Block Windows 10 Upgrades
Microsoft wants you to upgrade to Windows 10 and we are now well into the second half of the one-year free, no-strings-attached upgrade offer. Microsoft has made this available for its customers running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, and the offers are getting more insistent. Some have reported that the upgrade happened automatically, when they least expected it.
For those who would prefer not to upgrade, this article explains how to make those prompts go away and how to block the Windows 10 upgrade until the time is right, even if that time is "never." It's a 30-second process, involving two simple changes to Windows configuration files. For an IT pro or consultant managing PCs at a small business, it is possible to automate the process, as explained in this post.
Many think Microsoft has done a good job with Windows 10 and recommend the upgrade for consumers and small businesses, especially on relatively recent hardware. Windows 10 actually is significantly more secure than Windows 7, thanks to features like Secure Boot, device encryption, and built-in antivirus software, not to mention dozens of architectural changes. Windows 10 also solves most of the (justified) complaints people had with the Windows 8.x Start screen.
But some have legitimate reasons to avoid the upgrade and continue using a previous, supported version of Windows. For them, the continual upgrade prompts are a nuisance.
On some systems, Windows 10 can be found waiting in Windows Update. That is a tremendous convenience for those who want the upgrade, but annoying otherwise. (It will not install automatically, but it might start the installation process.)
In January, Microsoft published a support article that documents the two settings described in this article. ( "Microsoft expands Get Windows 10 program to domains, publishes opt-out instructions.") Changing the two registry settings to the values described in this article will be sufficient to prevent an unwanted Windows 10 upgrade on any PC running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.
Note that none of this applies to Microsoft's enterprise users running Windows 7 or 8.1 Enterprise. On these systems the upgrade offer and the accompanying Get Windows 10 (GWX) icon does not exist. The same is currently true on Windows 7 Professional or 8.1 Pro machines that are joined to a domain.
For those that aren't joined to a Windows domain, or for home users who are not ready to upgrade, here are the two changes that need to be made. The changes can be made in either order. Both are in the HKLM\Software\Policies branch of the registry.
(Note: Editing the registry is not for amateurs. If you're not comfortable making direct registry edits, you should not open Regedit. At the end of this post, links are included to .reg files that can be used instead.)
First step: Disable automatic upgrades through Windows Update. To accomplish this task using Group Policy, change the setting "Turn off the upgrade to the latest version of Windows through Windows Update," which can be found in Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Windows Update.
Doing so sets the registry value described in the rest of this step. Note that for Home versions of Windows 7 and 8.1, where the Group Policy editor is not available, editing the registry is the only option.
To make this change with Regedit, navigate to the following key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
Important: If that key doesn't exist, you'll need to create it.
Create a DWORD value called DisableOSUpgrade and set it to 1. (If that sentence makes no sense, you probably shouldn't be using Regedit.)
Here's what it looks like.
Second step: Make the GWX icon, with its nagging notifications, vanish from the taskbar.
To do that, you need to create the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX
Again, if this key doesn't exist, you need to create it.
Then create a DWORD value called DisableGWX and set it to 1, like so:
Restart your computer and the GWX icon should be gone. This has been tested on multiple installations of Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 with no problems.
It is possible to automate the process by saving the necessary registry changes to files that you execute by clicking and running from an account with administrator rights.
Here's the first file, saved as DisableOSUpgrade.reg:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001
The second file is DisableGWX.reg:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX]
"DisableGWX"=dword:00000001
Both files are available from this link. These are plain text files, so can be inspected before running them. Download the two files and run each one from an account that is signed in with administrative rights.
If you change your mind and decide you want to upgrade to Windows 10 after all, you can reverse those two settings by changing the 1 to 0 using Registry Editor. But there's really no need to do that. Instead, go to Microsoft's Get Windows 10 page and click Upgrade Now, which skips the Windows Update step and lets you upgrade on your own schedule.