I Hate Microsoft

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monophoto

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For several months, my computer (windows 7) has periodically flashed a message on the screen offering to update to Windows 10.

My former employer's corporate practice was to always remain at least two generations behind Microsoft so allow them to correct any problems before employees were required to have to deal with new software. I thought that was a great practice.

So I was very surprised when I walked into my office this morning and found that Microsoft had forced my computer to restart overnight, and had installed Windows 10 even though I didn't want it.

My next computer will be an Apple.
 
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Ed McDonnell

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The good news is that it is easy to revert to your previous version. I just had to help my Aunt do this.

The bad news. Microsoft changed 10 from an "optional" to a "recommended" update. They also ticked the box in update options that says "treat recommended updates the same as important updates" (or something like that). BOOM! Everybody is now waking up to find 10 (unless they were quick enough to untick that recommended update box). This is really slimy behavior in my opinion.

The good and the bad news. I think 10 is much better than 7 in many ways. It's also worse in some ways. The ways that it is worse can (for the most part) be fixed by a lot of tedious monkeying with settings. But it's probably not something the average user will be able to do. Nor is it something that they should have to do.

As far as apple is concerned, if you don't like this type of behavior from Microsoft you really may find Apple annoying.

If you are going to revert to 7, do it right away. It goes pretty quick. Good luck.

Ed
 

robutacion

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For those like me that were not born with computer skills, I find your post of great importance if, you could tell us (those keep rejecting Windows 10) on exactly those settings are found or, how to get there.

Thank you in advance...!

Cheers
George
 

JimB

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I am not planning to update to Win 10 and have been declining those updates. However, the other day, during the day, suddenly a timer popped up and was counting down to a Win 10 update. It started at 15 minutes. I was lucky to be sitting at the computer when this happened and was able to cancel it.
 

Ed McDonnell

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Hi George - I don't have any computers on Windows 7 anymore so I can't look up the exact wording. But from memory (for Windows 7):

Open up the "update" utility (click on start button (lower left) and look for "windows update").

Look for the checkbox that says something like "treat recommended updates like important updates". Make sure it is unchecked. That should stop a surprise installation.

You can also get rid of the Windows 10 nagware, but that is a much more involved process. You need to uninstall the specific updates (I seem to recall there were three of them) for the nagware. You then download the updates (with autoinstall turned off) , deselect them in the update utility and then you hide nagware updates so they won't accidentally be installed. You also would need to get rid of any scheduled tasks for the upgrade. There are instructions on the web for getting rid of the windows 10 nagware if you want to go this way. Don't get tricked into buying anything. Some websites are pushing "tools". You don't need them.

Ed
 

carlmorrell

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Windows 10 is a good operating system. I had a couple of niggles with audio drivers but thats about it. Was certainly worth the upgrade from 7

Depends on what you do with you computer. I have been in the computer industry for more than 40 years. I installed win10 last year, removed it 20 minutes later due to all the issues I had with it.
 

Ed McDonnell

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Windows 10 is a good operating system. I had a couple of niggles with audio drivers but thats about it. Was certainly worth the upgrade from 7

I agree and have upgraded all my computers (except those running CNC machines) to 10. However, I recommended that my 85 year old Aunt stay on windows 7. There are too many little things that might need to be changed in 10 that would be a pain to handle from 1500 miles away. If she lived in the same town as me I would have her move to 10, but she doesn't and I won't.

For me, I killed off all the tasks and power options that were waking the machine to do updates at odd hours (this also involved changing group policies on some things to keep windows from reenabling stuff). I had to change a lot of the power options to solve USB keyboard and mouse sometimes not working on wake from sleep. I had to manually kill some registry entries for a couple tasks that didn't cleanly migrate from 7 to 10. I run three monitors. One time I had the keyboard, mouse and screen freeze when I dragged a window from one screen to another. I had music playing in the background and that continued, so the machine didn't completely hang. I haven't been able to duplicate it. Windows 10 can be funny about the speed you drag windows across screen boundaries in a multiple monitor setup.

Overall, I'm happy with the upgrade to 10. Glad I did it.

Ed
 

Ed McDonnell

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Depends on what you do with you computer. I have been in the computer industry for more than 40 years. I installed win10 last year, removed it 20 minutes later due to all the issues I had with it.

Carl - Microsoft "fixed" a lot of things since last year. You might give it another try. It's easy enough to revert.

Ed
 

flyitfast

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I went to 10 late last year and for the most part, I am happy with it. It did take awhile to sort out the changes but they seem to be OK.
I did have one problem with the WIFI drivers that kept dropping WIFI on me. Best Buy found the driver problem, which was I still had Win 7 drivers installed for WIFI that the update kept around for awhile. Once they were loaded most everything was better.
Change is still tough for an old guy!!!
Gordon
 

BradG

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Depends on what you do with you computer. I have been in the computer industry for more than 40 years. I installed win10 last year, removed it 20 minutes later due to all the issues I had with it.

