back to article 'Windows 10 destroyed our data!' Microsoft hauled into US court

Three people in Illinois have filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming that its Windows 10 update destroyed their data and damaged their computers. The complaint [PDF], filed in Chicago's US District Court on Thursday, charges that Microsoft Windows 10 is a defective product and that its maker failed to provide adequate …

Page:

  1. David Glasgow

    A spark of truth in the darkness of duplicity

    "... a choice designed to help people take advantage of the most secure, and most productive Windows"

    Notice there is no claim to be the most secure and productive Operating System?

  2. geri

    Win10 update is doing scary things:

    Once it just added a new partition to my harddisk, so changing the naming of the volumes. As one was an encoded partition, it shocked me that I can longer mount that! All my work seemed to got lost... then I found I had to mount another partition to access my data...

    Even Windows 10 Enterprise version is so aggressive on updating, that if not completely disabled (disable Windows update service and Windows modules installer service), then you can't use your computer for work, as all it does after turning on the PC is upgrading! CPU and hard disk is busy updating, not possible to work...

    It's time to take back control over our computers.

    Or maybe just run win 10 in a virtual box inside Linux - which is not for the everyday user for sure.

  3. mamikel

    It is interesting that no matter now much effort goes into warning people to always keep multiple current backups of their data in at least two separate locations, people still insist in living on the edge :)

    If the data is important, why wouldn't you make sure you take copies of it? USB drives are cheap, cloud storage is also cheap and free up to 5-15 GB. Microsoft even offers one drive which will sync your data with the cloud.

    In addition, at any point, a system component may fail resulting in a non-functioning machine. In particular, if the hard drive fails. Why would you not keep another copy of your data on another drive as well?

    It takes very little time to organise these things.

    Insofar as Windows 10 goes, it's a good operating system. It has it's faults, but it was largely given freely to people. It's relatively straight-forward to use and very flexible. Linux is also good as are the apple offerings.

    Now, we go about suing people for our inability to follow instructions or take responsibility. We then complain when our freedoms are increasingly denied because the costs of litigation are so great.

    We humans are a stupid bunch. No wonder. We're at 8 billion, facing the 6th mass extinction with billions starving and billions more yet to face starvation, and we're arguing over operating systems :)

    1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

      "Now, we go about suing people for our inability to follow instructions or take responsibility."

      That's not why. It's about MS doing reasonable things, and not actively trying to force things upon us, regardless of the consequences.

  4. AliBear

    Windows 10 destroyed my ability to work!

    I would love to see the addition of all the horrible user interface experiences we have been forced to endure to the class action…

    (before I do, I would just like to state that I have always been an early adopter of all MS OSes over the years. I have always disliked Mac and Linux UIs as they were never as usable as the MS equivalents. That was until W8...)

    Forcing all users to use a single configuration profile that appears to be prioritised for pads and tablets. This simple fact reduces the usablility for enterprise desktop and laptop usage to having to use a compromised, simlified (toy?) UI as a business tool, when the overall experience is aimed at casual users with big clunky buttons for touch use. It is NOT FIT for a business tool any more. The majority of users don't have touch-enabled devices - so provide an option for K+M users to turn off the 'touch' features. Overall, It's like having your carefully selected Snap-On tool-kit confiscated and giving you 'My First Tool Box' instead.

    Some issues that make it (W10+O2016) a far from easy to use environment:

    1 Font rendering inconsistencies - some fonts are 'monochrome smoothed' others are 'colour smoothed'. The mono-smoothed characters are far less readable than those with colour processing. Apparently this is defended for the reason that colour-smoothing cannot give consistent results on 'some rotated displays' because of the arrangement of the pixels in the display panel. Fine, but at least give us the option of controlling the rendering strategy for desktop/laptop use. And, if there IS a problem with colour-smoothing, then why is it still used in some places and not others?

    2 Grey fonts on grey backgrounds, blue fonts on blue backgrounds, almost invisible icons and activity selectors, and inconsistent application of all of these. This is a fundamental OH/HSE issue for very many users. This is especially bad in Office 2016 suite, with Outlook probably the worst. Not only that, but grey text used to be reserved for 'inactive' configuration options 'greyed-out'. Go to an O2016 configuration screen and apply that paradigm. It's just SO much more difficult to work with, and gives rise to significant eye strain. Maybe that's the plan? Force people to have to leave their screens to give them a rest?

