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Microsoft Denies Rogue Windows 10 Upgrades, Says Users Remain Fully In Control (hothardware.com)

Posted by timothy on from the innocent-whistling dept.

MojoKid writes: Despite significant user outcry that Microsoft Windows 10 upgrade mechanism has gone rogue, installing on customers' Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 machines when their backs were turned or they were otherwise away from the computer, Microsoft is pleading innocent. News broke of the automatic Windows 10 upgrades over the weekend, and in nearly every case, it was claimed Windows 10 installed without user intervention. Microsoft issued the following statement regarding the alleged unplanned upgrades: "We shared in late October on the Windows Blog, we are committed to making it easy for our Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 customers to upgrade to Windows 10. As stated in that post, we have updated the upgrade experience to make it easier for customers to schedule a time for their upgrade to take place. Customers continue to be fully in control of their devices, and can choose to not install the Windows 10 upgrade or remove the upgrade from Windows Update (WU) by changing the WU settings." However, users are still reporting the Windows 10 has allegedly forcefully taken over their machines. Hundreds and maybe thousands of users and IT admins are still chiming in on various threads around the web that they've "been had" by Microsoft.

17 of 515 comments (clear)

  1. Confirmed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Happened on my wife's Windows 7 system over the weekend.

    1. Re:Confirmed by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, read the summary again... carefully.

      [...]and can choose to not install the Windows 10 upgrade or remove the upgrade from Windows Update (WU) by changing the WU settings."

      (emphasis mine)

      From what I see of that quote, so long as you intentionally tell the system to *not* push Windows 10 on your box, it will just do it whenever Microsoft and Windows Update decide to push it in.

      In the eyes of the typical user (who does not read tech blogs or suchlike, let alone dork around with their Windows Update settings), this appears by all counts to be a 'forced' push of Windows 10 onto their box.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    2. Re:Confirmed by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Informative

      You missed the point - in either case, the user has to go in and intentionally tell Windows Update to not install Windows 10.

      Most typical users don't even touch those settings, and with the default being that they will get Windows 10 installed, it appears to the user that they got the 'upgrade' forced on them.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    3. Re:Confirmed by sexconker · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Not bullshit.

      My own machine downloaded Windows 10, again, over the weekend for no fucking reason.

      I've set all manner of registry keys that MS recommends for blocking the update.
      I've hidden the updates that give you Windows 10.
      I've removed all the updates that give you the Get Windows 10 "app".
      I've run GWX Configuration tool.
      I've told Windows to NOT give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates.
      I've told Windows to download updates but not install them.

      If I had the default, Windows 10 would have installed itself.

    4. Re: Confirmed by slazzy · · Score: 5, Informative

      On a few of my systems as well. One of them is blackscreened (no video driver for win 10) and no way to restore. I've had to slave the drive in my Ubuntu system. Goodbye Windows for good.

      --
      Website Just Down For Me? Find out
    5. Re:Confirmed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Same here. Different wife.

    6. Re:Confirmed by Penguinisto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And this is why I don't have Windows running anywhere in my house - with multiple computers, I could see Microsoft totally raping the bandwidth caps on my rural Satellite Internet connection... and rural 3G/4G Internet users likely wouldn't get any relief from it either. :/

      Speaking of which, I wonder if Microsoft could be found liable for any extra expenses incurred as a result of such a use case?

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    7. Re:Confirmed by sexconker · · Score: 5, Informative

      False.

      KB3146449 injects banner ads for Windows 10 into IE11.
      KB3146449 does NOT have code to download or install Windows 10 itself. It merely throws ads in your face if you use IE11.

    8. Re:Confirmed by omnichad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, read the summary again... carefully.

      [...]and can choose to not install the Windows 10 upgrade or remove the upgrade from Windows Update (WU) by changing the WU settings."

      And then do the same every single time Windows finds new updates. You can't hide it once forever. And if you miss the next update cycle because you were in bed sleeping, too bad.

