Windows 10 installation

Windows 10 became available yesterday. Here are some notes on the NickWorks findings so far:

(1) As a free upgrade to most editions of Windows 7 and 8, Windows 10 does not have an expiry date set (unlike all previous versions of Windows, which all had a defined life-cycle, forcing users to upgrade to later editions). This is seen as a GOOD THING.

(2) Most versions of Windows 10 have Windows update enforced. You can't opt out of updates, or turn particular updates off. This is seen as a BAD THING for 2 reasons
  (a) If an update causes problems on a particular system, there is no way to stop it being applied.
  (b) In future Microsoft could look at charging for parts of their service and users might have no way to keep Windows working without paying.

(3) Installation of Windows 10 is not difficult - it is an upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 only, and you need to start from a licensed working machine with an eligible copy of Windows on it. Your programs (which you now have to call "apps") and your personal data are preserved by default.

 Most eligible users are being offered Windows 10 through a forced update which is placed in their system tray. Clicking on this allows you to start the update process - or check that your PC has suitable specification, and see which of your apps will be compatible.

(4) It is still possible to start the install without this, by visiting https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 - but you only need to read on if you did not get the automatic update offer.

There are two media creation tools available, 32 and 64 bit, so check your PCs architecture (to do this type "msinfo32" into the Run box and look at the entry "System type". x64 means a 64 bit system...X86 means 32 bit).

When you download and run the media creation tool, it allows you to choose whether to upgrade the current PC (in which case you don't have to tell it more about the system) - or to create the media for upgrading a different PC. If you choose the second option, you then have to tell it what options you want: Language, Windows 10 edition, and architecture (32 bit, 64 bit or both). The likely edition choices are Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro...the Pro version is for users upgrading from Pro and Ultimate editions of Windows 7 or 8. The "N" versions have no media player etc included.

 If you are downloading for the upgrade of a different machine, you get the choice of "ISO file" or "USB flash drive". If you choose "ISO file" it will download the Windows 10 installer and save it as a .iso file which you would then have to burn to DVD, then using this bootable DVD as your install medium. If you choose "USB" it will require you to plug in a USB drive with at least 3GB free and any old content will be erased. You can then use this drive as your install medium by booting the target PC from it.

 If you have chosen the "easy way" and run the media creation tool on the target PC, it will move on from downloading Windows 10 to doing the install. There is a choice of "what to keep" - the default is to keep personal data and apps. There may be a warning about the display language being reset.  It then checks that there is enough disk space - and off it goes - my test took 40 minutes to do the upgrade after downloading finished.


 

Website forwarding down

Fasthosts inform me that all users who have BT or Virgin as their service providers will fail to see sites that have been forwarded using the Fasthosts website forwarding service. This means that a number of sites that I manage are suffering. They can all be accessed by going directly to the address where they are hosted.

nickbarber.net -> http://nickworksremote.wix.com/nick
azzurrostringquartet.co.uk -> http://nickworksremote.wix.com/azzurro
deborah-allon.co.uk -> http://debswebs.byethost16.com/index.html
englishrebellion.org.uk -> http://www.englishrebellion.co.uk/
louiselathamstrings.org -> https://sites.google.com/site/stringcourses/
malcolm-allison.co.uk ->  https://sites.google.com/site/malcolmallisonviolin/
reclaimedyorkflags.co.uk -> https://sites.google.com/site/dovestonesreclamation/home

Web promotions - a great way to get a good deal??

We are told that the internet has opened up wonderful new ways of shopping. At the touch of a button we can source our product, compare all the deals, and pick a good one. So when I saw a promotion from an online printing company for "Club Promoter Packs" I thought something good was heading our way.

In the running of small clubs, orchestras etc we often want to promote an event by creating a set of flyers, posters etc all bearing the same image but in different sizes. The "Promoter Pack" offered 1000 A6 flyers, 10 A4 posters and 5 A3 posters. Perfect! Except we would like a package that uses A5 flyers, not A6.

No problem, we will google "Club Promoter Pack" and see who else has a similar product. The search produces a list of around 40 different printers ALL OFFERING EXACTLY THE SAME PACKAGES. They haven't even bothered to write their own text. All say "we don't farm out our print to other companies" and "some of the most competitive lithographic prices in the UK!" ...but as all are offering exactly the same wares and options, I rather think the printing is also coming from one source.

