Items tagged with Upgrade
Just when we thought that Microsoft had finally gotten the hint and realized that people were getting incredibly tired of the Windows 10 upgrade nag screens, the company slips in another sucker punch to stun us. This time around, some users are receiving full screen prompts to upgrade to Windows 10 for free ahead of the July 29th offer expiration date. It’s annoying enough that the full screen offer interrupts whatever you’re doing at the time on your PC, but the fact that users are constantly being “sold” on Windows 10 is likely growing incredibly tiresome at this point. Microsoft even tries to soften the blow by apologizing for the interruption and explaining that customers who aren’t...
Read more...
If you’ve been annoyed by those annoying popups to upgrade to Windows 10 while minding your own business in Windows 7 or Windows 8, sweet relief will soon be on the way. As we told you yesterday, Microsoft will be ending its free upgrade offer for Windows 10 starting July 30th. Since the biggest motivator for users to upgrade will be going away, Microsoft obviously sees no reason to continue the campaign. After all, nagging popups to upgrade for free are one thing — those same popups with a “Upgrade Now for $119” banner would just be pouring salt on the wounds. In a statement to WinBeta, Microsoft announced its intentions to end the “Get Windows 10” upgrade campaign: Details are still being finalized,...
Read more...
If you’re a Windows 7 or Windows 8 user that hasn’t yet upgraded to Windows 10, it stands to reason that you’ve been bombarded at some point to upgrade. Microsoft is really pushing its free upgrade to Windows 10 and is trying every trick in the book to get users to take advantage of its latest and greatest operating system. However, at least for one meteorologist, the Windows 10 upgrade prompt came during an inopportune time — right in the middle of a live weathercast. Metinka Slater, a meteorologist with Des Moines CBS affiliate KCCI 8, was going about her business, giving viewers a rundown of the 12-hour rainfall totals in the area when a nagging Windows 10 upgrade screen popped up, just like...
Read more...
Just when we thought that all the hoopla surrounding privacy in Windows 10 and questionable disclosure practices was starting to die down, Microsoft has to go and stir the pot once again with another seemingly overzealous move. It’s not enough that Windows 10 is installed on over 75 million PCs and counting; Microsoft is aiming for one billion installs within the next two to three years. And to get to that one billion figure, Microsoft wants to entice customers to upgrade their Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines to Windows 10. Making the upgrade free during the first year of availability is a big factor in getting people to make the upgrade, but Microsoft is also wanting the upgrade process to...
Read more...
T-Mobile is well known to general consumers for its wildly popular Un-carrier promotions and in tech circles for its potty mouthed and pompous CEO, John Legere. Both of those facets of T-Mobile were on display today with the introduction of a reinvigorated Un-carrier Amped initiative. And the first promotion that will launch under Un-carrier Amped this summer is the incredibly intriguing JUMP! On Demand smartphone leasing program. JUMP! On Demand allows you to upgrade your smartphone any time you want. There are no additional upfront costs or even taxes to fork over (as long as you have good credit) if you to upgrade to a new smartphone; you only have to trade in your existing device. And more...
Read more...
Two years is an eternity in technology, especially when you're dealing with the fast moving mobile world in which today's smartphones are obsolete almost as quickly as you unwrap them. Nevertheless, two year service agreements in exchange for subsidized pricing are the norm, though more recently, wireless carriers in the U.S. have begun offering upgrade programs for those willing to pay to play. In fact, Sprint is the only one with no such program in place, though that's about to change. Sprint is reportedly preparing to launch its "Sprint One Up" program, which will allow smartphone owners to break up their device payments into monthly installments and upgrade once a year by trading in their...
Read more...
Did you make a New Year's Resolution to update you Windows 7 rig to Windows 8? Better start making good on it, or else that upgrade's going to cost you more in the long run. A new post from Microsoft this week notes that Windows 8 is seeing "good momentum," but it also reminds people that a relatively affordable Win8 update will soon cost more if you don't jump on things while the getting is good. Starting on 2/1, Windows 8 upgrades are going to cost more. The Windows 8 Pro upgrade edition will be available online and at retail for $199.99, while the Windows 8 upgrade edition will be available online and at retail for $119.99. If you're looking for the Win8 Pro Pack, that'll cost $99.99, while...
Read more...
