Windows 10 Tried To 'Upgrade' My PC All By Itself!

Something happened to my desktop PC yesterday that concerned me a little. I had put it into sleep mode, left the room, and come back a few minutes later and was surprised that the computer was still on and 'chundering' away to itself.

I looked on the screen to find a Windows 10 box had appeared in the middle, and it said that it was preparing to 'upgrade' my computer to Windows 10 (not sure if 10 counts as an upgrade). So that appears to be the reason for my pc still being on and busy with something.

Having no real knowledge of computers, I panicked and shut my pc down. I then re-started and restored to an earlier date, just in case any changes had been made. I doubt they were, but as I say, my knowledge is limited and I wanted to be on the safe side.

Anyway, can anyone tell me why Win 10 seemed to be interfering with my pc, when there is no chance that I did anything to start the 10 installation process? How can I prevent it happening again?

It seems that Windows is determined to hassle you until you change to 10. I get fed up with having to continually refuse the offer of 10 on the never-ending blue boxes that keep appearing daily on my screen. There is even an icon on the right side of the bottom bar that says 'Get Windows 10' if I hover my mouse over it. Can I stop the Windows 10 blue screens and changes to 10 being forced on me? I'm worried my pc will have been changed when I'm away from my desk but the pc is left on. I'm sticking with what I know (Win7), as I'm familiar with it and it works.

in the registry, HKLM\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX create a key DisableGwx value type REG_DWORD with a value of 1.

does not allow GWX to run, which is what updates to Win 10. If you want it again, change the value to 0.

You take your own risk with changing the registry, but I made a GPO for this and have not had any problems since. And do a disk clean-up.

AddRAM said:

You installed Windows 10 updates, you have to get rid of them.

Sorry, but I don't know how or where I installed anything for 10. I haven't installed anything for this, unless it was hidden in something else. Or do you mean the Win 10 updates were installed with my automatic Windows updates? Can you explain how I would have installed 10 updates please? (My PC skills aren't very advanced ) And if I have somehow installed 10 updates, do they need to be removed.


Thanks to all who replied, I will look at the options, but following something straightforward like the Youtube video to change GWX may be my best solution - unless someone suggests otherwise?

Am I right in thinking that I need to get rid of the 'Get Windows 10' icon from the right side of the bottom bar to stop my pc automatically changing to 10 and also prevent pop ups for 10, etc?

Hi Woodbine,
follow Addram's link to MajorGeeks Get GWX control panel, Install it, follow the directions
and hey presto no more W10

Roy

Thanks for everyone's further replies.

I have just clicked on the 'Get Windows 10' icon on the bottom right of screen and it said my 10 upgrade was scheduled for this Saturday. I have cancelled the upgrade - but am I right that this isn't a permanent solution?

I'm slightly confused as to what I need to do now to stop Win 10 permanently from upgrading me in the future and pestering me. With my basic knowledge, am I best using GWX Control Panel programme? Is it safe and reliable?

Then what? Do I need to remove the Windows 10 updates and programme (which I understand takes up a fair bit of space) from my pc - and how do I do it?

Do I also need a disc clean up as suggested by Keager? Which cleaner to use?

Would really appreciate a simple plan of action. Thanks all.