The Windows 10 Resistance Thread

ZakG 2016-03-25 08:17:11 UTC #1

The KB numbers given below are for Windows 7. Windows 8 has it’s own different number version of most of them, and i think those are given in the linked thread below from sevenforums. As i do not have Windows 8 (i saw MS coming!) i do not have a list of those to share sadly, you’ll need to do your own research into them.

It is becoming a pain, but an essential one if your wanting to stick with 7 for the time being. Not all windows 7 users have an issue with updates, and the problems seemed to really become common during the whole ‘you will update to 10’ era, so it ‘might’ be related to some of those updates that are about getting your windows 7 turned into 10?

Whatever, this thread i will link has some great info in it in relation to avoiding those updates that are aimed at turning 7 into 10 (if you do not want that):

I would say the OP to that is not upto date, so you have to do a bit of trawling through that link to get the latest info on which updates to ignore in 7, my list is currently around 30 updates but i’ve not been keeping fully upto date on those details over recent weeks.

I can still get updates no problem (no slowdown, no non-action, no eternal stuck doing nothing etc) for my 7 installations, but i’ve been very careful to avoid the zombie windows 10 for 7 updates.

Edit: Here is my list of updates i avoid based on the info in most of that thread

KB2506928
KB2545698
KB2592687
KB2660075
KB2726535
KB2876229 SKYPE (I don’t use it)
KB2923545
**KB2952664 **Very persistent, will require multiple uninstalls and setting ‘ignore this update’.
KB2970228
KB2990214
KB2994023
KB2999226
KB3021917
KB3022345
**KB3035583 **- if you have this, uninstall can freeze PC at ‘do not restart your pc’! Hard reset required.
KB3046480
KB3050265
KB3065987
KB3068708
KB3075249
KB3075851
KB3077715
KB3080149
KB3083324
KB3083710
KB3086255
KB3097877
KB3097966
KB3102810
KB3112343
KB3123862
KB3135445
KB3138612
KB3173040 - final(?) Windows 10 update nag screen

There might be a few others? It should also be noted that while the bolded KB’s are the ‘Windows 10 update’ specific files, many of the others are about adding the telemetry to Windows 7 that Windows 10 comes with as standard. So MS have been trying hard to turn Windows 7(and 8) into the same kind of spy tool that Windows 10 is for those trying to avoid getting Windows 10.

mod note: this post was originally a reply in this thread.

alms 2016-03-25 22:49:46 UTC #2

Q: How to avoid sneak Win10 preloads?
Set your Windows Update Setting to “Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them”.

Q: Essential Win10 and telemetry KBs that are best hidden:
KB2952664, KB3021917, KB 3035583, KB3068708, KB3075249, KB3080149.

Q: Make sure your Windows 7 install doesn’t pick up sneaky Win10 updates anyway?
Try GWX Control Panel.

Q: Windows update progress bar seemingly stuck on 0%?

These has been experienced by several users and observed on many different machines. Just let Windows Update running in background, it should complete the task at some point, though it may take hours.

There are reports that installing KB3138612 (Windows Update Client update) AND KB3145739 fixes the problem with long waits.

Q: Fan running? one core pegged at 100%?

If you notice one svchost.exe process hogging a core, then it’s likely Windows Update. Solution: open your Services Console and stop the Windows Update Service. Faster ways to do that:

Press Win+R then type services.msc, and then stop the service.
From the command line: net stop wuauserv

trjp points out that in some instances, the services may fail to stop. In that case, set it to Disabled and reboot the machine.

Spotted any Win10-related update everyone should avoid?

Please share it with us!

ZakG 2016-03-26 17:12:26 UTC #3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8h_v_our_Q

I’m Spartacus!

But in all seriousness, this resistance will ultimately be futile vs Microsofts wishes for us all to have Windows 10. This will not be a repeat of the XP situation, MS have learnt from that and now with DX12 and the latest intel processors all requiring Windows 10, they have effectively ensured a Windows 10 future for us all.

However there is a solution, you can stop using MS. It’s not the easiest of choices perhaps, but certainly easier now than it ever has been. For now you can resist the might of ‘Rome’ and keep with your (hopefully) perfectly working and fine Windows 7 OS (it has extended support for a few more years while you make the move away from MS), or 8 if you made that small mistake

Anyway i was surprised to see my post here, but i like it’s edited jibe and purpose. Long live the resistance, down with Rome!

