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Update: as per macropod, these Windows Update patches only affect those who opted in to the MS Customer Experience Improvement Program, who already share information with Microsoft.

So, maybe not 99.9% are affected but more like 5% or 10%.

The slashdot.org link above refers to the following Gordon Kelly news article which includes detailed instructions on how to uninstall and hide the relevant Windows Update patches in Windows 7 and 8.1.

Windows 10 Worst Feature Now Installing On Windows 7 And Windows 8
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/09/06/windows-10-worst-feature-now-installing-on-windows-7-and-windows-8/

FYI for our readers: Kingsoft Office was renamed last year to WPS Office, based on the names of the component programs which make up the office suite — Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheets. The current free version of WPS Office 2015 does not include their version of VBA. The Professional suite, available for $69.95, does include their VBA. There is a separate download for the VBA plug-in to activate VBA/Macro support in Spreadsheets.

@Woody — Which year version of WPS Office did you try?
What may seem a simple macro program to you or I may in fact be quite complex. Did your macro involve multiple files of workbooks or a single file with multiple worksheets?

When you stepped through the macro in WPS Spreadsheets, where did you receive an error message? Was it with a worksheet function? Or was it with a VBA function?

What was the error message? Were you able to fix the macro by re-writing the code to Kingsoft VBA?

Here is a link to a screenshot of the Kingsoft Visual Basic Editor:
http://www.kingsoftstore.com/images/img/spreadsheet-screen-01.png

It looks like the Microsoft Visual Basic Editor. The window is even labeled Microsoft Visual Basic. I’m wondering what does it say under the Help menu About item.

My question: “Is this Microsoft VBA? If not, how compatible is Kingsoft VBA with MS VBA?”

Would anyone possibly know of the process for instructing the computer to abandon getting Win 10?

To cancel a Windows 10 upgrade reservation, follow the instructions below

“open the get windows 10 app
click on the three horizontal bars on the top left
select view confirmation
cancel reservation is on the left.
click confirm a couple of times, done”

found at Microsoft Answers online at:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_upgrade/cancel-windows-10-reservation/44febcbb-5038-4b3a-b7cd-3ea238edee80?auth=1

The ZDNet article stated:

“But what about those who did a clean install of a preview edition, never upgrading over a licensed copy?

Sorry. You can skip the product key during installation, but when you’re done with Setup your system will be marked as not activated. You won’t be able to use any personalization options, and you’ll have a persistent watermark on the desktop warning you that you need to activate.”

We know this is not accurate. It is of course activated!

wavy, yeah, I noticed that error in the ZDNet article, too.

Maybe his test Win10 TP machines were not setup in time. I read somewhere that TP users who did not sign up in time to be counted among the 30-day+ users were not going to get a Win10 license.

Win10 TP users who did sign up more than 30 days before the program ended [like Coochin] did receive a valid license.

I don’t know anyone who signed up in the last weeks of the program, so I don’t have any verification of this MS policy.

Maybe some readers here who signed up late could let us know whether they were able to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro or not.

I’m sorry, Coochin. I didn’t mean for everyone to beat up on you. I was thinking of posting the two news articles about the new Windows 10 activation process in a new post, but I found your earlier post, this one, which also talked about Windows 10 product keys.

It was clear to me from the beginning as you said this was an experiment to see what would happen. I found your posts interesting and informative – a valuable lesson on how the DVD install works.

Your comment about not being able to skip the product key screen during install on the test hard drive makes sense, because you were not connected to the internet then. As Jerry said in post #15:

And according to the ZDnet article referenced by LarryNY, you could also have left the Product Key field blank and hit the skip link and you would still have wound up with an activated install.

That is true WHEN you are connected to the internet. The Win10 install checks the MS servers to identify your PC’s previous license/TP user status before you reach the product key screen. Since it was unable to communicate with the servers, it refused to allow you to skip the PK screen.

I guess you didn’t read the PCWorld article I referenced which said in the second paragraph:

“In Windows 10, utilities like Magical Jelly Bean KeyFinder or Belarc Advisor return generic product keys instead of authentic ones. Don’t believe me? This is the key Windows 10 Pro users will see in KeyFinder or Belarc Advisor: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T.”

I wondered whether this was your key or maybe MS issued TP users another generic key number. At least you have now also confirmed for us that your TP upgrade yielded the same generic product key number that all Win 7/8.1 Pro upgraders will see.

Originally Posted by LarryNY
…but I suspect that you won’t be able to use it on another PC…

Can you provide any independent references for that?

My experience has been that I have several hundred times fitted new motherboards or other affected hardware to customers’ computers, or moved their existing Windows to a new hardware setup, after which I have invariably had to re-activate Windows on the new setup; but in all cases re-activation has succeeded.[/quote]

Yes, and so have I. But each time I used a valid MS Product Key when I re-activated. I based my guess on the two articles I referenced which explain how it works.

