Windows 7 updates.. windows 10..would you?

[michaeldjcox]

I turned off windows 7 updates in 2013 on my sagetv server / family computer - I had a few dodgy updates where stuff stopped working and got bored of constant need for reboots

Now I have

145 important updates
108 optional updates

Question a) Would you click "Install Updates"?

The only reason I'm even thinking about this is because of the July 29th deadline on free windows 10 upgrade where I hear its a good idea to update windows 7 first.

Question b) Would you update to Windows 10?

There are certainly now some things I want that will never be supported in windows 7 e.g. bluetooth BLE support. And at first use it seems nice enough - I upgraded my windows 8 laptop - that was a no brainer as windows 8 was horrible - (no start button!)- and in any case I mostly use the linux side of the dual boot.

Grateful for peoples thoughts...

Michael

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by michaeldjcox

I turned off windows 7 updates in 2013 on my sagetv server / family computer - I had a few dodgy updates where stuff stopped working and got bored of constant need for reboots

Now I have

145 important updates
108 optional updates

Question a) Would you click "Install Updates"?

The only reason I'm even thinking about this is because of the July 29th deadline on free windows 10 upgrade where I hear its a good idea to update windows 7 first. I would update Windows 7 then update to windows 10. I would update Windows 7 then update to Windows 10. I would update Windows 7 first then update to Windows 10.

Question b) Would you update to Windows 10?

There are certainly now some things I want that will never be supported in windows 7 e.g. bluetooth BLE support. And at first use it seems nice enough - I upgraded my windows 8 laptop - that was a no brainer as windows 8 was horrible - (no start button!)- and in any case I mostly use the linux side of the dual boot.

Grateful for peoples thoughts...

Michael

I upgraded all my machines to Windows 10. Including the one that has the SageTV server and never looked back. I always kept my Windows 7 machines up to date.

[nyplayer]

For some reason I cannot edit my post.... I would update Windows 7 first make sure all works then update to Windows 10.

[michaeldjcox]

Well I installed the windows updates.

It took 24 hours to get through them all.

95 failed first time but on repeating "Check for updates" a few times I got through them all and the machine seems fine.

I have the windows 10 update icon but did not elect to press it.

Enough disruption for one weekend.

I think the change in model Microsoft have is a little disturbing - I'm not sure I trust them.

Nothing is really "free" and it sounds like Microsoft are trying to turn themselves into google gathering personal information over my scant rural bandwidth in order to fire adverts me or worse.

[trk2]

I upgraded my desktop to Win 10 but my Sage server is still Win 7. I did however lock in my free upgrade on my server by installing windows 10 and then rolling back as described here.

The only real issue I have with Windows 10 is that I have had some problems with sleep mode and power savings that I did not have with Windows 7. I had to disable allowing Windows allowing to reduce power to the USB hubs. Before I fixed that issue Win 10 would restart when told to shut down (a common problem) and I would occasionally lose my mouse or keyboard resuming from sleep. I had no issues with the same computer with Win 7.

Since my Sage server sleeps when not in use, I've decided to leave it with Windows 7. My server has worked flawlessly for years so I'm gun shy about making any changes

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by trk2

I did however lock in my free upgrade on my server by installing windows 10 and then rolling back as described here.

I did not know that was possible. Since I have not let Windows apply any updates to my SageTV server in a long time, I am not getting the offer to update to Windows 10.

Is there a way to upgrade to Windows 10 without letting Windows 7 apply any of the updates?

Thanks,
John

[MattHelm]

There is a M$ site that will let you download the ISO, plus a ISO to USB drive tool. Don't have a link.

[trk2]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I did not know that was possible. Since I have not let Windows apply any updates to my SageTV server in a long time, I am not getting the offer to update to Windows 10.

Is there a way to upgrade to Windows 10 without letting Windows 7 apply any of the updates?

Thanks,
John

Yes, I believe so. I would start here.

[michaeldjcox]

Well I gave win7 to window 10 upgrade a go with the so called media creation tool.

SageTV seems happy enough but a whole bunch of stuff doesn't work like...

The start button!
My Logitech mouse despite latest drivers
Intermittently you cannot launch something is says @bad data in stubb@
Damn and that is another thing it thinks my keyboard is US despite settings to the contrary

This so alpha quality

[michaeldjcox]

I gave up.

My windows 8 laptop upgraded just fine.

But my windows 7 desktop....

One device (logitech mouse) not working - fails to recognise unifying receiver.

Most apps including sageTV worked absolutely fine.

But windows features themselves did not function in so many ways:

• Intermitant "Bad data received by stub" when launching windows programs
• Windows update service dies everytime you choose to "check for updates"
• Start menu keeps disappearing
• Login can sometimes take 5 mins!

to name some.

And most of these if you google them have been issues since autumn last year.

I suspect it maybe all to do with permissioning of files and folders.

