Microsoft is forcing Windows 10 upgrades!
Let me preface with the fact that I don't normally rant. My IT career started with DOS and I have been seriously using Windows ever since version 3.0. I write my own small tools, applications and scripts for Windows and every now and then, I use Linux as well.
Like many other Windows 7 or 8 users I have seen the “Reserve your Windows
 |
| Image: techusg.com |
Microsoft made clear that you have up to one year to decide to upgrade for free. After that you would have to pay around $130 for the upgrade.
Foolish me! I seriously thought that I could sit at the sideline and wait out the storm before I would decide to upgrade or stay with Windows 7. Windows 7 is going to be supported till 2020, so there is no real hurry. But now I am stuck with this famous “your upgrade is ready to install” window, which respawns in milliseconds when you try to kill the process.
I did NOT reserve our copies of Windows 10 and decided to hide the upgrade icon in the system tray. Normally, I apply updates as soon as they arrive as I am very conscious about security updates. But in this case, even though I saw several updates pending, I decided to wait and see. Years ago I configured the update manager to only download, but not automatically install any update. I was in full control, so I thought!
Not this time! Windows decided that those pending updates HAD to be installed. The Windows update application popped-up with the “Postpone” button grayed out and the count down timer running. These updates were forced onto me. Not long after that came the dreaded “Your upgrade is ready to install” message and again, NO WAY to cancel or postpone the upgrade. The only thing I could do was to select a time within the next 72 hours.
In the mean time, I had inserted/modified several registry entries to disable GWX (Get Windows X), and removed several relevant system updates. To no avail!
The only reason, I still write this on my Windows 7 machine is that I disconnect the internet before rebooting. The upgrade only takes place when you have a working internet connection. But this also means that I have no control over any Windows 7 updates anymore, as the system is obsessed with upgrading to Windows 10 and I am no longer in control over the Windows 7 updates.
I am extremely disappointed with this forced upgrade, actually, I am furious! Yes I know you can upgrade and then downgrade again. But why? As an experienced IT professional, I know the risks and potential problems when upgrading and downgrading again (unless you use an image or system backup). I also read that users who already upgraded and downgraded are confronted with the same pestering upgrade messages again.
Then there are others, like my mother, who uses mobile data with a data cap. The data cap of 500 MB is plenty for her sporadic e-mail and Facebook activities, but now she can't do anything on her PC anymore. The download of Windows 10 uses almost 6 months of her monthly data cap.
Fora on Microsoft and other sites are full with questions and unofficial answers on how to stop this upgrade, but I have found no official guidelines from Microsoft on how to cancel this upgrade. I have seen (and applied) at least 5 different GWX registry modifications. they all look similar, but are actually different, which tells me: No one really knows! It looks like Microsoft is trying to prevent users from stopping this upgrade at any cost. I was not able to go back to a restore point before the main Windows 10 updates were installed, as all restore points older than a few days had been removed. Some people claim success in stopping the upgrade. That is probably because they have removed the relevant updates and implemented the registry changes before a certain date or point in the update process. Since I never saw this coming, I must have been too late.
My question is: Why did Microsoft make us believe that you CAN upgrade at any time between now and June 2016, but in reality FORCES the (non corporate) users to upgrade with no way to opt out? I have spent 4 days now to get rid of this bullshit, and will soon have to bite the bullet since I can't continue to work in this limbo state.
I have Linux running in a Virtual Machine, and depending on how much longer this Windows 10 upgrade is going to pester me, I might seriously consider replacing my Windows logo with a Penguin.
