Confirmed: How to stop Windows 10 forcing itself onto PCs â€“ your essential guide

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 you may be worried about inadvertently installing the upgrade as part of a security update.

Microsoft will start pushing out a Windows 10 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 â€“ 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 today confirmed that support page is still valid â€“ 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.

“he only thing he knows is that Windows 10 is the best OS in the known universe, and that anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong wrong wrong and needs to be punished with harsh rhetoric”

And you got that from where exactly? Because I had the nerve to tell people their conclusions were wrong?

I totally want to see you produce that proof. Or are you guys going to circlejerk a narrative until you convince yourselves?

Because none of you can back up your nonsense, and realize that I was right, so now you have to spin yourselves into even bigger victims.

Now that sounds like stuff leftist do.

“So, VanDeKoik, how many of your tech illiterate friends would have thought they HAD to upgrade, either “now” or “tonight?”

If they can read? None.

For everyone's reference, this is what VanDeKoik says you 'just need to read' to know that Windows is not going to be force installed:

Really? So, what were you supposed to “read” to know it was not needed to choose the only two options on that screen? How would anyone know that hitting that tiny “x” to close the window wouldn't immediately start one of those two options as the default and install?

” but having your copy of Windows seemingly force”

Again, it isn't, but playing victim of “M$” is seemingly a badge of pride by some on this site.

I have been working with Microsoft products since 1982 and Windows since 1990. I have no reason to make up an issue with Microsoft. I can tell you such a screen has never shown before from a Windows patch. Such behavior changes from a product should be considered unfriendly behavior.

“That prompt choice really put a nail in Microsoft's reputation, in my book. It's worse than malware, because your computer gets completely redone, and may come back not working.

Take a second to read and you wont “install” anything. Win 10 requires you to multiple times hit buttons giving user permission. Again, you want to hide behind laziness to play victim of some nefarious plot.

Again, there is nothing on that screen to say there is any option but to install, and anyone thinking of hitting the out-of-the-way “x” should have feared a default install behavior was a definite possibility.

“After telling my customers and coworkers for years to have updates set to that (for all who can't be assured of staying up on every little patch),”

So you encouraged people to pay no attention to what is going on with their machine? Wonderful.

For those, as I stated, who couldn't keep up on the intricacies, especially older people, of course I would suggest the very default Microsoft strongly recommends for computer safety. As I later mentioned, Microsoft isn't describing update detail any longer, so even if you wanted to know something, Microsoft has officially stated you won't be informed. Take your beef up with Microsoft.

“VanDeKoik, you may think all of this cr@p is an excellent thing, but “

Personal responsibility? Silly me I forgot this is the part of FR where you can go and brag about how little of that you engage in.

When people buy a product from a responsible company, they expect responsible behavior. If you were run into by a wayward vehicle and injured, would it be your lack of personal responsibility that caused that? In “VanDeKoik-land,” it would be, because VanDeKoik was in his car, which allowed himself to be hit. The rest of us don't see it that way.

“Eat that”

How edgy. Can't take time to pay attention to what you are doing, and it's someone else’s fault. Better write Obama so we can get a government program to prevent that.

Yeah, about that “Eat that,” well, that stays.

See that little red X up in the corner? You know the one that closes stuff?

If you dont want to install it, just click it.

#2 you failed to show the process in which that window even comes up. Where the user has to click the little popup. You can do, like I do with my Win7 work pC, and click the X to dismiss it as we arent migrating to it just yet.

But I’m the master of the dark art of PAYING ATTENTION AND USING SIMPLE LOGIC, which goes against the “M$ is oppressing me and making my hand click on things” narrative that you want everyone to think happens. Over 100 million times I’m sure.

“I have been working with Microsoft products since 1982 and Windows since 1990. I have no reason to make up an issue with Microsoft.”

Well you just did! First time for everything.

“Again, there is nothing on that screen to say there is any option but to install, and anyone thinking of hitting the out-of-the-way â€œxâ€ should have feared a default install behavior was a definite possibility.”

So again, you have to play the “people are idiots” card in order to prop up the narrative.

If this person actually knows anything about PCs, and has been using them for more than 5 minutes, they would have known that they can just close it. I did it. What’s stopping you?

And a person has even the extra step to open up a web browser, because this window does not disable anything on the PC, and do a simple search to get more info.

