I just uninstalled Windows 10 from my lap top and I'm able to use it again

[Bucky]

Windows froze up my mouse pointer, disabled all my internet cookies, incapacitated the only two games I played, kept me from watching Netflix, and took 20-40 minutes just to boot up (usually freezing up within 5 minutes anyway). In fact, toggling from one window to the next (alt+TAB) usually involved a 60-90 second lag time between keystroke and any response showing up on the screen. It was maddening.

Worst part was, I didn't even ask for Windows 10 to install. I'd twice already declined pop-up offers from MicroSoft to install 10. But then one day a week and a half ago I closed my laptop without shutting it down all the way. When I woke up next morning and tried to check my email, Windows 10 was installed. And nothing worked. For the past 10-11 days I've effectively not had a home computer. I just uninstalled today and it's like having the prodigal son return. It's time to slay the fatted calf and celebrate. But first I want to rename the fatted calf "Gates."

My warning to all PCers: stay vigilant. Do not let Windows 10 onto your puter.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Sorry you had this experience.

I have a laptop and a desktop that I've been running 10 on for over a year with no problems. Just my experience.

[pstokely]

8. What version did you upgrade from?

I installed in a machine running 8.1 and it seems to work fine so far, may or may not upgrade on my Win7 machine

[CurtEastPoint]

12. The laptop was on 7; the desktop on 8.1

[RKP5637]

2. You might want to try Linux Mint sometime. It works extremely well.

https://www.linuxmint.com/

[Bucky]

3. would love to switch over to Linux

Just need to find the time to teach it to myself. Which is like, never.

But is it "Ly-nix" or "Lih-nix"?

[RKP5637]

4. It's "Lih-nix." I've been using Linux for about 16 years, in also fact back to early

R&D times. It's far beyond that now. You might find the learning curve to be practically nothing these days.

[mnhtnbb]

20. My son set up my new laptop with Linux Mint after the motherboard died on my Windows 7 machine.

That was last January.

I've been quite happy with Linux. He did also install a virtual machine--running Windows 10--so I could
continue to use TurboTax.

I had to give up my Canon software for my cameras--won't run on Linux--so I'm getting used to new photo editing
software. I miss the Canon software.

He also put a really strong anti-ad software on it, so there is zero advertising following me around. I like that a lot.

[hunter]

7. I haven't used Windows since 98SE, when I switched to Debian.

The first real operating system I'd used regularly was BSD, so Debian was like coming home again. Mint is built on Debian.

Modern PC games, legal subscription streaming services like Netflix, and other protected content are problematic on Linux. I don't expect any of those things from my computers so it's not a problem for me. I also have no trouble emulating my old DOS and 98SE computers, running all the games I enjoyed then and all the games my kids grew up with.

I'm still playing with ChromeOS which, like Android, has Linux "under the hood." Chromebooks handle Netflix without any fuss. Later this year Chromebooks will be upgraded to run Android apps and games transparently. Android seems to be where most of the action is. My wife and one of our kids have switched entirely to Android tablets with accessory keyboards

I play around with obsolete discarded and recycled computers quite a bit, and I'm interested in jailbreaking devices as an intellectual exercise but not for any real purpose, figuring that if people don't want me to use and share their protected content then I'll respect their wishes.

In a similar way I don't install adobe flash on my computers or allow javascript to run freely except for a few sites I whitelist. If that makes any site unusable to me, then that's their loss not mine.

Mint with the Chrome or Firefox browser, and LibreOffice, will do most everything people expect of a computer... up until the point they decide they "need" some Microsoft or Apple dependent software. Fortunately more and more software is being written that's platform agnostic, utilizing modern browsers and browser toolkits. Even Netflix, which runs as a Google Chrome app.

[RKP5637]

14. Somewhat the same here. I did use the free version of Oracle Virtualbox. I've been

using virtual systems for along time. Recently, I did run Win10 as a virtual OS for Quicken, but have since gone to only Linux as quicken fell apart. I stated playing with Linux in the early 90's in my employment. I really like Google Chrome as my browser on my Linux box. I think they've done a magnificent job. I find, anymore, that for my needs just Linux is all I need. I also think for millions of people, all they really need is a Chromebook. Interesting, they're now outselling Macs. Who can really beat an entry price of about $139. I have one I use when I travel using VPN. It works extremely well for email and browsing, very impressive.

[hunter]

18. For me, traveling with a $140 laptop is a lot less stressful than traveling with a $1400 laptop.

I might also carry "free" laptops (not counting my labor) that I've diverted from the e-waste stream, but I don't have a lot of faith in the batteries, not those batteries I've rebuilt or reconditioned, and not those battery packs I've bought on the internet cheap. The odds that the battery will fail when I need the computer go up, the very small chance that the battery will fail spectacularly by exploding or catching on fire go up too.

[RKP5637]

19. Yep, Definitely!!!!! n/t

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Bummer, but that's rare...

very few people have been screwed by 10, and it seems to be mostly on laptops running 7. It might be some oddball older drivers laptops tend to have that 10 hasn't figured out.

I've been through two desktop upgrades from 8.1 and they work better than ever, and way better than my 7 laptop. I have a laptop with 10 on it, so I put a dual boot Linux on the 7 and am trying to find the time to figure it out.

