Windows 10

All off topic conversation held here. Have fun and play nice. =)

Moderators: Bookworm, starkruzr, MrFireDragon, PrettyPrincess, Wapsi

Alkarii
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:02 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Alkarii »

Thread necro! How do I change directories? If I use my old hard drive with the new one as the primary, I can't access most of my stuff from the old one, as it becomes F:, and the primary drive is always C:.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

Alkarii wrote:Thread necro! How do I change directories? If I use my old hard drive with the new one as the primary, I can't access most of my stuff from the old one, as it becomes F:, and the primary drive is always C:.
Doing this from memory, as I am currently in Linux and do not want to take the time to reboot into Windows...

If your copy of Windows is installed on the new primary drive, it has to remain the C: drive, and you simply have to tell Windows where to find the Documents, Pictures, Videos, etc. folders. That can be done by right-clicking on the new (and probably just about empty) folders in the C: drive, and there should be an option to "move" those to a different location. Select those same folders from your F: drive, and you're done.

If, for some reason, you want to actually change drive letter from F: to something else, do this:

Under Win7, you could go right-click on My Computer, and select Manage Computer (or something to that effect). In the new window, there is one option for Disk Management, from which you can manually select a new drive letter for any drive you want. And if you're switching drive letters between two drives, first select a third drive letter for one of them, then select the newly available drive for the second drive, and finally assign the second drive's former letter to your first drive. (I'm guessing there's probably something similar in Win10, if that's what you're using - too lazy to move back through the thread and check...)
Alkarii
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:02 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Alkarii »

Yeah, 10 is on the new drive, 8 is on the old one. I'm wanting to do this so I can play all my games and stuff without reinstalling everything.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

Alkarii wrote:Yeah, 10 is on the new drive, 8 is on the old one. I'm wanting to do this so I can play all my games and stuff without reinstalling everything.
What I suggested only makes a difference for data. Installed software is a different thing. I seem to recall that there was a way to save a computer's configuration, to facilitate the installation of said software in the new computer (or when upgrading to a new Windows version. However, I'm not sure of how it works, or even where to find it or instructions for it.
User avatar
TazManiac
Posts: 3701
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:53 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by TazManiac »

I have reconfigured apps to point to a previous installed drive. Its not meant to be run that way but is possible. You don't want this.

Reinstall yer apps from scratch.
Last edited by TazManiac on Fri Jun 17, 2016 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Alkarii
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:02 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Alkarii »

Ah, okay. Well, I forgot the new drive at home when I took my computer to my brother's house today, so I can't do any of that now. After my next paycheck and cleaning my room, I'm going to get internet set up at home. Some of my stuff required a connection to install, which sucks a bit, but meh.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

Alkarii wrote:After my next paycheck and cleaning my room [...]
Don't forget to also take out the garbage... ;) :P :lol:

And tell your sister to stop watching TV and do her homework!

I don't know... just spewing out stereotypical parent to teenager stuff... do you even have a sister?
Alkarii
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:02 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Alkarii »

Yes. Youngest of three, with an older brother as well.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
User avatar
TazManiac
Posts: 3701
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:53 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by TazManiac »

A-man,

I want to follow up with my previous post; In the case where you have the 'old Windows Drive' in he PC as a Secondary Hard Drive (ostensibly Drive 2 = D: for this discussion) you now have two places where there is a Windows directory.

Microsoft is better behaved than in the old days but I'd still want to relocate the whole Win8.x structure at least one level 'deeper' in the directory tree;

D:\windows becomes D:\ARC\windows, etc, etc.

It just Belt&Suspenders for me, but still...
Alkarii
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:02 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Alkarii »

So, now, for some reason, it's forcing me into a temp account on my computer when I sign in, which is why I can't access or do anything.

EDIT: And now that I've gotten back into my normal profile, it DELETED almost all of my stuff... I don't think system Reatore can bring it back, either...
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
Warrl
Posts: 1723
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 10:44 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Warrl »

Alkarii wrote:So, now, for some reason, it's forcing me into a temp account on my computer when I sign in, which is why I can't access or do anything.

EDIT: And now that I've gotten back into my normal profile, it DELETED almost all of my stuff... I don't think system Restore can bring it back, either...
I don't know exactly what caused this, but things LIKE this are a good reason to do backups.

For Windows, I recommend Genie Timeline. Unfortunately it's $40. Oops! Backup looks similar and is slightly cheaper but I've never tried it. What these offer that is special is that they do incremental backup, but the restore process automatically synthesizes the complete directory (everything in it that is subject to being backed up) as it existed at the time of the incremental backup.

You can also configure FreeFileSync - which, like the name says, is free - to do one-way synchronization (so deleted files are not auto-deleted from the backup, OR auto-restored). However, while it can be configured to do versioning, what goes into a time-stamped version is the OLD stuff that was being REPLACED (or deleted) at that time. And it does take extra work in the configuration process. Not my first choice for backup (I use it extensively for file-synchronizing between my computer, tablet, and phone), but far better than not having backups.

All of these can be scheduled. The folder where I do my writing gets backed up every half hour, automatically.

(I'm in the process of switching to Linux, and there Back in Time is a free equivalent of TimeLIne - with some additional features.)
User avatar
TazManiac
Posts: 3701
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:53 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by TazManiac »

Alkarii wrote:So, now, for some reason, it's forcing me into a temp account on my computer when I sign in, which is why I can't access or do anything.

EDIT: And now that I've gotten back into my normal profile, it DELETED almost all of my stuff... I don't think system Restore can bring it back, either...

