*heavy sigh*! If you prefer to have choice. If you like one operating system more than another and want the freedom to stick with the OS of your choice, then read what follows in this particular note, Very Carefully!The last time I shared concerns about Windows 10 was back in September 2015: https://www.facebook.com/notes/1015… Everything noted there continues to concern other technicians and technology reviewers out there, but Microsoft has stepped up the ante something fierce for 2016! The biggest concerns are quoted from the following article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3024…
“There isn’t any “No thanks, I don’t want to download Windows 10” option to click. The only way to refuse Microsoft’s offer is to click the X in the upper-right corner of the (unprompted!) pop-up to shut it. … This reeks of malware—but it’s not. And it’s only going to accelerate later this year, when Microsoft pushes Windows 10 through as a Recommended update in Windows Update…sometime in 2016. … Windows 7 users will have to turn off automatic downloads for all Recommended updates to avoid downloading multiple gigabytes’ worth of operating system. And unless you’re religious about manually installing critical updates, disabling Recommended updates will leave your computer vulnerable to some of the nastiest exploits floating around the web. Thanks, Microsoft.”
Unfortunately, for the first time in this technician’s career, I am strongly recommending that all Win7 and win8x users who wish to stay with their current OS, turn off Automatic Windows Updates in Control Panel! If you’re looking at the full list of features in Control Panel, it will be in rough alphabetical order, placing the feature near the top of the list. Inside after double-clicking to open it, you’ll be able to locate options to only check for updates manually.
As noted in the PC World article, turning off automatic updates is a risk because not everyone remembers to do their own update check, nor have the technical knowledge to decide if an update is mandatory, recommended, or optional. Those who have this knowledge ideally should still be safe, but for other who don’t want Windows 10 forced on them, I strongly recommend they hook up either with myself as their technician, or another reputable tech in their area to arrange for a monthly check of available Microsoft updates.
But I am shaking my head and burying it in my hands at alternating intervals. I have NEVER recommended turning off automated updates before! There are just too many zero-day threats out there to not be on top of this kind of thing. Most updates are security-related! Maybe after Microsoft realizes they’ve shot themselves in the foot and stop trying to strong-arm their formerly loyal fan/user base into upgrading, I’ll be able to tell Win7 and Win8x users to turn Automated Updates back on. But for now, turn it off. If you aren’t sure how to do that, contact me to arrange a remote servicing session and I’ll log onto your computer with you watching, to disable this feature until further notice.