    3 Far too subtle shading on menu bars and other functional areas. Screens that were easy to set up on W7 now require much tinkering with colour rendition to give any sort of acceptable delineation.

    4 Removal of many configuration options that enabled users to fine tune their business tool environment for their optimal experience. Removal of Aero and transparency 'because of processing overheads' make little sense on laptops and desktops and just makes the identification and selection of active windows that much harder. Please please. Please allow us to configure our own working environments. or at least make it possible for third party devs to make alternative tools to enable users to achieve this.

    5 If the introduction of a 'new' UI paradigm was the purpose, then make it consistent -(ly bad). There are still many W7-style elements right beside W10 styles. Smacks of being still 'in development'.

    6 Drag-active zones and resize handles are inconsistent. On windows without a coloured title bar, it’s impossible to see where the drag zone is. Resize handles are centred ON the edge on the top edge of windows, but are OFF the edge on sides and bottom. Ugh.

    7 And it’s still buggy and crashes. Even as I type, my ‘Start Menu’ has stopped working again.

    OK. I could go on. (And often do) This thing is just not ready for corporate usage yet.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Forced upgrade in the workplace...

    Yes, they did it. In their infinite wisdom. 'Upgraded' everyone to W10.

    So now I run TeamViewer to connect back to my home PC and use it's W7 to actually get work done...

  6. DarksideofHell
    Flame

    Lies from M$

    If this is true what M$ said here ""Customers had the option not to upgrade to Windows 10" then I like to know WHY I decline upgrading 2 of my computers that had Win 7 on them. Then one morning both was upgraded after I have decline numerous times during the free upgrade period! Like to hear the BS excuse why many Win users had the same experience happen to them like it did to me from this "Microsoft spokesperson".

  7. Moosh
    Devil

    This is why my windows 8.1 installation is on a 60gb SSD that I make sure to constantly keep at only around 2gb of free space.

    Have fun background downloading Windows 10 onto that, Microsoft.

    1. Pompous Git Silver badge

      "This is why my windows 8.1 installation is on a 60gb SSD that I make sure to constantly keep at only around 2gb of free space.

      Have fun background downloading Windows 10 onto that, Microsoft."

      You haven't thought this through very well. All MS has to do is delete a few of your "unnecessary" files before the DL.

  8. villandra

    Serves you right. What kind of a bloody IDIOT would run Windows 10, OR Windows 8.

    If you need a new computer and can't get Windows 7, install Ubuntu or another Linux OS.

    If people stop BUYING anything that RUNS Windows 10, Microsoft will give us back Windows 7, believe me. Or they'll just go out of business and good riddance.

    In any case, if you have a head, you knew perfectly well Windows 8 or 10 would destroy your system. It does that to everyone sooner or later and always has.

    1. Pompous Git Silver badge

      "If you need a new computer and can't get Windows 7, install Ubuntu or another Linux OS."
      That's not a particularly useful suggestion if the software you need to run will only run under Windows. Ditto for hardware for which there are no *nix drivers.

      I often recommend people purchase Dell refurbs that come with Win7.

      Dell refurbs

      My ASUS Zenbook was a factory refurb. I paid $AU700 when they were still selling for $AU1,300.

  9. Lion

    Justice is the eventual loser

    This article is about litigation. Do these plaintiffs have a case - does the law suit have merit? Will justice be served?

    It is obvious that Microsoft has done significant damage with their coerced upgrade to Windows 10 on consumer's W7 and W8 systems. I say significant because the majority of consumers are not tech savvy which MS took advantage of. For this we have several examples where the user was tricked into accepting W10. An upgrade sent via a support service caught these users unaware and at a disadvantage. The recommended setting (default setting) for windows update is 'automatic download/install' , so these users were under the assumption that their purchased license (W7 or W8) was merely being maintained. MS counted on this misconception.

