Windows 10 quick questions.

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BhargavJ

In the zone
Sorry I'm making a new thread for this. If I remember correctly, there was a sticky Windows 10 thread on this forum, but I couldn't find it right now.

Sorry again for asking these questions; these are things that I had myself read about earlier on various sites but I don't remember anything right now, and I've got too much work at present to go searching for answers, especially when Win 10 is only available till 29 July, and I have another laptop to upgrade as well.

I have a Dell laptop; i5, 4GB RAM. Today, I upgraded from Win 8.1 Single Language to Win 10. I upgraded through that thing in the system bar, which then opened Windows Update and downloaded Win 10. Even after downloading three GBs, it kept on downloading, so I disconnected from the Internet. The Win 10 folder in C: drive is more than 4 GBs at present. Don't know what else it was downloading. I was able to install Win 10 successfully. I also copied the .esd file to another partition.

Every time I connect to the net, it immediately starts downloading something at full speed. I checked in Comodo firewall, its svchost and within that wuaserv or some such thing; I think that's Windows Update. But what exactly is it downloading? I checked on the Dell website and updated all my drivers, and Win 10 has just been installed. So is it downloading updates for Win 10? And isn't there any way to stop it?

Second, in Control Panel, there is an option to revert back to the previous OS, but it shows the previous OS as Windows 7. On clicking that option, it says there is no backup. I checked in C: drive, there is no windows.old folder either. Does this mean I can't go back to Win 8.1 from within Win 10?

Most important question: After installing Win 10, I activated it. Suppose I reboot the computer and recover my EaseUS Win 8.1 backup, so that it reverts the computer to the time I installed and made a system copy of Win 8.1 and Win 10 is completely removed, what will happen next - will Microsoft allow me to run Win 8.1 on my laptop after I have activated Win 10 today, and allow me to continue using Win 8.1 instead of Win 10, or will it force me to install Win 10 again by canceling the Win 8.1 license? I am not asking about running two different OSes - Win 8.1 and Win 10 - on two different partitions, on the same laptop, using the same key. I don't want to boot into Win 8.1 at times and Win 10 at other times. What I want to know is, after today, suppose I revert to a previous Win 8.1 backup, will it run activated, with the license that is embedded in the BIOS, or am I now a slave to Win 10?

Sorry again, and thanks to all those who reply! :D :D :D
 
M

Minion

Conversation Architect
1)Its downloading drivers or windows Updates or may be MS security essential definitions.Let it downloads all updates and you can't stop windows updates you can delay it by selecting metered connection in wifi settings.
2)Yes,Reverting to older version doesn't work.
3)Yeah you can use windows 8.1 but why do you need to go back to 8.1 windows 10 is similar to win 8.1 and soon Microsoft will stop for 8.1 almost all major bugs have been fixed.
 
thetechfreak

thetechfreak

Legend Never Ends
You can try blocking the update service through Windows Services, but that isn't recommended. It'll block all security updates as well.
 
OP
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BhargavJ

In the zone
Thanks for the reply. So I can use the Win 8.1 backup and start using Win 8.1 again? That's great!

Now I did say earlier that I didn't want to dual boot two OSes, but just for the sake of asking: suppose I reinstall the image of Win 8.1 on C: drive and use that most of the time, and also format and create a new partition, and install Win 10 from the .esd file I've got, what happens next? When I install Win 10 on the other partition, it will need to connect to Microsoft to activate itself. Will MS allow it? Let's say I boot the C: drive Win 8.1 most of the time and use it, and maybe boot once in a week and run Win 10 from the other partition, will MS be able to see that there's this computer that uses the same key and sometimes it's Win 8.1 and sometimes it's Win 10? :D

The reason I don't like Win 10, from the little amount of time I've used it today, is that I don't see any difference between Win 8.1 and Win 10, it all looks the same, but Win 10 doesn't ask for permission to download updates, it starts doing that on its own. I've also read stuff on the net earlier where people are saying MS collects all sort of data from your computer in Win 10. Maybe they were doing this with Win 8.1 as well, only in a hidden way, but I still don't like what Win 10 is doing. I'd like to have control of what the OS is doing, especially when I don't have unlimited Internet. As soon as I would click on the Wifi connect button, it would start downloading, without even a second of pause. I couldn't even open any other site, it all became too slow.

