Annoying Windows 10 Update Request Highlights Its Annoying-Ness On Live Weather Broadcast
from the ten-percent-chance-of-hilarious dept
Since its launch, Windows 10 has received its fair share of criticism, mostly revolving around the very valid privacy concerns that the megalithic company has chosen to shrug off as mere noise from the peanut gallery. Now, I have more than one machine at home, and I have upgraded some of them and have chosen not to upgrade others. Because of this, I am victim of Microsoft’s quite regular insistence that I upgrade everything I own to Windows 10, which presents itself in the form of a popup. This popup tells me that Microsoft thinks it knows what I should do better than I do and offers me two glorious options: upgrade to 10 immediately or schedule the upgrade to run at a different time in the future. Closing the popup satisfies it…for a while. Then it pops up again, because there’s no option to tell Microsoft to boil its new operating system in water and screw off.
But what’s a minor annoyance for me can be something altogether different for others. Say, for instance, a live newscast just trying to give its viewers the weather.
Yes, the annoyance that is this popup gets the spotlight treatment on live television, successfully sending the weather forecast askew as it interrupts the broadcast. Is it a funny little occurrence? You betcha. Does meteorologist Metinka Slater deal with the whole thing in stride? Mostly, I guess. But it’s the obviously planned lack of options Microsoft’s request presents that should piss people off here.
As always the annoying window offered two choices — ‘Upgrade now’, or ‘Start download, upgrade later’. Slater wisely chose neither option and switched to another video source instead.
The point is that Microsoft’s bull-headed attempt to push its latest operating system on the public wouldn’t be so blatant if it simply allowed people, including newsrooms, to shut it the hell up. But that truly is probably asking too much.
Filed Under: alert, metinka slater, update, weather, windows 10
Companies: microsoft
Comments on “Annoying Windows 10 Update Request Highlights Its Annoying-Ness On Live Weather Broadcast”
The weather forecast
Sunny, mild, and scattered chances of Microsoft being douche bags.
GWX Control Panel FTW.
Re: The weather forecast
Or Never10 by GRC.
Re: The weather forecast
Ten mile an hour Windows
Re: The weather forecast
Scattered?
FYI, how to turn the notice off:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_upgrade/how-do-i-turn-off-notifications-to-upgrade-to/99b8fa20-277a-498b-a5d1-65bc6f70891c
Re: Re:
That just hides the icon from the tray. I’m sure it wouldn’t stop the popup this TV station received, or any of the other harassment methods.
Re: Re:
Or you can follow the instructions from Microsoft on how to disable both the upgrade and the notification instead of just hiding the icon from the tray:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080351
Re: Re: Re:
Because your customer should have to read all of that rather than just have a 3rd option “Do not remind me”.
Re: Re: Re:
best sarcasm I’ve seen in a while.
Re: Re: Re:
Wow. Microsoft sure doesn’t make turning off the automatic Windows 10 “Upgrade” easy, do they?
Re: Re: Re: Turning off window upgrade adverts isn't easy.
That’s why a nice engineer had to make a utility to do it.
You can tell when Microsoft messes up when a nice engineer has to make a nice utility which becomes common practice for everyone to use.
Like the Windows 8 start-up menus.
Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
FYI, how to REALLY turn off Microjunk’s notice:
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop
then, once you have Linux, you’ll only ask yourself why you didn’t change over earlier – like a decade ago.
Why pay for software? Why be held ransom by a company? With Windows 7, you owned the product, kinda. If you upgrade to WinX, the first thing you find is the EULA telling you that you don’t own it, you are merely a ‘user’ on ‘a system’. So, in effect, it’s like someone coming in your garage, taking your car, giving you a lease car, and then telling you that at anytime they like, they can search it, rummage through anything in it, or just take it away from you.
Take back your software OWNERSHIP, ditch the NSA-Micro-Junk, and get an OS you own once again.
Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
I haven’t really experimented with Linux since I completely destroyed the entire networking stack to the point the whole OS had to be reinstalled simply by trying to install wireless card drivers.
TBH, though, I’m okay with Windows. It works better for me than Linux ever did and probably ever can for the foreseeable future.
Re: Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
Every other Ubuntu major update would trash my system to the point of not being able to log in to the black screen that just came up.
I don’t have time to waste on half-finished crap, which will always be half-finished, because it’s created by programmers without QA teams.
