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'Get Windows 10' Turns Itself On and Nags Win 7 and 8.1 Users Twice a Day (infoworld.com)
LichtSpektren writes: As you may recall, Microsoft has delivered KB3035583 as a 'recommended update' to users of Windows 7 and 8.1. What this update does is install GWX ("Get Windows 10"), a program which diagnoses the system to see if it is eligible for a free upgrade to Windows 10, and if so, asks the user if they would like to upgrade (though recently, the option to decline has been removed). Some users have gotten around this by editing Windows Registry values for "AllowOSUpgrade", "DisableOSUpgrade", "DisableGWX", and "ReservationsAllowed" in order to disable the prompt altogether. This advice was endorsed by Microsoft on their support forums.
According to a report by Woody Leonhard at InfoWorld, the newest version of the KB3035583 update includes a background process which scans the system's Windows Registry twice a day to see if the values for the four aforementioned registry inputs were manually edited to disable the upgrade prompt. If they were, the process will alter the values, silently re-download the Windows 10 installation files (about 6 GB in total), and prompt the user to upgrade.
According to a report by Woody Leonhard at InfoWorld, the newest version of the KB3035583 update includes a background process which scans the system's Windows Registry twice a day to see if the values for the four aforementioned registry inputs were manually edited to disable the upgrade prompt. If they were, the process will alter the values, silently re-download the Windows 10 installation files (about 6 GB in total), and prompt the user to upgrade.
This is so damn annoying. I tried Windows 10 and reverted within a day or so. On two different machines.
Seriously, people, why would anyone tolerate this bullshit? It's being made amply clear that Microsoft doesn't give a good goddamn what you, the end user, actually wants to do, doesn't respect the fact that your computer is your property and not theirs, and is just pushing their way through to do whatever the hell they want. How is this even legal? Why is there not a massive lawsuit against Microsoft at this point? How is it that they think they have the right to shove Windows 10 down everyone's throat?
> "my system" :chuckle:
This is the single worst thing Microsoft has ever done in my book. Basically, they are trying to gain control over every Windows PC out there. And it's not going to be optional if they have their way. Forcing you to download 5 GB of undesired files is just the beginning. Once you're locked in to Win10, all your data is theirs. They are transforming the desktop PC into a locked-down glorified cell phone.
Fiat Lux.
I don't have a Cable Card, but we utilize Media Center 100% for TV watching. I'm annoyed that they Netflix plug-in was depreciated, but we live with that in the browser now (and their horrid interface).
Media Center in a wonderful program, and the TV recording in it is better than anything else I've ever had (it's simple enough that my wife can use it, that says a lot).
With it being removed completely, upgrading on that computer is not an option. Very annoying for this pop-up to keep coming up.
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
I don't have a problem with Windows 10. Overall I like it, much better than 8, and clearly more "futuristic" than 7. Free is a great price.
I am also very impressed with the "new" Microsoft under Satya Nadella. The company has done things I'd NEVER imagined they'd do, GOOD things...SMART things. Windows 10 being FREE was one of those things. There have been a few rocky issues, some high-profile like the Live One Drive storage space snafu. But overall, I've been impressed. The open source initiatives are just mind-blowing coming from Microsoft.
But this thing RIGHT HERE... THIS has been a fucking mess. Abject "What the fuck??" failure. First of all, people have stuff to get done, and small businesses often work on cycles. This thing is happening RIGHT IN THE SMACK MIDDLE of Tax Season in the US. Any idea how rickety the software that runs tax prep is? Trust me, this stuff isn't Win7 material. There are A LOT of small, independent tax preparers in the US. A LOT. And they all use Windows. And they're all getting nagged like crazy right now. I know, I'm getting the calls. They're not the only ones. QuickBooks Pro users, CRM users, and the list goes on. They can't afford this, not now, and they're not on Windows Home...they PAID for a Pro product to support OTHER "pro" software which is more important to their income stream.