    Microsoft delivered an OS upgrade through a support mechanism. This is what caused the damage. They may argue that it was a free offer to upgrade the user's system and it was clear that it was a new license agreement. This is going to be the crux of the suit - the user agreed to a new EULA. The W7 and W8 EULA only speaks to support as maintenance and support and does not reference the service as a delivery agent for the company's latest OS, free or not. When the user clicked 'I agree', when the W10 EULA was presented, the users were, in all their innocence, accepting an update that they believed to be merely maintenance. It was a ruse, and they fell for it.

    I believe that MS can not win this case as a class action suit as there are a huge number of users who have horror stories regarding this GWX fiasco. The losses are immense and this law suit could be joined by a massive number of really pissed off users. The judge will ask the parties if they will settle and I think it is obvious that MS will say yes. MS will not be put in the position of publicly accepting wrong doing. The plaintiffs get their losses and lawyers get a payday. These few plaintiffs, though genuinely victimized, are pawns in a legal system that is bereft of morality and justice.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: Justice is the eventual loser

      "The judge will ask the parties if they will settle and I think it is obvious that MS will say yes. MS will not be put in the position of publicly accepting wrong doing."

      And if the class refuses to settle because not only do they WANT MS publicly shamed but it can also feed the mill for a criminal case which could turn up the heat on MS. If the government itself gets involved (due to their use of Windows and so on), it may even push into a case where Microsoft could be compelled to turn over source code for national security reasons.

      I'm personally tempted to take the gray way out, but as my current system started on 8, I'm concerned it could get dicey, and I know such a gamble will be a one-way trip. And no, I can't use a Linux distro because of all the games I have that are strictly Windows-only (as in not even WINE works on them, and 3D virtualization is iffy, especially on newer games), plus I've had bad experiences with Linux lately: lots of spontaneous reboots and so on.

      PS. Has any egghead found a way to create an alternate route to installing security updates such that all the crap has been pruned off so you know you're just getting what you need?

  10. Delbert

    You can EULA if you want to..

    The problem with this is if you "consented" to the upgrade then you are bound by the EULA which basically takes away any rights to have an OS that works or will maintain your data safely. Those warnings are writ large in the agreement and legally binding - they should probably read click here and give up all hope. That brief period when you might have found you were updated without consent was just that a brief period crying a year later is unlikely to cut it. Failing to back up your data is a gross dereliction of duty in a business and trying to pass the blame marks you out as incompetent something that will no doubt be given as evidence.

    1. Pompous Git Silver badge

      Re: You can EULA if you want to..

      "you are bound by the EULA which basically takes away any rights to have an OS that works or will maintain your data safely"
      That's certainly not true under Australian consumer law. Legal rights cannot be abrogated by a contract.

      "Products must be of acceptable quality, that is: [be] safe, lasting, with no faults, look acceptable and do all the things someone would normally expect them to do."
      Emphasis mine.

      1. PaulFrederick

        Re: You can EULA if you want to..

        Oh come on now. Who expects Windows to be rock solid, stable, and not lose data in this day, and age? Those are all things I'd normally expect Windows not to do. Anyone thinking otherwise is delusional. This is the company that unleashed Windows 98 and Vista onto the world after all. The definition of insanity is upgrading Windows over, and over, and hoping for a decent OS someday.

  11. Horndoggie

    They lie.

    2 out of 3 of my home windows computers "upgraded" to 10 without my consent. One overnight (i leave this one on 27/7) and my wife's laptop when she walked away from it to prepare dinner.

  12. Jabberwocky

    Windows 10 updated without consent

    One of my less affluent clients has a workstation as a basic file server. This workstation is headless and I am the only person who even knows how to login to it, never mind the only person who has the password to login to it.

    It was built with Windows 7 so imagine my surprise when I logged into it one day and discovered that it was running Windows 10!

    There is absolutely no question that nobody authorised this upgrade. It was set to update automatically as many months often go by without me logging into it, but I certainly did not even see the upgrade nag screen on that particular PC.

    Several of my other clients claimed that Windows 10 had installed itself, and up till that point I didn't believe them...

  13. DaddyHoggy

    Not had great experiences with Windows 10 upgrades.

