Windows 10 Upgrade Strategies, Pitfalls and Fixes As MSFT Servers Are Hit Hard

MojoKid writes: The upgrade cycle begins, with Microsoft's latest operating system--the highly anticipated Windows 10--rolling out over Windows Update for free, for users of Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. For those that are ready to take the plunge over the weekend, there are some things to note. So far, Microsoft has been rolling out the upgrade in waves and stages. If you are not one of the 'lucky' ones to be in the first wave, you can take matters into your own hands and begin the upgrade process manually. While the process is mostly simple, it won't be for everyone. This guide steps through a few of the strategies and pitfalls. There are two main methods to upgrade, either through Windows Update or through the Media Creation Tool. In either case, you will need to have opted-in for the Windows 10 Free Upgrade program to reserve your license. Currently, the Windows Update method is hit or miss due to the requirement for additional updates needing to be installed first and Microsoft's servers being hit hard, leading to some rather humorous error messages like the oh-so helpful description, "Something Happened." Currently, it would be best to avoid the Windows Update upgrade, at least for the time being. Numerous issues with licensing have been reported, requiring manual activation either through the dreaded phone call, or by running slmgr.vbs /ato at the command prompt to force license registration.

Comments

Windows sounds easier to update than Debian.

[Anonymous Coward]

I hate to say it, but after reading the article, the problems affecting these Windows upgrades seem very minor compared to the problems I had upgrading some Debian 7 systems to Debian 8. The first clue I got that something was wrong was when the upgraded systems wouldn't completely boot. After digging into it I found out that Debian 8 uses something called systemd, and that lots of other people have experienced severe problems with it, too. Well I don't want to bore anyone with the long story of my struggles but I fought with this systemd thing for a couple of days. In the end I had to give up. I had been very happy with Debian for many years, but not any longer. I tried out FreeBSD 10 instead, which actually works really well for me. It runs the same software as Debian, but under the hood it's so much better. I can just trust it to work properly, which is something I can no longer trust Debian to do.

Re: Windows sounds easier to update than Debian.

[gweihir]

I repeatedly see the people here who describe the problems they've had with systemd called "trolls".

There is a systematic marketing/PsyOps campaign aimed at discrediting anybody and everybody that dares to criticize the new one true god of systemd. The reason these people are called trolls, are insulted, theri complaints are ignored, etc. is that the systemd proponents actually have very little technological arguments in favor of systemd and none at all for the way it is pushed by force on nearly every Linux user at the moment. At the same time there is a host of convincing technological arguments against systemd, like its immature state, its instable feature set, its violation of a lot of core Unix principles, its inflexibility with regards to kernel versions it can work with, the problems it causes if you want to do something the designers have not anticipated, the unhelpfulness and arrogance of its developers, and outright demented decisions like the binary logs. Hence the proponents of systemd resort to purely emotional arguments because that is all they have. They are then pushing these as hard as they can.

Now, as to why systemd is pushed so hard despite it clearly not being ready for prime-time and it being not the best solution in a lot of scenarios even if it where, that is unclear. One plausible explanation is an "embrace&extend" move by RedHat where they want every Linux installation being dependent in a central place on a piece of software they control. Another is that the NSA and its ilk found Linux far too hard to hack and hence there was the need for a large, complex, network-connected demon that offers a lot of bugs they can then use to compromise systems. And finally, there may be desperate kernel-envy on the side of the chief developer (a known incompetent with a huge ego) who wants to basically wrap the kernel so he can see his own "accomplishments" on the same level as those of Linus.

This won't end well....

[beheaderaswp]

Suggestion....

Everyone please wait on this for any seriously important machines. If something goes wrong here- it's going to go very wrong.

And as a reference: "very wrong" does not infer "goodness".

Re:This won't end well....

[jellomizer]

However... From my experience, the leading edge systems have been getting much MUCH better.
Many of the core stuff has been stabilized for years.

Windows 10 still uses the NT based Kernel. Like the previous versions. Most of the drivers are the same as well. The buggy stuff are in the new features, that are often not yet implemented into the prod environment anyways.

The bad old days of the 1990's seem to be over for now. Quality is much better sense then. We can do a lot of things now without much fear of bad consequences.

Just like in the 1990's we stopped having to worry so much about failure in RAM as a major issue, because RAM has became a rather reliable component on the system.

Re:List of privacy violations

[jez9999]

And some of them aren't. I don't want MS to be able to access my e-mails or personal data even if they do have a "good faith reason" to do so, thank you. I won't touch Win10 with a barge pole.

Re:List of privacy violations

[jp10558]

I'm moving to Linux. I run a desktop, and I don't need anything that requires me to let any company peruse my data at will for "badness", or injects Ads INTO the OS - that used to be *called* MALWARE.

I already have a crappy annoying spying random upgrading experience in my Android phone, I DO NOT WANT on my desktop.