Windows 10

Is #Windows10 Hijacking Your Computer?

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hijack

 

Thank you Windows 10 for taking the liberty of thinking you can sneak your updates into my computer with secret codes and then automatically download onto my computer when I try to close the box asking me to download. If I closed the box, obviously this meant I chose not to upgrade from my 8.1.

 

One would think that we still have choices when it comes to using the operating system of our choice. But Microsoft has been making it more difficult to circumvent downloading the upgrade.

 

At first I thought those pop ups were becoming more plentiful as I clicked off the download box more and more frequently. But today was a little different. I clicked to close off the annoying pop up once again, and the next thing I knew, another box came up telling me that Windows 10 was now downloading. This form of tricking us into downloading is now being talked about as ‘clickjacking’.

 

I quickly stopped the installation, but that didn’t stop it from letting me know that next time I restart my computer it would continue loading. That’s when I went into detective mode and surrendered 5 hours of planned writing time to figure out a way to get rid of Microsoft’s infringement on my personal freedom.

 

I’ve done all the legwork now, so I’m going to spare you guys this agro, and save you countless hours of reading on Google how to get rid of this annoying and potentially corruptive problem.

 

Let me begin with saying that I have 4 computers. My big desktop has Windows 8.1 on it, which I love, and it’s also the one I use to write my books on. My laptop also has 8.1, and I have an old laptop which still functions with Windows 7 that I haven’t used in a few years. And then there is my new Windows Surface with 10 built into it. So this nightmare of Windows 10 wanting to take over my 3 other computers had me running between the 3 of them to see if they had already been possessed.

 

I will add that on my newest laptop, I’ve adjusted to Windows 10 and haven’t had any real problems with it. The problem for many seems to be that once you download Windows 10 as a replacement to a previous other operating system, many things can and have gone wrong, not to mention that some software programs used in 7 or 8 aren’t compatible with 10. I’ve heard many writers complaining how downloading 10 as an upgrade had screwed up their computers, and many had to go visit the ‘Geeks’ to restore their computers.

 

When I began my Google search I started typing in things like: stop Windows 10 from downloading, how to get rid of Windows 10 updates, and so forth. After reading several articles and trying various things to get rid of the updates on the 3 computers, I finally came across some immensely helpful information.

 

One article I read, informed me of the code of the update to be on the look out for that automatically will transform into Windows 10 once updated. I then had to search my computer(s) for that update that was already ‘installed’ but not yet downloaded. The next time I would have restarted my computer(s) that update would have overtaken the system without consent. So began the mission to try and rid my computer(s) of this update.

 

In my investigations, I learned, how to stop the pop up from the task bar from popping up asking me to download, and how to disallow the update from taking effect upon restarting the computer. This is what I’m sharing with you.

 

The offending update code is kb3035583. If you go into your control panel and then your Windows updates installed, you can scroll down through them all and if you find that offending code, you can ‘uninstall’ the update. Keep in mind that ‘installed updates’ don’t mean they have yet been downloaded. But the thought of having it there and taking action while I’m away from the computer was frightening. And to keep that pesky pop up from continuing to visit your screen randomly, you can left click on the taskbar, which will bring up ‘properties’, click that then click ‘customize’ in that box then scroll down to ‘hide Windows 10 icon and that will stop the pest from asking you to download Windows 10 and waiting for you to accidentally click it to download. I also changed my ‘how I want my updates installed’ from automatically update when there’s a new update to let me know when there are updates so I can keep an eye out for that nasty code, in case it comes back. I also found that Microsoft is on a tear to get people to download 10 till the end of July. That’s when Windows 10 will no longer be offered ‘FREE’ and hence, there should be no more updates for it.

 

But we aren’t done yet. In my deep Google search, I came across a Geek article recommending a program called Never 10. Apparently, this is one of the best and possibly only fix available to completely disallow Windows 10 from loading on your computer ever! (Unless YOU choose to undo it.)

