OT: Windows 10 becoming automatic download

[GettingBetter]

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http://www.extremetech.com/computing/21 ... h-browsers
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[racprops]

Another problem is windows 10 is full of spyware, and they are doing down loads of that spyware into win7 and 8..beware.

I stopped all downloads/upgrades/updates last year after finding tow of the spyware already on my system.

Rich

PS They say they WILL rat you out....

[Krelvin]

Mother-in-laws computer.

So the other day, my mother-in-law tells my wife to let me know that her computer is changed and she can't see because the text is too small. She is a nice lady, I love her a lot but she will never call me directly to ask for anything, always relays via my wife who barely knows computers either. So you can imagine what the message I actually got sounded like.

I try to get into her computer from the house, but of course the IP has changed again. I have a link on her main page that says Kevin which she is supposed to use which is a bookmark to a special page nobody uses on my website. I can then look at the logs and see what her current IP is and go from there, but she says it doesn't work. Great. In fact according to her, nothing is working at all, Email, Facebook etc... so I really don't know what is going on.

Last night family members have a bday at her house and I go and sit down in front of her notebook..... turn it on, she now has Win10 loaded. Cute!

78yo Grandmother who has no computer skills, can barely see, had her already very slow notebook upgraded to Win10. Fonts sizes are back to normal and she can't figure anything out.

Must have loaded with a prompt which she didn't understand and said yes to or perhaps it just decided to take her out of the little computing she does and change it to Win10 anyways.

So I go into recovery, select revert back to previous operating system to remove Win10 and go back to Win7.

Needless to say, it reverted back took 1/2 the evening because she has a slow computer. It is a Toshiba with an i3 Intel processor and is a piece of junk.

After the reverting back to Win7, it rebooted about 3-4 times that took altogether another 30 mins or so. I thought it was stuck in a loop (computer does not have a hard drive light to indicate it is doing anything).

Finally it got finished and her normal very large Icon's, large font screen is back.

Note that the size of the icons and fonts is so large, you have trouble doing some commands because the Apply, OK buttons are actually off the bottom of the screen and you can't get them up to see them. You have to use the Keyboard commands and know what prompts should be there to use them.

Download GWX Control panel, install it to never allow Win10 checks or update. Make sure I have the IP now so that I can remote into her computer, used my phone to test it.

I'd get her a better computer but she only uses Facebook and Email. Nothing else.

Any changes end up taking days to correct and understand unless you are sitting right there looking at it yourself since her eyesight is so bad and the fonts and icons made so large, normal control buttons can't be seen even if she could see them. She also has no patience, so any glitch, something taking longer than 5-10 mins and she will say, lets just do this tomorrow. Nope I don't want to make this into a week long project.

The auto update to Win10 is a conspiracy to get old people off the Internet. It is a guaranteed method of making a already slow computer slower and confusing the hell out of an older person who already doesn't know what is going on and just wants to do their thing with no changes.

[Sonnyboy]

I empathize with your mother-in-law.
I am very unhappy with Microsoft. For me, their newer versions keep getting worst.
I can't say enough bad things about the Microsoft helpline.
Next computer will be a Mac for sure.


So is this what I need to do:
Download GWX Control panel, install it to never allow Win10 checks or update?
I am concerned I will hit the Windows 10 install button by mistake.

[palerider]

Next computer will be a Mac for sure.

hrmph, nobody ever thinks of linux. http://xubuntu.org/

[Sonnyboy]

Next computer will be a Mac for sure.

hrmph, nobody ever thinks of linux. http://xubuntu.org/

Actually, my neighbor strongly recommended Linux and Thunderbird email to me.
I was concerned about computer support so I stayed with Microsoft but did install Thunderbird.
What options are there for Linux support and Thunderbird support?
My neighbor moved out of state.

[palerider]

Next computer will be a Mac for sure.

hrmph, nobody ever thinks of linux. http://xubuntu.org/

Actually, my neighbor strongly recommended Linux and Thunderbird email to me.
I was concerned about computer support so I stayed with Microsoft but did install Thunderbird.
What options are there for Linux support and Thunderbird support?
My neighbor moved out of state.

I believe canonical offers paid support, but there's a ton of online support from people that are just really enthusiastic about the projects. tbird in linux works the same as in windows.

[Sonnyboy]

Next computer will be a Mac for sure.

hrmph, nobody ever thinks of linux. http://xubuntu.org/

Actually, my neighbor strongly recommended Linux and Thunderbird email to me.
I was concerned about computer support so I stayed with Microsoft but did install Thunderbird.
What options are there for Linux support and Thunderbird support?
My neighbor moved out of state.

I believe canonical offers paid support, but there's a ton of online support from people that are just really enthusiastic about the projects. tbird in linux works the same as in windows.

Is there a Linux forum??