But that’s that silly old “personal responsibility” thing again. I forget this is Obama’s America where one just clicks stuff and then scream that they’ve been “tricked”.

On top of that, if you actually did hit “install now” you still have to go through multiple prompts before an actually installation takes place, including choosing to wipe your old installation or setting it up on a partition.

But I guess these “OMG Windows install automatically” people must be really good at random clicking to have pulled that off.

“When people buy a product from a responsible company, they expect responsible behavior. “

Still at no point is anything forced. Unless you now want to start counting all of the updates in Android, OSX, and iOS as “forced” as well. And those are far more automatic than what you have here.

“If you were run into by a wayward vehicle and injured, would it be your lack of personal responsibility that caused that? In â€œVanDeKoik-land,â€ it would be, because VanDeKoik was in his car, which allowed himself to be hit. The rest of us don’t see it that way.”

(That analogy doesn’t even make logical sense, but whatever...)

If a box appeared in front of me saying “hey, do you want to get hit by a car”, with X in the corner to get rid of the box and have nothing happen, or the ability to have to go through multiple prompts before the car hits, with any number of chances to cancel, and I just pressed “OK”, then YES it is MY FAULT.

But in the land of MS conspiracy theories, when people scream that they were “forced to get hit”, you are NOT ALLOWED to point out the bleeding obvious that they could have just closed the X in the corner and got rid of it AND AVOIDED GETTING HIT.

“And you got that from where exactly? Because I had the nerve to tell people their conclusions were wrong?”

Where did I get that “The only thing he knows is that Windows 10 is the best OS in the known universe, and that anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong wrong wrong and needs to be punished with harsh rhetoric”?
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This thread and the last thread on Win 10 in which you posted.

I welcome any contradictory evidence you can provide, like links or copypastes of you not doing this. Are you able to do this?

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I totally want to see you produce that proof. Or are you guys going to circlejerk a narrative until you convince yourselves?
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“Circlejerk”. Pretty harsh there. Implying that anyone who disagrees with you is a homosexual masturbator. This seems to be an ongoing pattern with you.

Proof of what exactly do you want? The public perception of how Microsoft distributed the free copy of Windows 10? The very article you’re upset about is proof of that. ConservativeMind’s rebuttal to you is even more specific and rational.

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Because none of you can back up your nonsense, and realize that I was right, so now you have to spin yourselves into even bigger victims.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ConservativeMind did just that. Also, expecting everyone to post all specific examples of cumulative anecdote complete with screenshots and books of documentation per case is a bit unreasonable.

You’re the only one in these threads who gets so upset and argumentative about some perceived slight against Windows 10.

Why is that? Why isn’t anybody else getting as riled up as you about it?

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Now that sounds like stuff leftist do.
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“You’re a Windowsphobe, now shut up you ignorant bigot!” he explained.

Yep, sounds just like one.

Oops, typo.

“And you got that from where exactly? Because I had the nerve to tell people their conclusions were wrong?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This thread and the last thread on Win 10 in which you posted.

I welcome any contradictory evidence you can provide, like links or copypastes of you not doing this. Are you able to do this?

“This thread and the last thread on Win 10 in which you posted.”

Now post the exact quote. Go ahead. I’ll wait to see if you can pull it off. If you are so confident in your assertion, you should be able to do it rather than dodge.

“â€œCirclejerkâ€. Pretty harsh there.”

When you have people making false assertions about you in order to cover for a bogus premise that they cant even logically prove, you get a harsh response.

“Proof of what exactly do you want? The public perception of how Microsoft distributed the free copy of Windows 10? The very article youâ€™re upset about is proof of that. ConservativeMindâ€™s rebuttal to you is even more specific and rational.”

My OP in this thread pointed out how the title about how “Windows 10 forcing itself onto PCs” (which it is not) was contradicted by the writer himself. Apparently that hurt someone’s “feels”.

“Youâ€™re the only one in these threads who gets so upset and argumentative about some perceived slight against Windows 10.”

By pointing out that a premise is false? That’s now something bad on FR? What on Earth do you think happens on 99% of the posts here? Are people supposed to shut up and say nothing?

The only ones getting “upset” are the ones that are screaming about a myth and then screaming that someone has the nerve to say that it is a myth.