 

I’m going to list 2 links below. One of the links will give you more insight about how to get rid of the pop up and links to the download of the Windows 10 blocker, and how to deal with that update code. All pages lead back to referring to the Never 10 download to forever block the nuisance.

 

Let me say that I spent quite a few hours between investigating, checking all my computers and testing by closing them off and restarting and searching again, and I’m happy to say that the devil did not possess me!

 

Here are the links:  http://www.howtogeek.com/218856/how-do-you-disable-the-get-windows-10-icon-shown-in-the-notification-tray/

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3074339/windows/how-to-escape-that-forced-windows-10-upgrade-you-mistakenly-agreed-to.html

 

https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

 

And if you’d like to read more about how Microsoft has underhandedly shifted around the function of the ‘close screen’ feature to eliminate the option to decline the update to 10, read HERE

 

I hope none of you have yet fallen prey to this nuisance and if you’re experiencing any of these problems, this information should get you out of the jam. There are also various links on Google offering instructions on how to undo the process should your computer have already downloaded 10 on its own accord. 

 

http://www.howtogeek.com/220723/how-to-uninstall-windows-10-and-downgrade-to-windows-7-or-8.1/

I’d be curious to know if any of you have run into this problem?

98 thoughts on “Is #Windows10 Hijacking Your Computer?”

  1. Useful info, Debby, thank you. It can leave my desktop severly alone… though if it wants to replace 8.1 on my laptop, I won’t complain. I cannot get on with that one at all…

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    1. Sue, 8.1 was a learning curve for me after leaving Windows 7. At first I hated it, but learned to love it. Again 10 is another learning curve, and I’ve learned to ignore using certain features that I have no use or interest for. I don’t mind 10 on my newest laptop now (although I feel immense privacy invasion), but I know by downloading 10 on an existing 7 or 8 can cause a lot of problems.
      If I did choose to download 10 on another OS, I would uninstall the old one completely, clean the hard drive, and start over downloading 10. This way there wouldn’t be any conflictions.
      As it stands now, I’m backing up like a maniac, and have downloaded Never10 which is working beautifully. It took away the pop ups and won’t allow 10 to install. I highly recommend it. 🙂

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      1. I’ll have a look into Never10!
        I cannot get to grips with 8.1… I can never find anything, consequently everything ends up on the desktop where I can actually locate it… I should spend more time trying to get the hang of it, I suppose. 🙂

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      2. You should take some time to get to know it Sue. Like I said, I hated it at first, but now that I’ve been visiting my old Windows 7 laptop in trying to prevent the 10 download, I realize how many functions I don’t have on it that I’ve come to love on 8, especially a touch screen.
        I will say, I don’t like the ’tile’ format, and I open directly to my desktop, where . . everything is, lol, but I like it that way.
        But if you’re still getting to know 8.1, I’m willing to be you won’t like 10, so go over to Never10, and hit ‘download’, a little box will come up and tell you the 10 upgrade has been blocked on your computer, then you can click the other little box which asks you if you want to remove all the hidden files stored on your computer that are part of the 10 download, just waiting to install on your computer while you sleep, lol. The whole things took 2 minutes. 🙂 Let me know if you did it.

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      3. I will, Debby, when I get the chance… packing at the moment, between breaks at the PC.
        The tile-things I hate… and not having a touch screen, they are of little use to me anyway.

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  2. Great article Debby.. David has made sure that all our devices have stayed clear and I am very happy with my previous version of Windows.. Windows 10 is far too intrusive into our business. To be honest this is another reason that we will not download Kindle reader which so kindly offered.. it too has trapdoors. This article will open a great many people’s eyes to the insidious nature of ‘upgrades’.

