Posted on 03/15/2016 10:14:40 AM PDT by blam
Matt Weinberger
March 15, 2016
Microsoft's aggressive campaign to get customers to Windows 10 is raising some eyebrows, with scattered reports that some people's PCs are automatically upgrading from Windows 7 — without their explicit permission.
For instance, in a post titled "My PC Upgraded To Windows 10 Without Asking, Then Immediately Broke," Kotaku's Patrick Klepek shares the story of how, last week, his Windows 7 PC installed the Windows 10 update automatically overnight.
"Maybe I forgot to push back the upgrade schedule, maybe I accidentally scheduled it by clicking the wrong button. Whatever the case, I definitely did not intend to install Windows 10," Klepek writes.
In the comments, on Reddit, and elsewhere on social media, other users chimed in to share their own similar stories of their familiar Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs getting suddenly upgraded to Windows 10.
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(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
This happened to me yesterday; the upgrade started by itself, but at some point I had to explicitly allow it to continue. I decided to let it finish, and I haven’t had any major problems.
My sons all have upgraded with no issues, so I said what the heck and let it finish the set up.
Other than not liking Edge very much (I went back to IE for the time being) it is running without an issue and everything is fairly intuitive.
Some silliness - such as calling programs APPS, etc. -- but all in all I am not displeased.
IE will be in your ‘APPS’ menu. I found it quite easily and pinned it to the taskbar.
Also, there is a menu option in Edge to import Favorites if you decide you like Edge.
Those were the days.
I still have a DOS 4.0 install disk - on a 3.5" floppy.
Of course a performance OS - like DOS 6.2.2 needed (3) 3.5" floppies (which I also still have... 8^)
#16 You do have IE11 but Microsoft did not include a shortcut for it nor placed it under the Start button> All programs. They want you to use their new Edge web browser which people are finding they do not like.
To add the IE11 shortcut to your desktop then do the following:
Go to “This PC” icon then double click on the “C” drive then open the “Program Files (x86) folder then open the “Internet Explorer” folder”
Inside you will see the “iexplore” icon.
Next right click on it and click on “Create shortcut” It will offer to place it on the desktop for you. Also you can right click on iexplre and click on “Pin to taskbar” You will now have a new IE icon on the taskbar at the bottom. It is a lighter shade of blue. Once you open IE11 you should see your favorites/bookmarks you had.
On your desktop if you do not see the “This PC” icon then do the following:
Right click on the desktop and click on Personalize then click on Themes then Desktop icon settings;
Check off the boxes for: Computer, User Files, Control Panel, Recycle Bin
Here is another way. Download and run and you should have the IE11 icon on your desktop.
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/20486-internet-explorer-desktop-icon-add-windows-10-a.html
See how EASY microsoft made things for everyone!!
I checked the log of updates. It tried to install Windows 10 several times, and it failed each time.
What is wrong with the Microsoft people that they try to do this?
Note: GWX Control Panel does good things, but it hasn’t kept up with the full list of KB updates that ought to be removed beyond just KB3035583. It’s also a bit non-intuitive for some non-techies.
So I’ve made some easy-to-use tools to help put an end to this coerced Windows 10 installation nonsense. They can be downloaded from here and then upzipped:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_hrA7ihzIPlVXpRUnJyc1AyNkU/view?usp=sharing
The three included tools uninstall the Windows 10 nagware and the Microsoft “telemetry” (spyware) “updates” from Windows 7 and Windows 8.x Operating Systems if they are installed, prevent the updates from being reinstalled, and remove the Windows 10 installer folder $WINDOWS.~BT if it is present.
These tools must be run from an account with Administrative privilege, which is the case (unfortunately) for most accounts. They can also be run from a non-Administrator account by right-clicking them and then left-clicking on “Run as Administrator”.
The tools are most effective when run in the following order:
1. Run PreventW10InstallationUAC.exe to set Microsoft Update to “manual only” mode and modify a couple of registry variables that tell the OS to never allow a newer OS to be installed. This tool will run quickly unless you accept the optional request (recommended) to make a System Restore Point before the tool makes it changes, in which case the Restore Point will take a while to make.
