Thanks Doc. Already patched 'em.

Well, Tuesday was a "special" day here when Windows 10 ran updates all on its own at 7:00 am (before coffee!).  It took a long time for the update to Windows 10 version 1511 which really concerned me.  Then the computer rebooted and the blue screens started.  This is the first time in my over 50 years in computers that I have had such a mess with a Windows update. Even Windows ME was not that bad. The only way to get past the initial blue screens (with cloudy frownies) was to do a reset.  For those who don't know what that is, a reset wipes out all of your software but leaves the data.  That solved the "fatal" error but then Windows would not activate.  I tried everything known to mankind to no avail. More frownies saying they were sorry and embarrassed.  Honest, that was on my "new" blue screen.  I went to work.

When I got back home, I contacted Microsoft Technical Support (India) and they told me I had to go back to Windows 7 and start all over again.  NOT!!  My other option would be to buy a new license through the Windows Store because this is a new version of Windows 10 and there have been hardware changes. NOT!! They were really awful!

I went to the Windows Store site and finally found their phone number.  It started on the automated stuff and I finally yelled "live person" - not that I was stressed or anything.  Amazingly, it worked and I was connected to a very helpful person.  I explained the situation to her and she told me to try all of the things I'd already done and, of course, they didn't work.  Finally, she took over my computer and ran a few more things I'd already tried.  Nothing worked!  Windows 10 Pro was installed but would not recognize my Windows 7 Pro activation code like it did the first time.  She finally generated a new code and we got Windows 10 activated again. It was after 11:30 pm when I got off the phone. 

The tech told me that Windows 10 is tied to the hard drive and motherboard (tech support mentioned it too).  She thinks I had the problem because Dell replaced my motherboard right after I bought the computer due to a problem with the PCIE port (XPS 8300, Core i7 2600 chip, 3.4 GHz with 12 GB of ram).  She said any change to a hard drive or a motherboard can cause a computer not to activate Windows 10.  Apparently, we are no longer supposed to replace a hard drive or motherboard that goes bad??  Really??

This morning, updates ran again without notifying me.  That has never happened in the past as I always want to be notified first.  It turned out that the ability to fix that setting in the Control Panel is grayed out (some settings are determined by my organization) so the only way to fix it is through the group policy editor which I did.  Then a notification popped up saying I have a a problem with one of my devices.  Windows flashed up messages and wanted to kill it but I stopped it.  I went into the Device Manager and a USB driver was changed on April 12th. Yep! Fortunately, I have all of the needed drivers stored on my system so was able to fix it quickly. All of the software has been reinstalled including my beloved WindowBlinds. 

Up until April 12th, this system ran smooth as silk with never a problem.  It is meticulously maintained.  The update to version 1511 was a total nightmare and I hope never to experience anything like it again.  If anyone here has not done the update to the latest version of Windows (1511) and you have made any hardware changes to your system, you might want to talk to a tech at 800-642-7676 which is the Windows Store.  Tech Support cannot assist with a windows validation problem and there is a good chance that the newest version of Windows 10 won't activate.  

i knew that compulsory/auto udates in Win 10 would be a problem, and that people would find serious issues with their PCs arising from them.  I've read/heard numerous complaints about PCs being borked after Windows Update intrusions.  Yeah, I call them intrusions because many people simply don't want the first batch of updates and/or patches for this very reason...  getting borked by a bodgie patch, driver, etc.

There are free 3rd party programs that can disable Windows Update [Majorgeeks host some of them] and allow users to manually install those they wish and those that are tested/known to be safe.  Not sure which one of them I'm running now, but it's portable and I don't get auto-updates on my Win 10 machine.  No, what I do now is wait for a while before running the 'security' section of Advanced System Care, which then applies safe versions of the latest security updates issued by MS. 

I also go to the manufacturers sites to update drivers, firmware and etc... given the MS issued ones have borked my wireless settings and sound.  Put simply, I don't trust Microsoft to know what's best for my machines.

If auto update is disabled will you have a list of updates so you can pick and choose which ones get installed?

Disable updating until you read what each update does, and that there are no problems, then choose which updates you want, based on that, Elana.

You DO want critical updates, though.

You and me both!  When I read that Steve Ballmer was replaced by Satya Nadella as CEO, I had high hopes for the direction of Microsoft and Windows.  However, a couple of years on and I'm not only disappointed but angry.... at both Microsoft and it's 'new' direction, and at how Windows is evolving into a walled garden.  It's not as bad as Apple's .... YET, but give MS time and it will have entirely adopted Apple's business model.  Yup, suck them in with a 'free' OS, then make them pay through the nose for apps and programs through the Store.  Notice how many system32 programs have now become 'apps'????   Well strap yourselves in for a bumpy ride, people, cos system32 is thing of the past. 

Soon everything will be an app available through MS' Store and sys32 programs will no longer run.  In the not too distant future, Windows will look and behave more like Apple's IOS... with a lucrative business for MS going through its Store.  I mean, why else would MS want a cross-platform OS that runs on PCs, tablets and phones?  To dumb it down to its lowest common denominator and wall users into a closed system where everything is controlled by Microsoft.... like enforced updates and the removal of 'non-preferred' software.

Now I know some will think I'm being paranoid and espousing conspiracy theories, but this WILL come to pass... I'll bet my left nut on it.  And before anyone says I'm going to lose it, just think: how aggressively MS is peddling Win 10; how Windows Update was/is enforced; how programs like Speccy were uninstalled without consent.  There are probably other examples, and maybe Microsoft has softened its line regarding compulsory updates.... for now, but the idea is control over Windows users and what they do on their PCs, and that will become increasingly clear as time passes and more people are forced onto Win 10.

