back to article Confirmed: How to stop Windows 10 forcing itself onto PCs – 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 …

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  1. ZSn

    Spying

    More to the point - have they managed to stop the spying in windows 10. If it wasn't for that I would be quite happy with it!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Big Brother

      Re: Spying

      As if! You'll still be needing this (at the very least) for that.

      1. Tom -1
        Flame

        Re: Spying

        Only if you want to disable a massive amount of stuff that doesn't have anything to do with windows spying.

        Has the idiot who generated that package changed it so that it no longer completely disables windows update, prevents access to msdn, and does nummerous other damaging things that reduce both the utility and the security of your computer? If so, it might be worth considering after an extremely careful check on just what it is now doing. If not, I would advise keeping it off your machine.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Spying

          Has the idiot who generated that package changed it so that it no longer completely disables windows update, prevents access to msdn, and does nummerous other damaging things that reduce both the utility and the security of your computer?

          If you're talking about the Windowslies package, it didn't do anything like that to mine. I ran it first, then ran GWXControlPanel. Now I just use the latter, but the current, always on version.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Spying

          > Has the idiot who generated that package changed it so that [...]

          Are you referring to the scripts hosted on Github? If so, why not be (as of now) the 47th forker and submit a pull request with whatever changes you consider necessary? Don't forget to add closes #19 to your commit message.

          Or ask for a refund. Some free (as in beer and speech) projects have a "satisfaction guaranteed or double your money back" policy. :-)

    2. Stoneshop
      Headmaster

      Re: Spying

      have they managed to stop

      You phrase that as if that's something that had inadvertedly crept in, and they're unable to get rid of.

      Which it's not.

    3. inmypjs Silver badge

      Re: Spying

      "If it wasn't for that I would be quite happy with it!"

      Lets see how happy you are when you have to start buying it monthly.

      Do some of you seriously think Microsoft is trying to ram Win 10 down everyone's throats while it is still a free upgrade because they don't want to make money?

      1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

        Re: Spying

        "Do some of you seriously think Microsoft is trying to ram Win 10 down everyone's throats while it is still a free upgrade because they don't want to make money?"

        Well, yes. But not because they don't want to make money.

        Everyone, but you it seems, understands that the customers who will actually pay money for Windows 10 are and will forever be far and few between.

        The reason for this is that MS new model for making money is to monetise their customers -but in an even more sneaky way than Google has done.

        With Windows as a subscription service (owned and managed by MS), and spying on your every move, I can't see a lot of people being stupid enough to pay money for it. Some people have "upgraded" from Windows 7 to 10, basically destroying an investment -Windows 7 licenses are going to fetch decent money in the near future.

        A real PC operating system should not be something controlled by someone like MS (or NSA).

        The clue is in the name "Personal Computer".

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When upgrade numbers fall off a cliff in July

    And Microsoft suddenly decline to talk about numbers, you can bet it won't stay psy for very long. I predict win10 is so bad, they will never try and charge home users for it.

    Expect some desperate PR about how they want to celebrate windows 10 bring the fastest deployed windows ever blah blah blah, foever free, blah blah blah.

    1. Jess

      Re: I predict win10 is so bad

      Do you mean install figures?

      If so I could see you being correct, an awful lot of regular users don't want to upgrade from 7, because they are happy with it, having avoided 8.x which they were either warned off or made the effort to revert from.

      Realistically that is a sensible decision, Windows 10 is better than 7, but not to the extent that it worth the upheaval for a non techie user. They also don't trust that it won't be a POS like 8. (Obviously Windows 8 users are jumping at the chance to change.)

      For me it was a no brainer, find a machine with a bios that licenses Windows 7, install and upgrade. Of course, I need to be familiar with the latest Microsoft OS.

      Had the OS been a POS (like Vista and 8) the machine I am typing this on would by now be running Linux Mint. (Also if it required a payment.)

      If however by bad, you mean the actual OS, I disagree. The UI is fine - looks and feels like Linux Mint - and the system is fast and stable (much better than Windows 7 on this particular PC.)

