Microsoft Is Ticking People Off with Automatic Windows 10 Upgrades

Force feeding Windows 10

Head over to Twitter or Reddit and you'll discover a whole bunch of angry users raging against Microsoft for supposedly upgrading their systems to Windows 10 without their consent.

"Wtf. I left my computer unattended and when I came back it was installing Windows 10. I'm 100 percent sure that no one accessed my computer when I was away. Did it install automatically? Without me agreeing?," a user on Reddit questioned.

"Tell me why my PC auto-restarted and is now updating to Windows 10. I didn't ask for this," a Twitter user posted to Microsoft's Gabriel Aul.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has appeared overly aggressive in rolling out Windows 10. Back in September of last year, it decided to push out Windows 10 upgrade files to PCs to anyone who chose to receive automatic updates through Windows Update.

"We help upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they’ll need if they decide to upgrade," a Windows rep said at the time. "When the upgrade is ready, the customer will be prompted to install Windows 10 on the device."

Three months later, Microsoft made it seem like upgrading to Windows 10 was mandatory by splashing Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 users with a pop-up prompting them to "Upgrade now" or "Start download, install later."

So, what's going on this time around? There are a few things at play, as ZDNet points out. One of them is that a recent Internet Explorer 11 update is causing some users to see a "Get Windows 10" banner, though that wouldn't explain the bulk of complaints.

What's more likely happening is that Microsoft is pushing out Windows 10 as a Recommended Update rather than an Optional one. Microsoft warned last October that it planned on reclassifying Windows 10 as such starting in early 2016, and that all started happening on the first day of February.

It now appears that Microsoft is being more aggressive about the matter. Some users report getting a notification that their PC is scheduled to be updated. The initial pop-up is supposed to appear three to four days in advance, followed by a second (and final) pop-up that appears just 60 minutes in advance.

Several of the people complaining on social media say they left their PC for a period of time—sometimes leaving it running overnight—only to return to find that Windows 10 was either installed or in the process of installing. It's hard to say if they ignored the initial message days in advance or if perhaps it never came, but either way, Microsoft isn't winning users over with this approach.

If you're not interested in upgrading to Windows 10, pay attention to any pop-ups or offers to upgrade. You could also err on the side of caution (as it pertains to avoiding an unwanted upgrade) by unchecking the "Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates" in the Windows Update section of the Control Panel.