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Many people have reasons for not wanting to update to Windows 10. For those versions of Windows that are eligible for the free update, the End of Life (EOL) cycle provides plenty of breathing room.
Windows 7: January 14, 2020
Windows 8.1: January 10, 2023
The free Windows 10 update period theoretically ends July 29, 2016. While the relentless and malicious attempts to trick people into updating to Windows 10 should end thereafter, the actual rollout might not occur for several weeks. During that period there remain ways to avoid an unwanted Windows 10 update.
The easiest way for many people is to use a third party app. The two best known preventive apps are GWX Control Panel and Never 10. GWX Control Panel has a few more features than Never 10.
The Microsoft folks grudgingly provided a method too.
For those who get snookered into updating within the remaining period, there is a 30 day rollback option. Surfing the web indicates the rollback is not always successful although many people have no problems restoring their original Windows operating system.
Windows Media Center (WMC) no longer is supported in Windows 10. For those who used WMC and now are stuck with Windows 10, the free and popular Kodi media software provides a solution.
For those who failed to elude Windows 10, or perhaps even wanted Windows 10, knowing how to configure Windows 10 is important. There are ways to tame Windows 10 and disable a significant amount of the privacy invasions.
The first step in the journey is understanding that Windows 10 is designed as a data mining mechanism. You are the product. Windows 10 is designed to send significant information to Microsoft servers. Even when users try to disable these options, Windows 10 still makes an uncomfortable amount of contact with Microsoft servers.
One mechanism for data snooping is tricking people into using a Microsoft Account to log into the computer. An online account is not needed. An old fashioned local login account remains available. Using a local login account will avoid some snooping.
Taming Windows 10 data mining includes visiting the Settings->Privacy options. A decent approach is if anything sounds uncomfortable then disable the option.
Cortana is a primary snooping technology. Cortana cannot be removed from Windows 10, but can be pushed out of the way and ignored.
Web search is another privacy invasive option. By default all Windows 10 searches, including those intended only for the local system, send data to Microsoft servers. Disabling this option is easy.
The default web browser in Windows 10 is Edge. Edge is a Windows 10 cornerstone in mining user data. Avoiding those intrusions is as easy as using a different web browser.
You pay for your bandwidth. All Fast-Air customers have usage bandwidth caps. The default Windows 10 configuration uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) networking scheme to update all Windows 10 systems around the world. P2P networking basically converts a computer into a server. This default design increases bandwidth usage, which might lead to exceeding caps.
Related to this P2P technology is Windows 10 hogging a customer’s bandwidth speed. This effectively renders doing anything web related a challenge while the updates are downloading.
There are three steps to stopping this bandwidth abuse. One is to disable the P2P mechanism.
Configuring Windows 10 as a metered connection will help further. Wireless users have an easy time disabling this option by configuring Windows 10 as a metered connection.
A common opinion is an Ethernet connection cannot be configured as a metered connection. An Ethernet connection can be configured as metered but with more sweat equity. Ethernet users must disable this option through some registry tweaks.
The third method involves changing the default Windows 10 bandwidth reservation. The default design is to reserve 20% of the bandwidth speed for Windows updates. While this reservation should only affect bandwidth speed during update downloads, some users claim that modifying this option helps improve bandwidth speed. Bear in mind that modifying this reservation might mean slower update downloads.
Understand that disabling these tweaks do not stop updates. Other than enterprise users, Windows 10 is designed to force users to install any and all updates.
Windows 10 is designed somewhat like a child and will want to reboot now upon finishing updates. Configure the update options to restart when desired.
As Windows 10 is designed as a data mining operating system, advertising is now part of the desktop. Having ads is a nuisance to many people but indicates the mindset of software designers these days. You are the product.
Disabling ads in the live tiles is as simple as removing the live tile. Remove a live tile by “right-clicking” on the tile and “unpin” the tile.
Unpinning live tiles will help avoid unnecessary and unwanted bandwidth usage.
Part of the advertising campaign includes “Suggested Apps.” Another visit to the Settings will silence those intrusions.
Disabling advertisements in the lock screen is possible too.
Oddly, the default Windows 10 design does not enable System Restore. Many users should enable this feature.
The Windows 10 Fast Startup feature, called Fast Boot in Windows 8.1, does not always work well for some users. Disabling is straightforward.
OneDrive is a cloud storage service, similar to DropBox. Many people do not need this service. Removing OneDrive from the Windows 10 file explorer requires a registry tweak, but is not difficult.
If all of this information has you feeling like the proverbial deer staring into the headlight beams, there are some third party options to control Windows 10 data mining. These apps do not avoid needing to still use Settings as a beginning point. These apps only help control the data mining. Two popular apps are OOSU10 and SpyBot AntiBeacon. Most users probably should just use only the defaults. Aggressive users should create system restore points before playing wack-a-mole.
On or about August 2, expect to read about a Windows 10 1-year Anniversary Update. While some new features will be introduced, mostly this is marketing jargon for “Service Pack.” Windows 10 users will not be able to prevent this update. Keep an eye on the web for tutorials about controlling some of these new features.
Just remember — if you use Windows 10 then you are the product.
Had enough of the Microsoft nonsense and being treated like a product? More on that next issue.
Technical trivia: While the Internet has existed for several decades, the World Wide Web is relatively new. Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide Web. A primary component of the World Wide Web was something called hyper-linking. Berners-Lee’s original web page is still online.
Next issue: Using Computers Without Windows.
Was there ever a sound more enjoyable?
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