teceem: It could be cooling related. But in my experience (I have 7 active USB hard drives), they don't run that much hotter than my internal ones (in a big case with good cooling).

Usually, when people mention USB drive failure, they don't differentiate between HDD failure and enclosure failure.

Truth007: Interesting, would you say HDD is still more reliable for backup purposes?

Truth007: How come HDD is more prone to fail if used externally?

Dark_art_: They are mechanical wonders but are very sensitive to impacts. To keep it simple, even a slight impact during use can damage a HDD.

timppu: Ah, so you use the start menu after all.

So if you never navigate the menu to find even the rarely used applications or settings, that must mean you have magically memorized each and every application and setting in your system, so that you can always find all of them with a mere search, never having selected them from the Start menu even when running them for the first time in order to pin them to the taskbar. Magic.

StingingVelvet: Search bar isn't the start menu dude. And I don't know how many programs you're using that aren't on your taskbar or desktop already, but I'm not using that many. Even if I did need to "look one up" I'd google search it first anyway, but I can't say that's ever happened. Dxdiag, device manager, paint, calculator... it's all simple to launch from search bar.

Anyway, argue with me all you want. My experience is my experience, yours is yours. My only point is your "99.99999% use the start menu!" thing is B.S.

nightcraw1er.488: download the portableapps program from website and run it.

timppu: 3. The copy protection of many CD/DVD games doesn't work in Windows 10, they are blocked in Windows 10. By default they are blocked also in Windows 7, but in 7 you can "unblock" them manually. The same doesn't appear to be possible in Windows 10, so the only option in 10 to get those games to work is to find and apply some kind of noCD crack.

Carradice: Fresh install from a USB

rtcvb32: I was hoping for a single big download vs a few hundred small ones... Though i'm not sure which apps i'd get, only really have a few browsers portable, and little else.

Alright, thanks.

BlueMooner: Thank you for typing that out! Not looking forward to fiddling with extra software just to get some games to run. : ( Never had any rainbow problems with games and I've used 7 for years now.

As to #3 here, are you saying that win10 can't read the copyprot of old CDs, and so those disks can't be used to run games? I'm not sure what you mean, as I've never had a problem with any of my CDs/DVDs in 7 (though I suppose it's possible I somehow fixed that so long ago I don't remember). That would seem to be a security failure, forcing end users to get noCD cracks or DL pirated versions. Just as one can separately add .NET to one's OS, surely there would be some software one could add as well, no? I remember there was some driver present in XP that wasn't in 7, so I couldn't activate the F1 help file in Heroes of Might and Magic games. But I was able to find and DL that driver and HOMM help worked fine.

BlueMooner: Do you know of a value in using an ISO versus an installer? The microsoft page gave me the option of getting a win10 installer for my thumbdrive or an ISO, and I chose the installer.

scientiae: I recommend a third-party registry manager, like Piriform's CCleaner. It will safely uninstall software and clean up the registry in seconds. It also performs secure wiping of any discs attached to the system, but this takes a long time (days).

While we're talking about Win10, I must register my disgust with Edge. I think it's meant to be some sort of new-fangled browser.

Whatever the reason for its deployment it is not equivalent to a normal PDF viewer, which it supplants by default; for one egregious example it prevents the selection (and therefore copying) in-line text! (Probably some sort of copyright management initiative.)

The menu has hidden the commands I use the most (like zoom) so they require a traversing multiple levels to adjust the view. Also, the controls are all centred on the pointing device, too, so normal Adobe keyboard commands, like PgUp, Home and End, don't work. I suppose a touch screen would benefit, if I ever thought to use one.

(For the last couple of months Micro$oft has been trying to push the Edge app as an "essential security" update for this (Win7) machine and I have had to continuously tell it not to dare to download this steaming pile of useless frippery. It also keeps telemetry data.)

nightcraw1er.488: ...
Also, there is geekuninstaller which I have found works wonders at uninstalling software, rooting out tricky to find leftovers, and force removing that which M$ in their wisdom think we shouldn’t uninstall...

Panaias: Does it also work wonders at uninstalling Visual Studio? (if you've ever tried uninstalling it as usual you'll know what I mean)

nightcraw1er.488: ...
Don’t get me wrong, VS is a complete, great, environment, but it’s so bloated, slow, with so many links and components it’s just aaargh!