[Fury]

No. It is saved under system root, typically C:.

[Luis Dias]

facedesk (paffffff) you're right

[Luis Dias]

Are these things I should worry about? http://prntscr.com/7ykzbh

[The E]

Nonserious answer: It's a jpg with MS Paint lines all over it, so no.

Serious answer: Well, disabling real-time protection is a really ****ing stupid idea that noone should seriously entertain. Everything else can and should be disabled, but do recall the old maxim "If you're getting software for free you're not the customer, you're the product".

[Luis Dias]

:/ I had hopes that maxim wouldn't be the case, since they are still selling windows licences... just not to those who already had previous licences.

[The E]

You can also refer to this handy guide: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/07/30/windows-10-privacy-settings/

[jr2]

It saves windows.old under \users? With all the previous programs as well? ****ing hell. Jesus F Christ.

  I did put the output of dir there, did you mis-read it?  All of those directories (Windows, Program Files, Users, et al) are in \Windows.old ...

So, has anyone here gotten the rollout yet?

I, sadly, have not

I've gotten the rollout, they're doing Insiders first.

Nonserious answer: It's a jpg with MS Paint lines all over it, so no.

Serious answer: Well, disabling real-time protection is a really ****ing stupid idea that noone should seriously entertain. Everything else can and should be disabled, but do recall the old maxim "If you're getting software for free you're not the customer, you're the product".

Windows will cost $119.  So, you are again the customer.  It's free for a year, and only for home users having a Genuine^TM version of Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 and/or those who have participated in the Windows Insider program.


EDIT Insert:  As far as privacy, remember, the Preview edition would probably have defaulted to more phone home-ish settings.  Then again, MS stands to benefit in multiple ways from harvesting user data, so do double-check privacy on the release builds as well!    Share what you want, lock the rest.

Bleh, I only partially formatted the following quote, you all can just click the darn link or suffer the lack of formatting / hyperlinks   

My info sucks, so the following is courtesy of /u/illage2's Windows 10 megathread in /r/pcmasterrace, thanks so much for compiling all of this!Thought I'd complie all the information about Windows 10 since its out tomorrow to allow people to be more informed before they upgrade.

Please be aware that as with any new Windows OS there may be problems so some people might want to give this a couple of weeks before deciding to upgrade.
Edit: Thanks to the mods for stickying this thread

A very good peice of advice from /u/Shiroi_Kage

• If you're upgrading and are afraid of problems, DO NOT UPGRADE BEFORE SAVING A SYSTEM IMAGE! With a system image you can roll your system back to the way it was before the update, stored files and all. This is the safest option, and I would recommend it to everyone.
  

Even more brilliant advice coming from /u/madscientistEE

• Update your anti-virus software if it's anything other than Windows Defender / Security Essentials. Some vendors, most notably Symantec (both SEP and Norton), require an engine upgrade to work with Windows 10.
  Defragment your hard disk before upgrading. SSD users should run a TRIM. (The Windows 8 defrag utility is smart enough to TRIM when you click "optimize")
  After the upgrade, clean up. Run "disk cleanup" and select the "Clean system files" option. Doing this will clear out 20-30GB of crap (your old Windows folder). This does prevent an in-place downgrade but it improves performance and saves disk. Once you clean up all the stuff you can, defragment the hard disk again. (or run a TRIM if you have an SSD)
  

Thanks for /u/funnybuttrape for informing us about the following folder

• $Windows.~BT in your c:

Make sure you don't install W10 from that folder.
Some more advice from /u/Heavyoak

• bit of advice to add, check to make sure your mobo is updated: http://www.maximumpc.com/windows-10-graphics-cards-and-motherboard-drivers-updating/
  http://www.pcgamer.com/get-your-motherboard-ready-for-windows-10/
  

It is Free for most people

For an entire year (up to July 29th 2016) an upgrade to Windows 10 is free for everyone if you are running Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1.
If you are on Windows 7 enterprise. (Insert star trek jokes here) then you need to read this from Microsoft's FAQ.

• Enterprise customers with active Software Assurance subscription in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to Windows 10 enterprise offerings outside of this offer.
  

After the year is finished it is currently unknown how much Windows 10 will cost. Thanks to /u/KloudAlhpa the cost of the upgrade after the year is $119 / £99.99 or your regional equivelent https://i.imgur.com/7FuaHw4.png
Edit: To clear up any confusion. I meant to say that you can get Windows 10 for free within a year of it launching. Once you have it, it is free forever. No subscriptions of any kind. Reservation
Resvering your upgrade can be done via the small windows logo in the notification area. If you do not have this, then make sure you install the latest updates for your OS. Then all you need to do is reserve it. The OS will download ahead of time and then you'll be notified when it is ready to install.
Keep in mind that MS are rolling it out so don't be too surprised if you don't get to use Windows 10 on July 29th.
If you have all the latest updates for your OS and still can't see the reservation icon. Then try heading here and reserving that way.
Or you can try what /u/10se1ucgo said in the comments.
I had the same exact issue as you, no scripts or task scheduler magic was working, and someone suggested to (in an elevated [admin]) CMD prompt type. start ms-gwx:reserve And it worked!
Edit: To address concerns about the specific times Windows 10 will be released. Microsoft hasn't given any specifcs about release times. So for the time being you'll just have to play the waiting game.
Will it work?