[palerider]

Is there a Linux forum??

there's *lots*

linux is, at it's core, a community effort, not the product of a giant corporation. as such, there are a lot of varieties, and a lot of choice. one of the (I think) cool things about linux is that you can have the base, and you can switch the how the desktop looks, at will, to make it look radically different. this means, you can find a version that YOU like, and suits what YOU want to do.

my favorite is Ubuntu, or one of it's variations. depending on the desktop that you see, the main variants are ubuntu itself, kubuntu, xubuntu, edubuntu and more... a list is here: http://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubuntu/flavours

it's going to see hugely daunting at first, but with a little time and effort, things will start to make sense, and if you just take your time, and poke around, you'll probably get an idea of which versions you like the look of more, or less. another nice thing is that if you install one version, and decide later that you'd rather use a different ubuntu variant, you don't have to start over, all you do is tell it to install that new desktop... and all your stuff is still there, no reinstall from scratch necessary.

another nice thing about ubuntu, (and most other linuxes), most of the time, updates happen in the background, and you only rarely have to reboot

you asked about forums and support, here's a tiny tiny sampling: http://askubuntu.com/ http://askubuntu.com/ http://www.ubuntu.com/support google search

[Gasper62]

What is Microsoft's main impetus for forcing the Windows10 "free upgrade" ? Anyone know the straight story behind the persistent strong arm policy Are they now in cahoots with the NSA for surveillance intrusions ?. Kinda' reminds me of Borg assimilation and futile resistance scenarios !

[Sonnyboy]

Re: It's going to seem hugely daunting at first.

Ouch!

Looks like there are lots of Linux for Dummies books

I thought about doing this two years ago, but worried about the time commitment. Still worried.

I understand Linux is more stable and not attacked by viruses, spyware, and such?

I guess the best way to start is to get a new computer and install Linux?

Can Linux co-exist with Microsoft or Mac on the same computer?

[palerider]

I thought about doing this two years ago, but worried about the time commitment. Still worried.

look at it like an up front investment. the time you spend learning a new OS, and some new programs to do what you want, may very well be a good bit less than you spend waiting for windows to reboot everytime something is added, removed, changed, updated or (I dunno) the wind blows...

I understand Linux is more stable and not attacked by viruses, spyware, and such?

I don't use a virus program on my system, though there are one or two out there... and there are a *few* known viruses. but, linux and such is designed, from the start, to be secure, whereas security is ... well, somewhere on the list with microsoft, probably. it's been 14 days since my notebook was rebooted... plus, it only takes me about a minute to reboot, from the time I hit 'reboot' till I can log in again. I've got a windows 7 notebook here from work, when I tell it to sleep, it takes about a minute, it's always been slow, even though it has a faster processor than this notebook. this one goes to sleep in about 3 seconds.

I guess the best way to start is to get a new computer and install Linux?

with ubuntu and it's variants, the best way to start is to download some of the install programs, and either burn them to a disk, or make a boot USB, then boot your computer on them. they're all "live" editions which means they'll boot up, and you can test drive them. without making any changes at all to your windows install, that way you can see what it looks like, and how it works, and whether you think you'll like it. you can do that with several different ones... ubuntu itself, my favorite flavor, xbuntu, or others.

Can Linux co-exist with Microsoft or Mac on the same computer?

yes, if you have enough disk space.. while you're in that 'test drive' mode, there'll be an icon that says "install".... or, when you first boot up the cd/usb, you select 'install' vs 'try it out'.

if you have enough free space on your hard drive, then linux will ask you some questions, and then offer to repartition your hard drive, shrinking the windows partition down and creating a linux partition, and install itself there. then when you boot up, you'll get a menu asking whether you want to run linux or windows.

[Sonnyboy]

Thanks Palerider for all the information,
I have had so much trouble and wasted so much time with Microsoft since October that I know I need to change.
I know you know what you are doing and I know my neighbor did too but there is a generation gap thing going on here so I am way behind both of you.
I'll start reading some of the sources you have provided, start saving some money for a better computer, and be serious this year about making a change.
It will take some time.

[palerider]

there is a generation gap thing going on here so I am way behind....

wellll, grayghost4 is in his 70s, and he uses linux...

age is what you make of it.

[Sonnyboy]

Re:
with ubuntu and it's variants, the best way to start is to download some of the install programs, and either burn them to a disk, or make a boot USB, then boot your computer on them. they're all "live" editions which means they'll boot up, and you can test drive them. without making any changes at all to your windows install, that way you can see what it looks like, and how it works, and whether you think you'll like it. you can do that with several different ones... ubuntu itself, my favorite flavor, xbuntu, or others.

So I can figure out how to make a "boot USB" and then work with a program from the boot USB without taxing my current computer????

If, I'm understanding correctly, this doesn't feel too threatening. I just don't want to be working on a project with imminent deadlines and at the same time working on an unfamiliar computer system.