The new thing about the Win 10 activation process is that MS is now assigning a unique ID to each PC that installs Win 10 and storing the ID number on their servers. So, you could place the second hard drive in your PC and it would be fine as a replacement hard drive, because your PC’s Win10 license is valid. The PCWorld reporter says he did exactly that on his laptop with an SSD, too.

But, based on what the ZDNet and PCWorld articles state, I guessed if you place the second hard drive in a different PC which has not yet been upgraded to Win10 (and so has no Win10 hardware ID on file) that MS would de-activate the install in time when it cross-checked their servers — in a few hours, a few days or a few weeks, I don’t know. That would make another interesting experiment for someone else to try and report the results. [And afterwards, they could reinstall their Win7/8.1 and still get their Win10 upgrade with no harm done.]

As both the ZDNet and PCWorld articles conclude, this new Entitlement model raises some new implications. The other thing I would really like to know is how Microsoft is going to handle motherboard replacements in the future for all the Free Windows 10 upgraders. Are MS support reps going to ask customers for the Win 7/8.1 product key that they threw away years ago? Are they going to ask for a store receipt for the PC they bought ten years prior? How will they be able to identify someone as having a valid Win10 license when their hardware has been fried and the unique ID, which no one knows now anyway, is lost?

I look forward to your future post in five years time.

Coochin,
I agree with Jerry that you performed an upgrade in your post #1 when you upgraded from Windows 10 Technical Preview to Windows 10 Pro. When you began the install, it then asked what kind of end result you wanted — an upgraded W10 keeping your existing TP settings and applications or a clean install with nothing carried forward. Don’t confuse the end result with the TP to Pro upgrade. You started with an existing installation of W10 TP the first time, not a blank partition. Win 10 Upgrade then confirmed your PC’s status as a TP user with their servers on the internet and activated your new Windows 10 Pro system, as promised.

Read this article on ZDNet about how the new Windows 10 activation procedure eliminates the future need for a Product Key by tying the Windows 10 license certificate on their servers to your PC machine’s hardware.

“Microsoft quietly rewrites its activation rules for Windows 10”
http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-quietly-rewrites-its-activation-rules-for-windows-10/

It’s interesting that you were able to extract a product key from your new Win 10 Pro system, but I suspect that you won’t be able to use it on another PC. As you said in your post #4 the product key worked on a blank drive clean install but you DON’T want to connect it to the internet now. I suspect if you put the drive in a different PC and connected to the internet that you would get a nasty message from Microsoft and the Win 10 system would be de-activated.

Under Microsoft’s new activation scheme, any future clean install of Windows 10 Pro on a blank partition on a new hard drive on your PC will NOT require a Product Key so long as it’s connected to the internet where the install can verify your PC’s license on their servers.

Computer users who upgrade from Windows 7/8.1 to Windows 10 [like RetiredGeek] won’t need a product key either and will see a generic product key code if they look on their PC.

Read this article on PCWorld for more info about how the new Windows 10 activation system creates Entitlements for your PC instead of requiring product keys.

“Why you can’t find your product key after upgrading to Windows 10”
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2970075/windows/why-you-cant-find-your-product-key-after-upgrading-to-windows-10.html

So you may have been able to find a product key on your PC, but it’s a one use/one PC product key now.

David,
You should take advantage of the opportunity presented by your decision to postpone upgrading to Windows 10.

First what you should do is re-read Susan Bradley’s lead article in the 6/18/15 newsletter:
“What you should know about the Win10 launch”.

http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/what-you-should-know-about-the-win10-launch/

In it she explains that when you run the “Get Windows 10” application, you can run a “Check My PC” option and it will report what it finds about the upgrade readiness of your PC. It may let you know about possible issues with your hardware drivers and software applications.

Part of the value of waiting 6 months to install Win10 is to allow MS the time to further develop Win10 and the Win10 Update process. One example is the Uninstall Update tool that MS just made available for troubling updates after the fact. MS is playing this by ear now. We will all see where it goes over the next several months (and years). Who knows? MS may yet come to some more practical compromise around the issue of opting out of problem updates as they get more experience managing this new, colossal update process.

And part of the value of waiting 6 months is to give hardware vendors the time to develop and release new Win10 drivers to support their products. As Susan said, she will wait for her Bluetooth driver to be released before updating her Win8.1 laptop.

Second, do continue to update your Windows 7 PCs. Microsoft will continue to release security updates for Win7 until 2020. And, as Susan said, Microsoft may even in time release some newer and better Win7 updates to prepare your PCs for a smoother and more stable upgrade to Win10.

