Do I need to manually install driver updates for Aspire ZC-102 when I move from Windows 8 up to 10?

I've been struggling with this ACER for more than a year. I should have returned it when it was still under warranty 14 months ago. Now I upgraded online for free thru Microsoft to Windows 10 back in early August. I'd hoped that my mess was an operating system pile but unfortunately, it is still a piece. It doesn't have any virus. I run Malwarebytes Pro full time with it set to quarantine PUPS along with full time McAfee Anti Virus. I use cCleaner to keep it trimmed up. I've NEVER gamed or browsed porn.
I've got max 16 GB of RAM. I have very few APPs other than Office 2013.

So even though this thing was a piece back when it was running Windows 8 and 8.1, I want to try to get it running on Windows 10 without needing to start over with a Clean Install. That's why I asked about the drivers.

Accepted answers

IronFly

your ZC-102 will not have a direct drivers update support from Acer, that means you need to rely on Windows updating by itself drivers or searching them by yourself.

let me give you 3 suggestions:

1) Never use registry cleaners on windows 8.x and above, they are no more needed

2) uninstall McAfee, it kills your machine performance, use the windows integrated antivirus, it's good and very light

3) if you need quick loading times on programs, think about a SSD upgrade

All comments

IronFly

your ZC-102 will not have a direct drivers update support from Acer, that means you need to rely on Windows updating by itself drivers or searching them by yourself.

let me give you 3 suggestions:

1) Never use registry cleaners on windows 8.x and above, they are no more needed

2) uninstall McAfee, it kills your machine performance, use the windows integrated antivirus, it's good and very light

3) if you need quick loading times on programs, think about a SSD upgrade

vankjeff

Thanks.

0) Does Windows 10 either automatically update drivers or how do I do it on Windows 10? I used to know how to use Windows Update on my XPs and then do some extra steps manually to get stuff that wasn't marked High Priority or something like that. I wouldn't have a clue about how to do anything about getting and installing drivers.

1) You said "Never use registry cleaners on windows 8.x and above, they are no more needed." Does that mean to never run the Registry thing on cCleaner? I've never had anything else for registries.

2) You said "uninstall McAfee, it kills your machine performance, use the windows integrated antivirus, it's good and very light". So should I turn off or uninstall the full version McAfee on my Windows 10 ACER along with my two XP machines? I used Windows Defender on this ACER for a while a few months ago when McAfee kept having issues updating or staying 'Live'. I do trust Windows Defender. Maybe I could somehow just try Defender again and turn off McAfee or do you think it's so bad that I should remove it completely with my REVO Uninstaller Pro?

3) You said "if you need quick loading times on programs, think about a SSD upgrade". From what little I know, an SSD is a solid state HDD and I've heard that those are WAY faster. Do they just slip into these ACER Aspire ZC-102 All-in-One desktop pcs or would I need to have help doing it? Also, is there a simple way to transfer over to using it by connecting it with a USB or ethernet cable when the HDD is still working and dumping the entire image onto it so I don't need to start over with Windows and everything else similar to doing a Clean Install which I've now done a few of?
BTW, this site should be fixed for newbies like me. There's no Sign In button and nothing happens that let's you know how to type in anything if you haven't signed in and you click REPLY under a posting. It just pops another window. Only after playing with it did I finally figure out to click 'NEW HERE?' even though I'm not and then it let me sign in. Come on you ACER IT people, fix your Community Forum help site for your poor customers and the generous helpers. Seriously, get a clue.

This is all I saw after I clicked REPLY before I figured out how to sign in. It puzzled me for quite a while as there wasn't anywhere to type in anything:

a reply how.jpg

vankjeff

I'm think that I should mention what you said about McAfee killing performance over in my 'HELP MY SICK PC' question over at http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/please-help-me-with-my-sick-windows-10-pc-im/e6066b14-e8cb-4781-9c5e-7d42773fe690

Is it common knowledge in amongst people who know tech that McAfee is a poor choice for anti-virus for that reason?

It's actually hard to believe that a company as well known would be able to sell a product that was widely known to slow down the thing that it was designed to work on. Companies work hard not to let that happen and if it does, they usually try everything in their power to fix it themselves. That is, unless they also offer another product such as FIX MY PC or something like it that they can generate sales for and they'll already have a customer database to market it to. HMMMM

IronFly

0) windows update on windows 10 works in a very different way than XP, you can't compare it at all; expecially on drivers side.

1) CCleaner is a good software but as i wrote, don't use anything that can modify windows registry, so don't run registry things on CCleaner

2) your question was about Aspire ZC-102, it has windows 10....so why are you asking about XP machines?

my answer is only related to your ZC-102 with windows 10, please stay on topic.

to uninstall use ONLY the official McAfee toll:

http://us.mcafee.com/apps/supporttools/mcpr/mcpr.asp

why are you using another software to uninstall softwares?

not needed on a modern OS like windows 10

3) you must remove the bakc cover of your ZC-102 to swap HDD to SSD, not easy, not hard; it depends on you.

you can clone your HDD content to the SSD, there are many free software that can do it, you have to connect the SSD via USB and it will take some hours to end.

vankjeff

Thanks. I hope I didn't say anything wrong. I've had a Question going for quite a long time over at Microsoft Answers as I've tried to fix this thing myself with help. I'm sure no techy. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/please-help-me-with-my-sick-windows-10-pc-im/e6066b14-e8cb-4781-9c5e-7d42773fe690

#0 and #2, I'm not sure why you're saying that I'm talking about my XP. I still do have two that run just fine and they are on my Family Plan with Time Warner Cable that gives us McAfee. But I think that I'll take your suggestion and remove it and switch back to the Microsoft Defender that is built in. Thanks for that official uninstall tool link.

#1 I try not to ever mess with stuff that I don't know much about and that includes the registry.

#3 When I upgraded my RAM from the 4gb that it came with, to the 16mb max, Frye's people were pretty baffled about how to get into it. They finally did. Maybe it was too new back when I did that in January 2014.

As far as cloning this HDD to move to an SSD, it's more likely that I would just start fresh. I backup all my Docs, Photos, Videos, Music, Favorites and my Outlook PST which is now going to be an OST. So a Clean Install would probably be the way to go rather than bringing over any problems. I should have done that back when I was still running Window 8 or 8.1 and I shouldn't have ever tried the Windows 10 upgrade but I'd hoped it would fix whatever is wrong with this thing. It's been pig slow since the beginning. I have an official disc with Windows 10 on it and I have one for Office 2013 also.

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