Windows 10 patches make a return on Windows 7 and 8
If you are running Windows 7 or 8 and don't want to upgrade to Windows 10, you are in constant battle with updates that Microsoft is pushing out to those systems that are often labeled compatibility updates but appear to be designed mainly for getting users to upgrade their systems to Windows 10 or adding snooping capabilities introduced in Windows 10 to previous versions of Windows.
One of Microsoft's goals in regards to Windows 10 is to get as many users as possible to upgrade to the new operating system. The company wants to get more than a billion devices running on Windows 10 in the coming years and one way of making sure that this is going to happen is through the free upgrade offer to Windows 10.
That's probably one of the main reasons why the company decided to push updates to previous versions of Windows via Windows Update that let users download and install Windows 10 with minimal effort.
While some users have problems getting these offers displayed on their system, others made the decision to block the offer from being installed on their computer.
This can be done manually by blocking certain Windows updates that power the offer or automatically by running software like I Don't Want Windows 10.
While hiding those updates should do the trick, it seems that this is not enough to block these updates permanently on Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs as users have reported that they have reappeared after blocking them.
In addition to that, some users have reported that at least one of the updates is marked as important which means that it will be installed automatically if automatic updates are enabled.
Here is the list of updates that got re-released recently by Microsoft:
- Update installs Get Windows 10 app in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1 (KB3035583) - This update powers the Get Windows 10 notification on Windows 7 and 8.1 systems.
- Compatibility update for upgrading Windows 7 (KB2952664) - The patch enables daily telemetry runs on Windows PCs.
- Compatibility update for Windows 7 RTM (KB2977759) - This update performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program.
- Windows Update Client for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: October 2015 (KB3083710) - It is unclear what this update does as the description does not reveal the update's purpose.
- Compatibility update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 (KB2976978) - This update performs diagnostics on the Windows systems that participate in the Windows Customer Experience Improvement Program.
- Windows Update Client for Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2: October 2015 (KB3083711) - Similar to 3083710 but for Windows 8.1 and Server 2012.
If you don't want to upgrade to Windows 10, you may want to evaluate updates released for your current operating system carefully to avoid installing updates that prepare it for the upgrade to Windows 10 (via Infoworld).
Now You: What are you doing to block these updates from being installed?
I’ve simply stopped automatic updates on my devices, and I’ll be moving to Linux Mint on my next computer. I can’t accept that the OS has become malware and/or spyware.
And it hasn’t. Getting rid of old OS users is completely understandable.
Where are you from? China?
found the MS rep.
>I don’t like that they are not blindly following my political ideologue so I’ll just call them “MS reps”
:^)
Totally agree, get rid of the old versions of Windows that are less secure and made more unsecure by people not installing security updates!
Saying older version of operating systems are less secure is incorrect and shows a fundamental lack of understand on how vulnerabilities work.
Undiscovered vulnerabilities are more likely in newer operating system due to the very nature of them being new, older operating system have been in the wild longer and conversely more vulnerabilities have been found and patched.
Absolutely, except that Microsoft is on the hook for providing security updates for Windows 7 until mid-January 2020 and has millions (tens of millions?) of corporate and institutional users with Windows 7 Enterprise licenses who would not put up with this sneaky hard-sell crap for a second and who — surprise! — are not subjected to it.
I just spent around an hour ridding myself of Windows 10 malware (finally!) on my Windows 7 system, using tips from here, BetaNews, and Dedoimedo,* and it reinforced my decision that Windows 7 will be my last Microsoft operating system. Like so many others, I will be moving to Linux.
And just in case anyone from the Federal Trade Commission or a state attorney general’s office reads this, I would remind you that you are tasked with policing unfair or deceptive acts or practices in trade. (Have consumer-protection agencies in Europe been co-opted and neutered, too?)
*Uninstalling the updates didn’t do the trick — GWX was still running after the post-uninstall reboot. You have to also manually disable the GWX folders and executables and manually delete all of the GWX task keys in the registry. This is where the Dedoimedo post (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-7-to-10-gwx-how-to-remove.html) came in handy.
Microsoft is not violating any laws, “a different Martin”. Being “aggressive” in wanting people to move on is not illegal in itself. And Windows 10 is not malware, no matter how hard people try to twist the definition of the word.
The definition of malware is:
“software which is specifically designed to disrupt or damage a computer system”
Disrupt: repeatedly attempting to install the same patch against the wishes of the computer user who has hidden the patch repeatedly previously.
Disrupt: Using bandwidth to download and share Windows 10 files without the owners permission.
Disrupt: Collecting data which the user has no control over and was not part of the initial purchase of the OS (eg Windows 7)
Disrupt: Trying to force people into a new business model which they don’t want to be part of.
