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How to avoid being "upgraded to Win 10" against your will:


dencorso

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Agreed - a multi-level approach seems prudent indeed.  I also have set up a deny-by-default 3rd party firewall configuration, so any "new and improved" telemetry is going to fail, and I'm going to know about it.

The DNS server I'm using is Dual DHCP DNS Server, available as an open source project here:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/dhcp-dns-server/

As you described, it can be run on the same system it's being used on.  I had to tweak the source to be able to handle a large wildcard blacklist, but it was pretty straightforward to do.  At some point I'll join the developer team for the package and submit my changes.

-Noel

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I just formatted my main PC and was installing updates for Windows 8.1, when suddenly a Get Windows 10 screen shows up on reboot, right after logon, and before the desktop showed up... Turns out M$ released today KB3173040, that introduces this "feature" to Windows 8.1 and 7 SP1.

This one's fresh out of the oven, and I let it slip because it was not on this list (and only recently appeared on askwoody.com). I urge dencorso to update his thread.

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On 7/1/2016 at 2:36 AM, greenhillmaniac said:

I just formatted my main PC and was installing updates for Windows 8.1, when suddenly a Get Windows 10 screen shows up on reboot, right after logon, and before the desktop showed up... Turns out M$ released today KB3173040, that introduces this "feature" to Windows 8.1 and 7 SP1.

This one's fresh out of the oven, and I let it slip because it was not on this list (and only recently appeared on askwoody.com). I urge dencorso to update his thread.

My 8.1 Partition again got updated to 10. LOL When MS will Stop  such jobs.

My XP partition shown windows old  and ArcHLinux gone.

fullish boot loader of ms replaced grub needed for linux.

Windows 10 in beast mode

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That hours-long update cycle is a bug. KB 3161608 was supposed to fix it but was itself buggy. So, it was recently replaced by KB 3172605 for Windows 7, and KB 3172614 for Windows 8.1. Here's an article on the topic: http://www.infoworld.com/article/3099109/microsoft-windows/microsoft-yanks-buggy-speed-up-patch-kb-3161608-replaces-it-with-kb-3172605-and-3172614.html

You can try installing the appropriate KB 31726nn update for your system. Hopefully Microsoft finally got it right (at least as far as Windows Update is concerned). They do not seem to include any Win 10 nonsense, as far as I can tell.

Unfortunately all these patches do seem to include telemetry :angry: so you'll probably also want a telemetry blocking solution (as discussed a few posts ago).
 

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I just checked today with my up-to-date Win 7 test VM and got the info about the one additional update available (which REMOVES functionality) in under 3 minutes.

Multiple layer privacy protection has been in place for years.

-Noel

Edited by NoelC
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    I'm pretty sure it won't.  First of all, the upgrade offer is good all day tomorrow on the user's local timezone.  So the free upgrade offer actually ends as the calendar strikes July 30.  At that time, GWX will switch to guilt trip mode.  Given that it keeps popping up every couple of days now with the countdown, I won't be the slightest surprised if it automatically pops up again (at least once), only with the following message this time:

HowToAvoid_GWXexpire.png

    At some point though, GWX will be retired by another Windows Update that will come though and remove it.  Probably sometime in August.  It will be interesting to see just how quickly they do it, though!

Edited by Techie007
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I wanted to add that kb3172605 is still somewhat buggy. First, as Microsoft has documented, it still breaks Intel Bluetooth devices. Second, on my work PC it breaks Mitel's VOIP software (MiCollab 6.0) just as kb3161608 did. So it may not be a solution to slow Windows Update scans for everyone.

The link I provided to Woody's InfoWorld article contained its own link to this page. It's a little hard to follow but gives a workaround. (Unfortunately the workaround may change next Patch Tuesday.) It involves installing a couple of updates on dencorso's blacklist (I'd suggest kb3083710 and kb3102810 for Win 7, kb3083711 and kb3102812 for Win 8.1; despite being on the blacklist, these appear to be relatively safe from both a telemetry and a Win 10 perspective), as well as downloading and installing five security fixes manually (bypassing the search for updates). Once this is done the search for additional updates is purported to take under 15 minutes.

I just hate "roll-up" updates. Why couldn't Microsoft have addressed each issue with a separate update? That way, even if there are problems with one, you could still install the others.
 

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On Friday, July 29, 2016 at 10:06 AM, Mathwiz said:

I just hate "roll-up" updates. Why couldn't Microsoft have addressed each issue with a separate update? That way, even if there are problems with one, you could still install the others.

That's the NuMicrosoft for you, where Windows is being turned into an ad-supported OS and you and I are being changed from the customer into the product. As the product, our convenience and our preferences take a back seat to Microsoft's convenience and preferences.

--JorgeA

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Something to consider as a way to get around the buggy KB3172605 is this. abbodi1406 has made a possible fix:

Quote

Since Microsoft didn't do it, i decided to do it 

i ripped the "Windows Update Client" components off rollup KB3172605
those components are defined and deployed by sub-packages, e.g. Package_301_for_KB3172605
so i extracted/prepared/repacked those packages to be installed easily as individual .cab files

why?
simply because this WUClient version provides the long-awaited fix for the long scan issue in WU
which makes it a highly priority update that should be installed

but, i know there are users who skip installing rollups KB3161608/KB3172605 for various reasons
some are having issues with the rollup (such as the Bluetooth one)
some don't like to install other "unrelated" optional fixes just to get the WU fix
and some just choose not to install any non-security updates

i also know that most of those user might skip my project as well 

you can install the packages yourself with dism, or use the scripts i made to automate the process

And if you're not comfortable using someone else's file, in the next post in that thread he explains how he created the file from the KB3172605 so you can download the file from MS yourself and make your own version.  Just a thought.

Cheers and Regards

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On 23.07.2016 at 10:03 AM, kahlil88 said:

Is there a command or tool for blacklisting updates without waiting literally HOURS for Windows Update to just give the list of what's available and manually hiding them?

Far past time, but I'm afraid there is no simple way to hide updates. Look Here. As if the couldn't add some /hide switch to Wusa...

Personally I did try to automatize it using Powershell script and some community-provided modules on Win 7 pro 64 bit, but soon decided I'll do it faster by hand. PS under 7 has no Cmdlets for managing updates, and the ones found in the internet were far from being perfect.

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