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Windows 10 Upgrade Reportedly Starting Automatically On Windows 7 PCs (softpedia.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Many users have confirmed in the comment section of a popular reddit post that "Windows 7 computers are being reported as automatically starting the Windows 10 upgrade without permission." It's no secret that Microsoft wants users to upgrade to their new OS. Earlier in the year, Windows 10 was set as a 'recommended update' so when you install new security or bug patches, the new OS is selected by default as well. Terry Myerson, head of the OS group at Microsoft, warned users about the possibility of the OS automatically installing. "Depending upon your Windows Update settings, this may cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device. Before the upgrade changes the OS of your device, you will be clearly prompted to choose whether or not to continue," he said. Whether or not the recent outcry is caused from users forgetting to deselect the Windows 10 upgrade in the update list or Microsoft updating Windows 7 PCs without users' permission, the good news is that you have 30 days to downgrade to the previous version of the OS.
My grandma accidentally updated to Windows 10 from 7 because of their shifty practises. My dad called me to say that everything on my grandmas computer "was different" and no one had changed everything.
She has mild alzheimer's and forgets short-term so we can have the same conversation 3-4 times in an hour (which gives you lots of time to prepare an answer), so she forgot she had clicked okay when Windows Update had asked to upgrade. I'm glad I'd gone around when I had because there was only a week left before the change was irreversible.Thanks for the timebomb, douchebags
I would have left it. She does nothing on the computer besides Facebook and Solitaire but the performance was awful. All these new features and crap were beyond her realm. I downgraded her and found a tool that hides/deletes all the Windows 10 update crap so it wouldn't happen again.
She got hit by ransomware last week despite only using Facebook. I reckon it was one of those inescapable ads that warn you you're infected then proceed to catch you in a "Ok/Cancel" loop where Cancel just opens a new prompt.
She has nothing on that computer so I just nuked the drive and stuck Linux Mint on there and with some themes and such she can't tell the difference.
Year of the Linux Desktop amiright?
I've got Windows Update set to download, but notify me before installing. This has been fine for years, today the Action Center ("resolve PC issues") sees this as a "problem" that it wants to resolve by switching updates to Automatic. I don't think so, Bob.
Your guess was correct. Windows 7 Pro not on a domain. Looks like the update was changed to critical and that's why it was automatic.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
My son came home a couple of days ago to a surprise installation of Windows 10 on his desktop computer. When he was prompted to accept the EULA he chose "No". This resulted in the computer being rolled back to Windows 7. However, after restarting in Windows 7 a timer was displayed on the screen showing how long before the "update" was reinstalled. There was no option to cancel the process, only an option to delay it. So apparently you can say no to Windows 10, but they'll just shove it back at you again.
After killing gwx.exe and gwxux.exe via Task Manager, I merged the following registry keys to disable automatic OS upgrades:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX]
"DisableGWX"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]
"AllowOSUpgrade"=dword:00000000
"ReservationsAllowed"=dword:00000000
Time will tell if this remains effective.
MS Office 2007 now has more or less Platinum status in Wine 1.8
MS Office 2007 supports both the old MS Office as well as the new XML Office files. And it is very cheap to buy used from Ebay.
I recommend Kubuntu which is due in a couple of weeks.