Microsoft Auto-Scheduling Windows 10 Updates

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It probably is - I'm sure many people consider it unauthorized tampering with their systems.

I wonder how many class-action lawsuits Microsoft will receive over the next couple of months if those unsolicited upgrades turn out to be demonstrably more than a handful of "isolated" cases.
 
How is it that they don't understand that OPTIONAL WIndows updates are not security-related and are completely unnecessary (by definition), yet MS wants to force them onto users? How is that a good thing?
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So everything unnecessary is a bad thing? New GPU drivers, updated drivers for other hardware, and a load of other stuff (including minor bug fixes or fixes for specific issues not affecting a wide user base) don't necessarily qualify as "necessary," but are still very useful or could provide tangible benefits to users.

How is it that fanboi sycophants fail to realize that Win10 will forcefully break legacy software, accidentally break current software, and remove whatever programs it chooses without any input from the user? How is that a good thing?
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Sorry, what? I've yet to come across a single application that doesn't run well under W10 - even including a couple that Windows itself flagged as incompatible before the update. I agree that the "Hi! These apps were incompatible so we removed them for you. Don't mention it!" approach is stupid. But other than that, W10 has amazingly wide compatibility with both new and old apps.
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Guess you weren't a user of Windows Media Center then.
 
Slightly incorrect / misleading statement in this article. If you have been keeping your win 7/8 system up-to-date, then you are not "going to wake up one morning to your bandwidth being hogged". This has happened months ago, even if you have declined the upgrade months ago over and over again. Microsoft downloaded windows 10 onto your system already and has stored it in a hidden folder at root level (C:\). This is to "make the update process as quick and pain free as possible".
 
This has been going on a at least a few weeks now. I have been getting calls from clients asking how to stop it and a couple had me go in and undo the upgrade.

I tell them that if they want Windows 10, just be sure to do a "Custom install" instead of express and turn off all the advertising and info gathering crap. I've done a couple of the upgrades for them, but the majority of the calls has been to revert back.

For those that have no interest in Windows 10 and are happy with what they have, this semi forced upgrade is really giving Microsoft a bad name. And it is semi-forced as typical users don't scrutinize what updates get installed when they click shutdown and update.
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It isn't clear from this if you do the below or not, so if you do, then this is not for you, but for everyone else that does not:

As "IT professionals", the best option for a client is to always update to Windows 10. Your job is to show them the benefits, and help ease them into it, and train them on the charges - equipping them for their continued use of their system. The ONLY time an upgrade is not advised is if they have critical software that is legacy and will not work on Windows 10. In this case, stressing that they need to look for alternatives to the software needs to be made a priority.

If there system is too old for Windows 10, then you should be recommending they upgrade to new hardware. There is already a question as to how much life is left in their currant hardware. If they are a business client, then this should be stressed, as the "trouble free lifespan" of their machine has well passed, and annoying problems are imminent - and sudden downtime to business machines is very costly.

Minor upgrade problems are usually very easy to rectify. Most common one for laptops and AIO is wifi issues. Rather that downgrade, purchasing of a usb wifi adapter is a much better option - and a great upgrade to newer technology. Because chances are that if there are problems, the wifi hardware is on the older end of the scale, so a new adapter will give them better stability, security, and speeds.

Home users should be made the same recommendations. They may be in less of a position to upgrade due to finances, but this does not change the recommendation. You aren't their financial adviser. It is their choice to upgrade or not.
 
I can't see why some wrongheaded commenters don't understand that Microsoft is removing ownership of the user's data from the user, undoubtedly without their knowledge or consent in many cases. How is it that these apologists don't care about data privacy and don't mind Microsoft injecting advertising directly into their OS?

How is it that they don't understand that OPTIONAL WIndows updates are not security-related and are completely unnecessary (by definition), yet MS wants to force them onto users? How is that a good thing?

How is it that fanboi sycophants fail to realize that Win10 will forcefully break legacy software, accidentally break current software, and remove whatever programs it chooses without any input from the user? How is that a good thing?

Congratulations Windows 10 users. You no longer have control over your PC.
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Well I have spoken to many people who are not tech savvy about this matter and privacy-security in general and I think their thinking goes like this:

"OK so Microsoft wants to install its own software and use my info and my files for advertising purposes?
Fine by me!
You see I don't care at all about advertising as long as I get a 100 Euros piece of software for free.That's the price of free software and as long as I don't pay money out of my packet I can live with Microsoft's restrictions,no big issue!
As we say here in Greece:nothing is free,no exceptions.
If Microsoft's software executes my (very basic) job then I can switch to that,IT IS FREE!
Furthermore,what is everyone's problem about this privacy issue?I can't see anyone grabbing my data and if they do,who cares?I do not save illegal data anyway who is going to search through my legal data just to find something to blackmail me?That's insane!You privacy crazies should get a reality check!" (note by me: nobody,even people from my IT university,cares about privacy)

On windows updates they say: "You are kidding me right?Who goes on to check what updates get installed?I just have it on auto.You know except 5 very basic programs I do not know what else my PC has on it."
 
Who cares, at this point Windows 10 is better than Vista and 7, might as well just upgrade. At some point the other ones are not going to be supported anymore with patches and you'll have to pay to upgrade to windows 10, might as well do it for free
 


Most of my clients are the type that do not care how anything works, they just want it to work and want to keep what they are familiar with. Some are in their 70's or 80's and have zero interest in even considering learning Windows 10. I tell them my honest opinion and the advantages and disadvantages and they tell me their preferences.
I have 1 client that had a Windows 7 file server go down recently and I ended up putting Windows 10 on it in the interest of time as Windows 7 wouldn't update. There are 4 machines that connect to the FS (3 on 8.1 and 1 on 7 Pro) and ever since, the Windows 7 machine keeps dropping the mapped network drive, at least once a day. While this is not acceptable, it has been a factor to convince the client to upgrade the PC and go to Windows 10.

In general I never pressure a client to upgrade a OS or their hardware unless it will solve a problem they are having. My clients are mostly not ones that are power users and don't spend the money unless they are forced to in some way. I even have a couple clients I built machines for in 2011 and for their uses, there is no good reason to upgrade anything.

That is the catch 22 of my work, I do a good job, they rarely need to call me, if I do a bad job, they don't call me.
 
I can't see why some wrongheaded commenters don't understand that Microsoft is removing ownership of the user's data from the user, undoubtedly without their knowledge or consent in many cases. How is it that these apologists don't care about data privacy and don't mind Microsoft injecting advertising directly into their OS?

How is it that they don't understand that OPTIONAL WIndows updates are not security-related and are completely unnecessary (by definition), yet MS wants to force them onto users? How is that a good thing?

How is it that fanboi sycophants fail to realize that Win10 will forcefully break legacy software, accidentally break current software, and remove whatever programs it chooses without any input from the user? How is that a good thing?

Congratulations Windows 10 users. You no longer have control over your PC.
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I don't think that is true. They simply have access to data stored online, which has always been the case with any online storage product. Onedrive is no different.
 
Ah the conspiracy theory nuts are at it again. To those of you who have disabled windows update, I hope you are a very savvy and secure computer guru, if not, it is only a matter of time before you get infected with malware, there is a very good reason why windows needs security updates.
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i have to laugh, there were a noteable number of windows updates that bricked machines.
apparently some one is a newb who was wearing diapers when that happened, which was a handful of years ago, the last biggest mass bricking happened with windows 8.
vista bricked alot of machines when it was new, and XP had at 3 different times security fixes that bricked alot of machines.
i considering software patches bricking machines malware.
 

For the most part this is true. Someone took an agreement for services and tied in that since Windows is moving to a service model that Microsoft is slowly downloading everyone in the worlds files to spy and turn them into money.

It was for online services like Onedrive. Since you are storing files on Microsoft servers who would guess they could access it.

People still play PC games even with many of them having TOS that say the game may not be virus free and you can not sue them if it happens to be that way.

The lack of update control sucks, but at the same time, I know people who NEVER update anything. This leaves then at a greater risk.


I have used Media Center since XP. It seems to be getting worse with time. I had years of issue free use. Now sometimes it will just not display info, show new shows as repeats, record on different channels when told not to and even dial the wrong number. I am going to try it on another system to see if some of these are system issues. 4-5 years of perfect WMC the past maybe year or so has been pretty bad. I had to even change locations just to get guide listings again thanks the the switch to ROVI from Zap2It[Zap2It was WAY better in terms of accuracy].
 
Windows 10 is all fine and dandy until you have a $10,000 wide format scanner who's maker refuses to update the driver to support Windows 10.... Execs at M$ should be shot for trying to sneak Win10 where it's not wanted.
 
"Microsoft has begun to auto-schedule PCs to upgrade to Windows 10 with or without consent from end users... The operating system is capable of gathering your search history, web usage, Windows Store usage, details of what applications you use, voice recordings, emails, geographic information and just about anything else that is on your PC."

Never been happier getting 'ripped off' buying a mac.
 


Having WU install drivers is an invitation to disaster. Who do you call for support when the MS diver breaks your system ? Within a week of Win10s release, WU broke SLI. Users let out a sigh of release when they reinstalled the driver from the nVidia site and everything worked again ... only to have WU remove the working driver and install the same sorry MS provided driver that continued breaking systems over and over again. Since when does a broken system qualify as a tangible benefit ? It's been a cavalcade of similar experience ever since.

There's a reason why 4 out of 5 people have declined to take advantage of MS's "free" offer to upgrade to their new OS and MS's increasingly aggressive tactics to force the issue over their own customers wishes is a confirmation of placing their own financial interests over the customer's well being.




I follow this thread ... be aware that many folks are submitting list of what **they** have chosen not to install. This may include for example.... "This update eliminates an issue with Linksys routers...." and since they didn't have one, it's on **their** list of things not to install.

http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/367377-how-remove-windows-10-upgrade-updates-windows-7-8-a.html





Incorrect in several ways:

1. It is possible top keep your "win 7/8 system up to date" w/o installing Win 10 is not part of Win 7/8.

2. Unless you blindly give access to let MS install whatever it likes, Win 10 folders will not be on your system.

3. No boxes which I administer have a single folder or file associated with Win 10. GWX Control panel confirms this.

4. Yes it is to "make the process as quick and pain free as possible" ... for them. Do you know how MS gets those files onto those that leave the door open for this invasion ? By using YOUR bandwidth. Win10 turns your PC into a torrent like server so they can ease the burden on their own servers and cut their costs accordingly. Those that are having those files installed right now are downloading them from YOUR computer.

https://www.grahamcluley.com/2015/08/windows-10-bandwidth-updates/




IT Professionals make money from upgrades so yes, of course they ... or at least many of then recommend upgrades at every opportunity. InfoWorld reported that when corporate America moved from W4WGS to Win95 they spent between $2500 and $4500 per box in hardware, training and downtime.... all to get machines that were now 40% slower.

Other IT professionals have a business model which is bit crazier ,,, that is to focus on the needs of their clients. There is nothing that Win10 has to offer the user ... the push here is simply to create a huge income stream for MS.

Look at this w/o the blinders on ... we have a product that has been available for almost 10 months that you claim has all these wonderful benefits .... and yet 4 out of 5 people eligible for the upgrade have declined to do so. There's obviously something wrong with this picture.




Neat business model isn't it ? Why should they ? You buy the new model, they get another $10k ... I'm in the same boat w/a $15k plotter and $12k MFP.




In what quantifiable way ? ... the idea of taking existing hardware and putting a newer OS on it has no ROI. Win 95 was 40% slower than its predecessor. Win 8 was supposed to be faster than Win 7, testing proved otherwise. And despite your claims, Windows 7 will be supported thru 2020.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle

By the time Win 7 support runs out, Windows 10 will be 5 years old.
 
The option to upgrade to a newer system is NOT necessarily available to older folks on a fixed income. Another group: individual and small-group medical practitioners. My chiropractor was forced by the medical billing systems to upgrade; the diagnostic and treatment codes *exploded* by, IIRC, about a factor of 40. And, of course, the insurors required this, and the software companies only offer this for the later versions of Windows. The cost of the computer wasn't the problem per se; it was migrating all the old records.

I know my dentist, periodontist, and optometrist are all running Win 7 systems...all with the kinds of specialized apps needed for their practice. None of these are big practices, so it's quite plausible that they're not using a major vendor, where extensive migration support would be part of the service. If Win 10 breaks something for them, it's a VERY big deal.

And, while 99.999% of the time, there won't be problems...still, that leaves Microsoft stiffing a whole lot of users. I would also suspect that a HIGH percentage of these users are less capable of dealing with it.
 
It's a very sneaky way of M$ monetising Windows.

"Force" as many people onto W10 as you can in the name of a 'free upgrade', all so you can have more people on an OS purpose built to gather and sell users data.

Pretty despicable practise.
 
Signed up just to make a comment on Microsoft's increasingly bully-boy tactics to get everyone to change over to something they may not want.

Their tactics more & more resemble those of the malware writers & scam artists.

I run a small home computer services business. Many of my customers do not want to change from their current setup. All they want is to be allowed to go about their business without being plagued with confusing messages from Microsoft about something that they have no interest in whatsoever.

In some cases they have ended up with Windows 10 installed without knowing how it got there. In others, they have relented & upgraded only to find a bunch of issues including performance problems, drivers not installed properly, applications that no longer work, sleep problems and other issues.

Very often this results in expenses to get things working properly or to revert back to the original setup. Very often the built in "revert" facility is either not available or doesn't work.

Allowing Microsoft to install updates automatically on customer equipment is a privilege that they have thoroughly abused, and I have no idea why they have been allowed to get away with it. It should be thoroughly illegal!
 
My biggest problem with automatic updates (whether this 10 upgrade, but more why I removed W10 from my systems) is that the installer/updater cannot anticipate your working schedule. You may be at the start of a 2-week emergency period and windows stalls you with the updates. You may be in a racing simulator and it downloads the updates (W10 nail in the coffin for me). It does not matter.....I've had such bad experiences at work on XP and a SW delivery platform. It just adds so much stress, but nobody can be held accountable because "it's just 10-20 minutes"......every (2nd) week.
 
Funny how they advertise it with "300 million people have already upgraded".
I just came to think about when Sadam Hussein was getting 99% of the votes in the Iraqi elecctions back in the days...
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The funny part is that even with this insanely aggressive forced upgrading Microsoft still felt the need to have to include Xbox One and Windows Phone as Devices with windows 10. 300 million devices, with a good chunk from forced upgrades and the others from consoles and phones.
 
Windows 10 is all fine and dandy until you have a $10,000 wide format scanner who's maker refuses to update the driver to support Windows 10.... Execs at M$ should be shot for trying to sneak Win10 where it's not wanted.
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Actually, the scanner maker execs should be shot for not providing drivers for the new OS.
 

Older hardware rarely gets support after many years. This is not uncommon at all.
 
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