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Microsoft has been silently downloading Windows 10 to peoples computers even if they dont want it.

Theyve also added some of the "telemetry" features of 10 to 7 and 8 disguised as updates.

Heres how to get rid of the several GB of Windows 10 32 and 64bit(because they cant tell which version you currently have?) from your PC and block the telemetry.

You also need to opt out of the CEIP.

First, go to Control Panel, Security, Windows Update. Change settings. Set it to check for updates but not download or install them. Then uncheck the box for "give me recommended updates the same way i get important updates".

Now view your installed updates. Remove the following updates by right clicking then uninstall.

KB2952664
KB3075851
KB3004375
KB3035583
KB3068708
KB3065987
KB2977759
KB3022345
KB3075249
KB3080149
KB3021917
KB2990214
KB3054476
KB3092627

Now go to Windows Update and check for updates. When they reappear, uncheck them, then right click and hide them, then click ok.

Now go to Start and search for disk. Go to Disk Cleanup. Let it calculate, then when it comes up with "cleanup system files" click that and let it recalculate. Check all the boxes, clean and Windows 10s spam icon will be gone and youll get a lot of hard drive space back.

From now on be careful whats in updates.

To opt out of CEIP, go to Control Panel, Action Center, change Action Center Settings and opt out of CEIP.

Or, you could just leave them all there and take the free upgrade to a newer OS before it runs out.

+++

geekl33tgamer wrote:

Or, you could just leave them all there and take the free upgrade to a newer OS before it runs out.

If you did not ask to get Windows 10, and you do not want to agree to the 45 pages of terms which includes:

"you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content, for example, to make copies of, retain, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute"

"Your Content" means ANY private data on your hard drive, anything you type, anything you say and all other peoples' data that passes through your computer.

Then you may want to keep Windows 7 or 8.

Windows 8.1 is supported until 2023. Not everyone wants free spyware.

A better question is how to get Microsoft to pay for the data they used on my parents plan and the suffering caused.

My parents only have 10GB a month (4 Prime, 6 non prime). This unasked for update (on 2 PC's) cost them their allowance for the month, made them pay for over use charges and forced them to switch off their internet and only turn it back on for phone calls out, so no inbound calls (yay NBN, all data, no more copper lines).

dragmor wrote:

A better question is how to get Microsoft to pay for the data they used on my parents plan and the suffering caused.

My parents only have 10GB a month (4 Prime, 6 non prime). This unasked for update (on 2 PC's) cost them their allowance for the month, made them pay for over use charges and forced them to switch off their internet and only turn it back on for phone calls out, so no inbound calls (yay NBN, all data, no more copper lines).

You must be one of the many Australians who are getting especially screwed by Microsoft with this nonsense.

Spread this so other people can prevent it.

BlackDove wrote:

You must be one of the many Australians who are getting especially screwed by Microsoft with this nonsense.
Spread this so other people can prevent it.

I'm fine. I've got 1000GB per month at 100/3 speeds (Telstra Cable) and unlimited phone calls. Its my parents who were forced to move onto the NBN since they removed the copper that have the problem. $40 a month for 10Gb and free local and national calls (not mobile, not Overseas). It costs a bit more than before but is better than the 4G connection they were using.

The problem is that there is no longer any prevention. It's downloaded for 90% of people already and there is nothing they can now do about it. Hell it downloaded on my desktop and I didn't even notice.

What are people in their late 50's / early 60's meant to do? They have automatic updates turned on because its easy and normally is only a couple hundred MB per month and they run the home OS because it came with the laptop / desktop. There was no warning message about downloads coming, no one clicked please install Windows 10. Microsoft just decided that they should waste the bandwidth and hard disk space of everyone running Windows 7 and 8. Even the removal process is tedious.

I got my parents who are that age to use locked down Android tablets and smartphones that i secured for them. They have no need for an x86 PC but i do.

I blocked my 7 machine from ever getting any of these updates months ago.

I actually installed 10 on a laptop i never use so i could learn it but once i realized that its just a spyware reskin of 8 i deleted it and blocked all the updates.