I'm thinking of not upgrading the Win 7 laptop...
 
TheSloth

TheSloth

The Slowest One
those frequent updates are usually very small, happened with me too and I also didn't like that but now I got used to it cause those updates usually run for 3-5mins. Thats it. I would suggest you to stick with Win10.
And yes all data is being sent over microsoft but same thing google also does on our Android smartphones. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, so i am trying to get used to these things
 
thetechfreak

thetechfreak

Legend Never Ends
[MENTION=155768]BhargavJ[/MENTION] I'm pretty sure you won't be able to activate your copy of 8.1 now. License gets converted to Windows 10 when you upgrade.
 
M

Minion

Conversation Architect
BhargavJ said:
The reason I don't like Win 10, from the little amount of time I've used it today, is that I don't see any difference between Win 8.1 and Win 10, it all looks the same, but Win 10 doesn't ask for permission to download updates, it starts doing that on its own. I've also read stuff on the net earlier where people are saying MS collects all sort of data from your computer in Win 10. Maybe they were doing this with Win 8.1 as well, only in a hidden way, but I still don't like what Win 10 is doing. I'd like to have control of what the OS is doing, especially when I don't have unlimited Internet. As soon as I would click on the Wifi connect button, it would start downloading, without even a second of pause. I couldn't even open any other site, it all became too slow.

I'm thinking of not upgrading the Win 7 laptop...
Click to expand...

Initially it will use all bandwidth but subsequent updates are small and doesn't slows down internet or system.

WIN7 is already dead MS has stopped support and same will happen to win 8.1.Free upgrade will expire on 29 july so update all older version before that.
 
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billubakra

Conversation Architect
TheSloth said:
those frequent updates are usually very small, happened with me too and I also didn't like that but now I got used to it cause those updates usually run for 3-5mins. Thats it. I would suggest you to stick with Win10.
And yes all data is being sent over microsoft but same thing google also does on our Android smartphones. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, so i am trying to get used to these things
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more, but you can stop that data being sent both in Windows and in Android devices using some specific software/apps.
 
B

billubakra

Conversation Architect
TheSloth said:
if they are legit and not illegal then I will try those softwares
Click to expand...

If you own your phone then you own what info needs to be sent to Skynet's server and that is NOT illegal. For Android try DisableService or Servicely.

Same thing goes for a desktop/lappy, check this-
disable windows to send data to microsoft's servers - Google Searc
or try softwares like O&O shut up 10 etc.
 
OP
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BhargavJ

In the zone
I've decided to go back to Win 8.1. There doesn't seem to be anything special in Win 10, and in any case, if I want to do web browsing, watch movies, and do some document work, I can do it in Win 8 or Win 7, there's no need to install Win 10 for this. I would have kept Win 10, but the main reason I'm reverting to Win 8.1 is that in 10, I can't use Sandboxie and Kaspersky together. These two apps have been having a problem with each other for quite some time, but I was able to run atleast some softwares when in Win 8.1. Firefox and Chrome didn't run sandboxed with Kaspersky installed, but Opera did, so I started using Opera. But with Win 10, even Opera doesn't work. When I try to run it sandboxed, nothing happens; the Sandboxie program immediately cancels it or something like that. I don't see the point of having a Sandboxie icon sitting in the system tray doing nothing. I have a Kaspersky license, and I want to continue using Sandboxie. I searched on the net for other sandboxing programs, but couldn't find anything like Sandboxie. If anyone here knows about such a program, please do tell.

Now for the question. Before I upgraded to Win 10, my C: drive, which contained Win 8.1, was about 60 GBs. I made a system backup with EaseUS Todo Backup. Then I upgraded to Win 10. I had heard that Win 10 has an option to revert back to Win 8, but in Control Panel, I couldn't find any such thing. However, there is a windows.old folder in C: drive now. I don't know how I missed it, maybe it was hidden. There is also an option to revert back to Win 8.1 in the System section of Win 10 - not the Control Panel, but the other thing, that works like Windows Store. What I want to know is, should I use the option from within Win 10 to go back to Win 8.1, or should I just reboot the computer into the EaseUS screen and revert to the system backup I made before installing Win 10? Reverting from within Win 10 might cause problems and may take more time; using EaseUS to revert to a previous system backup is something I've done earlier, and is pretty easy.

