Windows 10 Troubleshooting Thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
I bought my Lenovo laptop with Windows 8, after few weeks 8.1 was released and I updates normally. Then, my computer started to run slowly so I decided to reinstall Windows. I copied the 'serial number' (product ID) that was shown in this screen:

http://i.imgur.com/PXld1ow.png

I downloaded Win 8.1 via Torrent as I couldn't download it via Microsoft website. When I tried to install it, my serial number was not accepted, so I had to install it on the illegal way.

Is there any chance Microsoft (or Lenovo?) could give me my original (and working!) serial number? How should I contact them?

I have Win 8.1 and Win10 installed right now and I wanted to move to Win10 only by launch and I dont want to have a not activated Windows when I 'deserve' an activated one.
 
ty_hot said:
I bought my Lenovo laptop with Windows 8, after few weeks 8.1 was released and I updates normally. Then, my computer started to run slowly so I decided to reinstall Windows. I copied the 'serial number' (product ID) that was shown in this screen:

http://i.imgur.com/PXld1ow.png

I downloaded Win 8.1 via Torrent as I couldn't download it via Microsoft website. When I tried to install it, my serial number was not accepted, so I had to install it on the illegal way.

Is there any chance Microsoft (or Lenovo?) could give me my original (and working!) serial number? How should I contact them?

I have Win 8.1 and Win10 installed right now and I wanted to move to Win10 only by launch and I dont want to have a not activated Windows when I 'deserve' an activated one.
Click to expand...

The 'serial number' isn't the Product Key that your needed.

Lenovo should have injected a Product Key into your BIOS during vendor pre-activation.

This site has a tool that will read it for you.
http://www.overclock.net/a/how-to-extract-your-windows-8-8-1-key-all-editions-embedded-in-the-bios

There might also be a sticker under you battery.
 
ty_hot said:
I bought my Lenovo laptop with Windows 8, after few weeks 8.1 was released and I updates normally. Then, my computer started to run slowly so I decided to reinstall Windows. I copied the 'serial number' (product ID) that was shown in this screen:

http://i.imgur.com/PXld1ow.png

I downloaded Win 8.1 via Torrent as I couldn't download it via Microsoft website. When I tried to install it, my serial number was not accepted, so I had to install it on the illegal way.

Is there any chance Microsoft (or Lenovo?) could give me my original (and working!) serial number? How should I contact them?

I have Win 8.1 and Win10 installed right now and I wanted to move to Win10 only by launch and I dont want to have a not activated Windows when I 'deserve' an activated one.
Click to expand...

1) You didn't copy your serial number down.
2) Your serial number isn't going to work with a pirated 8.1 torrent.

Just use the restore partition to do a clean install.
 
Syriel said:
1) You didn't copy your serial number down.
2) Your serial number isn't going to work with a pirated 8.1 torrent.

Just use the restore partition to do a clean install.
Click to expand...

If he's anything like normal people, that restore partition got nuked when he decided he was going to do a 'clean' install the first time.
 
MultiCore said:
If he's anything like normal people, that restore partition got nuked when he decided he was going to do a 'clean' install the first time.
Click to expand...

Hopefully he backed up the Windows 8 install files to a DVD and/or USB when he first got the machine then.

Because:

A Windows 8 key will not allow an install from Windows 8.1 media.
An OEM key will not allow an install from retail media, IIRC.
Any key retrieval program will only find the pirated key that he used to activate his torrent.

To get his "proper" key, he'll have to install a stock version of Windows 8 (most likely an OEM version, if not one from Lenovo).

Which means if he blew away the restore partition and never created recovery discs, then the only easy option is to order recovery media from Lenovo for a few bucks.
 
Syriel said:
Hopefully he backed up the Windows 8 install files to a DVD and/or USB when he first got the machine then.

To get his "proper" key, he'll have to install a stock version of Windows 8 (most likely an OEM version, if not one from Lenovo).
Click to expand...

This is not true any more if you use the new installer from Microsoft.

