# Microsoft Has To Pay Woman $10,000 For Sneaky Windows 10 Upgrade **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 29, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666 "2016-06-29T02:22:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/21 "2016-06-29T21:34:43Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > We’ve had two computers upgrade to Windows 10 without any permission given to do so. I want my money. Did it cause business losses? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/22 "2016-06-29T22:05:00Z")
Regarding automatic updates, there is a way to prevent them even with the home edition of Windows 10 but it is kind of hacky. You just have to tell it that your internet connection is metered. If you do that then it will notify you of available updates and give you the option of when to download them. I’m not sure if there are any other consequences of doing this. It’s also possible to prevent and hide specific updates just like you can in earlier versions, but you have to download a special tool from Microsoft. This site gives details. > **[How to Prevent Windows 10 or 11 From Automatically Downloading Updates](https://www.howtogeek.com/224471/how-to-prevent-windows-10-from-automatically-downloading-updates/)** > > Windows 10 and 11 PCs automatically check for updates and install any updates they find. You can take some control over this and have Windows install updates on your schedule, but these options are hidden. Windows Update really wants to automatically... ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/23 "2016-06-29T22:05:26Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > You have a very strange way of saying “more stable and more secure.” The BSOD is nearly unheard of these days. And each successive version of Windows includes new ways to protect against malware. > [http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-10-secure-windows-xp/](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-10-secure-windows-xp/) > [Security Features from TechTarget](http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/feature/Longtime-Windows-vulnerabilities-fixed-in-Windows-10) > > By the way, one of the big reasons why Microsoft has been doing this huge push towards Windows 10 is because many people simply will not bother to download security patches for their current system. That’s also why they’ve done such a big push towards automatic updates within 10. An awful lot of people are too stupid and too lazy to update their system. > [http://www.securityweek.com/attackers-still-target-old-flaw-exploited-stuxnet](http://www.securityweek.com/attackers-still-target-old-flaw-exploited-stuxnet) Fear uncertainty and doubt. Your post is straight from the scaremonger salesmans playbook. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/24 "2016-06-29T22:22:59Z")
Microsoft is right to push Windows 10 and enforce mandatory system updates within Windows 10. Its enhanced security stuff is a rising tide that will raise all boats. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/25 "2016-06-29T22:25:55Z")
> [@Palooka](#): > > Microsoft is right to push Windows 10 and enforce mandatory system updates within Windows 10. Its enhanced security stuff is a rising tide that will raise all boats. Except that Windows 10 is breaking some people systems. Microsoft has itself become a security hazard. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/26 "2016-06-29T22:38:35Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > By the way, one of the big reasons why Microsoft has been doing this huge push towards Windows 10 is because many people simply will not bother to download security patches for their current system. That’s also why they’ve done such a big push towards automatic updates within 10. An awful lot of people are too stupid and too lazy to update their system. > [@Palooka](#): > > Microsoft is right to push Windows 10 and enforce mandatory system updates within Windows 10. Its enhanced security stuff is a rising tide that will raise all boats. That’s fucking stupid. If they wanted to get everyone to switch to a new version of Windows for the sake of security and saving themselves the hassle of patching more than one OS, that version of Windows should have been “strictly better” than what people already had. They should have provided no reason _not_ to upgrade - no keyloggers, no adware, no bricking of people’s computers. As it is, though, Microsoft’s handling of the Windows 10 rollout is the sole reason why I turned _off_ automatic updates. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/27 "2016-06-29T23:26:55Z")
I almost wonder if the NSA isn’t involved. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/28 "2016-06-30T07:39:49Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > As it is, though, Microsoft’s handling of the Windows 10 rollout is the sole reason why I turned _off_ automatic updates. Me as well. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/29 "2016-06-30T15:45:17Z")
I planned to upgrade from 7 to 10 about a month before it stopped being free (to let other people fix all the crap that would inevitably show up). Then they pulled that obnoxious forced upgrade trick on me… and my mouse and keyboard stopped working. As well as the wired mouse and keyboard I have in the back of my closet for just such an emergency. The only way I was able to do anything was to shut the system down in the middle of a startup causing it to freak out and allow me to go back to the previous known good configuration… Windows 7. I’d actually like to finish the upgrade at some point if I could figure out how to do it with no input devices. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/30 "2016-06-30T21:13:39Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > We’ve had two computers upgrade to Windows 10 without any permission given to do so. I want my money. All you have to do is click the _skanky.exe_ button and forward this thread to 10,000 people and Bill Gates will personally send you a check. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/31 "2016-06-30T22:44:02Z")