Third, you should take this opportunity to invest in a good backup procedure. You can purchase a 2 TeraByte USB external hard drive for under $100 [even a 4 TB drive for under $125 amazon] — well worthwhile. Then get a good image backup program to make complete image backups of both of your Win7 PCs [some external hard drives even include the backup software]. After you setup one PC, maybe buy another 2 TB drive and setup the other one. You have the time now to do the research and make it happen.

Re-read Fred Langa’s lead article in the 4/16/15 newsletter for more information:
“How to safely test file and image backups”

http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/how-to-safely-test-file-and-image-backups/

Within the article you will also find a link to his earlier 5/12/11 story:
“Build a complete Windows 7 safety net”

http://windowssecrets.com/top-story/build-a-complete-windows-7-safety-net/

You should have a reliable backup system in place anyhow. It will be well worthwhile, probably one of the best things you can ever do to protect your data.

And then you’ll have the ultimate fallback position [a full system-image backup] ready for when you do decide to upgrade to Windows 10.

. . . So far, I have experienced a flawless upgrade from 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium in my Dell laptop. However, now after reading often conflicting information on crashes caused by automatic updates, I am almost afraid to turn the laptop on for fear of what could happen if it crashes.

Oh, and David, I would turn the Windows 10 laptop on. If something should happen in the weeks and months ahead, remember you can always return here to the Windows Secrets Lounge on your desktop to find an answer.

. . . Unfortunately, that was when I read about the issue with its Windows Upgrade that has caused crashes and now I’m trying to learn about it before upgrading two primary use desktops.

David, in your situation I would follow the general advice to wait another 6 months before upgrading your desktops to Windows 10. I assume they work fine now. Let Microsoft have some time to work on Windows 10 and the Win 10 updates. Then, read the news articles about any update problems going on in January, if any, and re-evaluate your decision of when the best time to upgrade may be. Remember there is no hurry. You can even wait until next July 2016 to pull the trigger.

Another article I found today about the KB3081424 cumulative update causing reboot loops can be found here at ZDNet:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-cumulative-update-causes-reboot-loop-havoc-for-some-users/

This article and Gordon Kelly’s article at Forbes describe how to make registry edits to provide a temporary fix to clear the reboot issue and then successfully complete the update. You are right that there is no need for you to have to play around with these potentially dangerous manual changes to Windows 10, dangerous if you make the wrong change. No doubt Microsoft is probably working on an update right now to correct this reboot issue and it will all go away in a few days.

There is no reason for you to participate in this cutting-edge tech scene now. My advice to you is to forget about it for now and think about it again in January.

Windows 10 steals internet bandpass to install updates for other users

The default setting will use some of your internet bandpass. To change . . .

Jerry

bandpass – Is that some special Mid-Western regional technical term, Jerry?

Please allow me to suggest that you edit the Title and Body of your Original Post and change the word to

bandwidth

I would just add to all of the above settings to not overlook the Edge browser Personalized Ads setting which Microsoft has inconveniently located on the internet at the following link:

https://choice.microsoft.com/en-US/opt-out/

Be sure to set both “Personalised ads in this browser” and “Personalised ads wherever I use my Microsoft account” to Off to disable ad-tracking.

I hope someone at Windows Secrets is beginning to make a list for us like this one. I look forward to a comprehensive article on Windows 10 settings in the near future.

The default setting is ON when installing Windows 10 with no mention of it anywhere.

Check out the following article on ZDNet.com to learn more about the Windows Update Delivery Optimization (WUDO) feature and your settings options.

“Windows 10 silently uses your bandwidth to send updates to others”

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-silently-uses-your-bandwidth-to-send-updates-to-others/

You say Tomato and I say Tomato.

It is “licence” if you speak UK English and “license” if you speak American English. Doh! :o:

Sorry to disappoint but WinXP is still alive.

Check out my post in the Security & Scams Forum called
MS Security Essentials bye bye for WinXP

I posted the question there about what alternatives exist for FREE Antivirus protection for WinXP today.

After researching the AV test organizations results and visiting the AV software companies websites, I provided my own personal wrap-up of the situation: who’s committed to continuing to offer FREE AV software and updates for WinXP, for how long, and a brief assessment of the individual programs.

http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread//169608-MS-Security-Essentials-bye-bye-for-WinXP?p=1010732&viewfull=1#post1010732

You too can find in the other member replies links to the AV test orgs and make your own evaluation.

Note: The AV test orgs show results for almost ALL AV products, both PAID and FREE. The interactive test results Statistics charts found at AV-comparatives.org are way cool to play with. There is also a detailed written report for each chart test that is very helpful in understanding how they interpreted the chart results and arrived at their product ratings.