In short if you can run Windows 7 SP1 or Windows 8.1 and meet these requirements. Windows 10 should work just fine. During the resevration process it'll also show you if any hardware or software isn't compatible.
Windows 7 Ultimate / Pro upgrades?

If you have Windows 7 pro or Ultimate you'll be upgraded to Windows 10 pro. If you have Windows 7 home etc then you'll upgrade to Windows 10 home. See here for the upgrade chart.
Windows XP upgrade to Windows 10?

At this moment in time there's no word on this but assume for now at least that you can't upgrade XP to Windows 10. If you want Windows 10 then upgrade to Windows 7 and then upgrade to Windows 10.
Besides if your still running XP there's a chance your hardware can't support Windows 10.
Windows Vista Upgrade to Windows 10

As with Windows XP. Upgrading from Vista to Windows 10 is not yet supported. Same thing applies. Upgrade to genuine Windows 7 and then upgrade to Windows 10. Non-Genuine upgrades
Sadly if you are using a non genuine version of Windows then you cannot upgrade to Windows 10. Microsoft did actually say otherwise a few months back but they did a 180 on this.
Some people with non-genuine Windows 7 / 8.1 have been seeing the icon to reserve Windows 10. Most likely case is that you'll upgrade to a non-genuine version of Windows 10.
What about game compatibility?

I've posted this several times already. But from the looks of things a lot of games (including games from GoG) should work just fine on Windows 10.
See here for a list of compatible games.
Here is GOG's statement.
Upgrade or fresh install?

If you want Windows 10 for free, you should first upgrade and make sure everything works. Then from within Windows 10 you should be able to do a fresh install.
If doing a fresh install you can try using Ninite to install essential software quickly.
This comes from /u/Just_made_this_now in regards to Ninite
Also be aware that when using ninite, you're not able to install programs to a different drive other than your C drive/default. So say if you have an older 120GB SSD for Windows and programs on a separate drive, you may want to consider getting a larger SSD if you're doing a fresh install and want to use Ninite. The dev had made it quite clear they had no plans to support custom install locations, the last time I checked.
Chocolatey on the other hand, supports it, albeit will need a bit of know-how:
Overriding default install directory or other advanced install concepts
If you do an upgrade then you shouldn't have to reinstall anything.
This video will explain it a little bit more.
A comment from /u/Ikkerens
After upgrading I extracted my Windows Key using The Ultimate PID Checker , this allowed me to reinstall Windows 10 from ISO using that key.
What about Drivers / Updates

I've not heard much about this as of yet, but a forced update on Windows 10 might mess a few things up but MS are releasing a ultilty for Windows 10 Home users that lets you block certian updates.
Windows 10 pro already has a feature alllowing users to "Defer" upgrades. Which allows them to control when they recieve updates.
As for actual drivers there seems to be people in the comments that have had no issues with Windows 10. As stated at the top of this thread there might be some issues with some drivers so go into this with that in mind.
DX12

For those wondering nVida has stated that DX12 is backwards compatible with a lot of their older cards. So don't panic if you don't have an 900 series card.
AMD are also going to make it backwards comatible but probably not to the same extent as nVida.
Nvidia will support DX12 on every Fermi, Kepler, and Maxwell-class GPU. That means nearly every GTX 400, 500, and 600 series card will be supported. Interestingly, AMD isn’t necessarily following suit — the company has indicated that it will support DX12 on all GCN-based hardware, but hasn’t indicated if HD 6000 or HD 5000 cards will be included in that.
/u/madscientistEE has provided more information on AMD DX12 compatibility.
AMD DX12 Support Info!
Only GCN cards are supported and pre-GCN cards will operate at their native feature level. (The HD6570s at work run just peachy, but they're still DX11 cards.)
Which GPUs are Graphics Core Next and which ones are the old TeraScale architecture is unusually confusing to determine so here's the rundown:
Discrete GPUs
All HD6xxx and 5xxx cards are Terascale. No DX12 for you.
All Radeon HD 7700 and up cards are GCN. (HD7600 and lower are TeraScale)
All Radeon HD 85xx cards are GCN. (HD84xx and lower are TeraScale)
All Radeon Rx-200 series R5-240 and higher are GCN. The R5-235 and lower are TeraScale.
All Rx-300 series GPUs are GCN.
Advanced Processing Units (APUs)
All Bobcat based APUs (Desna, Ontario, Zacate cores) are TeraScale. (and way too slow for most games anyway, who cares?)
All FM1 and FM2 APUs are TeraScale. (Richland, Trinity, Llano cores)
All FM2+ "Kaveri" APUs and later are GCN. Also all FP3 and FP4 mobile APUs are GCN (Kaveri and Carrizo cores)
All AM1/FS1b "Kabini" APUs are GCN as are the FT3 and FT3b mobile parts (Kabini, Temash, Beema, Mullins)
GPU's