    My Asus EeePC netbook passed the 'Windows 10 compatibility' check - the upgrade failed twice, on the third 'success' the Asus Power Management failed to update (and still doesn't work), the WiFi regularly fails and completely locks the machine to the point where only a hard reset gets it back (so now I run wired at home and WiFi only if I have to). Even from sleep it wakes itself up and tries to install updates (having downloaded them in the background when its been connected to the net via wired ethernet?) - twice it's done this while its been in its travel bag which has cooked it while its been trying to update.

    My 14yo daughter got sick of her Win7 machine nagging her so accepted the T&Cs and the upgrade (including all the tracking nonsense) - even though MS know she's only 14 because I'm the designated adult on her MS Live account and they prevent her accessing certain apps without my permission - nor did MS think to email to tell me she'd accepted the upgrade...

    My 9yo's HP 250 G3 seems happy enough but that came with W10 out of the box.

  14. PaulFrederick

    No Sympathy

    Users should be aware that Microsoft owns Windows, and can do whatever they want with their product. Microsoft never sold a line of Windows to anybody, ever. They merely license its use. It is totally a their bat, and their ball situation. If anyone doesn't like that they should find a new sand lot to play in. Willful ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law. I mean read the damned EULA already, don't just blindly click, I Accept. Actually comprehend what you're agreeing to. Yeah I know, no one reads that stuff. Well I have, and I don't even run Windows.

    Heck by just running Windows 10 you've already agreed to a class action waiver. Go to court and you'll be the defendant in a breech of contract case. Suckers.

  15. Captain Badmouth
    Holmes

    Unfair terms and conditions

    Uk readers may have a read here :

    https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284454/oft143.pdf

    Not sure what applies in the good old USofA.

    Edit, here we go, here's something:

    https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/ftca.pdf

  16. JonDoug

    Forget Micro$oft.

    Move to GNU/Linux and be free of Micro$oft's garbage spyware os. It's the only way you can have control of your computer back.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: Forget Micro$oft.

      And if your software is Windows-ONLY, WINE-incompatible, and because of heavy 3D use or custom hardware, not VM-friendly, either?

  17. Lovemylilly

    Windows

    Also, windows 10 was on my computer when I bought it so I didn't have a option of installing it but it did kill my other computer when I took the free upgrade to windows 10

  18. damagedbyms

    Does anyone have info on joining a class action lawsuit against microsoft?

    I disagree completely that "updating" to windows 10 was voluntary. They relentlessly pursued me to "update" and when I refused for months it was forced on me. Since then every single "update" has destroyed my computer (I am on my 4th computer now) and external hard drives and I have lost untold amounts of data, those, and the facts that virtually all of my non-microsoft programs have been rendered un-usable and that windows 10 is a vast information/tracking/spyware program that you can't turn off. There is no way that microsoft could not know that what they are doing would not have the destructive results that have occurred to me.

    By forcing me to comply with its imposition of windows 10 my property has been damaged and my Rights unlawfully stripped from me. I am VERY motivated to sue microsoft/join a class action lawsuit against microsoft and seek damages that will hurt them badly (i.e. NOT just a slap on the wrist).

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re. Windows 10 fail

    I "upgraded" a quite recent Sony Vaio with a board fault (two second repair on micro-crack in trace on DVD drive powe and re-greasing/cleaning of CPU and GPU + fan) 1TB HDD/2*4GB Ecowhiner (tm) RAM.

    Touchpad is a bit wonky but this isn't hard to fix by adjusting a pair of screws under the HDD slot.

    Despite my misgivings it did run fairly well and to make things fair I did the "official" 7-8 then 8-10 upgrade path to get licensing etc sorted out.

    Only major problem so far is that it regularly crashes with the sad-face 10 BSOD when I unplug a USB device from the left hand ie USB 3 ports.

    It does run hot but thats not unexpected on what is essentially a Pentium 987 Sandy Bridge.

    Maybe I should post a dump of exactly what happens when it does crash, so far only occurs on certain

    devices like SDR, some optical mice and coincidentally an Arduino R3.

Page:

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like