Windows 8.1 upgrade question

[verytalldave]

Apologies if this is a repeat question, but here goes anyway.
My son has just bought himself a nearly new laptop with windows 8.1 as its operating system.
He has a free option of upgrading to windows 10.

Is it a worthwhile thing to do - is 10 much better than 8.1 ??

Thanks in advance.

BTW - I am still using my very old PC running XP with 3GB ram and find it OK for my needs.

 

[Aero]

I'd say yes as 10 is a little more flexible and intuitive (Ie it's like Windows seven with hints of Windows 8.1) . I also think MS want shuffle people into 10 quickly and close out the support for 7 and 8.1 in the near future.

 

[jpwilliams]

I'd say yes as 10 is a little more flexible and intuitive (Ie it's like Windows seven with hints of Windows 8.1) . I also think MS want shuffle people into 10 quickly and close out the support for 7 and 8.1 in the near future.

I understand that 7 and 8 will be supported until July 2020.
Just downloaded10. No problems.
Regards
John

 

[Piff]

I've recently upgraded 8.1 desktop & 7 laptop.
Desktop threw up an error part way through installation but went ok on second attempt.
Both start up much quicker. 10 is definitely better than 8.1 - go for it.

 

[Codger49]

Just check on the manufacturers support website that the particular laptop is supported for upgrading to Win 10.

There are a few e.g. Dell Inspiron 5423, that are not recommended for upgrade by the manufacturer, and have been reported on forums last year as being totally unusable after a Win 10 upgrade.

 

[fabes]

I've recently upgraded 8.1 desktop & 7 laptop.
Desktop threw up an error part way through installation but went ok on second attempt.
Both start up much quicker. 10 is definitely better than 8.1 - go for it.

This

I went from 7 and miss some of the layout but 10 is quicker (and apparently the last major edition)

I saw 8 and unless on a phone or tablet, it was awful (IMHO of course.....)

 

[grober]

Lots of graphics problem with older laptops upgrading to windows 10. Really depends on the age of the hardware/ drivers. You may have to download an updated driver for the laptop graphics chip to get it to work? If its one that came with Win8.1 when bought new unlikely to be a problem. User on an other forum can't get his Flight Sim to work in win 10 except in win8.1 emulation mode. Laptop works fine for standard browsing in WIN 10 Flight Sim just doesn't work off the bat. Using emulation 8.1 mode to get it to work possibly means there are still issues with graphic/operating system interaction with programs using intensive graphics.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

10 is better than 8.

 

[verytalldave]

Well, I have just finished the marathon task of upgrading my sons laptop from 8.1 to 10.
Its not a complicated task - just takes a long time.
It took a total of over 7 hours from start to finish. I am glad its done though.
One question I would like to ask any PC buff here -
My own PC is like me - old but still capable. Running XP with 4GB ram. So its quite useable.
Is there a similar feature on win10 that does the same thing as disc defragmenter on XP ??
If it does, where is it hiding ??
Or perhaps 10 does not need such a thing ???
Just curious.
Thanks in advance people.

One further thing - I have changed the privacy setting from FULL to BASIC as I didn't feel that microsoft should have access to everything that my son does on and with his laptop.
Anyone else done this ???

 

[Piff]

Well, I have just finished the marathon task of upgrading my sons laptop from 8.1 to 10.
Its not a complicated task - just takes a long time.
It took a total of over 7 hours from start to finish. I am glad its done though.
One question I would like to ask any PC buff here -
My own PC is like me - old but still capable. Running XP with 4GB ram. So its quite useable.
Is there a similar feature on win10 that does the same thing as disc defragmenter on XP ??
If it does, where is it hiding ??
Or perhaps 10 does not need such a thing ???
Just curious.
Thanks in advance people.

One further thing - I have changed the privacy setting from FULL to BASIC as I didn't feel that microsoft should have access to everything that my son does on and with his laptop.
Anyone else done this ???

Next to start button - search box, type in control panel & hit enter. On control panel "administrative tools" - you will find defrag & disc clean up there.
Mine was an old machine with 4gb ram & worked fine with win 10. but I've had the side off and upped it to the max 8gb that the motherboard can handle & it flies now.

 

[verytalldave]

Found it...thank you.
However it appears that the default setting is automatic optimisation and therefore defrag is run automatically once a week.
So I dont need to do anything.

 

[John]

No - you can leave it as that...

They started scheduling defrags from Vista.

You can simply type "Defragment" in Cortana to go straight to the app rather than going via Administrative Tools!

 

[rockits]

10 seems ok for home users. We are not using for any business customers at all though. All 8.1 Pro and still 7 Pro in some cases for all business/corporate customers. We don't deal with domestic customers but 10 seems alright for home.