Second thing: The previous C: drive (Win 8.1) had about 60 GBs used data out of 100 GBs. After installing Win 8.1, I find that C: drive has only 49.3 GBs used data. That's about 10 GBs less than the Win 8.1 installation. Also, the windows.old folder is 27 GBs large, which the cleanup wizard offered for deleting. So if I delete that folder, I have a Win 10 installation that is about 25 GBs. Is Win 10 really that small?
 
M

Minion

Conversation Architect
My suggestion don't revert to win 8.1.Microsoft has made windows an service what it means is once you upgrade to win 10 you will get all future updates for free just like MAC OS.

Regarding Sandboxie Alternative use comodo firewall.

and for antivirus you can use avira free.
 
OP
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BhargavJ

In the zone
Don't we all always get future updates for free, once we buy the OS? Wait, you mean, all future versions of Windows after Win 10 will also be free upgrades?

I have already got Comodo Firewall installed, but have never used its sandbox. I think I'll try it out now. I have about 60 days remaining for my Kaspersky license. At Amazon, a Kaspersky AntiVirus 2016 1 PC 1 year license costs Rs. 270, while Bitdefender AntiVirus 2015 1 PC 1 year is for Rs. 990. All these years, I've always used either Kaspersky, or Bitdefender, or Nod32 - generally these three are at the top of all AV reviews, especially the first two.
 
M

Minion

Conversation Architect
BhargavJ said:
Don't we all always get future updates for free, once we buy the OS? Wait, you mean, all future versions of Windows after Win 10 will also be free upgrades?

I have already got Comodo Firewall installed, but have never used its sandbox. I think I'll try it out now. I have about 60 days remaining for my Kaspersky license. At Amazon, a Kaspersky AntiVirus 2016 1 PC 1 year license costs Rs. 270, while Bitdefender AntiVirus 2015 1 PC 1 year is for Rs. 990. All these years, I've always used either Kaspersky, or Bitdefender, or Nod32 - generally these three are at the top of all AV reviews, especially the first two.
Click to expand...

Arey I mean next versions of windows.

Avira generally have 99% detection rate so you are safe and comodo firewall can block zero day threats.
 
OP
B

BhargavJ

In the zone
I'll think about Avira. I'm more used to either Bitdefender or Kaspersky. I'm thinking of making a system backup of Win 10, then install Bitdefender and use it in trial mode for a month, then revert to the system backup and reinstall Bitdefender again in trial mode, and continue doing this till the Kaspersky - Sandboxie conflict is solved, or till I get Bitdefender for cheap. Of course, the Win 10 updates downloaded during the month will be lost and will have to be downloaded again.

I just learned that after a month of Win 10 use, the license becomes locked. So if I revert to Win 8.1 before a month, the license will become locked as a Win 8.1 license at the end of the month, and I won't be able to revert to a Win 10 backup I create now. If I continue using Win 10 over a month, then the license gets locked as a Win 10 license and I won't be able to revert to Win 8.1. Is this correct? Because I was under the impression that once you upgrade to Win 10 and activate it, you can then use any one of the versions at any given time, like using Win 8.1 for one month, then Win 10 for the next month.

I installed Win 10 two days ago, on the 17th. Win 10 is available as a free download till the end of this month. Even after the end of this month, I'll still have the option to revert to Win 8.1 till the 17th of next month, right?

Thanks.
 
M

Minion

Conversation Architect
BhargavJ said:
I installed Win 10 two days ago, on the 17th. Win 10 is available as a free download till the end of this month. Even after the end of this month, I'll still have the option to revert to Win 8.1 till the 17th of next month, right?
Click to expand...

I don't know about these things since once i upgraded i stayed on WIN 10.
 
TheSloth

TheSloth

The Slowest One
You said your kaspersky has 60 days left and cost you ~Rs.300. I would suggest opt for a free antivirus for these 2months and continue using your sandbox mode. Apart from avira i would suggest 360 Total Security which also uses Bitdefender Engine and an optional Avira Engine. If you revert back to Win8.1 , though I am not sure, you may miss a great deal of free upgrade of Win10 and better support officially from Microsoft and other software vendors. later if you want to switch to Win10 then it cost you alot. Also, I read on this forum that a huge update is coming after this free period runs out, not saying all your problems will be solved but still expect something good.
 
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