Note that after this procedure finishes, no more Microsoft updates will be applied unless you manually request a check for updates and then decide which updates to accept, though making such decisions requires knowledge that the average user usually does not possess. However, for mature operating systems I personally believe that blindly accepting Microsoft updates at this juncture has more downsides than upsides.
(If you DO want to attempt to manually check for updates, you’ll first have to change the Windows Update setting from “Never Check for Updates” to “Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them” before you click the “Check for updates” button.)
2. Run RemoveW10NagwareTool.exe to remove a set of Microsoft updates that relate to Windows 10 nagware (”white flag”) popup, Microsoft spyware, and the Windows 10 installer itself if any of them have been installed. Detection and uninstallation can take a few minutes to complete.
If any of this set of updates is found, you’ll need to reboot the system.
It might also be necessary to run this tool again after rebooting if the nagware update had previously been slated to be installed AGAIN, in which case after rebooting, you’ll STILL see the Windows 10 (”white flag”) nag. If that’s the case, just run this tool again and reboot again, and then run PreventW10InstallationUAC.exe again.
3. Finally, after you’re sure the Windows 10 nagware has been removed, run RemoveW10Folder.exe to detect and remove the Windows 10 install folder if it is found.
I’d suspect this is all “user error”. As others have said, you’d have to click do the update and even if it were automatically running on those who chose “later”, declining the ToS would stop it.
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I wish it was user error. Automatic updates were set for my wife’s laptop with Win7. One morning just a couple of weeks ago she’s face-to-face with Windows 10.
She’s using it now and doesn’t have any problems, she just ignores extraneous junk (”tiles”, MS Edge since she uses Chrome, goofy menu since she uses nothing but desktop icons, etc.).
I suspect the biggest problem she will have is when she gets on Skype with her webcam. I have identical brand/model, and it never works right. I have to unplug it, replug it, say incantations, bow toward Mecca, and curse a lot to make it work. This is even after trying to update the drivers for it, and it used to work great in Windows 7 64bit on both machines.
I get the feeling MS activated an update that you have to manually deactivate. The update process was a lot more voluntary for me and my son than it was for my wife.
What?
No, I don’t think anybody’s talking about mobile phones here. This is desktop computer stuff. The biggest expense, if you’ve approved the update and it gets installed, is if you have a 40 GB hard drive. You’ll need at least an 80 GB drive. Those are pretty cheap, and can easily be installed yourself even if you’re a computer newb.
[[She’s using it now and doesn’t have any problems, she just ignores extraneous junk (”tiles”, MS Edge since she uses Chrome, goofy menu since she uses nothing but desktop icons, etc.).]]
Download ‘classic shell’ for windows 10 to give you back the familiar windows 7 or 8 start menu without all the tile nonsense of windows 10
One other bit of nastiness I noticed.
CD/DVD drives don’t burn disks successfully anymore.
I’ve got a spare Linux machine in the house (didn’t want to spend any more money on an OS, but wanted a spare computer to experiment on and use as a live backup for connecting to work via VPN) that I utilized for the CD burn I had to do recently. Brasero works like a charm.
here’s thel ink to clasic shell- works great- makes windows 10 a little more bearable
Thanks.
I noticed some built-in appearance settings that could be used if she doesn’t like some things.
Like I said before, she’s doing pretty well with it.
Unless the root cause is fixed it will happen again.
Windows Update set to Automatically download and install... + “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” checked will result in an auto update to Windows 10. The second will re-appear checked if it’s unchecked. It’s best to prompt for download and prompt for install. Or disable Windows Update service.
Find another IT “professional”
Microsoft tried to do this to me but I stopped it. This definitely seems to be a US antitrust violation and a breach of something called the European Union “Data Directive”.
I paid $350 for a Seagate 40MB HHD in 1988 from Computer Shopper ad and thought I would NEVER FILL IT UP!......................B^)
It happened to me.
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