by admin | Mar 29, 2016 | Information, Politics, Rant, Religion, Stuff I Did |
Why I Stopped Debating Religious People…
Being an atheist I used to allow myself to get sucked into religious debates all the time. In my defense it’s really hard not to when you repeatedly hear the stupidest things fly out of the mouths of the religious. They seem completely oblivious to the ridiculousness of their comments and then have the audacity to become offended, the moment you come out and question them about it. It’s absolute bullshitery at it’s finest! However, I have learned through experience that arguing, debating or responding is completely futile.
To better understand why I do not debate and avoid confrontation with the religious it’s because I understand that they are mostly likely mentally ill. First, I see some of them as schizophrenic. I truly do and I mean it with no disrespect. I don’t take mental illness as a joke and I believe the medical industry really needs to apply what it preaches to the religious community and stop making excuses for them. Just take a look at how schizophrenia is defined.
“Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others.” continued… “It is possible to live well with schizophrenia.” This comes from the National Institute of Mental Health’s website.
Just let that sink in for a minute. Then, when you read the symptoms from the illness as I’ve copied from the same page of the same site, it all begins to make sense.
Hallucinations.
Delusions.
Negative symptoms.
Cognitive issues/disorganized thinking.
Below I will provide a link to this page for further study, should you choose.
One of the things you should never do unless you are a trained medical professional is confront their delusions. It can lead to violence. Want further proof of that. Turn on the news.
You also have to understand being religious is in definition very similar to that of BWS (battered Woman Syndrome). You just have to look at the symptoms and again, it all becomes very clear how religion can have a very negative and serious effect on it’s followers.
The abused thinks that the violence was his or her fault.
The abused has an inability to place the responsibility for the violence elsewhere.
The abused fears for her/his life, and/or, the lives of loved ones whom the abuser might or has threatened to harm (e.g., children-in-common, close relatives or friends).
The abused has an irrational belief that the abuser is omnipresent and omniscient.
Seriously take a look the above symptoms and break them down. The abused thinks the violence was their fault. How many times have we heard religious people blame themselves or others for their god’s wrath? Fear for their lives and the lives of others. How many times have pleaded for their own salvation and do so because they believe harm will come to them if they do not. And, the last symptom, needs no explanation.
When you start to realize that the belief in the gods began with man’s lack of understanding of the natural order of things and then later became used as a form of crowd control, it all starts to make sense. However, now it has morphed into a legitimate mental illness for many. Sure there are still those using it for crowd control and fund raising but has become much more than that now. It goes beyond the corrupt leading the weak of mind. For many, these delusions are real. So real, that they have no problem with killing themselves or others to protect those beliefs.
Want some examples? How many times have we seen Christians bomb abortion clinics or shoot them up. Last year a gunman in Colorado shot and killed several people at a Planned Parenthood facility because his religion taught him that abortion was murder contrary to all facts and logic on the subject. But, when some uninformed political leaders continue to deny science and logic, when religious leaders obviously do them same it becomes easier to understand how these beliefs are formed. No matter how much you want to believe in something, it doesn’t make it true.
More examples, ISIS, AL-quieda, the Taliban to name a few. All get their ideals from religious beliefs. To say otherwise is an outright lie. It’s one thing to question the belief of the leaders of these religious extremists. However, to question the beliefs of their followers carrying out their will, is simply wrong. It’s the very strong belief in their religion that allows them to carry out these horrific acts of terrorism. They are not doing it because they believe in a political agenda, they do it because they have become convinced that this is what their god wants that’s exactly what religious extremism is.
So when it comes to debating religious people, it really is a terrible waste of time. Your arguments almost never work because they are always based in fact. Religion is faith based. How can you argue things like logic and science to someone who believes that there is an invisible man that knows and controls all? You can’t.
The only thing you can do, is speak your mind when asked. Explain why you believe in science and facts. That’s it. Leading by example is the absolute best thing you can do. Be a good person. Stay true to your scientifically held values and stop confronting the mentally ill. All you’re doing is fueling their fire.