Use this: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

You'll need a blank DVD or an available flash drive for installation.

8.1's initial release was a horrible period for people who wanted to clean install 8.1 on a new laptop/tablet.
 
Syriel said:
Hopefully he backed up the Windows 8 install files to a DVD and/or USB when he first got the machine then.

Because:

A Windows 8 key will not allow an install from Windows 8.1 media.
An OEM key will not allow an install from retail media, IIRC.
Any key retrieval program will only find the pirated key that he used to activate his torrent.

To get his "proper" key, he'll have to install a stock version of Windows 8 (most likely an OEM version, if not one from Lenovo).

Which means if he blew away the restore partition and never created recovery discs, then the only easy option is to order recovery media from Lenovo for a few bucks.
Click to expand...

This. Last time I ordered a restore DVD it was about 40-60 bucks in total. (I think that included shipping though as it was for work)
 
Syriel said:
Hopefully he backed up the Windows 8 install files to a DVD and/or USB when he first got the machine then.

Because:

A Windows 8 key will not allow an install from Windows 8.1 media.
An OEM key will not allow an install from retail media, IIRC.
Any key retrieval program will only find the pirated key that he used to activate his torrent.

To get his "proper" key, he'll have to install a stock version of Windows 8 (most likely an OEM version, if not one from Lenovo).

Which means if he blew away the restore partition and never created recovery discs, then the only easy option is to order recovery media from Lenovo for a few bucks.
Click to expand...

Nah, this isn't true any more.
You can get your OEM key and reinstall without ordering media from the OEM.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...ecisions-with-a-clean-install-of-windows-8-1/
 
I don't know...

I've been seeing these new commercials saying that Windows 10 is free. I've been telling my friends you know what that means... "It's probably a terrible OS they phoned in and its likely going to fail... save your money and wait for windows 11 and that every even numbered Windows has been a failure."

...I just hope they listened :( The OS is looking good and I don't want to walk into a computer store and have them tell me my copy of the system isn't available. I figured if I can discourage people from upgrading that it'll catch on virally and my copy on day-one will be secured. If this works guys, you can thank me for being able to get your copies at launch.
 
hipbabboom said:
I don't know...

I've been seeing these new commercials saying that Windows 10 is free. I've been telling my friends you know what that means... "It's probably a terrible OS they phoned in and its likely going to fail... save your money and wait for windows 11 and that every even numbered Windows has been a failure."

...I just hope they listened :( The OS is looking good and I don't want to walk into a computer store and have them tell me my copy of the system isn't available. I figured if I can discourage people from upgrading that it'll catch on virally and my copy on day-one will be secured. If this works guys, you can thank me for being able to get your copies at launch.
Click to expand...

What are you rambling about?
 
So, legit question here.

Is the reason this isnt named Windows 9 actually because somewhere deep in the code there are still some calls back to Windows 95/98 that are shortcutted to Windows 9/Windows9x or was it purely a marketing thing to keep people from thinking of those systems if it was named windows 9?
 
Ganhyun said:
So, legit question here.

Is the reason this isnt named Windows 9 actually because somewhere deep in the code there are still some calls back to Windows 95/98 that are shortcutted to Windows 9/Windows9x or was it purely a marketing thing to keep people from thinking of those systems if it was named windows 9?
Click to expand...

I heard it was because 9 in the version name crashed lotus123 and WordPerfect 4 since they only had 3 bits to store version numbers... it would have been y2k all over again.
 
dLMN8R said:
Upgrades these days are essentially clean installs + data migration. Meaning that, unlike old upgrades back in the XP/Vista days, there's very little that's actually carried over from the old OS in terms of "cruft" or whatever.


Keep in mind that Windows 10 is an upgrade intended for your parents and grandparents. Hundreds of millions of people are expected to upgrade, who have never previously upgraded Windows.

The upgrades will be reliable, fast, and you shouldn't have to worry about bloat being carried over.

