Microsoft seeds Windows 7, 8.1 PCs with Windows 10 upgrade 'nag' notices
Ron Czapala
Posts: 2,418
This can be uninstalled and then "hidden" so that it won't keep showing up. It was already checked as an "important" update in Windows Update but only vague details show up on the web site...
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2906810/microsoft-seeds-windows-7-81-pcs-with-windows-10-upgrade-nag-notices.html
Optional update delivered on March 27 hints at aggressive pitch to people eligible for free upgrade
Microsoft has seeded Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs with an as-yet-optional update that will pitch the free Windows 10 upgrade to customers.
According to Myce.com, a March 27 non-security update aimed at Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows 8.1 Update -- the latter, the April 2014 refresh -- lays the foundation for a Windows 10 marketing and upgrade campaign. The update, identified by Microsoft as KB3035583, has been offered as an optional update, meaning that users must explicitly enable it by checking a box.
Microsoft was typically terse in the accompanying documentation for KB3035583, saying only that it introduced "additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available to the user."
Myce.com, however, rooted through the folder that the update added to Windows' SYSTEM32 folder and found files that spelled out a multi-step process that will alert users at several milestones that Microsoft triggers.
One of the files, "config.xml" hinted at how the Redmond, Wash. company will offer Windows 10's free upgrade.
The first phrase, marked as "None," disables all features of the update, but the second, tagged as "AnticipationUX," switches on a tray icon -- one of the ways Windows provides notifications to users -- and what was listed as "Advertisement." Myce.com interpreted the latter as some kind of display pitching the upcoming Windows 10, perhaps a standalone banner in Windows 7 and a special tile on the Windows 8.1 Start screen.
A third phrase, "Reservation," turns on what the .xml code identified as "ReservationPage," likely another banner or tile that lets the user "reserve" a copy of the upgrade as part of Microsoft's marketing push.
Later steps labeled "RTM," "GA," and "UpgradeDetected" referred to Microsoft-speak for important development milestones, including Release to Manufacturing (RTM) and General Availability (GA). The former pegs code ready to ship to computer and device makers, while the latter signals a finished product suitable for distribution to users.
The upgrade won't be triggered until GA, according to the .xml file's contents.
Presumably, the messages displayed by the tray icon -- and when displayed, the ad banner or tile -- will change at each phase, with the contents drawn from an inoperable-as-of-now URL specified by Microsoft in the .xml file.
Not surprisingly, the Enterprise editions of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 -- those are sold only to large customers with volume licensing agreements -- will not display the Windows 10 upgrade pitches. That's consistent with what Microsoft has said previously, that the Windows Enterprise SKUs will not be eligible for the free upgrade. By refusing to show the alerts and ads to Windows Enterprise users, Microsoft avoids ticking off IT administrators, who will, by all accounts, stick with Windows 7 for the next several years before migrating to Windows 10 as the former nears its January 2020 retirement.
Although Microsoft has often prepped existing versions of Windows for upcoming updates with behind-the-scenes code, the extent of the notification and "advertising" messages within the .xml file issued on March 27 would be a change from past practices.
Clearly, those messages signal that Microsoft will be aggressive in getting eligible users to upgrade to Windows 10 during the one-year stretch after the OS's official release, especially if the company reclassifies KB3035583 as "Important" at some point down the road. (The .xml file is pegged as "version 1.0," hinting that others are to come.)
"Important" updates are automatically downloaded, processed and installed by Windows Update if the device's user leaves the service in its default state
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2906810/microsoft-seeds-windows-7-81-pcs-with-windows-10-upgrade-nag-notices.html
Optional update delivered on March 27 hints at aggressive pitch to people eligible for free upgrade
Microsoft has seeded Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 PCs with an as-yet-optional update that will pitch the free Windows 10 upgrade to customers.
According to Myce.com, a March 27 non-security update aimed at Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows 8.1 Update -- the latter, the April 2014 refresh -- lays the foundation for a Windows 10 marketing and upgrade campaign. The update, identified by Microsoft as KB3035583, has been offered as an optional update, meaning that users must explicitly enable it by checking a box.
Microsoft was typically terse in the accompanying documentation for KB3035583, saying only that it introduced "additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available to the user."
