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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.
This would be fine, if it actually worked. The Win 10 upgrade doesn't work on my system, for no other reason other than I converted from Spinning drive to SSD drive. The Win 10 Upgrade borks about half way through the install.
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
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?
I have a Home Theater with a CableCARD and NEED Windows Media Center for it to work. They removed Media Center from Windows 10. If they add it back in I'd be glad to upgrade. Otherwise, they give me no other option and they can go cry in the corner.
-SaNo
So, just uninstall that update?
One would think. Unfortunately, even if one opts to decline and "hide" KB3035583, Windows 7 and 8.1 will try to reinstall it if the system's setting is "Install updates automatically". So basically, the only way to avoid the bastard is to turn off automatic updating, and manually opt to "hide" KB3035583 every time Windows wants to reinstall it. (I imagine that the reason it keeps popping back up in the update ledger is because Microsoft is changing it, i.e. "updating the update". I also am assuming that Microsoft is avoiding issuing it a version number to intentionally keep this whole matter obscure, but I can't say for certain.)
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 uninstalled update KB3035583 and blocked it when MS first sent it out several months ago. Then when I installed the last batch of patches in December it installed KB3035583 anyway. Before Windows 10 was released I was looking forward to it as Windows 8 done right. I was a little concerned about the rolling release approach, but was cautiously optimistic. But given their heavy handed approach on forcing windows 10 on people, and all the spyware included in it, they have destroyed any goodwill and trust they built up in recent years. Trust they need if they expect people to buy into their new software-as-a-service approach. My wife's next laptop will be running Linux or Mac OS X, which is not a big deal as she has used both in the past.
Try GWX Control Panel to disable GWX and OS updates entirely:
http://ultimateoutsider.com/do...
Also Spybot Anti-Beacon which disables telemetry:
https://www.safer-networking.o...
It works perfectly for me on Windows 7. And yes I know that all of what it does can be done manualy but these tools do their job and work well so why bother...
After the first round of this nonsense, I found the GWX Control panel, which claims to disable the nagware. It also monitors Windows Update and alerts you when its settings are changed to 'install automatically'.
I normally install updates once a week, so we'll see what happens in a few days.
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."
I used to be a big fan of the Xbox. But then MS spent several years making one amazingly awful choice after another. They continued for years to insist that users have Xbox Gold to even watch Netflix (long after every other platform allowed it for free). They debuted the Xbox One with the promise that it wouldn't be about gaming but would instead be focused instead on a really kludgy TV overlay that no one gave a flying fuck about. They tried to force everyone buy a kinect with its creepy always-on mic. They tried to kill off used games sales. It's like they wanted to do everything they possibly could to turn every hardcore Xbox fanboy into a PS4 owner.
Sometimes I think the leadership at MS just sits around all day thinking of new ways to fuck themselves. And not "fuck themselves" in a "Maybe I can wrap a belt around my neck and choke myself when I cum!" good kind of way. It's more of a "How can we personally insult and spit on every single customer we have?" kind of way.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
Is there a way to set Windows 7 so that it's not eligible for upgrade?
Or possibly to make it think that the hardware is incompatible with Windows 10?
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
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.
Unfortunately, the default install of Windows 7 and 8.1 will have "Install updates automatically" on by default. And if you turn it off, the "action center" will warn you that it's a terrible decision and you should turn them back on. That will scare >90% of people into keeping them on.
"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.
So basically, the only way to avoid the bastard is to turn off automatic updating,
When the unknown notification started showing up in my task bar, the first thing I did was see what the executable behind it was and ... delete it and the entire directory that contained it. Pretty easy, except for the two-stage permission change so I could nuke it.
Never came back. gwx.exe.
And people wonder why I turned off updates earlier last year. When (or if) I decide to check I will research each one before applying. Windows 7 is my last Microsoft OS and I will just give up anything I use that does not have a native Linux version or runs under WINE. My response in summary is not only NO, but HELL NO.
Right with you there. Look, I've been a Linux user, one way or the other, for even a little longer than that (Slashdot ID checks out). I've been whatever-coexisting with Windows for the last decade or so. The period where sound and wifi were sucking on Linux (and IE ruled the web) coincided with me having enough income to buy new-out-of-box laptops. So, grew to live in a Windows desktop, Linux server peace. Actually didn't hate Win8/8.1 for my own needs (though I agree it was a UI disaster for non-power-users).
Between the Win10 spycrap and the nag screens, though, I finally said 'fark it'. I'm back to 100% desktop Linux, 100% of the time, for the first time in over a decade. It's really, really refreshing.
I'm not a Microsoft fan, far from it. But I am a Windows user, for the simple reason that the software I need to use runs on Windows. (Or in some cases, runs best on Windows). There are probably alternatives I could use (open source packages that do similar things, or Windows apps on WINE) but frankly, it's too much trouble. I'm not a zealot. I just want to get my work done.