Disrupt: Using an individuals hard drive to download huge files without permission
Disrupt: Making it very difficult to use updates because there is very little information about the purpose of these updates. A deliberate act which makes it very difficult to maintain the security of the current OS.
Disrupt: Continually attempting to install windows 10 when the user wants the current OS because it meets their needs which windows 10 does not.
Sure sounds like malware to me. I’m sure Microsoft doesn’t think it is malware because it is serving their new business model.
I see that ANON is popping up in every discussion regarding dodgy Win 10 updates and telemetry as the White Knight protecting Microsoft Windows 10 and acting as the denier of Windows 10 intrusions into our PCs.
He and others of his ilk in these forums dismiss non believers in the Great God Windows 10 and sneer at XP and Win 7 stalwarts as Tinfoil Hat wearing conspiracy theorists.
The trouble is that MS released Win 10 and Edge far too early in the development cycle in order to distract us from the Win 8 disaster. Anyone who wants a good OS should leave Win 10 alone and install it next year earliest.
REMEMBER that Win 7 is supported until Jan 2020.
I believe that ANON has had a satellite dish antenna surgically implanted in his head to receive the latest instructions direct from MS on how to obfuscate the issue of forced updates, “accidental” updates and all the rest of the BS that has occurred in recent weeks.
I’ve moved all my computers to Linux Mint and formatted my windows 7 and 10 images. Everything works and the security is phenomenal. I will be donating to the Linux Mint team.
While I agree that any Linux distro is a better choice than win10, the LinuxMint team has REMOVED the Google search engine from Firefox in their distro and made Yahoo the default because they have a REVENUE SHARING AGREEMENT WITH YAHOO. Sorry, but that is almost as bad as what Microsoft is doing.
There are plenty of Linux distros that are just as good or better than LinuxMint and they still have Google search in Firefox (i.e. Ubuntu-Mate, Lite, Zorin, Pinguy, Lubuntu, Debian, etc.). With a little effort you can even make a Linux distro yourself that has exactly what you want in it and nothing that you don’t want in it.
By the way, once the new Vulkan api (i.e. an OS/Manufacturer/Device agnostic version of Mantle) is integrated into Linux there won’t be any reason to use Windows at all anymore. Besides the “OS-as-Spyware/Malware” angle inherent in win10, SteamOS and Vulkan are big reasons why Microsoft is giving away win10 for free.
And again I do wonder, why they are so eager to push everyone to W10? And I won’t believe that this is done for good of customer/client/user – not after knowing how “telemetry” and their privacy policy is stripping down every single person from privacy, not after pushing that shit it to Windows 7.
So, a subscription model of OS despite of current statements? Or maybe they discovered that “telemetry” data in long term can be profitable much more than selling licenses?
And as for updates, I’m trying to read descriptions of these and keep my Windows 7 clean – sadly, we can’t be never sure what they smuggling inside these. I am a tinfoil hat? Perhaps, but being ignorant and servile is worse alternative.
“Or maybe they discovered that “telemetry” data in long term can be profitable much more than selling licenses?”
I’ve been wondering about this possibility as well. Inquisition of privacy is a jackpot.
They are eager to push everyone to 10 because it makes logistical and financial sense.
Logistics: Unification of the OS across devices (tablet, phone, desktop) and having only one OS would be MS’s wet dream. They desperately want to drop anything non-10: no more support, no more testing, no more development teams, no more resources wasted on non-10 systems. And there will be a thousand other benefits.
Financial: thru manipulative tactics (auto opt-in for example, and there are dozens of these IMO unethical techniques used in Win10, including outright bullshittery), MS know that all win10 users will create four main revenue streams – 1. walled eco-garden of windows services and apps eg office subscriptions 2 increased use of windows services such as outlook.com, onedrive, skype etc 3 bing .. let’s not forget the boost to bing and last but not least 4. advertising metrics (which is helped by point 2).
^^ I am NOT going to get into a discussion on this telemetry and other data mining etc and if it’s anonymized or not, but we can almost all agree that it’s a disgusting turn for an “desktop/laptop” OS to take.
Win10 is a simplistic OS. It’s like a gutted FF – removal of features, if you want something, there’s an app (add-on) for that. It’s a multi device OS designed to monetize you. MS have seen the likes of Facebook and google amass huge fortunes simply on the back of metadata. At least FB and google you can choose not to use them. Win10 I guess you can still choose not to use it, but for 90%+ of people it’s beyond them – they’re ignorant, they’ll just click free upgrade – plus its the only OS they’ve probably ever known. MS know this, they are using unethical methods to basically grab a captive market of at least one billion people/machines – that’s FB numbers right there. And that captive market will leak more precise metadata than FuckBook or google could ever hope for.
About the only “hope” I see here is MS still have huge amounts of corporate/enterprise ties – and corporations/business will not stand for this shit.