At least you can free up the space. Too bad you cant get Microsoft to pay for the data to download an operating system you didnt ask for.

Now view your installed updates. Remove the following updates by right clicking then uninstall.

Grabs my list to check if there's any i might have missed-Nice they're all in the same order....................

I keep auto updates disabled so I don't have them bugging me at the wrong times (as usual), which also means I didn't get the Win10 download. I run updates manually on my schedule every now and then, but I find myself running them less and less with this crap going on, since I don't have time to mess with this.

Though I keep wondering - what's the average person to do? My suggestion at this point is to buy a Mac and be done with it, but for those who aren't willing to spend that much...

HERETIC wrote:

Now view your installed updates. Remove the following updates by right clicking then uninstall.

Grabs my list to check if there's any i might have missed-Nice they're all in the same order....................

Youre where i got the list lol. Thank you for posting it in my other thread.

Localhostrulez

I plan on building a new gaming desktop in the next couple of years. Ill use Windows 8.1 even though i REALLY prefer 7 so i can get support until 2023.

Hopefully SteamOS will be a viable option by then.

localhostrulez wrote:

Though I keep wondering - what's the average person to do? My suggestion at this point is to buy a Mac and be done with it, but for those who aren't willing to spend that much...

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONOONONONONONONONONO.............................

BlackDove wrote:

I got my parents who are that age to use locked down Android tablets and smartphones that i secured for them. They have no need for an x86 PC but i do.

It was hard enough to get my father to use a PC ("toys" from the perceptive of an old mainframe man). Whatever they have needs a keyboard and a mouse. My father doesn't have or want a phone (neither do I, so I understand his position), my mother has my wife's old iPhone4 (an upgrade last year from her 2001 Nokia brick) but only uses it to text or make phone calls ($30 every 6 months plan).

They send emails, look at photos and videos of grand kids, fill in insurance / tax forms and play solitaire, but not much else.

Savyg wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

If you did not ask to get Windows 10, and you do not want to agree to the 45 pages of terms which includes:

Where exactly is this 45 page terms you keep talking about? I looked but never found it.

The various different Microsoft websites you can view them on are linked to in this thread. Ill look through it and get the links to post here.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ ... py-on-you/

dragmor wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

I got my parents who are that age to use locked down Android tablets and smartphones that i secured for them. They have no need for an x86 PC but i do.

It was hard enough to get my father to use a PC ("toys" from the perceptive of an old mainframe man). Whatever they have needs a keyboard and a mouse. My father doesn't have or want a phone (neither do I, so I understand his position), my mother has my wife's old iPhone4 (an upgrade last year from her 2001 Nokia brick) but only uses it to text or make phone calls ($30 every 6 months plan).

They send emails, look at photos and videos of grand kids, fill in insurance / tax forms and play solitaire, but not much else.

Might want to get them to buy a Windows 8 Ultrabook that you handle the security of or a Chromebook if they can use that for all their tasks.

You should probably also tell them that malware costs people about $300 BILLION a year and its getting worse and teach them how to look out for phishing etc.

If theyre currently using Windows, you should install and configure Malwarebytes Anti Malware(enable rootkit detection) and Malwarebytes Anti Exploit on their PC. If their PC has any malware on it, run Adwcleaner, Junkware Removal tool and F-Secures online scanner as well.

Use Lookout Mobile Security on all their Android or iOS devices and disable the spying and stupid settings like "automatically connect to any open wifi".

BlackDove wrote:

Remove the following updates...

It would be great if we had a place, perhaps a stickey post/thread, where we could keep this list up to date.

Interesting that I have 2 machines, one XP and one Win7, that I keep air-gapped - used to be to avoid mal-ware, now it's to avoid MSFT's "mal-updates" .

HERETIC wrote:

localhostrulez wrote:

Though I keep wondering - what's the average person to do? My suggestion at this point is to buy a Mac and be done with it, but for those who aren't willing to spend that much...

NONONONONONONONONONONONONONONONOONONONONONONONONO.............................

