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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.
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?
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.
As someone who likes Windows 10 and thinks more people should upgrade and give it a chance... no, I'm not cool with overwriting the options you knowingly set.
All my liberal friends think I'm a conservative, all my conservative friends think I'm a liberal.
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."
My office paid good money for several copies of Windows 7, because that's the only OS that our software is certified to run on. Microsoft has guaranteed four more years of security updates for Win7. So why exactly should we drop several hundred grand to update? Because you think we're geezers? Well, if you'd like to pay for the update yourself, by all means.
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.
Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software. They can't rely on people who won't run patches, so they are going the Apple route. They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.
I like Windows 10, using it on my surface 4 right now. Edge isn't awful, but I still use FF and Chrome.
I would say that let the upgrade happen, and while it's happening, adjust the onion on your belt and go outside and yell at some clouds.
So I'm just curious, what would Microsoft have to do for you to say "That crossed the line, that's too much"? Because routing around your manual settings to avoid being forced an update and then attempting to force a 6 GB update on you apparently isn't 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.
Microsoft is tired of supporting old ass insecure software. They can't rely on people who won't run patches
I can completely sympathize with this frustration. My problem is not the annoyware pestering people to update their old ass insecure version but in the pushing of the entire update. Plenty of people have to use their phone in hot-spot mode or whatever kind of metered link to get some work done and the background download is killing it. Next time you're on a flight paying $$$ for the wifi that's already dead dog slow over satellite, tell me you don't mind someone a few rows over getting a giant update pushed at them.
Unless your IT department didn't bother doing their job you're not being cajoled into anything right now. Computers registered on a domain are not subject to the same update policies as standalone, personal PCs. As for the ${x}00K cost to upgrade your legacy software, you're going to have to eat it some time within the next four years...
So, should we surrender the four years that we paid for to be hip and with the times? Or should we save our money and then spend the next four years migrating to an OS that doesn't forcefully seize control of our computers?
What's fair and what's reality are two entirely separate things. The short answer is -yes- get with the times; IT is a moving target of progress. There are cheaper options however; you can virtualize old Windows 95 boxes if you require legacy 16bit code to run over a mapped RS232 port as an example. It's ugly, but VM-ing an obsolete OS that's bound to custom legacy applications is doable.
Are you fucking kidding me? We should spend hundreds of thousands of dollars migrating to an OS that provides literally nothing useful to us, seizes control from our hands, and spies on us--for no reason whatsoever other than because it would be "with the times"?
That's just it, though. Windows 7 isn't obsolete.
/* No Comment */
> They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.
Myopic much?
Translation: Bend over, lube up, and take it up ass, because we have no balls to be anything other then Microsoft's bitch.
There is only one appropriate response: Fuck You, Microsoft. I don't need nor want your shitty spy-trojan-laced GUI. I already have working computers with Windows 7, and Windows XP, OSX 10.9, and Linux 12.04 TLS. There is nothing I need in Windows 10. In contradistinction, there are lots of things I don't WANT with Windows 10.
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Microsoft Windows 8 and 10, noun: A 64-bit compilation of 32 bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16 bit patch to an 8 bit operating system originally coded for a 4 bit microprocessor written by a 2 bit company that can't stand 1 bit of competition with 0 bit of understanding good UI.