How I finally tamed my upgraded to Windows 10 computer

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 30 May 2016 4:27 pm

Since there has been a lot of chat in this forum about Windows 10 upgrades to Windows 7 computers, I decided to write a blog article outlining my personal fight with the product. The article gives some background history, then describes my failed and finally successful attempts to get a stable, properly working upgrade from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 10.

A lot of you guys and gals are already experiencing some of the issues I faced and some have given up and rolled back. You are now worried about automatic forced upgrades when you aren't looking. We have discussed a couple of 3rd party programs that offer limited success in preventing unwanted Windows 10 upgrades.

My way of thinking is that if a Windows upgrade that should work out of the box doesn't work for me, but does for countless others, I must have something on my computer that is interfering with business as usual. I usually troubleshoot these things until I find solutions. In the case of Windows 10, despite requiring lots of time, I believe I found the best working solution and want to share it. Do as you will the the information.

My article is titled How I restored sanity to my Windows 10 upgraded computer. I hope it helps at least one person.

Dave Potter · Post by **Dave Potter** » 30 May 2016 4:55 pm

Good show, Wiz, and if anyone here can tame the beast, it would be you. I'm glad to have someone around I can trust, and who will find solutions, if anyone can. Thanks.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 30 May 2016 5:18 pm

Thanks Dave. I really tried my best to not have to reset Windows 10. But, that's what it took to fix the accumulated problems from Windows 7 to Windows 10, back to Windows 7 and up again. Performance improvement is like night and day.

N.B. As a sidenote, I use a business cards program to compose and print business cards. It was written for Windows XP and worked okay under Windows 7, after being installed in XP Compatibility Mode. It began to malfunction sometime in mid 2015, following a big Windows update. I have been unable to get it working since, in either Windows 7 or 10. But, following the reset, I was able to reinstall it and the program is working again! Go figure!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 31 May 2016 2:00 am

Although a hassle, a "clean" install usually is best. I did an upgrade and as there is not much on my PC other than my recording studio software I didn't run into any issues.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 31 May 2016 6:15 am

I also have a Dell Latitude in my leather shop. It began life running Windows 7. I upgraded it to Windows 10 before I updated my desktop PC. Overall, the laptop upgrade went much better. It does occasionally need to have a DISM code run to restore the normal operation of the Start menu, after some Windows update breaks that feature.

If anybody else is having problems with the Windows 10 Start menu and pop-up notifications not working, try this temporary fix:

Run these commands from an elevated Powershell window:

Code: Select all

sfc /scannow

then, after it has completed,

dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

You can also try uninstalling "Messaging and Skype" - if you aren't using them. This worked for me on both the laptop and desktop W10 installations.