Windows® 10 version 1903 is coming in May, and it is causing alarm because the new installation is literally doubling the footprint of the operating system. A firm release date has not been announced, but these are the critical items to remember before installation when it arrives.
Free Up Disk Space
As noted, the amount of hard disk drive space the OS will now occupy has increased from 16 to 32 GB. Microsoft is also introducing reserved storage, which requires another 7 GB to ensure that future updates can be installed without incident. Many users will therefore need to purge their hard drives of data before the installation. Backing up older files to the Cloud via Google Drive, Dropbox, or another file storage service is one option. Dumping files to an external drive is another. However…
Remove External Drives
You may receive an error message that “This PC can’t be upgraded to Windows 10” if you do not first unplug external hard drives and memory cards. These can block the OS from installing the update. Also, the update process itself can cause hard drives to change drive letters after installation, mayhem you can and should easily avoid.
Do Not Assume Privacy
When Windows 10 updates, it almost always resets your privacy settings back to the aggressive defaults many users have complained about in the past. To easily ensure your privacy settings are not compromised post-update, use System Mechanic’s Privacy Shield feature, which allows you to easily opt out of many troublesome Windows defaults. Privacy Shield was designed to thwart the overly-intrusive data collection techniques built into Windows 10, some of which are rather difficult to fully disable. The Privacy Shield wizard made it easy to do so.
The Upside of the Install
The Windows Insider early-access program delivered the update in April, and here’s what users have since learned. New features to look for in the new update include:
- Streamlined Start
- Easier uninstall of pre-loaded apps
- Less cluttered Search UI
- Cortana easily removed from taskbar
- Accounts removed and managed more easily
- Streamlined Sign-in
- Personal Security Key (FIDO2) Sign-in option added
- New Light Mode color theme option
- On Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise, a new Sandbox adds a containerized environment for running untrusted executables
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