Again, you and me both.  Linux is looking more and more attractive all the time, and having tried out Ubuntu, Mint and Robolinux, I am getting the hang of using Linux distros.  I'm no Linux expert yet, but I hope to be quite adept at using one or all of the versions I'm trying by the time support for Win 8.1 ends.

Remember when I wrote that UEFI was not good? 10/2011.

http://drjbhl.joeuser.com/article/412982/Windows_8_OEM_Wont_Allow_Other_OSs_to_Boot

I am not on all the time so don't always see the posts.  My job puts me on the road a lot and I sometimes don't get home until fairly late.  The tech tried to generate a new activation code and could not.  Your link is for Windows 8 which was great under the hood but had an terrible interface.  All they had to do was give Windows 8 a more traditional interface than 8.1 had and it would have been a winner.  I had people calling me in tears because they could not figure out how to use it.  It took me over 15 minutes to find the "charm" to do a simple reboot so I totally understood their frustration.

I updated from Windows 7 Pro and there shouldn't have been a problem.  Please read my earlier post today.  Microsoft "updated" the Group Policy Editor as part of maintenance and wiped out my settings.  That is how they could install that update without my permission. To me that is black hat activity but they wanted to install version 1511 and just up and did it.

I received a customer service survey today and let them know exactly how I and others feel about Windows 10.  The only reason I have kept it is because of Start 10 which makes it palatable.  I had to laugh when the tech went to the Windows Club to try a couple of commands - the same one I tried and they didn't work for her either.  This really is my last go round with Microsoft.  This dog is not too old to learn some new tricks or a new OS.  I would have to run Windows products in a sandbox but it might be worth it.  I wonder if I could get away with WindowBlinds that way? 

Thanks everyone for listening to me rant.  It was quite a week on all fronts here.  Hope next week is better. 

Thanks, DrJNHL.  I hope folks here read what happened and understand what is going to happen in the future if they have to replace a hard drive or a motherboard.  Some years back, my old HP was almost dead so I bought a new one.  I called Microsoft and explained the situation and asked if they could inactivate my old computer so I could use Windows on my new one.  They were so nice and it was a big help.  How sad that those days are gone.  I loved that Microsoft.  Customer service like that will bring me back every time.  I said what needed to be said to Microsoft - not that they really care.  Now I am dreading the next version due out in the summer.  I have been assured that I won't have a problem with that one.  Hmmm.  I looked today and they are running maintenance just about every single day and they do not always say what they are doing.  Both Microsoft and Google have NSA contracts and the behavior reeks of NSA but no way to know.  Just used to work in the defense industry.  If they are spying on my machine they will be pretty bored and learn more about grandchildren and Chihuahuas than they ever wanted to know.  All any of us can do is hope for things to get better.  I still have to go through gpedit again to make sure all of my current settings are as they should be.  One thing we can do is defer updates so I have done that.  Just hope it really works.  Thanks again to you and everyone on the forum for listening and make sure to take care with Windows 10 updates. 

agreed.  And I do do the critical updates.  PC is set to require me to permit each update. 

Now there's the pot calling the kettle black!   Obviously, what's good for the goose ain't okay for the gander.... and I don't recall MS ever informing me that it had accessed my data, so I'm wondering why it finds it so necessary to inform people the government has been prying into it.

The whole sorry sage reeks, no matter which way you look at it... and MS is as pusilanimous as it gets.

The 'maintenance' thing is criminal in my book.... that MS can come in, change things around and then do pretyy much as they want on your PC.  If a builer came into your home uninvited and installed a brand new kitchen you didn't order or want, he could be charged, so why is MS being allowed to enter peoples computers and make unwanted changes?

I installed a 3rd party program to disable Windows Update, yet here I am, getting updates via 'Maintenance'.  Hopefully the 3rd party people will come up with another way to prevent unwated crap being downloaded and installed.  I don't want MS' modified drivers or firmware... I don't want updates from MS to other items I can get from manufacturers sites.... yet there is MS, ramming them down my throat.   Among the crap delivered yesterday was Microsoft's keyboard and mouse drivers and software.  Like why do I need that when I'm using Logitech?

What Upsets me most is that Windows 10 is a disaster for user choice and freedoms, yet there are those who are embacing it as the best thing since sliced bread and saqying that me/people who don't like the turn of events are paranoid.... conspiracy theorists.  I don't know what it's going to take for these people to change their way of thinking about MS and Windows 10, but I believe it will be too late to reverse things by the time they wake up and smell the roses.

Now I don't know how true this is, but I was speaking with someone the other day who told me that he shut down his Win 7 PC overnight and woke up to Win 10.  Having read about the security and other concerns with Win 10, he rolled back to Win 7, but a few daqys later he ran his PC to discover Win 10 was back on it, with no option to roll back.  If true, and given MS' recent behaviour, I have little or no reason to doubt it, it means that my plan to run Win 8.1 with 3rd party the aforementioned 'preventers' isn't going to work for too long.

Yes, they make 10 a little more bearable, but 'palatable' is stretching it a bit.  What with enforced updates; 'core' phone home devices; key changes being made to user settings without consent; uninstalling/disabling users 3rd party programs, Windows 10 is the most insidious, least user friendly OS ever created. I'm sure going to miss the Stardock customisation programs when I switch to Linux, which seems to be inevitable as more horror stories surface about MS and Win 10.  I have been somewhat reluctant to make the full switch before now, but I value my privacy and MY control over MY PC, and things are getting just too risky to remain with 10.

I do have a couple of copies of XP Pro that I could use on non-net connected machines to play around with customisation, but then I don't know how many of the more modern skins would work on it.  Then again, I could always run a non-net Win 8.1 machine instead of or as well as.