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    1. Thanks Sal for your feedback and all your shares. And yes, I’ve read from so many about Windows 10 invasion of privacy. Eyes are everywhere on us.
      As far as the OS of Windows 10, I’m used to it on my newest laptop (eyes and all), but it has caused numerous problems for people who downloaded it having a previous different OS. The worst part is that Microsoft is now tricking people into the download with no choice.
      In all my years of using a computer, the ‘x’ in the top right hand corner of a dialogue box is meant to close the box. This is no longer the case with the Windows 10 upgrade pop up. Now you try and close the annoying ad, and you’re on your way to downloading. That’s what happened to me yesterday. 😦
      I hope this article will be helpful to others. ❤ xo 🙂

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  3. Thanks Debby for this article. I had fallen prey to the windows pop ups. I kept clicking no only to have no choice in the end as it just downloaded, took over my lap top and installed itself. But now I have the code to un-install I`m going to do just that.

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    1. Grr Adele, sorry you went through this. It’s maddening. Check by Googling the uninstall first, or check one of the links I provided offers help for that. Unless your tech-savvy, I wouldn’t want you damaging your computer. I should have to think you’d have to strip the hard drive. Don’t forget to back up everything first!!!!

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  4. I downloaded Windows10 twice, a month or so after it came out and then in January. Both times, I then had it uninstalled. As you mentioned, it didn’t agree with my laptop and it’s new and came with Windows 8.1. Ugh.

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    1. Arg, sorry this post is late for you,lol. Yes, this is the problem. Not that I would mind Windows 10, but not on an existing computer with another operating system. Hence, I wouldn’t download 10 with those programs and I don’t appreciate Microsoft sneaking their way in to download to the unknowing.
      My advice if you want 10, to uninstall the original OS, and clean off the hard drive completely (don’t forget to back up!), then download 10. And if you’re not tech savvy, I’d advise you to take it to your local Staples or Best Buy and let them uninstall and download 10 properly. That way you would avoid conflicting issues with compatability with hardware and software. 🙂

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  5. Have you received notification from Microsoft about OneDrive? Talk about weaseling money. They want you to update Office for 69.99, whereby they’ll give you a Trig (?) of space. If you go over the 5Gigs, I forget the consequences because I saw red. Anybody?

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    1. Once upon a time, you could buy the Office program on a disk and download yourself on all your computers. I still have my old Word 2007 which I write my books with. I have it installed on all my computers except the newest 12 inch Surface which doesn’t have a DVD drive, and coincidentally after Word 2010, Microsoft starting selling Office by download, and the licence is only good for one year. That price $69.99 is the annual renewal price. It comes with One Drive, and depending on the deal you got at the time, is how many gigs you will get on One Drive. I got 10 with mine last year.
      Don’t quote me on this, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that if you go over the gigs, you’ll get a pop up warning informing you and an offer to buy more.
      Hope I’ve helped. 🙂

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  8. Will be on this and getting it sorted. Thank you again so much Deb. And I know how frustrating it is to set precious time aside for writing, only to have it all used up for ‘stuff’ like this. But in your generousity of heart, you also take the time to share everything you’ve discovered through your painstaking detective work with us. You’re an absolute star… 🙂 ❤ ❤ ❤ xoxo

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    1. You know me Sher, I love sharing, that’s how I learn, by others sharing.
      I’m no star, but rather a determined chick on a mission. 🙂 ❤ xo

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    1. Lol Sher. I have to make it my business to learn these things. After all, we don’t want the monster to destroy our writing life. And I’m so glad to learn that you got the beast off your computer in time! ❤ 🙂 xo

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      1. Yay…thanks to you Deb! These monsters steal too much time from us as it is…modern technology is great when it works, but an absolute nightmare when it doesn’t! I need to do the Never10 though…soon! ❤ 🙂 xo

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      2. Sher, you have to do the Never 10 because those updates will re-install themselves repeatedly and one day you’ll boot up your computer and the darn thing will load. So keep an eye on your ‘installed updates’ for that nasty code and make sure you keep removing it until you load Never10, then you won’t have to worry about keeping on the lookout anymore. 🙂 xoxo

