how do i COMPLETELY stop my computer from updating!?!?

I think in the not far off future everything computer related will be "as a service".  They'll update Windows so often that hardware companies will quit trying to keep up, no more building our own computers, then we'll have to lease our computers from MS.  I just hope I'm dead by then...

Sorry, I don't mean to prolong this ... but Windows is becoming a service. That will make everything easier. All the updating will be done in the cloud so there will be almost nothing for us here on earth to do. Office is more advanced in that respect. In fact, Microsoft announced that Office 2019 is the last version of Office that you'll be able to download. Windows is next.

If you want to see what Windows will look like in the future, look at a Chromebook today. ChromeOS exists almost completely in the cloud. My Chromebook has received 6, 7 ... I don't remember how many updates this year alone, and they were complete non-events. Mind you, Google can do that because it controls the specifications for hardware that will run ChromeOS, whereas Microsoft has no such control.

If you had Windows 7 originally, then you had/still have a license for Windows 7, correct?

You can download the ISO for Windows 7 directly from Microsoft, right here.

Microsoft stopped its (despicable) practice of coercing Windows 10 upgrades after the first anniversary of Windows 10, on June 29, 2016.

With all that said, Windows 10 is substantially more secure than Windows 7. Moreover, as an operating system, Windows 10 is substantially improved over Windows 7. That's why I have Windows 10. Personally, I have no use for Cortana or Microsoft Edge or Microsoft Store apps or live tiles or virtually all of the new 'features' of Windows 10, so I just ignore or work around them. They don't present an existential threat to my computer. Meanwhile, I benefit from having the newest technology under the hood.

So here's my unsolicited advice to you: IF the hardware in your computer is supported on Windows 10, backup your data and do a clean install. Reinstall all your stuff from scratch then restore your data. Now you're all fresh and shiny new. Going forward, forget everything you thought you knew about Windows and don't change a single freakin' thing unless you've done the research so you're sure you're doing the right thing and in the right way.

Nobody says you have to like Windows 10 - I think large parts of it are stoopid, but I learned how to make it work for me. And backup every day, so no matter what comes down the pipe from the 'softies you won't lose anything.

Sound advice, particularly since the only other choice is for me to stay irritated forever

I threw out all my games and such when I found out they were intentionally rendered inoperable.  I suspect that move was to force digital downloads from their damn store.  I despise Microsoft with a passion.  They've rendered my laptop into a doorstop.  If so much of what I do wasn't on the computer I'd scrap it and do without.

I think in the not far off future everything computer related will be "as a service".  They'll update Windows so often that hardware companies will quit trying to keep up, no more building our own computers, then we'll have to lease our computers from MS.  I just hope I'm dead by then...

If you had Windows 7 originally, then you had/still have a license for Windows 7, correct?

You can download the ISO for Windows 7 directly from Microsoft, right here.

Microsoft stopped its (despicable) practice of coercing Windows 10 upgrades after the first anniversary of Windows 10, on June 29, 2016.

With all that said, Windows 10 is substantially more secure than Windows 7. Moreover, as an operating system, Windows 10 is substantially improved over Windows 7. That's why I have Windows 10. Personally, I have no use for Cortana or Microsoft Edge or Microsoft Store apps or live tiles or virtually all of the new 'features' of Windows 10, so I just ignore or work around them. They don't present an existential threat to my computer. Meanwhile, I benefit from having the newest technology under the hood.

So here's my unsolicited advice to you: IF the hardware in your computer is supported on Windows 10, backup your data and do a clean install. Reinstall all your stuff from scratch then restore your data. Now you're all fresh and shiny new. Going forward, forget everything you thought you knew about Windows and don't change a single freakin' thing unless you've done the research so you're sure you're doing the right thing and in the right way.

Nobody says you have to like Windows 10 - I think large parts of it are stoopid, but I learned how to make it work for me. And backup every day, so no matter what comes down the pipe from the 'softies you won't lose anything.

What's stopping you from having Windows 7 back?

That I'd have to pay for Windows 7 again and likely have it overwritten by MS again.

What's stopping you from having Windows 7 back?