Dance with the devil and he'll get you eventually

There are utilities that will get the win 8.1 key off the PC.
I assume you mean you have a legal key but don't know what it is.
Out of curiosity why do you hate Win 10 ?
You only have a little over 3 years of secuirty updates for win 7.

Since June 2015, W7's market share has declined from 60.98% to 48.81%. W10 has advanced from 0.16% to 14.36%. January was the first month where W10 had a greater market share than XP or 8.1, both of which continue to decline and are now under 10%.
 
The reality is that W7 is 7 years old. While it was a rock-solid operating system that, like XP, became a "don't have to worry about it" OS, it is on the decline and that decline will accelerate. Meanwhile, W10 continues its steady increase, with a major update due for July 2016 that will integrate it more devices. That may be the tipping point for some people to switch.
 
W7 is still viable. Mainstream support ended in January so there will be no new fixes or features, although you'll still get security updates for another 3.66 years. Also, while W7 doesn't have native USB 3.0 support, appropriate chipset drivers from your motherboard's manufacturer will accommodate USB 3.0 devices (if not, most will work as USB 2.0 devices).
 
I was very happy with Windows 7, and approached upgrading to W10 with trepidation. However, it is not necessary to wipe everything and start over; you can do an in-place install. Also, perhaps someone with more computer savvy can chime in, but the much-reviled Vista essentially became W7 after the last of its updates, so I suspect W10 is not that different from W8.1.
 
SONAR seems to perform better with W10. I may just be lucky that crashes are virtually non-existent for me, and I use SONAR almost every day in one capacity or another. Or, it may be the W10 is that much more reliable.
 
I upgraded my laptop to W10 as an experiment and within two days, took the plunge on my desktop. The bottom line is I would not go back to W7 after experiencing W10. W7's days are numbered, and I don't think this is a good time to jump on to an operating system that's in its twilight years. 
 
 
 
 

mettelus
Ouch, sorry to hear that. I am still on Win7 here and no issues. After you get the system up to its first stable condition with basics loaded, I highly recommend a disk image. I also did another image after the bulk of all programs were installed/re-authorized... Both in preps for the (inevitable) days that Win7 goes offline and my SSD lets its smoke out.

+1 For what mettelus said, including the disk image. I have upgraded one  of my pc's to windows 10 and there seems to be a slight performance increase, but that may just be my own confirmational bias. I personally am not a fan of the compulsory and very frequent automatic updates as they have caused a couple of issues on my system. Happy to keep my ain studio PC on Win 7 as long as I can - it is rock solid, and I know when I turn it on that nothing will change.

Thanks for all the helpful and thoughtful replies.
 
The reason I'm anti-windows 10:
 
I actually like my privacy and do not want a company, such as MS, access to my data. My art is my own to decide to share or not and I don't want my OS to be "cloud" connected or anything else. I want it to be fast, intuitive, and transparent to the user. Something MS has failed at since win 7 since they are pushing their whole 1984 panopticon
**** instead of concentrating on bringing a solid futuristic OS to the masses.
 
As for lack of future support.  I can barely keep a PC running for a year before I'm reformatting, so 3 years would be a long time for one install for me.
 
But who knows, if windows 10 will give me a solid experience cheap, then fine, I'll use it, but just take out the damn network card (cable).
 
 

slumbermachine
I actually like my privacy and do not want a company, such as MS, access to my data. My art is my own to decide to share or not and I don't want my OS to be "cloud" connected or anything else. I want it to be fast, intuitive, and transparent to the user. Something MS has failed at since win 7 since they are pushing their whole 1984 panopticon
**** instead of concentrating on bringing a solid futuristic OS to the masses.

 
For better or for worse, Microsoft couldn't care less about your art. There are two elements at play. One is using the Cortana personal assistant, which indeed keeps track of contacts, calendar appointments, etc. But, that's the point. By keeping it in the cloud, as long as I'm on a PC and logged into my account, it doesn't matter if I'm at home, at Gibson, or on the road. However if you want, you can turn all of this off and disable Cortana completely.
 
The other element is data on how you use the computer, system health, etc. and depending on your version of Windows 10, you can disable most and I believe it's also possible to disable all of it.  Search "Privacy on Windows 10" and you'll find useful articles such as this one on how to turn off these features. It's particularly easy to turn them off during installation; it takes a bit more effort to turn it off after installation, but not much. If you've messed with the privacy settings on an iPhone, this is the same basic deal.
 
However, note that this is not personalized data. Using the art comparison, this isn't Microsoft breaking into your home and looking over your shoulder while you paint. It's more like Microsoft going to an art supply store and asking how many people bought watercolors, how many bought oils, and how many are into gouache. It doesn't really matter who bought what, just the numbers.
 
There was a big controversy awhile ago about Cakewalk letting users opt in to provide analytics. Fortunately, logic seems to have prevailed as participation is very good. But I got a chance to look at some of the analytics the other day, and it turns out that Cakewalk actually pulls all your songs from your hard drives, automatically masters them with LANDR, and then offers them to Beyonce for use on her next album if she wants them. Cakewalk then deletes any of the ones she does want from your system; that way you can't claim ownership and sue her.
 
Okay, not really. The analytics show, for example, which plug-ins are inserted most often in projects. I'm even thinking of including some "Top 10" charts in the eZine - like the Top 10 most-used Sonitus effects, the Top 10 EQs, Top 10 Reverbs, Top 10 Non-Cakewalk Virtual Instruments, etc. I think it would be fun.
 