One last example I can provide has to do with a friend of mine. We got into this debate on Facebook a couple of years ago. She posted some ridiculous religious things and I had to respond to it. Well, no, I didn’t have to respond to it. I felt compelled to.
She had posted some religious persons quote. I pointed out how the Bible goes against that person’s statement. It didn’t matter to her. It didn’t matter to her because she doesn’t care about the Bible. She believes like I do, that the Bible was a book written by man. It has some good quotes in it and it has some bad quotes in it. Her belief in a god has nothing to do with that book. She simply just likes to believe that there is something out there bigger than her that actually gives a shit about her existence.
I have found a lot of religious people have this view of the Bible. It made me realize how futile it is to quote the Bible back at a religious person in most cases. Sure, sometimes it can have an effect them. But, religious people aren’t all the same. As atheists, we need to stop treating them as though they are. They all have their own reasons for believing in what they do. A blanketed argument attacking them for their beliefs isn’t going to work.
However, if you are going to debate a religious person your only chance at getting them to listen, is by trying to understand, where they are coming from. Is this person devout, the Bible says it, therefore it’s true, then pointing out inconsistencies in the Bible might help in this case. But, if you go off quoting the Bible and this person is like my friend, your arguments will fall on deaf ears and all you are going to succeed at is pissing them off. The best way to debate is to listen first.
You must realize that someone who believes in something based on faith is never going to be persuaded by science and fact alone. It’s like that old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. In other words, you can lead them to science but you can’t make them think. You can give them the tools to think. There are plenty of atheists out there that used to believe in a god. Ask them what made them change their mind. Chances are it wasn’t because someone on Facebook or Twitter was trying to make them look stupid for their faith.
I know in my case, I had just always thought that there must be a god. My parents weren’t really religious, none of my friends were. Yet, I still believed. I just never put much thought in it. Never really saw the harm in it one or another. That was until I really started to think about it. The more I thought about it, the more I learned the history of religions, the more my eyes started to open. The more I saw the hypocrisy and ignorance in it all. The more I saw the people being taken advantage of. It was these thing that made me come to my senses. Now, I look back and I can’t believe I was ever so silly to believe in that nonsense for even a second.
What I can say, is that I didn’t become an atheist because someone started to belittle my faith. I did so because there were those I respected and listened to, Carl Sagan for example. The more I began to understand the science of the world around me, the less need I had for gods and devils.I realized that most of the times the arguments I was making were only pissing off and belittling the very people whose minds I was trying to change. Before you engage, ask yourself, are you really trying to convince them of something or are just preaching to the choir. I see a lot of friends on Twitter that are atheists getting into battles with religious people and a lot of times their arguments are failing terribly because they aren’t confronting the specific person in the debate. Instead they are attacking them on broad generalizations that may not apply at all to that religious person. Once the debate goes down the road, you’ve already lost.
And, that’s why I stopped debating them.
Below are some links to some of the facts quoted in this rant.
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/Schizophrenia
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/battered+woman+syndrome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Springs_Planned_Parenthood_shooting
http://truthsite.org/WhyAbortionIsntMurder.html?hc_location=ufi
by admin | Feb 23, 2016 | Information, Politics, Rant, Religion, Stuff I Did |
How I Went From A Republican To An Independent…
I’ve ranted about this before and I am sure I will rant about this again but it’s worth repeating because just maybe I can convince a republican who is on the fence to make the leap. So let me start with a brief history of how I went from a Republican To An Independent. The home I grew up in consisted of my mother, father, my mother’s father, my dog and myself. My parents were never really political but my grandfather was. He was tried and true republican. I grew up in the ’80s and when it came to politics, three people influenced me greatly. My grandfather, Ronald Reagan and Alex P. Keaton.
I was born in 1969 and graduated from high school in 1987. I have changed in so many ways since then. But at my core, many of beliefs are still the same. I believe that discrimination of any kind is a bad thing. I believe that gays should have the same rights as anyone else. I believe that we should all be kind to each other. I believe in traditions but not at the expense of science or logic. Republicans in the 80’s represented those core beliefs, in my eyes, and that’s why when I turned 18, I registered for the draft and I proudly registered as a Republican.
