The Thamesmead Grump

WINDOWS 10

This post is late - it's like this......................

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to upgrade my Windows 7 operating system to Windows 10. I am always suspicious of these after an upgrade to Lollipop turned my Android tablet into little more than a doorstop with no real chance of restoring it to it's original functionality.

However, reassured by the promise that I could roll back the upgrade to Windows 7 if I didn't like it, I went ahead.

Straight away I could see it was a mistake. My home screen was horribly unsharp and downloading upgrades to the graphics chip and screen drivers did nothing to improve things. Some programs seemed to work okay and other didn't. Open Office documents were virtually unreadable for example. 

As it seemed to affect some systems and not others, I suspect the problem is program compatibility rather than any hardware issue.

Other than that, there doesn't seem to be anything that Windows 10 does that I really need. I don't need constant pop-ups reminding me that Bing should be my browser of choice. I don't need Microsoft telling me what updates I should have without me having any choice in the matter. I really don't want Microsoft to be able to open my email folder and read what's inside. (Yes, they can actually do this).

If you want to plough your way through the 12,000 word service agreement you can read all this yourself but who wants to do that? It's not like you have a choice anyway; you can't download the program without accepting all of them.

The European Digital Rights Organisation describes this document by saying "Microsoft basically grants itself very broad rights to collect everything you do, say and write with and on your devices in order to sell more targeted advertising or to sell your data to third parties."

Microsoft are singing their own praises with claims about how Windows 10 offers the user more control but I already have full control of my computer, how can they offer me more. 

The whole thing seems to be aimed at tablet and smartphone users who mostly don't use Windows operating system anyway.

Anyway, having decided that I don't want Windows 10 thank you, I choose the roll back option. This is when my problems really start. I discover I have a new executable file on my computer. It's called GWX.EXE and it's a nasty bit of malware that, among other things, bombards your desktop with pop up notices telling you how wonderful Windows 10 is. It also completely buggers up the installing of Windows 7 security updates. 

Getting rid of it is not easy; if you look online, you will find a number of websites that will tell you how you can remove this little nasty but it's not easy. Here is one example.

Eventually, my system became completely unusable. Every time I tried to switch on the computer, Windows would load up to the opening screen and then lock. Re-booting would go into repair mode and after about thirty minutes it would tell me that it couldn't repair the problem. Re-booting again would usually clear it but this meant that it was taking up to an hour to start my computer. Eventually I had to do a complete re-install of the operating system which involved having to back up everything important that wasn't already backed up then re-installing it afterwards. 

I have also had to spend the last two days downloading all the security updates and the new service pack. There still seem to be more of them.

The moral is, I think - don't touch Windows 10. Also, if you are getting the annoying pop-up, have a look at the link for how to get rid of it.