A new PC is awesome! Installing Windows is a living nightmare!

So I spent last night assembling my new computer which was fun. I discovered the assortment of screws that came with my case was pretty dumb but I got it to work. It came with 6 of those big screws for mounting the motherboard despite the fact that it has 9 holes to fasten. But the other general purpose screws it came with worked as well. Was advertised as not requiring screws for anything other than mounting the motherboard. HA! Was definitely required for the SSD! But all in all I had fun putting it all together. I'll show off the whole finished system when I have my desk all tidy and the peripherals all set up.

Then came the windows instillation. I feel like I'm still curled up in the fetal position.

Turns out you can't just use a Windows 8 key on a Windows 10 disk as first hoped. Not until it has been upgraded at least. So I decide to find where I has left my Windows 8.1 ISO and Product Key. I had received that when I was studying IT at Tafe a couple of years back. I tried every portable hard drive and flash drive I could get my hands on and could not find it anywhere. No doubt I'll find it but at least I had a less desirable alternative. Everywhere I was trying to find my copy of Windows 8.1 I kept coming across my ISO and product key for Windows 8.0. I didn't really want to to use that as it's installed on an ancient DELL laptop I have from 2009 which I intended still using. But in the end I decided that using that copy was the only way it was getting installed today (I probably won't need that instillation anyway and I can always use the 8.1 key once I finally come across it).

So the plan had originally gone from just fresh installing Windows 10, to fresh installing Windows 8.1 and upgrading to 10. Now I had to go from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 to Windows 10! Two upgrades! And I had to deal with not having a start menu again!

Phase 1 - Windows 8 Install:

So I get Windows 8 installed. Drivers get installed. So far so good. Or so I thought. I go to install some updates to get 8.1 and Windows Update itself needs an update. So I click OK and it decided to not install properly. Every time I go to get into Windows Update it hangs. Eventually I think to myself, "I can't be bothered dealing with this shit," and decide another fresh install is the way to go.

Phase 1 - Windows 8 Install - Take 2:

So I get Windows 8 installed. Drivers get installed. So far so good. Rather than do exactly what I did before I decide to get Chrome installed to test the internet. That's all good. I unpin IE and Windows Media Player because I never use Media Player and I had already used IE to the maximum I ever will on this machine. To get A BETTER BROWSER!

Back to the updates. This time Windows Update doesn't have any problems. But there are at least 150 updates to install before you can proceed to Windows 8.1! I go through about 5 restarts doing that. But eventually that's done.

Phase 2 - Windows 8.1 Upgrade:

The actual upgrade to 8.1 was pretty painless. It only needs one update from the Windows App Store. I decide to have a nice relaxing shower while this is happening. I go through the setup bit where I go through the customized options and disabling all the "sus lack of privacy" features. That's all done.

But what do I see pinned back on my taskbar?

IE and Windows Media Player!

I unpin them because I don't want that shit. But I assumed I won't be in 8.1 for much longer because it was time for the final upgrade. Or so I thought!

Phase 3 - Windows 10 Upgrade:

I decide to go with the Windows 10 Upgrade Tool from Microsoft's Website that I used on my Macbook Pro. Should be as seamless as before. Right?

How wrong I was! It would download all the necessary files. All good so far. Then verify the download. Good again. After that the program would just exit with no warnings, info or anything. I tried this twice. It did it twice. At this point I thought I was up shit creek without a paddle as I wasn't even getting that notification telling you that you could even get Windows 10. At this point I was getting pretty fed up.

But then I had one of those light bulb moments. I already had a Windows 10 ISO from when I had originally tried to do a fresh install of Windows 10. I burn it to a DVD, plug my USB DVD drive in and put the disk in the drive.

OMG! I GET A WINDOWS 10 SPLASH SCREEN! PRAISE THE HEAVENS!

Then the installer starts up. I click on "Upgrade" and I finally get what I originally wanted the whole time. It installs with a few reboots. I go through the setup bit where I go through the customized options and disabling all the "sus lack of privacy" features. It tries to change the default applications. I don't really care because I have only one program installed. But I do decide to keep it as my browser over Microsoft Edge (formally known as Project Spartan, otherwise known as the new IE) That's all done. It's all done! Instillation is done! WOO-HOO! I'M DONE!

But what do I see pinned back on my taskbar?

Edge and Windows Media Player!

Oh well. I survived. So until tomorrow,

Have Fun and Stay Sexy!