Jumping way ahead to the year 2003. I started to realize that between republicans and democrats, over the years, it was the republican party that had been lying to me about the most critical of issues. The Iran–Contra affair, the “family values” being preached in the late 80’s and early ’90’s weren’t family values at all. They were a right wing Christian philosophy that preached hate and fear by suggesting that family values can only come from those consisting of Christian married families. No gays allowed in that plan.
In the 90’s when Bill Clinton ran for President, I didn’t vote him either time. Even though I seemed to agree with his philosophies, my party kept telling me he was a socialist, a communist and would throw our country into a great depression or worse. Of course, none of that was true. He wasn’t perfect by a long shot but he did more for this country than Reagan did and he certainly fixed the economy that Bush Sr. screwed up. Everything I had been told about Clinton by my party turned out to be a lie. Even as the economy grew, my party continued to tell me it wasn’t. They made excuse after excuse as to why all the numbers were a lie. History shows they weren’t. Clinton wasn’t a communist or a socialist. He didn’t collapse the economy. Yet, I continued to vote republican. I just couldn’t see the forest through the trees.
When Bush Jr. ran for president the first time, sadly and embarrassingly I voted for him. The sad part is that I knew he was an idiot! But, I told myself, it was that darn “liberal media” always making him look bad. When Former United States Secretary of State Colin Powell sat before the United Nations and told us all that Iraq had WMD’s, I believed him. When Bush told me that we had to invade Iraq because al-Qaeda was there, I believed him.
As it turns out, pretty much all that fear and hate Bush and Cheney were promoting was all a lie. There were no WMD’s, there were no terrorists in Iraq and to top it all off Bush Jr. let Osama go at least two times! Both time after the events of on 9/11. We had him, and Bush let him get away. My theory, Bush Jr. had no intention of ever catching him. Osama had become our villain, our Boogeyman. As long as Osama was out there Bush and the republican party could keep promoting all that fear and hate that kept so many voting republican. (As I said, that is a “theory”, that is not a fact. But, I truly believe it because actions speak louder than words and the actions of the Bush administration due nothing to suggest otherwise.)
Even today the republicans continue to spread the most outrageous lies. These people refuse to take any responsibility at all. They preach about unemployment levels and have yet to pass a single jobs bill. They preach about love for the troops and yet they almost never pass a bill that will help them and the few times they do, they pat themselves on the back completely ignoring all the times they screwed the vets. Some prime examples of republicans screwing vets, Homeless Women Veterans and Homeless Veterans With Children Act (2010). you can thank that America hating republican Mitch McConnell for that not passing. There was the Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act (2014). Senator Senator Bernie Sanders came up with this one but you can thank the Once again Mitch McConnell fucked the vets by attaching amendments against Iran to it. What did Iran have to do with the bill? Nothing. The republicans then decided the whole thing would cost too much. Then there was the Veterans Jobs Corps Act (2012). They killed that too. The list goes on and on. They say one thing and do the other time and time again.
Take a minute and think about the lies republicans have told. Obama is Muslim. Obama will kill the economy. Legitimate Rape, ISIS is working with Mexican drug cartels, Ebola-infected terrorists could come through Mexico, The attacks and lies about Planned Parenthood from the lie that the government is funding abortions to that fake video. Obama is soft on terrorism, and yet he his had more terrorists killed than Bush. Obama wasn’t born in the U.S. How pathetic was that? Hell Ted Cruz wasn’t born in the U.S. and now suddenly there’s no republican outrage? Well, Trump is outraged but he seems to be the only one. Take something as factual and scientifically provable as global warming and yet this party is in complete denial over it. The republican party is out of control, the crazies have taken over and the good ones are sadly and cowardly keeping quiet about it, just so that they can stay in office.
Hell, they even tried to blame Obama for ISIS. They immediately claimed that it was Obama who let the man who created ISIS go. However, what the republicans refused to say was that it was Bush Jr. that gave the order for Abu Bakr al Baghdadi to be released. It was of course FOX News that spread this misinformation. This is just one of many things that FOX News has lied about. And, they keep repeating it, and sadly the more it gets repeated the more people will believe it. Anyways, you can read about the claim on politifact.com.
