Microsoft Aggressively Pushes Windows 10, Turns Automatic Updates into a Mine Field

Published by John on April 12, 2016 Under Computer Repair

Recently, I got a call from a business client, who was in a bit of a panic, as when he got into work his Office computer had automatically updated to Windows 10.

He had previously purchased a Windows 10 computer and really disliked the tablet mode/view and was having a host of problems using it in a business setting. So, needless to say, when his front desk computer, which has several pieces of crucial business software on it, upgraded by it’s self from Windows 7, he was very concerned.

Fortunately, I was able to remote in and revert the Windows 10 Upgrade, so that he could continue using Windows 7.

However, this highlights a recent change by Microsoft to aggressively push Windows 10 updates on people, turning automatic updates into a game of Russian Roulette. You don’t know if you are getting a security patch or a free upgrade to Windows 10.

Free Windows For All

Windows 10 isn’t terrible and a lot of people like it. It runs well and once you disable some of the privacy settings, it has a lot of neat features. Microsoft has released it as a free update for most users on Windows 7 or Windows 8 and despite saying they will make it a paid update, do not appear to be making efforts to do this.

While not a terrible operating system, the way Microsoft has chosen to advertise it leaves something to be desired and with the move to what are just short of forced updates, have(IMHO) abused their position.

Using Windows Update to Push Windows 10

Since Windows 10 came out, it has been pushed heavily through the use of Automatic Updates.

Microsoft started with a Nag Icon that was installed as an optional update and showed next to the clock. While it was possible to hide the icon via the notification center, the program still ran in the background.

This progressed, again through the use of updates, to something that takes over the Automatic Update section and shows a Windows 10 Advertisement, making you click Show all available Updates if you want to review/install non-windows 10 Security Updates. During this time, a number of people reported Windows 10, which is very large download, downloading repeatedly in the background without consent.

At some point last year, Microsoft accidentally changed the Windows 10 update from optional to recommended, but changed it back. Now, Microsoft has again moved it from an Optional Update to a Recommended Update, essentially making a number of peoples computers automatically update to Windows 10. This now appears to completely take over the Windows Update section, making installing actual security updates difficult for non-techies.

To make matters worse, the recommended fix from Microsoft is to turn off automatic updates:

Early next year, we expect to be re-categorizing Windows 10 as a “Recommended Update”. Depending upon your Windows Update settings, this may cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device. [...] 

If you are on a metered connection on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, then you have the option of turning off automatic updates. We strongly discourage this in today’s connected world because of the constant risk of internet threats. [If you do this, you should manually check for updates]

Source

Creating Insecure Systems Via Forced Updates

Of course, as they mention, turning off Automatic Updates is not a good idea and for them to even suggest it as a company is negligent. Further, to design their Windows 10 advertisements in a manner where people would actually consider turning off automatic windows updates as a viable option is insane…that is how Botnets are made.

Unfortunately, for most people, turning off automatic updates means they aren’t going to manually check for them or if they do, it won’t be in a timely manner.

To make matters worse, Microsoft does not accurately label their updates when viewing them within Windows Update, so if you want to avoid downloading one of their Windows 10 updates, you essentially need to Google every update before you install it.

There are other alternatives, like installing special updates from Microsoft, editing the registry, using Group Policy Editor, installing the third-party GWX Control Panel, etc, which seem to work for now. However, having to resort to these sorts of tactics simply to maintain security updates is asinine and an immense disservice to their customers that want to remain on Windows 7.

Taking Action now To Prevent Another Windows XP

While there are likely a lot of motivations for this aggressive, caustic, and reckless approach, at least part of it is likely due to them not wanting Windows 7 to turn into Windows XP. Windows XP, despite no longer receiving security updates, is still (sadly) immensely popular, with at least a 10% market share at the time of this post.. Some of this is due to company users and embedded systems that are still using it, but there are certainly some stragglers among this to. By taking this action now, I believe that Microsoft is trying to head this off, so that in several years when Windows 7 is no longer supported, people actually move off of it.

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