      It would be ironic if Win 10 flops because of the legacy of Vista and 8 and the forced upgrade from XP. (Perhaps they should have given 10 home basic free to XP and Vista users)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I predict win10 is so bad

        Obviously Windows 8 users are jumping at the chance to change

        Not this one. Classic Shell plus 8.1U works fine. Why would I want to risk 10 when it doesn't do anything new that I need, and comes with pointless bloatware like Cortana?

        1. Jedipadawan

          Re: I predict win10 is so bad

          >"Obviously Windows 8 users are jumping at the chance to change"

          Well, based on my experience and comments on various forums, a lot of Windows 8 users jumped at the chance to change... to Linux.

          No, seriously. The comments on various forums saying, "That's it! I'm going Linux" has been way beyond anything I have seen before after a Windows version launch.

          1. Chika
            Devil

            Re: I predict win10 is so bad

            No, seriously. The comments on various forums saying, "That's it! I'm going Linux" has been way beyond anything I have seen before after a Windows version launch.

            Has anyone actually produced stats on users that have done this?

            I've seen the Microsoft figure being blasted from other sites (I actually killed one Twitter account, "OS Update", because it kept tweeting the bloody figure at me every time it picked it up from one of the web sites it covered which makes me wonder if Microsoft are really that desperate to make this figure known for some reason) but have also seen the whole "I'm pissed off with W10 so I going to install x Linux instead" (yes, I know a large portion has been using Mint but, as I am known for saying at any given point, Linux is NOT Mint) to wonder how much impact this has had.

            Hey, Reg! Perhaps this could be a poll in the making! :)

          2. Stevie

            Re: the chance to change... to Linux.

            "No, seriously. The comments on various forums saying, "That's it! I'm going Linux" has been way beyond anything I have seen before after a Windows version launch."

            Yah, and we all know that anything people threaten to do on a forum they follow through on.

            But.

            Imagine for a moment how many of them *would* have done so already if any of the sites purporting to be selling Linux purpose-built laptops actually had any for sale. No diddling around with drivers and spending hours of forums trying to get a home-brew machine to work acceptably.

            I mean, I went looking seriously in August. And September. And November. By December I learned my lesson. So many promises, so little meat on the bones. Jam tomorrow.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: the chance to change... to Linux.

              > Imagine for a moment how many of them *would* have done so already if any of the sites purporting to be selling Linux purpose-built laptops actually had any for sale.

              Linux user since 1995 here. I have never given that point any consideration when buying my computers (work is a different matter, for business politics reasons). Aside from one Samsung laptop that for a while required a manually compiled Wifi driver years ago, I never had any compatibility issues. And hardware-wise, that Samsung was an utter piece of shit anyway.

              Either I have been very lucky or compatibility issues are exaggerated.

            2. John Sanders
              Holmes

              Re: the chance to change... to Linux.

              I got lots of people asking me for the last year about Linux.

              Many people have more than one computer lately, so plenty of people is now toying with Ubuntu, Mint, etc on their secondary/old computer.

              Of all the non-Linux users that I have helped to run Mint on a second computer, not a single one has removed it, I keep being asked questions about how to run stuff or what program is good in Linux for task "X" from many of them.

              There is certainly more interest lately, and while in years past I was getting many "This is rubbish" now I get "Hey it is not bad at all, maybe not as complete, but not bad".

              IMHO Linux keeps getting better all the time, in some areas slower than others, at some point it will reach the "good enough" point for what most people do at home.

              Also something I have noted of late, plenty of people appreciate Linux recovery CD's and tools to do stuff on Windows, like cloning or recovery, tools like GParted or Clonezilla may not have the 1001 bells and whistles that some commercial software do, but can save you lots of $$$ and on most home-like scenarios do 100% of what's required if these type of tools.

          3. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: I predict win10 is so bad

            > No, seriously. The comments on various forums saying, "That's it! I'm going Linux"

            It is only anecdotal, but last week one of my girlfriends¹ has upgraded once to W10, downgraded once back to W8, then moved to OpenSuse. Weirdest thing, but her keyboard had stopped working with Windows 8/10 (it is fine now).

            ¹ Yes, plural. Life is short.

            1. Pompous Git Silver badge

              Re: I predict win10 is so bad

              Weirdest thing, but her keyboard had stopped working with Windows 8/10 (it is fine now).

