How to stop or roll back a W10 upgrade

For those wishing to prevent Win 10 being installed on their systems, there is this article over at majorgeeks.  Never 10 is a new utility that can either disable or enable the Win 10 upgrade with just one click.

Frankly, however, I have decided to stop fighting it.  Previous OSes will lose support in the not too distant future, so I may as well concede defeat and get Win 10 on my 3 - 4 other rigs for 'free'.  In short, I'm sick and tired of finding new ways to foil MS' attempts to push 10 on me, just for them to circumvent my efforts every time.

This, however, does NOT mean I like Win 10.  I much prefer Win 8.1, but maintaining it on a net-connected PC is becoming more and more difficult.... and like they say, if you can't beat 'em......

Never 10 is a good app which is actively maintained, and thanks for adding, Mark.

I agree

I'm not meaning to hijack.  If MS has indeed changed the "x" to mean yes, I want this; and since it is universally understood to mean the opposite, "NO,"  then why hasn't anyone brought legal action against Microsoft-gate? And where is Anonymous now? Talk about an appropriate target...

Elana, most people think that by simply closing that little window, they're saying "No"...but they aren't: The little window is telling them they've been scheduled for a date and time. They have to find the link and decline.

There is a great article on gHacks.com about Microsoft's insistence on upgrading people to Windows 10 and a lot of folks are angry over their aggressive methods. Having had my own bit of fun and excitement with the 1511 build, I have plunged into total insanity and joined the Insider Program.  If anything like that happens again, I will be in a better position to make it known to Microsoft. Of course, I am probably deluding myself but at last I might be able to help make things a little better by becoming part of the solution. 

In the meantime, Never 10 is a great option for those who wish to remain with Windows 7.  I confess that there have been several days when I wish I had stayed with Win 7 too.  I was part of the Windows 7 Insider Program and loved it right from the start.  I am trying hard to like Windows 10 but I find myself spending too much time in group policy editor and/or PowerShell fixing settings that used to be so simple. I will let you all know how it goes.   

Got it Doc, thanks. I'm fine here but have a couple friends that this will help greatly. Of course I have to install it for them. No problem.

That's okay, Seth, anything to support the cause...er, thread.

As for my capitulation, conceding defeat, MS ensured it was inevitable.  Despite programs like GWX Control Panel and Never 10, Microsoft has been enabling Win 10 upgrades via Scheduled Maintenance rather than Windows Update.... a method I believe has not as yet been addressed by 3rd party developers.   In fact, I'm not sure that they can, being that Scheduled Maintenance is probably performed separately via a closed/encrypted MS channel.   I may be wrong about this, but I don't know how else to explain the following....

I had 'Never 10' and 'GWX Control Panel' installed on the 2nd of my big beasties with Win 8.1 installed, yet it rebooted with Windows 10 two mornings ago... thus circumventing both programs, which I believe act like some kind of firewall that prevents MS downloading/activating Win 10 on one's PC.  As Scheduled Maintenance is a different process that interacts directly between MS and the OS, these 3rd party programs won't be completely effective in preventing Win 10 installing until they are updated [if possible] to disable installation via Scheduled Maintenance.

I've also heard from a few friends, etc, that the 'roll back' function has either been disabled/greyed out, or worked okay but was reversed a few days later to restore Win 10.  I had both instances happen to me, so yeah, I believe this is happening to people.  Such is the aggression of Microsoft to roll Win 10 out to over a billion devices by 2020, people are not being given a choice... and for mine, there has to be something illegal in what they're doing.  For a start, I doubt there is anything in the TOU or EULA of either Win 7 or Win 8.1 that states users are obliged to upgrade to any future OS.  Secondly, the physical/hardware component of the PC is the property of the user, much like his or her home, meaning that MS is guilty of breaking and entering/unlawful entry/burglary... or of hacking and vandalism at the least.

In a nutshell, Microsoft has become the tech bully boy of the world and has made many enemies through its tactics.  Me?  I wouldn't say I'm an enemy, but I sure as hell don't like what they're doing.  As for the 12 months free then $119 thereafter,, being that Windows was never its biggest money spinner anyway, Win 10 should remain free indefinitely to show good... er, better faith on MS part.  Moreover,. MS should allow people to move to Win 10 in their own good time... to show EVEN BETTER faith.

At least Microsoft is giving us something to discuss. I am a bit bored with tech right now, but Microsoft is a "fun" topic. Unless you are affected by their criminal (in my opinion) tactics.

My father is on Windows 7. He doesn't care about software. I disabled Windows Update service, because viruses/ransomware I don't worry about that much (back-up has been made).

Thinking about the future I did a clone of his OS that I upgraded to Windows 10. But unless Microsoft changes behaviour I am not sure I want him on Windows 10. Windows Update has become a source of uncertainty. They can literally change anything they want and maintaining Windows 10 seems like a lot of work. Disabling updates is not a solution in the long run.

Now PlayStore is coming to ChromeOS. I am thinking this would be easy to maintain. My father would probably prefer Windows, because he is used to that and it's a more powerful OS.