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      3. Will do, thanks again Deb…those pesky updates have already done that and coming back again. What a pain. I’m on it!!! I’m going to reblog your post today to let my readers know… 🙂 xoxo

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      4. Glad you’re on top of them Sher. And thanks for spreading the word. I know so many of us are dealing with this annoyance. 🙂 xoxo

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      5. Hi again Deb. You will roll your eyes at this one. I realised that you don’t have a reblog button and I remembered your post about the Press This button, but I’m running out of time today to figure out how to use it properly. I think what I’ll do instead is when I do my post next week about the workshop, I’ll make mention of your post and link to it. I hope that’s okay with you. Things have been a bit stressful for me lately and I’m glad I’m not going back to London for the workshops as this week, especially with it being a long weekend, is lost on me, what with other personal ‘stuff’ going on too. My problem right now is getting time to do much of anything (that I want to do) and it’s so annoying…so that’s my rant and moan for this Thursday lol! I feel like a twit, but there it is… 😮 ❤ xoxo

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      6. You make me laugh Sher. And thanks for wanting to share my post. I do appreciate it. If you haven’t downloaded the ‘press this’ tool from your dashboard, you can copy and paste part of my blog article and add the link if you like. Alternatively, if you go to your dashboard, click on tools, you will find the press this bookmark, you just click on it and it should add to your tool bar. Then anytime you’re on a page you’d like to copy for reblog, just hit the ‘press this’ on your tool bar and a draft screen will open up wherever you are asking you to publish or save, you just save draft until you’re ready to do something with it. Hope this helps.
        And try and enjoy your weekend making time for yourself, lol. xoxo 🙂 ❤

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      7. LOL! It’s been one of those weeks! But then what’s new pussy cat, ha! Sing with me, sing with me Deb 😀 You make it all sound so easy reading this. I will take a look and see what I can find…be back in a few… 🙂 xoxo

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      11. Yay…at last, I ‘ve got it! I’ve got the ‘press this’ on my toolbar, tried it on your post and now have it saved ready to share! Easy when you know how isn’t it? Thanks so much Deb, you’re a star, this is a great feature and I can see how helpful it will be. I can’t wait to share ‘you’ with my readers 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll be in touch early next week. And I promise to try and make time for myself, lol…you too, promise? Squeezing hugs 🙂 ❤ xoxo

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      12. Yay Sher! So glad you got it working, It will help you so much whenever you want to post about anything you see on the web. Just hit ‘press this’ on your toolbar and it will copy the link and first few words from any article. You can then go to your draft, hit preview, and it will open up the link to what you’ve saved. Then you can copy whatever parts you want to use in the post and paste them back into the draft. When I do it, I have 2 tabs open so I can jump from the original post back to my draft in edit. Play around with it and you’ll see how handy it is.
        Now get back to your lovely weekend!
        The weather is lovely here, but I have a lot of work to catch up on today.
        Big hugs my friend! xoxo 🙂 ❤ ❤

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      13. This is so helpful Deb…thank you so much once again! I also keep two tabs open when I’m working on a draft so I can see how this will work great with Press This. So far this week I’ve barely managed to get on WP or do any writing, but I will be playing big time in the next couple of days 🙂 I hope your edits are going well and you had a wonderful and productive weekend! Loving those hugs, sending you extra-special, super-duper birthday hugs for you on your special day my lovely, special friend! 🙂 ❤ ⭐ xoxoxoxo

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      14. I noticed you’ve been sparse around the usual haunts my friend, lol. Hope your weekend was great. And so glad you’ve got the Press This down pat. Any probs just ask!
        Thanks again for the lovely hugs and wishes for my birthday, always appreciated. ❤ ❤ xoxo

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      15. Oh I will ask, you can be sure of that Deb, LOL! You’ve helped me out of more than one jam… 🙂 This week has proved to be even more of a kicker…but still planning on that post by the end of week, rain or shine, ha!! Huge hugs to you… ❤ ❤ ❤

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  10. Oh too late for me. My lap top is totally ruined by Windows 10. I can’t do a thing with it. I read up in forums and nothing helped. It just tells me that it did not download properly. I have it on two other computers and the start menu now only works about once a week.

