Wednesday, July 29, 2015

How to Download Windows 10 Right Now

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The vast majority of people who want to upgrade to Windows 10 are finding it ridiculously difficult. Microsoft is not pushing the update to all computers and the Redmond based company has said it might take months for everyone to get pushed the update. Today, we published a workaround that allows you to force download Windows 10 via Windows update but this process is not working correctly for everyone, especially if you are running Windows 7. Today, we have a new way that you can download Windows 10, directly form Microsoft.

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The first step is to visit this link http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 from your internet browser. It will allow you to download the Microsoft Windows 10 setup tool. It is important to note that you must download either the 32 or 64 bit version. You can find out what your computer is running by visiting the Control Panel and selecting System.

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The next step involves you finding the Media Creation Tool that you just downloaded and clicking on it to open the file. I recommend selecting the option Create Installation for Another PC. You need to select the operating system language and whether or not you want the Windows 10 32 or Windows 10 64 bit.

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Next, it will ask you if you want to install Windows 10 via a USB drive or an ISO. I recommend an ISO file because it will download the entire version of Windows 10 directly to your computer. I would recommend downloading the single file to your Desktop, for easy access. It is important to note that this is a VERY large file and could take a few hours to fully download, depending on your internet connection.

Instead of burning the ISO to a DVD like Microsoft recommends I encourage you to download a specialized ISO program that will virtually mount the image as an independent drive. PowerISO, WinISO or Daemon Tools.

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Once the Windows.ISO file has completed its download you want to open the ISO file with one of the programs you just installed to manage them. Next, select the Windows file you just downloaded and open it up. Next, you want to click on the mount button to mount the image as an independent drive. Once you do that, you can click on the setup button and run the upgrade.


Barnes and Noble Offers Nook Tablet Bundle for $149.99

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Barnes and Noble has just announced a back to school deal that should appeal to anyone who is looking to purchase a new tablet. The Nations largest bookseller is offering Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook 7 inch for $149.99. This includes a free Kimono Sleeve + a 16GB memory card! This promotion is only available at select Barnes & Noble stores only through 8/22.  You can find a B&N store near you by searching HERE.

Tablet Market Continues to Decline but Apple Remains King

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The worldwide tablet market is in serious decline according to the latest figures released by the IDC. In the second quarter of 2015 it fell 7.0% year over year and they also dropped -3.9% compared to the first quarter of 2015.

Apple remains the largest vendor in a declining tablet market, shipping 10.9 million iPads in the second quarter of 2015. Samsung continued to be the second largest tablet vendor with 7.6 million tablets shipped in the second quarter and 17% market share, a 12% year-over-year unit decline. Lenovo, Huawei and LG Electronics rounded off the top five, with 2.5 million, 1.6 million and 1.6 million global tablet shipments in the second quarter respectively. All other tablet vendors had a combined 45.6% market share.

“Longer life cycles, increased competition from other categories such as larger smartphones, combined with the fact that end users can install the latest operating systems on their older tablets has stifled the initial enthusiasm for these devices in the consumer market,” said Jitesh Ubrani, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “But with newer form factors like 2-in-1s, and added productivity-enabling features like those highlighted in iOS9, vendors should be able to bring new vitality to a market that has lost its momentum.”

Kobo Partners with Book Retailers in Mexico to Expand eReading Market

Yesterday Kobo announced that they’ve partnered with two of Mexico’s top book retailers, Libreria PorrĂșa and Gandhi, to offer a full range of ebooks, Kobo’s ebook readers and ereading services to customers in Mexico. Libreria PorrĂșa and Gandhi operate nearly 100 retail bookstores in Mexico. They are competitors but in partnering with Kobo they’ve jointly […]

OverDrive to unveil the latest innovations in digital lending at Digipalooza

At Digipalooza, OverDrive will offer a live demonstration of the "new OverDrive", introducing changes that came about through feedback from our library partners and readers. The new OverDrive will achieve three main pillars of success: Onboard users quickly and easily, engage more deeply with readers, and reach more of the community. These pillars come not only from customer and partner feedback but also our fervent belief in delivering the best user experience for readers.

 

digip15We believe readers should be able to discover titles they want to enjoy easily and begin reading, listening or watching in one click. We also believe that your readers should be able to quickly discover great, available titles from your collection. If a user places a hold on one of your bestsellers, they should be offered read-alike suggestions to enjoy while they wait. Both Team OverDrive and our library partners feel that signing up to use the library's digital offerings should be simple, enabling users to start reading as quickly as possible. We think that you, the librarian, should control what titles to feature on your site and your users should have the choice to be notified about what you've been adding to your collection. We believe the library is the center of the community and that your OverDrive-powered digital collection should be an extension of that.

 

The updates and innovations we will be presenting at Digipalooza, and discussing in detail after the conference, come from industry research, collaboration with librarians and from listening to our users. The future of reading isn't years away. It's here and we can't wait to show it to you. It’s not too late to join us. Register now at digipalooza.com.

 

Adam Sockel is a Social Media Specialist with OverDrive

Bike computer for the myopic

We found this video titled “Build a better bike computer” at IEEE Spectrum. Gordon, Pi Towers’ resident pro bike racer and mountain bike nutcase (ask him to show you his X-rays some time) demurs: he says (I quote): “That’s big and stupid”.

Gordon also shaves his legs, and says that he wants to fill his bike frame with helium; his cycling needs are the needs of the few.

The rest of us rather liked this Kindle bike hack.

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This build uses the Kindle as a display – but, rather than sending information straight to the display, publishes speed, distance, and navigation data to a webpage, which the Kindle’s experimental browser then reads on the hoof  fly wheel. Thanks are due to David Schneider, the mind behind; David, please ignore Gordon. He’s a curmudgeon.

The post Bike computer for the myopic appeared first on Raspberry Pi.

How to Force Download Windows 10 for PC or Tablet

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Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 will be sent out via a staggered release and it might take months for all countries to be able to download it for their PC and tablet. Obviously you want to get this right away and I have found a way to force your computer or tablet to download Windows 10, bypassing any restriction that Microsoft has enforced for your device.

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First of all you want to opt into the Get Windows 10 program. For the last few months a little icon has been on your notification bar and you are basically telling Microsoft you want to download it as soon as its available.

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Next you want to make sure your computer is setup for automatic updates. You get to this screen while in your Control Panel. When you are in the control panel you can simply copy/paste this link Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Windows Update\Change settings

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In order to force Windows 10 to download to your Microsoft Surface tablet or your PC you need to delete everything found in the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download directory. This will NOT adversely effect your computer and is critical for this force download system to work.

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Once you have deleted everything in this folder you want to hit the Windows Button and launch your Command Prompt. I recommend launching it as Administrator. Once you are there type in wuauclt.exe /updatenow

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The final step is to now search for updates using the Windows Update Tool and it should automatically start downloading Windows 10 your computer or Windows 8 tablet.

Wrap Up

Microsoft has said that US customers are getting priority to download the full and complete version of Windows 10 first. Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries should be getting it in the next week. Tablets running Windows 7 or Windows 8 are the last ones to receive the update, but if you do all of the above steps you are basically forcing Microsoft to serve you the next available download! I did this on my end in Canada and it worked.