Microsoft Really Really Wants Us To Upgrade to Windows 10

 

The folks at Microsoft pulled a fast one on some of us by being a bit sneaky with with Windows update.  If Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 computer owners used the default setting for getting updates, they may have had an unpleasant surprise when their computers updated to Windows 10.

Some folks didn’t want Windows 10 and never chose the option to get it. But some got it anyway, much to their sorrow. There is a way to roll it back to the previous Windows, but there are a lot of folks that aren’t computer savvy and have no idea how to roll it back.

I don’t want Windows 10 on my main computer because I want control over how  and which updates are installed. I have had problems in the past with Microsoft’s driver up dates and I don’t want to go down that path again. I am not alone.

My son also does not want Windows 10 on his Windows 8.1 computer. As soon as we found out about those sneaky updates that would install Windows 10, we uninstalled those updates and hid them  when they wanted to download again so they wouldn’t download again. We thought. It worked for me, but not my son.

When this came up on his Windows update screen, he was absolutely shocked and very upset.



He clicked the Show all available updates and there it was in the optional updates.



He un-ticked it and wen back to the update screen but couldn’t get any other updates. Every time he tried that optional update for Windows 10 appeared with the box checked. Needless to say he was getting very frustrated and now very angry.

After many Google searched he finally found a site that helped.

Windows 10 upgrade notification keeps coming back (Windows Update)

Microsoft is not winning friends by this tactic, certainly not me. I have always been a Windows user. But if Microsoft keeps foisting unwanted stuff on folks I am starting to think about a Mac.

If it isn’t too late for you and Windows 10 is unwanted but on your computer, go back to your previous version of Windows by following the instructions here:

How to Uninstall Windows 10 and Downgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1

Once you manage to get your Windows 7 or 8.1 back, make sure you don’t go through this again by changing how you get your updated.





Microsoft has said this forced update to Windows 10 was a mistake, but I have my doubts.

Microsoft stops automatic Windows 10 upgrades, says default checked update was ‘a mistake’

Be sure to go back and uninstall those sneaky updates if they download again and hide them!

Adobe Just Doesn't Go Away

Earlier this year I removed all Adobe software from my computers. I haven't had Adobe Reader for a long time as I use a lighter, safer PDF reader.

Yesterday I was looking at 'Programs and Features' on my Dell 2 in 1 Notebook running Windows 10.

There it was, Adobe Flash! I sure didn't intentionally install it, so how did it get there? I uninstalled it again.  I searched in App Data Local and App Data Roaming and deleted all Adobe and Macromedia folders. I looked in C:\Program Files and C:\Program Files (x86) and deleted all Adobe and Macromedia folders.

I opened Regedit and did a search for Adobe and deleted the entries for both Adobe and Macromedia in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

But then in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE I ran into a problem.When I tried to delete Macromedia in this Registry tree, I got the Confirm Key Delete warning 'Are you sure you want to permanently delete this key and all its subkeys?' but when I clicked 'Yes', I got 'Error Deleting Key' Cannot delete Macromedia. Error while deleting key.

I did a Bing search for 'Error Deleting key' and finally found this site:  5 Ways to Solve Error While Deleting Key Problem When Editing Restricted Registry

Hopefully, I won't be plagued with this ever lasting Adobe again. But now I am wondering, how Adobe got back on my computer?

I decided to check my Windows 8.1 computer and there it was, Adobe Air! Again I deleted everything with Adobe and Macromedia and also could not remove it from the Registry!

Interesting enough, on Windows 10 Insider, there was no Adobe or Macromedia folders anywhere and none in the Registry.

Adding Local User Accounts in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10

 

In Windows 8.1, you can setup a local account fairly easily.





All that is needed is a user name and password for a local account.





Click Finish and that’s it.

Windows 10, not so fast!

So I tried  to add a user with just a local account in Windows 10. It doesn’t seem very easy.

I went to Settings/Accounts and selected Family and other users.



Then Windows asked if it was for a Child or an Adult. At this point what followed made no difference what I chose, child or adult, it wants an email address. So I used a valid email address for my domain, but it wasn’t a Microsoft account and it wouldn’t work.



If I clicked ‘The person I want to add doesn’t have an email address’, then it wanted me to get one. I can’t find anyway to bypass this and setup a user account as a local account

So I tried a Gmail account.





Then I had to verify the email address in Gmail.

However, at this point I got an error screen:



Eventually the verify email appeared in my Gmail account, so guess that account is now a Microsoft account. But since I had to put in a new password for a Microsoft account, now if I want to sign in as the new user I must use that password.

Microsoft really, really wants us to be connected.



To ‘Switch User’ just tap your name at the top of the menu.



Once you get signed in to the new user account, you can change the account to a local account by going to Settings/Accounts and selecting ‘Sign in with a local account instead’.



Now the process will continue just like signing up for a local account in Windows 8.1.