    I was doing a professional editors and proofreading course and thinking I was doing the right thing I bought Office 2016 from a local store. I have to save everything in word 2003 to be sure that others can open my documents. When I receive word files they will not open in Word 2016.

    Thanks for all the work you have done to help others. Another gripe, when I open my computer it says Welcome. After all it is my computer, it could say hello or good morning but welcome sounds like I am a visitor to my own computer 😦 LOL

    Kathleen
    Bloggers Pit Stop

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    1. Arg Kathleen, that is awful. I know of quite a few who were already trapped by this. It is certainly a more dire situation for a writer.
      I also don’t like the new Word Office program. I have my old DVD copy of Word 2007, and I’m guarding it like gold!
      Like I mentioned, you have to do a clean ‘uninstall’ to completely remove Windows 10, and then use disc cleanup to clean up the remainder fragments of files that are secretly left behind. Then you can redownload your old program.
      If you aren’t tech savvy enough to do this, perhaps it would be worth a bit of money to take at least one of your computers to a Geek store and let them do the clean sweep. Have you considered this? Such a non LOL situation . . . LOL 🙂

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  11. The deployment of Windows 10 has not been done well. It’s a decent OS, but it certainly should have been “shipped out” better – with a revert button that would work, ha! I don’t enjoy using Windows, but I keep it around for gaming. Updated to 10 because I had nothing to lose – if it failed, I could just reinstall 7. Luckily, everything worked right. It’s just a matter of fixing the security settings once it was up and running – and checking on it each time there’s an update to it!

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    1. Thanks Jessica. Definitely should have been ‘shipped out’ better than force fed down people’s throats. It’s very confusing for people who aren’t tech savvy. Perhaps they prey on that.

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  13. Thanks for the warning and info. I’m still on Windows 7 and pretty soon I’m going to need a new laptop…by the end of the year definitely. My anxiety starts going through the roof anytime I have to do this, redownload all my programs, transfer data. Ugh. It’s never easy and something always goes wrong. I suppose when I get around to it, 10 will be the version I get.

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    1. New computers now all come with 10. It’s not a problem if you get one with 10 pre-installed. The problems arise when you change to 10 on a different existing operating system.
      And believe me Diana, I’ve had my share of reloading my whole computer with 3 hard drive crashes within 2 years. I hear you. 🙂

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  14. We have had our current desktops for five years so we will probably get new ones in the next couple months. In preparation for that, we finally gave in to Windows 10. It’s tolerable, but we greatly preferred Windows 7. With Microsoft’s support schedule, I think extended support on 7 stops in 2017 so I guess we will have to live with it. It’s a little late to be switching to a Mac–LOL.

    Before doing the upgrade, I found that the way to defeat the constant barrage of nags to update to 10 was simply to go ahead and accept the download BUT then click on the “hide the update” rather than installing it. This depends on having first chose to accept downloads but choose whether and when to install. Safer than that is choosing whether to download at all.

    Once you move to Windows 10, unless you upgraded from Professional, you no longer have any options. Microsoft will automatically download and update whenever it wants to.

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  17. Thanks Debby. I had a problem with a virus in my computer and my cousin ended up installing a new hard drive and then Windows 10 so I haven’t had a problem with it (I hope) but you and I might be the only people who liked Windows 8… (I had never got used to Windows 7 and windows XP was not useful for most things any longer)

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    1. HI Olga! Sorry to learn of the virus, but at least you got a new hard drive and had 10 installed fresh, that would have eliminated potential conflict than if you had downloaded on your previously existing system.
      I’m using 8.1, I downloaded that the day I got my computer with 8 on it, it’s so much more functional. And I know many people didn’t like 8 when it came out, I was one of them. But after going back to visit my Windows 7 laptop to check for that 10 update, I realized how many capabilities it doesn’t have compared to 8.1. 🙂 Glad you’re functioning well with 10 and no hitches. I don’t mind it on my new laptop, I just didn’t want complications with an older version. 🙂