Personally, I’ll (soon) have a windows10 purely for technical/support reasons, probably an enterprise edition. But my next build will be penguin driven.
Internet advertising hit $11.6 billion in just the first quarter of 2014. That was a 19% jump over the same period in 2013.
http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-061214
It looks like all of the major players have turned their sights on us – our personal info is their new product.
martin, the top thing i am doing about windows sneaky updates is to heavily rely on your blog and the critical information you keep us informed of.. i have updates disabled and am very selective about any that i install. (win7). thanks for being a front line of defense for our privacy.
Just want to say thanks for the heads up on this, and thanks for a great techno blog.
There they go again.
No Windows automatic updates of course and lengthy investigation of proposed updates before installing them or not. I’d add when reading this news : more than ever. More than ever as well am I blocked to the very idea of installing Windows 10. Meanwhile the little remaining of sympathy I still had for Microsoft nevertheless is melting when I tend to believe that Microsoft doesn’t give the slightest damn about users.
Microsoft can go to hell.
I remember when Win 10 was in beta, some tech sites went so far as to call it “Microsoft’s love letter to power users”, and to claim that it had fixed all that was wrong about Win 8.1. What a load of crap that turned out to be.
They invade privacy, disabled basic functions, and removed control in many areas from the user, Win 10 is in no way a ‘love letter’, it’s more like a self-absorbed girlfriend who’s constantly spending your money and cheating on you.
And then there’s the tablet usability… *shudders*
It’s like they fired the Win8 department and made “rather unusable than like 8” an internal motto.
And no fucking website even talks about the issue, because they either hated 8 or are Microsoft circlejerkers.
Fuck, they are reviving Windows RT by pushing WP onto smaller tablets, without reviving any of the old Win RT UI, which will be a nightmare to control.
I wish there was a Linux version that was even remotely as useful as Windows, especially on hybrid tablets. But alas, open-source UI designers are batshit insane. Ubuntu and Gimp give me PTSD.
Fuck monopolies. I wish there were valid alternatives.
I disabled Windows Update in Services. Anything relating to remote is disabled.
reading you site and NOT blocking (KB2952664) – The patch enables daily telemetry runs on Windows PCs.
So MS knows I won’t upgrade.
I disabled Automatic Updates and will manually check in the future. It seems that someone or some group at Microsoft is trying to win a bet or get a bonus for reaching Windows 10 installs milestones. We’re just pawns now.
Indeed I can also report that on Tuesday there was an “important” update which I have hidden in the past. They really want to push KB 3035583.
I certainly will never upgrade to Win 10 way to many privacy issues. On top of that free is never really free.
Only the downloaded upgrade from W7 or 8.1 is free. I still pay the same price for W10 OEM system builder DVD’s that I did for Windows 7 or 8. There is no difference in the functions between the no-charge upgrade and the full versions of Windows 10. There are at least four programs/scripts that turn off as much as possible privacy wise in Windows 10. We’ve tried them all. All work well, although some leave the peer-to-peer update setting in place. IN which case we turn it off. I inform our customers to check after the Threshold II release (might be next month) to see if Microsoft changes their settings back. If so, they should run the privacy app again.
I really miss the good old days of customers complaining about Windows 8 Start screen. That was an easy fix with Start 8 or Classic Shell. Now we seem to be in a constant wack-a-mole battle to keep our PC’s the way we want them to be.
“What are you doing to block these updates from being installed?”
I don’t use Windows Updates, and I apply only the security patches (using WSUSOffline to get them) – and that happens only after informing myself about what kind of things can go wrong when applying them.
An no, I didn’t have any security incidents because of this. :)
IMHO Microsoft’s concept of doing busines is highly questionable. Unfortunately it is supported by too many careless consumers. The entire IT industry is working very hard to create the ideal customer: careless and not questioning anything that’s being
spit out by them. Playing, twittering, facebooking, buying, buying ….. because the “new product” has a “New yellow button and 715 ringtones”. Maybe it can pee, too. Wow, what a deal. Have to have it.
In the long run the privacy concerned customers will loose the battle, or already have lost it. My personal solution with Microsoft : I am going to switch to Linux. It will take a while to get the hang of it but it maybe worth the effort. By the way, I am not only ranting about Microsoft as there are others, too which have the same filthy mindset or even worse.
Completely disabled auto-updating. I use ESet Nod32 A/V, and it immediately tells me when I need Windows critical/security updates. When it informs me of this, I open Win updates and install only the security ones. I check here (ghacks) to make sure none of the security updates aren’t disguised as such when they are really Win10 crap or telemetry. If so, I hide that update or if it snuck in I uninstall it then hide it.
Fortunately MS hasn’t disabled the hiding of updates for Win 7 users, though I fear that is just a matter of time.
Their aggression on this Win 10 upgrade thing is surpassing rude and moving into malware territory.
