Exactly what is MS trying to say when they offer me Win 10?

badrobot · 09 Jun 2015

TechnoMage said:

It's not a new marketing strategy, to give away a little on the front end, to gain a whole lot on the back end.

Like in the restaurant where I grew up, , , we'd give free coffee to truckers, and quite often those guys would order a T-Bone steak dinner. So the free coffee really paid off in the long run.
Sounds like maybe MS is thinking the same way. It will cost them almost nothing per user, to give us a FREE shot at Windows 10.

I can hardly wait. I've done about all I can do with 10130/64.

Cheers mates!
TechnoMage

Another good analogy is a FREE printer (with any qualified purchase). But of course you need to buy those golden ink where all the profit comes from.

Going back to the topic, why would MS say you have until July 29? That's only the beginning of 1 year free upgrade. Those little reservation icons are just like "pre-ordering" if you want to be one of the firsts to get it.

badrobot · 09 Jun 2015

TechnoMage said:

In direct opposition to warnings from MS and Forum Admins, many users have installed Windows 10 Preview, right over the top of their everyday (Main) OS, and the die is cast. Either they will have to stay with Windows 10, or RE-Install their original OS, providing they have it on an install disk.

The same thing happened when we were testing Windows 8. Every day someone would come on the forum asking "How can I get my Windows 7 back?" Microsoft had already told them, that there is NO return policy.

But I've been doing this stuff for enough years, to know that I will never put anything on top of my working OS, without a pre-determined exit strategy. I've been offered Windows 10 for free, when it's released on July 29.

But before I install that upgrade, I'll have my existing OS (Windows 8.1 Pro) cloned to another 1TB hard drive, so if the upgrade goes bad, or I just don't like it, I can go right back to Windows 8.1 like as if nothing ever happened.
Happiness is knowing that you can easily get out of a bad situation. Eh?

Cheers Mates!
TechnoMage

In my case, I have 2 off-the-shelf PCs. I immediately clone it into an SSD and keep the original as a back-up. And just use the rest of the space on that hard drive as storage.

Victek · 09 Jun 2015

PRR8102 said:

Can I reserve a copy of 10 and put it on a spare HD to register it when I want to, or must I install it and use it as soon as I get it? Or put it on a spare drive, register it and then not continue to use it?

After you've reserved a copy you will have the option (on or after July 29) to do an "in place upgrade" of your current OS. That means your data and all of your installed apps and settings (for the most part) remain intact. You can't install it to a spare drive separate from your current OS installation. As others have said if you want to preserve your current OS so you have the option to revert to it you will want to make a backup image before running the upgrade to 10.

whs · 09 Jun 2015

But before I install that upgrade, I'll have my existing OS (Windows 8.1 Pro) cloned to another 1TB hard drive, so if the upgrade goes bad, or I just don't like it, I can go right back to Windows 8.1 like as if nothing ever happened.

That's the way to go. Never burn your bridges.

David Bailey · 09 Jun 2015

Make an image of your existing OS with Macrium Reflect.
If you don't like 10 revert to your other OS with your Reflect image.
Simple.

whs · 09 Jun 2015

Image or clone - both options are valid. When you image with Macrium, make sure you also image the active partition which usually is the system partition but can also be the recovery partition (e.g. in Dell systems). Another option is to copy the bootmgr to C before you make the image. Then you need only image C.

If you image with Windows imaging, the acive partition is automatically imaged together with C. But the easiest is to image with this command:

wbadmin start backup -backupTarget:X: -include:C: -AllCritical -quiet

Where X is the drive letter of the device where you want to place the image. The 'AllCritical' parameter makes sure that all partitions that are required for proper operation (e.g. the system partition) are included in the image. To restore the image you use any Windows installation or recovery disc.

Brink · 09 Jun 2015

Hello PBR,

In addition: :)

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/6...s-7-8-1-a.html