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

[TELVM]

Found in my travels :-) :

 

[JorgeA]

That's pretty good. 

 

Somewhat OT, but it reminds me of a sign at the health-food store that says, "WARNING -- Unattended Children Will Be Sold!"

 

--JorgeA

[NoelC]

Hm, such signs are usually a joke to make people think of overly dire consequences of being irresponsible...  

 

On second thought, seems to fit perfectly!  

 

-Noel

[JorgeA]

Looks like there are (or will soon be) two more Windows Updates to avoid installing:

 

Microsoft really, really wants people to upgrade to Windows 10. Even though the new OS is free, users of Windows 7 and 8.1 are proving a bit reluctant to switch, so the software giant has rolled out some new updates for the older operating systems which promise to make the upgrade much smoother for those who do decide to take the plunge.

 

There are two updates available now, one for Windows 7 and one for Windows 8.1, both of which make improvements to the Windows Update Client.

 

For Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 users the update is KB3112336, while Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 users are offered KB3112343. Both are optional.

 

--JorgeA

 

 

[NoelC]

IF at this point you have decided to keep Windows 8.1 or older until YOU choose to make a change, ask yourself - as I have - whether ANY Microsoft-generated updates at this point forward are worth having.

 

• They continue to advance their aggressiveness in using Windows Update to deliver things those "reluctant to switch" don't want.
   
• They are no longer capable of writing serious operating system software (just look at Windows 10).  Do you trust them to change the code in your WIndows 8 or older system?
   
• They have switched to a "let the public test our changes" model, AND they don't benefit from keeping your Windows 8 and older system running smoothly, so do you have confidence that their changes will be sound when they are installed?
   
• If you have a decent security strategy (including having a router between you and the incoming connection requests of the wild internet), you need not be overly worried about the "OMG, you have to have the latest Windows Updates in order to remain safe" BS hype.

 

The simplest/quickest single way to stop Microsoft's incessant attempts to drop-load potentially defective software into your existing system is to Disable the Windows Update service (e.g., using the Services.msc snap-in).

 

This seems like a radical idea, but I've chosen this path late this year and so far I have no complaints.  What I *DO* have is a system that runs stably and doesn't nag me to downgrade to a lesser operating system.

 

 

-Noel

[dencorso]

IF you have a decent security strategy (including having a router between you and the incoming connection requests of the wild internet), you need not be overly worried about the "OMG, you have to have the latest Windows Updates in order to remain safe" BS hype.

While that's certainly true, and applies also to older OSes, BTW, this thread in particular is about those "updates" that are clearly unnecessary and/or ought obviously to be avoided. So, we must strive to keep the 1st post as up-to-date as possible, right ?

@JorgeA: Thanks for the heads up, and for helping keep this thread up-to-date! You rock!  

 

[JorgeA]

Thanks, den -- and you're welcome! I'm glad to help.

 

Here's a question for you, for NoelC, and for anybody else who wishes to chime in: how would one talk to one's spouse about this idea of disabling Windows Updates to protect the spouse's PC from Windows 10? At least here at home, I can predict confidently that the reaction will follow this progression:        .  It's going to be an uphill battle as non-geek significant others are likely to buy into the official advice about keeping Windows up to date.

 

--JorgeA

 

[Kelsenellenelvian]

It was simple for me I told her that if windows update was left on she'd end up with ten. Problem solved she didn't even bat an eye.

[NoelC]

I think Kelsenellenelvian has it right - let them know your reasoning.  Let them know you've done all kinds of research and have found that more and more folks believe today's Microsoft isn't the Microsoft of a past lifetime and can no longer be trusted.  Let them know that Microsoft is less apt to respect your privacy than at any time in history.  Then let them make their own decision.

 

Maybe they'd actually like to run Windows 10.  If so, use the expertise you've learned  here to set it up in the most reasonable way possible.

 

Holding back and staying on an older OS isn't really going to be a viable permanent / long-term strategy.  There's going to come a time when something your spouse/SO wants (or maybe even YOU want) that can't be had without the latest Windows - or the latest something.  Or your computer just burns out and you have to get a new one that won't even run the old OS.

 

Perhaps in another few "major" releases Microsoft will start to mold Windows 10 into a system worth having again, and maybe they'll even realize that the cycle needs to go back to a few years between major releases.  Perhaps holding back is just temporary.  The only difference is now Microsoft can't be trusted to deliver Windows Updates worth having any more on the older system.

 

-Noel

[NoelC]

 

While that's certainly true, and applies also to older OSes, BTW, this thread in particular is about those "updates" that are clearly unnecessary and/or ought obviously to be avoided.

 

We understand one another.  I'm just pointing out that it's become clear to me that they ALL obviously need to be avoided.

 

You're still exhibiting a certain amount of trust toward Microsoft.  I no longer see anything to justify that.  Sooner or later they'll slip in some GWX code, call it a "security update" and later maybe say, "oops, sorry".  Or maybe just make older systems start to run like crap and not say anything at all.