The removal of hiding updates has not occurred yet, but it may as well have, as I just hid KB3035583 for the 6th time on my main machine. Microsoft just does not seem to be giving up on this one. I’m certain the next thing to happen will be the renaming of this KB and a new description with a mundane nature will begin to sneak the crap back in. It is why I usually wait at least a week, and usually 2, before allowing any updates to get installed.
I’ve found an interesting site for this:
https://gitlab.com/windowslies/blockwindows/
Hovewer, after a user wrote about EULA of KIS 2016 and a moderator posted an AV Comparative paper about collected data by all security suites, I lost hope about my privacy. I’m waiting the time when people understand that their collected data have an economic value and politicians do something.
http://forum.kaspersky.com/index.php?showtopic=333166&st=0&p=2471908&#entry2471908
i wont use any AV any more. there’s money in the metadata and in your private profile data and these companies like Avast and AVG hhave been going down this road for a while already. Just like Gmail and all the other google stuff and now Win10 – if its free, YOURE THE PRODUCT.
I would imagine that the Government wants everyone to have Windows 10 too. If someone is being in their opinion a political troll then they know who they are right away.
I had important updates disabled too and found them reactivated in the update notification area this morning. First Microsoft and now Lastpass. I guess we really can trust no one.
I have blocked all the updates for the “easy install” of windows 10. When I look at “view update history” I have now 16 attempts to install Windows 10 all with fail status. I wish they would leave me alone. Not happy
I can confirm that updates are reappearing on my machines after being hidden.
I’m obviously being selective in the updates I install – thanks to sites like yours and askwoody. I’ve also blocked all known MS telemetry data collection domains at router level to stop Windows phoning home.
Not at all impressed with the direction MS have chosen – never though they would descend to this level.
In answer to your question “What are you doing to block these updates from being installed?”
I haven’t found a way to do it from Windows itself, other than going back to manually checking Windows updates again.
With KB3035583 already on the system, just hiding the actual ‘Update to Windows 10’ update isn’t good enough because Microsoft keep issuing new updates (3 or 4 now) that supersede your hidden ones (which has the same effect as unhiding them). Even after applying the ‘DisableOSUpgrade’ registry fix, it keeps coming back when Microsoft issue a new superseded one.
With KB3035583 not on the system (after doing a totally clean install), just hiding KB3035583 also isn’t enough, for the same reason as above. Microsoft just issue a new update and it supersedes your hidden one and then automatically installs all that GWX malware again. And it does it automatically. The first I knew it had re-installed itself (despite having it hidden) was I saw the GWX applications filling up my firewall logs where they were trying to make outbound connections.
How is this even legal? If users have specifically chosen not to upgrade to Windows 10 by deliberately hiding the Windows 10 update, surely by Microsoft issuing superseded updates (that have the same effect as unhiding the updates) they are explicitly going against the users wishes? To me that is bordering on virus territory as the software is installing itself, against the users wishes and without a way to prevent or disable it.
“How is this even legal? If users have specifically chosen not to upgrade to Windows 10 by deliberately hiding the Windows 10 update”
The moment you have signed Microsoft’s EULA, you PC isn’t your anymore.
microsoft sold their soul to the NSA since the days of xp, maybe even before then, they claim all this privacy invasion is for the good of us all, total bullcrap, for all their elitist spying did they stop those massacres in france and turkey? and then have the gall to admit the terrorists “were known” to them prior to these incidents…so spying on us is for another reason, increasing their government funding, all they have to say to their Pm or Prez, we need x amount of tax payers money to keep our borders safe, our leaders just blindly hand it over, the agencies forge a few “foiled attempts”, they get to carry on collecting info and selling it on to ad agencies,,self perpetuating income for the elitist scum while we all suffer the intusions…
there is no border
You’re on the wrong site. This is Ghacks not Infowars.
WILL NOT BECOME part of THIS NEW OS AND APP ECOSYSTEM
1. disabled bits, wuaserv
2. removed ipv6 tunneling devices–ipv4 only is easier to watch/filter packets!
3. changed time.server.s
4. removed wga, uninstalled hotfixes that were worms.
5. dedicated linux hardware firewall rack with multi-blacklist, and advproxy for evil os, and it’s brethen
observing network connections and tracking down processes/services doing stuff I HATE..
boycott via deeds (no more installs but only lockdowns for people STUCK with this nightmare) and word of mouth, badmouth, bucketmouth to the evil os — 100% trust lost. That’s sad.
It’s “Evil Corp”®
I just cloned my c drive and now have three backups. This way if I want to try the windows 10 for fun I can do it . Of course just about when windows 10 was to given away, all by c drives are frozen.
