Windows 10 Stuff, questions & advice
However, since replacing HDDs by SSDs can make a huge difference in whether a PC can run W10 quickly or not then "I've started and so I'll finish" with a few important points I forgot to include last night, notably:
- Fitting an SSD to a desktop is ususually quite easy as you can open the case without special tools, but you'll probably need an adapter frame to mount the SSD where the HDD was because the former is generally smaller and notably thinner than the latter. The frames cost around £12-£15 online.
- By comparison, fitting one inside a laptop can be much more difficult and time-consuming because just getting the case open can be a tricky job. YouTube can usually be your friend there - search for your laptop model number and "replacing the HDD", or "fitting an SSD".
You will probably require some extra tools to prise apart and separate the case sections - so you'll need to get some "spludgers" (yes, that's the name to search for!) and then be very careful and progressive about how you use them.
OTOH, if there is a DVD/CD drive fitted to the laptop and you are prepared to remove that, then the SSD can be fitted in the same space with an adapter frame - and that generally involves only removing/refitting a couple of screws to extract the drive and replace it with the SSD + adapter frame (but will then need you to go into the PC BIOS to change the boot order from the original HDD to the SDD after the replacement is done).
- When choosing an SSD to physically replace an HDD inside the machine, first (in Windows!) search for and open the "Control Panel" and then "Device Manager, then expand "Disk Drives" to establish what HDD is already installed, and search online again for that model number to find out the physical sizes - it will probably be thicker than most SDDs (the latter come in various thicknesses) and so you might need an adapter frame into which to fit the chosen SDD into the same mounting in the PC. Adapter frame prices are about the same as for desktops.
- As for the SSDs themselves, personally I would choose one no smaller than 480/500GB as they cost little more than the 240/250 GB versions, but provide a lot more space to allow for the progressive build up of Apps & "bloatware"/c**p" on the PC (and they are often faster than the smaller versions as well!).
Hopefully the above will clarify some of the issues left unexplained so far, and so I would be grateful if you could limit further comments on this subject to points that you feel are still unexplained and/or "necessary"
Otherwise, back to WIndows 10 then?
Benz3ene & Peter
As for having to get new rigs with 10 already installed, I've upgraded 2x Win 10 machines (8 yr old laptop and 3-4 yr old HPdesktop which replaced the fried nettop ) and the W7 nettop to SSDs (now mainly using Macrium Reflect Free - better than whatever comes with the SSDs!) and the difference is like night and day!
Would I spend four/six hundred quid on a new rig when I can get pretty much as good performance with an SSD costing around £50-£60 for a 500GB SSD of a reputable brand? Certainly not ATM.
OH & BTW, been reading that many modern laptops are almost impossible to repair/upgrade because they are being put together like Apple makes its phones = almost impossible to get inside because you have to break all the seals and keyboard connections - which sometimes used welded plastic rivets instead of actual metal bolts - and thus are then nearly impossible to reassemble correctly. That's why many modern machines are so cheap!
What I was attempting to say was that there's no option for buying a Windows-orientated PC without Windows installed for a lower price, hence the free upgrade should still be available (which it is).
I definitely agree that going older and upgrading is a better route, which is why so many 2012/2013 MacBook Pros are still in service. IIRC the older Lenovo IdeaPad/ThinkPad are good options which can be upgraded easily enough. I might look to upgrade my current Macbook Retina (base model) for something with a bit more oomph, and Windows, as file management is just that bit easier for me...
OTOH, having a USB dock can be very useful if you often want to copy/clone stuff to/from an HDD/SDD - I have 3x USB3 docks and use them regularly.
What I was attempting to say was that there's no option for buying a Windows-orientated PC without Windows installed for a lower price, hence the free upgrade should still be available (which it is)....
Actually, you can buy PC's without Operating Systems - such as this one from Ebuyer .
That's a desktop, and others are available from many specialist PC builders, but it's rare to be able buy laptops without Operating Systems unless, possibly, secondhand.