    9. Re:Confirmed by Agent0013 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I haven't seen this Windows 10 update on my Win7 box! It is probably because I don't install any updates ever and have the widows updates turned to do not download, do not notify. I trust the malware infections I might get from pirated software more than I trust Microsoft.

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
    10. Re:Confirmed by NotDrWho · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Ironically, I was open to the idea of upgrading until I saw how bizarrely insistent MS was about the upgrade. When I began to hear stories of stealth upgrades, I ran, not walked, to the "GWX Control Panel" app and installed it. Anything that MS is this crazy insistent about has to be up to something very, very bad behind the scenes.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    11. Re:Confirmed by arth1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      There's no reason for MS to do this. It makes no sense.

      Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
      That someone in MS made an error and flipped a switch for a patch, or made the default timeout action for a requester being "accept" or any other possibilities are, well, possible. And doesn't imply malicious actions, only stupidity, ignorance, recklessness or all of the above, combined with management that repeat what they THINK should happen as if it is what happens.

      I saw my first GWX popup on a domain joined computer last week, on a DC with GPOs where anything related to Windows 10 updates has been blocked. That should not be possible. Yet it happened.

      There is something rotten in the state of Denmark.

    12. Re:Confirmed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Did you read the article that you posted? The EULA comes up after installation of Windows 10, as they say here:

      "The EULA is presented to users at the The EULA is presented to users at the completion of the update process. This is the final step."

      So after you decline, it has to go back and uninstall Windows 10. And don't think this process is going to be completely bug-free. And when you hit "Decline" it even says it will "attempt to restore your previous OS" and "the process may take considerable time". If that doesn't scare some users, I don't know what will. And, yes, this happened to me. And I didn't "reserve" my copy of Windows 10. Every time that stupid "Install Windows 10" pop-up came up, it gave me two options "Install now" or "Install later". I kept hitting later. Yes, I should have looked up how to stop that shit in the first place and intended to at some point. But you know what, every time I got on my Windows box, I had shit to do other than try to figure out how to keep Microsoft from installing something I never asked for. So then the other day, I come to my computer and it already upgraded. I was pissed. And then I get the EULA with the option to decline. I would consider myself pretty computer savvy, working in the industry for over 15 years, using Linux, Windows and Mac OX daily. Even I had to stop and consider if hitting "Decline" would then just blow away my entire computer and require a reinstall. So would I blame a regular user from not taking that chance? No.

      So yeah, if you want to keep thinking this only happened to non-savvy computer users, go right ahead. But this whole process was bullshit.

  2. You consented to the install... well sorta by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The popup before the forced install said "do you want to install Windows 10 now, or download it for installation later". Either of those option is consent to install Windows 10. You probably selected "download for later installation" thinking you'd have a chance to refuse the installation. What you should have done is click the close-box top right.

    It was a trick.

  3. Stop trying to install on old machines by jfdavis668 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We have some old machines which are clearly unable to run Windows 10. They barely run Windows 7. Yet, they keep getting notifications to upgrade to Windows 10, and list it on available updates. It is never going to run on a Pentium M or D machine. Microsoft, include a hardware check before you try to push it!

  4. Re:Windows 10... yeah right by krray · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I make a decent penny fixing computers [generally].

    On the few Linux installs that I've done outside of business' the users rarely call except to learn how to do something. Not because it is "broken". Business' get Linux servers and, well, never call.

    On the Mac installs they almost never call too. Except to learn how to do something because they can't use Google. I *know* virus' exist on the Mac (it is my personal desktop), but that never seems to be a problem.

    On the Windows installs I make a killing. Cleaning up virus', removing bloat they accidentally install, etc. I don't trust Microsoft. Makes perfect sense to me.

  5. Remarkable Coincidence by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do you not find it remarkable that each and every one of these... "incompetent" mistakes are always in their favor?

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?