Microsoft Auto-Scheduling Windows 10 Updates (tomshardware.com)

Pikoro quotes this report from Tom's Hardware: Windows 10 has been with us for a little over eight months now, which means there are only about four months remaining to get a free upgrade from an older Windows operating system. As the clock counts down, Microsoft has begun to auto-schedule PCs to upgrade to Windows 10 with or without consent from end users.

Now, as we near the end of the free upgrade period, Microsoft's malware-like upgrade system is becoming even more intrusive by autoscheduling upgrades to Windows 10. I noticed that the Windows 10 upgrade reminder pop-up on a Windows 7 PC was no longer asking me to upgrade; instead, it's now informing me that it has already scheduled an update for May 17.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps has discovered half their computers unexpectedly can't remotely upgrade to Windows 10, slowing their transition to what they expect to be a much more secure operating system.

Comments

fucktards

[Anonymous Coward]

...

"Auto-scheduling..."

[K. S. Kyosuke]

In that case, my laptop (for convenience, the only device of mine running Windows) is now auto-scheduled for a Linux installation this year...

Re:"Auto-scheduling..."

[Anonymous Coward]

So you decided to go for speed and security over invasion and lack of security?
Can't say I blame you.
I've helped lots of people load GRC's Never10, but Linux is even better.

Re:"Auto-scheduling..."

[xeoron]

Two things to do: 1) Turn off auto-updates 2) Disable the upgrade with GRC's Never10

Re:"Auto-scheduling..."

[K. S. Kyosuke]

That won't fix the "my programming experience on Windows is shitty" problem, though.

Re:"Auto-scheduling..."

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Also, it's worth pointing out, since the summary failed to do so, that all they've really done here appears to be classifying Windows 10 as a recommended update. That will mean anyone whose system is set to auto-install recommended updates will indeed get it. However, you can still cancel (or reschedule, if you prefer) when you get the prompt, and in any case if you don't have Windows Update set to auto-install things then this doesn't seem to make any difference to you.

In other words, the people who are going to get stung by this are the ones who have auto-updates on anyway. Since that's one of the major reasons not to move to Windows 10 if you're not happy to accept whatever Microsoft decides you should have, the people who feel that way probably won't have auto-install turned on for earlier Windows versions anyway and should be OK here.

Re:"Auto-scheduling..."

[FlyHelicopters]

A few thoughts:

1. People are afraid of change, good or bad.

2. People are comfortable with they have and don't see why they need "new".

3. MS probably pushed too hard on Windows 10 and should have rolled out some of the features over time, rather than at launch.

So some people are avoiding it for different reasons. Me? I had most machines on Windows 8.1 Update, but my personal computer was still on 7. Windows 10 finally got me to upgrade, I like it over 7 for many reasons.

Windows will never be perfect, but on balance 10 is superior to 7 all things considered, at least for most people.

Another point to consider... Staying on Windows 7 isn't really an option long term. Drivers slowly won't get updated for it, new hardware won't really be supported, etc.

For the next 2 years or so, Windows 7 remains a sort-of option for many people, but quickly won't as we approach 2020 when all public support ends.

In the age of the Internet, you simply have to stay up to date. If you're unconnected and run local programs only, then it isn't required, but those days are gone for most people.

Re:"Auto-scheduling..."

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

Your point about drivers is fair for new equipment, but doesn't matter if someone already has a working system and they aren't changing their hardware. And of course, it does cut both ways, as there have been various hardware-related problems with Windows 10 that don't affect earlier versions (and in some cases, the combination of those with the automatic updates has rendered Windows 10 systems literally unusable).

I'm not disputing that 10 also has some useful advantages over earlier versions, though in my case it's not even a possibility because of the privacy and security implications, and I think the day-to-day UI is significantly worse than what I already have with 7. I'm still waiting to see anything I'd call a killer feature; certainly the high-profile additions like Cortana, Edge and DirectX 12 aren't it.

As for always being up-to-date, in practice there's no guarantee that any software you buy will have security issues fixed, so relying on a single line of defence is never a very good strategy if you can avoid it. As I was just commenting in another post, the industry is interesting in that because at least the major software developers do tend to issue updates to fix glaring problems in their products post-sale, they seem to get cut a lot of slack for supplying a poor quality product in the first place. I suspect that before too long, given the increasing customer-hostile trends in the industry in terms of built-in obsolescence and forced update cycles (literally or just practically), there may be actual laws or other government regulation mandating certain minimum standards for support in digital products unless the industry gets its act together.