Mitch McConnell even went as far as to say that the parties primary goal is to make Obama a one term president. This was at a time when this country was facing the greatest recession since the great depression. Unemployment was skyrocketing thanks to the republican policies of the Bush administration. The Housing market was collapsing, the American auto industry was near dead. We were in the middle of two costly wars. None of that mattered to the republican party. Their goal is not to help the American people, it is one of self-preservation first, the country last.
If you look back at the history of the republican party since the 80’s, and try to keep an open mind, you will see a pattern of preaching hate and fear to win elections, to pass bills and to keep the republican party in office. If you’re a republican, listen to those in office and don’t give them the benefit of the doubt just one time. Just once, as you listen to them speak, hold them accountable for what they say. Don’t make excuses for them. Just do it once. Look up what they say and I promise that you will discover that what they are saying is at best purposefully misleading and at worse a complete fiction. It’s been happening more and more the past decade because the republican party has learned that it can make any claim it desires without repercussions. It can do so because most republicans rely on FOX News for their information and FOX News has been proven to be biased in study after study. How do they do it? By convincing you that ever other source is a product the liberal media.
There are smart republicans out there. Some of them are good people. Some of those smart ones, are not good people. Those of you that are good, think for yourself. Don’t take my word for anything that I’ve said. Look it up for yourself. Look at government documents, look at other media sources that are not FOX News. It’s hard to stay informed, and I am not saying liberals don’t lie. What I am saying is that liberals didn’t start the war in Iraq and Iran. They are the ones that have fought to end them. They didn’t let Osama go, they hunted him down and killed him. A liberal president did that! Liberals didn’t create the recession, they ended it!
I am not liberal and I am not a democrat. I am an Independent. There is a lot of liberal bullshit out there, I am not going to lie and say there isn’t. However, if you take a deep breath and truly take a look at what the democrats have to offer versus the republicans you have got to admit that democrats are doing what’s right on every level. The economy, education, veteran affairs, human rights. I was a republican for most of my adult life and to be honest there’s this part of my that still sees democrats as this weak, uneducated group of hippies. I know that they are not. I have seen them fix our economy twice now. Once under Bill Clinton and now under Obama. I know that democrats are the party of humanitarianism and science.
That small part of me that has looked down on democrats was forced upon me by a propaganda machine that does not quit. It’s a strong machine and it can make you believe in things that simply are not true. You have to fight it. You have to look for the facts and learn to recognize the difference between opinions and facts. They are two very different things. You have got to look at both sides of an issue. Listen to them and then side with the argument that presents the most relevant facts.
by admin | Jan 23, 2016 | Rant, Religion, Stuff I Did |
Sad Thing About That Miracle…
So a couple of years ago on Facebook I came across this post from NBC LA about a shark attack in Hawaii. As a person that loves sharks, I dove right into the article. Seems that yet another idiot thought it would be a good idea to go swimming in the morning, in the ocean, when sharks like to eat. I have little to no sympathy for people that do stupid things that end up getting themselves hurt or killed. Sure, I don’t think people should die just because they did something stupid. But, Natural Selection is a real thing and the best way to survive it is to either be smart or strong. Anyways, this lady taking the early morning swim gets attacked by a shark and some guy claiming to be a pastor swam out and saved her.
I made the mistake of reading comments. I know, never read the comments. Well, I did and of course the first comment was some idiot calling it all a miracle. The stupid shit an idiots will call a miracle in today’s world is just pathetic. If I were ever to call something a miracle, it would have to be pretty damn impressive. There’s a long list of criteria that would it would have to pass in my book before I ever uttered such words in any serious context. The story of this attack didn’t come close to passing my criteria. The sad thing about that miracle is that it wasn’t a miracle.