              Setting up my HTPC to dual-boot w7 and MythTV resulted in the disablement of all USB. Fortunately I have a MS Natural PS/2 keyboard and regained control of the machine. Now running Cinnamon Mint 17.2 (no dual boot) and everything's fine. Better than w7/Media Centre even.

              Back in the 70s I had several girlfriends. My best mate said it was a pity that GF number 2 wasn't called Edith. 'Cos then I could have had my Kate and Edith, too :-)

          4. dshan

            Re: I predict win10 is so bad

            Hate to tell you this (well, no actually I don't at all) but I did the reverse. I dropped one of my Ubuntu PC dual-boot setups and went all-in with Win 10 on it, it's so much better than Win 8.x and Win 7 that's it's not funny. It's better than Linux in many cases too (on the desktop anyway), hence why bother with two desktop penguins when one will do? Face it, the year of desktop Linux came and went years ago, mostly it went...

            Windows 10 is the best version of Windows in years. It's finally usable again. To stay on 8.x or 7 when you can go to 10 for free is simply nuts.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: I predict win10 is so bad

              "Windows 10 is the best version of Windows in years. It's finally usable again."

              Says MS paid shill: Nothing to back that claim up.

              "To stay on 8.x or 7 when you can go to 10 for free is simply nuts."

              For free? Are you nuts?

              Windows 10 is far from free: First you sell all of your privacy and secondly, to add an insult to injury, you pay montlhy fee to Microsoft for the spying.

              That is anything but free, in any sense. Upgrade might be but only a month, basically irrelevant.

              I'm sure that you try to tell us that it's just a coincidence that W10 destroys the option to go back to previous OS just before first monthly payment is due. Not after.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: I predict win10 is so bad

              > It's better than Linux in many cases too (on the desktop anyway)

              Have you tried any distro other than Ubuntu or a desktop other than Gnome? In my humble opinion, you seem to have picked just about the worst option on either front.

        2. fruitoftheloon
          Happy

          @ledswinger: Re: I predict win10 is so bad

          Ledswinger,

          likewise, we are fine with 8.1 on our laptop (due to using VS and Adobe CC in case anyone wonders...)

          Cheers,

          jay.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I predict win10 is so bad

        For me it was a no brainer

        Quite.

      3. MyffyW Silver badge

        Re: I predict win10 is so bad

        @Jess "Perhaps they should have given 10 home basic free to XP and Vista users"

        That would be a good idea. From a public health PoV retiring those ancient versions of Windows would be pretty beneficial.

      4. Tom -1
        Thumb Up

        Re: I predict win10 is so bad

        I like Windows 10, and I also like windows 8.1 - they are better than any previous MicroSoft OS.

        It's a pity that Windows 8.1 and windows 10 get tarred with the Windows 8 brush - and a pity too that Windows 8 got a reoutation that, for all its faults, it didn't deserve.

        Yes, windows 8 was a pain in some ways, and not really suitable as a desktop OS unless the user was very adaptable to something not much like Windows 7 or Windows XP (ancients like me, who had decades of computing in pre-DOS days and on the various Unixes as well as on windws from day 1 onwards, didn't have much trouble with it; others did); in other ways, it was marginally better than windows 7 (certainly I could get better SQL Server performance on Windows 8, and it booted faster than Windows 7 too). Windows 8.1 was a big improvement on both Windows 7 and Windows 8, much better performance and very easy to use. The only problem I see with Windows 10 is that awful Cortana thing, which seems to be designed to ensure you can't find anything; it's even lighter weight (hence better performing) that Windows 8.1.

        Currently I'm back on WIndows 8.1, after a nasty hardware problem and being driven back from windows 10 to Windows 8 (I won't use that hardware repair outfit again).

        I suspect that part of the reason for not offereing free upgrades to 10 from Vista and XP is that the old hardware thos OSs will mostly be running on does not provide some of the security features required for 10 - code location randomisation and prevention of data execution and so on.

      5. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

        Re: I predict win10 is so bad

        The iron of it all is that Windows 10 seems like a slick, fast and slim OS. One of MS best perhaps.

