Microsoft expands Get Windows 10 program to domains, publishes opt-out instructions

[Batu69]

As the year-long free upgrade offer for Windows 10 nears the halfway mark, Microsoft is getting more aggressive, with new plans to begin displaying the GWX taskbar icon and upgrade prompts on business PCs that had previously been off-limits.

 

If you thought Microsoft was getting ready to ease up on its massive Get Windows 10 upgrade campaign, think again.

The company announced today that it plans to expand the program, pushing the aggressive GWX taskbar icon and pop-up upgrade notification reminders to some domain-joined PCs that had previously been exempt.

 

Today's news did not include any plans to offer a "No, thanks" button on the GWX prompts. However, the company has finally updated its documentation for IT pros to opt out of the automatic upgrade and disable the GWX icon.

 

As before, PCs running Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8.1 Enterprise, and any embedded version of those operating systems aren't eligible for the free upgrade and thus will continue to be immune from the GWX update.

 

But domain-joined PCs running Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, or Windows 8.1 Pro that are configured to receive updates directly from Windows Update will begin seeing the GWX taskbar icon shortly. Domain-joined PCs that get updates through another mechanism, such as Windows Server Update Services or System Center Configuration Manager, will continue to be off-limits.

 

At the same time as today's announcement, Microsoft finally published updated instructions for opting out of the automatic upgrade and disabling the GWX icon. The new instructions, available in KB article 3080351, match those I published last week. (See "How to block Windows 10 upgrades on your business network (and at home, too)" for details.)

 

To prevent the Windows 10 upgrade from being offered in Windows Update, IT pros can set a Group Policy object. Note that this policy setting is only available if the appropriate updates (first issued last July) are installed: 3065987 is the Windows 7 update; 3065988 is the equivalent for Windows 8.1.

 

The policy is available on Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate and Windows 8.1 Pro machines using the Local Group Policy Editor (Gpedit.msc).

 

The policy path is Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update Policy.

Enable the setting Turn off the upgrade to the latest version of Windows through Windows Update.

 

 

Setting that policy adds the following registry subkey and associated value:

 

• Subkey: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
• DWORD value: DisableOSUpgrade = 1

 

On home and core editions of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, that registry value needs to be set manually.

There's no corresponding Group Policy object for disabling the GWX notification icon. That task requires requires editing the following subkey and value in the Windows registry:

 

• Subkey: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Gwx
• DWORD value: DisableGwx = 1

 

Those two steps are sufficient to block Windows 10 upgrades and prevent a user from accidentally clicking on one of the pop-up prompts and starting the upgrade process. There's no need to uninstall and block the original GWX update (KB3035583), nor is it necessary to use third-party software. These software policies, which are intended for business use, remain in effect until they're reversed or removed.

 

I've created .reg files that can be downloaded and used to automate the creation of these two registry keys. The files are located here.

 

Today's revised KB article also contains instructions for blocking the Windows 10 upgrade screen that appears when performing a clean install of Windows 8.1 that includes the KB3065988 update. Those instructions are useful for IT pros and system builders who are setting up new PCs for employees or clients and want to ensure that the system is not upgraded to Windows 10.

 

The article also contains instructions for making the GWX icon visible for businesses that want to take advantage of the free upgrade offer immediately via Windows Update.

 

Article source

 

Batu69 edit: Another content has been merged & moved from technology news forum.

[kantry123]

Are you a Windows 7 or 8.1 user tired of seeing Microsoft’s incessant taskbar pop-ups prompting you to upgrade to Windows 10? Here is one simple trick that will you to stop showing Windows 10 upgrade prompts in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.
Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 upgrade option more vigorously, the most annoying part of all this is the constant taskbar pop-ups asking you to upgrade to Windows 10. Recently company revealed that users who are running Windows 7 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro can expect to start seeing the Get Windows 10 app in their taskbar, suggesting that they upgrade to the new OS

 

SRC>>http://techlog360.com/2016/01/hide-windows-10-upgrade-prompts-in-windows-7-and-windows-8-1/

[steven36]

If you don't install get windows 10  updates  to began with there's  no GWX to hide  or to remove . Why trust  Microsoft  that they may not change  there minds and enable it again.