If you own an HTC device and have been anxiously awaiting an upgrade to Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, you'll be interested to know HTC has released some more details as to what devices will receive an upgrade and roughly when those upgrades will arrive. While we're glad to see HTC is giving us some more information about when the upgrades will be available, we're sad for users of the HTC ChaCha, HTC Salsa, HTC Wildfire S, HTC Explorer, and others who will not be receiving an official update to Android 4.0. HTC tablet users who own the HTC Flyer, HTC EVO View 4G, and HTC Jetstream are also left in the cold, with HTC stating these tablets will remain on their current Android version (Honeycomb)....
Read more...
On April 22, Verizon Wireless plans to begin charging users for the ability to upgrade to the latest and greatest phone. In the past, Verizon Wireless has offered an additional $30 discount to customers who wanted to upgrade phones provided they had completed at least 20 months of their two-year contract. After the new policy goes into effect, an upgrade will cost about $60 more than before due to the loss of the $30 discount and the addition of the $30 fee. Here's the official announcement from Verizon Wireless: On April 22, Verizon Wireless is implementing a $30 upgrade fee for existing customers purchasing new mobile equipment at a discounted price with a two-year contract. This fee will help...
Read more...
According to a memo obtained by SprintFeed, Sprint is planning a promotion that will let customers upgrade phones even if they're still under contract. The new program is designed to help boost customer morale and provide a way for customers to buy themselves out of their current contract in order to get a new handset. The memo suggests the program will run from February 12 through April 14. Unfortunately, not all Sprint customers will qualify for the program. Customers that have upgraded within the last eight months, corporate accounts, customers who are in collections, Airave and tablet accounts, and iDEN devices are all exempt from the promotion. If a customer chooses to take advantage of...
Read more...
Noctua is a high-end Austrian company with a decided focus on the upper-end of air cooling—the company's cheapest heatsink/fan combo is the NH-U9B for $59, while other coolers run as high as $86. Considering that one can buy lower-end water cooled rigs for $59.99, that's definitely rareified air the company's fans are blowing. Perhaps in recognition of that fact, Noctua is offering its customers that rarest of rare gifts—a free upgrade. Anyone who owns a Noctua cooler dating back to 2005 and who upgrades to one if Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge-E processors will receive a mounting conversion kit, free of charge. "We feel that product quality and service quality should always go hand...
Read more...
You might recall that Intel toyed with the idea of "Upgrade Cards" for its Pentium G6951 processor around this time last year. For fifty bucks, you could buy one of these cards containing a software code that you would download from Intel's site, and just like that, your Pentium chip would suddenly have an additional 1MB of L3 cache to play with, along with Hyper-Threading enabled. Some scoffed at the idea of paying additional money for features already baked into their CPU, while others saw it as a cost-effective way to improve performance. Get ready to debate the concept all over again. Intel is bringing back its Upgrade Cards, this time for a trio of a Sandy Bridge processors. Here's how it...
Read more...
Verizon Wireless has confirmed a free 4G LTE upgrade is coming to the Motorola Xoom in September. According to an email from Verizon Wireless, users should expect to receive an email at the end of the summer telling them more about the upgrade process. When the Xoom was revealed in January, one of the highly touted features was the tablet’s ability to access Verizon Wireless’ 4G LTE network. However, the option has been delayed as Motorola has struggled with the components necessary to get 4G access. Similar component issues have also delayed the 4G Motorola Droid Bionic smartphone. Verizon Wireless is continuing to expand both its 4G network as well as its selection of 4G capable...
Read more...
According to a recent study commissioned by Crucial.com, consumers frequently replace their personal computers after four and a half years of use. Although replacing a PC as often as three years may be common, 58% of survey respondents thought their computer should last much longer than three years. Despite wanting to use their PCs for longer, computer users often find themselves unhappy with their current machine. In fact, 47% of respondents said they disliked something about their computer. Slow speed was among the top complaints users had against their computers. With this study, Crucial hopes to show users how a simple memory upgrade could help increase performance and give an older system...
Read more...
MSI announced its AMD AM3 motherboards as well as BIOS upgrades for MSI’s AM3 motherboards to enable support for AMD’s new generation AM3+ multi-core processors. Through the BIOS upgrades, MSI says users will be able to take full advantage of the power of AMD AM3+ multi-core processors without extra expenses. In addition to providing the BIOS upgrades to consumers, MSI will upgrade the BIOS on new AM3 motherboards before shipping. A list of the MSI AM3 motherboards that will support the AMD AM3+ multi-core processors is below. Note: As we've pointed out previously, the official word from AMD is that Bulldozer will only be supported on AM3+ motherboards. As a result, it may not be...
