If you run Windows 7 or 8.x, you’ve probably seen for yourself the many ways in which Microsoft is trying to get people to upgrade to Windows 10, or at least to add unwanted Windows 10 features to your O/S. I wrote about my own experiences with this back in October. Here are a few observed examples:

• ‘Get Windows 10’ icon in the notification area.
• Windows Update installs tracking features from Windows 10.
• Windows Update shows messages and special highlights encouraging users to upgrade.
• Windows 10 installation files are downloaded to your hard drive.
• Windows 10 upgrade runs without your approval.
• Windows Update stops letting you install updates, and only lets you upgrade to Windows 10.

If you’re like me, you plan to upgrade to Windows 10 when you bloody well feel like it, and not when Microsoft decides you should. And, like me, you’re looking for ways to prevent all this annoying behaviour on your Windows 7 or 8.x computer.

One of the more annoying features of the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon is that even if you remove it (using instructions I posted earlier) it typically reappears for no apparent reason. This makes it seem more like a virus than anything helpful.

Microsoft’s own instructions for removing the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon, published only grudgingly after many user complaints, are poorly written and needlessly complicated. But rather than try to present a simpler guide here, I will instead point to a small utility that does all the work for you: GWX Control Panel, available as freeware from Ultimate Outsider.

GWX Control Panel shows the status of the ‘Get Windows 10’ app, whether Windows Update O/S upgrades are enabled, and whether there are any Windows 10 installation files on your computer. Buttons let you disable ‘Get Windows 10’, disable O/S upgrades in Windows Update, and clear the Windows 10 download folders (which, by the way, are typically huge). It’s totally safe and simple to use.

Sadly, Windows 10 will start appearing as a ‘Recommended’ update in Windows Update on Windows 7 and 8.x computers at some point in 2016. Hopefully the update will be clearly labeled and easy to ignore and/or hide.

How-To Geek has additional information.

It could be argued that it’s unfair to talk about problems with Windows 10 preview builds, since they are provided to us for testing purposes and expected to have issues. I hold the opposite view: everyone is better off if we report problems as publicly as possible. But I’ll try to stick to the facts and avoid complaining.

With the arrival of Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 11082, my test PC started doing some very weird things. The extent to which these problems are specific to my hardware remains unclear.

• On logging in for the first time after the new build was installed, Windows reported that the application CCleaner was not compatible with the new Windows build, and had been removed. CCleaner (formerly CrapCleaner) is primarily a tool for removing junk and temporary files from Windows systems. The message pointed to this page, which says “If you try to use this app with Windows Insider Preview , it might not work correctly or might not work at all.” Not too helpful. I reported the problem to the CCleaner developers.
• Normally, when File Explorer copies, moves, or deletes files, it displays a progress dialog. Those dialogs no longer appear. File operations still work, but there’s no visual indication of what’s going on.
• Audio stopped working completely. A reboot didn’t help. Powering off the computer completely and then back on did fix the problem. There was nothing in the Windows events logs to point to a possible cause.

None of these issues are show-stoppers for me. I used the Windows 10 Feedback app to report the File Explorer dialog problem.

This is the first Windows 10 preview build with which I’ve had any serious problems, aside from privacy concerns. It will be interesting to see how quickly Microsoft responds.

Update 2015Dec21: The CCleaner developer responded to my report, saying that they have received similar reports and that they are looking into it.

One of the updates released by Microsoft on Tuesday apparently caused serious crashing problems on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 computers. Microsoft has re-issued the update to resolve these problems. Anyone who already installed MS15-115 on affected Windows systems should run Windows Update again to get the new version.

The MS15-115 bulletin has been updated to show the change.

From the associated knowledge base article:

This security update was rereleased on November 11, 2015, for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to resolve the following issues:

* Resolves crashing that occurred in all supported versions of Microsoft Outlook when users were reading certain email messages.
* Resolves problems that occurred while users were logging on to the system. For example, after a user restarted the computer and then pressed Ctrl+Alt+Delete at the logon screen, the screen flashed and then went black. The user was then unable to continue. There may be other, similar logon issues that are related to this issue.

Microsoft is happy with the latest Windows 10 Insider Preview build, designated 10586. That means it will find its way to your Windows 10 computer over the next week or so as the Windows 10 Fall Update. This will roughly coincide with next week’s Patch Tuesday.

My Insider Preview test machine is configured to get the latest updates, so I’ve been using 10586, and the builds that were available in the interim since the last public release (10240) for a while. Now that the test computer is running the new release version, the ‘Insider Preview build’ message is once again gone from the desktop. That will change when Microsoft pushes out the next preview version.

There’s not a lot to talk about here. Most of the changes are fairly minor, including coloured title bars, tab previews in Edge, general cleanup in user interface elements, and improvements to the Start menu. Skype will get several enhancements. Several bugs have also been fixed.

Update 2015Nov15: Ars Technica has a list of changes in the new release, and really, there’s not much of interest.

With this release, Microsoft has also changed the way it identifies Windows 10 versions. The previous release was “Version 10.0 (Build 10240).” The new release is “Version 1511 (OS Build 10586.3)” where “1511” refers to the 11th month of 2015. They like to keep us confused, don’t they?