The Windows 10 that was forced on me is so bloated it has no performance and updates will not work - can I get 8?

Mike,

I'm not sure if this will help you but Susan Bradley (Patch Lady) had the same difficulty as you trying to upgrade her 32gb HP Envy to 1709. This Link shows you how she did it.

It doesn't really matter at this point. But I never said it was free. What I said was that none of the money you paid went to Microsoft. They were paid before any manufacturer began installing the software in the computers they were making for sale.

Microsoft isn't sitting around waiting to get paid for its O/S until some customer happens to wander into a retail store and buy a computer,

They got their money long before that.

So far as they were concerned it was a done deal.

Any help or support they give you down the line is, therefore, not really something they owe you UNLESS you purchase a support plan from them:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/assure-software-support-plan/cfq7ttc0k637?icid=en_us_software-support_cp_1_assure

Alternatively the Microsoft Store can help you find a few free services as well as help you to schedule premium services at the Microsoft Store in your area and sometimes even on-line.

(Premium Services will, however, cost you).

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/locations/answer-desk?icid=MSCOMSearchTopResult

Thanks Neil

The wiping is what I am trying to avoid

I am making some progress testing Windows dual booted with Linux with a 'borrowed' key

Not  sure whether it will do what I need but it seems like Microsoft are not at all concerned with sorting out this problem that is shared by a very large number of users, many who were forced or bullied onto Windows 10, as 32GB,/2GB still seems to be the standard for netbbooks

Mike

Oh dear

Let me have one more go at trying to explain to you as simply as is possible.

Lets say a copy of OEM Windows is $75.  I reimburse the manufacturer the $75 that they paid to Microsoft. 

I have $75 less in my bank account - Microsoft has $75 more. (In reality, market forces dictate that there is little or no profit for the shop and manufacturer in Windows, they mostly make the profit on the hardware)

I recently bought a new car. The dealer ordered it from the Manufacturer. I gave my money to the dealer who then paid most of it to the manufacturer. I know it wasn't the same physical notes, but it was the same money. My money went to the manufacturer !!!!   Please tell me you can follow this?

Or how about I bought a tin of beans from the supermarket. With most of my money the supermarket paid Heinz for a replacement tin. My money went to Heinz

This is book 1, page 1 for economics students which I had previously considered it to be pretty simple for anybody to follow, although you seem to be struggling with it. But I really don't have time to start teaching you the economics of supply chain.

And do try to keep up..... I am the OP's whose 'problem isn't with Microsoft. It's with that cheap 32 bit Chinese Import he bought that is incompatible with modern computing needs "

Just a tiny thing wrong with that statement.....a) It was not cheap   b) It is not a Chinese import (mine was made in Europe) and C) it has the current spec for its type and use of PC. Apart from that you were spot on.

For your enlightenment, the hardware for Apple, Dell, Sony, HP and yes ........ Microsoft is  manufactured in China (..the original Macbook was manufactured by Asus). So I guess that makes them all cheap Chinese imports.

Take a look at the underside of you laptop (or accompanying paperwork) where it should show you the country of manufacturer  (mine says Czech Republic) There is a 99% chance that if you are in the USA it will be Taiwan, China. (although some of them stretch the law and use 'place of assembly' or similar)

So yes, the problem is most certainly with Microsoft. If you had read previous posts properly you will know that the Asus is still compatible with every single operating system that we have tried it on except Windows 10,.

But, you have given us a good chuckle with your hilarious misunderstanding of supply chain economics. According to your model, where only the stores end up with any of our money, all the manufacturers will go broke.

No. YOUR money ended with the store. Microsoft already got paid long before you ever saw (let alone bought) the computer. The Manufacturer (Asus, Acer, HP,  Lenovo, Dell, etc) pays Microsoft in order to install Windows on the machines they make. They pay a wholesale price for the OS and the OEM License).

YOU don't pay Microsoft anything when you purchase the device from the manufacturer. (Or the Retail store...Best Buy, Amazon, Microcenter, whoever.)

You pay the store what they paid the manufacturer plus a profit for the store.

Just as the manufacturer collected the cost they paid Microsoft for the OS plus manufacturing costs, plus a profit for putting it all into a box and shipping it to the store.

ONLY the store gets any of YOUR money.

And, as it happens, sales to government entities and major corporations world-wide are where Microsoft really makes their money. Not from the individual customer who may (or may not) buy the actual O/S directly from them.

As it happens, the OP's problem isn't with Microsoft. It's with that cheap 32 bit Chinese Import he bought that is incompatible with modern computing needs.