Several support tickets have come into the Registry Partners IT department within the last week where staff members have received an update to Windows 10 even if they did not want it or closed out of the Update pop-up window. This is due to Microsoft changing the behavior of that pop-up box. (Further explanation can be found here if you’re interested.) To some, this may seem like a mild irritation and nothing more, but to others, this can disrupt the way their day-to-day software programs work and cause quite the headache.
Here are some tips in the event you need to alleviate the Windows 10 headache.
1) IF YOU DO NOT EVER WANT WINDOWS 10: Download and run the NEVER10 program (see the screenshot below for the download button about halfway down the web page for Never10). The link for Never10 is https://www.grc.com/never10.htm
The Never10 does not install anything, and only needs to be run once. When you run it, you have the option to click “Remove Win10 Files” as well as “Disable Win10 Upgrade” in the two buttons of the Never10 dialog box.
–OR–
2) IF YOU WANT TO TRY WINDOWS 10, OR IT’S UPDATED AND YOU WANT TO DOWNGRADE WINDOWS: If you want to give the upgrade to Windows 10 a shot, you can. You’ll have 30 days to roll it back to whatever you’re running now should you run into any issues. The roll back process is way less painful than it sounds. Just a few clicks and then wait while Windows does all the work. The link to downgrade to your previous version of Windows (instructions) is here, if needed: http://www.thewindowsclub.com/rollback-from-windows-10 . You’ll also need to go up to #1 above and install Never10 after you downgrade to prevent the quagmire from happening again.
Should you be interested in upgrading, Windows 10 will be free until July 29, 2016.