Re: Re: Re:2 How to turn off microsoft's notice
“I don’t have time to waste on half-finished crap”
You mean Windows?
Re: Re: Re:2 How to turn off microsoft's notice
Then may I suggest Linux Mint? The stuff is QAed to hell and back, and if you take the business stable branch is supported for a decade. And even if you take the not-quite-as-stable branch, it’s still not bleeding edge, everything is usually well finished, and a few clicks in the XFCE environment will reskin things to look like WinXP for the most part…
Re: Re: Re:2 How to turn off microsoft's notice
I agree about Ubuntu: I’ve tried it numerous times over the years, and it has never given me anything but grief. But that is a problem with Ubuntu, not Linux.
Re: Re: Re:2 How to turn off microsoft's notice
That’s not a bug, that’s a feature! You get a half-finished OS that you can finish yourself. Oh, the fun!
Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
Which sounds great, in theory, until you realize it can’t actually do anything because all the programs are written for Windows. Particularly in this day and age when the advent of the mobile device has moved low-end work off of PCs, the main uses that are left are for heavyweight stuff like gaming (a vast, barren desert in Linux-land) and content creation (ditto.)
Re: Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
I disagree about content creation, but to a certain degree it depends on what kind you’re doing. Certain very specialized things are dependent on Windows software.
What you say about games still has some truth to it, but it isn’t nearly as true as it used to be, and the situation is constantly improving.
But saying it “can’t actually do anything because all the programs are written for Windows” is simply incorrect. The vast majority of things you can do with Windows you can do with Linux. And there’s a number of things you can do with Linux that you can’t do with Windows (at least not without great difficulty).
In the end, this is no different than any other tech choice: it depends on your particular situation. In my experience, the majority Windows users could switch to Linux without losing functionality. Whether or not that’s something they should so is impossible to say without knowing their situation.
However, for those who really don’t want to get onto Microsoft’s Windows 10 train, Linux is likely to provide a perfectly acceptable alternative.
Re: Re: Re:2 How to turn off microsoft's notice
…or on Apple’s, if you don’t mind going from bad to worse. But it’s hardly “very specialized things;” most of the most fundamental content creation tools simply aren’t available. There’s no Photoshop on Linux and no alternative to it, for example. (Some people who have never actually used both Photoshop and GIMP suggest GIMP as an alternative. Those who are actually familiar with both programs are much more likely to use it as support for my position. It’s that bad.)
Let’s pretend, for a moment, that the “you” in question is not me, lifelong computer programmer, but rather John Q. Person, who sees computers as a tool to use rather than a thing to tinker with. How confident are you in that statement, and particularly in its relevance to things that I would actually ever care about doing?
Re: Re: Re:3 How to turn off microsoft's notice
“How confident are you in that statement, and particularly in its relevance to things that I would actually ever care about doing?”
It depends on what you think I said. I was talking here about specialty applications (which seems fair in the context of this discussion.)
If we’re talking about the sorts of use that the average computer user cares about, then the criticisms of both Linux and Windows that we’ve aired here don’t apply anyway.
I’ve shifted a fair number of average computer users to Linux, and with a single exception, every one of them has been happy.
The only serious downside to Linux that I can see is the game issue, but that’s not an issue at all for lots of people.
I just want to be clear here: I’m not a Linux evangelist. I believe in using the tool that helps you the best. If that’s Windows, then fantastic! I have no problem.
However, to broadly say that Windows is the superior choice or that Linux is inferior (or the stronger way you put it: completely worthless) is simply, objectively, incorrect.
Re: Re: Re:4 How to turn off microsoft's notice
The only serious downside to Linux that I can see is the game issue, but that’s not an issue at all for lots of people.
And there are a lot of games that don’t run under Windows either.
Re: Re: Re:3 How to turn off microsoft's notice
What?
Gimp, Krita, Blender, Inkscape, Synfig Studio, Art of Illusion, Pencil, Darktable, Delaboratory, Fotoxx, Fracplanet, Hugin, Makehuman, Meshlab, MyPaint, Rawtherapee, Tupi, Ufraw, Wings3d, Just to name some of the photo and arts orientated 2d and 3d software available for Linux. Unlike Adobe creative suite, these are not tied to cloud services, with the risk of them disappearing suddenly.
Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
Yes, because the best solution is to take users who can’t manage to find a start button and make them use an unfamiliar OS. That is sure to make them more secure.
