“Upgrading Windows installations to Windows 10 without permission”
Users in various places around the web are reporting that Windows editions that can be upgraded to Windows 10 for free are now doing this upgrade without the explicit consent of the user. This leads to a lot of discontent among users.
In several topics on, for example, Reddit, users come together to share their experiences with the upgrades of the past few days. They come up with stories of family members working on important documents that get lost because the upgrade process started itself when they weren’t paying attention. Companies would also experience a lot of inconvenience from the automatic upgrade.
The problem would lie with Windows update KB3035583 and KB3139929, which are responsible for handling the upgrade to Microsoft’s latest operating system. These updates have gone from an optional installation to one that is automatically included with other updates because of a “recommended” flag. After installing the update, a computer does not even need to be restarted, according to the relevant Microsoft support page. When the update is installed, it will automatically download the Windows 10 installation files.
This was already known in itself, but now it appears that the upgrade will actually be carried out over time. So if a user is not paying attention or is absent at the wrong time, he or she is dealing with a computer that suddenly runs on Windows 10 instead of Windows 7 or 8.1. The installation can still be rolled back temporarily after completion. The last time this happened, Microsoft indicated it was “an error.”
The users on Reddit exchange advice to prevent the automatic, unwanted upgrade. For example, it is recommended to uncheck and hide the relevant updates in Windows Update. However, it has happened in the past that the updates reappear in Windows Update after they have been properly rejected. That’s why some other users go so far as to advise people to disable Windows Update altogether.
Microsoft is offering Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users the option to upgrade to Windows 10, the latest version of the Redmond-based company’s operating system, for free. During the course of last year, the company first introduced the upgrade software via Windows Update. At the time, however, this update was one that required manual installation. So at the moment the opposite is the case. Microsoft offers users the free upgrade for up to one year after the release of Windows 10, which took place in late July 2015. Users who are not interested in an upgrade may then be relieved of the need to avoid the automatic upgrade.