But I am thinking ChromeOS with PlayStore is a game-changer. I wouldn't want to use it myself, but for most people it would be "enough". Microsoft has to watch out.

Overall I am sad about the state of software. We have software that works, but we get it from large corporations and everything is very controlled. I don't see Linux as an option for my father, because sooner or later he will want to do something which requires Windows, OSX or Android. ChromeOS with PlayStore takes care of the Android requirement.

Is it better to be in the hands of Google than Microsoft? Right now I would say yes. This aggression from Microsoft, I don't get it. When PlayStore comes to ChromeOS most casual computer users actually have a choice. They don't have to use Windows 10.

I think a lot of people are willing to trade the power of Windows for something less complicated like ChromeOS with PlayStore. They already mostly use their smartphone anyway. When Google seems like the nicer guy, you know Microsoft is doing something wrong. I am actually a little excited watching how this plays out.

You might consider WinPatrol as it will warn you when a new exe is trying to load...and it has excellent potential for stopping ransomware by doing so.

Just curious, Starkers -

Did you have "Give me Recommended Updates the same way I receive Important Updates" checked in your Windows Update settings?  And was the GWXCP monitor running on that rig?

It would be very interesting, not to mention infuriating, to learn that MS is actively subverting use of Never10 & GWXCP to push an automatic upgrade.

I never downloaded the win10 protocol updates so I haven't yet been bothered. My son however, woke up pissed this morning with win10 installed on his computer. He was able to restore WIN7.

No, I did not have Recommended Updates installed.  In fact, I had Windows Update disabled until I was ready to install updates.... and no, GWX was not on the rig.  It was disabled and uninstalled using GWX Control Panel.  That's the annoying thing about it, all my preventative measures were sidestepped and Win 10 could only have been downloaded and installed during Scheduled maintenance.  That's why I quit fighting it, MS has all the answers and the technology to implement them.

I still have one Win 8.1 machine, but it isn't connected to the net and may never be, just in case the same thing happens again.

Lucky for him, quite a few people in know are complaining that they cannot roll back, that the button is greyed out.  Thing is, others are complaining that the roll back doesn't stick and Win 10 is installed again later on..  It's not that it didn't stick, however.  No, it's MS not respecting users wishes and forcing the update by any means possible.

Nice thread, Seth!  K for you!

If you're having trouble in that windows is downloading unwanted things one way to prevent it is by using Netlimiter. The advantage of it over a firewall is that you can be specific on an actual connection-speed of any process that there is - for example, for Windows Update to check for new updates 5kb/s is enough - but ofc it's nowhere near sufficient to dl a new OS^^ at least, not overnight, and this is buying you enough time to become aware of any foul play going on and stopping it manually.

Ofc you could completely disable all Win communication although IIRC you need to spare one (or more) win-processes otherwise the inet conn will also break down with it.

Secondly, only update manually. There are some updates (here on Win7) which are nagware, for example KB2952664 which every hour prompts to upgrade the OS.

That's the same 'nagging' KB that several people reported as having ignored for several days before waking to find Scheduled Maintenance had 'upgraded' their Win 7 or Win 8.1 machine to Win 10.  In other words, MS is losing patience with the resisters to its latest OS.  It reminds me of Stalin and other dictators, only now it's Microsoft throwing its weight around and forcing its will upon others.... its own partners included.

I was always disappointed with Apple's methods and attitude, but sad to say, Microsoft has far surpassed Apple with its attitude, methods and bully-boy tactics. What Microsoft is doing now is downright criminal.  Sadly, the powers that be - the only people/entities that can act - are sitting on their hands while MS continues to break into peoples personal property [their PCs] and make unwelcome changes without as much as a whisper of consent.  Nobody can tell me that is right, though some might try, but if it were their homes Microsoft was breaking into, they'd soon be up in arms and laying complaints with the relevant authorities.  Point made !!!!

In self-defense, we've had to enable automatic important (security) updates on all our workstations (otherwise, they'd never happen if left to the staff to do them manually), but we've made sure the 'Give me recommended...' checkbox has been unchecked.  Several of the workstations ended up with 3035583 installed anyway.  This past week have installed GWXCP on all of them & run Never10 as well (for purposes of redundancy purposes ).  On the rigs that had 3035583 installed, had to first uninstall that update before GWXCP and Never10 would function correctly.

Just sharing experience.

Now ya just gotta hope, Daiwa, is that those machines don't get 'upgraded' via Scheduled Maintenance.  Another person I know say her machine was likely 'hacked' that way... going to sleep with Win 7 and waking up to Win 10.  She too had Never 10 and GWXCP installed, so they're no guarantee against MS' tactics

What Microsoft is doing is patently wrong and I sincerely hope that enough pissed off people can successfully mount a class action suit that rightfully stops MS being a tech bully boy.

Not sure if Scheduled Maintenance is a vector for that in Windows 7.  What I've found seems to relate to 8/8.1.

