NOTE: THIS LINK PROVIDES MORE INFORMATION FOR WINDOWS 8   http://www.ghacks.net/2015/04/17/how-to-remove-windows-10-upgrade-updates-in-windows-7-and-8/

In Windows 7:

1. CONTROL PANEL - PROGRAMS AND FEATURES - on the side, click VIEW INSTALLED UPDATES

2. In the list that appears for the list of installed WINDOWS UPDATES, scroll down and locate the following updates in WINDOWS 7
 

KB2952664 
KB2990214
KB3021917
KB3035583   

 
VERIFY EACH KB NUMBER BEFORE CONTINUING

3. UNINSTALL EACH UPDATE YOU FIND  - NOTE: When asked to reboot select LATER and continue until all those are uninstalled and remove them in the ORDER shown above

THEN REBOOT

Go back and check to see if those updates are all gone in the system..   if they are then check and see if you can still connect to Windows Update...    IF BOTH ARE TRUE SKIP TO #6 BELOW AND HIDE THE UPDATES AT WU.      You are done

If KB2952664 has come back or appears again, OR you cant connect to Windows Update and get a ERROR continue with #4 below after uninstalling KB2952664 again

Here is the kicker..  if you UNINSTALL KB2952664  many systems cant connect to Windows update anymore!   Really MS?  Punishment or dimwit strong-arm tactics?

4. Run this MS FIX IT tool

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/windows-update-error-8000ffff [ignore the reference to Vista]

Run with the check box aggressive mode unchecked, let it finish, close and then rerun the tool again with the check in AGGRESSIVE

5. Once finished, reboot

The above repairs Windows update from not being able to run but BE AWARE it will CLEAN/FLUSH the Windows update 'history' list but wont remove the update list

6. Once rebooted run Windows Update in MANUAL MODE   do not let MS download and install updates automatically..   the updates I noted above should reappear in the list including KB2952664 right click them all and select HIDE

KB2952664 
KB2990214
KB3021917
KB3035583

you will no longer be prompted to install those hidden nonsense updates unless MS decides to try and slip them back in again and Windows Update will work fine

For Windows 8 the process is similar.. you can review the link above to remove this garbage

EDIT: If the above FIXIT tool fails and you still can not connect to WU, Try this tool:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/947821/

Download the correct version x32 or x64 and let it repair WU. It will request you install a KB and then it will run a aggressive scan to fix issues.

It can take 10 minutes and up to 3 hours to run sometimes so if it appears to hang at like 85%, its still running..  reboot when it finished and recheck WU and don't worry about the MSfixit tools

Thanks. Going to do this now. Be back in a few.

2 of the updates were already hidden. Uninstalled the other 2. Rebooted and hid the other two.

No Icon, Yea! Thank you for your help. Copied your instructions and saved them for future.

Install Windows 10 and it disappears as if by magic!

You still got it wrong then.

This system is 10-free ...

KB2952664   This one keeps coming back every time I check for updates, even though it is hidden, and I have Auto updates turned completely off. With the KB comes that moronic Adware for Windows 10.  I uninstall the update, it goes away until I check updates once again. Grrrrrr!!!

No, I followed it to the letter.  Furthermore, I am not the only one who keeps seeing the 'Get Windows 10" icon back in the systray after performing the same or similar methods of removal.  I even went to the length of doing a registry edit to revent its reappearance, yet it still returned.... 5 times now.  Like I said, I suspect MS is piggybacking it in with other updates  In any event, Microsoft is NOT behaving well here.

Same here!  Had to do a reboot before and the icon wasn't there at shutdown, but once the machine had restarted and everything loaded it was back... and in going to WU to check on the updates listed, I noted that the previously hidden KB2952664 was back.  Now being that hidden updates are not normally redownloaded or installed, I have to wonder if these Win 10 updates are somehow able to undelete themselves?  In any event, MS is behaving very badly.  I mean, medical staff are not allowed to force feed patients refusing food and drink, so why is MS being allowed to force feed Windows 10 to millions of unwilling users?

I was right when I said that Satya Nadella would be good for Microsoft as CEO.... and he has been.  Sadly for users, though, he's been an absolute **** and has betrayed them with a virtual clone of Apple's walled garden.  Windows as an OS died with Win 8.1... what exists now is a travesty.

1. Because *I* don't want it to.

2. Because with that icon comes 6.5 GB of stuff I do NOT want at this point (C:\$WINDOWS.~BT) and did not ask for sitting on my hard disk taking up space.

3. Because while that icon is in there (and sometimes even when it isn't) Microsoft will keep on trying to force feed me Windows 10 on Windows Update.

4. Because I don't appreciate being bullied into doing something I don't want to.

5. Because I no longer trust Microsoft to be an ethical company.

As a result of all this I can no longer trust Windows Update to simply do what it was designed to do, i.e.; keep my Windows 7 system up-to-date in terms of security and bug fixes.

*I* will decide when I want to upgrade to Windows 10 (if ever!), not Microsoft.

I already have Windows 10.  It's called dual booting and I don't need MS trying to nag me to death to replace my Win7 install with something I already have.

Also, it's not just an Icon, which  I don't have, it's this stupid adware on Windows Update that is pissing me off.

Yup. I dood it on Winders 8.1  

I used that program from Majorgeeks, but it doesn't remove the Windows BT folder, which on MY system is 6Gb. Does anyone know if there's a way to remove this folder, and if it's safe to do so?

Quoting BoXXi,

reply 21

I used that program from Majorgeeks, but it doesn't remove the Windows BT folder, which on MY system is 6Gb. Does anyone know if there's a way to remove this folder, and if it's safe to do so?

No, GWX Panel does not remove the upgrade folder, the reason being to allow users to upgrade at a later date if they so choose.  However, if you wish to delete it then that's fine.  I did so to free up disc space [120gb SSD] without ill-effect.

It is interesting to read the user guide, though.  The developer has indicated that MS has been quite aggressive in its approach for users to switch to Win 10, and that it will reissue the updates and the GWX app in an attempt to force users hands.  He even suggests that the icon and updates may have rules of their own, and thus able to override users own WU settings.

For mine, Microsoft's behaviour in this matter has been abominable... if not downright criminal.