Now post the exact quote. Go ahead. Iâ€™ll wait to see if you can pull it off. If you are so confident in your assertion, you should be able to do it rather than dodge.
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Post the entirety of the two threads?

Remind me of what you’re asking me to post.

I’m not dodging anything, YOU are the one who hasn’t answered any questions I’ve asked, ESPECIALLY what exactly are your qualifications to make any of the statements you’ve made.

What are your qualifications? I’ve already stated mine, ConservativeMind has already stated his.

Stop dodging.

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“Circlejerk”. Pretty harsh there.”

When you have people making false assertions about you in order to cover for a bogus premise that they cant even logically prove, you get a harsh response.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What false assertions are those? What bogus premise is that?

That Microsoft has made it unnecessarily difficult to avoid upgrading to Windows 10?

Like I said, this is public perception. It is not completely unfounded.

In my experience and in ConservativeMind’s experience, we have seen this. It is not a bogus premise. In my case (I can’t speak for ConservativeMind), I have had unsophisticated end-users who had EXTREME difficulty with avoiding the upgrade.

What has been your experience with end-users?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My OP in this thread pointed out how the title about how “Windows 10 forcing itself onto PCs” (which it is not) was contradicted by the writer himself. Apparently that hurt someoneâ€™s “feels”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whose “feels” did you hurt by making a statement about Windows 10? Mine and a couple of others here?

No, FRiend, if you encountered any hurt “feels” it was because of the delivery, not the message. You can be right and others can be wrong WITHOUT belittling or attempting to humiliate others.

Remember me mentioning “people skills” in the other thread? They’re important for tech literate people.

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â€œYouÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re the only one in these threads who gets so upset and argumentative about some perceived slight against Windows 10.â€

By pointing out that a premise is false? Thatâ€™s now something bad on FR? What on Earth do you think happens on 99% of the posts here? Are people supposed to shut up and say nothing?

The only ones getting â€œupsetâ€ are the ones that are screaming about a myth and then screaming that someone has the nerve to say that it is a myth.
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Nope. You’re calling people ignorant, stupid, and sexually deviant in order to somehow prove yourself right and them wrong. Thus, you are the upset one.

Why is this difficult for you to understand?

“What is the most prevalent problem that end-users have with 10 that they did not have with 7?”

Well, go ahead. What is it?

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That’s my question to you. Stop dodging.

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I have Windows 10 on 3 devices (2 laptops and one tablet) and compared to my Windows 7 work machine, I dont really notice a difference other than how much more “primitive” it feels sometimes.

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I didn’t ask about you. I asked about end-users.

Why are you dodging a question about end-users, particularly non-”tech-literate” ones?

By the way, your description of other OSes is a vague hint of why the typical end-user has problems with Windows 10.

“Post the entirety of the two threads?”

POST A QUOTE WHERE I PROVE WHAT YOU SAID.

You dont have to post everything. If what you assert is true then you should have a easy quote where I say “Windows 10 is the greatest OS ever and anyone that says otherwise is a fool”.

You dont. That is why you keep trying to go on a tangent because I’m more than sure you looked and could not find it.

“What false assertions are those? What bogus premise is that?”

False assertion: That I said that Windows is the greatest/perfect OS ever and am disparaging people that dont think so (that isnt even something that was a subject) on either thread. And as if I care if someone thinks it’s the greatest or not.

bogus premise: That Windows 10 is being “forced” on people, which is the premise of this thread, when it clearly isnt being forced installed on anyone’s machine and those that keep claiming (like the writer of this article) have to end up admitting that this really isnt the case.

“That Microsoft has made it unnecessarily difficult to avoid upgrading to Windows 10?”

Which again it isnt as all one has to do is click a simple X on the popup that comes out of the system tray.

“Nope. Youâ€™re calling people ignorant, stupid, and sexually deviant”

Ignorant: Lacking education

Stupid: logically knowing that something isnt true but then insisting on asserting disproved premise.

Sexually deviant: Good lord it’s a term used to convey a group of people that echo a premise with no desire to even remotely see that it is factually incorrect.

Echo-chamber, hivemind, group-think, circle-jerk. Pick one, it all means the same.

“Thus, you are the upset one.”

Actually my point still stands, and quite happily as it isnt hard to argue against a point where the other side has to assert increasing levels of ignorance of how this upgrade thing even works in order to bolster their point.