Hi everyone,
May I say the following: If you’ve got more than one computer then give W10 a try on one of them. This will let you get a first hand experience and you will be able to decide based on PERSONAL experience (and not just relying on others’ impressions) whether to keep it or revert back to your previous Win version.
If you want to prevent your desktop(s) and/or laptop(s) from upgrading to Win10 then do the following:
Set Windows update to notify for download and notify for install. Turn off recommended updates. To make sure that recommended updates are not turned on inadvertently by you or someone else who might use your computer run gpedit.msc and go to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Update. Disable “Turn on recommended updates via Automatic Updates”. This will grey out “Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates” If you run a home version of Windows 7 or 8.1 then you can do the same by a registry tweak. Run regedit and go to HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU (if AU and/or WindowsUpdate keys are not present then you have to create them). Click on the right pane and create a new dword32 and give it a name (without quotes) “IncludeRecommendedUpdates” set the value to 0.
If you already unchecked “Show me detailed notifications when new Microsoft software is available” on Windows Update settings page and want it remain that way you can disable “Turn on software notifications” at Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Update. If you are on a home version of Win7 then create a new dword32 at HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU and give it a name “EnableFeaturedSoftware” and set it to 0.
If you don’t mind checking for updates manually then you can completely disable Automatic Updates by disabling “Configure Automatic Updates” in GP Editor at Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Update. If you did that you can set Automatic Updates and BITS services to manual start as well. To check for updates just go to Windows Update through Start Menu or Control Panel and click “Check for Updates” button. Also consider disabling “Turn off the upgrade to the latest version of Windows through Windows Update” in GP Editor at Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Update.
And you don’t need to hide the updates in the recommended section mentioned in the article they won’t install unless you want them to install. Also you can/should install update to Windows Update Client (KB3083710 or KB3083711).
I’ve configured this way both desktops and laptops which aren’t going to upgrade yet running Win 7 versions. None has ever got Win10 promoting/preparing updates installed. But I let one laptop go through upgrade so that I can see myself what Win10 is. Give it a try if you have an additional computer beside the one that you need for your work and do not plant to upgrade yet or ever.
I’d rather give linux mint a try. They should rename ‘Windows 10’ to ‘Ostrich OS’ for those people who don’t care about how they are treated. Someone also should release a linux version called ‘tinhat linux’ which I think would be a great name for a secure, privacy orientated OS.
Consurmers will make their own choices. Mine is to use a powerful OS which is definitely not Windows 10. I will not pay someone to spy on me. If they were offering the OS for free (and I don’t mean the upgrade – that isn’t free, you pay for the original OS), then people could choose to use the free OS and expect to pay for it in some manner. I have paid for my OS and I don’t expect to be spied on, nor will I tolerate it.
The initial ‘success with windows 10 is because it was a ‘free’ upgrade as well as shoving it down peoples throats in an aggressive disprespectful way. There is obviously a lot of money being paid to writers to write positive reviews of windows 10 as well as huge numbers of microsoft paid commenters filling the internet with nonesense.
Beyond the ‘free’ upgrade and devices being counted like phones, there will be a significant slump in the take up rates for windows 10. That is why they have tried to entice windows 10 upgrades by offering half price office and why they have attempted to push the same updates again to keep the numbers looking good.
The windows 10 uptake rates are barely better than windows 7 at this stage. This is with Windows 10 being given away ‘free’. Windows 10 is an absolute disgrace. If I wanted an operating system that looked like a mobile phone, I’d buy the mobile phone, its a little easier to carry.
For those people who are satisfied with the way microsoft is treating you, good luck.
@sys admin 76:
Hi,
Why ‘either or’ option if it can be ‘and and’ option. I mean one can use both Linux & Windows. Thankfully there are great numbers of Linux distros available so anyone at any time can start using and find out for himself/herself two/three or even more distros that are good for him/her. Of course, ‘and and’ option isn’t limited just to Windows & Linux.
As for Windows 10 I would say that its features and issues are already quite thouroughly reported on various webpages including this page so people can get the understanding of what they get when they upgrade to it. Nevertheless, I am of the opinion that it is better to try it and then only after that to make a decision whether to keep it or to revert back to the previous Win version.
Regards,
Art.
Have tried W10 and wasn’t that impressed, so I removed it from the machine that had it. Despite the reversion going well, it killed a large amount of the system’s schedules, so it was restoration time (yes, I made a backup).
Have three W7 machines and am running a combination of a script I found on this very site (with the extra snoops added on) and bunch of code, PS and otherwise, that hides the offending code. If Microsoft re-release the patches, a run of this script hides them again. So far, as long as the system is not set to download anything automatically, all seems well up to now.
Personally my main desktop system is openSUSE Linux. Has been for some time. It also runs my server setup and a couple of other systems. I admit that, of all the Windows OS releases, I liked 7 the best (followed probably by W2K and XP) and will soldier on with them as long as I need to but should that become too onerous, I can install Linux at a moments’ notice on all but one of these beasts (the only one that I can’t do that with will then go offline).