        But it's ALL ruined by Windows 10 being a trojan spy.

      6. Hans 1
        Coat

        Re: I predict win10 is so bad

        >Realistically that is a sensible decision, Windows 10 is better than 7, but not to the extent that it worth the upheaval for a non techie user. They also don't trust that it won't be a POS like 8. (Obviously Windows 8 users are jumping at the chance to change.)

        WTF ???? Ok, maybe, we have a different view on what is bad in Windows 8, maybe. Ok, tell me, what is better in Windows 10 than in Windows 8 ? The TKFM BS is stil there, except that it is no longer puked over the entire screen, it is in some tiny start-like menu (you can only put, what, 10 apps in there before it gets crowded), in Windows 8, when you searched for an app (down arrow in TKFM) you have a list, in 10 if you have many installed apps, you scroll past clock.exe, calc.exe (the two most interesting built-in Windows apps according to Apple (LOL), but I disgress) etc, etc, etc, in Windows 8, they were puked all over the screen, no scrolling, better ? Yes, I have to admit.

        In Windows7, you had to scroll as well... in Windows XP, 2000 etc, they were puked all over the screen, great, choose what you want! In Windows 2000 and XP, you could organize the shortcuts in "folders", in 7,8, & 10 you can forget about that.

        7, 8, and 10 suck, the latter more than the other two, imho.

  3. Aniya
    Pint

    DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

    I have tested this extensively as I'm kinda on a personal war against Microsoft right now after one too many upgrade prompts experienced by my friends. While the "DisableOSUpgrade" registry value does indeed help to block the upgrade process it does not actually block the constant "OMG PLZ UPG NAO!!!" nagging caused by the KB3035583 update. And as I have posted recently, you may not wish to uninstall KB3035583 as its removal is known to brick Windows Update notifications.

    To shut that one up you need to use:

    [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Gwx]

    "DisableGwx"=dword:00000001

    This isn't documented but it is known and it works. There is also another value named "ReservationsAllowed" which is mentioned in the same article which you may also want to look into using.

    1. elDog

      Re: DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

      Not that I don't not believe you about your registry change but it would be sorta nice to have a link to a semi-reputable (obviously not ElReg) web page that discussed this.

      Still, thanks, I think.

      I'm really hoping that these missteps by Mr. Micro Soft will make everyone evaluate their reliance on this behemoth. There are lots of wonderful alternatives for 95-100% of people's normal workload.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

        Not that I mean to imply El Reg could be reputable, or anything so absurd... but I'm having genuine difficulty thinking of anywhere one might consider a less disreputable source from which one might seek information of this kind. Do you have anywhere in mind? LightBlueTouchpaper perhaps?

        1. psychonaut

          Re: DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

          That reg key is fine. Ive used it on hundreds of machines

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

            > That reg key is fine. Ive used it on hundreds of machines

            Sysadmin or Botnet owner? :-)

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

        Not that I don't not believe you about your registry change but it would be sorta nice to have a link to a semi-reputable (obviously not ElReg) web page that discussed this.

        Fair enough, but a bit of Google will show that it appears in many places, and has also not been moderated into invisibility on the Microsoft.com forums themselves.

      3. thx1138v2

        Re: DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

        http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-block-windows-10-upgrades-on-your-business-network-and-at-home-too/

    2. cd / && rm -rf *
      Coat

      Re: DisableOSUpgrade is insufficient

      "While the "DisableOSUpgrade" registry value does indeed help to block the upgrade process it does not actually block the constant "OMG PLZ UPG NAO!!!" nagging caused by the KB3035583 update"

      http://themetapicture.com/please-stop-it-windows/

  4. AustinTX

    KB you need to uninstall, hide, and uninstall again later:

    Launch Windows Updates. "View update history", then select "see Installed Updates" and search for:

    KB3035583 (Win10 nag)

    KB3068708 (telemetry)

    KB3075249 (telemetry)

    KB3080149 (telemetry)

    and right-click to uninstall them.

    Reboot and launch Windows Updates again. Go to automatic updates settings and select 'download but do not install'.. also uncheck ' install recommended updates with critical updates'.