[LiberalArkie]

6. I run it under a VM on my Macs and it runs quite well. But those were not updates but

fresh installs. Updates have always be the problem with just about all operating systems.

[Odin2005]

9. I like Win10.

I fucking hated Win8, I felt like I was being forced to use a tablet OS on my PC, Win10 is much better.

My only issue so far is that I have had to run some older games from the Windows XP era in compatibility mode to get them to work.

[hobbit709]

10. All you had to do with 8 was install Classic Shell and it worked like 7.

But 10-I don't like an OS that snoops on you, won't let you change settings, and wants to use your computer as a bit torrent style server to send its own updates to other computers

[Johonny]

11. It did that to me too

I don't know why Microsoft didn't think to check available memory and such before installation. There's no way my old laptop is running Win10. I haven't installed it because I fear it, I haven't installed it because it won't run well on this computer. But Microsoft doesn't care. It wants to trash my computer.

[Takket]

13. Never10

I have Windows 10 that came on a laptop I bought and personally I love it. First thing I did when I bought was disabled all the snooping features. There are plenty of sites online that can walk you through this process.

Okay so that being said, my wife has Windows 8 which, as others have said, was a complete disaster because they tried to turn windows into an ios device which made finding/doing anything on your computer almost impossible. But she now has the emulators that create the "windows 7" feels and does not want to upgrade. I disabled the updater a few months ago which was a pain in the ass process, but there is now NEW even more aggressive updater. However there is a program out now called Never10.

Never10 basically automates the process of locking windows 10 out of your wins 7 or 8 system for you.

Of course i was skeptical at first (how do i know this isn't some BS virus someone wants me to download?) so i checked it out and there are articles about it from PCWorld

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3048836/windows/never10-is-a-free-app-for-when-you-absolutely-positively-dont-want-windows-10.html

and PCMag

http://www.pcmag.com/news/343272/never10-tool-stops-accidental-windows-10-upgrades

both reputable publications, so you know Never10 is legit.

Never10 can be downloaded here:

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

Good luck

[csziggy]

21. A second recommendation for Never10

As soon as I realized it was from Gibson Research Company, I trusted it - I've used programs from them since I needed SpinRite to recover data from a hard drive on a 286.

What is really nice is that unlike many of the programs that claim to block Windows 10, Never10 does not install on your computer. You run the executable, it does it's thing by removing the Windows 10 files and programs, and it is done.

I'm trying to back up everything on my computer in case I decide to upgrade to Windows 10. The thing about it is, I don't see a good reason to do so. Microsoft will support Windows 7 for several years. By the time there is no more support of 7 I will be ready to upgrade my hardware. I usually wait to upgrade my OS until I have new hardware, so that is when I will be ready for a new OS - and by then it probably won't be 10.

I expect by then, all programs and operating systems will be on a subscription basis. Photoshop already has gone to that which is why my version of Photoshop will stay the same until it will no longer run on my hardware. Or, as I hope will happen, the subscription model will fail for home users and there will be versions of OS and programs for the home user that only need to upgrade periodically.

Either way, I hope to avoid the messy parts of the transition!

[Bucky]

23. Thank you! I'll check that out this week

[matt819]

15. I've had a different experience

I'm running Windows 10 on an 18-month old Dell desktop. It's taken some getting used to after Windows 8.

Searching for stuff on the computer is faster. Everything else runs smoothly. I've had one weird light blue screen of death that resulted in a restart, and that worried me for a bit.

With all the programs I have, I don't want to experiment with a new OS, and although I was a Mac user about 20 years ago, I'm too entrenched now to make that switch.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. I love 10. Hated 8 so much I went back to 7. 10 is good.

Flawless, glitch free and useful.

[nc4bo]

17. Had same problem but worse, it costed.

When 10 weaseled its way on my stuff, it tried to overwrite my MBR file on my hard drive then never completely installed/updated, it couldn't since the 2 systems are incompatible. Rendered the original C drive unusable with a infinite, unrecoverable bios loop error.

Wound up having to buy a brand new drive and format it using the new GPT, put a fresh copy of windows 7 pro on it and THEN it took multiple efforts to get the update to download and install completely.

Good news though, I still have my original C drive and no loss of the info on it.

My experience is: CHARLIE FOXTROT. I feel horrible for someone with no computer knowledge getting stuck in the mess I was in. Oh yea....the update was not free as it costed me $60 to buy a new hard drive I did not need.

Good luck peeps!

[bhikkhu]

22. I like windows 10, and hated windows 8.1

...so to each his own, I suppose. On my laptop 10 just works so much better. At home I've used Ubuntu for years and always avoided windows, but I had to get an MS system for work. Currently, I can say that both systems work really well, and they are similar enough that I hardly have to think about either.

[Bucky]

24. Thank you for all the advice & survivor tales in this thread

[cwydro]

26. Tell me how to get it off my computer.

I hate it.

[Scootaloo]

27. I'm on 10 now, and it feels good

Granted, it's a brand-new computer, and my last one was running Vista...

[GOLGO 13]

28. When Linux is ready for me we'll be good together. I just know it's gonna hapen...someday.