For backup I have a spare disc derive in a caddy. Using free drive cloning software called EaseUS I copy the entire disc including system tracks. I then have a restore copy or a drive to install in place of the current drive if necessary. Cost around £70. It takes a while but I just leave everything running overnight once a month. In between a backup of data onto a memory stick is all I need

There is no 100% fool proof way of insuring against a corrupted system drive , I used Acronis true image and a 1TB external drive and thought I was safe but then my Motherboard spat out it's Dummy blew it's USB controller and destroyed the external drive and then the Motherboard itself , nothing in this life is truly guaranteed except maybe the fact that Politicians of any flavour exist only to rip you off .

Quote from: Izzy on October 16, 2016, 07:53:48 PM
Although Windows users for nearly 20 years and still using at present laptops with Win 7 and 8.1, having used both a Macbook Pro and an i-phone over the last year due to problems with both the Windows laptops with the o/s and Win 10 pushed upgrade and Google's android o/s on phones, both my wife and I have resolved to move to apple stuff when replacements are needed. More expensive and requiring workarounds for some stuff that only runs on windows, but we are finished with Microsoft whatever the cost.

Izzy

I came to that conclusion over three years ago and bought a Mac desktop and Macbook pro.

I have Windoze 7 on a bootcamp partition on my desktop for the odd windoze programs I use and will not allow it access to the internet,this means I am no longer plagued with the costant updates and the need for so much extra software to keep it safe.

At least Apple have telephone support in this country if needed.

Allan

windoze a breath of fresh air? so this wonderfull expensive new operating system that cant  use the motherboards built in graphics and network cards without using the manufacturer drivers,insists its the only operating system you can install without tinkering and cant successfully install  muliple upgrades in one go,and even then those upgrades run the risk of trashing your install. Meanwhile on another partition the free os installs itself whilst im still using a trial version.,manages to get the network and graphics working without wanting driver discs,gets updates and installs them quietly in the background without needing a reboot every 2 minutes and just works,even on hardware thats nearly 10 years old.

One issue I have come across and I have been using Win10 a year now is that the last big update a month ago will fail if you have a USB dongle plugged in, so a wireless mouse/keyboard dongle or anything like that.

I updated 8 systems at work and one refused to update and I eventually tracked down via google search and comparison to the other systems that the ONLY difference in these identical machines was this one user had a 2.4ghz mouse using a USB dongle, as soon as it was unplugged the update all happened with no problems. It could then be plugged back in and all was good.

A couple of other machines did revert to MS Basic graphic drivers but just going to the Update Driver in the properties from System Info fixed them both.

One other word of caution found last year upgrading from Win 7 to 10... it takes a LONG time so if it is chuntering away on a % for a long time then leave it, overnight if necessary it should get through... obviously after 24 hours I would then look at forcing a reboot but often that will then allow it to complete...

Win 10 as a OS is a vast improvement over anything MS have done before IMHO.

Quote from: Only Me on October 17, 2016, 02:30:30 PM
that explains why my update failed then cheers @Fardap, my issue is I have a dongle for the wifi so I guess it could never update!! ?

Once it has downloaded, the update should run without access to Wifi being needed, then just plug it back in when it is ready to login again...
Assuming it is the issue...

Maybe that was my problem I had a mouse with dongle plugged in when updating.

All my PC's have mouse with dongle and updated correctly. I did have a problem initially in that USB and SD cards were not recognised. Microsoft have stated that there is a problem with having a second drive that is solid state will cause a problem either internally wired or USB. that might have been corrected with the rather large installation of fixes last week.
Since the anniversary update my accounting software (Sage) would not allow anyone to log on until a work around was set up.

I have tried the Microsoft fix but after signing I get a black screen but my antiviral adverts show up, so I am thinking my graphics drivers have not loaded properly or the desktop has not loaded, it's all very strange.

Seeing I only use that laptop for programming trains, I am thinking about loading unbuntu, does anyone use there sprog with Linux at all?

Cheers.

I finally got into windows 10, and reset doing a fresh install. Panic over.

 have installed windows 10 on 9 PC's so far and in my opinion it is much better  than windows 7 (I won't even consider windows , the only complaint is around the updates. The PC suddenly runs slow as the automatic updates are being downloaded to the PC. Although the updates are not installed until the time stated they are downloaded onto the PC disc.

Connected with that is the control of updates. At the theatre we run our lighting and sound systems under windows 10 and just before a show we put them into flight mode to stop updates affecting the controls.There is a problem with the flight mode indicator on the latest update and yesterday in the middle of running the lights for a TV recording the PC did an update wile showing it was in flight mode resulting in the PC being restarted.

Despite that and the minor hiccup logging onto Sage I have already meantioned I think it is the best Microsoft operating system produced.

I recently bought a new laptop. It came with Win10 installed. On first starting up and running it immediately did a Windows update and all was fine. I then proceded to get the laptop set up how I wanted it, rather than how Microsoft wanted it to look.

Two weeks ago it decided to do a system update. After, it was significantly slower, completely set up differently and that sodding Cortana was all over the system.

I backed out the updates and then spent 2 hours ridding my system of the that MicroSoft is determined to try and ram down our throats whether we like it or not.

There is no way, from the standard user interface, to turn off system updates.

BUT. YOU CAN TURN OFF THE AUTOMATIC SYSTEM UPDATES!!!

I Google'd it and there is a way, a couple of key presses will take you to a dialogue box with "tick" boxes that allow you to turn off system updates.

You still can't turn off "security updates" , but then it's Windows so you going to NEED security updates as the thing is going to be riddled with "holes" in the security.

The other thing I can't stress enough is DON'T use a Microsoft browser. Turn off Internet Explorer, it's overly hungry on resources, unstable and full of security issues. Use another browser like Firefox or Opera.

I have a very stable system, but it's taken too long to get it like this.

Just remember. MicroSoft don't give a damn about you and me.

There is really nothing more to develop for PC operating systems. So the only way they can keep the profits rolling in is by constantly pushing the next OS, they're not worried about getting them right, because if they do you won't need to upgrade in three or four years time.

Good luck.



[mod]This is a family-friendly forum - kindly refrain from using foul language, whether badly disguised with punctuation or not![/mod]

I have to agree that Microsoft give you stuff you do not need ie Edge, Cortana etc, maybe there are others who can make use of it but not me, also I do not like the new mail system, lots of stuff I could do with out.

Updates are necessary as they stop any nasties coming on the computer in future, I am trying Defender out at the moment not sure what it is like but will give it a go.

It's not true saying no more money for microsoft, they now charge for windows 10. The business versions, which are their main business are fairly expensive and support will still cost business whatever guise it is presented. The introduction of free forced upgrade for home users was to get over the resistance that occurred with windows 8, they are experimenting now with carrying adverts on the windows pages. Trust me they won't starve. 

I agree the home user will not be paying anything for upgrades. The money made from home users will probably be for targeted adverts like Google and Facebook et al already do.

I don't use edge as it like chrome reports your useage back so that adverts can be targeted. Slightly off topic Facebook are bypassing some popup blockers so that their sponsored adverts will always get through.

Whatever you use on PC's today unless you write it yourself someone has a way of making some money out of it either directly through subscription or indirectly through adverts.  few adverts is a small price to pay for free use of programs / operating systems.