For Windows 7 users...and I'm assuming others after as well...here the list again of updates to be on the lookout for if you don't want Windows10 installed...so if before you click ok to update make sure these aren't in there...and you can hide these updates but they don't stay hidden...windows updates tries to sneak them in after awhile.

KB2506928
KB2545698 (IE9)
KB2592687
KB2876229 SKYPE
KB2976978
KB2977728
KB2978092
KB2923545 RDP
KB2970228
KB2990214
KB2994023
KB2660075
KB2952664 x2
KB2726535
KB3021917
KB3022345 Replaced by KB3068708 Telemetry (Caused false sfc result)
KB3035583
KB3044374
KB3050265
KB3065987
KB3068708 Telemetry
KB3075249
KB3080149
KB3095649
KB3102810

KB 2952664 - Labeled a compatibility upgrade for upgrading Windows 7, its purpose is to "make improvements to the current operating system in order to ease the upgrade experience to the latest version of Windows".

KB 2976978 - A compatibility update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 which "performs diagnostics on the Windows system [..] to determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed.

KB 2990214 . Does the same as KB 3044374 but on Windows 7.

KB 3021917 - Does the same as KB 2976978 but on Windows 7.

KB 3035583 - According to Microsoft, this update enables "additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available".
    
KB 3044374 - This update for Windows 8.1 enables systems to upgrade from the current operating system to a later version of Windows.
   

I don't know for sure, either, I was just relating what she said to me.  However, she wasn't the only person who claimed their Win 7 machine was 'upgraded' to Win 10 that way.  In any event, MS has overstepped the mark considerably.... altering peoples machines without consent or legitimate authority.  Seriously, the "security reasons" lies abound, and the sneaky, underhanded tactics to make/force users to 10 are atrocious.

In fact, it is quite surprising that the EU hasn't come down on Microsoft for this 'bully-boy' behaviour.... or isn't this happening to Europeans, just we poor schnucks in the colonies?

so true... looking at my update history I did install [and deinstall] KB2952664 several times over the course of the good part of a year, because stay hidden doesn't seems to work that well. And ofc, the descriptions given my MS are as vague as possible, which means if you don't still remember the exact KB number after some months you'll get it again.

This is just horrible business practice.

Ironically, the "stay hidden" option doesn't even hide the update, it just will turn the pen-ink from black to grey. Now if you're sitting in front of a bad monitor, or it's not well placed (light falling onto screen) or forgot your glasses (or else....) it doesn't take a genious to realize these hidden updates may be selected as well as they can't be distinguished from the proper ones. IMO this is also subtle  calculated manipulation.

A few months ago, in winter IIRC the continued proposal to get this update stoped. At least for me, it's not available anymore. Still, MS were busy, inventing another update which twice a day starts several .exes which keep on searching completely through all drives and not even in background mode!

I sometimes wonder if I should even go through all the hassle with these eternal updates. A clean Win7 installment from disc start amazingly fast, needs less RAM & let's me basically do everything I want to do as well (I always keep such one on another disc in case of a disc failure). But then there is this fear of security problems someone found a way to gain entry and MS needs to patch to close that. On the other hand, some of these updates (skype eg) seem to posse a security issue in itself, and the more you update naturally the more tasks will keep running in the background.

But I don't have the time, the understanding nor the patience to indepthly inform myself about any existing WinUpdate that there is, what it precisely does and if it's specifically needed on my rig... It's a loose-loose-loose situation; what do?

That's it, MS keeps reinventing updates to impose its will on people when previous ones are ignored and/or blocked.... and when those are ignored, too, MS uses Scheduled Maintenance to initiate the Win 10 download/installation. 

As for MS searching drives other than C: to check the OS for security flaws and updates, etc, well that's not on in my book.  For mine, the ONLY business MS has looking into users computers is to ensure Windows and other Microsoft programs are functioning as they should be.  Other than that, MS should full stop NOT be accessing users drives and data.  Satya Nadella would be charged if he rifled through your drawers to read personal correspondence delivered by snail mail, so why are he and his cohorts being given free reign to rifle through personal data contained on users non-OS HDDs?

Yeah, that's the thing, MS counts on this and slips in stuff most users would reject if they had the time and knowledge to do so.  Once upon a time, Windows Update was about customer care and service.  Sadly, this is no longer necessarily true, with many 'updates' serving MS... NOT the user.  Yup, PC users are being manipulated... corralled into a walled garden, where MS can pretty much do as it wants.

The Register has reported that now MS is taking away the choice to Upgrade or not. MS is denying that.

https://forums.wincustomize.com/477854/page/1/

This just goes to show how aggressively MS is pushing for Win 10 to be on a billion devices by 2020.  However, even if they reach that milestone, they won't be able to [honestly] claim bragging rights, not having forced 10 onto 10's of 1000's of people.... perhaps even millions, who simply didn't want it and were quite happy with their previous OS.  Like WOW, what an ego trip MS is on right now, in its bid for PC world domination.... and making many enemies along the way.

And here was I thinking that I disliked fechen bankers the most.  Perhaps I do, but MS has done itself no favours, not in my book.