As for 2020, I'm honestly not worried about that at all. Windows 7 still has about 50% of the entire global market share for desktop/laptop OSes. Windows 10 is barely above Windows XP, and by the numbers it looks like most of its take-up has been Windows 8/8.1 users, not 7. I don't expect the current senior management team at Microsoft to survive in their posts for very much longer since by business standards the launch of Windows 10 has been very poorly received, and I expect the new management team to go back to more familiar territory and try to repair the damage that has been done to Microsoft's reputation before literally half their customers run out of support on Windows 7. Otherwise, if significant numbers of customers really do start switching to Apple laptops, mobile devices, or whatever other options appear within the next four years or so, Microsoft probably is finished as a serious player in the industry.

What a coincidence...

[Anonymous Coward]

I have scheduled a migration to Linux Mint on the exact same date!

Well, jolly.

Dear Microsoft

[U2xhc2hkb3QgU3Vja3M]

Allow Windows XP and Windows Vista users to upgrade to Windows 10 and you'll see a lot of updates.

Re:Dear Microsoft

[Anonymous Coward]

And a lot of complaints as those XP / Vista machines struggle to boot due to lack of drivers.

Re:Dear Microsoft

[__aaclcg7560]

And a lot of complaints as those XP / Vista machines struggle to boot due to lack of drivers.

That would true for Windows XP-certified computers, but not for Windows Vista-certified computers. I rebuilt my computer nine years ago for Windows Vista. I had no problems upgrading to Windows 7/8/8.1/10. For older devices that don't have a Windows 10 driver, I manually install the Windows Vista driver to get them working again.

Is it time for a class-action lawsuit?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it really seems like it is, to stop Microsoft from tampering with my computer system.

Time to sue

[AmiMoJo]

If this happens to me, I'm taking Microsoft to Small Claims Court. It's cheap, don't need a lawyer, and Microsoft has to come to my local court to defend themselves. All I need as evidence that it wasn't user error is a few print outs of the numerous news stories on the subject. Judgement is on balance of probability so that's more than adequate.

Re:Time to sue

[Anonymous Coward]

In the EU (and other parts of the world - outside America) we cannot sign or click away our LEGAL RIGHTS.

Re:Time to sue

[epyT-R]

but you can get thrown in prison (or pay a fine) for hurting someone's feewings ('hate' speech).

Every country has its idiotic laws.

Re:Time to sue

[AmiMoJo]

The UK. Everyone has the right to legal redress, including the Small Claims Court, and you can't give that up no matter what you sign.

This was the case in the UK before it joined the EU, but the EU has also adopted the principal so all EU countries are the same.

Confirmed

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

Confirmed.

Yes, this happened to my instance of Win 7 on my laptop just a few days ago. I *never* gave permission for a Win 10 upgrade and *specifically* deselected the stealth updates....and fucking Microsoft went ahead and "upgraded" it to Win 10 anyway.

But it gets worse.

Upon booting I'm presented with a Login screen that insists on a password. This machine never had a password on it, but now it does and I have no idea what it is. I cannot get in to my own PC now. Apparently I need some sort of Windows Live account or some other password, but I honestly have no idea. I am locked out of that entire partition.

My files are there, but I can't get to them. I can't login and so I'm literally locked out of my own PC thanks to the Win 10 forced upgrade.

Fortunately, I installed Linux Mint on it a while ago, and so that's what Ill be using on it from now on I guess. I can boot into that partition at least.

Thanks Microsoft, you shit-eating pukebags.

Re:Confirmed

[BarbaraHudson]

Turn off ALL updates until July 30th. You can be sure that Microsoft considers you moving to 10 as "critical" - at least to them.

Re:Confirmed

[FlyHelicopters]

Upon booting I'm presented with a Login screen that insists on a password. This machine never had a password on it, but now it does and I have no idea what it is. I cannot get in to my own PC now.

Something is wrong with this story, because the above makes no sense.

More likely you have an infected computer or someone else played with it or you don't know what you're doing.

Windows 7/8 upgrades to 10 don't change or insert passwords.

Re:Confirmed

[Angeret]

This is not about having a backup regime though, is it? This is about an unwanted and forced update which has locked the owner of a computer out of his system. There's likely going to be a lot of people who don't have backups, especially those who believe the old MS hype that Windows can fix itself, etc, etc. I don't think you'd get much mileage telling them it's their own fault for not having backups.

Re:Confirmed

[David_Hart]

Try this:

http://www.chntpw.com/reset-fo...

Make sure to rename the files back to normal after you get back in to your system.