So the natural evolution of these operating systems if they started having a mass influx of users would be to start engineering them to protect the user from themselves.
Look, I get it. I don’t like Microsoft either. However, there’s being ‘right’ and being ‘realistic’. Telling people’s grandparents to switch to linux is just not realistic.
Re: Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
Who said anything about telling people’s grandparents to switch to another OS?
I think that what Skeeter was saying is that if you find Windows 10 too objectionable, Linux provides an escape route. I don’t think he was saying to go out and forcibly switch other people who aren’t having a problem.
Re: Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
Yes, because the best solution is to take users who can’t manage to find a start button and make them use an unfamiliar OS.
If they can’t find the start button it sounds like they’re already using an unfamiliar OS.
Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
I would consider it if skype, which I need for work, was at all functional on Linux. Maybe there’s a distro where it works but on Mint on the machine I’ve tried it on it’s completely broken. Since it’s owned by Microsoft, I don’t expect that situation to improve.
Re: Re: Re: How to turn off microsoft's notice
Microsoft bought Skype, and promptly centralised the servers, to make surveillance easier, and abandoned Linux support to let the code die by bit-rot. Just one more way they keep the captive market and serve US interests.
Or you can use GWX Control Panel like Mr. Nonken suggested. It’s great.
Annoyance (to the TV station) it may have been. Personally, I can’t think of any better way Microsoft could have shot themselves in their collective foot! 😉
Yes, I got a good laugh out of it. Nice recovery on the part of the weathercaster.
Upgrades
> But it’s the obviously planned lack of options
> Microsoft’s request presents that should piss people off
> here.
Apple has started doing this with its iOS also. Every day I’m interrupted with a pop-up on my iPhone which tells me there’s a new version of the OS waiting for me and I’m given the option of either “Install Now” or “Later”. If you choose “Later”, it brings up another pop-up that says “Install Tonight” or “Remind Me Later”. The latter option just resets the clock for 24 hours and the process starts all over again.
Nowhere is there a “I’ll Upgrade When I Decide I Want to And Not Until Then, Now Shut the Fuck Up And Leave Me Alone” option.
Re: Upgrades
Android has this annoying feature as well, with the side ‘benefit’ of not being able to actually install because my phone is rooted. But it doesn’t stop the popup from being omnipresent.
Re: Re: Upgrades
Huh. I don’t have this problem on my rooted devices. I do two things that might be why: I disable all upgrade or other phone home checks that options allow me to, and I use a firewall to prevent anybody from phoning home without my saying so.
I have one Android device that I can’t root, and I do get upgrade notices for that one, but they aren’t intrusive: I get a single popup, then an icon in just sits in the action bar forever.
Re: Re: Upgrades
What?? You get Android updates?
Re: Upgrades
Thank you for mentioning this.
Look, I understand that every version of the OS adds security features and what not, but if my phone is running fine for me, why do I need to upgrade? And why does Apple need to nag me every single day?
Where’s the “stop nagging me” button?!
Exactly the marketing Microsoft deserves.
This is as good as public seminars getting interrupted by blue screens of death, and the tedious reboot process.
This disruption of your event brought to you by MICROSOFT WINDOWS 10 GET IT NOW! Y/N
Re: Exactly the marketing Microsoft deserves.
FTFY.
Re: Re: Exactly the marketing Microsoft deserves.
This one actually made me LOL.
Uninstalling update KB3035583 will remove the popup. It pisses me off that all of this is pushed as vague updates instead of exactly what it is. Its annoying on my home machines, its a HUGE PAIN IN THE ASS at work trying to keep these “updates” off the machines at work. (I may be over dramatizing that last part a bit)
Re: Actually no.
KB3035583 is one of the updates that installs it, but removing the update doesn’t uninstall it.
The process of removing the icon and the pop-ups is enumerated on the web in multiple places. Then there is the GWX Control Panel worthy of much praise and glorification.
Re: Re:
That may not work actually. Microsoft has pushed out multiple versions of KB3035583, and if you had a prior version, uninstalling it just rolls back one version. The GWX Control Panel guy discovered that. (There’s a TL;DR version at the bottom of the post that sums everything up.)
