails & places them on the server at Optus
& it won't go to POP mode
I don't think it can work in POP mode the same way that the old Win Live Mail works.
IMAP mode is greyed out so I can't select another mode.

It means that it sent 1000s of emails to Optus & put them into my account without permission.
When I spent ages deleting them -
it synchronises with my Outlook folder & deleted them there too-
now in the trash can in both online & offline.
I didn't ask it to change my Outlook folders at home -
it synchronises without permission.

I have spent 2 hours searching Microsoft & I can't even identify what
version I've got or how to change it to a POP account.
Is it a home edition or business?
There seems to be differences between the two.
I didn't even know that there were different editions.
It says Microsoft Office 365 Version 16.0.6965.2053

When installing it said that it was transferring my settings - but
IMAP or POP is an enormous change in settings & it didn't keep the POP settings.

Can anyone help me?

cheers
Allan

[AstroJunk]

I still use POP, but it is considered archaic in this modern world. Ironic since I have everything else online :)

(Sorry, I can be of no help!)

[mswhin63]

Allan,

I am not sure what you are doing! I have been using Windows 10 since it first came out and all the problems you are experiencing, I am not. I am using the same version Outlook and I have 6 IMAP accounts, 1 Exchange Account and 1 POP account, all working flawlessly.

The only disappointment is syncing Gmail calendar accounts, but I recently saw Google are offer Exchange accounts for some emails, This may resolve my issues.

It is a damn lot better than Windows 8.1 and operate similarly to Windows 7.

[alpal]

The only thing I can find is here:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/POP-and-IMAP-settings-for-Outlook-Office-365-for-business-7fc677eb-2491-4cbc-8153-8e7113525f6c#feedbackText

and it has no resemblance to what I have.

It seems that my Outlook is locked into IMAP mode & there is nothing I can do about it.

[alpal]

How the hell did you change from IMAP mode to POP mode?

I am sorry - I am losing my temper over this.
I have 1001 other problems to worry about -
& I don't need this problem too.

[alpal]

I show a screen shot comparing the two email clients.


You can clearly see that the old win live mail had a pop3 setting
& the new outlook 365 is greyed over as though it can't be changed.
( obviously I've used Photoshop to change my name to donald for security reasons.)
Yet the writing above the new one clearly says POP and IMAP settings -
go figure that out?
Does that help anyone understand what's going on?

cheers
Allan

[AstroJunk]

I have has a look at mine and similarly can't switch between POP/IMAP types - It must have automatically connected that way when the account was created.

I suggest you create a new account for the same email manually and set it to POP from the very beginning. Once you are happy with it, you can remove the IMAP version.

[alpal]

Thanks,
There is another way that I thought:
I could just put 95% of my In box & Sent items in other new folders at home.
It seems that only the: In box, sent items & trash synchronise.
It would probably be OK then?
At least there wouldn't be 1000s of personal emails stored in the cloud.
It literally went & stored gigabytes of my email files without permission.

Why the hell don't Microsoft give you a warning of what is going to happen before you install their stupid software?
That was an outrageous breach of security & it's their fault.


cheers
Allan

[alpal]

I found the solution - live with IMAP.

I made a new folder in Outlook 365 which is for "this computer only".
Therefore it's not synchronised with the online account.
I have put over 95% of my in box there.
Those emails no longer show online & they are not in any trash bin either.
That's the solution.

I asked the IT person at work & it looks like Outlook 365 will not work in POP mode.
the writing at the top of the frame in the picture is most likely wrong.

cheers
Allan

[Whemere]

Need advice! Sorry for off-top! Guys, I heard, that in the new Windows 10, in Office 365, is another's powerpoint templates (like http://www.poweredtemplate.com/ppt-powerpoint-design-templates.html - it is an official resource of windows 10). So what I mean - Is it true? Because I need standard templates like in office 2010, because all my tasks I must do with the same templates, or my boss going to kill me)

[madbadgalaxyman]

Upgraded to win 10 on one of my two laptops.

As usual, the main really (!!!) annoying annoyances, which progressively get worse with each successive version of windows, are:

- increasingly finicky about what software it will run and won't run.

- progressively worse backward-compatibility with legacy software

- the ever-increasing multitude of background-processes and programs running in the background without the knowledge of the user, 'hidden' hogs of bandwidth that use your precious data allowance when you are online, secret reportings of information back to Microsoft and to other entities on the internet, etc.

You can turn off most of the privacy-busting features, and most of the 'reporting back' features and most of the "hidden background thingies that use CPU & Memory & Bandwidth resources" using readily available fixes on the internet.

However, the problem of Window's 10 inability to run a lot of early-2000s software is nearly impossible to overcome without resorting to nerdy and untidy partial solutions like running a virtual Windows XP operating system. This is why one of my machines is still running Windows 7.