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  18. Ahh… so the Ten Windowed demon sneaked in on you? A little while after Windows 10 came out I downloaded it to my old computer. It completely, totally, utterly, irreversibly fried my computer.
    Now, I’ve had the new one for quite a while, and the sneaky download box started popping up. It really pissed me off to see it. Finally it went away, only to be followed by a sneakier one… in the place/button you’d ordinarily click to make the box go away, was a “download later” button. Those bat rastards…
    Sending huge hugs!

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    1. Arg Teag, so sorry to hear you were also a victim of a ruined computer.
      Yes, that’s what I’m referring to now, ‘the box we’re supposed to click the x to close now become a download later’.
      Make sure you go into your ‘windows updates’ > check installed updates, if you see that code, highlight it, then click uninstall!
      These pesky updates will continue till the end of July in hopes of catching more unsuspecting victims. 😦 Hugs back at you. ❤ 🙂

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  20. Hi Debby, great article! Super research. Just today Windows 10 decided to upgrade on my computer. So far so good, but I didn’t even click anything and it went ahead and downloaded and installed all by itself!! Now I am sure the master cyber entities will be able to check all of the computers at their beck and call…very scary and right in tune with George Orwell’s 1984. I think the only solution is to do away with every electronic item that we have and go back to paper and pencil. But then the drones would probably find us!!

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    1. I’m so in agreement with you Patrick! George Orwell wasn’t far from a truth!
      And wow Patrick, isn’t that a coincidence that just today 10 downloaded itself to your computer, when only 2 days ago I caught it about to download itself?
      Like I said, these coming weeks until end of July, Microsoft is on a a mission to get it downloaded to as many as possible, now through trickery.
      What must have happened to your computer Patrick, was exactly what was about to happen to mine before I caught it. You must have just casually clicked OFF the dialogue box that popped up for the hundredth time as usual, and that’s where the trickery came in, the ‘x’ on top of box where we normally click everything off, allowed to install instead. This is where I caught mine.
      After I’d clicked it off, I noticed, ever so quickly then it was gone, a faint message saying, next time I reboot it will download. That’s when I began my search how to prevent it and caught that code in my updates and uninstalled. Then I searched out that NEVER 10, and gratefully I’ve got no more pop ups and no Windows 10 on those computers.
      I’m sorry you were caught in this web. If you have any other computer to save before they are caught, I highly recommend my method. Thanks for sharing Patrick. And I hope you don’t have any repercussions from the download. Do keep me posted if so to add to these comments. 🙂

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  22. I have the Windows Vista.. and my PC is 8 years old but still insured for faults.. So I was thankful of that as you know I had been having issues with mine.. I had to have a new hard drive installed.. I had always backed up my computer.. and was told this was sufficient..
    Thankfully last year because of memory space I started to down load all my poems etc and photos to an external portable hard drive.. Good thing I did too.. As my computer came back swiped to factory settings and no back up hard drive empty… I would have been gutted if my poetry had gone,..
    Some one was watching over my poems.. 🙂
    Yes even the updates now in Vista have all had to go back from the beginnings worth.. taking up a third of the space on the new hard drive.. Crazy!!
    We are all of us being Watched.. My old programmes will no longer function as Windows Essentials have discontinued them…. So half of my old programmes no longer work with the new hard drive when I tried to reinstall them.. Grrr.. So my Windows Live writer I used with WP is now no longer available..
    Never mind.. Its another lesson the Universe thought to deliver .. 🙂 in Letting GO.. 🙂

    Thank you for the information.. I have saved it for I know some where soon down the line I will be needing it.. 🙂
    Hugs Sue

