Window 10 hijacker. Bad.

[danb]

​Hello. I feel like my computer got hijacked by Microsoft yesterday. For 3 months or so Microsoft was telling me to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 10. Everyday when I turned my computer. Everyday!! They were relentless!! Well they escalated my upgrade. Before I just "X "out of their message to accept their upgrade. That was working. A pain, but working. I guess they didn't like that. So they just decided to install Windows 10 on my computer (without asking my permission) . Well that is my version of what happened.. I am sure that Microsoft will say that I accepted the upgrade. At best I would say that I was tricked into it.

 

So the upgrade​ is on my computer now. Not happy about it. Things are all screwed up. On MY computer Microsoft is pushing their products. They also are trying to gather info about me. It seems like they wanted Windows 10 to report back to them virtually everything I am doing on my computer. They also wanted to share that info to 3rd parties. Well at least that is the way that I see it. I opt out of their reporting/ spying function as much as I could.

 

​The transition is not going good. I can't find my favorites. I don't like their explorer Edge. I pay my bills on line. I had things set-up in Windows 8. It was working fine for me. Now, I can't find squat. I can't find my favorites. I can't find Candle. I can't find my photo's. None of my Photos from 6 or more years to China. Can't find my files and icons from old desktop. etc, etc...

 

​Not happy or impressed with Microsoft way of doing business or their product.. Anyone agrees with me? Have similar experiences? Danb

[Randy W]

Was it a Western (English) or a Chinese installation of Windows 8? That is, where did you buy the computer, and what make?

[RobertH]

​Hello. I feel like my computer got hijacked by Microsoft yesterday. For 3 months or so Microsoft was telling me to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 10. Everyday when I turned my computer. Everyday!! They were relentless!! Well they escalated my upgrade. Before I just "X "out of their message to accept their upgrade. That was working. A pain, but working. I guess they didn't like that. So they just decided to install Windows 10 on my computer (without asking my permission) . Well that is my version of what happened.. I am sure that Microsoft will say that I accepted the upgrade. At best I would say that I was tricked into it.

 

So the upgrade​ is on my computer now. Not happy about it. Things are all screwed up. On MY computer Microsoft is pushing their products. They also are trying to gather info about me. It seems like they wanted Windows 10 to report back to them virtually everything I am doing on my computer. They also wanted to share that info to 3rd parties. Well at least that is the way that I see it. I opt out of their reporting/ spying function as much as I could.

 

​The transition is not going good. I can't find my favorites. I don't like their explorer Edge. I pay my bills on line. I had things set-up in Windows 8. It was working fine for me. Now, I can't find squat. I can't find my favorites. I can't find Candle. I can't find my photo's. None of my Photos from 6 or more years to China. Can't find my files and icons from old desktop. etc, etc...

 

​Not happy or impressed with Microsoft way of doing business or their product.. Anyone agrees with me? Have similar experiences? Danb

 

 

 

I can't find Candle. (Should I point out if he could not find Candle then how did hw make this post?) I can't find my photo's. (I bet he means he can't find his porn) Other then that you are right MS is EVIL!

[Allon]

I just had to do a complete reinstall of Windows 10. They installed an update that wiped out the network configuration in the registry. I could get no internet but my connection was enabled. This problem is all over the internet. Took me a long time to diagnose and try various recovery techniques, none of which worked.

 

So be prepared with a W 10 install disk and keep your data off the C drive so it's easy to recover. I had reinstall software for all my other software too.

 

Also, be wise about choosing to be on their Microsoft connection. It gets you Cloud services but limits other things you can do in your little cave. I like being independent of such things.

 

At work, we don't call them Mickeysoft for nothing. We are mainframe and Unix (Linux).

[Greg.D.]

Danb's description sounds like a model for free software (in exchange for your profile and eyeballs). Except that it is not free. Even at work I turn off bing search for security reasons, no Bing hints either - no google either (use DuckDuckGo.com instead). No FB or Twitter, Pinterest, etc for me also.

 

But, yes, the forced W10 upgrade and acceptance of their terms has been well known for a long time and Danb carefully avoided it. Until he couldn't. I dion't mind if big Gubment, Amazon or Apple have my info because they are not selling it - though they are all hack-able.

 

They (MS) do it because of its acceptance by all the adolescents and post-adolescents who see no problem in giving their private info away.

[Catherineli]

I was avoiding Window 10 as well until I couldn't. Now I'm using Window 10 that I was made to accept. But I didn't find anything bad though it took me some time to feel better.

Catherine

[danb]

My laptop is a Toshiba ( no touchscreen). Bought it at Staples a few years ago. It came with Windows 8. I googled Candle For Love and found my way back here. Microsoft had been relentless about giving my computer a Windows 10 upgrade. I tell you it is no fun. It feels like I got ambushed. It felt like Microsoft shoved Windows 10 down my throat. Without warning. Not really given time to save my photos. My bank and billing accounts info. Passwords. And yes, a link to Candle. I had school work saved to my desktop. I had apps saved to my desktop. I had files and documents saved to my desktop. All gone!!

