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I am normally not so intemperate but Microsoft has really got this coming to it. Be warned: bad language ahead….
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Comments
Backwoodsman
Nigel – Microsoft? PC World? Get rid of all the amateur crap and buy yourself a Mac, Ipad, Iphone etc.
wildrides
I am still on Windows 7 . They never test anything properly ……….. they just put it out into the field to let us find all the bugs . Worst thing is the upgrade discs if you buy a new lappy just before a new version comes out …….. then you get an upgrade diisc sent later on for free that never works . My kids are both on Apple and they laugh at me for persevering with MS .
My every sympathy to your predicament .
Nigel Somerville
Backwoodsman – as much as it sticks in the throat to go with all the “walled garden” of Apple, it is surely better than the crap I’m still trying to deal with from Microsoft. Why the hell should anyone be paying for the privilege of having their machine screwed up (remotely) by its own manufacturer? At least you can do a Linux system for free (and so sorting out any issues which arise is accepted as part of the deal)
Backwoodsman
Nigel – I like the ‘walled garden’ approach, it just works. I’ve not been near a PC for maybe twenty years. Apple is just so slick to use, it just does what you want it to do wthout making a fuss. Its intuitive. Just last week I bought a new laptop. The old one is still going strong (2006 model) but I thought a new one would be wise. Last year I went into the Applestore for a replacement battery. I handed it to the shop assistant and said, ‘New one of these please’. She said, ‘How old is this Sir?’ I thought about it and realised she wasn’t much older than it. Windows machines don’t give you that kind of value for money, they’d have been in the skip years back. Buy Apple and don’t bother thinking about computers, viruses and all that geeky bollocks ever again. Do it Nigel!
Russ O'Callaghan
Nigel, Wildrides: totally support everything you’ve both said. I’m getting utterly pissed off with so-called upgrades to everything computational which really means “making things even more friendly for buck-toothed sixth-form gaming-geeks at every serious user’s expense”. This Windows 10 is preoccupied with stuff like “Viking Zombies versus Lesbian Aliens” or “World of Whiplash” and so on.
I’ve lost Office 2000, irretrievably so it would seem. “Please insert Office 2000 Disc One”. yeah, right. And that worked, didn’t it?
What a pile of sh**e. Why the hell can they not test stuff first and THEN release it? How can that be so hard? Surely there must be millions of folks out there still who spend more time writing business letters and calculating financial data than trying to defend themselves against Megapain or Runegobbler.
SonOfMeldrew
You don’t need a new box to run Linux. You can run a variant called Ubuntu on your existing platform and you can download it for free (there are others too). You can also run “Office like” applications on it that are also free – I think its called open office; reads and writes Word, excel etc files. You can even configure the laptop so you can boot into Windows or Ubuntu – as part of the scripted install. Best of all I’m told Ubuntu runs MUCH faster and is not such a target for hackers and other villains. Apple OS is just a similar variant of Linux.
At least when Ubuntu fuck up, you know you’ll still be getting your moneys worth!
Mr Minted
“At least you can do a Linux system for free (and so sorting out any issues which arise is accepted as part of the deal)”
That would be ‘free as in beer’. IIRC Tim Worstall used to blither via….
http://www.theregister.co.uk/about/company/contact/
Perhaps you can play substitute.
Oh… try before you cut the umbilical.
Nicotine Nelly
Here, fucking, here. American tossers, the lot of them. Bollox the Freecell game too.
Andy C
Well my upgrade from 8.1 to 10 went seamlessly on my more recent laptop, a Packard Bell from Tesco, phew, and I run it in a XP type of mode. My other older PC’s run on XP only as they cannot run 10, saving grace. Problem is Microsoft have stopped updates for XP! ‘98’ was always a reliable OS. X-Box I know nothing about and long may it stay that way.
Rob
If you Google “stop windows 10 pop up” you should find how to prevent this. You have to find and uninstall the update that triggers the pop up, then prevent it downloading again by ticking “do not download” (or something similar) in Windows update. It’s also worth repeating to everyone that will listen a comment by one of Microsoft’s own employees: “Windows 10 is not free, you will pay for it with all your data that Microsoft will mine for saleable information.” This is their new business model. And whatever you do, if you do install Windows 10 DON’T choose “easy install” because that gives them permission to monitor and control everything including your device’s microphone.
Mark
Well said Mr TW. I usually don’t approve of your vulgar way with words but in this instance I am 100% with you. Windows 10 will no longer make the ‘upgrade’ an option – in other words you sign up to them having the right to access and change the software on your device at will !! I personally find this shocking and will never subscribe. Last windows device I buy
J P Spaghetti
I’ve been constantly prompted myself to upgrade these last few weeks but no chance – remember the Vista farce (perhaps even scandal)? At least my machine has obeyed me so far and not morphed into HAL 9000. In keeping with this theme Nigel, yours appears to have clearly violated Asimov’s Laws of Robotics. And a robot is just a computer with limbs and a head – right? That’s said, has there ever been an incident of a consumer successfully suing Microsoft or at least claiming compensation over this sort of thing? Surely there are statutory rights that trump the volumes-long legal disclaimers.