Re:Confirmed

[Voyager529]

With the price of a good sized NAS these days being around the cost of a dinner for two at a restaurant

I went to a *nice* steakhouse on Valentine's day in New York City, and two 18-ounce boneless steaks, three sides, an appetizer, two glasses of red wine (mid-range), two cappuccinos, and dessert cost about $250.

A drive-free Netgear or Synology NAS costs about $220 on Newegg. 3TB hard disks are about $100 a pop on sale, so we'll assume a simple RAID-1 to start out on. Not exactly "good sized" by my standards personally (My NAS has 15TB raw), but we'll roll with it.

Where the hell are you going for dinner??

Re:FUCKING LIARS EVERYWHERE

[Z00L00K]

You would be at least a bit more trusted if you didn't post as "Anonymous Coward".

And the number of reported cases of "auto-install" is too high to dismiss.

Nuked my local game store's POS software

[danielbeaver]

My local game store's Point Of Sale laptop started updating to Windows 10 on it's own in the middle of the work day. It was during an MTG release/tournament day, so he had tons of sales that he was frantically trying to keep track of in a makeshift ledger book. And then, of course, his POS software wasn't working once Windows 10 finished installing - it was an older software package, I'm not sure exactly which. He ended up buying a newer edition, and transferring is sales database to that, but only after staying up late trying to troubleshoot his old software. What did this Windows users gain from this experience? A lot of stress, missed sales, flat icons for his UI. Thanks, Microsoft.

Re:Nuked my local game store's POS software

[Anonymous Coward]

That's like blaming a guy for receiving a box of poop in the mail because he didn't tell the mailman once a week "Please do not mail poop to me."

Re:Nuked my local game store's POS software

[maugle]

Can you imagine if this attitude was taken by any other company?

"Keurig agents have been sneaking into people's houses and replacing their Keurig coffeemakers with the new, fancy Keurig 10.0. However, the Keurig 10.0 is incompatible with all old 3rd party k-cups. To avoid being 'upgraded', you should leave a sign saying 'do not steal and replace' by your coffeemaker, but the Keurig agents will remove the sign sometimes so you need to make sure to keep replacing the sign if it disappears overnight. Reports have also surfaced of the Keurig agents occasionally ignoring the sign altogether, so some people recommend having someone in the house stay awake by the Keurig at all times to decline the upgrade."

"Tesla owners are facing a forced upgrade to the Tesla Model FU, which now runs on diesel. Tesla officials say that, to decline the upgrade, simply park your car facing towards Redmond when the upgrade agents come by to check. The upgrade agents can come by to check at any time, including when you're in the middle of driving."

I could go on, but do you get my point? People should not be required to be actively vigilant about keeping their equipment from suddenly having massive (and potentially ruinous) changes forced on them.

Re:Nuked my local game store's POS software

[Motherfucking Shit]

Let me guess...

Windows Home edition, everything on "automatic", and no ongoing maintenance was being done to keep it current outside of business hours.

It shouldn't matter.

Microsoft, and in turn most IT professionals, have spent the better part of 20 years encouraging everyone to keep Windows Update turned on. This is how you keep your system secure, guard against exploits and vulnerabilities, and receive bug fixes. It's generally a good thing. Never in all that time did enabling automatic updates, even "everything," run the risk of installing an entirely new fucking operating system without the user asking for it. There's no reason why a machine running any version of Windows, set to automatically install all categories of updates, should ever install an entirely new fucking operating system without the user asking for it. It's behavior that is entirely unexpected and contrary to how Windows Update has worked since its inception.

Microsoft has really gone beyond the pale with this one, as now people are routinely disabling Windows Update, refusing any update that prompts to install, etc. as they're afraid of a Windows 10 installation that they do not want sneaking in. This entire disaster of a product launch has moved security backwards.

Wrong info shown

[ITRambo]

Windows 10 was released almost ten months ago, not eight. Fortunately that leaves just under two and one half months, not four, until the anniversary update after which strong arm upgrade tactics should stop.

Re:Wrong info shown

[sir-gold]

I think this article was actually written 2 months ago

"Malware-like upgrade system"

[JustAnotherOldGuy]

"...Microsoft's malware-like upgrade system..."

This isn't "malware-like", this IS malware.

Win 10 takes control of your PC from you, collects all sorts of data on you and from you and sends it back to who god where. You cannot stop it and it can "upgrade" or alter itself at will whenever it wants without your permission (and sometimes explicitly against your permission).

If that isn't "malware", I don't know the meaning of the word.

Re:FUCKING LIARS EVERYWHERE

[Anonymous Coward]

I know my way around Windows, and I declined every Windows 10 upgrade prompt, only to wake up one morning sitting at the Windows 10 registration screen. This shit *does* happen, but for whatever reason, doesn't seem to affect every installation equally.