According to /u/auto_pilot there's seems to be issues with crossfire.
I'm running insider build, clean install and most programs and games work fine as long as I don't turn on crossfire. The minute crossfire is on everything gets chunky and crashes as far as games go.
There's currently no word on SLI support for Windows 10.
Overclocking

/u/mbot57 seems to have found an issue with overlclocking.
It should be noted that as of the RTM release (WIP build 10240) there is still an OS lock on overclocking CPUs. Discovered having tested identical hardware on both Windows 7 sp1 and windows 10 WIP build 10240 (and previous versions).
Differences between pro and home versions of Windows 10.

See this link for more information. download the table and it'll be fairly easy to understand. Thanks to /u/uCrap4Brainz for the link.
Security and Anti-Virus / Anti-Malware

Windows 10 will come with Windows Defender (its Security Essentials under a new name). So you might want to swap out for something else. Below are some good Anti Virus and Anti-Malware programs you can use
Avast
Malware Bytes
AVG
Avira
Others which people have recommended in the comments.
Everything else

For everything else WinBeta has made an excellent video going through Windows 10.
How to Geek has put together some good articles on Windows 10 already for things like tweaking and disabling / enabling certain features and functionality. Make sure to check them out.
Hopefully this has helped. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask.
Personal Experience from /u/illage2

Well I now have Windows 10 and I have to say upgrading was a nightmare. It took about 1.5 hours, and then when I finally got into Windows 10 the performance was terrible. However I found that resetting my PC under settings seems to resolve it, but sadly you'll lose all the stuff you had installed.
If you want to do a fresh install after upgrading go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery > Reset this PC you can either reset and keep your files or just reset and delete everything.

[Grizzly]

Code: [Select]

C:\Users\Joshua>

'Oi! What are you doing on my computer!?

[Klaustrophobia]

The more I read about windows 10, the less I want it.  Even on my 8.1 laptop.  We used to call software that behaved like this SPYware.  Considering buying another copy or two of windows 7 before they disappear forever.

[karajorma]

Yeah, I'm definitely sticking to Windows 7 for a lot longer now. Never had any serious problem with it and I don't fancy spending ages sorting out issues like this.

I'm also still wondering what happens if a year and a half from now I need to reinstall the OS.

[666maslo666]

I planned to upgrade from 7 to 10 after it releases, but after reading about the privacy violations I have decided to go with Windows 8.1 instead (Metro does not concern me, there is Classic Shell for that).

[jr2]

Yeah, I'm definitely sticking to Windows 7 for a lot longer now. Never had any serious problem with it and I don't fancy spending ages sorting out issues like this.

I'm also still wondering what happens if a year and a half from now I need to reinstall the OS.

... you re-install it, and it activates online.  Just like every Windows since XP if your system is still the same.

Honestly, most folks who decide to stick with older versions of Windows will probably end up upgrading with their hardware, I'm thinking.

..cause if you don't want the hassle of figuring out how to get Windows 10 to function the way you want it, I'm thinking you're not going to want to figure out how to get Windows 7 running on new hardware coming out a few years from now.

And I suppose that's not entirely a bad thing.  Mas o menos.

[Dragon]

I don't get what all the fuss is about. It took me about half an hour to get it to work exactly the way I wanted, and most of this was reading descriptions of every service to decided if I want it or not. I had to mess with registry only once, to disable sending telemetry data to M$. So far, my impressions are positive. It's got all the good parts of Windows 8.1 (mostly talking about performance here) with a better interface, more customization and somewhat better looks (still not as pretty as 7, but I can live with the aesthetics). I'm definitely upgrading from Windows 7 on my main computer. Now that I know what to do, it'll take 10 minutes and I'll have it running exactly how I want. No spying, no forced restarts, old-style QuickLaunch bar, full control. BTW, options for doing that are even easier to access than they used to be.

Edge is utter crap, though. Couldn't figure out how to tell it to save a download somewhere other than in the default location. It's possible that it can't do that, which would be utterly ridiculous. Oh, and it turned out changing the default requires a registry edit. So looks like I'll stick to Chrome. Dunno what they were thinking.