There's an app for this problem
Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Fedora; Linux x86_64; rv:45.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/45.0
Re: There's an app for this problem
AMEN, BROTHER! I used to cringe at comments like a lot here, but having changed over to Linux (Ubuntu 14.04LTS) I can say that I was a fool for not doing it much sooner. My computers run nearly twice as fast, my server is more stable, my bandwidth dropped considerably (no spying, no bandwidth consumption), and I will NEVER get a ‘upgrade or die’ threat from Microjunk again! Considering that the internet runs on a Linux structure, the ‘cloud’ is linux in structure, and most large databases as well as company servers run linux – only the desperate won’t spend the 7-days to learn a new, and very fluid system that they would OWN, that ‘couldn’t be taken away’ from them, and that they can do ANYTHING with that they want to (want to build a server? Great, that’s $0.00, cash. want a mail server? Great, that’s $0.00 cash. want a media server? Great…well, you get the idea.
I have a 14-Terrabyte 64-bit server powered by Ubuntu that I think I might have $500 total invested in (took me about 3-hours to build the hardware like I wanted). It isn’t rocket science, it’s just that microjunk has the mass-public so scared of changing, they won’t consider it further. GREAT CORPORATE STRATEGY, foolish clientele.
On a couple of my machines, it bugs me to upgrade and then says the machine doesn’t meet the requirements. So I’m stuck in a loop where it won’t do the upgrade but it won’t stop bugging me to upgrade.
I can assure you it’s no peanut gallery concerned with the privacy issues. The company I work for is a fairly large name in the computer industry and they absolutely have many concerns with the privacy issues of Windows 10.
Re: When it came out that Windows 10 likes to play police informant...
I blocked all outgoing data to the respective Microsoft sites at the Router level.
Probably a good idea at any public router.
Re: Re: When it came out that Windows 10 likes to play police informant...
Thought I’d point out that it doesn’t matter whether or not you have anything to hide; unauthorized data egress is bad. Truth is, you don’t know who is going to see the data, or even what data they get to see.
Re: Re: When it came out that Windows 10 likes to play police informant...
Proven fact: with Win 10, you are STILL leaking data, even if you have your router ports blocked, because Win 10 will use improvised porting (even using 80) to send ‘telemetry’ back to Redmond, if they desire. A recent security test found that even with all ports blocked except 80, that Winjunk 10 was sending up to 3,000 packet exchanges in an 8-hour test period back to Redmond with ‘significant’ metadata in it. The ONLY way to stop Win 10 from spying on you, is to ‘offline’ the whole system (remove it from your lan and all available wifi or bluetooth connectivity). If you have a newer PC or laptop, this is most-likely impossible.
Some thoughts on Windows 10
I have an HP X13 dockable “laptablet” I upgraded it from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 about a month ago. The download took over there hours which I let run overnight. On this system the upgrade went very smoothly.
I like the Windows 10 UI better than Windows 8.1 but still prefer Windows 7 to either of them. My primary complaint is that I have no control over when it downloads updates. I don’t want it downloading updates while I’m in a coffeeshop trying to look something up on Google Maps. I want it downloading updates when I am at home on my own connection after I go to bed.
Also recommended under "annoying Windows 10 'features'"
The “you’re running low on disk space” which cannot be turned off.
“Yes you’ve already told me two hundred times. I get it. Now f*ck off!”
Poor Corporate America
That got fooled into running everything on the Windows ecosystem. When will they learn? When the level of misery exceeds the level of pain… Funny that while I recommend upgrading to Windows 10 to clients, co-workers and family, especially if they use Windows 8, I wouldn’t install it on any tower or laptop of mine if Microsoft gave it away for free. Try an Ubuntu LTS version, or Kali if you really want to have fun, in dual boot mode. That way you can check it out before committing. If you can get Windows 10 to dual boot, that is…
Just upgrade already, sheesh
Use pretty much anything these days and it’s telemetry tracked to help them make the products better, learn about device failures, drivers failures, et, et.
This doesn’t just happen for consumer computers, your IT department – if wise – has scanned your devices for malware or misconfigured settings to ensure they work on their network in a secure fashion.
What Microsoft collects on Windows 10, they more than likely did on Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista as well but with the state of privacy concerns they now publicize the fact. Remember those .sqm collections from older windows systems, that was telemetry.
If you want better hardware with more stable software running on it, telemetry is how companies make that happen on a large scale even inside your company by your IT department.
It’s a non-issue for me.
Whoever wanted details about me, doesn’t need to look on my machine, public records like what property you own, what car you drive, who and when you were married, et is all there on government servers for anyone to abuse. Electively using Google or Yahoo or Bing or using any of their browsers you are giving them data about you.
