Never10 from GRC, disables Win10 Upgrade using MS registry settings

[FlyingPenguin]

Microsoft has a recommended way of disabling the Win10 upgrade nag on Win7 & Win8.1 systems, but it's not a simple thing. You have to make sure a certain update is installed, and create several registry entries.

Steve Gibson wrote a small utility that does this for you called Never10. Now granted, GWX Control Panel (GCP) also makes the same registry settings, but GCP also wants to install a background service to monitor changes, and while there's no reason to suppose there's anything nefarious about GCP, but the guy who wrote it doesn't have any street cred. GCP also doesn't check for the necessary update that makes the registry settings work.

I trust Gibson, and his app does not stay resident. It doesn't need to be installed. It's just a standalone EXE that checks for the update that's required (and if it's not installed it gives you a link to download it from Microsoft) and makes the registry changes and closes itself.

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

In July of 2015, responding to the significant user backlash, Microsoft added features to its Windows Update facility which allow it to be configured, on a machine-by-machine basis, to not forcibly upgrade qualifying Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems to Windows 10. However, Microsoft did not make this configuration simple. It requires the use of the group polity editor (which is not present in some qualifying systems) and/or the system registry.

The elegance of this “Never 10” utility, is that it does not
install ANY software of its own. It simply and quickly
performs the required system editing for its user.

If the system being configured has a version of Windows Update which is older than the required July 2015 release, this utility will notify its user (see the sample display screens above) and will offer to download and install the required update to Windows Update so that Windows can be configured not to upgrade itself to Windows 10.

Since this utility simply updates and/or configures the system to prevent or allow OS upgrading, it may be deleted after it has configured the system appropriately.

Using this utility, inexperienced users will be able to easily use Never10 themselves, while advanced users will likely appreciate that fact that no additional software is installed and will be able to refer friends and family, whom they support, to this easy-to-use utility.

[Executioner]

Thanks. I also trust Steve Gibson. I have uninstalled the GWX control panel, but I have auto updates disabled now for months. I get my updates using Autopatcher instead.

[FlyingPenguin]

FYI: Steve talked about this on his podcast this week. He's confirmed that as long as you don't disable the GWX service (which is what the GWX control panel tries to do), the registry switches his little app flips not only turns off the nags and Win10 upgrade, but if Windows already downloaded the Win10 installer, the GWX service deletes it.

So no real need for the GWX Control Panel, now that Microsoft has given us registry switches to turn all this off. Never10 also checks to make sure you have the necessary update for WIndows Update that implements these registry switches, and installs it if you don't have it.

[FlyingPenguin]

He found some situations where the Win10 installation folder isn't deleted so he released a new version that checks for that and deletes it if it's found.

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

[Losbot]

Thanks

[normalicy]

I've used this on every PC that I've come across.

[FlyingPenguin]

Steve Gibson perfectly described his (and my) problem with Win10 on last week's podcast:

The role of an operating system is to provide a file system for managing files, manage memory, manage applications, create a foundation for applications to run on, and provide I/O and networking services. That's what it's for. But it's the way that Microsoft is evolving it in their desperation to move people to something new. None of those {new} things are of use to me.

That's how I feel about it. Up until Win7, Windows was just an OS: a framework that you install your apps on top off. Now it's a social platform. You can turn off all the social crap (slightly easier in Win8.1 because there's less of it, which is why that's what I'm going with on my new workstation), but I don't like that all that crap is sitting under the hood.

Call me old school, but when I want to check the weather I go to weather.com - I don't need an animated tile for an app to show me the weather.

Don't get me wrong, Win10 is a solid OS and as long as you don't log into an MS account and turn off the telemetry, it does just act like a dumb OS, but Win10 also opens the door to "you have no choice updates" which means MS management down the road could install just about any annoying feature they want to in the future.