Thanks for the advice but I am very happy using Windows 10. Computer is running so nicely that I have no desire to even get a new computer. This computer has good "bones" and the upgrade is working very well for me.


FYI This computer is an HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC w/Windows 7 Home Premium Sp1 (upgraded to Windows 10)bought in 2010. It has AMD Phenom II P960 Quad-core Processor 1.80 GHz, 8.00 GB RAM, 581 GB Hard drive, 64 bit OS, Product ID: 00359-OEM-8992687-00010.

I am still toying with the thought of installing Win 10 but in searching the internet I see pros and cons that give me pause.

Are you satisfied with Win 10 and is it better than the former OS you used?

I read of your problems to install, are they cleared now?

Dr D did you install it yet? If not, why not? I did install it once, then changed my mind and reverted to Win 7. Re: My daughter who is a project manager supervisor with IBM warned me about the privacy issue at that time. I believe you can now opt out of most of that, if you believe the hype but how would one know if it does or not transmit sensitive info to Microsoft?

My problems with installing Windows 10 was caused by a problem with Time Warner RR. My modem and wifi went out causing the install to failure. The download was complete and it was 75% installed and that is when the disconnect happened. The error message said my computer would be returned to its previous condition. That didn't happen. The computer was left in a total mess and required restoring it to original condition and bringing it back up myself. Very frustrating to say the least. Once I got it back to where I wanted it the second attempt to get Windows 10 went smoothly. It took about 3 hrs. to download and install but it went smoothly this time. All problems are resolved except I will need help getting the DVD player working. No loss of personal files because I had them backed up on a "Clickfree" external hard drive.

I did my best to turn off all privacy issues, especially Cortana. Windows 10 is a little different and took some getting used to. Once I figured out the differences I have found "10" to be user friendly and for the most part I like it.

People were complaining about "Edge" not having a menu bar but once I got used to it I don't miss it. I have been able to make it do what I want easily. It is must more stable than my Explorer 11. But if you really miss Explorer you can use it. I have both icons on the task bar and can easily use which ever I choose. Just click on all the crazy symbols on the top of Edge and see what each will do.

I wanted no part of the new Office 365 with annual renewal. I stayed with my Office 2013 and it is working perfectly too.

I am happy with Windows 10 and feel like it really breathed new life into my laptop. The only thing I don't have is "touch screen" and my mouse and I are old friends who cares. LOL

Thank you. I am researching various issues on privacy that still
concern me.

Cortana as well as Edge are a concern. Both seemed to be focal points of the new version of Win 10 and are promoted heavily as a reason to switch.If you are not using them. why switch? I have not read of issues with Office 365, what is your concern? I will check that out as well.

I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth as sooner or later it will cost to convert to Win 10, why not accept their gift? That is a question I keep asking myself.

Were it not for some sensitive matters that I currently use the PC for I would not care. However I have no assurances they are not already collecting some of the data. Some business matters are with out of town firms and the use of the computer has simplified access to info and transactions. Sooner or later the win 7 version I am using will not be supported and that is the prime reason I am considering a switch to Win 10

I've upgraded several machines for customers and 1 out of the say 100+ gave me a headache so bad I downgraded it back to 7 (it was a sony Vaio). At home all of the tablets that were Win 8 are upgraded to 10 as well as 4 of the 6 laptops. The media center on my tv is going to take the upgrade I believe in 2 weeks when I am on vacation because its getting a new HD. I am still not sure about my gaming pc's that are running WIn7 still and it is mostly due to some video errors that some folks have with the video configuration that I am running.

I contract for several medical companies and have been quite successful in keeping it off their machines due to the software not being compatible with 10 as well as the privacy concerns that as you mention go along with it. I follow the HIPA laws to a T when it comes to security and windows 10 is way to open to MS looking at stuff potentially that is extremely personal info.

I have a video link that has a step by step guide on how to disable all the security breaches that many have found. If anyone else would like it let me know I will PM or email it because it has a few swears in it I don't want Mod 2 to eat my face off..... or search.... Disable Windows 10 Spying - Privacy & Security on youtube.

My issue with Office 365 is because it is now an annual subscription. I don't need all the bells and whistles included in the program and I don't want the hassle of an annual subscription. I own my Office 2013 and it is all I need. I mainly use just Excel for spreadsheets and Word for letters.

I'm retired and there is not much important files are on my hard drive. Financial/personal files are saved separately elsewhere on an external backup. Financial business banking and bill paying is done in Avast's Safezone secure area.

As for Cortana, just don't want her lurking around looking over my shoulder. I converted because this is supposed to be the final Windows program and keeping it updated should keep me in good shape.

Again thanks for the response. I appreciate the info but still trying to convince myself to switch. My daughter said she is not going to switch until forced to.


I believe I found that video. If it is a chubby guy with a moustache if I am in the right area. Should I switch to W10 I will certainly go through the steps he and you suggest.

