The way I see it, speaking now in general terms, is that if you want to stop/prevent/harm something created by FactionX [in this case Microsoft] you shouldn't (naively) trust/rely on solutions offered by said same FactionX (because they naturally have an agenda on their own, so their solution might not work well] but instead refer to something created by a company that is independant or even an adversary.

Jafo

reply 28

Easiest way to be certain of never having issues with unwanted 'updates' to 10.....

For those who can't manage any other way....

Turn off Windows updates entirely.  The world doesn't end if you do.

Most people will never know the difference...or miss them....or care....

That works only to a point.... as do the 3rd party programs and any other method to prevent 10.

As many have awoken to discover, even with Never 10 and GWX Control Panel installed, is that Win 10 was downloaded and installed during Scheduled Maintenance... and the only way to prevent that is to disconnect from the internet entirely.  As Doc said, MS holds the keys to your OS, and such is its determination to see Win 10 on a billion devices by 2020, it is using any and all methods to deliver it to machines connected to the internet. 

And yes, I am sure Win 10 is being downloaded and installed without consent and agreement to the terms.  It happened on my second big beastie.... and yes, with Never 10 AND GWXCP installed.   I shut down Win 8.1, went to bed and awoke to Win 10

As for the 'roll back', some people are finding that option greyed out, as was the case with my HP 2-in-1.... and others who do... can perform the roll back, do so in vain, with their machines being changed back to 10 a few days later.  Again, I am sure of this, too.... being it happened on my 2nd big beastie.

In a nutshell, if MS wants you to have Win 10.... you'll  GET it, like it or not.

EDIT:

Turning off Windows Update may also be in vain, as some reports suggest MS can remotely turn it back on again.  As I recall, Wizaerd1956 said that his Windows Update settings had been changed, either remotely or by a rogue KB file that managed to sneak through.

Maybe I just got lucky but MS tried it several times but they failed. As already said, the sole reason for this was the control Netlimiter gave on Win7:

Windows Update establishes a webconnection using a "svchost.exe", and via this ul/dl their updates. Basically you've got 3 options:

(1) Let it stay fully open - which may be necessary when you really wanna do a true WinUpdate (best manually)

(2) Completely block it - no WinUpdates possible whatsoever; however a lot of software (some browsers for example) are also not able to establish a inet connection. Which doesn't matter if you're sound asleep what do you need a browser for?

(3) Limit it down to 1kbit/s - this is enough for browser et al to use svchost.exe to send a few bytes here & there to establish their connections, and once this is achieved, they have a connection on their own which can use the full available bandwith. This is a good setting if you still want your PC to be actively sending/receiving while you're AFK. Still, WinUpdate is down to 1kbit/s - at that speed it takes them weeks to dl a bigger file, and this is easily spoted using the NL chart of svchost.exe

They tried repeatedly to 'upgrade' my 2nd big beastie without success.  I used every precaution I could to prevent Win 10, including enabling manual updates and the metered connection to restrict download sizes.... yet I still ended up with it, via Scheduled Maintenance.  From what I have been able to ascertain, there is no way to prevent it, and thus, it would seem MS resorts to this 'service' when its other delivery methods have failed. 

A tech friend of mine, has investigated and seems to think the only way to avoid Win 10 being installed is to disconnect entirely from the net, thus cutting off all download methods, including Scheduled Maintenance.  Fortunately, my 1st big beastie with 8.1 wasn't connected to the net when the 2nd got 'hacked', nor will it be.  I wish to keep it as is, with Win 8.1, so it will remain as a standalone machine to use as I see fit.

Can't say I'm surprised.

Been on Win 7 since 2009. got systray notifications about Win 10 but using GWX Control Panel, have not seen any further notices. No forced "upgrade" here.

FWIW, there is a way to set Scheduled Maintenance to detect issues only, not automatically fix them.  This article relates to a known issue with Scheduled Maintenance automatically deleting 'unused' or 'broken' shortcuts (to resources not available at the time of Scheduled Maintenance, e.g., to files on a network share that you're not connected to at the time) but the Group Policy edit would seem to switch all Scheduled Maintenance to Troubleshooting mode, which simply reports issues to the Action Center rather than automatically 'fixing' them.  Whether doing this would 'intercept' a stealth Win10 upgrade via Scheduled Maintenance is anybody's guess.  But it might be another line of defense and a reasonable hedge.

My tech friend seems to think the Win 10 upgrade via Scheduled Maintenance is pretty much unstoppable, being that it is a direct Microsoft to Windows process that's performed internally.  Even if Scheduled Maintenance could be switched to user initiated commands via the Action Centre only, there's nothing to say that MS can't simply switch it back, given it holds the keys tp 'your' OS.  In fact, it brings the use of PC into question, given how people are given less personal control over their computers these days.  Perhaps it should be renamed MPC [Microsoft's Personal Computer], given how MS seems to have laid claim to it.

Doctor Doctor, a great list of links there.  Have my drivers locked down now.  Thanks so much!!

Just installed a single Win7-update named KB3173040. Its filesize should be 5.3MB but the whole dl was more than 50MB. It required a reboot and after loading screen was taken to a blue screen offering a Win7 update -.-

No clue if the above KB is directly related to this or if another stealth background dl was started simultanously....

That's an optional update which should run only twice:

Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1 end of free upgrade offer notification

Here's the link to the KB.

At least they didn't slip it in with the 'important' updates.

Thank you. Didn't even consider looking up the desc because normally they're most vague (and omit the downsides). However, this one is simple & honest. Some improvement there at last...