And why? If Microsoft wants to pull this crap, they can suffer the consequences. While I don't like the lack of repairability with Macs, they do a rather nice job at just working and creating a logical, good (and not privacy invading) environment for the average user. It's kinda funny how most of my EE and CS profs use Macs, come to think of it. (Probably the underlying unix bit.)

MarkG509 wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

Remove the following updates...

It would be great if we had a place, perhaps a stickey post/thread, where we could keep this list up to date.

Interesting that I have 2 machines, one XP and one Win7, that I keep air-gapped - used to be to avoid mal-ware, now it's to avoid MSFT's "mal-updates" .

You should get Process Explorer, Process Monitor and TCPView from Microsoft and secure your XP machine with the other things i just mentioned.

BlackDove wrote:

You should get Process Explorer, Process Monitor and TCPView from Microsoft and secure your XP machine with the other things i just mentioned.

Yes, thx, I have/run all those. Both those machines are slated for demolition as soon as I get the time - I already moved all the stuff I care about to a Linux box.

+++

BlackDove wrote:

If you did not ask to get Windows 10, and you do not want to agree to the 45 pages of terms which includes:

"you grant to Microsoft a worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license to use Your Content, for example, to make copies of, retain, transmit, reformat, display, and distribute"

Is this for real?

I thought most photo contests (which contain similar language) were mildly outrageous. All they do is steal your photograph....

Yes i copied it straight from the terms on Microsofts website lol.

The privacy settings dont matter either.

http://www.networkworld.com/article/297 ... ement.html

Savyg wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

The various different Microsoft websites you can view them on are linked to in this thread. Ill look through it and get the links to post here.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ ... py-on-you/

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacys ... fault.aspx
Closest I'm finding:

Content. We collect content of your files and communications when necessary to provide you with the services you use. This includes: the content of your documents, photos, music or video you upload to a Microsoft service such as OneDrive. It also includes the content of your communications sent or received using Microsoft services, such as...

Either I'm missing something or your information is not correct.

Its 45 pages long. I directly quoted the terms.

Read brainouts legal analysis of it. Thats why i linked to the Bleeping Computer thread.

Savyg wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

Its 45 pages long. I directly quoted the terms.

Read brainouts legal analysis of it. Thats why i linked to the Bleeping Computer thread.

I'll look it over more later. So far I can only assume their information is outdated and therefore useless.

Its a brand new operating system and the thread was very recently locked by someone intentionally.

Heres a currently open discussion of it:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ ... try3829416

There is a whole Windows 10 discussion section now since its so controversial:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ ... iscussion/

Its all current.

Savyg wrote:

BlackDove wrote:

The various different Microsoft websites you can view them on are linked to in this thread. Ill look through it and get the links to post here.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/ ... py-on-you/

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/privacys ... fault.aspx
Closest I'm finding:

Content. We collect content of your files and communications when necessary to provide you with the services you use. This includes: the content of your documents, photos, music or video you upload to a Microsoft service such as OneDrive. It also includes the content of your communications sent or received using Microsoft services, such as...

Either I'm missing something or your information is not correct.

BlackDove being all tin-foil over these terms is getting a little tiresome. There's countless threads (a few locked) going over the same old stuff.

I see what Savyg sees, and it's drastically different to what you and the other sensationalist headline grabbing authors you quoted above this post just now wrote.

For the last time, it doesn't mean Microsoft are taking large dumps of data (including whole files) off your PC. It means that the OS will share things like browsing history or search terms used in Cortana to further personalise it (Which is an optional activation to use it anyway). The OS also collects diagnostic data, like running processes, crashes and dumps from Event Viewer too - hence the need to access files and share them as it states. It's NOT them going after your My Docs/Pics/Vids/Porn Collection et-al, and there's been zero reported cases of such behaviour.

There is a possibility some personal files may be in a memory dump if it crashed depending on what you were doing, but then those have always had the option of being uploaded since Windows XP.

Climb down from your paranoia high-horse and look at this sensibly.

I haven't really been keeping up with the Windows 10 privacy invading and forced upgrade issues, but there is a very simple solution to this. Start switching to Linux. It is well worth it to do so.