On forced upgrades

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Just got this entertaining message from Alan Arndt: Woody, I applaud all your efforts with regards to Microsoft’s Force update to Windows 10 and the a
[See the full post at: On forced upgrades]

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Yet another prime example of why I am not upgrading to win10. That & the fact, if I wanted win10 THAT BAD, I’d go out & buy it.

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Woody,

I’m sure you would censor an email that used four letter words. None of which I might mention are in the 10 commandments. In the future would you please include the use of the Lord’s name in vain as well which I find even more offensive.

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I’ll try to catch ’em – and most likely Bowdlerize them…

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Not sure it was in vain, looks like he was sincerely hoping for problems for MS.

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This happens far too much, a user not being familiar with his computer/system. Perhaps this will help.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/going-pro-how-to-upgrade-windows-10-home-without-hassles/

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“I’ll try to catch ’em – and most likely Bowdlerize them…”

seriously love your work Woody

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Sounds like more of a Bluetooth config issue to me. Even with Windows 7 I’ve had to do this on all my Windows devices to get the Bluetooth radio to stay active.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2758967

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> I certainly expect to upgrade my home machines and work machines to Windows 10 before the free update period ends

Why? What does it actually DO for you?

Seriously… Think about it. Have you found an App that does things you can’t get any other way? Is the desktop actually better?

Every version of Windows has had things we could wish to be better, but there were always other things I truly wanted.

But this time…

Hard as I’ve looked, much as I’ve tweaked – and even though I’ve got it to where it doesn’t install updates expectedly on my systems – when the dust settles I can only find in Win 10 about 95% of the things I wanted and actually GOT from older systems, and literally nothing new that I must have.

And this time it comes with baggage that just won’t quit. Literally. In-place upgrades every 4 months? Are you kidding me?

Don’t forget the time when running an OS was so that you could get to do the things with the computer that you needed it for – not so that you could fool about endlessly with the OS.

-Noel

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to Anyone: a bold question,

I am going on a trip and do not want to surprised like Alan Arndt the writer of this HORROR story and many others; and keep my little W10-Home in the workingstate as it is right now!…

1. is setting the wifi-connection to a payed-connection anough to be left alone by Microsoft?
2. is switching-off updates by using only O&O-Win10ShutUp anough to be spared from surprises?
1.+2. Is it better to use these options together?

thank you for replying,
regards, Fred

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…well, at least we can all be happy for Alan that he got it off his chest and it probably made him feel much better afterwards for venting!

I have at times felt this same pain Alan and IMHO your post was written most eloquently even in the depths of anger & frustration!

GTS

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I’m convinced that the metered connection trick still works, although I’m corresponding with someone who says it doesn’t block updates.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2970172/microsoft-windows/block-forced-windows-10-updates-using-a-metered-connection.html

I’ve seen several Win10 update blocking programs, and I’m just not comfortable with any of them. It’s third party software that intentionally (by design!) manipulates updates to your PC. I’d have to trust a company/individual more than I trust Microsoft to give them that kind of power over my PCs.

OK, I set a low bar. But you know what I mean.

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How about turning your computer off when you are away?
If you aren’t using it, it doesn’t need to be on.
I shut my computer down every night.

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This to me sounds more like the Install Devices Automatically issue that has made updating Nvidia drivers a nightmare.

The basic issue is that once the old Nvidia driver is removed by the Nvidia driver installer Windows automatically tries to install the BEST driver from Windows Update. The Windows’ install conflicts with Nvidia’s install of the new driver and the Nvidia install process fails. (I know the solution, if you can all it that. )

It is possible that the Bluetooth mouse was hit by some driver update via the automatic device update system, which isn’t managed via the system update settings. (Here is a link to change the Device Installation settings in Windows 10: http://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/change-device-installation-settings-in-windows-10.html)

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/devil’s advocate:
Maybe because it’s *free*, and Alan already paid too much for his existing OS’s.
Maybe because M$ will likely offer *free* support, feature and security updates to W10 much longer than previous versions.
Maybe because even if he doesn’t upgrade eventually enough other users, businesses, and the developers who cater to them will — and he’ll have compatibility or other issues.

I don’t know, just a thought…

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Well, there IS always the possibility to hang back a while, then if Windows 10 really DOES become worth having, just buy it.

Note that I didn’t say to ignore it.

