Some people are having the Windows 10 upgrade pushed to their computers without them actually accepting it, so what’s going on?
Microsoft are treating the Win 10 Upgrade as a recommended update for people who reserved a copy.
If you reserved a copy of Windows 10 and your Windows Updates are set to automatically download and install Recommended updates then Microsoft are taking that as a green light to install the upgrade – and if your computer is not ready that can be a big problem.
If you aren’t ready for the Upgrade just yet we’d recommend that you check your Microsoft Updates status, and cancel your Win 10 reservation.
To Check Microsoft Update Status:
Click on the Start Button and type in Windows Update, then choose Windows Update.
You can click on any of the images if you want to see them a little bigger.
This is a Win7 PC, but it will look almost the same on a Windows 8 machine.
Select Change Settings
Choose the setting for Updates that you want.
These are the settings Dave has on my PC – I will be alerted to any new updates, but I’ve chosen NOT to let Microsoft download or install them without my permission. So I have to be responsible and say “yes” when they suggest the update.
Important Updates are ones that Microsoft believe will keep your computer safe, so it is actually… important to update your important updates!
At the moment the Win 10 Upgrade seems to be classed as a Recommended Update, so even if you choose to automatically install your Important Updates you shouldn’t get Win 10 pushed to you with this setting, though you will get the Win 10 icon on your desktop. It’s a good setting for people who don’t want to be responsible for accepting the Important Updates.
Recommended Updates
Just under the Important Updates is the Recommended Updates. These are a bit less important but Microsoft would like you to do them.
We recommend you untick that box – there are too many updates for anyone to want to receive them all the time. You should check every month or so to see if any Recommended updates are available. If you aren’t sure how to do that we have an article about how to check and do windows updates.
Since Microsoft are treating Win 10 like a recommended update, if you are allowing them to automatically download both your Important and your Recommended updates (and you reserved a copy of the Win 10 Upgrade) then they will download the file to your computer. The file will use your internet bandwidth, and take up space on your computer.
If you allowed Microsoft to install both of these updates (and you Reserved a Copy of Win10) then your computer may start trying to do the Win 10 Upgrade.
Cancel Your Win10 Reservation
To be extra safe you may wish to cancel your Reservation of Windows 10. To check whether you have a Reservation click the little Win 10 button on the right side of your start bar (at the bottom of your computer screen).
Once you’ve clicked it you can see your Windows 10 status. As you can see my computer is ready for Win 10, but I have not reserved a copy of it.
If your computer shows that you’ve reserved a copy then you can just click the cancel button to tell Microsoft that you are not interested right now. The icon will stay there and you’ll still be able to do the upgrade later when you are ready.
If you never want Win 10 and you’d like to remove that icon all together we can show you how to get rid of the Win 10 Icon.
If you’d like to get rid of the Win 10 icon and stop it from coming back we have some simple instructions for that as well.
Is it time for Win 10 yet?
Personally we really like Win 10 on all the machines we’ve tried it on, but there are still a lot of software packages that are not ready. We still recommend that you wait a while unless you are very sure that all of your software is compatible.
You should also back up before you try to upgrade. Most machines we’ve done have gone through fine, but we’ve also seen some rather horrible cases where the Upgrade has gone wrong.
Win 10 Conspiracy?
It does seem like Microsoft are taking advantage of a loophole to push Win 10 out to users as an update when its really an upgrade.
Hopefully we’ve taken some of the mystery out of why its happening to some people, and helped you protect yourself from unintentional Upgrades.
How do you feel about the Upgrade Push?
Jen and Dave @ Help Me Dave IT
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And of course – if you’re in Sydney and you’d like to discuss Upgrading your Office to Windows 10 you can contact Help Me Dave IT for Help.