 

I was hoping someone could offered ways to recover my lost data. It is no fun trying to recover all my lost data. Danb

[Randy W]

Too late, but for others, you can control how Windows manages Updates through the Control Panel applet Windows Update Change Settings - select "Check for Updates but let me choose whether to install them"

 

My Chinese-installed systems are all set to NOT update, until I go in and change that setting. That is, they will not accept automatic updates unless you change that setting.

 

My two systems that I WANT to upgrade (not this one) are both HP computers - which MS is still "testing" - sigh.

[Randy W]

I think this screen comes AFTER the upgrade has already begun . . .

 

http://i.imgur.com/jBOTwkI.png

[Randy W]

How to Prevent Windows 10 from Upgrading your System as a Recommended Update

 

 

As of 01 February 2016, Windows 10's status as an update on Windows 7 and 8.1 systems changes from Optional to Recommended and there is one setting in Windows Update on both systems you need to change to make sure you do not get upgraded before you are ready.

It was last fall when Terry Myerson, Microsoft's Executive VP for the Windows and Devices Group, laid out details about controlling the Windows 10 upgrade.

 

. . .

 

First, it does not mean you do not get a choice about upgrading to Windows 10. Even if you happen to download the Recommended update you will still have the option to refuse the upgrade as it prepares to install on your system. Plus the 30 day window for reverting back to your previous version of Windows will still be available if you decide to go ahead with the upgrade and try it out. If Windows 10 is not your cup of tea then just revert back using the tools in Windows 10.

Second, Recommended updates are not installed on Windows 7 and 8.1 by default unless you make a change in your Windows Update settings to install them alongside of Important updates.

If you want to verify your Windows Update settings to prevent the Windows 10 upgrade from installing then you will want to make sure that option is turned off.

 

. . .

 

2. Below Recommended updates make sure the selection box is unchecked. This will prevent Recommended updates from installing along side of Important updates. Click OK to apply the settings. You can now close out of Windows Update.

http://winsupersite.com/site-files/winsupersite.com/files/uploads/2015/10/windowsupdateonwindows7image2.PNG

 

 

Note that you can/SHOULD also change the setting for "Important updates" to "Check for Updates but let me choose whether to install them". This will DOWNLOAD updates but wait for your okay to actually INSTALL them.

Edited April 15, 2016 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Allon]

The problem with updates is....you need them. With Windows 10, Mickeysoft chose to start pushing drivers. I was fine with a 3rd party driver checker that had lots of bells and whistles. I understand now though that Windows 10 does not need a lot of driver maintenance at least according to what they publish. But what about network adapters and such? Mickeysoft can get those but do they do it right?

 

No, they have to install their driver not the one specified for your particular driver. Network adapters is a good example. I finally dsabled Mickeysoft's generic adapter so it wouldn't continually default to it.

[danb]

Hello everyone. On Friday I downloaded an app to my computer. That app required that I restart my computer. When I did that I had another short Windows' update ran on my computer. It was an automatic download. ( An unsolicited automatic download.) I am going to review Randy's instructions on how to handle automatic downloads settings). Strange that I did not have this problem a month ago. Well after download, guess what. I now had windows 10 and all of my old info. accounts, apps, favorites, photos, links (including Candle's), etc. etc. What a relief!! When my computer was first hijacked I did follow their instructions. Don't know why it didn't work. Glad that I have everything back. Still not real happy with the hijackers. Danb

[Randy W]

Hello everyone. On Friday I downloaded an app to my computer. That app required that I restart my computer. When I did that I had another short Windows' update ran on my computer. It was an automatic download. ( An unsolicited automatic download.) I am going to review Randy's instructions on how to handle automatic downloads settings). Strange that I did not have this problem a month ago. Well after download, guess what. I now had windows 10 and all of my old info. accounts, apps, favorites, photos, links (including Candle's), etc. etc. What a relief!! When my computer was first hijacked I did follow their instructions. Don't know why it didn't work. Glad that I have everything back. Still not real happy with the hijackers. Danb

 

 

Just found out that I haven't had an update on this computer since August - I must have selected "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" at that time.

 

I'm changing that to "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them" - I've got 85 "important" updates waiting in the wings.

[Dennis143]

I installed W10. Could not get internet. Went in Safe Mode, started back from an earlier time. Everything working fine again. MS continue alerts me to upgrade to W10. No thank you.

[Allon]

One thing to check I found recently. If you use a VPN, check to see if it disconnects for any reason, whether it locks access to the internet as a safety measure to prevent anyone from accessing while the VPN is disconnected. If you test bu disconnecting the adapter, a message usually will tell you that the internet is locked until a connection is reestablished.

 

I have found this lock to be consistent even if I reboot the machine. To fix, I shut the VPN off entirely. Reboot the machine. And the lock goes away. So does the message about not having internet but the adapter is enabled and connected.