Use a VPN, you probably were added to a list to keep an eye on by some government agency; by Netflix who because of licensing by the media companies needs to lock out those VPNs.
To make a fuss about Microsoft trying to give away a more stable and feature rich version of an operating system, which in turn makes support easier and helps the OEMs focus on computer builds seems highly counter productive.
This all started with a certain Valve exec hating on the coopetition (cooperation/competition) by trying to define what an Operating system should be, meaning no stores so Steam can be your preferred store, heck Steam is trying to build an OS to “lock you”/bring you into their store on a variant of Linux – serious irony there.
The muck tossed around is FUD, fear uncertainty and doubt. It’s being used against Microsoft to drive eyeballs to sales and tracking elsewhere. It’s meaningless in the greater scheme.
What interests me and that bigger scheme comes down to applications I want that work – that has been and will for many years be a Windows system, in this case Windows 10. The stuff I want to use just doesn’t come on an Apple or Linux variant.
Win10 doesn’t crash on me, the applications and especially the games are there, many of which I purchased and downloaded using Steam. Upgrading from Windows 7 and Windows 8 then 8.1 to Windows 10 was hassle free on my families machines. Click and pretty much walk away for a bit and it was set to go with the updated applications I had installed working.
The way Microsoft has handles this isn’t perfect, but the process works, just look at the hundreds of millions of machines updated already.
The real question is, why didn’t the TV station press okay and upgrade to begin with? Is a driver for their video card multiple screen display not available for Windows 10 or did F.U.D. cause this station to become the news?
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
I have never had more computer problems in my life since I was forced to upgrade to Windows 10. If that wasn’t bad enough, now they force all their updates. I don’t want all their damn features! I just want a basic, more reliable system, and I miss both XP and Windows 7 immensely because that is exactly what they were!
Re: Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
Please don’t feed the trolls. Just click Flag and move on.
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
I don’t want my computer to think for me, and I don’t want it to do everything for me. I want it to do what I choose and when I choose to do it.
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
You’re the exact kind of evangelistic lemming Micro$oft loves! ????
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
Our upgrades happen on a set schedule and we pick and choose which ones get installed and when.
“If you want better hardware with more stable software running on it, telemetry is how companies make that happen on a large scale even inside your company by your IT department.” We dont collect your browsing history, searches etc.
Windows 7 & 8 have been more than stable and windows 10 asks the user to give up a lot more than it’s “new” functions are worth.
“The way Microsoft has handles this isn’t perfect, but the process works, just look at the hundreds of millions of machines updated already.” Free. Thats why. If it were $249 retail and 169 OEM do you think the adoption rate would be so high? Do you think if it wasn’t being pushed night and day the adoption rate would be so high? Of course it wouldn’t.
“The real question is, why didn’t the TV station press okay and upgrade to begin with? Is a driver for their video card multiple screen display not available for Windows 10 or did F.U.D. cause this station to become the news?” One would think that the TV stations IT would have had GP in place to block the update. I have an AD setup at home and one of my devices, my wife’s, was getting the popup although GP was appearing to apply correctly. At work we have had a few machines as well. So… wonder of wonders not all things work as expected. Who’da thunk.
One of my clients deals with HIPAA and they are never going to switch to 10 because:
1. The uncertainty of what gets collected and sent to Microsoft and its partners.
2. Their clients are telling them not to as a condition of their contracts.
Windows10 is a security vulnerability by design through and through. It’s an advertising platform disguised as an OS.
The only box in my house that will have it is the gaming rig for DX12. I don’t do anything else on that machine but play games.
OldSystemsLeaveYouInsecure Really? Because the new one does a pretty good job of it as well.
Re: Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
Don’t bother with giving the gaming rig win10, not even for dx12. Make MS prove DX12 is actually worth giving up 7 for before you give yourself a headache.
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
Nice try Mr. Microsoft mouthpiece.
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
“If you want better hardware with more stable software running on it, telemetry is how companies make that happen on a large scale even inside your company by your IT department.
It’s a non-issue for me.”
What your company does is beside the point. The issue with Windows 10 isn’t that it does telemetry — it’s that you can’t turn the telemetry off if you don’t want it. That makes Windows 10 spyware.
“The real question is, why didn’t the TV station press okay and upgrade to begin with?”
