Microsoft’s
aggressive campaign to get customers to Windows 10 is raising some
eyebrows, with scattered reports that some people’s PCs are
automatically upgrading from Windows 7 — without their explicit
permission.
For instance, in a post titled “My PC Upgraded To Windows 10 Without Asking, Then Immediately Broke,”
Kotaku’s Patrick Klepek shares the story of how, last week, his Windows
7 PC installed the Windows 10 update automatically overnight.
“Maybe
I forgot to push back the upgrade schedule, maybe I accidentally
scheduled it by clicking the wrong button. Whatever the case, I
definitely did not intend to install Windows 10,” Klepek writes.
In the comments, on Reddit,
and elsewhere on social media, other users chimed in to share their own
similar stories of their familiar Windows 7 and 8.1 PCs getting
suddenly upgraded to Windows 10.
“I
needed to set up my department’s bronchoscopy cart quickly for someone
with some sick lungs. I s— you not, when I turned on the computer it had
to do a Windows update,” writes Reddit user Lolrus123.
Some
users, including Kotaku’s Klepek, are also reporting that the automatic
Windows 10 upgrade is breaking their computers, making certain hardware
and accessories unrecognizable by the system until they reinstall
Windows.
For
what it’s worth, that same Reddit thread also hit on a
possible solution — if your Windows Update is suggesting you install an
update called “KB 3035583,” deselecting it will apparently prevent an
unwanted Windows 10 install.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A history of nagging
Influential
Microsoft blogger Paul Thurrott writes that he’s been hearing these
complaints intermittently since October 2015, and notes that it tends to
happen around the same time that Microsoft steps up its nagging
campaign of getting Windows 7 and 8 users to upgrade.
Since
Windows 10′s launch in July 2015, Microsoft has gradually stepped up
its efforts to get older PCs to accept the free upgrade to Windows 10.
Indeed, just last week, Microsoft started using ads placed directly in to Windows 7 and 8′s Internet Explorer browser to urge users to move up to Windows 10.
Windows 10. (Business Insider)
At first, it was an optional update, but Microsoft has gradually gotten more insistent. In February, Microsoft announced it would start automatically downloading Windows 10 in the background on more PCs to ease the transition when users decide they want to proceed with the upgrade.
Those
downloads don’t actually install Windows 10 on a user’s PC however
(aside from one short period that Microsoft says was a glitch that has
been fixed). Instead the software just sits on the PC, ready to be
installed when a user decides they want to upgrade.
The
surprise installations may simply be the result of users too-quickly
clicking through their Windows Update screens. But that’s not enough for
lots of folks, given that Microsoft designed the Windows Update
screens.
“There’s
no way to actually say no, or even to ask the system to stop nagging
you for some amount of time. You simply have to deal with the nagging
until you finally give up and upgrade. That is not a good user
experience,” Thurrott writes.
Whys and wherefores
From Microsoft’s perspective, it wants as many people on Windows 10 as possible, with an end-goal of one billion users on the new operating system within the next two years or so.
First
and foremost, it’s an important business driver for Microsoft, which
sees the new operating system as a funnel towards its
lucrative subscription services, including Office 365 and Xbox Live.
But
Microsoft is also quick to point out that Windows 10 comes with lots of
benefits, too, including better security. That’s why big customers like
the US Department of Defense are moving all of their four million PCs and tablets to Windows 10.
Windows 10′s fast growth. (Business Insider)
Still,
it’s important that Microsoft gives users more choice. Windows 10 might
be great (I certainly think so), but all of this nagging is ultimately
burning through a lot of goodwill.
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The post People are claiming their PCs are automatically upgrading to Windows 10 — without their permission appeared first on Business Insider.