Myce.com, however, rooted through the folder that the update added to Windows' SYSTEM32 folder and found files that spelled out a multi-step process that will alert users at several milestones that Microsoft triggers.
One of the files, "config.xml" hinted at how the Redmond, Wash. company will offer Windows 10's free upgrade.
The first phrase, marked as "None," disables all features of the update, but the second, tagged as "AnticipationUX," switches on a tray icon -- one of the ways Windows provides notifications to users -- and what was listed as "Advertisement." Myce.com interpreted the latter as some kind of display pitching the upcoming Windows 10, perhaps a standalone banner in Windows 7 and a special tile on the Windows 8.1 Start screen.
A third phrase, "Reservation," turns on what the .xml code identified as "ReservationPage," likely another banner or tile that lets the user "reserve" a copy of the upgrade as part of Microsoft's marketing push.
Later steps labeled "RTM," "GA," and "UpgradeDetected" referred to Microsoft-speak for important development milestones, including Release to Manufacturing (RTM) and General Availability (GA). The former pegs code ready to ship to computer and device makers, while the latter signals a finished product suitable for distribution to users.
The upgrade won't be triggered until GA, according to the .xml file's contents.
Presumably, the messages displayed by the tray icon -- and when displayed, the ad banner or tile -- will change at each phase, with the contents drawn from an inoperable-as-of-now URL specified by Microsoft in the .xml file.
Not surprisingly, the Enterprise editions of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 -- those are sold only to large customers with volume licensing agreements -- will not display the Windows 10 upgrade pitches. That's consistent with what Microsoft has said previously, that the Windows Enterprise SKUs will not be eligible for the free upgrade. By refusing to show the alerts and ads to Windows Enterprise users, Microsoft avoids ticking off IT administrators, who will, by all accounts, stick with Windows 7 for the next several years before migrating to Windows 10 as the former nears its January 2020 retirement.
Although Microsoft has often prepped existing versions of Windows for upcoming updates with behind-the-scenes code, the extent of the notification and "advertising" messages within the .xml file issued on March 27 would be a change from past practices.
Clearly, those messages signal that Microsoft will be aggressive in getting eligible users to upgrade to Windows 10 during the one-year stretch after the OS's official release, especially if the company reclassifies KB3035583 as "Important" at some point down the road. (The .xml file is pegged as "version 1.0," hinting that others are to come.)
"Important" updates are automatically downloaded, processed and installed by Windows Update if the device's user leaves the service in its default state
Comments
Anybody else?
Amazingly there seems to be thousands of people eagerly trying to do that.
I despair.
Here are updates I've hidden - most because of the vague "upgrade" feature and a couple that keep showing up even after they are already installed (a documented problem -
if you run disk cleanup and have check the box to cleanup update files)
Hidden
KB2952664
KB2990214
KB3021952 (repeatedly appears aft disk cleanup)
KB3035583
KB2976978 (Win 8)
KB3032359 (repeatedly appears aft disk cleanup)
It certainly would. Far better to look like 7, run better, and have some added functionality.
I have no problem learning how to use new functionality, but I'm tired of having to learn the quirks of a whole new interface to do the the same old thing. It's a big time waster and the main reason I am reluctant to upgrade.
The Raspberry Pi running Raspbian has taught a lot to me to use Debian on my desktop computer.
I would have mostly dumped using Windows by now but I have an eight channel surround sound
system that I could not get any sound under Debian wheezy. After trying a new install of Debian 8 jessie
I am making headway. Now if I could get the volume control to work. It won't be long!
It seems like you throw the gates of a prison open, give the inmates freedom on a plate, and all the prisoners do their best to stay inside.
I just don't get it.
I have a long way to go.
I truly do agree with this. Of course MS tried to throw in some new things, but they are worthless (or worse) to me. Some I got rid of, the rest I'm compelled to put up with.
FWIW, I had a Mac before I put together my first PC. It was a distasteful thing to have to do, but the reality was that all the tools I wanted were only available for the PC or were only free on the PC. It was a move of necessity. And necessity is why I still have some machines with a MS OS.
RPi, though, has been a fabulous salesman for Linux. In fact the latest RPi & Raspbian are so great that I don't think I need a bigger Linux machine or some different distro of Linux.