(btw, Mint may be Linux but Linux is NOT Mint).
Very disheartening. I’m not allowing any updates. Also have cloned my Win7 drives and my XP drives. The day will come when I will have to invest in something to get online with. It will probably be an iThingy.
I tried Windows 10 on one of my laptops before it went live. I’m not interested in anything Windows 10 offers. Quite frankly, I am offended by everything it represents. My experience is a Windows 7 experience and that’s where it will end.
Again Windows 10 and the automatic installation, I continue using GWX Control Panel (formerly GWX Stopper) 1.3.0.0. FYI, GWX Control Panel is a portable freeware.
http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/
Works fine with Windows 7 Pro SP1 64-bit.
Are the Windows 10-ish problematic updates also being pushed to Windows Vista?
Love hearing about all these people who completely block Windows Update (and don’t use an alternative to patch their PCs).
Now I know where all the spam and DDOS attacks are coming from – I know who to blame!
Seriously, people, at least install the security patches!
In response to DOC, Since July/August 2014, when MS issued a slew of faulty security updates which caused immense problems with users PCs, ESPECIALLY novice users !!, I check EVERY update for relevance.
I have never allowed auto updates on my laptop, which is a stand alone without group or network connections. Since last year, there have been approx 180 updates issued.
After analysis, I found that 151 of these updates are unneccesary and irrelevant for safe, efficient, operation of my laptop especially the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool and IE 11 security updates. I do not use IE 11.
What I DO have installed are the Pro versions of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and Emsisoft Internet Security.
I also have Malwarebytes Anit-Exploit and CryptoPrevent to combat file locker blackmail software.
Adblock Plus and Disconnect take care of invasive ad sites.
So, DOC, do not blame me for the DDOS and Spam. You need to pay for better security software and stop using AVG and AVAST, etc. !!!!!!!
THE most outrageous and evil thing Microsoft is done yet has been to re-release KB3035583 after I’ve had hundreds of clients pay me to remove it and their other spyware (telemetry) updates. Furthermore, it appears that “check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them” has somehow been ignored with one of these re-released updates as I’ve found systems set to “Install Updates Automatically” and which the users don’t even know how to access an administrator account.
Two days ago I found KB3035583 installed AGAIN and had to uninstall it AGAIN. I then had update find it again, unchecked it and hid it, and lo and behold, the Windows 10 installer itself was STILL pending as the only available update! Looking at “view others updates”, I found the Windows 10 installer itself included, unchecked and hid it, and that BROKE Microsoft updates! After that, update would immediately fail with an error (I think 0x80240019: “WU_E_EXCLUSIVE_INSTALL_CONFLICT An exclusive update cannot be installed with other updates at the same time.”)
This happened on ALL the systems at one business I support!
Fortunately I had encountered this problem before when I had had to roll back to W8.1 from W10 from a client who was tricked into installing W10, so I knew what to do, namely apply the following .reg hack (it will solve the problem on both W10 and W8).
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]
“AllowOSUpgrade”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade\State]
“OSUpgradeState”=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
“DisableOSUpgrade”=dword:00000001
This reg hack can be applied at any time when removing, unchecking and hiding KB3035583 and the Windows 10 installer update itself. [Note copy the above in a file with .reg type, and execute the reg file by right-clicking and selecting “Merge”.
But the simplest way to use the reg hack is to first uninstall KB3035583, and then apply the above reg hack BEFORE rebooting, namely first use:
wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664 /norestart /quiet
then apply the reghack, and then reboot. I’ve found that if the reg hack is applied that way, the Windows 10 update installer itself will not come back, though you still have to recheck for updates after the boot, to find KB3035583 AGAIN and the uncheck and hide it.
Note KB2952664 comes back too, and if you want to make sure you’ve removed ALL the telemetry put the following in a .bat file:
@echo on
wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2990214 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3012973 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2976978 /norestart /quiet
pause
So, run the above batch file, then do the reg hack, and then reboot, and as I said before, you will then have to have update check for new updates, find KB3035583 and KB2952664 and uncheck and hide them.
At this point in the game, because of what Microsoft is doing to my clients with their outrageous, repeated attempts to force W10 onto my client’s computers and thereby completely wreck their businesses if they succeed, my only choice is to turn updates off altogether with “Never check for updates” and manually check once or twice a year and see if there’s anything worth allowing to install.
THE most outrageous and evil thing Microsoft is done yet has been to re-release KB3035583 after I’ve had hundreds of clients pay me to remove it and their other spyware (telemetry) updates. Furthermore, it appears that “check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them” has somehow been ignored with one of these re-released updates as I’ve found systems set to “Install Updates Automatically” and which the users don’t even know how to access an administrator account.
