Karl Sandfort's Blog: Windows 10 Technical Preview

It Helps to Have the Following

MSDN Subscription with a Microsoft user name and password.
A network connection
A cell phone so you can receive a text message. In the installation process, they will text you a 6-digit number, which you must then provide to the install program.

Also please note the following

This is a free Technical Evaluation Version, so there is no Activation Key to type in.
It is recommended to use the SHA-1 checksum after you download to verify the integrity of the download. That's almost 4 million bytes going over the network and the more cautious among you may want to generate an SHA-1 key off your newly-downloaded file and compare it to the one Microsoft provides. There is a free command-line utility you can get from Microsoft called fciv.exe.

The command line for fciv might look like this:

fciv -sha1 -add en_windows_10_technical_preview_x64_dvd_5552500.iso

It will produce a number like this:

eb75a3d3c0f621f175b75dc65db036d0e00eac43

The Microsoft number is all upper-case, so you might want to use your text editor to convert the output from fciv to upper-case as well. It makes it a lot easier to compare them visually. Of course, if you were a real power user you could use Search and Ignore Case.

Download

Go to the MSDN web site and download the right version. I avoided the Check Build/Debug version because that version is for developers writing device drivers and other super-programmers. I'm just a run-of-the-mill keyboard jockey so I chose the English 64-Bit version. The file looks like this:

en_windows_technical_preview_9879_x64_dvd_5929243.iso

It is 3.86 GB in size. Downloading and burning takes a while

An ISO is easy to burn. I used the free ISOtoUSB utility to create a boot-able flash drive. I would prefer just using Roxio to burn a DVD. It is easier (and faster) but I ran out of DVDs and was too lazy to run out to Staples. Anyway, my BIOS lets me boot from the flash drive and the install program ran.

In case you're interested, I have an ancient beige tower case with an ASUS P7P55D-E, the old Clarkdale Chipset, the I5-650 c.p.u. and 16 GB DDR3 Memory. It can handle 6 SATA devices. I have 4 used up, 2 hard drives a DVD drive, and a Blu-Ray drive. One hard disk has Windows 7 Ultimate, the other has Windows Server 2008 R2. I select the drive I want to boot from in the BIOS setup screen.

Just to be on the safe side, I disabled my Windows 7 drive in the BIOS. For some reason having to do with fatigue and confusion, my Windows Server 2008 R2 hard disk remained enabled.

I installed an old 250 GB 3½-in drive I had, thus taking up the 5th SATA port, and booted from the flash drive. And away we go, as Jackie Gleason used to say...

My compliments to the design team for this design. I like simple, minimalist design. It says "We don't have to 'wow' you now, you'll get plenty of 'wow' later".

Simple progress screen. I felt the installation went fast.

Identify Verification

Because you already have a Microsoft account your phone number is probably listed in your profile. To verify your identity they will text you a number and you have to enter it: