How to completely disable the GWX icon and automatic upgrade
Nov 16, 2015 12:16:17 GMT -6
Ami, Rick, and 1 more like this
Post by Techie007 on Nov 16, 2015 12:16:17 GMT -6
As many people have discovered over the last several months, Microsoft has installed adware on many computers running Windows 7 and 8.1, advertising and attempting to coerce or trick users into "upgrading" to Windows 10. Shortly after Windows 10 was released, Microsoft slipped in another update that makes most of these computers—regardless of whether the user reserved a copy of Windows 10 or not—actually download Windows 10 secretly in the background, consuming about 3–6 GB of Internet bandwidth and disk space in the process.
A couple months later, Microsoft tested their "spring 2016 auto upgrade plan" by "accidentally" making the optional Windows 10 update "ticked on" by default, successfully triggering the upgrade to Windows 10 on about a million unsuspecting users and creating a visible bump in Windows 10's market share before they redacted the change a couple days later. Come next spring, as a "last minute push" before the the free Windows 10 upgrade offer expires in the summer of 2016, Microsoft plans to categorize Windows 10 as a recommended update, which will make millions of computers automatically "upgrade" to Windows 10 without the user's permission or desire.
If you have no intention of letting Microsoft "upgrade" your PC to Windows 10 in the future, or are annoyed by the Windows 10 advertisements that popup every few days on your computer, I suggest opting your PC out of the Windows 10 upgrade. There are plenty of guides on the Internet detailing various dubious ways to get rid of the GWX icon, but unfortunately, most of them are needlessly complicated (and ineffective in the long term) or require software installation to implement.
So I wrote myself a simple "run once and forget" script for opting PCs out of the Windows 10 upgrade. It changes several GWX registry settings, effectively disabling the GWX tray icon, the annoying advertisements, the automatic download and future installation of Windows 10. It should even be able to "bring your PC back from the brink" if someone already reserved the upgrade on your PC:
OptOut10 Homepage
If you change your mind and decide you want to upgrade to Windows 10 before the free upgrade offer expires on July 30, 2016, you can manually initiate the upgrade yourself by visiting Microsoft's Windows 10 download page and running the Media Creation Tool.
A couple months later, Microsoft tested their "spring 2016 auto upgrade plan" by "accidentally" making the optional Windows 10 update "ticked on" by default, successfully triggering the upgrade to Windows 10 on about a million unsuspecting users and creating a visible bump in Windows 10's market share before they redacted the change a couple days later. Come next spring, as a "last minute push" before the the free Windows 10 upgrade offer expires in the summer of 2016, Microsoft plans to categorize Windows 10 as a recommended update, which will make millions of computers automatically "upgrade" to Windows 10 without the user's permission or desire.
If you have no intention of letting Microsoft "upgrade" your PC to Windows 10 in the future, or are annoyed by the Windows 10 advertisements that popup every few days on your computer, I suggest opting your PC out of the Windows 10 upgrade. There are plenty of guides on the Internet detailing various dubious ways to get rid of the GWX icon, but unfortunately, most of them are needlessly complicated (and ineffective in the long term) or require software installation to implement.
So I wrote myself a simple "run once and forget" script for opting PCs out of the Windows 10 upgrade. It changes several GWX registry settings, effectively disabling the GWX tray icon, the annoying advertisements, the automatic download and future installation of Windows 10. It should even be able to "bring your PC back from the brink" if someone already reserved the upgrade on your PC:
OptOut10 Homepage
If you change your mind and decide you want to upgrade to Windows 10 before the free upgrade offer expires on July 30, 2016, you can manually initiate the upgrade yourself by visiting Microsoft's Windows 10 download page and running the Media Creation Tool.