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Win10 Wizard is a Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant

Win10 Wizard is a free upgrade assistant to upgrade old versions of Windows to Windows 10, and to configure these upgraded systems once Windows 10 is installed.

There is certainly no shortage of programs (GWX Control Panel, GWX Stoppper) to keep Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system away from a PC running older versions of Windows, but there are barely any tools that help users upgrade to the new operating system.

Win10 Wizard has been designed to fill the gap. You can run it on a PC with Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 installed, and it will make sure that it meets the requirements for the upgrade, and you can run it on Windows 10 after the upgrade, to make modifications to privacy and security settings among other things.

Win10 Wizard

You can run the program on a system that is running Windows 10 already to use the features it provides after installation of the operating system.

win10 wizard

If you run it on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 before the upgrade, it will make sure that your system is compatible with Microsoft's new operating system.

In addition, it will highlight any program that will be removed as part of the upgrade either because it is incompatible with Windows 10, or because Microsoft removed the feature from the operating system.

What Win10 Wizard does not do is download and install the upgrade for you. It links to a Microsoft page where you find instructions on how to upgrade the PC to Windows 10.

When you run the program again after the upgrade, its main functionality becomes available. It highlights compatibility issues right away on the start screen, and links to six settings or options that you can go through.

Windows 10 Privacy

privacy

The privacy icon leads to a new page listing privacy settings like disabling biometrical features or disabling the transmission of typing information. There is a reset to defaults button which you can use to start over.

The layout on the page could be better though. First, there is no option to change the size of the window, and many users may find the font size too small for their taste. The visual distinction between preference titles and descriptions lacks as well, and the space between preferences could be better. The layout is used by all preference pages.

Location Service

location services

The rather tiny section enables you to modify location-specific features. These could very well have been placed in the privacy section as they are all about privacy.

You may notice that titles are cut at the end which is something that the developer needs to address in an update.

Security

security

Most preferences listed under security may also impact privacy at the same time or are only privacy-related. This is the case for "disable telemetry" for instance.

Themes

themes

Themes is interesting as it highlights features that you don't see that often in tweaking or privacy programs for Windows 10.

You can enable the dark theme here, or disable various indicators or notification systems like the action center sidebar or volume control.

The two remaining options let you run a system clean up, and go through app or device incompatibilities if they have been found by the application.

Closing Words

Win10 Wizard does not reinvent the wheel, but it takes users who want to upgrade to Windows 10 by the hand making the process  more tolerable and easier to understand.

 

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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