 

Trust is something earned over a lifetime and lost very quickly.  They've had since the first betas of Windows 8 to start to regain it, and guess what?  Fail has turned into epic fail instead.

 

-Noel

[Bakuchris]

Thats a good point NoelC, Im going to try that too. but is Windows 8.1 safe to use I thought intargrated telementary and bad privacy, So I switched over to Windows 7 for now.

[dencorso]

Sure we do understand one another, Noel!

What is curious is that we actually have exchanged positions. Now your position is clearly more radical than mine.

Yet, my position didn't change any. I have, from day one, decided to avoid all patches intended to "ease" moving to Win 10, as well as those intended to perform the actual move. But just those. Meanwhile you've lost any faith you still had in MS. And I do think you may as well be right to distrust them absolutely. I've still to reach that point myself, but I'm not quite there, yet.

[Radish]

Well I've just had enough of Microsoft, period. I have been running Win7 and allowing no updates at all. But the more I read about what is going on the sicker I was getting with them. As mentioned before I've been testing out Linux Mint for the past few weeks and the more I work with it the more I get to liking it. The desktop environment does lack some of the polish of WinXP and Win7, but it is actually very useable once you get used to its quirks. I've had the option over the last couple of weeks to boot into Win7 or into Linux Mint. Guess what, I now boot into Mint - contrary to my expectations it has become my OS of choice. All my peripherals worked with it out of the box with the exception of the scanner. Getting that working took a good six hours of research and tinkering and experiment, but now it's working just fine.

I even made a suggestion to the developers for a small change to part of the DE. The suggestion is going to be actioned and the next version of Mint will contain that small improvement. The Mint community actually listen to what people would like to see. Try that with Microsoft.

I'm now at the point where I've setup a Virtualbox with an install of good ol' WinXP. I'll install MS Office into that for the, nowadays, rare times when I absolutely must use MS Office Word. (LibreOffice will easily handle most straightforward Word docs, but if they are complex, with complex tables for example, then the import turns out garbled.) Other than that I am now fixing within the next two weeks to just wipe Microsoft Windows completely off the hard drive - I've just had enough of them! I won't lend even tacit support to what they are doing by constantly running a Windows system.

Interesting thing is that I'm finding the experience of running an OS that isn't tied up with MS type licencing actually feels good. It's quite liberating. And definitely no worries about what is happening when I update the system.

I remember NoelC saying at one time that he thought the Golden Age of computing was over. I thought that it would come back again - once MS crashes. What I'm finding now is that it does actually still exist, it's just hiding in the Linux world.

There are a lot of very smart people on this forum that know a lot more about computing than I do. Thing is that I don't understand why, given what is going on, the penny doesn't drop and they don't just switch to Linux. If you don't do that then the future is one of constant abuse from Microsoft. Whereas, if you took your expertise into the Linux world you would be made very welcome and would have a lot contribute.

Make the switch guys. As far as I can see it's the only decision that makes any sense.

[NoelC]

What is curious is that we actually have exchanged positions. Now your position is clearly more radical than mine.

 

Absolutely true.  I have changed my stance in recent weeks.  I believe I have grown, and I believe you'll see the light before long.

 

All the things wrong with the 10586 in-place upgrade, watching carefully what Windows tries to do online despite our best efforts, plus a few too many times seeing Belfiore and Meyerson and Nadella talk have opened my eyes.

 

Microsoft has proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they have lost the ability to program a proper operating system, and are no longer worthy of partnership.

 

The trial is over; it's time for sentencing:  Life without the possibility of Windows Update.

 

I care about my data.  Microsoft now not only doesn't care, they're actively trying to take it and destroy it.  If they were to come into my house in person and try to do what they are attempting electronically, I would shoot them.  Speer Gold Dot, ++P.

 

Here we sit, finally having achieved supercomputing on our desktops, and Microsoft is throwing it all away.  Programming stupid little games in Basic and seeing things move around on a screen in the 1970s was fun.  I have had better things to do for quite a while now.  Microsoft:  Shove your XAML where the sun don't shine.

 

I feel like Darth Vader returning to the persona of Anakin Skywalker after tossing the Emperor over the abyss.

 

-Noel

[TELVM]

... There are a lot of very smart people on this forum that know a lot more about computing than I do. Thing is that I don't understand why, given what is going on, the penny doesn't drop and they don't just switch to Linux ...

 

Speaking for myself, as of today I'm happier than a pig in mud on (sabotage-protected) W7, and will keep it alive and healthy for as long as it's realistically possible.

 

But in the not too distant future, given that MS no longer releases usable operating systems, I'll have to embrace change and jump ship to something else (Linux or whatever).

 

 

 

... Here we sit, finally having achieved supercomputing on our desktops, and Microsoft is throwing it all away ...

 

^ Exactly, this situation is just beyond surreal. But that's what there is.