Can you restore the 11/5/2015  back up to the new media?  If so, THAT back up is Win 8.1 which is upgradeable to Windows 10.  Then after upgrade follow this:
 
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/wiki/insider_wintp-insider_install/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-10/aef0ae63-2117-41ee-a8ea-4a3181625b08
 
Just a thought.  Note that When I did something similar this DID NOT work, but I was able to use the old license key from Windows 7.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10#
 and register it that way...I had to use the feature that allows use of codes received via text on smart phone to make this work.  But all is good now.  The Microsoft Chat would probably work too.
 

bitman
In my experience usb3 drives are backward compatible with usb2 ports.
 
Sorry to add insult to injury.

Mine also.  All the USB drives that I have seen are 3 or 2.

hockeyjx
 
But until my current machine conks out, and my FW-1884 is unusable, I stand pat on the studio box on Win7. All of my other house machines are Win 10.

Hi. Just so you know, I use a Tascam FW 1884 in Win 10 Pro X64 (as a controller) in SONAR Platinum (latest). I had one Windows (10) update take me for a ride (would not connect), but other than that it has been stable on my end.
All the best.

Zargg71

hockeyjx
 
But until my current machine conks out, and my FW-1884 is unusable, I stand pat on the studio box on Win7. All of my other house machines are Win 10.

Hi. Just so you know, I use a Tascam FW 1884 in Win 10 Pro X64 (as a controller) in SONAR Platinum (latest). I had one Windows (10) update take me for a ride (would not connect), but other than that it has been stable on my end.
All the best.

 
Oh, I know I could *probably* get it to work just fine. But there are a few variables there and I need to upgrade machines in the next year or so anyway, so not worth the time in my case.

First of all, I'm not stuck on myself or think my art is so special that someone is secretly hacking my info to see it ( I would play them a personal concert free if they liked it that much)  But, what I do fight for, is my right of choice and consent.
 

microapp
Virtually all the telemetry in W10 can be disabled quite easily.
There is no evidence that Microsoft is collecting personal data even with the telemetry enabled.
This is from people actually examining the telemetry data.

 
Sure... But the fact is, all that is there and I will have to remove it and deal with it nagging me to set it. With Win 8.1 I had to hack up the registry to fix it so it wouldn't send data via update. Plus the fact you accept the license which clearly states MS intent.
 

microapp 
Google collects every scrap of personal information it can get its hands on AND SELLS IT. That is their buisness model. They have EVERYTHING YOU HAVE EVER googled. Nobody seems concerned about this. Same with other social media sites.

 
Which is why I haven't used google for the last few years.  You are controlled if you search using google for information (Yes we get censorship through google). Same reason I wont work for them even though I'm starting to starve.
 

I'm starting to think my "good luck" with SONAR and other software may have something to do with my religious use of uninterruptible power supplies. I first became aware of this with the ADAT. Mine worked perfectly and a friend of mine was always having problems. When he bought an uninterruptible power supply his ADAT started working perfectly. Hmmm...
 
Many computer power supplies are rated marginally when you load up your machine with internal drives and RAM. Always use a power supply with more capacity than you think you'll need.

Just wanted to post a follow up here, now that I've had some rest from a weeks worth of insane studio computer hell, maybe it will help others:
 
Yes. For sure it looks like my power issues are source related. Found out I was getting bad spikes. Destroyed the following: Corsair ax860 ps, 1 tb mushkin ssd, 1 dvd-rom, 1 tb wd green drive, 1 tb wd black drive. This included all internal backups (my entire samples library ~250gb, music installer backups, and in process projects).  Luckily, I still have my external drive backups, but they still put me back about 6 months and don't contain stuff like omnisphere iso's (which they charge to re-download) or any of my recent work.
 
 
Now that I'm done feeling sad, I'm going to turn this **** into gold.
 
So I spent all day yesterday installing everything on a fresh system (New Asus mb, processor, ram, ssd, corsair ps, cables, case, power conditioner) and started with windows 10 pro 64 bit iso install.
 
After 18 hours getting everything almost the entire studio reinstalled. Windows 10 crashes upon sign in with a "CRITICAL_PROCESS_ERROR".  Safe mode will not boot either and nobody seems to know a fix.
 
So, I started again last night and reformatted and reinstalled again. After a few hours setting up everything not studio related I have it working well. Windows is booting fine and I'm going to back up as soon as I have the large sonar install done.
 
Then...
 
During install Sonar gives a ton of .net c++ errors. WTF am I doing wrong here.
 
PS - Windows 10 update also fails.
 
So should I go to Windows 7 now?
 
 
 
 

The fact that W10 Update doesn't work seems like something that should be fixed first (what is the error you get?). Maybe the .Net/C++ errors are due to an inability to update to the correct libraries because Update is broken.
 
I forgot exactly how, but did you try to do a Repair from the OS install media?

Appreciate it, but yes, I tried all methods I could think of.  I can get into a command prompt, but don't know what to change to fix it. Also, the flat vs. 3d UI design is what annoys me about the latest MacOS updates also. I hate it. Not sure why all UE designers took such a step back from what works everywhere. If I wanted a playskool OS I would be using ME.
 
Sonar is the best looking/Experience music App UE design in my opinion.  I want an OS that is worthy of it.

Oh man. You have my sympathy! I have been there, or thereabouts anyway, a few times in my computer history, at one point I pretty much had to be physically restrained from throwing my whole rig into the ocean (which was tantalizingly close at hand, making the idea really rather tempting, but likely holding back was the right call in retrospect, even if only for environmental reasons...)
 
I'm far from an expert, just a fellow long-suffering user who's been through a few rounds with similar mysterious showstoppers before, but it sounds like there may be something amiss in the new components. Memory? Hard drive sectors? Win10 and Sonar are very stable at this point here, and I'm on *old* hardware (mental note: run the backup tonight! and upgrade to that SSD system drive soon!)...  
 
Have you tried booting up a live OS boot CD to run some checks? Also, if you do another reinstall, I would run Win10 updates first before installing anything else. Again, not expert advice, just my own experience...