In fact, you're likely to have more free space left after the upgrade than before it.
Click to expand...
Do you have any direct-from-Microsoft comments on whether the forced (video etc.) driver updates have been unintended thus far, and whether home premium users will be able to disable them once everything's fully released?
 
Blizzard said:
Do you have any direct-from-Microsoft comments on whether the forced (video etc.) driver updates have been unintended thus far, and whether home premium users will be able to disable them once everything's fully released?
Click to expand...

Summons, I don't think you're going to like the answer you're going to get.


As for apps, I'm just running it like I'd normally run Windows. I'm not interested in the Windows Store.
 
dLMN8R said:
No, there was a bug in the latest NVIDIA driver just released which caused problems until you rebooted.

Normally drivers can install and then everything's fine before you reboot (even though you should still reboot). In this case NVIDIA screwed things up until that reboot. The new drivers you installed from their site were a placebo.
Click to expand...

Except I already rebooted when Windows pushed out the drivers to me and it made my second screen stop working. The graphical corruption happened after the reboot.

Like I said, maybe I just needed to uninstall my old Win7 drivers, but I would've wiped my Win7 drivers at my own leisure anyways then next time I updated my drivers.
 
Can someone please explain what happens to us who have been testing the Enterprise version and are just regular users (not corporate). From what I understand we will not receive a free Enterprise copy since that requires special keys.

Will we not be offered to get the Home or Pro instead on the 29th?
 
jonnyp said:
Can someone please explain what happens to us who have been testing the Enterprise version and are just regular users (not corporate). From what I understand we will not receive a free Enterprise copy since that requires special keys.

Will we not be offered to get the Home or Pro instead on the 29th?
Click to expand...

Roll back to your 8.1 install, or 7, and upgrade as normal.
 
jonnyp said:
Can someone please explain what happens to us who have been testing the Enterprise version and are just regular users (not corporate). From what I understand we will not receive a free Enterprise copy since that requires special keys.

Will we not be offered to get the Home or Pro instead on the 29th?
Click to expand...

You will be offered home or pro if you're on an activated win 7 or 8, WO you'll have to install it.
 
Hasney said:
You will be offered home or pro if you're on an activated win 7 or 8, WO you'll have to install it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies guys! Though I'm still a little confused. I was on an OEM activated Win 8 prior to installing Win 10 Enterprise preview. The key is stored in my BIOS. Does that mean I will have to roll back to Win 8 or can I use my BIOS OEM key to install Win 10 Home/Pro directly from my Enterprise-edition on the 29th
 
I have a Lenovo Y500 laptop from 2013. if I install Windows 10, will all the Lenovo bloatware and "features" travel along with it?

I don't care either way, but I've just always wondered how it would work.
 
jonnyp said:
Thanks for the replies guys! Though I'm still a little confused. I was on an OEM activated Win 8 prior to installing Win 10 Enterprise preview. The key is stored in my BIOS. Does that mean I will have to roll back to Win 8 or can I use my BIOS OEM key to install Win 10 Home/Pro directly from my Enterprise-edition on the 29th
Click to expand...

Enterprise edition of any MS software uses different types of keys from retail/OEM.

If you had opted for the retail Insider builds you would have been fine.

With an Enterprise build, there is no direct path to retail.
 
Syriel said:
Enterprise edition of any MS software uses different types of keys from retail/OEM.

If you had opted for the retail Insider builds you would have been fine.

With an Enterprise build, there is no direct path to retail.
Click to expand...

Blah, I wish MS could've been a bit clearer about that. They really suck at communication. Oh well, I'll revert back to OEM Win 8 then.
 
Blizzard said:
Do you have any direct-from-Microsoft comments on whether the forced (video etc.) driver updates have been unintended thus far, and whether home premium users will be able to disable them once everything's fully released?
Click to expand...

Driver targeting is an immensely complicated science that is not anywhere close to as simple as "version X is higher than version Y so Windows Update is going to push version X even though I want version Y". There are a large number of different properties on which drivers are targeted.