Two days ago I found KB3035583 installed AGAIN and had to uninstall it AGAIN. I then had update find it again, unchecked it and hid it, and lo and behold, the Windows 10 installer itself was STILL pending as the only available update! Looking at “view others updates”, I found the Windows 10 installer itself included, unchecked and hid it, and that BROKE Microsoft updates! After that, update would immediately fail with an error (I think 0x80240019: “WU_E_EXCLUSIVE_INSTALL_CONFLICT An exclusive update cannot be installed with other updates at the same time.”)
This happened on ALL the systems at one business I support!
Fortunately I had encountered this problem before when I had had to roll back to W8.1 from W10 from a client who was tricked into installing W10, so I knew what to do, namely apply the following .reg hack (it will solve the problem on both W10 and W8).
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]
“AllowOSUpgrade”=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade\State]
“OSUpgradeState”=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
“DisableOSUpgrade”=dword:00000001
This reg hack can be applied at any time when removing, unchecking and hiding KB3035583 and the Windows 10 installer update itself. [Note copy the above in a file with .reg type, and execute the reg file by right-clicking and selecting “Merge”.
But the simplest way to use the reg hack is to first uninstall KB3035583, and then apply the above reg hack BEFORE rebooting, namely first use:
wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664 /norestart /quiet
then apply the reghack, and then reboot. I’ve found that if the reg hack is applied that way, the Windows 10 update installer itself will not come back, though you still have to recheck for updates after the boot, to find KB3035583 AGAIN and the uncheck and hide it.
Note KB2952664 comes back too, and if you want to make sure you’ve removed ALL the telemetry put the following in a .bat file:
@echo on
wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3022345 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3068708 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3075249 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3080149 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2990214 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:3012973 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664 /norestart /quiet
wusa /uninstall /kb:2976978 /norestart /quiet
pause
So, run the above batch file, then do the reg hack, and then reboot, and as I said before, you will then have to have update check for new updates, find KB3035583 and KB2952664 and uncheck and hide them.
At this point in the game, because of what Microsoft is doing to my clients with their outrageous, repeated attempts to force W10 onto my client’s computers and thereby completely wreck their businesses if they succeed, my only choice is to turn updates off altogether with “Never check for updates” and manually check once or twice a year and see if there’s anything worth allowing to install.
This is getting out of hand. Doc is right. This is a security problem waiting to happen. You should always install security/critical updates. Disable diagnostic tracking service, uninstall/hide kb303583 and check for your updates manually. Just because MS wants belatedly to get some kind of Apple thing going with its online and cloud services and has mucked up (?) its permissions for privacy and is being pushy with the upgrade is no reason to leave your system vulnerable. “manually check once or twice a year” ??? do your clients a favor and put them onto a linux distro that is set up to look and behave like Windows,(as much as you can), and get them to have important stuff they can’t migrate to linux on ms machines offline – and then do offline installs for critical security updates, and IE – yes, and FF too… IE is baked into the system, update everything offline on these machines, For the person who wondered, no, Vista is not getting this treatment, and is a good OS if you have 3-4 GB Ram until lack of support, then it will be fine offline. Also, look at guest Earthling’s post.
I’m as pissed off as anyone about the GWX (Get Windows 10) program. Half a year ago or so, some Windows 10 system-readiness inventory process ran my CPU so hard and so long, once a day, that the CPU and motherboard overheated and my laptop repeatedly went to sleep to protect them from burning out. (People with more powerful and better-ventilated desktop systems just noticed that their fans went into high gear for a long time for no apparent reason.)
That said, there’s no way I’m not keeping my system patched against (other) security vulnerabilities. I’ve left automatic Windows Updates turned on in case I don’t remember (or am not around) to run Windows Update manually once a day, and I use Belarc Advisor to double-check for missing Windows security updates and Secunia PSI to check for missing security-related updates generally (for Windows, runtime environments, apps, etc.)
Ah crap,
I knew Microsoft could not be trusted, but it really bakes my noodle that my attempts to help my clients are being broken by these tyrants. Until now I have been reluctant to move into the software side of things, preferring to dabble on the hardware side and learn just enough about software to keep my clients afloat.
Lately I have been considering the legal position Microsoft has regarding operating systems that it has End-Of-Life’d. It seems to me that it should be perfectly legal for someone to take over an EOL product and continue to provide support and updates for it. I don’t believe for one second that there are things Windows 10 can do with hardware that Windows XP can’t be programmed to do. The truly sad reality is that just when they finally get a Windows operation system working half-way smooth (10 years after it’s released) they pull the plug on it and people are dragged kicking and screaming into the next disaster.