As an IT administrator, systems Engineer for a corporate network and C++ software architect ... quite a bit :)

Give it another spin. As Ed mentioned updates in a year period can be pretty significant.
 

BradG

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Windows 10 is a good operating system. I had a couple of niggles with audio drivers but thats about it. Was certainly worth the upgrade from 7

I agree and have upgraded all my computers (except those running CNC machines) to 10. However, I recommended that my 85 year old Aunt stay on windows 7. There are too many little things that might need to be changed in 10 that would be a pain to handle from 1500 miles away. If she lived in the same town as me I would have her move to 10, but she doesn't and I won't.

For me, I killed off all the tasks and power options that were waking the machine to do updates at odd hours (this also involved changing group policies on some things to keep windows from reenabling stuff). I had to change a lot of the power options to solve USB keyboard and mouse sometimes not working on wake from sleep. I had to manually kill some registry entries for a couple tasks that didn't cleanly migrate from 7 to 10. I run three monitors. One time I had the keyboard, mouse and screen freeze when I dragged a window from one screen to another. I had music playing in the background and that continued, so the machine didn't completely hang. I haven't been able to duplicate it. Windows 10 can be funny about the speed you drag windows across screen boundaries in a multiple monitor setup.

Overall, I'm happy with the upgrade to 10. Glad I did it.

Ed

Yes you have to be willing to do a little tweaking, and can fully understand why you have left your CNC machines alone lol. Though I tend to find all operating systems need a tweak here and there anyway.

If your Aunt is happy with windows 7, then no need to change it if there would be no significant benefit of the extra features. most end users are happy browsing the web and playing a couple of low profile games.

I've not noticed issues with the multiscreen.. il be sure to have a play with that.
 

BKind2Anmls

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My job is working on computers. One-third of my clients have Macs and I spend just as much time working on their computers as I do the Microsoft ones. Unfortunately, both of the companies release buggy operating systems.
 

Ed McDonnell

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I seem to remember reading somewhere that Office 2010 was not compatible with Windows 10 . Does anyone know if that is correct ?

I run Office 2010 on my PC and have not had a problem. I have subsequently upgraded to Office 365, but I still keep the Office 2010 stuff around just in case. Same thing on my wife's computer, no problem with Office 2010 and Windows 10.

There may have been some compatibility problems in some of the very early pre-release technical versions of Windows 10. But there could be a lot of reasons for problems in those pre-release versions that had nothing to do with office.

Ed
 

tbroye

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I have an iMac and all the other Apple device, as does my wife. However her desktop in a Win7 machine. I refuse to touch it when things go south. She doesn't want to change and I don't want to mess with Windows anymore.
 

Ed McDonnell

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I have an iMac and all the other Apple device, as does my wife. However her desktop in a Win7 machine. I refuse to touch it when things go south. She doesn't want to change and I don't want to mess with Windows anymore.

I can certainly understand that. Heck, you probably don't have time to mess with Windows problems if you have one of the iPads that were just bricked by the latest IOS update.....:biggrin:

The only way I have ever found to completely avoid technology problems is to just not use the technology....but that presents a different set of problems. :rolleyes:

Ed
 

BSea

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I was a PC user for almost 30 years. I did custom programming, installed custom software/hardware, ad did technical support. I've build more PC based systems than I can remember. Now that I'm basically retired, I no longer needed to stay with a PC based computer. And when my PC finally died last year, I debated for days on what to get. I decided I no longer had any desire to build a machine, and I bought a Mac book pro. So happy I did. It's not perfect, but it's fast, clean, and boots up 10 times faster than my PC ever did. There are issues with the new El Capitan operating system. I haven't updated yet, and I probably won't for awhile.

But it's some of Microsoft's practices like automatically updating the OS that really got me thinking about switching.
 

mike4066

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For several months, my computer (windows 7) has periodically flashed a message on the screen offering to update to Windows 10.

My former employer's corporate practice was to always remain at least two generations behind Microsoft so allow them to correct any problems before employees were required to have to deal with new software. I thought that was a great practice.

So I was very surprised when I walked into my office this morning and found that Microsoft had forced my computer to restart overnight, and had installed Windows 10 even though I didn't want it.

My next computer will be an Apple.
re-worded my post, it came across a bit sharp. (Disclaimer, I'm an IT consultant who focuses on the Microsoft / Windows / 10 work space, so I'm a bit biased)

Apple forces the same type of upgrades so switching operating systems won't stop this. You'll just pay more for the privilege of being upgraded. :)
 
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dogcatcher

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I kept putting off installing 10, then one day I had to use my wife's computer that she had already installed 10. I liked it so much that as soon as we got home I upgraded my computer to the 10 system.
 

Jim Smith

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Like many others here, I run some specialty software for the consulting work I do and I resisted upgrading to Windows 10 until about 2 months ago for fear that my surveying software etc. would not run properly. I finally made the switch when I had some time to reverse it if things went south, but everything works great. I feel that it runs far better than Windows 7 and I've had zero problems with my specialty software so far. Changing or upgrading operating systems (or any software) can be a real hassle, but it was a breeze for me and I am very happy with Windows 10.

