One month on from the launch of Windows 10, we expose the hidden costs that undermine the ‘free’ upgrade, reveal how to tweak its most annoying settings and explain how to fix common problems
From early indications, Windows 10 is looking like a success for Microsoft. The reviews have been mostly positive, users are reporting that the new operating system is fast and easy to use, and thus far there has been no sign of the major backlash that followed the arrival of Windows 8.
Microsoft says some 14 million people updated to Windows 10 in the first 24 hours, which is an impressive number considering that it was a staged rollout and many users had to wait days or even weeks after launch day for a chance to upgrade, while some of those trying to upgrade on the day experienced problems when trying to do so.
Of course, much of Windows 10’s popularity is down to the fact that it’s being touted as a free upgrade, although since its release several hidden catches have been revealed that show the operating system isn’t completely free at all. Microsoft is a successful business, after all, and would never offer its flagship product free of charge without having a plan in place to recoup at least some of the costs from users down the line.
In this article, we take a closer look at just how Windows 10 isn’t really free at all, and explain how you can avoid its hidden costs, tighten your privacy settings and address frustrating problems.
Why Windows 10 isn’t really free
Microsoft has indicated that it wants Windows 10 to be installed on one billion devices by 2017, which would go down in history as one of the most generous tech giveaways ever, not to mention one of the oddest business decisions, if the operating system was genuinely free. Of course, we know that this isn’t the case and in fairness Microsoft has been upfront about Windows 10 only being available for free for the first year, and even then only to existing users of Windows 7 and 8+. But what the company hasn’t been so forthcoming about is exactly how users, including those who upgrade for free, will end up paying in the long term.
Windows 10 is a completely different type of operating system to Windows 7, which required you to buy the software upfront but then didn’t ask for any further money other than for separate, optional products such as Office. With the new OS, you might not have to cough up to begin with – unless you’re buying it pre-installed on a new PC – but you’re hooked into other Microsoft services like never before. Windows 8, which introduced paid-for apps and seamless integration with ‘freemium’ tools such as OneDrive, Xbox Live and Skype, can now be seen as a stepping stone to introduce users to concepts that Windows 10 embraces fully.
Indeed, more cynical users might see it as Microsoft’s way of getting objections to some elements of its new business model out of the way early on. After all, Windows 8 proved so unpopular that most users were willing to welcome any new operating system from Microsoft, allowing the company to use Windows 10 to implement its furtive money-making tactics in full force.
There is still uncertainty about how these tactics will develop. But with automatic updates now compulsory, any changes Microsoft makes to Windows 10 will be unavoidable and irreversible, and some will involve users paying, or – as in the case of Solitaire – being strongly encouraged to pay, to remove annoyances and access extra features.
As we reported last issue, Windows 10’s new privacy settings have already prompted complaints because of the way they use and share your data by default, making it easier for Microsoft to make money from advertising. Even the personal assistant Cortana has access to your calendar, contacts, location info and more. Microsoft says this is simply to help Cortana do a better job, but it seems unnecessarily nosy if you don’t actually use the tool. You could argue that Google has built its whole business around collecting our data in similar ways, but that doesn’t make such methods any less intrusive.
That’s not to say there isn’t plenty to like about Windows 10 – especially after the design disaster that was Windows 8 – and we gave the new OS a four-out-offive rating in our in-depth review last issue. But despite our conclusion that “Windows 10 is worth the upgrade, but only because it’s free”, it’s now clear that it’s not quite as free as we and many other users initially believed.
Read on for our practical advice on ways of addressing these problems and concerns, so you don’t get tricked into sharing and paying more than you’d bargained for.
Avoid the hidden costs of Windows 10
Clean install of Windows 10. It’s important to remember that although the new operating system is billed as “free”, this only applies if you update an existing version of Windows 7 or 8.1. If you want to run Windows 10 from XP or Vista without having to pay for it, you will need to install Windows 7 or 8.1 first, then upgrade by July 2016. After that, a Windows 10 licence will cost you £99.99 for the Home edition, or £189.99 for Pro.
If you’re currently running Windows XP or Vista, you can reduce the overall cost of Windows 10 by first purchasing a cheap edition of Windows 7 or 8+ from Amazon or eBay, where they sell for as little as £30, and then upgrading from that. Make sure it’s genuine, however, and that you have Service Pack 1 or Update 1 installed, or Microsoft won’t let you perform the free upgrade to Windows 10. Also, your PC will need to meet the minimum system requirements for Windows 7, 8 and 10.