Perhaps, like a lot of people, they don’t want to run Windows 10?
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
You do have some good points for further discussion but I disagree with you.
Telemetry data is actually ok and I generally don’t mind to help by enabling such things when I actually fully trust who is behind the software. Microsoft has yet to earn a good portion of trust they have been steadily losing before I allow such thing. And it should be OPT IN. They can actively ask me to opt in in the setup process but they cannot or at least should not force it.
But the problem with W10 goes beyond mere telemetry. It’s been stated they are collecting other unrelated data for advertising purposes. Again, this would be a non-issue if it was opt in like the above. And if they actually respected when you turn these things off. There’s plenty of evidence they don’t care. On W7 such systems were forced in recently. And they started using a system that’s designed to deliver security updates and important stuff as a way to deliver malware. I mean, force ‘telemetry’ and advertisement profiling. So yes, while I do agree that W10 runs smoother in my machine, is generally more stable and the likes it has a very problematic privacy issue.
And of course there’s this idiocy of being obnoxious about updates. If it’s going to support W7 till 2020 or something then there’s NO need to update now. Why force? Because they want to be Apple and control everything and W10 is moving towards this. Any developer should be very worried with the path Microsoft is moving with their Windows Store. Win32 style programs will be dead before you know it. Maybe this will finally be the push needed to get Linux mainstream?
Re: Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
Its almost as if the TLAs have gotten their spyware into Window 10, and are now pressuring Microsoft to get everybody to upgrade so that they can spy on them.
Re: Just upgrade already, sheesh
If it’s so easy, you can come to my house and set mine up when it happens. Usually when I update operating systems (I started in DOS) it takes me a month of torture to put the buttons and switches and program menus where they belong. “Belong” meaning friendly to my use of a computer.
Of course, if you like being jerked around — and some people do — just bend over and take whatever they give you. As you can see, they have control over your machine.
Options - EUA
END USER LICESNE AGREEMENT:
We own you.
[Agree][Agree]
Block a few updates, that's it
I don’t have this issue.
You can prevent that window from appearing without any flaky third party tools.
1) Turn off recommended updates. They are easy enough to research and apply on your own, if you choose, while not leaving you vulnerable to security issues.
2) Uninstall and hide all of the following updates:
KB2952664
KB3035583
KB3075249
KB3080149
KB3123862
KB3147071
3) As you update in the future, make sure you don’t install the above, they will be italicized if they appear again.
4) Done!
Re: Block a few updates, that's it
5) Remember to constantly check for new updates that also install Windows 10
6) Hope Microsoft never decides to bundle a Windows 10 installer with a critical security update.
Re: Re: Block a few updates, that's it
They have already installed intrusive advertising with an IE11 security update. It’s just not been too much of a big deal since most technards don’t use IE11.
But, it’s a line they’ve crossed already.
Re: Re: Block a few updates, that's it
I considered adding #5 to the list, but I thought it was convered under #1.
#6 you can’t do much about, but if/when it happens, it’s a rare event, and you can always remove the KB later.
Re: Block a few updates, that's it
I always click the info on any update to see if it is 10 related. I also ran a batch file in CMD that checks for and uninstalls any you might have missed. I checked all the ones you listed and I guess I already got them. It pisses me off the way they keep putting KB3035583 back in after you hide it.
Re: Re: Block a few updates, that's it
Yeah, if they rerelease it for whatever reason (update due to another hotfix), then it’ll show up again.
At least they usually show up as italic, so they’re easy to spot.
When it's no longer free
I’m curious to know what these “reminders” will become once the free upgrade period is over. Will they be continued, only with a price attached, or go away, or something else?
Re: When it's no longer free
“To access your files please renew subscription.”
Re: When it's no longer free
The free period will just be extended.
The time limit is probably just a marketing gimmick.
Re: When it's no longer free
There will NEVER be a time that Microsoft doesn’t want you to install 10. They might pretend that your free chance has expired for a while and then later that they are generously giving you another chance so more lemmings will jump off the cliff.
Turning off Windows 10 updates...
…is nowhere near as hard as most people seem to make it. If you’re in corporate environment, use WSUS, or if that isn’t available, Group Policy. If you aren’t, set the following two Registry keys to 1 (DWORD):
These have been documented since before Win10 was released, and they work fine (I use them in my development VMs, which for obvious reasons must not be upgraded). If you trust me, you can simply import this .reg file, and it’ll disable the nags for you.
a further example of why Microsoft cant be trusted to update machines without the customer knowing what is in the updates and what harm will be done!