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    1. Wow Sue. That’s a whole lotta problems. No wonder you were beside yourself with tech issues. And anytime you take your computer to get fixed and there are hard drive issues, more than likely they will swipe it clean, that’s why backup is essential.
      I would imagine this whole process is more difficult for you because you are on a fairly old operating system. I hope you’re up and running properly now, and suggest you may look into a newer laptop next time you have these terrible issues, as Windows will soon stop making updates for these older versions. 🙂 xo

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      1. I know, My hubby keeps telling me to bite the bullet and treat myself.. But I really do not want a Windows 10.. 🙂 I had another hours worth of updates to install today.. Lots of programmes I had now no longer will load.. But the main thing is I backed up to another external system.. And my poems are on memory keys too so triple safe I hope…

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      2. You will know when it’s time to surrender to Windows 10, lol. It isn’t all that bad, really. I’m used to it now. The only bad about it is downloading to an existing computer with another version, that’s where the conflict lies. Are you also backing up to a cloud? I love using dropbox because it’s a portable safe. I can pick up a document from anywhere, anyone of my computers or from anyone else’s by logging into my account. It makes attaching documents so easy when you have access at your fingertips.
        If you’re interested let me know and I’ll send you a link to download and register your account. If you decide to use it from my link I send you, I will get extra storage gigs for referring. And if you should decide to recommend someone, you will also get extra storage capacity.
        Let me know. 🙂 ❤

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      4. Hello Marie, Many thanks for this piece of advice I may well try again and find Open Live Writer.. As it is so much more easier to post from there.. 🙂 So thank you. 🙂

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  23. Thank you for this, Debby. I’ve copied it and printed it off. I’ll read it tomorrow. I’m a slow learner when it comes to technical things going wrong; I just keep trying the same things until I give up. Four computers!! Lucky you! I’m sure Charles Dickens didn’t have such trouble with his quill and ink. Hah! jx

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    1. Lol Judith. But I do hope you’ll find this useful if you’re being pestered by the upgrade update.
      I work on my desktop, and got a new laptop 2 1/2 years ago to replace the old Windows 7 laptop which had ongoing issues, but to my surprise, it’s still in good working condition now, although I don’t use it since 8.1 came along and I learned to love it.
      Then the new laptop had crashed on me – 3 new hardrives within 1 1/2 years! Nobody could find out why it kept crashing, and I could no longer rely on it for travel.
      I’d been eyeing the new Windows Surface Pro 12″ for over a year, but it was very expensive. I found a great deal on it last fall on my home shopping network, for a great price, fully loaded and 6 interest-free payments. Who could resist? It turned out to be my Christmas present and I find myself on it nightly.
      I suppose my collection is growing like my shoe collection, LOL xo

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  26. I had exactly the same problem with Windows 10 hijacking my laptop. My husband’s Dell laptop shut down and never started again when he downloaded it so I have been refusing to – until yesterday when it started automatically GRRRR I discovered Never10 too and ran it and it solved everything in a very quick and easy process – plus got rid of the tens of thousands of bytes Windows 10 had taken over on my computer!!

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  27. I seem to be the oddball. I *loathed* 8.1 and those stupid tiles. When Windows 10 came out, I figured it sure can’t be worse than 8.1 and I requested it as soon as it was an option. My husband won’t upgrade from 8.1, which he likes, and the children’s computer won’t run anything newer than 7. But me, I’m very happy with 10. (And Office 365) It did have a few issues at first, working at cross purposes with my laptop, but the latest update seems to have fixed all of that.

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    1. Hi Marie. Thanks for sharing your experience here. I actually prefer 8.1 and don’t mind 10 now on my newest laptop which came pre-loaded with 10. And I have to agree with you, I find those tiles annoying, but I’ve set that computer with 8.1 to open up as as a desktop so I don’t have to deal with tiles.
      Windows 10 is and has been a problem for many loading onto a different operating system. But I’m glad you didn’t have the problems with it which many have had. 🙂

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  28. You are not the first person to say Windows 10 is invasive. I dont know coz I had 8 on my old laptop and got 10 already as standard on my new one. I find it annoying in some respects as I as used to 7, Vista and 8 but I guess we are stuck with i unless we go Linux or Ubuntu 🙂 Thanks for sharing at the Pit Stop!