Paid-for apps
One of the most controversial extra costs for Windows 10 concerns the official Windows DVD Player app, which replaces the absent Windows Media Center. If you’re upgrading from Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate, or Windows 8.1 with Media Center, then Microsoft says you will get Windows DVD Player for free “for a limited time that will end at or before the [end of the] free Windows 10 upgrade offer” (bit.ly/dvdapp378). If you’re upgrading from any other version of Windows, the app will set you back £11.59 from the Store (bit.ly/dvdplayer378). This is a lot for a very basic tool that can only play DVDs, not Blu-rays, and there are plenty of rival apps that can do a lot more, and are free to use. Our favourite is the brilliant VLC Media Player, which is available both as a program (www.videolan.org/vlc) and a Windows 10 app (bit.ly/vlcapp378).
Even more controversial is the Microsoft Solitaire Collection, which you can find under ‘M’ in the Windows 10 All Apps list, or by clicking Start and typing Solitaire). Although the app is free, and offers lots of game variations, Microsoft wants you to upgrade to the Premium version, which costs £1.19 per month (or £7.69 outright). That might not sound like much, but all you get for your money are the ads removed (and they aren’t obtrusive anyway), more coins for completing Daily Challenges (which you don’t need) and a boost for every game of TriPeaks and Pyramid (which, again, you don’t need). If you play Solitaire for hours every day, it’s arguably worth the outlay, but you’d be better off playing a free online version such as Solitr (solitr.com).
There are free Office apps – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and others – available from the Windows 10 Store, which let you create and edit documents, and are simple to use but powerful enough for most users’ needs. However, Microsoft would rather have you shell out for an annual Office 365 subscription to unlock the app’s full range of features. To avoid the subscription, which starts at £59.99 per year for Office 365 Personal (which covers one PC only), you can buy Office Home & Student 2013 outright for a one-off £109.99 (bit.ly/office378). Alternatively, you can forego paid-for office software altogether and use the recently updated LibreOffice 5 (www.libreoffice.org), which is entirely free.
Payment details
Finally, to buy anything from the Windows Store, you need to first link a payment option – such as a credit or debit card, or PayPal – to your Microsoft account, making it all too easy to lose track of your spending. You could avoid this by removing your payment option after making a purchase, or better still invest in a Windows Store Gift Card (bit.ly/giftcard378). This lets you buy apps whenever you want, but limits the total amount you can spend. Gift Cards are available for amounts up to £50, and they never expire, so you can use them whenever you want.
You can also share paid-for apps with family and friends so they don’t have to pay separately, or just split the cost between you.
Windows 10 settings you must change
Stop automatic Windows 10 updates
Windows 10 automatically downloads and installs updates as soon as they’re available, which is designed to keep your PC more secure but may become annoying if you’re trying to concentrate on something else at the time. Windows 10 Pro users can defer these updates by going to Settings, Update & Security, clicking ‘Advanced options’ and then ticking the ‘Defer upgrades’ box.
There is also a free troubleshooting tool from Microsoft designed to let you temporarily uninstall updates that are causing system crashes or instability until a fix is available, which you can download from bit.ly/updates378. Run this tool, select ‘Hide updates’ and Windows won’t install the unwanted updates until you tell it to.
Stop your PC sharing updates over the internet
Windows 10 has a built-in P2P-style system called Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO), which shares Windows updates you’ve downloaded with other PCs over the internet. This benefits users on slower, less reliable connections, but if you’d rather not give up your internet bandwidth, you can disable the feature. Open Settings and click Update & Security. Click Windows Update and then click the ‘Advanced options’ link. Click ‘Choose how updates are delivered’. You can turn the feature off entirely, or restrict it to just PCs on your local network.
Stop Windows 10 sharing your Wi-Fi
Windows 10 introduces a new feature called Wi-Fi Sense (bit.ly/wifisense378), which lets you connect to open hotspots and wireless networks that have been shared by your friends, and share your own wireless network with Outlook.com contacts, Skype contacts and Facebook friends, without having to give them your actual Wi-Fi password. Sense restricts what people have access to, and despite some of the scare stories in the media, it’s rather useful and not really a privacy risk because your Wi-Fi details are encrypted.
However, if you don’t like the idea of your Wi-Fi data being shared, it’s easily disabled. Go to Start, Settings, Network & Internet, Wi-Fi, Manage Wi-Fi settings and turn off the sharing features. You can also prevent the service from using your Wi-Fi by adding optout to the end of the box displaying the name of your wireless access point (the SSID).
Stop Microsoft spying on you
You can adjust Windows 10’s privacy settings if you don’t want your data to be stored, shared or used without your permission. Click Start, type privacy settings, then hit Enter. Work your way through the settings using the categories on the left. For instance, you can choose which apps have access to your location, webcam and microphone. Windows 10 and Cortana want to ‘get to know you’, which sounds innocuous but actually involves collecting things like contacts, recent calendar events, speech and handwriting patterns, and typing history. This can be disabled entirely if you don’t like the idea.
