Stop auto download of Windows 10 into $Windows.~BT

I don't want Windows 10, and have tried to disable/hide all updates that would install it to my computer. I have been at least partially successful; I no longer see the blue rectangular nag screen promoting Win 10.

Today, I was horrified to discover a hidden, 6 gig $Windows.~BT file folder on my C:\ drive, last modified today. I assume that this is for Win 10, and that Microsoft is using my bandwidth to railroad this OS into my computer despite my best efforts to say no.

I found a SuperUser thread indicating that I can delete this directory by:

a) Press Windows key + R
b) Type: %windir%\system32\cleanmgr.exe
c) Hit Enter on your keyboard

I haven't tried this, don't know if it works, and am afraid that I'll make the 6 gig download start all over again.


Is there a way to get rid of these files once and for all, and insure that they never come back again?


Thank you in advance for your feedback!

No idea what that folder is, never seen it myself, but as a general advice, a properly configured firewall does wonders when dealing with nasty "phone-home" software. In particular, it should be able to stop the Win10 adware from accessing the network for downloading anything you don't explicitly authorize.
Of course, if MS tries to push it again on Windows updates it will probably infect you if you're not alert, but a firewall will at least minimize its effects afterwards.

Thanks, all, for the feedback.

I'm now tempted to try the fix I found on SuperUser:

a) Press Windows key + R
b) Type: %windir%\system32\cleanmgr.exe
c) Hit Enter on your keyboard

Has anyone else tried this? I suppose I could just give it a whirl and see if it takes, but would just as soon save myself the frustration if the files are bound to come back.

The heavier the hand I feel pushing me toward Win 10, the stronger my conviction that I should avoid it.

cleanmgr.exe is drive cleanup, in short it clears all temp files, dump files, recycle bin,etc.. that windows no longer requires but i'm not sure if it removes those files, it should remove them if you found that fix on SuperUser. I don't have windows 10 updates because i have windows updates turned off. Go to control panel > search for automatic updates > change settings > and on the drop-down box select "Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" probably will help.

Thanks, Mark9870. I gave it a go, and it worked.

Two notes for others who might want to try the same method:

- I had to scroll to click the box to tell cleanmgr to uninstall the 6+ gig installation package. It wasn't automatically checked.
- My Win7 64 bit Pro computer took a worrisomely long time to reboot after the change, but is now back to normal.

Now, if I could just figure out why 'get-hotfix' stopped working! I was able to follow the instructions at:

https://www.sevenforums.com/general-d...ows-7-8-a.html

before the configuration change, but now can't put any arguments after get-hotfix. Odd.