It is bigger than that, even. Because Microsoft is nagging people running Win7 with hardware that just maybe SHOULD NOT be on Win 10. Core Duo CPUs, Intel Chipsets without driver support. And there is no opt out. No way to even say, "Hey, thanks for the offer Microsoft, but I'm just going to let this hardware which is running just fine on Win7 die with Win7." There is NO WARNING that Win10 will be incompatible with networking and wireless drivers, so that users' laptops will disconnect from the network after sleeping EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. There are NO WARNINGS that touchpads won't have similar levels of driver support, so people used to touch-tapping and driver-cobbled 2-finger dragging lose that. Nope. Nothing. And no way to simply say "This equipment just isn't ready and probably never will be...thanks, but please stop nagging me." And those aren't from little know vendors, mind you, that's from Intel! Synaptics! Broadcom!
And worst: Microsoft is pushing this upgrade onto sometimes ancient hardware, the gross majority of which on the backs of 5-year-old 5400rpm spinning platters from the sub-terabyte generation, WHICH HAS NEVER, EVER--NOT ONCE--been backed up. Suuuure, you get that 30-day restore Window. Yeeeeeaaaaaah. Good luck with that. More spinning and intensive read/writing to sectors never tested or touched.
So, WHAT THE FUCK, Mr. Nadella? Why? Just let users, especially Windows Pro users on older hardware, have a reprieve. Make it a year. Make it two. I don't care. But YOUR CUSTOMERS need the option to permanently stop the incessant nagging. You owe them THAT MUCH RESPECT for their business.
Scott
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Gwx]
"DisableGwx"=dword:00000001
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]
"ReservationsAllowed"=dword:0000000
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001
Want a job done right? Do it yourself saving those as .reg files and you're done as long as you don't reinstall KB3035583 patch noted in this article's summary which does literally erase those registry entries above which nullify that patch.
Well, that is fundamentally the problem.
You simply cannot trust Microsoft here. If you allow them to alter your system as they see fit, they're going to .... and in the process they'll eventually take away your ability to stop them.
They've also started lying about/concealing what updates do. They just say "this addresses issues with Windows", when what it's really doing it adding telemetry and other shit designed to benefit only themselves.
With Windows 10, Microsoft have become malware, and the will keep trying to shove this up your ass until they succeed or you forcibly stop them. All they'll do it re-issue it with a different number and keep trying.
I wonder if Microsoft understands (or cares) the extent to which they are pissing people off, and forcing people to start rejecting updates on the assumption they can't be trusted.
It just seems like they have decided it is their computer, and you don't get a vote. This seems to me like it's a violation of the computer fraud and abuse act or whatever it is .. but apparently assholes with EULAs can do anything they want to.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
"I use Enterprise, which doesn't do any of this crap yet."
TFIFY
.
How many times does a Microsoft customer have to actively stop Microsoft from hijacking the PC for its own nefarious purposes?
At this point, I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft is no longer just asking if its customers want Windows 10. I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft is trying to trick its customers into installing Windows 10 via a never ending string of pop-up questions and misleading dialog boxes.
I've also come to the conclusion that I no longer want to do business with a company that treats its customs in this manner.
I'm not fine with it. I accept it as part of being in the Microsoft ecosystem. Kind of like Android People are okay with Google Spying on them, and Apple's Walled garden.
Life is full of compromises. If you don't want the compromise, run your own build of Linux you compiled yourself. Its the ONLY way to be sure (if you can be sure of anything)
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
People bought Google and Apple products knowing that there was telemetry and a walled garden. Nobody bought Windows 7 believing that Microsoft would forcefully seize control of their computers and disable their manually-changed settings.
Because the computer is ours, and not Microsofts? And that is really the only reason we need. But if you want more details:
Because there are no hardware drivers for our cash register receipt printers for Windows 8 or 10, and no receipt printers supported by our vendor that do have drivers. It would cost us seven figures to change to a different POS system, and no other POS system is properly supported by our franchise.
Ergo, if Windows 10 installs, we are literally out of business, with no viable options.
We bought Windows 7 with an explicit, published promise from Microsoft that it would be supported until 2020. Now they are trying to take away nearly four years of usable life. That's fraud, plain and simple. Isn't fraud a predicate offense for RICO lawsuits? (Which, BTW, would treat any license provisions that prohibit class actions lawsuits as evidence of fraudulent intent, I suspect.)