    Reboot... run automatic updates and look at recommended updates.. uncheck and hide the four listed above. KB3035583 will occasionally be unhidden and added again to your "recommended" updates so keep your eyes peeled.

    Other unconfirmed "telemetry" updates:

    KB3022345

    And to keep an eye on things, you might download the GWX Control Panel, though ironically, it also adds a [10] icon to your task tray. It has some rudimentary cleanup options, but mainly just watches and warns about KB3035583.

    1. Zorro456

      Re: KB you need to uninstall, hide, and uninstall again later:

      Run these as Administrator from the Command Line one at a time. Then hide the updates after the restart.

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:2976978 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart

      wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart

      Includes Win 7 and 8 patches.

      1. AustinTX

        Re: KB you need to uninstall, hide, and uninstall again later:

        And without duplicates, that list is:

        wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664 /norestart

        wusa /uninstall /kb:2976978 /norestart

        wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /norestart

        wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /norestart

        wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart

        wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart

        wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart

      2. PNGuinn
        Linux

        Re: KB you need to uninstall, hide, and uninstall again later: @ Zorro456

        Good grief -

        It's far simpler to install Debian / XFCE desktop AND kill systemd.

        Job done.

        Not knocking Mint - tried it, like it, - just prefer Debian.

    2. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: GWX Control Panel

      That is, in my humble opinion, useless - at the condition that modifying the Registry does not scare you.

      If that is the case, then first kill the GWX task, then just search your Registry for GWX and delete everything that shows up. Finally, delete the GWX folder. Works fine for me.

  5. Pompous Git Silver badge

    All a bit late, really

    Just configured my third W7 machine as an HTPC: Linux Mint running Kaffeine. It's even betterer than Windows media Centre :-)

    1. sabroni Silver badge
      Meh

      Re: All a bit late, really

      Sounds interesting. A quick google reveals:

      Kaffeine is a media player for kde. while it supports multiple phonon backends, its default backend is xine, giving kaffeine a wide variety of supported media types and letting kaffeine access cds, dvds, and network streams easily.

      Sorry, none the wiser....

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: All a bit late, really

        I use Clementine. Though I'd rather use Kate.

        1. Chika
          Happy

          Re: All a bit late, really

          I know those women. They won't steer you wrong!

      2. Pompous Git Silver badge

        Re: All a bit late, really

        Kaffeine is a media player for kde. while it supports multiple phonon backends, its default backend is xine, giving kaffeine a wide variety of supported media types and letting kaffeine access cds, dvds, and network streams easily.

        Sorry, none the wiser....

        Kaffeine accesses free-to-air TV through my USB DBTV stick, plays DVD movies, VCD movies, the FLAC files my music is stored as, Internet radio etc.

      3. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

        Re: All a bit late, really

        Are you a Home Theatre PC user?

        I will have to look into this. Hopefully I can get my two (aerial and dish) cards to work.

        It's bit annoying that MS hasn't fixed a single bug in Media Centre for at least 5 years -and now they dropped it altogether. WTG MS!

    2. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

      Re: All a bit late, really

      "Linux Mint running Kaffeine. It's even betterer than Windows media Centre :-)"

      Guess I'll have to look into this!

      2020 coming up fast..

      Just concerned about drivers for my two tuners (terrestrial plus satellite, 2 x 2 tuners).

      And I'm used to Media Center, which works fairly OK, apart from bugs that MS has ignored for nearly a decade now.

      1. Pompous Git Silver badge

        Re: All a bit late, really

        Easy enough to check by booting from a Live DVD. Good luck :-)

  6. beep54
    Facepalm

    What's truly pissed me off is that I literally cannot upgrade to 10 (on my rather old desktop) due to some graphics problem which MS should now know about (surely it phoned that home the first go round). But did this ever stop the attempt to 'upgrade'? Nosiree! In trying to fix this mess, I've somehow gotten my system at a point where it is in an infinite loop of 'You need to restart your computer before...' regarding updates. It is just a mess. On the other hand, I think that this has inadvertently saved me from the telemetry updates, so there's that. Yep, be moving to Linux soon.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Mint 18. Due in June. Looks like it's going to be a stonker.

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