 

Here it is 6 months  latter and there trying  to pass  off  a fix  as many times as they tried get me to install get windows 10 updates  there be no way in hell id trust them.

[humble3d]

Yo ! MSFT!

If not warranted by any just occasion,

the least imposition is oppressive... 

Duress and coercion are not synonymous but, their meanings

often shade into one another...

 

Yo! msft !

 

Prepare to FAIL...  

[straycat19]

Trust and Microsoft are like oil and water, they are two things that don't go together.

[Bullukka]

nice news.

[steven36]

I used GWX Control Panel  on a family member laptop  Vista upgraded to  Windows 7  a few days ago .  it took me about a minute  to uninstall GWX and prevent Windows 10 from installing again plus open the open folder up and delete what  was download . No  having to fiddle in the registry  or nothing else . If they wanted to make fix  they would made one like they did to stop windows 10 from getting driver updates . a actual  program . The Instructions  is not and actual fix. it only hides the GFX  its still there waiting for them to turn it on in a update if they wish  

[vibranium]

Don't be too happy yet. GWX Control Panel has had to update itself in order to defeat the ever changing tricks of Windows 10 update.

 

Unless you constantly care for your family member's laptop after a few months it may spontaneously morph into Windows 10 !!!

[steven36]

25 minutes ago, vibranium said:

Don't be too happy yet. GWX Control Panel has had to update itself in order to defeat the ever changing tricks of Windows 10 update.

 

Unless you constantly care for your family member's laptop after a few months it may spontaneously morph into Windows 10 !!!

I do take care of it for them if anything much is done too it, if anything changes i will update  it for them, or i could just turn off auto updates and just install them  myself . They  had GW 10 updates   on it since June  and still it never had installed it they told me it was asking them  if they wanted install windows 10  so I fixed it for them because they dont want it. I have windows 8.1 were I just update manual  with updates off  i never had to  use GWX Control Panel  on it at all . I dont like babysitting there pc though because I'm doing it for free  . I dont enjoy fooling with that kind of stuff  for next 6mths 

 

Last time i had to fool with it they had installed 2 antivirus on it and i had to remove one them . I know nuts right?  but not everyone should be installing things because dont know what there doing lol.

[Holmes]

You dont need to do anything if you just go in and remove the windows update that installed gwx to begin with if it leaves left overs is the reason to go remove additional crap.  That offical way has been posted before different article same removal routine offered by different article.

[vibranium]

My experience has confirmed the articles that say Update KB3035583 morphed several times and come back on the update list, etc.

[Batu69]

Content has been merged & moved from security and privacy news forum.

[SURbit]

Microsoft changes rules of Windows 10 upgrade game / Expands notifications and automatic upgrades to domain-joined small business PCs

 

 

Microsoft yesterday again changed the rules of its better-upgrade-to-Windows 10 game, announcing that some business PCs running the professional editions of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 would soon begin seeing notifications to migrate to the newest OS.

 

At the same time, the Redmond, Wash. company belatedly provided instructions to block the Windows 10 upgrade. The timing was not coincidental: Microsoft is historically more accommodating to its commercial customers than it is to consumers when it comes to choices in upgrading and updating software.

 

"We will begin to roll out the 'Get Windows 10' app to additional devices that meet the following criteria, in the U.S. later this month and in additional markets shortly thereafter." said Matt Barlow of Microsoft, in a post to a company blog Wednesday.

 

The new criteria covered PCs running Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8.1 Pro that were "domain-joined" -- part of a computer network whose administrators rely on Active Directory to set access rights -- and that receive updates via the Windows Update service.

 

Previously, all domain-joined PCs were off-limits to the increasingly-aggressive upgrade nagging that consumer devices have been receiving since June.

