# (Another) W10 upgrade question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [May 19, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184 "2016-05-19T20:42:43Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2016, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/1 "2016-05-19T20:42:43Z")
Like everyone else who has not upgraded to Windows 10, I have been getting those “free upgrade” messages on my computer several times a week. They didn’t bother me, I just close them (using the little x in the corner, not any buttons in the message). I currently use Windows 8, which works fine for me.
This morning, without asking permission, my computer told me it was upgrading to Windows 10. Within a few seconds, while it still said “0% progress” and “Do not turn off computer,” I turned off my computer.
When I turned it back on, it did not attempt to upgrade, and it presented me with a dialog box about upgrades in general. I found the setting was at “Install upgrades as soon as they are available,” which surprised me because I never choose that option. I changed it back to “Ask before installing upgrades.”
Question 1: did I damage anything by turning off the computer? It has seemed to work fine and normally since then.
Question 2: how might that setting have gotten changed? Is this something that Microsoft did, or tricked me into doing? Is it likely to happen again, such that I should routinely check the setting once a week or so?
Note: Everything in quotes is really just my paraphrase as best I can remember.
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### Author:  [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/2 "2016-05-19T23:51:03Z")
What you should do is download the app in the other thread.
[http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/](http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/)
GWX
No, you didn’t hurt your computer by turning it off. I had to the same thing Tuesday. Fuckers.
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/3 "2016-05-20T00:20:55Z")
Done. Wow, felt good to delete those Windows 10 folders and files. Thanks.
eta: Oh, and I agree - fuckers.
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### Author:  [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/4 "2016-05-20T00:33:47Z")
My desktop decided to upgrade to win 10 yesterday.I’d been ignoring the pop up for some time. Came home and to see the monitor displaying a circle with 80% complete.
My laptop came with windows 8 which I’d never used either so I let that upgrade before I ever used it. I don’t really like win10 but it hasn’t been bad enough to inspire me to go back to 7.
So my two main computers are win10. I’ve lost the battle. I think I’ll survive. Might just be bitter for a bit.
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### Author:  [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/5 "2016-05-20T14:31:01Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#):
>
> My desktop decided to upgrade to win 10 yesterday.I’d been ignoring the pop up for some time. Came home and to see the monitor displaying a circle with 80% complete.
>
> My laptop came with windows 8 which I’d never used either so I let that upgrade before I ever used it. I don’t really like win10 but it hasn’t been bad enough to inspire me to go back to 7.
>
> So my two main computers are win10. I’ve lost the battle. I think I’ll survive. Might just be bitter for a bit.
In the system restore, you can actually restore the PC back to the previous version of Windows if it occurred in the last month.
> **[How to Uninstall Windows 10 and Downgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1](https://www.howtogeek.com/220723/how-to-uninstall-windows-10-and-downgrade-to-windows-7-or-8.1/)**
>
> Don't like Windows 10? As long as you've upgraded within the last month, you can uninstall Windows 10 and downgrade your PC back to its original Windows 7 or Windows 8.
> [@](#):
>
> If you’ve upgraded a PC to Windows 10 — not performed a clean install, but an upgrade — you’ll have an easy option that lets you revert to the last version of Windows. To access this, open the Start menu and select Settings. Click the “Update & security” icon and select “Recovery.”
>
> You should see a “Go back to Windows 7” or “Go back to Windows 8.1” option. Click the Get started button to get rid of your Windows 10 install and restore your previous Windows install. Microsoft will ask you why you want to go back.
>
> If it’s been over a month — or if you’ve run the DIsk cleanup tool and removed the “Previous Windows installations” files or deleted the C:\Windows.old folder by hand — you’ll no longer see this option. Windows 10 appears to automatically remove the old Windows installation files after a month to free up space.
I just did this with my daughter’s laptop and it worked perfectly. I then installed the GWX Control Panel (above) and all is right with the world again for my daughter.
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### Author:  [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/6 "2016-05-20T14:36:06Z")
Second the recommendation by **samclem** for GWX Control Panel for those who do not want to install Windows 10. I installed it several months ago … works great; no WinX nags or auto-downloads, and you can easily change your mind if you want.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/7 "2016-06-09T20:53:16Z")
[Heh.](http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2016/06/09/0793-an-offer-you-cant-refuse-ww/#comments)
Microsoft sent commandos to upgrade the North’s computer today.
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### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-w10-upgrade-question/755184/8 "2016-06-11T13:56:39Z")
On that topic, early builds of W10 are being aggressively pushed to install the latest build.
The latest build was released in early 2015 but canned again , until now.