For example, this surfer pastor guy was brave. What he did was hero worthy in my book. But, there was noting of the supernatural involved in what he did. He simply swam out there, grabbed her and swam back. Again, extremely brave but not superhuman. As I recall, there was something special about why the surfing pastor was there in the first place that added a bit fun to the whole thing but I don’t recall the specifics. I just remember that it was one of those “whoa!” kind of moments. Like he was supposed to be at a meeting or something but had skipped it and had he not skipped it, she would have died for sure. Something like that. Again, not a miracle, just a few serendipitous moments.
Well, I made the second mistake of commenting on how it’s not a miracle. And, of course all the religious people immediately start to attack me because I dared to question their delusions. Something I know better than to do. Never questions the delusions of schizophrenic people. It was one attack after another against be about that miracle. It got so bad that even the reporter came after me in the thread. I mean she flat out attacked me. I have to admit that I was a little hurt that she would go after me like that. She’s a reporter, I didn’t call anyone a name. I didn’t harass anyone. All I did was look at the event objectively and point out how every single event in that so called “miracle” was completely explainable. It didn’t matter, to them. Just one thread after another about that miracle.
Eventually the debate between the reporter and myself lead to a phone call. She explained that the family members of not only the lady that was attacked but also the surfing pastor and his family were also reading our debate. I didn’t know that. It wouldn’t have changed what I said. Well, maybe I would have been a little more sensitive with my responses, but I regret nothing. I didn’t lie about a damn thing and I certainly had done nothing to feel sorry for.
Some months later I saw an update to that story. It had turned out that the lady who had been attacked by the shark ended up dying from her wounds. I just shook my head when I read that. All those poor fools claiming it was a “miracle of God” and the reality of it was that a dumb lady went swimming in the ocean, in known to be shark infested waters and got attacked. Some very brave, surfing pastor attempted to save her and in doing so maybe gave her a few extra days of life to be lived in what I can only imaging was a lot of pain. Though, I must admit, still better than being completely consumed by a shark.
Those people who wanted to believe so much that it was all about that miracle. They will probably never know that the lady died. To them, the story ended when she was saved by that surfing pastor. For them, end of story, it was a miracle. The reality of what happened that day and in the days that followed mean nothing to them. For them it will just another story of how the good lord works in mysterious ways.
This saddens me on so many levels. It’s not ignorance, some may think it is but it’s not. It’s massive stupidity. Ignorance is simply not being aware of the facts. Stupidity, is choosing to ignore the facts because you just want to believe whatever it is that you want to believe. There’s no excuse for that all. These people are living in a fairytale world and they are holding the rest of back. These people end up voting for other crazy people that choose to ignore reality over their belief of an imaginary friend and it’s scary, it’s very, very scary.
by admin | Dec 14, 2015 | Rant, Religion, Stuff I Did |
Why It’s Okay To Mock Stupid People and Hypocrites…
When it comes to stupid people and hypocrites, it is okay to mock them. A perfect example of this came from Twitter the other day. Someone posted a meme pointing out the blatant hypocrisy of religious leaders when it comes to their thoughts on atheists. I agreed with the meme and responded with one of my own. It was a photo of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory with the quote, “It’s funny because it’s true.” something Sheldon says on the show from time to time. A few people Favorited my Tweet but one person didn’t seem too happy with it. This person is the reason for this post.
This unhappy Twitter person commented with this, “Aint nothing funny about folks dying cause of ” I didn’t understand his post. He’s making a seriously claim about making jokes about people dying and then turning around calling them “fruitloops.” In any case, it made feel the need to explain a few things that I didn’t have to to get into the other day. First, the point of the meme is not about making fun of people dying. It’s about pointing out the complete stupidity and hypocrisy of many in the religious community. Though the meme does show the religious people killing each other over whose god has the biggest dick, it’s not the focus of the meme. The focus is that of their hypocrisy. They claim to be about peace and love but their actions say otherwise.
I have no problem with mocking a person’s religion. I think more people should do so. Religion is just an idea. Idea’s should always be challenged. That’s how you get to the truth. Anyone that complains about their idea’s or belief’s being challenged obviously doesn’t have much faith in them. That being said, I don’t believe in mocking people for the things they cannot change. Skin color or sexual preference for example. But, things like hypocrisy and stupidity are a choice and therefor fair game.