System Restore is related to your Apps, Programs, System Settings. It;s Not Supposed to alter your DATA, Docs...

I would look,using the File Manager, in the USERS directory, directly. Is there another user profile, perhaps w/ a 'your-name'.default or some other "dot" and an extension on the end?
Alkarii
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:02 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Alkarii »

Well, the good news is that the stuff I lost was all replaceable. The irreplaceable things that were actually lost, I had copied to my flash drive.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
Alkarii
Posts: 1854
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 3:02 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by Alkarii »

The first time it happened, I didn't know what happened, and I didn't know it was a temp account. So I opened the directory for my profile and dragged icons back to the desktop. I was able to access them then, but since I didn't know it was a temp user profile, I didn't know it would delete them when I turned off the computer.
There is no such thing as a science experiment gone wrong.
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

Inasmuch as I don't trust Microsoft, the fact remains that the free update to Windows 10 ends today (I thought it was tomorrow or Sunday, until I re-checked the article...)

But all is not lost: you can lock in your free upgrade, and revert afterwards...

So I looked up ways to make a backup disk image, last night, which I started doing this morning. Then, I'll upgrade, so I can get it for free, and revert, once that's done. The only reason I'm doing this is that I'm aware that eventually, most people will be running Win10 (or, at least, most people that I know), so I might as well get familiar with it, for when I have to help friends troubleshoot any problems they may have with it. Of course, I will make sure to do a custom install, to turn off all that telemetry stuff from the start. I'll also probably install it on a virtual machine under Linux, for the same reason (which then allows me to look at it without rebooting...)
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

Strike 1!
The updater says that my display is not compatible, so it won't install Win 10. (Nvidia does have drivers for it for win10, but the upgrade assistant a stubborn beast...)

So now, I'm trying to upgrade my Win7 virtual machine in Linux... And I ran into a problem because my root partition was out of space, and when I tried to use Gparted, I couldn't get in, it kept saying my password was wrong! I tried a few other programs that require a password, and they all said the same... So I looked up info on how to reset a password, and it looked like it was going to be complicated...

I was going to boot with a USB key, and try to change the password from there, but for some reason, I chose to just reboot normally. I logged into my account just fine, and lo and behold, my password worked when I tried using Gparted again. So I expanded the root partition, and now the download is continuing in the virtual machine...

I'll have to do the actual upgrade after work...
User avatar
TazManiac
Posts: 3701
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 6:53 pm

Re: Windows 10

Post by TazManiac »

I'm right there with you- I let this deadline just slip up and "Boo!" I only had a few days left to hustle up.

I'm thinking there may be some backlash and perhaps an extended grace period, but then again, maybe not.

In my case I had a brand new system w/ 8.1 installed, had trouble w/ the Hard Drive, swapped it out and never reinstalled MS OS back onto the system. But it still has a licence associated with it.

From my research the Product Key for Win8.x, in newer EUFI systems, is stored in the BIOS(CMOS memory). <---( OEM Win7 Systems, amd before, had a 'serial number' sticker, Win8X and beyond expect the system's guts to remember the s/n, or Product Key i the setup portion of the BIOS...)

I'm going to slap a blank hard drive in the laptop, one I had been using in an external enclosure, and install Win 10 Directly (Clean Install) today.

The system I'm posting from now, a Win 7 System, will have to wait until this afternoon to get the Progression, Regression treatment...
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

TazManiac wrote:I'm right there with you- I let this deadline just slip up and "Boo!" I only had a few days left to hustle up.
I wish I had paid attention a bit more... realizing TODAY that today was the deadline meant I had a few hours at lunch and an hour and a half tonight (between my regular shift and my overtime shift) to get it installed on something...
TazManiac wrote:I'm thinking there may be some backlash and perhaps an extended grace period, but then again, maybe not.
From their point of view, they've been "more than generous" already, so I certainly don't expect any kind of extension...
TazManiac wrote:In my case I had a brand new system w/ 8.1 installed, had trouble w/ the Hard Drive, swapped it out and never reinstalled MS OS back onto the system. But it still has a licence associated with it.

From my research the Product Key for Win8.x, in newer EUFI systems, is stored in the BIOS(CMOS memory). <---( OEM Win7 Systems, amd before, had a 'serial number' sticker, Win8X and beyond expect the system's guts to remember the s/n, or Product Key i the setup portion of the BIOS...)
Anything to make our lives more difficult, right? :roll:
TazManiac wrote:I'm going to slap a blank hard drive in the laptop, one I had been using in an external enclosure, and install Win 10 Directly (Clean Install) today.
From what I've read, the first time around has to be an upgrade. Once a key is activated and registered with MS, then you can use the ISO and do clean installs, but not before then.
TazManiac wrote:The system I'm posting from now, a Win 7 System, will have to wait until this afternoon to get the Progression, Regression treatment...
As long as you manage to install the upgrade on one system, you should be fine to continue other installs after the deadline, from what I understand.
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

When I checked on the progress of the download, I found out it had frozen at 98%! :evil:

Starting again, and hoping to start installing before I have to go back to work... It looks like it may just be possible to squeak by... I hope.
User avatar
lake_wrangler
Posts: 4300
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 8:16 am
Location: Laval, Québec, Canada

Re: Windows 10

Post by lake_wrangler »

Well, it went through the installation to the end, only to cough up an error and hang.

Trying again, but not very hopeful. Meanwhile, I have to go back to work...
Post Reply