Didn't try out Cortana yet, but looks like a gimmick, not to mention one that talks. Considering I sometimes use my laptop in areas where silence is appreciated, it doesn't look like it'll see much use.

[karajorma]

... you re-install it

You've completely glossed over the important part of the answer. How on Earth do I reinstall it? Do I need to reinstall Windows 7? Do I need to redownload Windows 10? Will the Windows 10 download even still be available? What happens if Windows 11 or 12 is out?

I have no desire to do a "free" upgrade if I end up having to buy the OS a year later cause it's cocked up and I'm too used to it to downgrade to Windows 7.

[headdie]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

If you need to install or reinstall Windows 10, you can use the tools on this page to create your own installation media using either a USB flash drive or a DVD.

[karajorma]

Yes, I noticed that once I started looking around. But what do you do if after a year you need to reinstall and you haven't already made one of those disks?

Quite frankly, right now it looks like the smartest thing I could do is to clone my HD, upgrade to Windows 10, downgrade again and only go back to Windows 10 whenever I need to.

[jr2]

Quite frankly, right now it looks like the smartest thing I could do is to clone my HD, upgrade to Windows 10, downgrade again and only go back to Windows 10 whenever I need to.

That would be the smart money, yes (assuming you didn't want to stay with 10 after trying it).

But,

Yes, I noticed that once I started looking around. But what do you do if after a year you need to reinstall and you haven't already made one of those disks?

Use the Download Tool - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Create the install media you want

Profit!

(In other words, it appears M$ finally caught on that you can download a genuine bit-for-bit copy of their install disks, and is now offering that as a service instead of a back alley deal.  License verification (or 1337 h@ck3ry if you don't wish to do that and can find the right tools) occurs after install.  The Win 10 key you are given is a generic OEM key and is tied to your hardware.  source.

Now, it's possible MS will deactivate the download option.  However, i doubt it, as that does not make sense.

Also!


How to reset your Windows 10 install to factory default without the need for re-installation: (yes, they finally got it!)

Source: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-10/refresh-in-windows-10#

Refresh is part of reset in Windows 10

Step 1: Open the Start menu, and then select Settings > Update & security > Recovery.



Step 2: Under Reset this PC, select Get started.



Step 3: Select Keep my files. This option keeps your files plus apps that came with your PC. Apps you installed and changes you made to settings will be removed.

(of course you could wipe your personal files etc if you wanted or were giving away the PC or something)

[MP-Ryan]

Reading more about the rollout, I'm going to upgrade the laptop (Win7 Home Premium) as soon as they get the kinks worked out of 10 (and hopefully consolidate the privacy mess into some easier-to-manage single areas).  The desktop is trickier.

Research suggests that the Windows 10 license is based on a unique hardware hash generated when you install it, for the life of the PC.... and only that PC.  Past experience suggest MS may let you reactivate on new hardware, but those of us with Retail Windows 7 keys (which can be used on any PC, as long as its only one install at a time) will lose that flexibility.  With plans to upgrade the desktop hardware in the next year, I figure I'd better wait until the hardware upgrade is done to actually use my "free" Windows 10 upgrade off this Win7 license, or I'm going to have to buy the damn OS anyway.

Honestly Microsoft, your ****ing complicated bull**** licensing is easily among the top three worst things about your products.

[karajorma]

I tried burning an ISO. Failed with the "Something Happened" error. **** that ****, if it's ****ing up on even making the ISO, I'm not allowing it anywhere near my PC.

@MP - I agree with you. If it will let me make my own ISO for use on other PCs, why the **** haven't they just put the ISOs up for download?

[MP-Ryan]

Hunh. I just managed to make both a Win10 Pro (desktop) and another Win10 Home (laptop), both x64, disc using the media creator here.  ISOs built flawlessly and burned.  Haven't actually tried them yet, but the discs verified...

One word of caution - several resources have indicated that the procedure to get a clean install of 10 requires an upgrade-in-place first.  Here's how:

1.  Download the Media Creator tool if Win10 hasn't deployed to your system already through the update.
2.  Run the tool.  Select update another PC, and build the ISO that matches your current system.  Remove the disc.
3.  Run the tool again.  Select "Upgrade this PC."
4.  Allow it to do it's full upgrade.  Note that it will apparently do one reboot, and start running but with more updates, but a second will actually getting it properly running afterward.
5.  Now insert the disc, and use the clean install option to format and reinstall Windows 10.
***DO NOT INSERT LICENSE KEYS ANYWHERE DURING THIS PROCESS. ALWAYS SKIP.

Following this procedure will apparently leave Windows 10 to self-activate based on the hardware hash it generated during your first upgrade-in-place, and you should never have to reinsert a license key afterward during a reinstall as that hash is stored with MS.  If you try to clean install up front, it won't generate properly.