I noticed today that Windows Update on my Win 7 had Windows 10 ready to be installed. I never let WU do anything without my knowledge and this thread showed me why. I know many of my friends have updated their Win 7 or 8 with Windows 10 and absolutely hate it. Some can be scaled back to the original and some can't.
Over on reddit there are widespread reports of unauthorized Windows 10 installs yesterday and today.
IT workers are saying that only Enterprise-level licensees are unaffected, so this is hitting small and medium sized businesses running Domain-attached Pro versions too!
There are a few programs out there that will try to remove the KB that has the Windows 10 ad built in. I will have to check all my other computers to make sure I don't end up with 10. Talk about being forced!
Talk about relentless. Turned on my computer today and right there on the screen, the biggest popup you can imagine ordering me to install Windows 10.
Upon a bit of research, I found where it all starts from. In 2 folders under windows, System32 and WowSystem64, there is a folder called GWX. Inside, you have all that is required to bug/force you to install Win 10.
First off, you have to turn off the GWX running in the taskbar by killing it's process tree in Task Manager.
Once that is done, go to the 2 folders mentionned and take ownership of the folder. There is a REGISTRY file on the internet that takes care of it for you. Always useful for working with Windows.
Once you have ownership, just simply delete the folder. Now will it last? I have no idea. This is the first time that I actually see traces on my computer about Win 10. Will it be a war or just a battle, only time will tell.
^^^^
My ThinkPad, which came with W7 installed, appears to be infected with this, but a W7 virtual machine, on my main Linux system, appears to be immune.
I think everytime there is an update, it tries to copy the KB file that has all the trojan info inside. I haven't checked my computer today yet so it might be a surprise.
A couple of hours ago I did a full backup of my Windows 7 laptop and then started a manual Windows Update on it while GWX Control Panel was running. I took the time to look through all the updates and weeded out the ones related to Windows 10, including the infamous IE11 security patch with the crappy ad payload. Afterwards I checked GWX Control Panel and it correctly prevented all the unwanted stuff, so I'm happy with it. I will not be assuming that the unwanted updates will stay hidden. I'm going to verify each and every time that they are not allowed. What a pain this has become just to install security updates.
Some people have their updates settings set to "Automatically Download and Install Updates" which is mostly good. What Microsoft (not Microspy or M$) is doing is pushing the upgrade as an update and taking advantage of the setting.
THAT I do not agree with .... users should have to choose to install it!
My server had that setting by default, overnight it installed and rebooted leaving some of the VM's in saved state. Change to Download and let me decide when to install
The topic of this thread is plain as day: "Widespread reports of Unauthorized Windows 10 upgrades" and so several posts have been deleted as Off Topic according to the well known Rules Of The Forum. So, here we go again:
This site has been up for a very long time as web forums go, and the topics often concern immediate technical problems experiened with all manner of consumer goods used in today's digital home in Canada. We always have the good of the consumer in mind, first and foremost.
When there are troubles brewing with any such product, the best attitude to have is "let's talk about this", especially when reports of major problems are widespread. It is amazing how people have helped other members over the years, and that's what we love to see. We frown upon posts/comments that try to stifle such conversations.
So, submit messages that are helpful and informative. Our forum and our members benefit greatly. If you have an urge to simply ridicule or stifle a conversation, don't hit that submit button. Revise, re-edit, and reword your message in a positive and respectful manner, then submit it.
Curiously..I did the "stop GWX service, switch to manual updates, remove KB3035583, hide KB3035583.." process last month, but did not delete the System32/GWX or sysWOW64/GWX folders.
This got rid of the nag, and after just now checking for the GWX folders, they are gone!
Still a lot of references for GWX in the registry pointing to those folders, but the folders removed themselves.
According to the Windows event log C:\Windows\System32\winevt\Logs\Microsoft-Windows-GWX-Ins%4Operational.evtx it was not happy for about 10 hours after making the changes last month.
@JamesK : In the article you osted, there is a funny line where it says "Microsoft promised to make the change easy for users." Easy alright, just push the forced update.
I didn't do and don't want the update as I use software that are incompatible with Windows 10. Just like that man in the same article that couldn't do a presentation because his laptop had "updated" to the next version, I don't want any surprises.
Monday March 21 9am The latest Windows updates were installed yesterday (29 in total). One of those suckers has installed a icon in the system tray "inviting me" to Get Windows 10. I do not want win 10 and of course I cannot delete this annoyance not of my choosing. It is a KBxxxxxxxxxxinstall. Any way I can remove it and have my computer back? sailmaker
I've been installing this utility: Ultimate Outsider - Software Downloads
GWX Control Panel
It is pretty flexible - allows you to remove the update icon, disable the update to Windows 10, etc. Quoting from the download page:
This is a free tool that can remove and disable the 'Get Windows 10' notification area icon on Windows 7 and Windows 8. Recent versions can also disable 'Upgrade to Windows 10' behavior in the Windows Update control panel and do much more.
I have installed this on about a dozen systems so far, and I haven't seen any issues with it.
I got rid of the Win10 nags by simply choosing 'Hide icon and notifications' in the notification area properties. It's still there but not usually visible and the nags don't appear.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums
1.7M posts
114.9K members
Since 2001
A forum community dedicated to Canadian TV, computing and home theatre owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about home audio/video, displays, troubleshooting, styles, projects, DIY’s, product reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!