Microsoft starts prompting Windows 7 and Windows 8 users to ‘reserve’ their free Windows 10 upgrade
The update behind this notification is KB3035583, which also happens to be responsible for the actual Windows 10 upgrade process. While KB3035583 was originally released in March, it was first offered as an Optional update, but more recently switched to Recommended (meaning users would automatically receive it if they have Automatic Updates turned on).
If you got this prompt (it appears as a Start button icon in the notification area on your taskbar) and want to get rid of it, this is the update you’ll want to uninstall. Alternatively, if you didn’t get a prompt but want to reserve and install your free Windows 10 upgrade, make sure you have this update installed.
So I sent a Tweet to Microsoft Support asking how to get rid of this nag-ware. Here's the response: https://twitter.com/MicrosoftHelps/status/605377510369595392
My problem with it is that most of the articles say that it pre-loads some 3GB of data onto your PC for the preview. Not cool Microsoft. Not cool at all.
I have three systems running Win 7. Two with auto updates, and one without.
I am happy right now.
I
In Windows 7, this is what I did:
> Go into Control Panel
> Click on Programs and Features
> Click View Installed Updates
> Scroll down to the Microsoft Windows section
> Highlight the KB3035583 update, right click, and choose Uninstall
> Windows will ask to reboot
> Go back into Control Panel and Windows Update
> Click on Check for Updates
> KB3035583 should be listed as an available "Important Update"
> Right click on the KB3035583 update and select "Hide Update" and click OK to exit that dialog box.
No more Windows 10 nag................
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2990214
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2990214#bookmark-prerequisites
Ideally this will work...I believe the update for Windows 7 has a different number and I think it's the one that Ron just posted below (KB2990214). As far as I know there are different ones for Windows 7 versus Windows 8/8.1.
Both KB3035583 and KB2990214 are Windows 7 updates but of course the exact contents of a particular update my vary with regard to the operating system it is meant for.
If you download updates from the Windows Update Catalog (must use IE), you can see the various update files for each version of Windows.
FAQ: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Faq.aspx
e.g. http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Search.aspx?q=KB2990214
NOTE: It looks like KB3035583 can't be downloaded from the Catalog
On my Windows 7 Professional PCs there was KB2990214 installed (no sign of KB3035583) and the advertisements were being delivered via a little Windows icon in the system tray (annoying). On the main PC when I went to uninstall it, it took several hours for some reason.
On my Windows 8.1 PCs there was KB3035583 installed (no sign of KB2990214) and at that time no ads popped up, by I uninstalled it anyway and hid it from the updates window as I did with the one on the Windows 7 machines. I still have to shake my head at Microsoft's reply to removing these from your PC.
Interesting - I hid both of those updates after my initial post - I run Windows 7 too. Maybe KB3035583 was changed back to optional or maybe you hid it also. (or maybe it was incorporated into KB2990214 at some point).
Very odd. My HP Slate Tablet is running Windows 7 Pro 32 bit and I have the opposite scenario. Got rid of KB3035583, but no sign of KB2990214. Yeah, that makes me want to upgrade..........
Eventually Windows 7 or 8 or whatever will become unsustainable like XP before them.
Then you are into the world of subscriptions for your OS in order to keep your machines running.
Is that OK with you?
Having run a computer business for 20+ years prior to coming to Parallax I know that eventually I will have to update the software. But my experiences over the years are that every time a new version of Windows comes out some applications stop working. That means either I have to purchase an upgrade to that application (read: spend more money) or I lose the application permanently. This has been a recurring theme for many years and so back in 2000 I started backing up my system by creating system images, so if something broke I wouldn't end up having to spend countless hours re-installing Windows, only to have to get all the updates, re-install my apps, get them set up, etc.
So in my case I am no interested in Windows 10 on 3 of the 4 machines I am using and I will continue to use the current versions of Windows on those machines until I can no longer run them. To be honest I don't even like Windows 8 but I have two machines that came with it. On one of them I considered rolling it back to Windows 7 but wasn't clear on whether all the hardware had support under Windows 7. So as long as the hardware remains like it is, there's not much motivation to change the software or O/S. Just my opinion.