Somebody just stopped by and I was in the midst of replying to your message. I will drop a note later.

I looked over Office and agree with you. My 2013 office is working just fine and I have no need of anything more in that category.

Cortana and Edge, I will check those out if I decide to download Win10.

I am also retired but keep my hand in here and there. I enjoy a challenge of a new program but at the same time I am hesitant to convert to something new. You know, I have not fully explored Win7. It worked for me just fine so many features were never used. I do not foresee needing anything more.

In another post I mentioned downloading 10 but took it off after a few days. In that period I noted an improvement in speed as well so that is a plus. There were something's I did not like but I did not give myself or the program enough time to really check the usefulness. As I do not have a mike on this unit I probably won't use Cortana. Of course I may purchase one for this Dell if I decide to go with Win10.

Thanks for the info.

I am with you on learning new OS. I didn't try downloading 10 until I was ready.

My feeling is Windows 10 is an upgraded version of Windows 7 with more bells and whistles. Other than Time Warner blip causing a download corruption, it is not as difficult to use Windows 10 as I feared.

With Edge people complained about the Menu Bar missing. Actually it pretty much is there in a different form. I found most of the things I used by investigating the funny little icons in the upper right corner. Click on them and it opens things it will do. The one habit I am still trying to break is clicking on the back arrows to go back. If you opened a new window to view more like news items on FL1, you don't use the back arrows. You just click on the "X" in the new window and you return to your previous location. Duh, I still click on the back arrow sometimes. Old habits die hard.

I don't feel the need for Cortana. Being stubborn, I prefer fumbling my way through. It is more challenging. LOL I also covered the camera on the laptop. Don't need that exposure either. There have been cases of hackers turning the camera on and spying on you with out your being aware of it. Terrible to be so paranoid these days.

Friends having tried Windows 10 pushed me to try it. The old "if they can do it so can I".

This was a very interesting discussion and I changed my automatic updates to notify and allow me to select. THANK YOU DR. D.

I was using a 12 year old Compaq laptop with Windows 7.1 missing keys A, F10 & F11 with a volume control which had a mind of it's own and would max out and lock up the computer. It had coffee spilled on it many times and I'd often shake it upside down to shake out my tobacco and ashes from my pipe. I used a wireless keyboard to operate it but that didn't stop the volume control from taking over.

I'd heard horror stories about Windows 10, have a sister and daughter that hate it, and didn't want to spend the time learning. My daughter told me to check out new computers and suggested tigerdirect which sells new and used computers and you can get them with Windows 7.1.

I checked out Best Buy and bought a brand new touch screen Dell laptop for $249.99 as a bundle That included Kaspersky virus protection for three computers for six months, unlimited geek squad support for two years for another $79 and a free Office Pro package. "Free" BUT only until the subscription runs out. Screw that.

I down loaded the Kaspersky the next day no problem. The following day I waited an hour for the computer to start and then called Kaspersky. First I tried shutting it off and turning it on and then Ctl/Alt/Del to reboot, which I'm guessing doesn't work on Windows 10.

They said to unplug it AND pull the battery and wait a minute for he processor to reset, that these processors tend t lock up. It worked.

Windows 10 is loaded with junk that I'll never use and it was much slower than my old computer. I tried cleaning some of it up and uninstalled several programs, like X Box which appeared to be using 181 megs, which I learned were running in the background and it was still slower than dial up. I knew it wasn't my ISP WIFI because my old computer, my girlfriend's computer and my Apple I-Pad all worked just fine.

The day after that I tried loading the 365 Office and went to bed waiting for it to finish. The next morning I realized that the computer had shut itself off before the download was done. So I finished the download that day but never saw any ICONS. It didn't appear to be loaded but my account said that I'd used my one free download.

The e-mail link took me to Outlook, which just wanted to steal all my contacts on Yahoo. Microsoft, Yahoo & Google have always been at war trying to steal e-mail addresses. I like my Yahoo. It was a hassle getting onto my Yahoo and Kaspersky kept warning me that I was using a public server and it was insecure and I had to acknowledge that before I could access my e-mail. My Centurylink router offers connect wireless and one would have to have the 26 digit pass code to access it.

And of course I got flooded with e-mails from Best Buy, Dell and Office. Office wanted to know if I was using my free memory cloud, but it was a no-reply e-mail. I searched for Office and found programs like Excel which I could “pin” but didn't want to pin the ICONS because I thought that might add to programs running in the background and would slow it down more. I didn't search for the Memory Cloud.

I finally figured out how to save favorites and where to find them but on the next day I clicked on favorites and had an endless news feed scrolling to click on to select which ones I could read later. I couldn't get out of it to select my favorites.

Best Buy sent an e-mail offering to check to see how much my computer was worth toward trade in and listed lots of stuff for sale but it said I'd have to contact the store. However it did say new computers could be returned within 15 days.