But after a disastrous stab at Windows 8 (fought with it for three weeks, ended up reloading 7) I've come to the conclusion that Microsoft has lost the ability to write an operating system. I have no intention to ever go to 10.
I thought I had a few years before 7 expires, giving Microsoft time to maybe come to their senses, but now I'm getting plagued with these "upgrade to 10! It's fun!) popups and have heard rumors of some machines just upgrading themselves without a decision made by the user.
And I'm done.
I brought up Mint on a laptop I take into the field (I'm a photographer and make extensive use of the Adobe suite) and after fixing the inevitable wifi and other sundry problems that Linux never seems to be able to get right out of the box, had a machine that ran surprisingly fast, and was surprisingly capable. (It was my first experience with Mint. It was over the 2014 holidays, so probably 17.2. I see that 17.3 has just been released.) And then -- the acid test -- I actually got Adobe Lightroom running on Mint under Wine. Ok, I said once, in this very forum I think, that if Lightroom ever ran reasonably well on Linux, I'd drop Windows and never look back. Time to make good on that. My only remaining problem is that although the base version 5 installs and runs, the update (5.7.1) installs but does not run. I'm now experimenting with open source alternatives like lightzone (installs, but doesn't run correctly) and Darktable (no problems so far, but it's early).
So anyway, the takeaways from all of this:
1) Windows 8 has soured me to any new Windows OS for the immediate future.
2) I *was* content with 7, but:
3) Microsoft's os-so-clever nagware to upgrade to Windows 10 is getting on my nerves. And so:
4) As a result, I finally made time to try Mint.
5) I like Mint.
6) I don't have a clear alternative to the apps I use regularly on Windows, but I'm a *lot* (repeat LOT) closer than I've ever been.
7) Screw Microsoft. No, really. What the hell were they thinking.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I'd never expect any FedGov entity to stick up for US consumers about this abuse, but I'm surprised not to have read anything about the EU even looking into this (yet), but perhaps I've missed it.
I use this script to clean people's Windows 7 computers up:
wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /quiet /norestart
and the same for
kb:2952664
kb:3022345
kb:3068708
kb:3075249
kb:3080149
kb:3021917
kb:3083324
kb:2977759
kb:3112343
(sorry, I can't post a cut and paste script herre, get an error about a compression filter).
Then I hide those updates in windows update, and uncheck automatic updates because MS keeps switching them on and I'm not sure they will eventually push windows 10 as a security update.
My PC's constant recommendations that I should install Windows 10 is starting to remind me of the Talky Toaster on Red Dwarf.
There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
At this point I'm expecting Microsoft Security to come to people's houses with guns...
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
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.)
MS originally said that the free upgrade to Windows 10 would be in place only for one year, and after that you'd have to pay.
Therefore one of three things is definitely going to happen after the end of July of this year: Either 1) MS will start trying to collect money for these forced updates (After the update starts, it will not complete until you pay for it, effectively placing the "update" on par with ransomware), an option which I expect may have very unfortunate legal ramifications for Microsoft; or 2) Windows 10 will be available for free indefinitely, meaning that the so-called 'free upgrade' period that they were talking about last July was just a scam to encourage those who would fall for it to get Windows 10 for free while they could; or else 3) these messages will finally stop after the first year is up.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
People on Slashdot don't react appropriately negatively when they are abused. That amazes me.
Stupid question, but one that should be explored... Since GWX analyzes your system to make sure you're compatible with Windows 10, does it refuse to install (or better yet, not download 5-6GB), if it finds an incompatible system? So, is there some sort of dummy driver that could be installed (that appears in Device Manager) that would cause GWX to determine that the system is incompatible? Someone with some Windows driver programming skills should be able to make that... Throw in some extra code that, if uploaded to Microsoft for analysis, would refuse to run on anything higher than Windows 8.1...
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
Except that I found out the hard way that the /quiet option means that any problems uninstalling will also be hidden. For some reason the script I made didn't uninstall any of the patches until I removed the /quiet option.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
Apple users tolerate it.
No, we don't. Because Apple to the best of my knowledge has never overridden user-configured settings when it comes to downloading or installing automatic updates. For years now I have disabled all of the relevant "automatic update" checkboxes in System Preferences, and Apple has never reenabled them and has never downloaded system updates without my permission. I have several old iPhones with various versions of iOS 6-8 on them and apple has never applied an OS update without my permission. Okay, I do remember being asked once or twice during major OS upgrades if I wanted to enable some of the automatic update settings, and once (*once!*) got a notification popup on my Mac asking me if I wanted to download Safari, but there's a clear difference between displaying a one-time popup and downloading 6GB of data to my machine *when I specifically asked you not to*, or installing Safari anyway, or even changing settings that you *know* I set manually!
A lot of old software would differentiate if it was running on a Windows 95 or Windows 98 system by checking if the OS Name string began with "Windows 9". Microsoft jumped from Windows 8 to Windows 10 to avoid creating problems if someone tried to run one of these apps on a Windows 9 system.