First aid for forced Windows 10 upgrades

RV_ · March 16, 2016

Woody Leonhard is a real critic of Windows and microsoft, anhd will be over hyped on minor issues a lot, but I still read him because he is very good at pointing out the things many might miss. He uses Windows don't get him wrong. At the end of thois article he says: "If you decide to move to Windows 10, that's great. I'm using Windows 10 on all of my main PCs right now, and I like it. I wrote a 1,000-page book about Windows 10. But I'm also willing to put up with the problems -- and there are plenty of problems. The problem here is that Microsoft isn't giving users a real choice as to when or if they move to Windows 10."

See he neglects to say many of those problems are minor or unnoticed by average users.

But one thing that is getting the attention of average users making them justifiably angry at the forced upgrade. Woody does a great job of getting you patched upo or just getting you your options.

Excerpt:

"Judging by the decibel level, this past weekend Microsoft opened the floodgates for many more forced Windows 10 upgrades. I have no idea how many are affected, but loud screams of pain are popping up all over the Internet.

If you are attached to a corporate domain and got updated this past weekend, complain loudly to your administrators. Chances are good that they're well aware of your predicament.

If you aren't attached to a domain, follow the steps I outline in this post.

But before you do that, first be of good cheer: There's a very good chance you can beat Microsoft into submission.

And second, no, you aren't going crazy, and no, you didn't do anything wrong. I had the same problem. On Saturday morning, one of my Win7 test PCs suddenly sprouted an error message, saying that the attempt to install Windows 10 had failed. It was an absolutely clean Windows 7 PC, and I hadn't done anything to draw Microsoft's ire (beyond the usual, anyway). Sitting there, overnight, it tried to install Windows 10.

How to detect a forced Windows 10 upgrade

Many of you know good and well what Windows 10 looks like. But for those who don't, there's an easy check: Look down in the lower-left corner of the screen, next to the Windows icon. If there's a box to the right of the icon, you're running Windows 10.

If you were running Windows 7 or 8.1, this new version of Windows won't act like your previous version. Click on the Windows icon and you see a Start menu that looks only vaguely like the one you're accustomed to. Many people find that some of their programs and/or some of their peripherals don't work. When you click on items, unfamiliar programs may appear."

The whole article is here: http://www.infoworld.com/article/3043656/microsoft-windows/first-aid-for-forced-windows-10-upgrades.html?token=%23tk.IFWNLE_nlt_infoworld_tech_microsoft_2016-03-16&idg_eid=6aa01e18b29f7b6f9149f611f8eac228&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=InfoWorld%20Windows%20Report%202016-03-16&utm_term=infoworld_tech_microsoft#tk.IFW_nlt_infoworld_tech_microsoft_2016-03-16

It goes on to cover:

How to prevent a forced Windows 10 upgrade

What to do if the forced Windows 10 upgrade failed

What to do if the forced upgrade succeeded despite your wishes

Pieere · March 17, 2016

My old Dell is not compatible for the W/10 upgrade. I installed the GWX Control Panel and shut off the notifications!

bigjim · March 25, 2016

I thought when you hid the update it didn't show up again randomly. Today it showed up again. I "think" they are trying to get me. Aggravating.

LindaH · March 25, 2016

I have automatic updates turned off and I check through all the updates (both important ones and optional ones) to make sure a Windows 10 hasn't snuck in before downloading any of them. I do occasionally get a pop-up when I connect to the Internet about upgrading to Windows 10, but I just close it and go on about my merry way.

Ray,IN · March 26, 2016

I'm sure happy with the performance of the GWX panel software! The latest version was a huge improvement.

RV_ · March 26, 2016

Ray,

Either way is fine and works. I mentioned I don't like to use the programs that change my registry because I can change it using Regedit myself. Then I know what was changed and can change it back later. I was one of those disenchanted with Windows 8 on release, who tried Classic Shell as a work around once I gave up. I had issues after uninstalling classic shell to go back to Windows 8 once I learned the touch system. I had to save data and do a factory restore and start from scratch to get the last of it out.

But for folks not really good with registry editing GWX is their best bet that I can see.

However, Windows 10 will eventually be on every Windows computer and those who won't upgrade their hardware for new capabilities ten years down the road when Windows 10 can do virtual reality out of the box but needs a new computer to run it, as a crazy off the wall example, or can run your house with enough processor and RAM then or any number of crazy to us now, necessary later processor and RAM sucking new functions. Hey, we had no cell phones or Internet except for rarely the whole 7 years we fulltimed, and we did not stop until 2003.

My advice is to go with Windows 10 as it is ready for prime time now, and is as close to Windows 7 as any new system could be.

Let's remember I was skeptical and upgraded my main system three months after the rest. And it was locked down from Windows 10 the way above, and I did not have to look through the updates. After I upgraded the last of our 2 touch AIO desktops, and our two now Windows 10 tablets, one that started as Windows 8, the other, the Surface Pro came in as 8.1. There are 5 more systems here that I am selling but only recently had time to factory restore all but one, and move the data. The one was my old tablet and all I need to do is get the data over to my surface an both are Windows 10 already. But to be able to sell it I have to do a military wipe and then factory restore then a couple of days of windows updates for 8, then 8.1, then 10, then all the updates for 10. The laptops I took in trade for setting up their new systems and they have been upgraded from 7 to 10 and given max RAM and SSD upgrades to be worth buying for someone. MY old method was to buy a new HD or SSD and keep the old one for storage. I can't do that with Tablets, but SSDs can be wiped more effectively and faster.

It has been busy here with our last remaining parent sinking deep into Alzheimer's and dementia. Thus I have just been letting the systems hang around here until I can take the time to be here to sell them from Craigslist. It is my FIL as we buried my MIL Last August.

My advice at this point is why not just get 10 now? Not because you are forced, but because it is not going away and your system can handle it. If your hardware cannot handle Windows 10, and folks, I put it on a 7 year old Compaq that had DDR2 RAM and a single core Celeron, then it IS time for a new computer.

It is really easy to use, has a start button, and from it you can do all you could on a 7 machine and more.