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

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

I don't mind a conversation :).  It's good to see other's points of view.  I wouldn't give a crap about windows 10 if they hadn't intentionally made all my programs obsolete.  It took me months to figure out that they'd done it intentionally.  I was whining in these forums about not being able to get any of my programs to work, that I'd tried all the compatibility modes and all the solutions I'd found using Google and Bing.  Someone came in and told me what an idiot I was for switching to windows 10 if I wanted to use my existing programs because Microsoft clearly stated they would no longer support programs installed from discs (I think specifically those with any sort of copy protection).

As for putting things in the cloud, I feel that involves entirely more trust than any corporation deserves.  Sure MS can steal whatever they want from my computer if they choose to do so but I don't think I want to send them my data and pay them for the privilege.

I use Office 2010 on my desktops and will continue to do so until I have no choice.  I'd still be using 2000 if I could, I've never cared for the "ribbon". 

VB6 was the last product I got from MS where they seemed to give a crap about customer service.  The help documents were actually helpful.  With .NET you have to do everything with "wizards" which not only doesn't teach you crap but also limits what you can do with a distributed database application.  Just for the heck of it they decided to move away from SQL to LINQ.  When I needed to learn VB6 to create some database applications I was able to do so with two books, one general and one about databases plus the help files.  You can look as long as you want you won't find sufficient material anywhere on the internet or in a book to teach you to deal with a database in the .NET frameworks with more than one table.  One table isn't a database, it's a spreadsheet.  Those statements are over-simplifications but you get the idea.

Yes, I know I sound paranoid and whiny.  I'm mainly just pissed because MS has a monopoly and I have no choice but to go along with whatever they decide if I want to use my computers.  That bothers me the most because they know it and will therefore never respond to any individual needs.  People love to say, post on the Feedback Hub.  I've posted and up-voted about 150 times.  Of all those threads the only response was, "try it again, you'll like it".

I mainly just follow this thread to have a place to complain :).