VanDeKoik, you have side-stepped this, but there was nothing to read on that page for anyone, including yourself, to know installation was not to ensue with either choice or by hitting the “x”. You see, Microsoft did not provide any information on a way to get out of the front-and-center choices. Does hitting the “x” make the immediate install happen or not? Step right up and take your chances.

This is now Microsoft’s method: make people just submit to the rape of their computer. The owner can’t trust they have knowledge or control of their own equipment.

Virtually all tech sites agree with this statement from me. Even those who are Windows 10 proponents overwhelmingly disapprove of MS’s bully methods. However, this is likely true because every one of them, including your own sorry butt, found out retroactively that Microsoft had snuck in a bunch of surreptitious keystroke and mouse monitoring to market your behavior. Plenty of tech sites have now taken pains to describe the various ports and functions to turn off to minimize, not fully eliminate, the MS monitoring (Hmm, what do you do with that last HTTPS port connection back to Microsoft for which that you can’t know its true use?).

I believe even you were raped by Microsoft in this way, as I believe you earlier described Windows 10 tweaking to address this. So, even the smart @ss was raped without his permission and knowledge? Did you enjoy that, because this is what those trying to stay off of Windows 10 continue to experience, leaving any automated updates turned off, instead. (But, didn’t you say only idiots let patches come down that they don’t first screen? How did you get raped by Microsoft if you were following your own anti-rape advice?)

VanDeKoik, you are a Microsoft apologist who can’t even understand you’re the epitome of the Microsoft victim.

“I believe even you were raped by Microsoft in this way,”

Good grief... Creepy as heck right there, dude.

I’m sorry but at this point you are firmly committed to seeing people as victims, idiots, or flat-out clueless in order to perpetuate some myth...or God only knows some bizarre hope, that everyone that use Windows 10 was somehow tricked or “bullied” and are desperate to stop using it, but the evil “M$” has their PC under their diabolical control...or whatever.

I get it, you dont like the OS, or are royally pissed off that so many people use it despite the caterwauling from folks that must have assumed that everyone SHOULD or would hate it.

Sorry it didn’t happen. Especially to the tune of 200 million people.

“VanDeKoik, you are a Microsoft apologist who canâ€™t even understand youâ€™re the epitome of the Microsoft victim.”

Sorry. I’m a conservative. I dont believe in being a victim. I installed an OS that I wanted to use, and have had no problems in my day-to-day use. My work PC, where we get the same popup, is closed because, unlike some people here, I apparently have the good sense to dismiss a popup that clearly explains its purpose but offers something I dont wish to do on that particular machine.

VanDeKoik, you have side-stepped this, but there was nothing to read on that page for anyone, including yourself, to know installation was not to ensue with either choice or by hitting the â€œxâ€. You see, Microsoft did not provide any information on a way to get out of the front-and-center choices. Does hitting the â€œxâ€ make the immediate install happen or not? Step right up and take your chances.

This is now Microsoftâ€™s method: make people just submit to the rape of their computer. The owner canâ€™t trust they have knowledge or control of their own equipment.

Virtually all tech sites agree with this statement from me. Even those who are Windows 10 proponents overwhelmingly disapprove of MSâ€™s bully methods. However, this is likely true because every one of them, including your own sorry butt, found out retroactively that Microsoft had snuck in a bunch of surreptitious keystroke and mouse monitoring to market your behavior. Plenty of tech sites have now taken pains to describe the various ports and functions to turn off to minimize, not fully eliminate, the MS monitoring (Hmm, what do you do with that last HTTPS port connection back to Microsoft for which that you canâ€™t know its true use?).

I believe even you were raped by Microsoft in this way, as I believe you earlier described Windows 10 tweaking to address this. So, even the smart @ss was raped without his permission and knowledge? Did you enjoy that, because this is what those trying to stay off of Windows 10 continue to experience, leaving any automated updates turned off, instead. (But, didnâ€™t you say only idiots let patches come down that they donâ€™t first screen? How did you get raped by Microsoft if you were following your own anti-rape advice?)

VanDeKoik, you are a Microsoft apologist who canâ€™t even understand youâ€™re the epitome of the Microsoft victim.

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Hey VanDekoik...

This.

This right here. What he said.

Did you need to go further with this, or are you done with supposedly not “car[ing] if someone thinks [Windows 10] is the greatest or not”? [source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3381714/posts?page=92#92]

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