Yesterday I updated from Windows 8.1 Pro to Windows 10 Pro. What I did was a normal Upgrade from Inside Windows, I choose to keep all the settings and preferences. The installation itself didn’t take long. Minus the minor issues I had after the upgrade, the whole process of Upgrading, Formatting and Installing fresh took no more than an hour or so.
Here’s what I did and why:
Step 1:
Download the ISO and Upgrade from Inside Windows. I choose to keep all preferences, settings and programs I had installed. I never had planned to use my PC after the Upgrade, but I thought it’s important to Upgrade like that so the new Windows 10 can record and remember my PC Hardware and everything. Because, you know, Microsoft registers these things and that’s how they ID your PC and the related Product Key the new Windows 10 will have attached to it. This means if you change too many things hardware-wise, your copy of Windows 10 will become obsolete and you will lose the Product Key for the same PC, meaning you will need to Install 7/8 again and Upgrade.
Important to note is that when I restarted after the Upgrade, my LAN card refused to work. I had to go to Intel’s website and download the newest driver. Note – not the MB manufacturer, but Intel’s website directly!
Step 2:
Format the main drive or Partition and install fresh. In my case if was my OCZ Vertex 4 120GB. From ~30GB free after Upgrading to Windows 10, when I freshly installed the new one, I had ~100 free. ~2 years worth of Upgrades had left their mark on my old System, clogging and filling it with all kinds of weird files and leftovers from Windows updates, which I kept installing every time the system prompted me to. A Fresh Windows 10 installation is about ~20GB total and this is just fantastic for people like me with smaller SSD’s, hehe. After the clean install I had no trouble with any module or hardware, including my LAN. Everything was running smooth. The only mini issue I had was with Nvidia Experience. For some reason it installed and kept telling me that I had the latest actual Driver, but nothing of sort was showing in the Control Panel. The Nvidia Control Panel from “Right Clicking on Desktop” was also missing. What I did was just install “clean” the latest driver again, which I downloaded directly from GeForce.com.
Step 3:
Install again all software. I never had an issue with any of the tons of programs and tools I use. With the return of the redesigned start menu in Windows 10, I didn’t even need to reinstall again the loyal custom Windows menu from a 3rd company, which I bought ~2-3 years ago for ~$5.
SWTOR performs and behaves exactly the same way as it did before. They may be a small improvement, but it is more likely to be due to the clean and fresh installation, rather than the new OS itself. I have the same very high FPS and the usual FPS drops and issues in the same old spots where we know the engine coughs blood. The game is not better, worse, or any different with the new OS. It loads for the same amount of time, struggles in the same places where it struggled before and is exactly as beautiful as Bioware can make it with this poor excuse for an engine. If you are curious what hardware I play the game on, here you can find the full detailed specs with links to Amazon for a price-check.
I had saved my UI and the whole SWTOR Folder with all settings. However, I decided after a clean install, not to carry over with the old settings. I let Nvidia Experience to determine the best settings (Ultra at 1440p, as it was before, of course) and redid all the InGame settings myself, including Sound volumes, Combat Logs, Appearance, Controls (Not the Keybinds, they are connected to your character, server side, not on your PC or settings!).
Over all, I want to admit, I am extremely happy so far with the new Windows 10. It looks, behaves and performs flawlessly with all games!
If you have any questions or comments, please, feel free to share them with me and the other readers of my blog.
Don’t forget to use the SHARING buttons below the article to help me reach more interested players and users. :) MY THANKS TO ZENTHRAX (an old buddy and co-player in LOTRO and SWTOR) for his help during the process!
