Posted on 01/07/2016 10:08:43 PM PST by dayglored
Official from the Redmond horse's mouth
If you're using a PC running Windows 7 or 8 you may be getting a little sick of endless popup screens telling you to upgrade to version 10, and worried about inadvertently installing the upgrade as part of a security update.
Microsoft will start pushing out the upgrade as a recommended, virtually mandatory, update very soon (it's right now only an optional download). Some people are tempted to turn off Windows Update completely to avoid getting the new operating system - don't. It'll leave your computer vulnerable to attack as you'll no longer get security patches.
It's actually rather easy to turn off the Windows 10 upgrade function without losing vital regular software updates. Microsoft even has an official document explaining how to do it.
A Redmond spokesperson confirmed that support page is still valid - its instructions still work even though it was quietly published a few months ago. It involves digging into the Registry to disable the Windows 10 upgrade path, but it's not impossible nor particularly scary for a Register reader.
Make sure you follow all the steps, but essentially you have to:
Open the Registry Editor (search for regedit in the Start Menu and run it).For corporate users, there's nothing to worry about - the Win10 upgrade is going to be blocked for users of Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 Enterprise editions, and for any build joined to a domain or relying on Microsoft Device Manager. Redmond isn't dumb; if the entire office suddenly tried to download and install that much data, the screams would be heard all the way to Seattle.
Set DisableOSUpgrade to 1 in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
Set ReservationsAllowed to 0 in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade
If you want to set up a policy not to download the update, Microsoft has made software updates available for download that will do this automatically for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 that are here, and for Windows 8 and above, as well as Server 2012 R2 here.
In any case, this is going to be a non-issue in a few months. Microsoft is only offering Windows 10 as a free upgrade until July. After that, people will have to pay if they want Redmond's latest operating system, and hopefully the nagging will stop then - but don't bet on it.
Too Late! I put in Windows 10 thinking it had to be an improved system over Windows 7. I have an older HP laptop and went to Microsoft. They said my laptop would not support ten and for 50 bucks they can put 7 back in.
I will go elsewhere to get 7 put back in but believe that MS could have a class action suit against them for false advertising.
I get them everyday!
I downloaded and installed Windows Essentials 2012 for their Movie Maker program and it works fine. I didn’t think it would run on Win10 but it does. There were a few other programs that I was able to uncheck at installation so I was able to install just the Movie Maker program.
Bookmark
The US intel agencies such as as the NSA want your private info REALLY bad!
Disable Windows 10 Spying - Privacy & Security
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1kGMCfb2xw
I also did that on my 3 units, 6 family and friends’ units, and it works fine. No more Win-10 crap.
Now it won't let her go back and restore to before she installed.
Bfl...and thanks....now if I could get our desktop to just update win 7 correctly
bkmk
how do I uninstall it from my Surface Pro 2?
Or... those of us with 7 can just NOT download it...
Well said.
I have made the computing equivalent decision of getting a sidearm and donning a steel chastity belt.
I have unplugged my Win XP PC from the internet.
I have set up a Linux Mint PC that can access the internet.
I have set them up with a KVM switch that sports a small button that switches them between one monitor/keyboard/mouse/printer.
It works like a charm. WinXP box for all those programs and utilities I have grown accustomed to over the years and the Linux box for email and internet...and possibly other things over time.
Not another nickel to Microsoft for me.
Bump
“I will go elsewhere to get 7 put back in but believe that MS could have a class action suit against them for false advertising.”
I agree 100%, and also a class action lawsuit for putting all this nagware on people’s PCs against their will and tricking them into installing W10.
“They said my laptop would not support ten and for 50 bucks they can put 7 back in.”
That’s a bargain, IF:
1. They save and restore all of your data.
2. They at least note all of the programs that are installed so you can restore them.
3. They install ALL of the original factory drivers.
4. They install ALL of the subsequent OS updates EXCEPT KB3035583.
Doubtful that’s what included for fifty bucks, but that’s what is required.
Theoretically, W10 can be rolled back to the original OS if less than 30 days since W10 install, but in my experience that is usually fraught with TREMENDOUS difficulties, primarily because the “rollback” restores the original W7 registry and W7 OS files but NOTHING else, so usually there’s a horrific mismatch between the old, restored W7 registry and tons of missing or altered program files and program registry entries. Really, the so-called rollback is a sick joke for all practical purposes.
“I thank you profusely for your efforts and the link. I used those programs and they killed everything having to do with the W-10 upgrade. Unfortunately tidbits were left in numerous places”
If they worked correctly, and unfortunately they don’t always work 100% correctly because there seems to be too many weird cases where those pieces of nagware actually break the crap out of the update system itself, then there should be no FUNCTIONAL tidbits left, though a few useless directories are always left behind here and there no matter what. In such cases I’ve tried reinstalling KB3035583 and then uninstalling it manually, and if that doesn’t work I manually track down the active pieces here and there and manually delete them.
BTW, 8.1 is far superior to W10 as it is much closer to still being W7. The main thing that fixes W8 is to install and configure the free Classic Shell program, which bypasses the Metro screen and restores a classic Start Menu. A couple more tweaks like disabling the stupid lock screen, restoring quicklaunch to the taskbar, enabling LegacyBoot to get F8 Safe Mode back, etc. and W8 becomes quite useable, ESPECIALLY compared to W10.
Many thanks,
I went to someone else to do the work. Fortunately not much on that laptop as I use it for reading mostly.
Simple question, why would anyone not want to upgrade for free to windows 10????
bkmk
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