Happily the recovery option to go back to windows 7 seems to have worked like a dream (fingers crossed) so I won't need to resort to my backups.

A shame I actually quite like some features of the new interface. The new style start menu. The notifications area. The task bar showing active programs. Once you get rid of annoying live tiles and turn off the M$ spyware features. Very glossy. Nice fonts!

But I really feel I've come back to a safe place with windows 7.

Michael

[Fuzzy]

I don't think I have ever upgraded the operating system on a computer. I'd much rather take the opportunity to blow it out and install from scratch.

[reggie14]

I rebuilt my Sage/Plex server about 18 months ago with overpowered hardware. Basically, I expect this will be my last Sage server and should be capable of lasting past 2020 (beyond the Win7 support date), unless hardware failures take it out first. While I plausibly will move to a Linux/Docker server before then, it's not clear when/if we'll see good support for some things that I currently rely on (namely, OpenDCT and USB-UIRT).

So, I'm tentatively planned to upgrade my server to Win10 this weekend... I maintain nightly backups, so if things go horribly wrong I can always back out that way.

That ended up being rather important for one of the boxes that I upgraded. My primary workstation had Lucid Virtu MVP installed, which not only is incompatible with Win10, but it prevents the OS from booting at all. It took a few tries before I found out that was the problem.

From the posts here, it sounds like some servers go through the upgrade with no problems, while others experience a wide variety of misbehaviors. So, hopefully it goes smoothly for me.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by reggie14

I rebuilt my Sage/Plex server about 18 months ago with overpowered hardware. Basically, I expect this will be my last Sage server and should be capable of lasting past 2020 (beyond the Win7 support date), unless hardware failures take it out first. While I plausibly will move to a Linux/Docker server before then, it's not clear when/if we'll see good support for some things that I currently rely on (namely, OpenDCT and USB-UIRT).

What issues are you having or reading about with OpenDCT and USB-UIRT on Linux?

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

What issues are you having or reading about with OpenDCT and USB-UIRT on Linux?

I didn't say this in my previous email, but if I went down the Linux path, I'd almost certainly want to just move things over to an unRAID box.

My understanding is that people have had serious problems getting USB-UIRT set up- both in terms of the initial set-up and the reliability. This seems to be true for people using the docker image and, more generally, the various flavors of Linux/BSD. I believe stuckless recommends using CommandIR, but that's not available anymore.

Also, from what I've read, OpenDCT isn't part of the SageTV docker image, nor is there a separate docker image available yet. So, do use it with unRAID I'd presumably need to set up a Linux VM, which I'd rather not do for a variety of reasons.

Assuming people keep using the SageTV docker, I assume someone will create an OpenDCT docker image. But, I still don't know what I could use as an alternative to USB-UIRT.

[Fuzzy]

I'm pretty sure there are USB-UIRT modules for LIRC, so it SHOULD be an option - honestly haven't tried, but it SHOULD... ;-) I mean, these instructions are from 2005: http://usbuirt.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=792

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I'm pretty sure there are USB-UIRT modules for LIRC, so it SHOULD be an option - honestly haven't tried, but it SHOULD... ;-) I mean, these instructions are from 2005: http://usbuirt.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=792

Indeed- it "should" work. But, the Linux forum has several posts and threads talking about IR blasters until Linux- basically everyone seems to have trouble using the USB-UIRT.

Stuckless, for instance, reported he had problems with LIRC and USB-UIRT (e.g., dropped keys).

[SomeWhatLost]

personally, win10 scares me... seems odd that an OS upgrade would go so far out of its way to trick & nag people into upgrading....
seems like the kind of thing Malware does...
I do have my dedicated gaming/steam PC running win 10, and it seems ok as such...
just there is this worry they may choose to go the whole windows as a service thing at some point... I don't feel like being held hostage... sure, MS says they won't do that... but it is MS....
for Sage, I went Linux/docker...
for desktop if I can find CAD/CAM tools I like, I will probably go ubuntu or something... or stick with win7...

[reggie14]

I just finished the upgrade. Other than taking about 3 times as long as I expected (the system stayed operational for most of it, though), it went very smooth. Everything seems to be working- namely Sage, OpenDCT, and Plex. I haven't noticed any slow-downs, but I've only done a few minutes of testing.

[valnar]

I have half a dozen machines at home and they all run Windows 7. I stripped out all the Windows 10 notification garbage from every one of them.

I have no interest in running the half-baked MS Bob 2.0 theme that sits atop of Windows 10, or the spyware that encompasses it.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by valnar

I have no interest in running the half-baked MS Bob 2.0 theme that sits atop of Windows 10, or the spyware that encompasses it.

I'm not saying there aren't some legitimate privacy gripes, but the level of controversy has been surprisingly high. Microsoft is basically just doing what Google has been doing for a while. And I don't think Microsoft has been particularly more or less transparent than Google has been.

(And no, the irony of Microsoft's old "Scroogled" advertising campaign against Google has not been lost on me.)