Hijacked by Win 10

I found and joined this forum because last night before bed my PC said there was an update (creator's), asked if I wanted to delay or proceed, and this morning the update completes by giving me Windows 10.

Now I don't follow PC news as a hobby. I'm just a user. But I LOVE[ed] Win 7 Ultimate. And did not like the forced telemetry spying of Win 10 (though I'm sure such spying has been forced onto Win 7 as well). So I assume Win 10 is like Google and Facebook -- it's not free, I'm now the product. I have little interest in helping MSFT (oh how I once loved you) monetize me and want to retain Windows 7.

I'm sure can save my data, wipe my drive, and reinstall Windows 7, myself. But what happens next? Will this happen again? Has MSFT declared war on old versions (again) and are they determined to drive us all to Linux? Did I fall for the banana in the tailpipe and do the equivalent of hitting "NO" to say yes to Win 10 (AGAIN!)? Or something even more nefarious?

Hopefully you folks can bring me up to speed as to how to avoid Windows 10 the next time and what last night's update was all about. Bonus points for any news on whether MSFT has added telemetry spying to Win 7 and if there's any way to stop it. Super gold stars if I can undo this Win 10 update and revert to Win 7 without a clean reinstall. ADMISSION -- No, I have not backed up a ghost copy of my drive or install (not sure if that's the right way to say it, and if I knew the right way I might have done it!).

I'm 99.99999999% sure I can live without any Cortana, social media, or other nonsense gimmicks MSFT may offer with Win 10. And my aversion to it has as much to do with making a principled stand than any utility or compatibility with old software I may use so there is no need to try and sell me on how great my life will be if I just give in and switch to Win 10.

Thank you in advance for any insight you may provide.

First of all, you can probably revert to your Win7 installation. I think in the Backup and Restore section of settings is such an option - it's there somewhere. I think you have 30 days from the 'upgrade' to do it before the backup files are deleted.

After that, try SpyBot AntiBeacon - free software that purports to eliminate all that 'telemetry'. Like you, I do not appreciate being a product a la Facebook, etc.

And start thinking about alternatives - Win7 loses extended support in January 2020...

Faterikcartman said:

I found and joined this forum because last night before bed my PC said there was an update (creator's), asked if I wanted to delay or proceed, and this morning the update completes by giving me Windows 10.

Now I don't follow PC news as a hobby. I'm just a user. But I LOVE[ed] Win 7 Ultimate. And did not like the forced telemetry spying of Win 10 (though I'm sure such spying has been forced onto Win 7 as well). So I assume Win 10 is like Google and Facebook -- it's not free, I'm now the product. I have little interest in helping MSFT (oh how I once loved you) monetize me and want to retain Windows 7.

I'm sure can save my data, wipe my drive, and reinstall Windows 7, myself. But what happens next? Will this happen again? Has MSFT declared war on old versions (again) and are they determined to drive us all to Linux? Did I fall for the banana in the tailpipe and do the equivalent of hitting "NO" to say yes to Win 10 (AGAIN!)? Or something even more nefarious?

Hopefully you folks can bring me up to speed as to how to avoid Windows 10 the next time and what last night's update was all about. Bonus points for any news on whether MSFT has added telemetry spying to Win 7 and if there's any way to stop it. Super gold stars if I can undo this Win 10 update and revert to Win 7 without a clean reinstall. ADMISSION -- No, I have not backed up a ghost copy of my drive or install (not sure if that's the right way to say it, and if I knew the right way I might have done it!).

I'm 99.99999999% sure I can live without any Cortana, social media, or other nonsense gimmicks MSFT may offer with Win 10. And my aversion to it has as much to do with making a principled stand than any utility or compatibility with old software I may use so there is no need to try and sell me on how great my life will be if I just give in and switch to Win 10.

Thank you in advance for any insight you may provide.

Mellon Head said:

Can't really see how you got the Creator's update without already having Windows 10 already. AFAIK, The Creators update is only available to Windows 10 users.

And Microsoft stopped giving away the free Windows 10 upgrade over a year ago, so why your system would spontaneously upgrade to a no longer offered upgrade package is quite remarkable.

I'm lucky like that. But in case you're wondering I am 100% certain this is/was Win 7 clean install on a wiped drive. BUT -- during the free upgrade period, as I mentioned in my original post, I was tricked into the Win 10 install. The drive was wiped and a clean Win 7 install made afterwards. But perhaps MSFT logged some identifying info on my PC and Win 7 license and marked me as a qualifying victim for a future "upgrade" push. Which I experienced last night.

As Redoak mentioned on post #2, you can revert from win 10 to Win 7 if you didn't delete the backup files.
How to Uninstall Windows 10 and Downgrade to Windows 7 or 8.1