A W10 install might then work if you can buy a W7/8.1 (but not W8 original) Product Key from one of the online auction sites for a few quid (I have several "unused" W7 Pro Keys stored for "future use" - but not sure if they will actually work when "needed".).
What I was attempting to say was that there's no option for buying a Windows-orientated PC without Windows installed for a lower price, hence the free upgrade should still be available (which it is)....
Actually, you can buy PC's without Operating Systems - such as this one from Ebuyer .
That's a desktop, and others are available from many specialist PC builders, but it's rare to be able buy laptops without Operating Systems unless, possibly, secondhand.
A W10 install might then work if you can buy a W7/8.1 (but not W8 original) Product Key from one of the online auction sites for a few quid (I have several "unused" W7 Pro Keys stored for "future use" - but not sure if they will actually work when "needed".).
Absolutely, I know it happens, but very rarely for commercial laptops/desktops. I used to have a gaming laptop that came without an OS, which was great fun. Bags of power for about £600 almost 8 years ago. Probably not too shabby nowadays, but the casing started to disintegrate and I've since updated to a considerably lighter laptop for work.
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Thus, "over to you"
That said, this being a photo-centric forum, it would be preferable if your posts on new subjects were focused on that aspect rather than W10 in general - but "you never really know" what would/could be "photo-centric" in an "oblique" manner!
Thanks all! All very helpful
Gareth
BTW, if you ever need to get a new system then a desktop/tower system could offer a lot more flexibility/expandabilty/"power" for the same/less cash than a laptop because the former are far more capable of being changed and upgraded, and at much lower cost, than laptops where very little can actually be changed/upgraded.
If & when I need a new system, then it will be another desktop/tower (and probably a s/h decent spec unit from a brand like HP/Dell - though what you can change is more limited than with those from independent PC builders which can mix'n'match the best stuff from whichever component suppliers are the "best" at the time)
Windows 10 is very mature now and I've found to be very stable at work and at home. Keep all your device drivers up to date and you should be ok.
Definitely put your OS on an SSD
You can either move an existing instance across, or personally I much prefer to do a clean install.
Either way, this product is free (well was last time I checked) and extremely handy to work out what's going on.
Not sure that I agree with you about "fresh installations" because of the resultant "heavy workload" to reinstate and then update all the Apps that were previously installed (my previous W10 "upgrades" worked fine without causing many (any??) real issues), but many thanks for your comments.
Nevertheless, I would like remind everyone about the privacy issues that can come IF you don't "close down" all the Microsoft "spying" that can come with W10 - please check earlier in this, and the earlier linked, thread if you are concerned about that and want to prevent it!
OTOH, if it's your work PC, then that's up to your company's IT Admins - hope "they" are "up to the challenges"
The W10 system is solid as long as it's restarted regularly otherwise it seems to develop anomalies; so it usually gets restarted on a Sunday. I guess some piece of software does not fully clean up after it closes but I don't have the inclination to pursue it since we have a practical work around. To my surprise some ancient Fuji software which came with my first digital camera 15 years ago runs correctly on Win10 which is quite impressive in itself.
And +1 for the SSD upgrade which I did a couple of years ago.
Ref that W10 system running the 15+ yr old Fuji s/w: Win 10 64 bit seems to run most very old s/w as long as it's a 32 bit or 64 bit version, but won't natively run very, very old 16 bit stuff, whereas Win 10 32 bit seems to be able to run the latter with no problems.
OTOH, my WIn 10 Pro 64 version can run the 16 bit s/w under in a Virtual Machine environment such as VMware with Win XP installed therein.
Ideally, I want it to show as my z drive so that my Lightroom catalogue will find all my image files.
The WD help system is opaque, confusing, full of dead links and keeps circling back to the same pages that didn't work the first time.
Thanks, Kris.
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Brian
BTW: doesn't that kinda contradict what you said in your first post??
Yes I suppose, just like Microsoft
Brian.
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