Me, I’m running it only in a virtual machine for now. If it ever gets to be good enough to trust to be the system upon which I rely, that could change.

Basing a decision whether and when to rely on an operating system because of the expenditure of a hundred or two dollars would be a bit silly.

-Noel

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The whole point of using a quick standby function on a laptop as Alan originally outlined is so that you can put the computer into standby mode, close the lid and rush across the building to a presentation (or brew a cuppa without having the battery run down). Right now, I feel so insecure about the standby function leaving my system screwed up that most the time I walk across the building with my laptop open and running in my arms so nothing goes into low power mode by accident.

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Just wondering if it is possible to have Windows 10 licensed in a Virtual Machine or it can only be used for a limited time in Evaluation Mode. I would be very interested if this is possible and not based on KMS volume licensing.

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“Maybe because M$ will likely offer *free* support, feature and security updates to W10 much longer than previous versions.”

Free Support onnly applies to updtes or upgrades related issues. The standard procedure of reinstalling the OS at the local Microsoft Store other than the above categories, will cost users $49.00 per incident, minimum. Been there, done that with upgrade issues.

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This costs per VM as a separate Windows 10 license, and they are not covered in the free upgrade offers.

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I updated my NVidia driver manually (without the NVidia updater installed) before upgrading to Windows 10, fearing accidentally installing a bad NVidia driver from MS Updates under Windows 10 Pro.

MS Updates did not touch that driver until a month or so later, when they had an updated driver, identical to the NVidia site download except for not including the NVidia Updater modules, and this was a good NVidia driver. Been using that driver ever sionce with no issues.

The good driver was issued last November, and had a (NVidia official) security update included within it.

System: Toshiba Satellite A660-6056 with NVidia and Intel hybrid graphics, NVidia GeForce 310m subsystem.

MS Updates only overwrites my NVidia drivers (official from NVidia) when the MS Updates version number (per NVidia numbering system) is higher than the official driver I have manually installed. Often there are security issues which require an updated driver. That’s what happened to me. Otherwise, MS Updates for Windows 10 has not touched the latest available official NVidia downloaded drivers for my system.

Your system and your results may vary.

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Typo — Toshiba Satellite.

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Got a frantic call from a client this afternoon about a pop-up on her screen that asked her to choose whether she wanted to upgrade right this very minute or postpone it…for no more than a week. There was no “Close Window” choice offered.

No problem, toots. I’ll just remote in and kill the process with Task Manager.

Surprise. You can’t. The beast that just won’t die.

Tried the GWX utility, which appeared to work, and deleted 3.5GB of downloaded upgrade files. I disabled everything.

And when I closed the GWX window, guess what was underneath? The same pop-up message.

Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot.

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That’s the third report I’ve heard of Win10 installs kicking off without provocation.

GWX Control Panel should’ve pulled everything, although if she was looking at a failed Windows Update message, that might’ve persisted.

Are you seeing the GWX icon on the machine now?

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Thanks for straightening me out, rc. So just transpose the words “*free*” and “support,” or something.

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Good idea.
Now I’m curious — does anyone know if you can do the upgrade while it’s free, roll it back after, and be able to upgrade again later whenever you like.
This is basically what I do anytime I come across an app on my phone that’s on sale (free, specifically) — start the download, cancel it, then it shows as purchased on my account.

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Good question which hasn’t been answered as yet, best I know.

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Hi, Brady,

From what I understand from various tech sites, as long as you do the upgrade before July 2016 when the free offer runs out, you can reinstall Win10 on the same machine at any time afterwards. After upgrading, your machine has (what MS call) a digital entitlement, which means the license is tied to that particular hardware. So as long as you don’t change too much hardware, you can upgrade and rollback as often as you like.

Hope this helps.

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That’s certainly a logical approach. We’ll have to wait until July 30 to confirm it.

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OK I might just do it then, though I’ll probably wait til a couple weeks before the deadline. Thanks for the replies!

And Woody, I just read the sevenforums thread in which the admins accused you of being a swindler and shill for Infoworld, with zero credibility. I’m clueless as to what evoked such a response. This is one of the few times I might be tempted turn a blind eye if, say, someone put a bounty up for Anonymous to see. But of course your readers, including myself, should not condone such actions.

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HA! Very kind of you, but I’m over it.

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