Chorltonwheelie 2016-05-26 20:21:09 UTC #4

Going well this thread eh?
There’s only one way to win.
Buy the most expensive Apple Mac you can afford then install Linux on it. There’s a good lad.

trjp 2016-06-01 12:59:21 UTC #5

On topic again, the idea of “Installing Windows 10” just to get the free licence and then reverting back to Windows 7 seems to be ever-more popular and a few people have posted how-tos.

I’ve not tried them (yet, I have an old laptop here I’ll test it on later) but they hinge around

1 - image your drive (optional but recommended - I’d use Macrium Reflect Free but YMMV)
2 - in-place upgrade to Windows 10 (this validates a licence for your PC with Microsoft ‘forever’)
3 - use a keyfinder(**) to find your licence(s) and make a note of the keys
4 - restore to Windows 7 using Windows Restore OR the image you made (cleaner/neater)

If you want to upgrade in the future, the keys you jsut received will be requested during the upgrade - so long as you’ve not ‘changed machine’(*) they should work fine.

(*) what constitutes a change is likely motherboard or CPU - memory and HDD/SSDs probably isn’t an issue - probably

(**) I use this one

BE WARNED: that has in the past been bundled with adware junk (Chrome highlights the site as a source of malware) - once installed it’s “portable” tho so I just carry the EXE on a memory stick.

I installed it recently to test and had no issues (ADWCleaner found nothing to remove) but you might want to tread with care/seek an alternative if you can find one (and post that here if you do)

ZakG 2016-06-02 13:39:29 UTC #6

Another option i’ve seen used around the place is Never10:

https://www.grc.com/never10/details.htm

I go with the manual method of controlling updates myself (as per the first post), but if GWX is not ideal for you, this might be?

Edit: Keep in mind this uses an MS endorsed method, and as they have become rather good at changing their own rules over recent weeks, it is not improbable they might change the terms under which never10 currently functions, and force a Windows 10 update on you. I posted the link simply to flesh out our range of defences vs the MS tyrant. caveat emptor etc.

trjp 2016-06-02 20:19:35 UTC #7

Just to add (and I’ve put a warning up there) - some people report Magical Bean Key Findythingy sometimes comes packaged with search bar/toolbar bullshit.

I have an old portable copy which is clean but YMMV - tread carefully (tho if you’re going to revert to Windows 7 anyway, it hardly matters???)

p.s. just installed the latest version on my W10 laptop - Chrome flags the site as possibly malicious!!

Scanned with ADWCleaner after install/run and it found nothing that wasn’t there before tho - again, caution advised and all that jazzzzz - if someone finds an alternative, do post plz

TechnicalBen 2016-06-06 17:03:40 UTC #8

I have not used in Windows 10, but when rebuilding/migrating friends PCs to 7/8 I use http://www.klinzmann.name/licensecrawler.htm

A quick check shows no install required on the portable version, no additional software pushed/installed when from proper download sources. Sadly, most sites now have soo many adds the risk of drivebys/phishing via fake download links, even on legit sites is so high. Lesson? Use an adblock people.

ZakG 2016-06-15 09:33:34 UTC #9

Viva La Resistance!

And thanks to alms for bolding my windows 7 updates list, i had thought about adding more detail but the editing would have taken me too long!

Edit: All those Windows 7 updates to avoid above in my list are described in more detail in the linked thread to the sevenforums. It was hard enough trawling that to get my current list to avoid getting Windows 10, but the guys in the know do describe what each update to avoid does, where MS gives than info.

(posted from a laptop running Linux Mint, currently playing FM2011 (modded) on a non-internet connected Windows XP machine, also playing Fallout 3 (modded) on a Windows 7 machine) - Down with 10!

alms 2016-06-18 02:59:17 UTC #10

np, I considered adding descriptions as I was going through the list myself: some are actually pretty innocuous (like, I don’t know, the currency symbol for some Eastern European country whose name, I’m sorry, was forgotten).

Let me know if there’s other posts that could use being copied to this thread.

Note to self: need to add information about that last KB which finally cuts down the WUpdating times.

DanMan 2016-06-18 08:46:26 UTC #11

There are quite a few programs out there, that help you get your privacy back. Here’s a link with a list of some of them: http://bgr.com/2015/08/14/windows-10-spying-prevention-privacy-tools/ and here, have some more: http://alternativeto.net/software/shutup10/

ZakG 2016-06-30 07:37:30 UTC #12

Very Slow Windows 7 Updates

Not a problem i’ve had on my personal Windows 7 pc’s, but as in the first post i’ve been keeping ALL Windows 10 files off my systems, so maybe that is why the Update slow downs have not been as noticeable from my end (they have slown down, just not as much as many people have been reporting).