I deduced that I could call the Geek squad and get it running better and work with it, but my fifteen days would probably get used up in the meantime.

So I returned it with the thought I'd have to eat the cost of the virus protection but they gave me every nickle back. They offered to clean it up or give the refund. Everything they sold had Windows 10 on it. Maybe that computer had a virus on it but it was securely packaged in the box when I got it.

Then I went to a local computer shop about a block away and bought a refurbished computer identical to what I had for $179 with Windows 7.1. Then for $60 they replaced the keyboard $20 labor, $40 keyboard on my “junk” computer which now runs like new.

I also know people who love Windows 10, but for now I'm going to avoid it. I have the option for a free download and that reminds me – I better change the automatic updates on my other computer to notify and select.

I guess if it comes to no option or if I had to pay for what I didn't want, I'd buy another Apple. I gave the one I had to my daughter so she didn't have to deal with Windows 10.

Happy 4th of July.

I am so sorry you went to best buy and they sold you on their "plans" and sold you a brick. I personally had many issues in the past with them when trying to purchase new hardware and had them tell me I could not purchase a new computer without their moron squad "testing it out", they scam you out of your money for something you can easily do yourself. The one time I sent my cousin to purchase a unit for a customer since he headed up that way and the end result was me in a verbal screaming match with the store manager. I had my cousin go back after he went to the mall and I spoke with Best Buys cooperate office and they were happy to conference call the store with me and were taken back by how crappy their store actually was operating. However it's common knowledge in the tech community that Best Buy is full of dirtbags with this "unwritten policy" no matter what store you go to an any state.

That Dell should have worked flawlessly out of the box with windows 8.1 or 10 on it, there is an issue when it upgrades to 10 or update 1155 with a few antiviruses(Kaspersky being one of them) that causes a loop cycle or it bricks the machine.

Windows 10 when set up for you the correct way should function like windows 7, all of my touch screen devices are now running 10 and I must say it is pretty darn good.

Well the freebie ends soon so I best decide this week.

Thanks to all for the information.

I thought I might give it a go this am and bingo, right off the bat I have a problem.

As I posted previously I did download and ran win 10 about 7 mos ago successfully. Then I opted to return to win 7 for various reasons. I had a remote speaker powered by Blue Tooth
and Win 10 worked Ok. I do not recall if I tried the speaker then but in searching the internet I find that it can be updated with a driver Then I added soft ware to install a TV remote by Harmony and that is causing the problem. I programmed the remote using the software and connection to the PC then disconnected and used the remote in another room. I suppose I could delete the software from the computer, look for an update to win 10 and download it. This is starting to go beyond my extremely limited knowledge of computers and I am confused. If I do delete that software will the TV remote stop working as it is a radio device? I doubt the PC will accept the install software as it is not compatible with win 10. If I update the driver, should that be done before I delete win 7 and install win10?

Oh boy the heck with it for now. I will keep puttering around This puter is about 6 years old, still runs great. They intend to support Win 7 until 2020. If I keep win 7, my puter will be around 10 years old and in need of replacement. I also will be at an advanced age and not sure if I will still be using a computer.

what's the remote for is it a media center pc? is it aftermarket for another device? what's the make model, etc.

It is a Harmony model CST4.0


I still have the installation disk and I have been reading how to make it work in Win 10 However I am a bit hesitant to do anything with the program before I attempt to download Win 10 and wonder if it would work after, if I decide to download win 10.

Last minute Charlie, yesterday the last day I decided to give it a go and downloaded Win 10. Everything seems to be Ok but for my Bluetooth remote speaker. A preliminary scan said it would not work with win10 and so far they are right. I have tried a few things so far and not successful it getting it to recognize the unit.

Still unsure about Cortana or Cortina. I do not have a mike on this unit. I am not sure if I can just plug and play a mike or if software has to be added to activate the system to use a mike. I have an old one from some other machine I once had but the wire is spliced, poor job) and hesitate to try that route.

Printer seems to work OK with most programs, Quicken did not work at first, but later I was able to print a few items.

The download went well, about 2 and half hours

I pushed the bubble as this unit is 6 years old and working well so far. In fact it is faster after download of W10 Maintenance checks all OK. I expect I will run into something else, but I have a month to decide to keep it or not.

The Harmony software is up and running but I have not tried to program the remote with it. No need at this time, I will worry about that later.

Welcome to the club. I am still exploring and enjoying my 6 yr. old HP computer's new life with Windows 10. I have the capability to run Cortana but chose not to. I think it is too invasive to have her monitoring and analyzing your computer usage just to play around with her.

So I finally gave in and did the upgrade to my main system.... works pretty darn good right out of the install.... You just have to disable a laundry list of privacy stuff

I am liking Windows 10 but still have to get the DVD burner fixed. I did find an error message that some part of the file or driver did not migrate? Definitely out of my league. LOL Dr. D PM me when you can take a look at it, please and thank you.