My week with Windows 10

[R_Head]

The beast is in the cage

[viking60]

Yes there was no problem using my MS account to download Windows 10 and install it in a VM.

The Internet worked and I could run a Win update and browse etc.
Since I could not register without buying a new license the internet connection stopped working after 24 h.
I tried to transfer the product key from my Win 10 installation but that was not accepted.

Windows 10 phones home about the hardware and simply denies Wifi access.
I do have a valid product key and would like to transfer it from the Win 10 installation on the laptop to the VB installation but that does not work.
The great MS server to rule them all - forbids it.

I did check out the stopped services in Powershell with:

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Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.status -eq "stopped"}

..and wlansvc was one of them.... so I started it with:

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start-service wlansvc

in a powershell as Administrator
That did start the service as I could see with:

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Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.status -eq "running"}

But I still cannot detect any Wifi networks

[viking60]

...And as so often before....the biggest bug is often the one between the chair and the Keyboard
The VM settings for network needed the "cable connected" to be checked even if I am on wireless.
My bad.. and I am now able to surf the internet with Win 10 in the VM ... sorry Microsoft....

[R_Head]

Do not feel bad... it happens to the best of us

[viking60]

So far I had to hit F2 during boot and turn on and off Uefi to boot into Linux with legacy Grub or into Windows with Uefi.
This is not optimal so I had to dive into this Uefi stuff.
As you remember I bought this Laptop with Windows 10 and managed to disable Uefi and secure boot to install Manjaro Linux with legacy grub.
Windows 10 and Linux live separate "boot lives" so I want to unify them on the same boot menu.

Booting with Uefi makes sense for Linux too, since Uefi and gpt can handle disks > 2T. So it is time to leave good old Grub2....

It is possible to manage this by standing on your head while scratching it with your toes but I want that easy automated stuff
So I found ReFind it will probably be in your Linux repos.

I installed it

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sudo pacman -S refind-efi

and ran

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refind-install

then I copied all the files from /usr/share/refind to /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/
In /boot/efi/EFI/Boot the file bootx64.efi was already present so I renamed it windows.boot64.efi and then i renamed the file refind_x64.efi to bootx64.efi.

I noticed that there was no Manjaro directory in /boot/efi/EFI (which is needed) so I ran

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sudo grub-install --target=x86_64-efi --efi-directory=/boot/efi --bootloader-id=Manjaro --recheck

That fixed it by creating /boot/efi/EFI/Manjaro/grubx64.efi.
Ok that should be it so time to reboot and enter my Bios with F2 and set the boot option "Uefi first". Hitting F10 to save it and....

Success!
This is not my boot screen but it looks something like this

[viking60]

One word of warning:
I booted into Windows 10 and forced a manual Windows update. After the restart the box booted directly to Windows.
Microsoft does not love Linux that much
So I had to enter Bios and set legacy grub to boot into Manjaro. there i did the

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refind-install

and deleted all bootx64.efi in /boot/efi/EFI/Boot/ and moved over refind_x64.efi from /usr/share/refind and renamed it to bootx64.efi (as described above -you need to be root).

Then I rebooted and entered Bios and set Uefi first....and the good old boot menu was back again.

I may have forced this but I write this fix down in case it happens again.

[viking60]

To sum up my experience:
In terms of functionality it is as good as Windows has ever been. It will get the job done.
It is fairly user friendly.
Many good ideas have been "implemented" from Linux

All browsers are extremely slow in Win 10 except Edge .
The senseless popups with stupid warnings seem to be rooted in the Windows DNA. - They are annoying as ever .

In terms of privacy Win 10 a disaster but you can make an effort to turn of the spying stuff...If you know what that is.

I now have Win 10 in a VM under Linux (where it belongs! )
I can dualboot Win 10 and Linux.

I will not boot into Win 10 often since I found nothing there that I can't do with Linux - on the contrary.
If the need for Win 10 should arise I have it right here at my fingertips in Linux.

The interesting fact does remain:
I only have Windows 10 because it was impossible to buy a laptop without it.

From a legal perspective I do not agree with the Windows terms but I am forced to accept them to get the hardware that I bought to work.
I have paid for the HW and accepted the terms; then I start using it and am surprisingly confronted with a new set of terms.

In my book that is close to extortion....Like having to buy the orange pillows with the bed when I want the blue ones..or none since - I already have pillows.
..but it gave me the opportunity to spend a week with Windows 10 and it is not all bad.

MS should grow some confidence and let people choose it ...not force it upon them.

[viking60]

A follow up:
I scanned my Windows Documents and Settings from Linux today.

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clamscan -r -i /run/media/viking/Windows/'Documents and Settings'/viking/

And I had a virus without using mail and only surfing the internet

/run/media/viking/Windows/Documents and Settings/viking/Downloads/SysinternalsSuite.zip: Win.Trojan.Agent-6326963-0 FOUND

The interesting part is that the Sysinternal guys now work at Microsoft! I used their scripts back when they were called "Sysinternals" - and I liked them (still do).

So I might have copied downloaded some of their scripts again and now they are viruses?

Probably not, but it is hard to download even known material for Windows because they come from everywhere. MS does not have repositories like Linux.
I do believe that I downloaded everything from MS recommended sites though.

So here we learned two things Dual-booting with Linux lets you scan your Windows offline and Clam AV does the job well.
..and it detects viruses on a practical vanilla install.

I'll remove the zip with ClamAV now.

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 clamscan -r -i /run/media/viking/Windows/'Documents and Settings'/viking/ --remove
/run/media/viking/Windows/Documents and Settings/viking/Downloads/SysinternalsSuite.zip: Win.Trojan.Agent-6326963-0 FOUND
/run/media/viking/Windows/Documents and Settings/viking/Downloads/SysinternalsSuite.zip: Removed.


[Ortman]

...And as so often before....the biggest fat burner success sotries are often the one between the chair and the Keyboard
The VM settings for network needed the "cable connected" to be even if I am on wireless.
My bad.. and I am now able to surf the internet with Win 10 in the VM ... sorry Microsoft....

I hated w10 at first but it's grown on me.

[R_Head]

I still saying... the best OS MS ever made was Win2K Proffesional. The rest, nothing more than bloated crap.

I got Win10 and hardly used, at work we use 7.

[viking60]

@Ortman
Your email is listed on stopforumspam.com which is a very bad thing.
People get hacked and emails are abused so it might not be you - if it is - don't try anything here!

Other than that....Welcome

And Win 10 is OK if you accept the privacy issues.

[viking60]

I updated my Win 10 today with the superduper Oct. update and there is no question; this update does FUBAR the Uefi dual Boot with Linux.
Not so much love for Linux there so the repair above is a routine now.