Anyway i had been reading articles about the issue over the last few months and recently there have been a few suggestions that seem to have worked for some people, so i’ll put what i find about that here:

http://www.askwoody.com/2016/possible-fix-for-the-abysmally-slow-windows-7-update-scans/comment-page-3/

http://basic-one.com/basiconenews/microsoft-releases-kb-3161647-kb-3161608-to-fix-slow-windows-7-update-scans/

alms 2016-07-02 01:31:24 UTC #13

If you thought Microsoft was going to let you not upgrade to Windows 10, after all, think again:

http://betanews.com/2016/07/01/windows-10-final-reminder/

Don’t install KB3173040, marked as optional/recommended.

ZakG 2016-07-21 10:03:27 UTC #14

Just 9 days to go for us Rebels The 29th is the end of the free upgrade. I hope there are no nasty traps left for us after this ‘psychotic’ push from MS to turn us all into Windows 10 (even when we don’t want it!).

That’s my impression of Windows 10 now

TechnicalBen 2016-07-21 10:31:16 UTC #15

This actually broke a Windows 8.1 upgrade for me (required a rollback and retry, thankfully automatic, but took 6 hours and wasted time. ). Why? I was rebuilding a PC, and had no mouse plugged in… yes, you guessed it, the screen did not accept any keyboard input (possibly mistook it for a tablet build?). I just control-alt-del and reset (or power off I forget which) as it was late and I was not in the mood to fight with Win10.

PS, mine also had factually incorrect information stating “older windows does not get security updates”, AFAIK 7 and 8 do. Though the pic linked has a different message.
Ah, it may have been this one (though wording is still different): https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3163589
Yes, I was “no longer running a secure Windows and cannot get updates. Please upgrade to Win 10” because I WAS UPDATING MY SECURITY UPDATES TO WINDOWS 8.1.

Yes, it’s that bad, Windows 10 nagware has made me use allcaps!

somini 2016-07-21 11:48:04 UTC #16

I wouldn’t boot windows until the storm passes.

shu 2016-07-21 14:41:03 UTC #17

Haven’t seen this thread before, so I’m a bit late. But anyway: I have never seen any Win10-related stuff on my Win7-PC because of this setting:

Also all telemetry updates won’t install since they are ‘recommended’ or ‘optional’.

Though MS has probably gone mad over Win10, at least on Win7 they give you an easy way out of their Win10 and telemetry campaign.

ZakG 2016-07-22 10:26:19 UTC #18

They have infamously changed the categories under which certain updates have appeared under, back and forth a couple of times. This was behind (in part) the successful lawsuit by the lady in the usa because her work laptop got borked, and she did not ask for it, Windows update just went ahead and installed windows 10.

To put it another way there has not been a 100% fool proof method for not getting some of those Windows 10 updates on your Windows 7 or 8 PC unless you simply switch of automatic updates and do not install updates manually without waiting to check what they actually do (thus the first post in this thread). If you have avoided all of that you have been the exception to the rule, so be happy

Edit: And i forgot to mention that not all the telemetry concerns are just for Windows 10, both windows 7 and 8 have had their own specific updates to add that ‘functionality’ to them too (we had some details in this thread i think?)

TechnicalBen 2016-07-22 10:44:26 UTC #19

Which is exactly what I’ve done since day one. It is bad enough that Windows Defender brings the PC to it’s knees at times (I like having a virus scanner, but I want one that tells me when it is scanning, not leaves me to use resource monitor to guess at it ). I don’t want updates also messing up a workflow or a bit of gaming.

alms 2016-07-26 00:35:42 UTC #20

A post about potentially interesting developments in Windows Journal.

Which is not one of the important journals in Windows, but rather a “prehistoric pen-based, note-taking” application, which may be soon replaced by something else, and this patch seemingly may be setting up a special upgrade path.

Fun factoid:

Three of yesterday’s patches, KB 2952664, KB 2976978, KB 2977759, are like bad patching pennies – they keep turning up. These “compatibility updates” are meant to help users navigate the delicate transition from Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8 and 8.1, and Windows 7 RTM (respectively) to Windows 10. I last wrote about them on March 31, and there doesn’t appear to be anything new with any of them.

The patches are up to versions 23, 27, and 23, respectively, making a total of 73 times they’ve been pushed out the automatic update chute.