W7 will stop by MS .... W10 what I need to know

[miki63au]

Merry Christmas everyone :)


I've been told by an IT guy MS will stop supporting W7 and I should install W10.


I hate changes :sadeyes: and now everything working OK on my telescope comp.
I use CdC, PHD2, DSS, PS, Backyard EOS, FireCapture, Nebulosity, Autostakker


Should I expect trouble to make it all work or the installation is relatively 'painless' :screwy: ??


Thanks for your help.


Cheers,
Mick

[Imme]

The only thing I have to say is make sure you stop all updates occurring....there seem to be never ending automated ones happening every time the sky is clear and they occur when your back is turned in the middle of imaging runs.

Apart from that I’ve been fine with w10

[miki63au]

"...automated ones happening every time the sky is clear and they occur when your back is turned in the middle of imaging runs"


Oh dear :eyepop::mad2:

Thanks Jon for the tip.


Mick

[Camelopardalis]

Just because MS stop supporting it, doesn’t mean it’ll stop working...

[The_bluester]

You can make the auto updates a lot less intrusive. Windows 10 auto restarts happen outside "active" hours and you can change the active hours manually to any 18 out of 24 hour window you like.


On my imaging PC I have the active hours set to 8PM though to 10AM and have never had a restart interrupt a session.

[Imme]

I can’t recall the exact process (google will tell you) but I made a change in the back end that resulted in no updates at anytime (even the download) unless I tell it too - nothing automated at all

[luka]

If you set the network connection as metered and it will never update.

Every now and then change it back, let it update, restart and then change it again to metered.

[skysurfer]

And, starting from W10 1903, you can postpone updates to several weeks, even with the home edition.


And look at this site: https://www.ghacks.net/category/windows/


and you can use this: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-update-blocker

[sutekh]

Did he also tell you that W10 support ends in 2021?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet

--sutekh

[The_bluester]

The difference being that further W10 versions are likely to be released for some time yet and support by that document (For each version) will be 30 months after release of that version.

W7 however is dead in the water and is only occasionally getting a patch released when some suitably horrible security flaw is uncovered.

[sutekh]

"some time" meaning 2025, it looks like:

https://www.guidingtech.com/67821/microsoft-support-end-windows-7-8-10/

[miki63au]

woah... thanks everyone :thanx:, so much to read :screwy::confused2:

[RAJAH235]

A FWIW...
To keep up on all the latest WIN10 "patches & screwups", go to...
askwoody dot com

Lotsa good info there by a great team of experts....with a few novices thrown in.

Merry Christmas to all.

[Exfso]

Yep Woody knows his stuff and shoots from the hip when it comes to loading up Microsoft's screw ups..

[glend]

Absolutely agree. Stop all updates on your present system and it should run for many years. I refuse to buy a W10 system.

[miki63au]

Update:

Well, MS not take no for an answer... after boot up this msg appears.
And blank all other monitor till I shut it down the blue screen msg.

Ah, and not just $300 for the new OS but please buy a new PC too.
Sure, $$$ grows on trees... not on mine unfortunately 😤

Mick

[Startrek]

I’ve been running Windows 10 for 3 years now on my dedicated Astrophotography laptop (it controls my mount - tracking and Goto , assists with PA , image acquisition and capture and image stacking and post processing) and it’s worked flawlessly. It never gets connected to the internet !!! ( except for maybe once a year for new software or new software versions )
Completed Images are transferred via USB stick to my desktop
Basically a standalone computer !

[The_bluester]

Just click on "Don't remind me again" and that should be that.

I no longer see what the issue is with W10 aside from cost if you don't already have it. I have been using it for years including on my imaging PC and I have no more issues with it than I had with W7.

To be honest, if you can confirm our gear all has drivers for 10 you can still "Upgrade" from W7 for free if the software cost is the issue. They no longer push the free upgrade line but even recently I installed it on an old W7 machine and the servers take the W7 product key and activate W10 with it. I presume you can only do it once per W7 key rather than being able to activate new hardware every three months or so which was how W7 allowed for hardware upgrades over time, but I have never tested that.

[Terry B]

Is there any reason that your acquisition computer needs to connect to the internet?
I have an old win10 lappy in my observatory (my wife's retired computer :)) for the camera and a win7 similar one used for telescope control. Neither connects to the internet and I have put them on airplane mode so they don't try to connect to anything. I transfer my images to my home computer using a flash drive.

All the drivers work well and I don't see how any upgrade will make a working system better.
Only change to win 10 if there is a risk and you can eliminate the risk if the computers are stand alone.

[FlashDrive]

Ages back, wasn't there a ' concern ' that Win10 had a lot of ' background ' processes ' snooping ' on the user....obvious while the Computer was on Internet.