I dont have get Notifications anymore
Not sure if I’m interpreting the comments correctly but I havent had a problem since I canceled the reservation…
Right click on icon in Notification Panel, Check your upgrade status, on the top left of the window that opens is a button that expands into a side menu, in Confirm Reservation there is the option to cancel the upgrade, the icon is still in the panel but it stops the notifications. This works in 8.1 anyway.
Steve Gibson Never10
Steve Gibson Never10 Freeware https://www.grc.com/freepopular.htm
Really, Tim? You own several machines with various operating systems and you write for a technology site. How do you not know that while none are plainly obvious, there are actually several rather easy ways to block the Windows 10 upgrade nags? I expected better.
Solution is simple really
Upgrade it. Why run obsolete is? Apple forces everyone to its latest version, who’s whining like a 2 year old for dinner being forced to upgrade their iPhones? There’s more complaining with the fact Andriod phones are so out of the current version. Just get w10 and move on with your lives.
Re: Solution is simple really
Or – run a better OS
Re: Solution is simple really
The solution is simple. Bitch and complain to the company to stop forcing you to upgrade.
Sometimes I like their upgrades. Sometimes I do not. I want support and updates, yes. But I don’t want them to completely redesign the system under my nose. (“material design”) And if I do want that, then it should at least be an option, not force fed.
I can understand iPhone sheep just taking it without question.
Just get ${insert-disease-here} and move on with your lives.
I’m glad I’ve run Linux since 1999. I’ll have Windows 10 forced upon me at work soon enough.
Re: Solution is simple really
Or better yet, stop using the malware that is Microsoft Windows.
Re: Solution is simple really
If you can’t think your way through ‘Why run obsolete?’ then we probably can’t explain this satisfactorily to you. First off, why build for obsolescence? What’s wrong with Win 7? Tell me which was better, Win 7 or Win 8? (a prime devaluer of your argument to start with). Why MUST a user upgrade? Why can’t they keep what they like? (do you often get FORCED to sell your old car and buy a new one? NO, you don’t…evil is the product or company that mandates this).
Consider, that any other company that tried this would be dead-in-the-water in days, but because everyone thinks they are held-hostage by WinJunk, they keep suffering Microjunk’s abuse. Now, FYI, there IS a free solution that is old, stable, and yet more solid than ANY microjunk product that has ever come out – and YOU can KEEP it as YOUR OWN for as long as you want! If you do a features check of Windows against linux, you’ll find that Windows doesn’t begin to compare.
Compare lifecycle, virus vulnerability, stability, size, hardware endurance and many other features, Windows can’t begin to compete. It competes in the home market because, well, you only know how to click a ‘YES’ button. That is the nutshell capture of Winjunk – make it dirt simple, and hide the evil behind a cute window icon with a 40-page EULA the sheep aren’t going to read (why else put the YES button for acceptance at the top of page 1? Because if they put a YES button on every 80th line, and lured people into reading that nightmare, they might not get all to accept it willingly).
Finally, if Windows is so great, why does the world’s internet, corporate databases, large infrastructures and more, run on Linux? Price may be attractive (as in FREE), but in the end, it’s because Winjunk just can’t function at an acceptable level to be dependable! If this were not true, then explain away the truth with facts, not Microjunk propaganda.
If you have admin control of your machine:
Got to /Windows/System32 and find a folder called GWX. Rename or delete this folder (I renamed it to GWX_is_malware).
Windows can’t find and run the GWX tray popup anymore, and keeps quiet for a while. Though, it may come back if you install the wrong update.
Re: Re:
There are still many other GWX registry folders and keys. I did a search and got rid on nearly all of them.
Surprised no one mentioned...
The GWX Control Panel yet. 😉
http://blog.ultimateoutsider.com/2016/03/gwx-control-panel-release-notes-and.html?m=1
win10 sucks
i let MS install Win10 on one of my computers (which was running Win7). i hated it, it looks terrible, things are different for no apparent reason, and Cortana was an annoying RPITA. after a couple days, i tried to revert, but that failed, and i had to reinstall WIN7 from scratch and all of the programs i use.
Win10? No way, no how, never. Ms can KMA.