Read more...
Other World Computing is hoping to make it a bit easier for you to upgrade the hard drive in your MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini storage, or PC laptop and be "green" in the process thanks to its new OWC DIY Hard Drive Kit. Essentially, this kit bundles everything you'll need to upgrade the existing hard drive and reuse the old drive as an external drive. The kit is available with various hard drive options, including a 1TB model or a SSD drive for maximum performance. The kit also comes with cables, a toolkit, and web-based instructional videos. Select kits also come with a software bundle. OWC ANNOUNCES LOW-COST DO-IT-YOURSELF “DIY” 1 TB HARD DRIVE KITS FOR LAPTOPS Quick & Easy...
Read more...
SSD upgrade kits aren't as rare as you'd probably expect, and while Kingston has been dominating the space for the past few months, it looks as if Imation is joining the fray. Known more for its optical storage media than anything else, the company is pushing to become a household name in the solid state drive arena by making things simple for people looking to upgrade. Quite a few folks would love to transition from HDD to SSD, but the fear of the unknown is a real problem in following through.Imation's SSD Upgrade Kit aims to make the process simple, and according to the company, this one provides a "specially designed case that enables users to repurpose an existing drive and turn it into...
Read more...
The first SNAFU to show up on Windows 7, and it's not even an issue with the software, or even Microsoft. Rather, it's an issue with the installation package provided by Digital River for the nicely discounted student upgrade package that Microsoft has been offering at Win741.com. Now, Digital River is not small potatoes when it comes to digital distribution of software, so it's amazing this sort of fiasco has happened. Instead of delivering a simple .ISO image that could be burned to a DVD, students receive an .EXE file that must be run to decompress two .BOX files. That's where the issue lies. When trying to "Unload the Box" as the step is called, those trying to upgrade from a 32-bit OS to...
Read more...
Now that Windows 7 is officially here, Best Buy wants to help you make the transition to the new operating system. In addition to selling the new platform and many Windows 7-equipped PCs in store, the company's Geek Squad is offering Windows 7 upgrade services for just $39.99, excluding the price of the software. Normally, Geek Squad's operating system install service charge is $129.99. Of course, Best Buy is also selling a variety of PCs that come preloaded with Windows 7. A new exclusive bundle from HP is dubbed “PC Home Makeover.” For $1,199.99, you'll get an HP desktop, monitor, laptop, netbook, wireless router, and Geek Squad setup and networking. This offer will be available until mid-January....
Read more...
You've heard horror stories from your pals who attempted to handle data migration processes on their own, and you're scared to death to make the leap to Windows 7. Thankfully, Belkin knows just what a tough spot you're in, and it has devised a dedicated cable to solve the problem that worries you most: upgrading. Of note, this cable won't do you any good if you're planning to upgrade your existing machine from Windows XP/Vista to Windows 7, but if you're putting together an all new rig and would like to migrate your data and settings over to the fresh rig, this should make your life a lot easier. We'll confess--the Easy Transfer Cable for Windows 7 seems a bit unnecessary, but then again, we're...
Read more...
Upgrading your notebook's legacy hard drive to a new, fast SSD is a substantial upgrade that makes good sense for a number of reasons. First, Solid State Drives offer orders of magnitude higher performance under certain conditions, with blazingly fast random access times. They also produce much less heat versus a standard 2.5-inch notebook hard drive and are virtually immune to shock and vibration trauma that will send your old spinning hard drive to an early grave. In this HotHardware Video Spotlight, we show you how to upgrade your existing notebook hard drive, to a new, fast SSD as well as how to quickly migrate your data for absolute minimal downtime....
Read more...
Upgrading your notebook's legacy hard drive to a new, fast SSD is a substantial upgrade that makes good sense for a number of reasons. First, Solid State Drives offer orders of magnitude higher performance under certain conditions, with blazingly fast random access times. They also produce much less heat versus a standard 2.5-inch notebook hard drive and are virtually immune to shock and vibration trauma that will send your old spinning hard drive to an early grave.In this HotHardware Video Spotlight, we show you how to upgrade your existing notebook hard drive, to a new, fast SSD as well as how to quickly migrate your data for absolute minimal downtime. Cloning data...
Read more...