Also, Updates couldn't be turned off...!!

That's why I stayed away from it......or is there a way around it...eg: Go into the Registry and start ' hacking ' things.... changing things from ' True to False ' or plain disabling processes.

Going into the Registry, one needs to know exactly what there doing, or all sorts off problems happen.

Col..

[The_bluester]

I think if people are worried about snooping processes they need to worry about a lot more things than Win10.

By my understanding, updates still can't be turned off without digging in to the registry or some jiggery-pokery in routers to block some traffic or similar tricks, but unless you really do want to have your PC totally isolated from the internet it would be best to just let it update. In my experience, W10 has been broken by updates less often than my iphone has. The other bugbear of Windows 10 updating and restarting itself in the middle of the night without user interaction is now easy to deal with, set the active hours to span the entire night and the problem is gone.

I don't see eliminating connectivity as a solution myself, I remote in to my mount PC and run it headless (It has not had a monitor or keyboard plugged in to it in 12 months) and it is using software to copy image files to my NAS in the house as soon as they are downloaded from the camera. They are then replicated on my PC in the house. Unless I want to go outside to make a basic change or just see how things are progressing, mine has to be on my network.

[multiweb]

That's just a splash screen. You can turn it off by ticking "don't remind me again". In no way does it stop win7 to boot or work as advertised. Maybe you're having another separate issue with your machine.

[RAJAH235]

The free upgrade, (whatever), from WIN 7 to WIN 10 is still available.

Go to your "friendly" MS site & look for the "Media Creation Tool."
Info on how to use it is available on the site.
> https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10

Back up all your stuff before doing the upgrade.

[skysurfer]

Get a Mac (or if it is too pricy, install a Linux distro on an existing computer) and get VirtualBox. It runs W10 perfectly, isolated from your host OS.
I have macOS and occasionally I need Windows and then I use Virtualbox. When Windows updates with the blue screen 'configuring updates, don't turn off your PC', I can happily continue on macOS on the same computer.

[Ukastronomer]

If you hate changes then how about Windows 95 :)

[Kal]

You can still upgrade W7 to W10 for free. I did it in December because of the ending support, and the pc still feels the same. All my apps worked despite this being a W7 that was installed back in 2011.


Here is a link to a page with more info:


https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/

[miki63au]

Thanks guys, excellent discussion :thumbsup:

The question is in my mind now.... is it worth it? Will it improve performance, security etc. Is the OS bigger than the W7 and generate more unnecessary files to clog up the HD? Or perhaps clean itself?
I'm not an IT expert and reluctant to dig in deep to setting I have no idea of.... fear of screw things up. But always can ask help from IT guys I guess...
So, is it worth it? Or, like some of you suggest stay with W7?
My PC used for control telescope, cameras , guiding, processing as well net surfing, download and upload files etc.

Cheers,
Mick

[Kal]

Mick, it actually cleared up some space on my HDD when I upgraded to W10. To get the upgrade through I had to initially clear some space (my W7 was on an old 80Gb SSD) and I only had 6Gb free. So I cleared it out to 15Gb free space, did the upgrade, and ended up with 25Gb free space!


As for performance, I notice no difference.

[miki63au]

Thanks Andrew :thumbsup:

[OICURMT]

Two ways to do this in Windows 10...Under : Start/Settings/Update & Security , Click on either


"Pause updates for 7 days" (self explanatory)

"Change active hours" and set it to 7pm to 7am, which will stop updates from running at night.


OIC!

[pjphilli]

I am on Win 7 and as this is now not supported by Microsoft I believe that they are providing a free upgrade to Win 10. I have been told that after a long upload/installation/update period the initial start up of the new Win10 can lead to the message "User profile failed the sign-in" which then does not allow access to Win 10 and involves a difficult and lengthy "fix".
Any opinions/experience with this problem?

[miki63au]

Would be a nightmare for a non IT dude (like me) :sadeyes::bashcomp:

[CalvinKlein]

I have found this to be exceptionally rare. Of the dozens I have done in recent months for clients I have had only maybe 5 that have failed and each one reverted back to Windows 7 without intervention.

(This assumes you are using a USB stick to do the upgrade created with the free Media Creation Tool.)

How old is the computer you are planning to upgrade ?

[RAJAH235]

Just another little hint...or 3...
When performing the so called "Upgrade", make sure that there's nothing else
plugged into any USB port, 'cept for your mouse & keyboard. (If applicable.)
Might also be a good idea to either turn off, (If possible, if not, then un-install)
your current A/V program.

Both have been known to interfere with the WIN10 installation.

Also.....Disconnect the M/C from the internet.
You can check for any updates, later.