9 Mistakes You Made Upgrading To Windows 10

Written by Kevin Ackland on 01 February 2018.

The following article is on mistakes you made when upgrading to windows 10.

The article includes what the implications are, how they can be avoided, my opinion on them, and what you can do yourself should you have already chosen the quick installation.

First Lesson: Never Do An Express Installation

Those advanced settings in Windows 10 upgrade astounded me when I read them.

I have spent hours discussing this with colleagues and reading more about the subject to give you a concise and practical guide on the subject.

Even if you have made some mistakes when installing (by doing the express upgrade) I tell you how to correct them in this article.

Just because Microsoft are a huge corporation doesn’t make them bad and I want to make it clear I am not anti-Microsoft. They can however exercise a lot of power as they control the operating system on hundreds of millions of computers worldwide.

Their recent disaster called Windows 8 saw them curry favour with us all by giving away Windows 10 in the form of a time limited upgrade for certain machines.

Call me a cynic (“you’re a cynic”) but if you get something for free, sometimes there is a sting in the tail and whilst we don’t know what Microsoft are going to do with the information it collects from you, we can limit what they get and therefore reduce the impact on us individually.

The Windows 10 Upgrade Process: Express Grade or Advanced Grade

There are several ways in which you can start off the upgrade to Windows 10 one of which is the Windows icon which appears at the bottom right of the screen. When clicked it asks you if you want to upgrade. If you say yes then it downloads the file and starts the installation process.

You get to a screen that asks you if you would like to do a quick installation or an advanced one. Have a guess which one most people choose? Here are the two photos of the screens during the Windows 10 upgrade process:

The questions that are being asked are:

1. Personalisation of your speech and typing
2. Send typing and inking data
3. Let apps use your advertising ID
4. Location
5. SmartScreen filter.
6. Turn on / page prediction
7. Automatically connect to suggested open hotspots
8. Automatically connect to networks shared by your contacts
9. Send error and diagnostic information to Microsoft.

Microsoft are often lumping two services together; one good service like page prediction and one bad like they get you to send all your browsing history to them. Lumping the two choices together softens the blow and makes you more predisposed to agreeing to want they want.

Here Is My Interpretation Of The Risks You Could Be Taking When You Allow These Settings To Be Turned On

Question 1

Personalise your speech, typing and inking input by sending contacts and calendar details along with other associated input data to Microsoft.

“Wow. What a question to ask!

Lots of scope for comment here. Microsoft are going to get your contact details and the entries in your calendar. Presumably they are doing the same with your contacts. I’m thinking that if you have a meeting with one of your contacts they have definitely going to get a match. Why would they need to know this information?”

Question 2

Send typing and inking data to Microsoft to improve recognition and suggestion platform.

“Inking data – this is the first time that I have heard the term inking data. I think it means anything that is written and could be sent to a printer. I suppose it could be only things that are printed.

Either way you have just signed up to sending everything you type to Microsoft which I find astounding. I have read through the privacy statement and whilst it says that they won’t use your data they won’t have been the first corporation to have acted badly with your personal data.

I think that Microsoft are one of the better companies but if we don’t have to give the data then – don’t send it.”

Question 3

Let apps use your advertising ID for experiences across apps.

“Did you know that you had an advertising ID? Why do I think I am going to get an avalanche of advertising aimed squarely at me?”

Would you like to have some FREE Windows 10 training?

Question 4

Location
Let windows and apps request your location, including location history, send Microsoft and trusted partners some location data to improve location services.

“At first I was OK with the location data but then the spoil it for me with send to Microsoft and trusted partners. Those trusted partners are not your trusted partners they are Microsoft trusted partners and they trust them for their own reasons.”

Question 5

This is about SmartScreen Filters and most people are not going to know what smart screen filters are so here is a guide on what it means and how it can protect you:

“SmartScreen filter in Microsoft Edge (replaces Internet Explorer) analyses webpages and works out if they have any suspicious characteristics. You will be asked for feedback and advised to proceed with caution if it detects what it regards as a bad website.

It also checks the website against a manifest of previously reported phishing sites. If a full match occurs the website will be blocked.

Option to turn on or turn off. A list of how to change these settings with videos to assist you in changing the setting is at the end of this blog. Our recommended settings are also included later.”

Question 6

Page prediction to speed up browsing or surfing the internet. (seems good)
Your browsing data will be sent to Microsoft. (seems bad)

Question 7 is about connectivity and error reporting.

Automatically connect to suggested open hotspots. Not all networks are secure.

“My opinion is that the clue is in the question and as not all networks are secure don’t automatically connect to them!”

Question 8

Automatically connect to networks shared by your contacts.
“I would be interested to know how they know how my contacts are connected!”

Question 9

Send error and diagnostic information to Microsoft.
“For me this is not defined enough and remember that Microsoft are defining error and diagnostic information.”

We Will Do It For You During A Health Check

At this point let me tell you that should you wish, you can bring in your computer for a health check (provided it has been a year since the last one) and part of that health check includes the option to set our recommended settings for Windows 10.

Alternatively, if you want to do it yourself you can read the instructions below.

So Those Are All The Options: Now For A Summary Of MyRecommendations

Turn off – Personalisation of your speech and typing

Turn off – Send typing and inking data

Turn off – Let apps use your advertising ID

Turn off – Location

Turn on – SmartScreen filter.

Turn off – Page prediction

Turn off – Automatically connect to suggested open hotspots

Turn off – Automatically connect to networks shared by your contacts

Turn off – Send error and diagnostic information to Microsoft

Now For The Instructions

It has to be said that there are plenty of ways of turning these settings on and off. The quickest way is to use a keyboard shortcut which is the windows key + i

Number 1 – Personalisation of your speech and typing

Turn off – Windows key + i, choose “Privacy”, choose “Speech, inking & typing”. This is quite a confusing switch – if it says “Get to know me” it is turned off if it says “Stop getting to know me it is turned on.

Number 2 – Send typing and inking data

Turn off – Windows key + i, choose “Privacy”, Choose “General” and turn Send Microsoft info about how I write to help us improve typing and writing in the future.

Number 3 – Let apps use your advertising ID

Turn off – Windows key + i, choose “Privacy”, Choose “General” and turn Let apps use my advertising ID to off.

Number 4 – Location

Turn off – Windows key + i, choose “Privacy”, Choose “Location” and turn Location for this device off.

Number 5 – SmartScreen filter.

Turn on – Windows key + i, choose “Privacy”, Choose “General” and Turn on SmartFilter.

Number 6 – Turn off / page prediction

Turn off – Open Microsoft Edge the new Internet Explorer, top right hand corner are 3 little dots. Click these and choose advanced settings, right at the bottom you can choose whether to use Page prediction.

Number 7 – Automatically connect to suggested open hotspots

Note that is option will not be available to you if you do not use Wi-Fi

Turn off – Windows key + i, choose “Network and Internet”, choose “Wi-Fi”, choose Manage Wi-Fi settings and turn off “Connect to suggested open hotspots.

Number 8 – Automatically connect to networks shared by your contacts

Note that is option will not be available to you if you do not use Wi-Fi

Turn off – Windows key + i, choose “Network and Internet”, choose “Wi-Fi”, choose Manage Wi-Fi settings and turn off “Connect to networks shared by my contacts.

Number 9 – Send error and diagnostic information to Microsoft

Turn off – Windows key + i, choose “Privacy”, Choose “Feedback and diagnostics” and turn Feedback to never and diagnostic to basic.

I hope you found all that interesting and informative. You can always pick up the phone if you want to discuss further.