What did I do?

[100Coogn]

You've been lucky for having no compatibility issues, Coogan. I suppose the majority of those who have upgraded have no issues they'd be aware of. However there's lots of people who do suffer from severe issues.

As for the activation thing, I only know that Microsoft refused to answer to the reporters asking about which hardware can be changed without hassle. The editors suggested that changing a hard disk or video card would cause no problem, but that changing the motherboard might do so especially because changing the mobo usually means a fresh reinstall. At the moment that can be bypassed by reinstalling the original OS and upgrading from there, but what will happen after July?
 According to Microsoft they won't: "It’s the Windows you know, only better --- Familiar and up to date", "This combines the strengths of Windows 8 with Windows 7." etc. from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/features.

A friend of mine works in an internordic household appliance store, mainly in the computer section. He had been on some lecture led by Microsoft spokespersons. What he found kind of disturbing was that the MS folks didn't talk about "updates", they talked about "new versions" instead. Now each "new version" has a new EULA, which will get automatically agreed with every major automatic update. Personally I don't like accepting agreements without having the option to read them first.

I just installed this Asrock Pro 970
It was only a call to an automated system at MS, that instructed me to type in some numbers to verify.
After that, Windows was activated with the new MOBO.

Coogan 

[mbailey]

Heck, I'd be happy to just get rid of the " Upgrade to  Win 10" pop up I get every time I fire up my win 7 laptop....talk about a PITA

[Bizman]

Heck, I'd be happy to just get rid of the " Upgrade to  Win 10" pop up I get every time I fire up my win 7 laptop....talk about a PITA

That's relatively easy to fix.

Start by going to Windows Update, select Change Settings and uncheck "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates"

Download and run "I don't want Windows 10". I always do it in the advanced mode. Sometimes it has to be run twice.

That's it. Until they decide the nagging advertisement is an "important" update.

While you're at it, uninstall the updates Skuzzy warned about here: http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,71591.msg4998528.html#msg4998528

[Skuzzy]

Sure it has it's problems, no doubt.
I like to think of Windows 10 as a puppy I'm helping to train
All I can do is hope he don't poop in the house and not to hand him my money. 

We're going to have to accept that 10 is here & now.  Might as well bite the bullet and at least give it a shot. 
Not just because it's the new show on the block, but soon to be the only show.
Can always roll back, if necessary.

Coogan

We really do not have to accept anything.  There are always alternatives.  Windows 7 is good until 2020.  No telling what Microsoft will be shipping by then.

My personal computers have Windows 7 on them.  When it dies, it will be replaced with something that is not from Microsoft.  Ta Da!

[100Coogn]

We really do not have to accept anything.  There are always alternatives.  Windows 7 is good until 2020.  No telling what Microsoft will be shipping by then.

My personal computers have Windows 7 on them.  When it dies, it will be replaced with something that is not from Microsoft.  Ta Da!

I will make a prediction that by this time next year, you will have come to the dark side... mwahaha

Coogan

[Chalenge]

I know for a fact that the other four leaders of the MISO group have ordered the move to Linux, thereby dumping Windows. In this next year I plan on building a Linux + Wine box to test how it works with games, Steam, and development apps like 3DS Max.

2020 is just four years from now.

[715]

I guess I'll derail the thread a tad further by asking a question about Windows 10: why? 

In other words, besides DirectX 12 which is apparently a significant improvement that will start being exploited by games in the future, why would I want Windows 10?  Ignoring the obvious privacy and marketing issues, what exactly does it add that I don't get in Windows 7 or even Windows XP?  My wifes laptop is, by necessity, Windows 8.1 and it does nothing but annoy us.  There is nothing there that is "better" and a lot that is worse.  It took us forever just to figure out how to turn the thing off and neither of us appreciated the constantly updating "advertisements" (i.e. tiles) on the start screen.  Sure, I can (and did) disable those, but how is "you can remove the added stuff" an improvement over not having the stuff in the first place?  The only thing I have found marginally better is Task Manager, while we have run into a lot of bugs, like important dialog windows popping up underneath the active window, making them invisible.  Plus it often takes multiple tries to get the stupid Charms to show up so we can shut off the computer.  (To those that say "just push the power button stupid" please note that it defaults to having the computer sleep not turn off.  And yes, I know how to change that too but what sense is there to a new operating system if you have to make a bunch of changes to get it back to the way the old OS worked yet gain nothing new that is usable?) 

