14 DAY TRIAL // It’s no secret that Microsoft is quite aggressive with its Windows 10 upgrade campaign for Windows 7 and 8.1 computers, but new reports coming from users across the world reveal that the new operating system is installed even if they haven’t specifically allowed it to.
A post on reddit that has received quite a lot of attention in the last few hours reveals that “Windows 7 computers are being reported as automatically starting the Windows 10 upgrade without permission,” with several users confirming in the comment section that this is indeed the case.
And yet, there are several things to be taken into consideration when saying that the Windows 10 installer is kicked off without user permission.
First of all, starting this year Microsoft is offering Windows 10 as a recommended update, so when you install new patches, the new OS is by default selected too. Since this report comes only a couple of days after this month’s Patch Tuesday, the chances are that these users left the Windows 10 upgrade selected in the Windows Update list, so it’s not happening entirely without their permission.
Users will be “clearly prompted whether to continue or not”
What’s odd, however, is that even if Windows 10 is indeed marked as a recommended update, it should still prompt you to begin the install, so users are still supposed to be allowed to choose whether to deploy it or not. Terry Myerson, head of the OS group at Microsoft, warned in October that this could happen though.
“Depending upon your Windows Update settings, this may cause the upgrade process to automatically initiate on your device. Before the upgrade changes the OS of your device, you will be clearly prompted to choose whether or not to continue,” he said.
Despite all of these, however, all users who are upgraded to Windows 10, either optionally or automatically, have 30 days to downgrade to their previous version of the OS. So if you don’t like Windows 10 and don’t plan to stick with it, use this option and return to Windows 7 or 8.1 and remember to always check twice before installing new updates. You never know what’s in there.