Jim Smith
 

leehljp

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soft / Windows / 10 work space, so I'm a bit biased)

Apple forces the same type of upgrades so switching operating systems won't stop this. You'll just pay more for the privilege of being upgraded. :)

In which way? Their OS upgrades are free and so are their updates. Their free System UpGrades is what forced MS to originally offer lessor forms of 10 to be free for a year, or what ever it was.

As to the forced upgrades, the same "choices" work on Apples including IOS as with Windows. Being a Windows and Mac user in both English and Asian languages, I can tell you that I have had 1 /10th the problems with Macs as with Windows. Part of the problem is that many people like to buy the cheapest they can get. The folks that forked out the money for real "business" machines (Windows) had far less problems than the cheapest PC buyers. I do wonder sometimes how much of the problem is from the cheaper products and how much is from the mindset of the user. ;)

As to automatic upgrades, unless it is an immediate threat, Apple upgrades/updates are not forced. I get notices all the time that there is an update ready and I can install it or not when ever I want. LOML is not computer savvy at all. She stays about 2 or 3 upDATES behind on iOS and on her Mac (both with latest OS).

Where are you getting your information from?
 
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mike4066

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soft / Windows / 10 work space, so I'm a bit biased)

Apple forces the same type of upgrades so switching operating systems won't stop this. You'll just pay more for the privilege of being upgraded. :)

In which way? Their OS upgrades are free and so are their updates. Their free System UpGrades is what forced MS to originally offer lessor forms of 10 to be free for a year, or what ever it was.

As to the forced upgrades, the same "choices" work on Apples including IOS as with Windows. Being a Windows and Mac user in both English and Asian languages, I can tell you that I have had 1 /10th the problems with Macs as with Windows. Part of the problem is that many people like to buy the cheapest they can get. The folks that forked out the money for real "business" machines (Windows) had far less problems than the cheapest PC buyers. I do wonder sometimes how much of the problem is from the cheaper products and how much is from the mindset of the user. ;)

As to automatic upgrades, unless it is an immediate threat, Apple upgrades/updates are not forced. I get notices all the time that there is an update ready and I can install it or not when ever I want. LOML is not computer savvy at all. She stays about 2 or 3 upDATES behind on iOS and on her Mac (both with latest OS).

Where are you getting your information from?

It was meant as a joke but take it as you will.

Three things I won't argue about Relgion, Politics, and Operating Systems.. All three have their own benefits and excel at one thing over another, but you'll never convince someone that one is better than another.
 

frank123

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Just turn off automatic updates and do your updates manually on a regular basis choosing what you want and don't want installed.

Good idea to clone your HD before updating on (and on a regular basis for serious crash proof backup) as well. Or use a system image recovery program that keeps that clone on your existing drive if you have sufficient room.
 

TonyL

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I just had a minor issue with their new browser, but opnce I switched my default browser all was fine again. I didn't want to have to pay for W10 come June, so I upgraded.
 

MTViper

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Windows 10 is a good operating system. I had a couple of niggles with audio drivers but thats about it. Was certainly worth the upgrade from 7

I bought an All-in-one desktop to replace a laptop with Win 7. The AIO had Windows 10 factory installed. I was able to install all the software I needed from the master CDs and everything worked fine. I have 2 notebook/tablet computers with Win 8.1 and I have blocked Win 10 installation on them. My wife's laptop is Win 7. It's full of software she's collected over 25 years of quilting. Some of it I had to call the manufacturer to find out how to make it work on Win 7. Most of it is no longer produced. So that laptop wil never upgrade.

I may change my mind on the Win 8.1 computers, but I'm not sure yet. There are too many things in Win 10 that I don't like (particularly Edge). Several big things are going to have to change before I'll upgrade the rest.
 

ssalvage

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As an IT Director for a large manufacturing company and an IT Consultant for 20+ years, all I have to say is... what are auto-updates? :laugh::laugh:
 

BradG

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There are too many things in Win 10 that I don't like (particularly Edge). Several big things are going to have to change before I'll upgrade the rest.

I can appreciate compatibility concerns over software relied on designed for earlier versions of an OS. Edge however I never use. I just install Chrome.

As an IT Director for a large manufacturing company and an IT Consultant for 20+ years, all I have to say is... what are auto-updates? :laugh::laugh:

Auto updates you will find, next to headaches, hindsight, and system restore.
 

Draken

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Your office should be running their own WSUS server. The admin of it could have blocked the roll out of Windows 10. A WSUS server saves the company bandwidth as it is the only system that downloads updates from Microsoft. You point all of your internal systems to it for updates and those downloads are over the LAN.

For my personal systems, I went with Windows 10 the day it was released and haven't looked back. Just make sure you do a "Custom install" and not an "Express Install" so you can turn off all the bits that want to send data to Microsoft.
 
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