So freaking frustrating
win7, the operating system i PAID for. yes, automatic updates OFF! backups in order! always run sandboxed! and i never have a problem. take my time with updates…read about them..consider what they do or do not do. i am tired of being ripped off for my information..its mine, no one else’s. just dont do stupid things on the net…we all know what those things are. let the herd follow…i am not the herd. i enjoy all the informative comments…its a good blog.
I’m suprised, that apparently almost none of all the blogs and computer websites has a virtual machine running windows to test what the updates really do if the description isn’t good enough.
Jep, most of the inbetween released updates where W10 upgrade updates. And yes, I myself supsect the worst from MS since that started.
But seriously, I’m just a user, I don’t write articles that are supposed to help people. So, I’m allowed to speculate and suspect.
But blogs and websites are NOT – if there is a possibility to test the hypotheses. Well, there is. It’s called test system, e.g. on a vm.
Why am I writing this?
Because of KB3083710.
I myself wanted to know what it does. Of course forums and websites were (and are) full of: “It’s another W10-upgrade update, so block it.” And MS doesn’t really say anything, except that it has something to do with the Windows Update Client which is suspicious from past experience, I know.
But for the other updates that try to shove W10 down our throats there was at least an explanation what they do. For KB3083710 I could find now explanation. Just “hide it”.
But I also found one entry with a hint, i.e. comparasion, to another Update which supposedly introduces a goup policy that allows to prevent Windows from upgrading to the current Windows version, i.w. W10.
This is the entry:
http://www.sevenforums.com/windows-updates-activation/383128-windows-update-kb3083710-win-10-tracking-related-post3158759.html?s=adae88e550d4f0fd9d25a67f0b1d2b1a#post3158759
Because I run a special backup system and a reset is due anyway I installed KB3083710 intentionally to see what it does.
And here it is: KB3083710 really introduces a group policy that allows the user to prevent Windows from upgrading to the current Windows version.
I don’t know if that is all the update does and I don’t know if it workes, because I have none ot the other update that try to install W10 installed.
All I know is that apparently none of all the it-websites and -blogs took the time to check out KB3083710 themselfes but just assume something, mostly just copying what others wrote.
Yes, MS doesn’t provide helpful information. And yes, it’s ok to assume from past experience that inbetween updates are “evil”. But it’s not ok for it-websites and it-blog to just assume something – that’s something the normal user (like me) needs a blog or website for, assuming and suspecting something is something the normal user can do just fine by himself…
So, maybe KB3083710 is just the update all the W10 avoiders were waiting for (including me) – but it get’s missed by most just because all these websites, blogs and forums just assume it’s bad without having checked the facts.
@well…
You say, “So, maybe KB3083710 is just the update all the W10 avoiders were waiting for (including me) – but it get’s missed by most just because all these websites, blogs and forums just assume it’s bad without having checked the facts.”
Unfortunately, it is MS itself that has caused that knee-jerk reaction.
Further to my reply, I thought it might be helpful to post my own “fix” for this stupidity.
Step 1 – remove KB3035583, restart computer
Step 2 – run windows update, hide KB3035583. If the Windows 10 installation update is already downloaded and begging to be installed, hide it also
Step 3 – run Disk Cleanup and click on Clean up system files. Select everything that shows up and remove it all. Reboot
So far, I see two difference versions of KB3035583 hidden on my system although this particular system has not downloaded the Windows 10 upgrade item that is listed under Optional. That being said, this has worked to silence the Upgrade to 10 notifications on a number of systems that I have tried it on.
No doubt another version of the KB will show up soon enough
Installing Ubuntu may be a good solution, as long as you do not require certain Windows based software, and your printer is compatible with Ubuntu Linux. The little printing I do, I just fire up my other PC plugged into the computer, though next time I will get a Linux compatible. Come to think of it, my old Brother Laser worked with Linux. Anyway, I am liking my life with Linux. Those simple updates, and not waiting around for installation on next boot up is great. With Linux, you rarely require a reboot to install apps. Ubuntu has a free apps store for installing and removing apps, though I have used the Internet for some apps to download which in turn installed using the GUI installer in Ubuntu — no command line was required.
KB3083710 has caused 2 of our college’s laptops to not be able to “see” servers on their own domain. It also sets a static DNS server entry (our secondary DNS server) in the IPv4 settings. After this update is uninstalled and hidden in Windows Update, I restarted the laptop. Then I took the computer off the domain and put it back on (and made the DNS setting automatic). This restored it to normal. Afterwards I reinstalled all Windows updates and it is fine
I have a subdomains in which I host live blogs. They push out content all the time and get indexed by google. Recently I’ve noticed a huge increase in traffic and noticed that my live blogs (which run continueosly) are getting indexed.
I was just going through the routine of checking the patches – and found 2 new ones – one is directly Win 10 related (KB3123862), and the other one is Windows Update related (KB3138612) – and thus possibly also Win 10 related. Neither will be installed on my system…