Another W-10 saga

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Oldmoparguy1

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Windows is trying to install W-10 without my permission! Apparently it D?Led the files last night and started the installation. I caught it and stopped it, but it is still trying to restart. I can't find the files, so they must be in a hidden directory. Does anyone know how I can find the files so I can delete them?

TIA
 
Use this in an administrator CMD window to remove the update nag patch. Then do an update and HIDE that patch from future updates.
wusa /uninstall /kb:2952664

these are also patches driving win10 you can HIDE from update, You can google all of this yourself for more info.

KB 3035583 - this update enables "additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available".
KB 2952664 - its purpose is to "to ease the upgrade experience to the latest version of Windows".

KB 2976978 - A compatibility update for Windows 8.X to determine compatibility issues updating operating system.
KB 3021917 - Does the same as KB 2976978 but on Windows 7.

KB 3044374 - This update for Windows 8.1 to a later version of Windows.
KB 2990214 . Does the same as KB 3044374 but on Windows 7.
 
Here is a little more info. Yesterday I was working on my wifes laptop. Fixing some little things. I forgot to shut it down last night and when I got up at 3am this morning, I saw a light in the dining room. It was the PC and it was installing W-10. [censored]!! The only way to stop it was hold the power key down until it shut off. When I turned it on it continued to try to install W-10. After working on it this afternoon, it finally asked if I wanted to opt out. Did that and for now it should be ok.

Some background.

When W-10 was announced there were people who showed how to block the auto install. I did that to all our systems and had not seen any W-10 messages since.

I went looking for W-10 related files and found the install file. Reading through the file I found a place where M$S had queried the auto update status, found it off and on the next line, turned auto update on and started the installation. How is that for creating your own backdoor?

I have saved a copy of the install file and will be looking at it some more.
 
Make sure the settings in Windows Updates gives you full control on allowing an update to download and install. If you see any updates associated with the Windows 10 update, you can hide them which will never let them install.
 
If it actually ever does sneak onto your computer....
You have 30 days to do a reset back to your previous operating system - so not really anything to worry about.

I think they started "reserving" upgrade days for people and you had to literally go in there and say no, please no, no, no, no.

Only way to get it to stop would be to disable windows updates from auto-installing, remove all currently windows 10 updates, block/hide all future windows 10 updates by referencing their KB####.
Remove GWX application and any other reminder under task scheduler etc...

You can probably also implement registry blocks and adjust your host file settings if you're wanting to go a bit extreme - although I think it would be a bit unnecessary.

There are many articles online on how to properly remove and block the update, but that's the gist of it

Otherwise I think the default install location for Windows 10 is located here:
Code:
C:\$windows.~BT

It's been awhile since I've looked, so I could be wrong.

If you need any assistance let me know.

Take care!
 
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Originally Posted By: Kwuality

Otherwise I think the default install location for Windows 10 is located here:
Code:
C:\$windows.~BT

It's been awhile since I've looked, so I could be wrong.


That's correct. I found that folder in my C:\ and ended up deleting the whole "$windows.~BT" folder, which was huge in size.
 
Any machines I've put the two registry keys on as per the Microsoft TSB on disabling Windows 10, I have seen no mention of Windows 10 since, and they all have automatic updates turned on.
 
Quote:

Windows is trying to install W-10 without my permission!


You granted them permission to add and remove software on your machine by accepting the EULA.
 
More info. This pc came with win-7 pro installed with a free upgrade to win-8.1. The win-10 mess broke some things and it still kept popping up trying to finish the install no matter what. Since the w-7 install was damaged, I would install W-8.1. That will wipe the hd and put an end to the W-10 junk. Another failed plan. The 8.1 install failed to complete with some sort of error, and now it won't reboot. Ok, I have W-7 repair disk and W-7 recover disk, also another new W-7 installation disk. Got it covered right? Nope. Nothing will do a complete boot, it just quits with an error then starts another boot cycle. I guess you could call it a reboot loop.

So I need a file I can load to a usb drive so I can boot the pc so I can get inside and format the hd, then start over. All suggestions are welcome.
 
Are you knowledgeable enough to enter the BIOS menu and set your CD/DVD drive to be first in the boot priority list? If you can do that with the Windows installation disc in the drive it should offer you the option to install, which will being with an option to format the hard drive. There are so many minor differences in the procedure that it's hard to offer hard guidance, but that's what I've done in the past.
 
Yeah, or sometimes you can open a boot menu at the BIOS screen and select the Disc drive to boot once.

But, its hard to say what key to press to open that menu.
And, you'll want to use the provided recovery disc and not a retail disc unless your computer has the W7 key sticker on the bottom. The factory recovery disc will read the key out of the BIOS, otherwise you will have problems getting it to authorize your copy (it will ask you for a key you don't have)
 
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OS update is always a risky thing. If your disk is bad or file system was originally corrupted, it could cause serious problem that is not recoverable. I know it isn't the software engineers' fault but still, in a system that people use for work please don't mess with it unless they approve it.
 
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Are you knowledgeable enough to enter the BIOS menu and set your CD/DVD drive to be first in the boot priority list? If you can do that with the Windows installation disc in the drive it should offer you the option to install, which will being with an option to format the hard drive. There are so many minor differences in the procedure that it's hard to offer hard guidance, but that's what I've done in the past.

Thanks, I did all that, no help, I did stumble on the boot manager and through it found some other things. Last night I used the MS dl tool to create a bootable usb drive with 8.1 on it. Stuck it and tried to boot it. That failed with an error about having the wrong file format. Some 3 letter thing that I never heard of before. Somewhere in there I found an option to format it and did so. Still had that 3 letter thing and no option to format to hpfs. So tried the install with the original 8.1 disks, and it seems to be working now. It's dl'ing all the updates, so as soon as I get into the machine, I'll turn off the wifi, then go through all the debugging as offered above. Back in a bit.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Any machines I've put the two registry keys on as per the Microsoft TSB on disabling Windows 10, I have seen no mention of Windows 10 since, and they all have automatic updates turned on.


Overkill - I know you posted someplace else showing what those two registry keys should look like and how to install them, but I can't seem to find the info. Any chance you can tell us how again, or point to the Microsoft TSB? Thanks!
 
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