So there's your wonderful range of choice offered by the web.

Drivers

If you have ever reinstalled a Windows PC you will know the scenario. Windows is installed, but certain devices aren't working yet because you can't find the right drivers for them.

First, look in the Device Manager and find the device which is not installed. Right-click on this, and select Properties, then Details. The "Hardware Ids" will allow you to establish the Vendor code (VEN_) and the Device code (DEV_).

Look these up in www.pcidatabase.com and you will find out the manufacturer and device names.

Go to the manufacturer's website and search for the driver for the device that you located above - remembering that it is probably operating system version specific!

The websites that offer to find and supply the driver for you are generally useless - the will want to charge you, enroll you or fill your PC up with malware (or all these things!).

Windows 8 trap

I you have a newish Windows PC it probably has Windows 8 installed on it. And when it was new, you probably saw messages about creating recovery media, and about doing backups. Keen to get started, you probably dismissed these as quickly as possible.

But watch out. When Windows is installed a Product Code is needed to activate it. If your machine needs to be reinstalled, this code will be needed. It's not written down anywhere, just stored in an encrypted form on the disk. If the disk fails, the code has gone...and if you didn't generate the recovery disks then there will be no option but to buy a new copy of Windows for around £80!

Older versions of Windows always carried a paper sticker with the code on it

Windows Activation saga!

Reinstalling a Windows machine is normally a reasonably predictable job. The reinstall is quick, then you have to apply service packs, then you spend quite a while allowing the machine to do Windows updates. You hardly notice that the Windows product key has to be applied to the installation.

If you're in luck, the required key is on a Microsoft sticker applied to the machine - but it is always a good idea to use a utility like Produkey to get a record of the product key before starting a reinstall.

Sometimes things aren't quite so smooth though, as my last machine highlights...

(1) Machine won't boot. Nor will it boot into the manufacturer's recovery partition.
(2) Booting from a Windows 7 install DVD and attempting recovery from there fails.
(3) There is no way forward but to reinstall the machine.
(4) First the user's data must be backed up - remove the disk and access it from another machine.
(5) Because permissions have to be reset on each file, and the user has a very large number of data files, this proves impossibly slow.
(6) Back to booting from the Windows install DVD, then going to the command prompt option, connecting an external disk and using xcopy with a few suitable commend-line options to copy the user files to the disk.
(7) Copy the file which contains the product code (C:\Windows\System 32\config\software) to the disk and access it from a Windows XP machine to allow the product key currently in use to be recorded with Produkey. This key does not match the key on the Microsoft sticker.
(8) Then attempt to reinstall Windows. It can see the disk, but fails to install to it, even when the advanced options are used to remove existing partitions etc.
(9) Replace the disk with a used one.

(10) This disk is already installed with the same version of Windows, so attempt to use it - but Windows is not activated, and the activation fails using the product key that it used to have.
(11) Activation also fails using the product key from the old disk.
(12) Phone activation fails - this involves making a long call to Miscrosoft and typing in a 54-digit number and receiving a different one back.
(13) Speaking to a real person from Microsoft leads to the conclusion that the code is counterfeit or blocked for some reason.
(14) Reinstalling Windows to this disk leads to the same activation problem - but this time the phone option is not presented..
(15) Running the command cscript.exe "slmgr.vbs" -dlv > %userprofile%\desktop\act.txt gives a text file that contains the 54 digits required for phone activation. 
(16) c:\windows\system32\sppui\phone.inf lists the required phone number.
(17) But again the code is rejected as blocked.
(18) Note the code on the product key sticker. This is so worn that it is almost unreadable. Using a strong light, a magnifying glass and a bit of guesswork, get the code.
(19) This code succesfully activates Windows!
     

WIndows 7 Starter Edition

Dear User,

You know when you got that new computer, and there was all this stuff about creating backup media, that you ignored? Well when your machine runs Windows 7 Starter, it's best to make sure you don't ignore it.

Windows 7 Starter edition is not available for download or purchase. The manufacturers are required to supply you with the means to reinstall Windows - and they do that by adding a recovery partition to the disk. Sadly, if this fails, or becomes corrupted, you NEED the recovery media that you didn't make....