I love Windows 7 and am Exhausted with Microsoft's Efforts to Make Me Switch
We all have learned to live with the constant Windows 10 upgrade boxes, but the Microsoft upgrade campaign is becoming more insidious. Last week I got a message on my home (windows 7) computer that I as going to be upgraded in 3-4 days. For a while, I thought I had accidentally given them permission, but it turns out that MS is now upgrading computers to Windows 10 without permission. Only if you note the text of this email and explicitly stop it can you prevent the "upgrade" from occurring. From PC World:
Reports of unwanted Windows 10 upgrades have been circulating for the past few days on Reddit and Twitter, after the last Patch Tuesday. These users say they never approved or initiated the upgrade, and were dragged away from their Windows 7 (or perhaps Windows 8) installs anyway.
This is all part of Microsoft’s plan, of course. Last October, the company announced that it would reclassify Windows 10 as a “Recommended” update from older versions starting in early 2016, at which point many more users would get the upgrade without explicit permission. That reclassification began on February 1, and auto-upgrades have been rolling out ever since. If complaints are reaching a higher volume now, perhaps it’s because the rollout is getting more aggressive.
Here’s what the Recommended update looks like, according to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley: First, users will receive a notification saying their PCs are scheduled to receive Windows 10 in the next three or four days. Users can click a small link to cancel or postpone the update, but simply closing the window will cause the notification to appear again one hour before the scheduled update time. If users don’t cancel or postpone within that timeframe, the update will begin automatically.
radix42:
My son was pissed off when he woke up his computer's screen and it was 95% done installing windows 10 without his permission.....he had been quite happy with 8.x....he got over it and likes it now, but doing it without his consent just pissed him off. He's 9 and is old enough to have worked out on his own "who's computer is it, mine or Microsoft's?"
March 14, 2016, 2:21 pmLoneSnark:
Perhaps there were some people that were complaining they wanted Windows 10 but couldn't figure out how to upgrade. Just can't make everyone happy it seems :-)
March 14, 2016, 2:22 pmPeabody:
I can't tell if you are making a joke or not. I certainly hope you are...
March 14, 2016, 3:16 pmRobert Davidson:
Interesting. I didn't know they were getting that pushy. I finally "upgraded" to Windows 10 a few months ago, but I installed a program that turns off the Win 10 spyware Microsoft built in.
March 14, 2016, 3:52 pmjon49:
I love my XUbuntu. Not perfect, but does the job and is fast and stays fast. Of course, I'm a computer guy, otherwise Linux would be a tough sell.
March 14, 2016, 5:22 pmirandom419:
Ditto. But good news is that a free windows called Reactos might be usable now.
https://www.reactos.org/
March 14, 2016, 5:25 pmjdgalt:
I don't know if this works on Windows 7, but there is a way to disable forced updates in Windows 10. Just go into Settings and tell it that your Internet connection is metered. Windows 10 won't use a metered connection to check for updates without asking you first.
March 14, 2016, 6:39 pmherdgadfly:
Several weeks ago, my wife's Dell blew up, so to speak, losing all kinds of .dll files, so nothing was loading correctly and the screen was useless. I tried Malwarebytes and recovering from the supposed last good version but nothing worked.
So I dropped down to my tray and punched the Windows 10 upgrade. Two hours later, I had my Windows 7 Desktop interface appear unaltered and the wife has not had a problem running under 10. It boots faster and it searches faster
March 14, 2016, 6:59 pmDoug Bailey:
http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/ - a free tool that prevents installation of Windows updates relating to Windows 10. Seems to work (so far) for me...
March 14, 2016, 7:38 pmMatthew Slyfield:
I'm not upgrading because the few times that I have upgraded a full version of windows in place on an existing machine have been absolute disasters. Reformat the hard drive and install windows from OEM media level disasters.
March 14, 2016, 8:00 pmSam P:
Microsoft has official ways to disable the Windows 10 upgrade. If you use group policy to manage your network, then you can use that. Otherwise, there are several registry changes you need to make (listed in the above knowledge base article). Of course, Microsoft can always push an update which ignores policy/registry settings, unintentionally or intentionally.
March 14, 2016, 8:32 pmJoe:
It won't be long before Microsoft does to 7 and 8 what it did to XP. Once they stop issuing security updates you will have no choice but to switch unless you want your computer to become increasingly vulnerable to hackers.
On an old XP machine I have I recently installed LInux Mint Cinnamon - a free download. I find the OS interesting but it isn't as easy to use and isn't compatible with most Windows compatible software. One really good thing, however, is that Linux OS isn't spyware, unlike Windows OS. But, as always, you must always be on the lookout for third parties who want to infect your system with spyware or a virus.
March 14, 2016, 8:57 pmxtmar:
10 is better than 8, though 7 is better than both.
March 14, 2016, 9:03 pmNoumenon72:
Vista reaches end of service in April, so you have a while to live with Windows 7.
March 14, 2016, 9:25 pmNoumenon72:
I have spent quite a few hours trying to recover my grandma's saved e-mail after the 7-to-10 upgrade caused Windows Live Mail to become unable to open.
March 14, 2016, 9:26 pmDamon Gentry:
I tried Windows 10 (I was an early adopter), but after reading so much about privacy concerns and ad-pushing, I switched to Ubuntu about 3 months ago. It is now the best running system I've ever owned. No crashes, no malware, updates are a breeze. Should have done this a long time ago.
March 15, 2016, 7:16 amTitan28:
A year ago I let MS upgrade my Windows 7 to Windows 10. I don't know what happened, but the installation was never able to complete itself. Worse, I was left with a DOS black screen, with command prompts that did nothing. Long story short, the computer was toast. As it was 5 years old, I replaced it with another Dell. It runs Windows 10. I have to say, it isn't a bad operating system. But I'm not happy with how I was corralled into upgrading.
March 15, 2016, 8:42 ambigmaq1980:
Have turned off auto update on all computers, as want to avoid u/g to Win10 for as long as possible, giving more time for them to work out the bugs, and more time for others to develop work around apps/programs to the "privacy leaks" that have been identified.
Still will u/g this year to take advantage of the "free" Win 10, if the price they will later sell it at is still as steep as in the past.
March 15, 2016, 8:52 amkidmugsy:
We still use XP. Mind you, mainly we use Apple.
March 15, 2016, 2:33 pmIke Pigott:
Honestly, Warren, 10 is not bad. So much of the Privacy concern was overblown. The OS upgraded smoothly for me across several machines. And, with a 13-y-o and an 11-y-o, the Family setting options are a wonderful addition.
March 16, 2016, 3:43 amjdgalt:
I'm happy that it went so smoothly for you. Half my software stopped working when I made the mistake of installing W10.
March 16, 2016, 9:18 pm