There are way which exist in Windows - some which are new to Windows 10 - to ensure that all of the following is simultaneously true:

  • Normal non-gamers / non-enthusiasts always get the latest and best drivers
  • Gamers who install a special driver (whether beta, from NVIDIA, or otherwise) don't get overwritten with a driver published on Windows Update
  • Both Microsoft and NVIDIA (and other manufacturers) have the ability optionally override the previous item in emergency situations if necesary

Just because that capability exists doesn't mean it's working perfectly yet. But Microsoft and NVIDIA (and other manufacturers) are working closely to ensure it works right, if not on release day next week, then shortly after.


The biggest problem is that NVIDIA just released a buggy driver which caused all sorts of problematic behavior during a Windows Update install which exacerbates the other existing problems, making people think that to be the impending status quo.

It's not.
 
dLMN8R said:
Driver targeting is an immensely complicated science that is not anywhere close to as simple as "version X is higher than version Y so Windows Update is going to push version X even though I want version Y". There are a large number of different properties on which drivers are targeted.

There are way which exist in Windows - some which are new to Windows 10 - to ensure that all of the following is simultaneously true:

  • Normal non-gamers / non-enthusiasts always get the latest and best drivers
  • Gamers who install a special driver (whether beta, from NVIDIA, or otherwise) don't get overwritten with a driver published on Windows Update
  • Both Microsoft and NVIDIA (and other manufacturers) have the ability optionally override the previous item in emergency situations if necesary

Just because that capability exists doesn't mean it's working perfectly yet. But Microsoft and NVIDIA (and other manufacturers) are working closely to ensure it works right, if not on release day next week, then shortly after.


The biggest problem is that NVIDIA just released a buggy driver which caused all sorts of problematic behavior during a Windows Update install which exacerbates the other existing problems, making people think that to be the impending status quo.

It's not.
Click to expand...

Here's a simple solution, Windows update should only give me... Windows updates! If I want 3rd party updates from Windows, let me opt into it like every other windows before it.
 
MultiCore said:
Summons, I don't think you're going to like the answer you're going to get.


As for apps, I'm just running it like I'd normally run Windows. I'm not interested in the Windows Store.
Click to expand...
Do you play League? I don't recognize your name.

I may not like the answer, but I just wondered if anyone who worked at the company had direct feedback on it so we at least have some confirmed information. There's a lot of prerelease versions and patches flying around right now.

*edit*
dLMN8R said:
Driver targeting is an immensely complicated science that is not anywhere close to as simple as "version X is higher than version Y so Windows Update is going to push version X even though I want version Y". There are a large number of different properties on which drivers are targeted.

There are way which exist in Windows - some which are new to Windows 10 - to ensure that all of the following is simultaneously true:

  • Normal non-gamers / non-enthusiasts always get the latest and best drivers
  • Gamers who install a special driver (whether beta, from NVIDIA, or otherwise) don't get overwritten with a driver published on Windows Update
  • Both Microsoft and NVIDIA (and other manufacturers) have the ability optionally override the previous item in emergency situations if necesary

Just because that capability exists doesn't mean it's working perfectly yet. But Microsoft and NVIDIA (and other manufacturers) are working closely to ensure it works right, if not on release day next week, then shortly after.


The biggest problem is that NVIDIA just released a buggy driver which caused all sorts of problematic behavior during a Windows Update install which exacerbates the other existing problems, making people think that to be the impending status quo.

It's not.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply! Your list makes sense, except it seems to mean that one must always install custom drivers if one does not want a particular driver update. As in, until you get hit by a bad driver update (the NVIDIA situation, or the user whose touchpad was being affected), you won't know that the update will affect you. And, it might be a situation where a driver update changes something minor you don't need, so it would be nice (the "optional updates" in previous versions of Windows) if one could view the updates and choose which ones to take. *edit* And of course this would have to be an optional feature. I totally understand that for normal users the automatic updates have to be used.