When it comes to stupidity, again, this is something people choose. They may not understand that they choose it but they did in fact choose it. I once again need to point out my old family friend who shall remain nameless. This guy has gone off the deep end in his political belief’s. He’s turned into one of those FOX News crazies. He admittedly only watch FOX News. Time and time again he would send links to stories that backed up his bat shit crazy paranoia. And, time and time again, I would send him multiple articles with actual facts that supported my statements. I soon discovered that he doesn’t read the articles. He doesn’t even read the articles that he sends to me. He’s the dreaded line “headline believer.” If it’s in a meme or on a blog and the headline propaganda within goes along with what he wants to believe, it’s further proof to him that his beliefs are facts. This makes him stupid with regard to those ideas.
Now some may argue that this doesn’t make him stupid, rather it makes him ignorant of the facts. Maybe it does a little but either way it doesn’t matter. He chooses not to read the entire article. He chooses to believe those politicians without question. That makes him stupid. Had he chose to actually read the articles and question the politicians and still believed them it he would be ignorant of the actual facts but still stupid, nonetheless. It’s a fine line. But in most cases, at least, most debates I have been a part of, it always comes down to stupidity. People simply are choosing to believe in what they want to believe regardless of the actual facts. That isn’t being ignorant, that is being stupid without question.
So the other day when it came to that meme and my photo response. I wasn’t mocking people killing each other. I was mocking the stupid people and hypocrites that continue to believe in their assorted fairytales at all costs.
by admin | Nov 10, 2015 | Fun, Rant, Review, Stuff I Did |
Supergirl Is Awesome!
I thought instead of a rant bashing stupid people that I’d take a break and talk about something I am really enjoying. It’s Supergirl, I am a fan. There are so many things about the show I love. There are a couple of things, I have mixed feelings about but all in all, I have loved every minute of the show. It’s fun, it’s not dark and Melissa Benoist as Supergirl is a breath of fresh air. In fact, I will go as far as to say that Supergirl is awesome!
A few months ago I saw an extended preview of the show that CBS put out and it interested me for a few reasons. First and foremost, it wasn’t dark. I am so sick of every superhero reincarnation having to be dark and gritty. It was fine with Batman, in fact, it was perfect for Batman. But, then the new Superman re-boot came along and I was really disappointed with it. To me, the movie came off as more Emo than dark. I didn’t hate the movie. But, dark superman just doesn’t’ work for me.
I am now 46 years old and my introduction to Superman was with the 70’s when I first saw the old TV’s series starring George Reeves as the caped wonder. But, then in my 7th year of life I saw Superman the Movie with Christopher Reeves and it truly made me believe a man could fly. Those movies became an iconic symbol of hope in my eyes. They were eye-poppingly colorful and so perfectly inspiring. To this day I can’t watch Superman I or II without wanting to be a better person and considering that when it comes to being a cynic I make Lewis Black look calm and even tempered, I think that says a lot.
So, I was ecstatic to see the Supergirl series on CBS was going to continue that tradition of positivity of hope. Well, at least when seeing the preview, I was hopeful. It looked like what I had been craving for. And, a couple of weeks ago when the first episode aired, it was pure joy. It was everything I had hoped for. I loved the cameos, with Helen Slater and Dean Cain I thought that was brilliantly fun. The cast is great and the story plays out with heart. This past week’s episode, “Flight or Flight” ended with a text between Clark Kent and Kara (Supergirl) and it was just so sweet without being too sappy or cheesy. The show isn’t perfect but the amount of fun it is, makes up for any flaws there may be.
Though, I can’t express enough Melissa Benoist really is the star of the show. Not just because she’s the title character but because of the way she plays her roles as Kara and Supergirl. I believe her as both and I just adore her. She’s vulnerable and strong and that’s the key to any great character. She nails it. When she does her shy almost snort laughing, I turn to mush. I am grown man and I think if I ever met Melissa Benoist, I’d react like Kara does when she thinks about Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen er… Sorry “James” Olsen.