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  29. I shall be keeping this post close at hand – thank you! The pop ups are driving me crazy, but so far I’ve managed to avoid downloading it. I’m still running Windows 7 on both my laptops and I’ve heard too many horror stories of how 10 can screw up the old machines.
    I did have the sneaky attempt at takeover, when I clicked the pop up to shut and the damned thing told me it was about to start downloading anyway, but I shut the computer down immediately and seem to have avoided the sneak attack – I’ve checked for that code you found and seem to be in the clear – phew!
    At least, as you say, it will all soon be over, just gotta hang on until then.
    In the meantime, I will remain vigilant – thanks to your warning 😀

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    1. So glad I could help another potential victim Deb, lol. It will be over end of July, but you have to keep checking for that update code installed in your updates in your computer so it doesn’t make its way into a new reboot. But as I said, if you download ‘Never10’ you won’t have to keep worrying about it downloading. Plus the app takes off tons of encrypted files already stored on your computer for Windows 10. Once August rolls around, you can uninstall Never10 if you don’t want it staying on your computer. 🙂

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  30. I read about this issue a few months ago. I did not want Windows 10 because it seemed you need more clicks to get to where you’re going. The new MS Word is like that too. It’s like it’s built for dummies or something. I can read a list of files, I don’t need big icons. I stick with MS Word 2010.

    Anyways, when I read the article a few months ago, they warned of the automatic download because of the box Microsoft checked off for you. It’s in the Control Panel, System and Securities, Windows Update, Turn Automatic Updating On or Off, Uncheck Recommended Updates: “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates”.

    This box was checked on my computer, so all updates were updated equally. I unchecked it and never had a problem with Windows 10. If Microsoft wants to get really dirty, they might change it to important updates, but that’s another issue.

    The other option of reclaiming your computer after the download is complete (or started), is to go to Control Panel, System and Security, Action Centre, Restore your computer to an earlier time.

    If you downloaded Windows 10 today at 11:00 am, restore your computer to today at 10:00 am. But beware: if you were working on files, these may be reverted back to the 10:00 am condition. I can’t remember how that works. But if you are desperate to get back to before Windows 10, you can do that. I’d read up on it a bit before taking the plunge. I had to do that only once before on another computer. It was a desperate situation, so I reverted back to the night before.

    Thank you for sharing this, Debby. I know many who are very unhappy with Windows 10.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your experience and helpful hints here Diane. I was aware of those things you mentioned, but I wasn’t thrilled about setting my computer back to an earlier setting, and not receiving updates automatically meant I had to keep checking for important updates, which I keep forgetting to do. So I wanted to find a way to eliminate the takeover and learned about having to keep unchecking the auto update ready to download, then found Never 10 which eliminated me having to keep checking the darned update, lol.
      Since I’ve downloaded Never 10, I never have to worry. 🙂

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      1. I didn’t look into Never 10. I didn’t see that when I visited this subject a few months ago. I’m glad it’s available. It certainly makes things easier.

        With regard to the updates, the regular important updates come through automatically. But they are not set at the same level as recommended ones. That important update box is still checked, but “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” is unchecked.

        The Microsoft 10 update was slipped in as a recommended update. If that box was checked, it would have been accepted as if it were an important one.

        Just more ammo against the ever-changing (and not always for the good) updates from Microsoft. If I read a comment correctly above, Microsoft 10 removes this option from users, so we will be stuck with recommended and important updates without our approval.

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      2. Yes, and Microsoft is playing dirty pool by changing up when you click the top right corner ‘x’ in the box to close, it now means download. I hate their strong-armed tactics.

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      3. I’m with you: I hate their strong-armed tactics. So many things have become out of our control when it comes to electronics. It will get only worse in the future.

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