I've done Linux and Windows driver development, and I know that in an ideal world vendors would put out updates that are perfect and properly tested, but I also know that sometimes doesn't happen and it would be nice if people had an optional advanced control that everyone could use to fine-tune such driver updates.

At any rate thanks for your time.
 
Got an email from MS about Windows 10, including this

We want to give every customer a great upgrade experience, so we’re rolling it out in an organized way to manage high demand and to make sure that the upgrade is right for your device. After July 29, when Windows 10 is ready for your device, it will download in the background. You’ll then get a notification to schedule your upgrade right away or at another time that’s convenient for you.
Click to expand...

Does this mean we won't all get it on July 29? Hopefully they just mean a few hours to stagger downloads, not days..
 
Is there any way to do the upgrade without reserving a W10 copy through the app? My Windows 8.1 doesn't show the upgrade icon, and I've tried every method available online.
 
Dilly said:
Is there any way to do the upgrade without reserving a W10 copy through the app? My Windows 8.1 doesn't show the upgrade icon, and I've tried every method available online.
Click to expand...

My guess is that is just an advertising push to get more people upgraded quickly - you should still have 12 months from July 29 to download it from MS?
 
Dilly said:
Is there any way to do the upgrade without reserving a W10 copy through the app? My Windows 8.1 doesn't show the upgrade icon, and I've tried every method available online.
Click to expand...

Mine showed up just a few days ago after checking for updates on the "Windows Updates" settings.

Then, clicking "View Details" after the search.
There were a ton of optional updates that I never bothered with.
Checked all of them for installation and then it showed up.
 
jstripes said:
Devs moving wholesale away from Win32 is extremely wishful thinking.

They're going to be using it until Microsoft deprecates it, which is never.
Click to expand...

You don't have to move away from win32 with Project Centennial. You won't be able to run your app on phones and Xbox One, however.
 
Question: My old PC back home is still running XP and I was wondering if reddit 8.1 keys are also eligible for the free upgrade. I'd install the insider version but it's used by my sister and I can't have her using beta software.
 
Rafy said:
Question: My old PC back home is still running XP and I was wondering if reddit 8.1 keys are also eligible for the free upgrade. I'd install the insider version but it's used by my sister and I can't have her using beta software.
Click to expand...

If you're still running XP on an old box, you might have a tough time running 10.
 
runningjoke said:
I installed the preview ISO in virtualbox and it worked fine.
Click to expand...

That's using Windows 10 as a guest though. I'll be updating my host system from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, keeping my existing VirtualBox installation running Ubuntu. I hope I'll still be able to boot the guest Ubuntu - if not, I'll have to roll back.
 
mrklaw said:
My guess is that is just an advertising push to get more people upgraded quickly - you should still have 12 months from July 29 to download it from MS?
Click to expand...

Right, just wasn't sure I could also go to the MS site and just download it from there.

Hip Hop said:
Mine showed up just a few days ago after checking for updates on the "Windows Updates" settings.

Then, clicking "View Details" after the search.
There were a ton of optional updates that I never bothered with.
Checked all of them for installation and then it showed up.
Click to expand...

Weird thing is that I keep getting an error in Windows Update, so I have to do updates by running a script in Powershell. I checked if I had the necessary updates and that seems to be the case, so no idea why it's still not popping up.
 
Managed to find a Windows 10 Home version and am now upgrading my Windows 7 Home Premium, seems to be working fine. Didn't ask for a product key or anything so activation should be fine.
 
Is/Will there be an ISO or installer publicly available for me to upgrade multiple machines without having to download the update individually on each machine? Oops sorry for the top of the page for a probably commonly answered question.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Poll
AI Doomer thread
2
59
3K
Sophist replied
New School Music Thread
20
826
Audiophile replied
Beast Games IGN Review: 2/10
40
4K
Ozzy Onya A2Z replied
Snow & White | Review Thread
Community  2
80
5K
GymWolf replied
  • Poll
Former employee says Microsoft doesn't really care if you pirate Windows
Business  2
67
5K
Diddy X replied
Top Bottom