Microsoft desperately want all of its OS users to install Windows 10. This is the reason why the company started forcing its Windows 7 and Windows 8 users to upgrade to Windows 10, sometimes without their permission. A number of users have started seeing weird pop-ups and system messages, first “recommending” them to install Windows 10, and then giving them only two options: either upgrade to Windows 10 now or schedule it for some time later. This means that users are being tricked into forced upgrade.
That means users have no choice of just sticking to Windows 7 and Windows 8. There are literally millions of users who just love Windows 7. For example, one user reported that he doesn’t like the fact that Windows 10 doesn’t support widgets. You have less control and usability in Windows 10. And let’s just be blunt: it is completely up to the users what OS they want to use. No one, not even the producer of the OS has the right to force its users to upgrade to Windows 10.
Avoid Forced Upgrade from Windows 7, 8 to Windows 10
Ok, so that rant took a bit of our time. The good news is that you can fix forced to upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and avoid it. With just a couple of changes in the Settings, you can easily circumvent the Windows 10 forced upgrade. I will talk about these methods for both Windows 7 and Windows 8. Just get started.
In Windows 7
Launch Control Panel in your Windows 7 and then head over to System and Security and then click on Open up Windows Update. Click on the “Change settings” option from the left options pane as shown in the image below.
Now just uncheck the selection box for “Recommended” updates. This avoids the installation of updates that are queued under the recommended section. This will stop Windows 7 or Windows 8 from upgrading to Windows 10 as Windows 10 is a highly recommended system-wide upgrade. Just click on “OK” after changing the settings.
In Windows 8, 8.1
In Windows 8, the process is almost the same. Just move over to the Windows update section in the Control Panel and uncheck the box for recommended updates and then click on “OK” button.
You can also do this by going to the “Settings” application of your Windows 8. Just open settings by searching “Settings” and go to Update and recovery > Windows update and select Choose how updates get installed.
You will see the “Recommended” box here as well. You just have to untick this box.
This is how to stop Windows 7 and Windows 8, 8.1 from upgrading to Windows 10 automatically without your permission. Despite of the fact that Microsoft is nudging you to make an upgrade, you can avoid Windows 10 update or upgrade using the above methods. You might keep seeing the dialog box for the Windows 10 upgrade, but in no way you will end up seeing Windows 10 being installed on your PC automatically if you apply the above methods. Still, if you face any problem, shoot us a message in the comments below with the details of the hiccups and we will get back to you with an optimal solution.