- Oct 23, 2012
- 12,527
GRC | Never10
The name “Never 10” is a bit of an overstatement, since this utility may also be used to easily re-enable Windows operating system automatic upgrading. But the primary reason for using this is to, at least initially, disable Windows' insistence upon upgrading Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10.
Many users of Windows 7 and 8.1 are happy with their current version of Windows and have no wish to upgrade to Windows 10. There are many reasons for this, but among them is the fact that Windows 10 has become quite controversial due to Microsoft's evolution of their Windows operating system platform into a service which, among other things, aggressively monitors and reports on its users activities. This alone makes many users uncomfortable enough to cause them to choose to wait. Additionally, a few months into 2016, Windows 10 started displaying unsolicited advertisements on its users desktops.
In July of 2015, responding to the significant user backlash, Microsoft added features to its Windows Update facility which allow it to be configured, on a machine-by-machine basis, to not forcibly upgrade qualifying Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems to Windows 10. However, Microsoft did not make this configuration simple. It requires the use of the group polity editor (which is not present in some qualifying systems) and/or the system registry.
If the system being configured has a version of Windows Update which is older than the required July 2015 release, this utility will notify its user (see the sample display screens above) and will offer to download and install the required update to Windows Update so that Windows can be configured not to upgrade itself to Windows 10.
Using this utility, inexperienced users will be able to easily use Never10 themselves, while advanced users will likely appreciate that fact that no additional software is installed and will be able to refer friends and family, whom they support, to this easy-to-use utility.
Download https://www.grc.com/files/never10.exe