And don’t you just love forced driver updates that cause your system to decide that your disconnected secondary monitor should actually be your primary monitor? :mad: I can appreciate the arguments for mandatory system updates (though I don’t necessarily agree with them – I had automatic updates turned off in Windows 7 and 8.1), but I’ve been using PCs long enough to know when to upgrade hardware drivers and when to just leave well enough alone. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/32 "2016-06-30T22:57:45Z")
I plan on keeping my desktop on Windows 7 for as long as I can. So far, I’ve been able to get away with simply declining. My laptop came with Windows 10, so that’s fine. I did all the privacy things, or at least all that I know of. The updates are incredibly slow; I mean really, really slow. I wonder if that’s what I get for not allowing my computer to be used as a server by Microsoft to deliver updates to other people. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/33 "2016-06-30T23:21:26Z")
I kept saying no, no, no to Windows 10, and one night it auto installed itself. And now my computer will not detect wifi. It is in the shop right now in fact. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/34 "2016-06-30T23:51:58Z")
My work systems are Win 7 or various versions of SQL Server. My home desktop is 7. As is a netbook. I purchased a new laptop with win 10, and have not had any problems. It’s a bit different, and I will get used to it. I will update my desktop at home in July. Not sure what all the fuss is about. I’m not getting bugged to update at all. In fact, I need to remember to do so. Work computers are going to stay on 7 for a bit until we can test everything on 10. It’s ~sort~ of my job but I’m a programmer, not Sys Admin. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/35 "2016-07-01T01:05:10Z")
I definitely understand why people are mad about the way that Microsoft is nagging and more to get you to install windows 10. How Microsoft is handling the upgrades is not excusable. But I find that windows 10 is a big improvement on windows 8 and things like wifi stability on laptops is an improvement over windows 7. My only complaint is that the windows store apps are still complete junk. The write once use one phone, tablet and PC goal that they have is results in programs that are pointlessly limited on PCs. To the point that there is no reason at all to even look at the limited offerings there. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/36 "2016-07-01T07:12:01Z")
The point is that it is not nagging any more. It eventually takes over your computer, period. The last time it installed itself, it was after I’d told it for the n-thousandth time to kindly fuck off. I was in the middle of moving some files around when my computer rebooted and started Installing… Installing… Installing… no interrupt button, my only options were “wait” or “unplug, remove the battery and hope it does reboot without Installing…” At least this time I didn’t have a password set on the computer, so I was able to move that shit back. The first time, the time I actually said “ok, I’ll try it”, the laptop would not recognize any keyboards. Not the one that’s physically stuck to the rest of it, not external ones. I had to take it to the shop, three days without computer courtesy of Microsoft. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/37 "2016-07-01T13:04:32Z")
I am scrupulously checking all incoming Windows Updates on both my personal computers and scrubbing any of them that even allude to preparing my PC for upgrade to ‘the next version of Windows’. It’s a hassle, but it beats the alternative… Of course, my vigilance was prompted by one of those preparatory updates invalidating the OEM Windows 7 I had on my Dell Laptop. The only way I could get it back to (correctly) believing Windows was genuine was to do a system restore. Microsoft is careless, arrogant, and greedy, and should be ashamed of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/38 "2016-07-01T18:13:03Z")
After rejecting the upgrade a bazillion times ( including the sneaky, trick question versions ), I finally was offered a final chance to turn it down the other day because they claimed free upgrades ended at the end of July. Hopefully this will be the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Me\_Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Me\_Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Me_Billy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/39 "2016-07-02T14:51:35Z")
Microsoft needs to do the following… 1. ASK people what they want. Don’t go changing things if people like something as is. 2. Be like Coke. Classic Coke, Cherry Coke, Diet Coke, etc. Do the same with computer products. Many people like XP. Some like windows this or that. Some like the new Apps. Offer SEVERAL DIFFERENT PRODUCTS, not just one! ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666/40 "2016-07-02T23:02:14Z")
Windows 10 tried to load a couple of times on me (running 7 now) and I really, really don’t want it because I don’t have a touch screen. Screens shouldn’t be touched anyway. With some googling I found that I just had to rename one file. I don’t remember the name and wouldn’t tell it here if I did but since then I haven’t seen hide nor hair of windows 10 upgrade messages. Some Microsoft products or products restarts the nag program periodically but they don’t complain when it doesn’t run. Heaven knows what other sharing is going on behind my back in Windows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/microsoft-has-to-pay-woman-10-000-for-sneaky-windows-10-upgrade/758666.md?page=3)