My only problem and it’s not so much of a problem as it is a conflict I have within myself. It’s her skirt. Part of me is glad that they stayed with the traditional looking outfit. The shallow guy in me is literally thrilled. But, the male feminist in me feels that it’s a shame. If the character was truly created in today’s world there is no way she’d be created in a short skirt that can easily be looked up with every fly by. It’s not practical at all for doing battle in and it’s just kind of silly. So, for that I am torn. However, the character Kara that Melissa Benoist’s has created, I can totally see as actually liking the skirt. So, I don’t let it get to me. As I said, torn.
It’s hard to do a superhero show because you need to keep the fantasy going without losing the human moments and I think Supergirl does this so very well. At the time I am writing this, three episodes have aired and I can honestly say that with each new episode I find my interest in the show is still strong and still growing. And, I have to admit a lot of it is because Melissa Benoist as Supergirl is awesome!
by admin | Nov 4, 2015 | Information, Stuff I Did |
How To Install Windows 10…
I’ve had this little icon in my system tray for months now promising to notify me when I can install Windows 10. When it fist appeared I followed the quick instructions advising me to “click here” and get on the list. Days, weeks and then months went by and no change. It seems there’s a really long queue or maybe there was an error somewhere. In any case, I wanted to get Windows 10 installed. I was going to have to manually install it. I learned two things, trying to find the actual install file took me forever! But, actually installing it? It was the easiest install I’ve ever done. I’m writing this to save you some time if you want to get this installed yourself.
This isn’t a full tutorial. This is just here to get you to the tool you’ll need to download so that you can actually Windows 10.
First thing you need to do is go to this page and download the Media Creation Tool. Before you download the tool you need to decide on either the 32bit or the 64bit exe file. Chances are if you have a newer PC you’re going to need the 64 bit tool. But, if you don’t know, you can quickly check what version of the system you’re running now.
To find out if your computer is running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows in Windows 7 or Windows Vista, do the following: Open System by clicking the Start button , right-clicking Computer, and then clicking Properties. Under System, you can view the system type.
The link to the actual documentation from MS. Click Here.
Just getting to this point took me about a half-hour because most links and tutorial sites for some reason link to pages that want you to download this file GWXWebWindows.exe and all this file does is basically either install or open up the same app that’s been sitting in my system tray promising me the Windows 10 install that never came.
So I once I finally found the MediaCreationToolx64.exe file on the Media Creation Tool page all I pretty much had to do was double click and just answer the questions. It’s so easy and there’s only a couple of questions you need to answer.
When you open the exe file (below is what you’ll see). What this allowing you to do is either install Windows 10 right now on your PC but choosing the “Upgrade this PC now” and simply answering a few simple questions and this install does the rest. Literally it does most of the work. I sat there for about an hour or so while it just did it’s thing. The second option asks a few more questions but basically it allows you download the actual installation file or files so that they can be saved to an external drive and then be used to install Windows 10 on other PC’s. It’s all real simple. All you need to do is choose a couple of options.
After choosing the “upgrade this PC now” option the only thing you really need to be careful about is choosing whether you’re going to want a “Clean Install” or just an “Upgrade.” Basically, a clean install is going to delete everything on the drive you are installing windows on. Then it will install your new windows version. This means, any programs you’ve installed that are not part of the Windows 10 operating system will have to be reinstalled. Things like Photoshop and other programs you may have installed in the past will be gone. It also means any photos you have on the drive or videos will be deleted. So if you go this route, make sure to copy all that stuff to another drive or external drive before you proceed.
If you chose the upgrade option, it will basically, upgrade you to the new version of Windows but it doesn’t delete your files and programs. So, for example, when I did this last week, I upgraded and it took about an hour or so. When it was done, I opened up my browser and pretty much went on with my internet life. Photoshop, Sony Vegas Pro, my photos and videos were all intact.
Under the photo I will provide some links to more specific information.
How to Install Windows 10 on Your PC
How to get Windows 10 now: upgrade to Windows 10 today. Plus: how to fix flashing screen
(This link provides a short video and screen captures to show you what you’ll see along the way.)