Still out of bounds: PCs running the Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows 8.1 Enterprise editions, and all systems that receive updates from an administrator-managed patch platform, such as Microsoft's own WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) and SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager), or third-party software.

 

The new rules will primarily affect small businesses that take a more casual approach to managing their PCs -- often because they lack dedicated IT personnel -- and so rely on the consumer-grade Windows Update for patch delivery. Larger organizations, however, often have pockets of machines that will begin to display the nags.

 

Those devices will soon receive Microsoft's GWX app -- for "Get Windows 10" -- that will reside in the taskbar and display pop-up prompts to upgrade.

 

Microsoft has been aggressively leveraging the free upgrade offer, which ends in late July and is within two weeks of its mid-point, in an attempt to convince, cajole, nag and pester users into moving to Windows 10; the efforts are all part of its intention to put the OS on a billion systems by mid-2018. Yesterday's change in who sees the notifications was just the latest in a long series of similar steps.

 

Some consumers have resisted the offer, happy with the OS now on their PCs and seeing little reason they should be badgered. It's likely that small businesses will be even more resistant to the call-to-change.

 

"Many small businesses have already been dealing with this thing since the start. Believe me, I hear from them all the time," said Josh Mayfield. He's the software engineer who created GWX Control Panel, a tool designed to make Microsoft's GWX app go away, purge the system of upgrade files, and block the automatic upgrade that will be pushed to systems this year. Mayfield has heard from scores of small business owners, users and administrators, who, after searching for a way to remove the nags from their PCs, were thankful to find GWX Control Panel.

 

"Most small businesses don't have [Windows] Enterprise licenses and many also don't use Windows domains," he said.

 

Mayfield accidentally became an expert in Microsoft's upgrade caper, creating GWX Control Panel to give to his mother. But as he offered it to the public, he was forced to dissect Microsoft's undocumented maneuvers in order to keep pace with the company's attempts to put its notifications on upgrade-eligible PCs, keep them there, and regularly update them with changed content.

 

Mayfield last updated GWX Control Panel in late December to version 1.7. The utility is free to download, although Mayfield does accept donations via PayPal to cover his site hosting fees.

 

Along with the news that the Windows 10 upgrade prompts would shortly start to appear on more PCs, Microsoft also revised a support document that offers instructions to administrators wanting to block the appearance of the notifications and more importantly, bar the PC from receiving the upgrade and initiating the installation process. The instructions include guidelines for crafting a Group Policy that can remotely change the Windows Registry, adding a new subkey with a value assigned to DisableOSUpgrade.

 

Unlike some other work-arounds that have circulated in the last several months, the DisableOSUpgrade method seems to work, said Mayfield, who maintains a suite of test systems to monitor what Microsoft's GWX app does.

 

"DisableOSUpgrade, when set, does seem to block the Windows 10 Upgrade via Windows Update behavior," said Mayfield. "We did see cases where the [DisableOSUpgrade] registry value was deleted as a result of [updates to the] Windows Update [client] over the summer, but I haven't spotted that particular behavior in the last couple of months."

 

Microsoft's Barlow characterized the notification change for business PCs as driven by customers who wanted a simpler way to upgrade than downloading the bits and using external media like a USB flash drive to install the OS. "Because of ongoing customer requests from many small businesses and other small organizations to easily take advantage of the free upgrade, we will soon make the Get Windows 10 app available to them as well," he said.

 

There's no way for outsiders to verify Barlow's claim that small businesses have been clamoring for the on-screen notifications. Cynics will likely wonder where the customer requests stop and Microsoft's marketing begins: The firm regularly cites the former when decisions it makes are in its own business interests.

 

Mayfield was skeptical that small businesses will universally approve of the intrusion. "I imagine it will cause another wave of panicked users, because small businesses obviously want to spend their computer time making a living, not wasting time looking for updated firmware, drivers, and applications to support an operating system they don't need," he said.

 

SOURCE: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3022796/windows-pcs/microsoft-changes-rules-of-windows-10-upgrade-game.html