So those of you that are Windows 10 boosters: what new features do you enjoy or which enhance your tasks or gaming?

[Chalenge]

Windows 10 is what Windows 8.1 should have been (more like W7). Aside from that I cannot tell you, because I made too many hardware changes that make the system much faster at the same time I "updated" to W10.

I will say this though. All the little things about W7 that used to cause me headaches and long periods "correcting," are gone with Windows 10. It could be that I might have gotten the same result by just reinstalling W7, but I doubt it. There are other things that bother me about Windows 10, and I cannot shake the feeling that some technician in Washington (one or the other) is messing about on my SSD/HDD during peak usage periods, but that's probably just AT&T burping down my fiber line. Still, this system is the most stable I have had for a while now, and considering how loaded down it is that's saying something.

[Excaliber]

All good input..thanks. I cant say the 10 upgrade is the culprit as my game play has been sporadic during this time. I upgraded about 3 weeks ago and have noticed the issues in the last two weeks. Cant remember if I have actually played AH in the win10 environment with out issue. I have updated all drivers,,,nvidia vid card also. I have a 2 year old PC that was SOA at the time.....The bios are old but were stable in win7.... this PC has excelled in the AH environment....
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 10586) (10586.th2_release.151121-2308)
                           
                     BIOS: BIOS Date: 10/20/10 09:47:36 Ver: 08.00.10
                Processor: AMD FX(tm)-8150 Eight-Core Processor            (8 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
                   Memory: 8192MB RAM
      Available OS Memory: 8138MB RAM
                Page File: 2419MB used, 13910MB available
              Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
          DirectX Version: 11.2
      DX Setup Parameters: Not found
         User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
       System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
          DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
                 Miracast: Not Available
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
           DxDiag Version: 10.00.10586.0000 64bit Unicode
 

[Skuzzy]

I will make a prediction that by this time next year, you will have come to the dark side... mwahaha

Coogan

Do not hold your breath.  I already have two systems, at home, converted to Linux.  Working with some software groups to further enhance some other applications before I convert the rest.

I cannot play Aces High, at home, as I have no room for a joystick, so I have no reason to stick with Windows.  All the other applications, I use, have alternatives in Linux now.  Just need some more tweaks.

[Bizman]

@ Excaliber: Since your Windows 10 is only three weeks old, reverting back to 7 might be worth testing. You can always reinstall 10 if that doesn't bring the functionality back.

As for an older bios, I've met some variations that wouldn't install service packs with an old bios. An entirely new OS can be even more demanding.

[Excaliber]

Yes, I am rolling back to win7 tonight. will see if it improves the situation.

Does "rolling back" using settings take me back to a clean Win 7 or will there be little pieces of 10 lurking in their somewhere? IF so I suppose the only clean reload is a format and reload... hope the roll back is adequate, I don't want to reload the OS...please advise.

[Excaliber]

UPDATE: Rolled back to win7 using "settings" all my problems went away. I suppose I will stay win 7 until such time as it no longer works. In the mean time my previous questions still stand for anyone who may have something to contribute.......

Does "rolling back" using settings take me back to a clean Win 7 or will there be little pieces of 10 lurking in there somewhere? IF so I suppose the only clean reload is a format and reload... hope the roll back is adequate, I don't want to reload the OS...please advise.

[Bizman]

Rolling back will take you to the point you were right before upgrading. So no, there aren't any pieces of 10 left. However, there's several pre-upgrade Windows updates you should uninstall. Look at Skuzzy' Hints and Tips and my post regarding not getting them any more.

[gpwurzel]

Skuzzy, any chance of getting a linux port of AH? I'd never have to run windoze again then.