Windows 10 Mandatory?

Hi all,
I just got a notice on my computer that windows 10 was going to upgrade on 18 May.

There was no option that I could find to refuse.

I have mixed feelings about the upgrade and haven't decided yet whether I want to upgrade or not but I resent not being given a choice.

Should I accept windows 10 and/or is there anyway to turn off this intrusive automatic upgrade?

This will explain how to uninstall that "get Windows 10" icon in your taskbar : Uninstall "Get Windows 10"

You might also find this useful. It will make sure that you don't get upgraded to Windows 10 unless/until you want to.

Or download Never10 directly from the website of the person who created it, security expert Steve Gibson

https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

It is extremely easy to use.
No installation required.
Just download it and run it as an administrator.
The pictures on the download site show you the interface.

The latest version will not only disable Windows 10 installation, but will delete any Windows 10 installation files that Microsoft has surreptitiously downloaded onto your hard drive without your knowledge.

If you decide at some point in the future that you want Windows 10, Never10 can also undo the changes that blocked it, letting you choose when or if you install it.

Thank you Jenny100. I downloaded and ran it and it was almost too easy. I got a ding and it indicated that it was done.

I guess I'll believe you that it has done what it said it did.

I read that Microsoft will be supporting 8.1 through something like 2023 so I think I'll keep what I got until my next computer.

I would do what Jenny said... Oops! I see you already did! I upgraded almost a year ago, but there is certainly no reason to do so if you're happy with what you've got.

My main computer has Win7 Enterprise which so far has not been targeted by Microsoft's insane Win10 campaign but I have been reading on-line that this might soon be about to change

If that turns out to be the case, I will certainly be joining the ranks of the "No Win10 for Me" division !!

It seems that - very late in the game - Microsoft added an option last week in the GWX dialogue box to cancel this update. Just read this from Mary Jane Foley today.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-m...ftag=TRE17cfd61

I haven't received any "suggestive notifications" (direct from Microsoft) to go for Win10, so far, Draclvr.

Am I to understand that I will now be getting something of that nature in the future but that it will include an option to decline ??

Maybe, maybe not.
If your computer fails the suitability test, Microsoft won't try to install Windows 10 on it.
If you're worried, just use Never10, which will prevent your computer from being downgraded to Windows 10.

If you haven't gotten one yet, I doubt you will this late in the game, Mad.

Thanks, Jenny100 and Draclvr

This is one time then that I hope to fail a suitability test !!

A couple of posts these last few days has prompted me to download this Never10 tonight also.

Thank you Jenny100 for the link and thank you Steve Gibson!

Good for you! If you want it, fine. If you don't they shouldn't force it on you.

I've had Windows 10 since last July and can honestly say that I haven't had any problems with it at all. My only complaint about it is, that it installs a new version with little or no prior warning. So settling down to use my laptop, I find I have had to wait 2/3 hours for the new version to install. I know that this was what Microsoft intended to do right from the beginning and that no other operating system would follow Windows 10.(a blessing in disguise, always up to date)

I have also purchased a new desktop pc which came with Windows 10 already installed, so I presume that eventually over time as new computers are bought, Microsoft will have their wicked way and everyone will have '10' whether they want it or not.

I plan to eventually get it, but in my own time.

Wouldn't it be nice if Microsoft felt that way too...

Microsoft needs to create a version of Windows 10 for people who need to actually do work on their computers -- a version without all the built-in social-networking-oriented junk that's targeted at people who mostly use the computer for Facebook and similar. It also needs to work without Internet access -- and without sending who-knows-what information out on the Internet at those times when it is connected. Updates should be scheduled, and not attack you when you're in the middle of something important.

If I spend 99% of my time offline, and only connect to specific websites to download or activate specific software for work or school, I don't need Windows changing everything in the background, mindlessly changing useful drivers to newer-but-nonfunctional drivers simply because they're newer.

And it would definitely be better to go back to the interface in Windows 7, or even XP, instead of the space-wasting default appearance of Windows 10 (or 8/8.1). If a program doesn't work correctly in Windows 7, you know where to go to fix it. With Windows 10 everything is somewhere else, and you have to either waste time looking for the new place or waste time doing an online search to figure out how to do what you already knew how to do in previous versions of Windows.

Right-clicking the Desktop doesn't give you the same options as it did before. Some programs expand to fill the entire screen with no way to quit, minimize or window them. For example, I mistakenly used Windows 8.1's "Reader" to open a pdf file, and I couldn't see any way to get rid of it. It had no "X" or "_" in the corner, it had no menu. None of the mysterious icons that sometimes appear when you hover your mouse over the right side of the screen seemed to apply to closing the program. "Surely they don't expect you to read this same pdf forever," I thought. But I never found any obvious way to close this unfamiliar "Reader" program from looking at the user interface. Eventually I tried the keyboard shortcut Alt-F4 to close "Reader" -- something I normally only do when programs crash (immediately before I try Ctrl-Alt-Delete and Task Manager). Alt-F4 worked, but it's ridiculous that there was no obvious way to close Reader !!

On all their game pages, GOG has this warning:

That alone should tell you something.

For that window in Windows 8.1, you had to grab the top of the window and pull it down to the bottom to close it. TOTALLY intuitive, right? Whoever came up with that particular idea was totally out to lunch.

I'll try that next time I am motivated to boot up Windows 8.1. However I guarantee you that I moused all over the screen, including along the top, and never saw any sort of tooltip or other indication that something would happen if I clicked and dragged the top of the screen downward.

I did see the thing that pops up when you right-click.
http://www.msoutlook.info/pictures/reader-app-bar.png
But it did not have the option to close or minimize the program.
Or if it did, it was disguised as something else.

Click-and-drag is clumsy and takes several movements. Swiping a tablet is not. This seems to be further proof that the Windows 8 interface was designed as a tablet OS.

The Reader program is not useful if it can only be used full screen and you can't even minimize it. I need to be able to view and access other programs in other parts of the screen.

A Mac's built-in Preview program will work in a window and not try to fill up an entire 24" screen with itself, blocking your view of everything else.

Couldn't agree more - it was clumsy and completely non-intuitive. I got used to it, but always hated it.

Agree with you Jenny about a clutter-free Windows 10. My daughter works from home and uses Windows 7. She has disabled all updates and manually installed only the important ones, therefore she hasn't been bothered with messages about Windows 10.

When I scroll down my apps-there are things I would never use in a month of Sundays. I have disabled updates from other sources so can manually choose which drivers to update. (No problems with GOG Games) One useful little thing, maybe people know about it but if you right-click on the windows icon bottom left, a list comes up with access to all the menus as they where in Windows 7. Much easier then searching around looking for something specific. Took me ages to find Device Manager!!

That little right click on the Start icon has been my favorite trick since Windows 8!