Bypass the Windows 10 lock screen
By default, Microsoft forces you to log into Windows afresh each time you start up, either using a username and password, or a PIN. The latter is the speedier option of the two, but you can choose to skip the login stage altogether and boot directly to the Desktop. This obviously compromises your security a little, so might not be a good idea if there are nosy people in your house or office.
To make the change, click Start, type run, then click the Run option, type netplwiz and click OK (or press Window+R and do the same). Highlight your account and untick the option ‘Users must enter a username and password to use this computer’. Click Apply, then enter your password and confirm it. Click OK, restart your PC and you’ll be logged straight into Windows without needing to enter a password.
Manage your Windows 10 notifications
Windows 10’s new Action Centre displays all the notifications you receive from Windows and certain installed applications. If you feel you’re seeing too many, however, you can restrict both the types of notification you see, and the specific apps that are able to send them. Open the Action Centre by clicking on the notification icon in the System Tray. Click All Settings, System and select ‘Notifications & actions’. You’ll see a list of Notifications categories, each of which can be toggled on or off. These include ‘Show me tips about Windows’, ‘Show app notifications’, ‘Show notifications on the lock screen’, and ‘Show alarms, reminders and incoming VoIP calls on the lock screen’. Below you’ll see which apps are able to send you notifications, and you can remove any you don’t want in the same way. You can additionally configure quick actions by clicking on notifications when they appear in the System Tray area.
Use Quiet Hours to silence notifications
If your PC is on all the time, you probably won’t want it playing sounds in the middle of the night every time a new notification arrives. To stop this, click the notification icon in the System Tray, then select All Settings, System, then ‘Notifications & actions’. Browse the list of apps and make sure ‘Play a sound when a notification arrives’ is turned off for all items. To disable notifications altogether during the night, open the Action Centre in the System Tray and click the Quiet Hours button. Just make sure you turn the feature off again in the morning!
Change your default browser
Microsoft’s new browser Edge is the default in Windows 10, but it’s arguably a bit lacking when compared to the likes of Chrome or Firefox. Fortunately, you don’t have to stick with Edge if you don’t want to. To change your default browser, open the Start menu, type default app settings and hit Enter. Click Web Browser, then select your preferred browser as the default.
Fix common problems
Overcome sound problems
Audio problems are currently the most widely reported complaints about Windows 10. There are various workarounds depending on the source of the problem, so if you’re not sure what’s gone wrong, or even what hardware you have installed, try them all. To fix an issue with Conexant audio hardware, click Start, type msconfig.exe, hit Enter and click on the Boot tab. Click the Advanced options button, click the Maximum memory box and set the value to ‘3072’.
For a VIA HD Audio-related problem, right-click the audio icon in the System Tray, and select Playback Devices. Right-click the audio output device and select ‘Set as Default Device’. Select the hardware, click Properties, click the Enhancements tab and tick the ‘Disable all enhancements’ box.
Finally, if you have a Realtek audio driver installation problem (you’ll see the error code 0x000005b4), there’s a solution to try at bit.ly/sounderror378.
Overcome Windows 10 upgrade errors
The Windows 10 upgrade process should go smoothly, but occasionally it doesn’t. The error 0x800F0923 is likely caused by an incompatible program or driver. You can address the issue in the Get Windows 10 app by clicking the menu button, and then ‘Check your PC’.
Error 0x800F0922 happens when there is not enough free space on the partition you’re installing Windows in. Error 0x80200056 occurs when the upgrade was interrupted – try again and hopefully it will work this time. If your PC fails to meet the minimum requirements (which should only happen with a very old PC), you will see the error codes 0xC1900200 – 0x20008 and 0xC1900202 – 0x20008.
Change the colour of title bars
Changing the colour of program title bars in Windows 10 is much harder than it used to be. Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. Click the ‘aero’ folder, copy it by pressing Ctrl+C, then paste (Ctrl+V) to create a backup. Click Continue in the Folder Access Denied box, then tick the ‘Do this for all current items’ option and click Skip. Select the copied folder and press F2, then name the folder ‘Colours’. Click Continue to skip the UAC warning.
Open the folder, select ‘aero.mstyles’, press F2 and rename it ‘colours.mstyles’. Open the en-GB folder and change ‘aero.msstyles.mui’ to ‘colours.msstyles. mui’. Accept the UAC warning both times. Return to the Themes folder and copy the ‘aero.theme’ file to your Desktop. Rename it ‘colors.theme’. Right-click the file, go to ‘Open with’ and select Notepad. Scroll down to the [VisualStyles] section and change ‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles’ to ‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\colours.msstyles’. Close and save the file, then double-click the shortcut to change the colour of the title bars. To change the colour scheme, go to Start, Settings, click Personalisation and pick a different colour. The changes will be made instantly. To undo the change, open the Desktop shortcut in Notepad, rename ‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\colours.msstyles’ back to ‘Path=%ResourceDir%\Themes\Aero\Aero.msstyles’, save the file and double-click the shortcut.