EULA Translation
Do you wonder what those 47 pages of legal gobbledegook all mean? Has Micro$oft’s EULA got you confused? Welcome to the club. I recently sat down and actually read one of those dastardly things and this is what I found:
1. You have NO rights to anything. We own it all and suffer you to use it…maybe.
2. You paid big bucks to get it, but that’s all you get.
3. Tech support? We don’t need no stinkin’ Tech Support! We spent megabucks to install a voicemail system that is guaranteed to piss off anybody and make them go away in disgust. We don’t want to hear from you…EVER.
4. Warranty – doesn’t exist. What you see is what you get. If the kluge works, great. If it doesn’t, tough. If the software blows up your machine and burns down your house, tough. WE AIN’T RESPONSIBLE – PERIOD.
5. If you live in a state that doesn’t allow such things, have fun. We’ve got far more money and many more lawyers than you’ll ever have. Guess who’s gonna win, after you’re totally broke?
6. Oh yeah. We reserve the right to send anything on your machine to Redmond and shut your machine down whenever we feel like it, licensed or not. WE OWN YOU.
===============
Originally posted by me 6/7/2010:
http://www.techtalkz.com/software-releases/520932-license-agreements.html
“Closing the popup satisfies it…for a while. Then it pops up again, because there’s no option to tell Microsoft to boil its new operating system in water and screw off.”
Not true. If you uninstall the Windows Update package that does this, and tell Windows Update never to download that update, it doesn’t prompt you anymore. I did that on mine. Mind you, it took a full afternoon and three different attempts by the computer to start the Win10 thing before I cleaned all of it out. Rather like getting rid of a virus, honestly.
Microsoft has seen the last of my money.
Postpone Windoze 10
How about selecting to upgrade later — on 29 Feb 2100.
Turning this nonsense off should be as easy to going to an “upgrade options” folder in the control panel. Interrupting a presentation is annoying, but interrupting other computers could be disasterous. Computers being used by medical professional or first responders, not to mention being used to support infrastructure.
Re: Re:
Such users should be running the corporate version of windows, which allows the IT department to control updates. Each license will cost them more, but if you have to run windows in a critical environment, it is the only way to go.
Re: Re: Re:
Such users should be running the corporate version of windows
There is no such thing. There is an enterprise version, but that’s not the same.
Mandatory Windows
You could have been forced to use Windows ME. You could have been forced to use Windows Vista. You could have been forced to use Windows 8.
And all of these will occur in the future, and you will be forced to use them.
The more people use GNU/Linux, the better it gets.
As I pointed out above, getting rid of Windows 10 upgrade notifications requires setting two registry keys that have been documented by Microsoft since last year. No need to install any utility – just set two registry keys, and the notifications will be gone after reboot.
Re: Re:
No need to install any utility – just set two registry keys, and the notifications will be gone after reboot.
Can Windows Update write to the registry? If so, and you have automatic updates turned on, that should read “the notifications will be gone until Microsoft decides they should come back”.
Re: Re: Re:
Do you have any proof for this “Microsoft decides they should come back” actually happens? Because I’ve had the keys set up in my development VMs (which I update regularly) ever since I learnt of them, and I never saw the GWX icon in any of them (and I’ve got clients that use medical software which works on 7 and 8.1, but not 10, which have applied these keys, and similarly didn’t have the GWX icon pop up).
Remember that these keys are documented by Microsoft, unlike the other methods, which to me look some people just looked at what’s happening in the system, then trying to block that from happening without consulting any documentation (which admittedly is how much of Windows development is apparently done, at least if you look at all the workarounds that have to be in Windows to keep old software working).
Re: Re: Re: Re:
Do you have any proof for this “Microsoft decides they should come back” actually happens?
I never claimed that it has happened, so I’m not sure why you’re asking for proof of that. I’m just pointing out these things:
A: Windows Update can update the registry (I think this is true though I haven’t verified)
B: Windows can be configured to automatically install whatever updates Microsoft chooses (I think this is the default configuration)
Given these facts, if a system is so configured it naturally follows that Microsoft can undo your solution whenever it wants. Will they do so? How much do you trust them not to?
I found a way to get rid of my annoying update reminder, or “nagware” as some people call it. Details here.
Basically, you edit the registry. When your system won’t let you, for whatever reason, there’s a handy free download of a control panel you can use that gives you full control over your PC, i.e. you can choose to upgrade later if you want to. I’ve used and reviewed it, and recommend it. Details here.