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GWX compared to malware hype...
How Microsoft copied malware techniques to make Get Windows 10 the world's PC pest
In some respect, GWX does behave similarly to malware, but wasn't it the other way around? Meaning that malware copied techniques from legitimate software for its distribution. Anyway...Microsoft uses techniques similar to aggressive malware to promote its “Get Windows 10” offer.
As many readers have discovered, the persistent and constantly changing methods Microsoft uses to continually reintroduce its “Get Windows 10” tool, or GWX, onto computers means it’s extremely difficult to avoid.
Windows users who decline to use it find it is repeatedly reintroduced. The language of the counter-malware industry is more appropriate than the language of enterprise IT for GWX.
Where the article becomes a hype, at least on my system, is in the details of how to completely get rid of GWX:
On my system the items in red were not done, nor was I aware that they should be, but there's no traces of GWX. A quick search for the directory and registry entries for the KBs referenced came up empty. What had been done, in addition to the items in black, is MS recommendation to disable GWX:Unless the user gets rid of ALL of the "Get Windows 10" system updates and its helpers, the GWX popup will persist. These are:
KB2952664
KB3035583
C:\Windows\System32\GWX
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*KB2952664*
C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\*KB3035583*
ALL registry entries for KB2952664 and
(optionally) KB3035583
*-Emphasis mine
I have not seen GWX on my system for at least 5-6 month by now. Out of curiosity...For IT administrators, it is possible to disable the upgrade using Group Policy settings or by using the DisableUpgrade registry key. All other registry keys are not supported mechanisms for controlling notifications or controlling the upgrade process and are not recommended by Microsoft. Please see KB 3080351 for more information.
Do you see the items in red above on your system?
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