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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 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
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.
So you're OK with the fact that Microsoft will bypass your settings and download 6 GB without prompting you?
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...
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.
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.
I had a family member who had a (smallish SSD) C: drive, with most data and applications on their D: drive. The C: drive had just enough free space to download the Windows 10 update, and then fail and crash attempting to install it. The update process is smart enough to check for and unset registry keys, but apparently not smart enough to check if there is actually enough disk space.
Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
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.
Apply an activation crack or join it to a domain. Either one will do the trick just fine.
We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
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.
Apple does not force updates like this, in fact it possible to turn them completely off.
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.
I created what I call an "unfuck script" that does this and a number of other things (such as moving the documents folder into a cloud sync floating profile folder, where I have a bunch of portable apps sitting so that I don't need to run a bunch of installers) that way installing a fresh copy of Windows on any of my machines and fully configuring it afterwards takes me about 5 minutes, and because it's all scripted I don't forget important things (such as using my upstream bandwidth for other people to get windows updates.)
http://pastebin.com/MmKimr3H
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.
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?
People are tired if supporting old ass software companies. They can't rely on companies that will ignore they needs so they are going the Linux route. They know what they need, just submit and let them choose.
I like Linux Mint 17, using it all my laptops. Firefox isn't the best, but I can still use Chromium (not that malvertising crap Chrome).
I would say let the Linux Revolution happen, and while it's happening, adjust the collar around your neck and let some oxygen get to your brain.
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.
No, Microsoft is tired of people using perfectly serviceable old software that is no longer a revenue source for them. Forget that it's a "free" upgrade...they make money on each and every installation by selling off YOUR data to third parties. It's NOT out of the goodness of their hearts that they want everyone to upgrade here.
So you're OK with the fact that Microsoft will bypass your settings and download 6 GB without prompting you?
This - especially this! For the majority of rural Internet users, 6GB represents roughly 50-60% of their monthly bandwidth allotment - and it ain't cheap ( a typical 12GB monthly plan runs around $50-60 or so.)
I wonder if anyone has tried to sue Microsoft yet over being shorted on bandwidth? On my part (yeah, I live in the sticks), I have only Linux and OSX at home, and given Microsoft's recent intrusions, I've become rather happy with my OS choices...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
They know what you need, just submit and deal with it.
You must be a fun date.
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
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"?
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'
It doesn't help when Windows 10 has some significant removal of features. I run Windows Media Center on my Windows 7 HTPC. I'm not going to update to Windows 10 just to hack WMC back into it...
Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
That's just it, though. Windows 7 isn't obsolete.
/* No Comment */
Because they overwrote the options you knowingly set, wouldn't this be in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Could someone not take them to court as well as file a federal charge against them?
This is being done with out proper permission.
Thoughts?
love the taste, hate the texture
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!
> 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.
--
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.
That's horseshit! I work in State government and our machines are nagging the shit out of us and we are on Enterprise version on a domain. Of course, that simply means that the Governor's Office of Technology are incompetent boobs and let this update through but still, it proves your statement false.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.