My father has a very similar Lenovo desktop to mine, but he *never* received the GWX component via. Windows Update for some reason.

Expectations?

[fahrbot-bot]

Meanwhile the U.S. Marine Corps has discovered half their computers unexpectedly can't remotely upgrade to Windows 10, slowing their transition to what they expect to be a much more secure operating system.

Why would they expect it to be *more* secure - 'cause 10 is higher than 7 and 8? If it's any different, it's less secure and will be broken when used on the secure network, detached from the world and can't, for example, use the location data for Cortana / Bing searches, etc... (disabling location disables Cortana, from what I read).

Re: Expectations?

[hackwrench]

Actually I find it unlikely that the military wants Cortana.

Re:Expectations?

[FlyHelicopters]

:) the irony is that if MS simply sold that version for $100 I'll bet a number of people would buy it.

Offer the current version for $19 or the super secure and locked down version for $100. Just make it the Enterprise LTSB version, I imagine someone wants it. :)

It happened to my parents...

[Krokus]

I got a phone call from my dad the other day. Apparently, he was on his computer playing a game when the computer suddenly killed his game, went to a black screen and then informed him that Windows was going to reboot to install Windows 10. Since this wasn't a problem I could deal with remotely, I told him to just let it go ahead and install it. He doesn't seem to mind Windows 10 but my mother, who hates change, despises it.

This seems like a really stupid idea on Microsoft's part. I mean, what about developers? What if an auto-upgrade to Windows 10 breaks some of the older development tools they're relying on for the project they're in the middle of developing? What if drivers start crashing? What happened to letting people wait for the bug dust to settle before feeling safe enough to upgrade to a new OS?

And while I'm sure someone would say "well, it's their own fault for using older tools", bear in mind that not all development projects are targeted at current hardware and some development tools are proprietary to the companies who own said hardware, leaving no alternatives.

Re:FUCKING LIARS EVERYWHERE

[sumdumass]

I'm not posting AC but you still do no know who I am. I find nothing disagreeable with his statement and certainly posting Anonymous Coward doesn't automagically invalidate anything being said. I just built two windows 10 workstations to test comparability with some specific software and put libre office on one of them. A higher up making a lot more money than I decided he needed an office suite and did the same. Turns out he cannot be assed to look at the domain name and went to some site that looked like a child created it with the .in or some extension like that instead of .org. He put icons on his desktop for the applications but installed a crapton of spyware in the process and one of them actually popped up a message saying microsoft support, clink on the link to resolve this application issue. It then gave him a phone number to call which he did and they wanted a credit card. He will not admit to giving a credit card number but I found out when he asked my why I liked libre office when it doesn't run right and wants you to pay more than the site license of MS office we had.

Of course this same moron had some say in the two programs I am trying to find a work around for because they do not work the same from windows 7 to windows 10 and there seems to be no easy way to pull data to another program. To be fair, it was a legacy ordeal patched into win7 from XP. But in my experience, this is not unusual for the types of people who seem to get paid the most in IT. They are better bullshitters than techs and it puts used car salesmen in good standing in some cases.

Re:Windows?

[BarbaraHudson]

Because is seems like this crap has been going on forever, driving people to booze and cheap drugs? :-)

Turn off "GWX"

[DigitalSorceress]

For folks who aren't terribly computer savvy (So.. theoretically not Slashdot)

Go get "Never 10" freeware from GRC... it uses the officially Microsoft sanctioned means of permanently disabling the whole "Get Windows 10" stuff

https://www.grc.com/never10.ht...

This is a good option for "mom support"

For those willing to muck about in the registry:

Open Regedit, navigate to the following key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate

Important: If that key doesn't exist, you'll need to create it.

Create a DWORD value called DisableOSUpgrade and set it to 1

There's also a good quick and dirty:
http://www.windowsmechanic.com...

Don't want Windows 10?

[NormAtHome]

GWX control panel http://ultimateoutsider.com/do... it'll remove the Windows 10 upgrade app and prevent an automatic upgrade.

Back-ups aren't always enough

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

I have several pieces of expensive professional software that required activation installed on my work Windows 7 box. As we discovered after a sudden drive failure on the previous machine, all the back-ups in the world won't help you in that situation, and presumably it would be the same if you suddenly lost access due to the unexpected Windows 10 update and imaginary password issue described here.

This is, of course, a very good argument against accepting that sort of software activation in the first place. Sadly, in some professional markets, you literally won't have a choice if you want/need to use any of the top level software products.

Or

[drinkypoo]

There is also GWX Control Panel.