I honestly feel the extent to which Microsoft is screwing up the world on so many levels and hindering human progress is being seriously underestimated by most. And I do mean hindering human progress. Think of all the time wasted on the infernal Powerpoint presentation – pretty plots and other superficial flummery, but don’t EVER rely on its data analysis routines without thoroughly testing them.
KIDS SHOULD CLIMB TREES!
PS MARK – don’t you mean Mr NS?
Stuart Kaplan
Q: How do you know when you are swearing too much?
A: When you are being mistaken for TW…
SCEPTIC
Nigel, you can switch it off forever.
Just ping me an email.
Pain Au Chocolat
If you are used to windows 7 then Linux Mint is for you. LibreOffice is actually more useful because it does direct exports to pdf, reads/writes every file format and doesn’t get done in by malevolent vbs and macro (virus) scripts. Those emails with nasty doc and xls attachments. You can run Photoshop beautifully now, which was always a reason people gave up on Linux. Windows 10 is spying on your every move. Linux Mint and Libreoffice are “free” and are not trying to bend you over all the time like Apple. The Apple OS is a version of Linux (Unix) anyway. Why pay through the nose?
warun boofit
Agree with Wildrides Win 7 no need for anything more recent, I know a nerd who just bought a brand new gaming PC off ebay with no operating system installed at a bargain price ( less than half PC Worlds price for the same spec). The nerd then paid £18.00 for a Win7 Pro 64bit operating system also off ebay and delivered to a local Argos store free postage, this is not a counterfeit, its on an original disc and installed first time with no glitches although they are meant to also send you the skeleton of the old machine it was originally installed on so you may have some scrap metal to chuck in the bin, registered it with MSoft with no issues , it even offers the annoying ‘free’ upgrade to Win 10 popup which he says he will never do due to the security issues already mentioned. Openoffice was downloaded for free which does everything MS Office can do so no need to put any money into Billy Gates pockets.
Fullerbull
While empathising with NS, I feel relieved that someone else gets as apoplectically mad at PCs in general and MS in particular. However, if you want to deal with this win 10 problem, there is a simple, free, programme (GWX) which is virus-free and which will uninstall and block any attempt by MS to re-install Win 10 stuff, and also get rid of its “nagware” asking you when (not if) you want to commence the preparation for a Win 10 download. I don’t think Win 10 will download without authorisation, but the preparatory stuff will – and takes several gigs of space and the screw-up of various bits of hardware because this over-rides the existing drivers. The software can be found at http://ultimateoutsider.com/downloads/ . I downloaded the “Installer” rather than the “Standalone” version because it is easier. Then just follow the instructions on ticking the various boxes. I should say there are a couple of MS files which nothing seems to get rid of: KB3035583 and KB2952664. It seems that MS will download these each time you update Win 7 (which you have to do because of the Security updates). I’m not a geek, I just follow the rules and it worked for me.
PS There are 454 comments on this website alone regarding Win 10 – which is some measure of the problem!
Duck and Dive
The reason Apple got to be the biggest company in the world is because their products are superior in form and function. Google how many Apple users switch to Windows. I have been using Apple desktop PCs and laptops for a quarter of a century without a complaint; and my current iMac has been powered up continuously for seven years (power cuts excepted) during which time it has needed zero repairs, suffered zero viruses and updated system software smoothly and simply and always on my command. So, just do it.
But I’m a little surprised that a man of your intellect and professional curiosity apparently didn’t find out how to stop Microsoft ruining your computer:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/get-rid-windows-10-upgrade-notification-windows-7-8/
Reuben Bear
Thanks to Rob’s advice above I discovered M/soft had upgraded my device to Wonders 10 on 27/2/16 without my knowledge or consent. Managed to uninstall and hopefully block pop-up with help from PC Advisor via google.
Nigel Somerville
Well I think I may have won the battle for now:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-update/how-to-cancel-windows-10-upgrade-for-now/71a30488-8171-48fe-9a4d-728b4081bfd3?page=1
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But I also uninstalled Windows Update KB2976978 (for Win 8.1). There are a couple of others for Win7 users, see here:
betanews.com/2015/09/11/remove-unwanted-windows-10-upgrade-files-from-windows-7-and-windows-8-x/
Those updates need to be hidden, but auto dowload of updates needs to be disabled. Hiding the unwanted updates doesn’t seem to take effect until you accept another update while doing it.
Fingers crossed, I think I’ve won!
But I won’t be bothering with another windows package again. As one comment I read while trying to fix this had it, it seems that the P in PC has been taken away.
spudface
I’m in the if it aint broke font fix it caamp when it comes to windows. I did upgrade, without hassel, but changing themes is impossible without jiggery pokery
Nig, IF it happens again, plug you laptop in to your router direct to main tain internet connection. Did the pc world boffin advise that?
ps all my family members have migrated to apple. I’m a bit more techy so can usually google my way out of windows issues. But have ALWAYS failed to see how/why windows can charge for this crap when free alternatives exist.
The WORLD should do a class action against MS imo!
Backwoodsman
Duck and Dive – I’m with you. Apple just works, zero viruses, zero maintenance, auto update. Switch on, do work, make money, simples. Owning a Mac is like owning a car that never needs a service. Owning a PC is like being a spotty seventeen year old trying to keep a Reliant Robin on the road – just when you think lifes not too bad you come out of the pub to find some bastards turned it upside down and the petrols pissing out all over the place.