Trouble with GWX Control Panel Part 2

Part 1 -See Message 1773464 - Posted: 23 Mar 2016, 14:10:44 UTC

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-[ snip ]-

What OTHER reasonable explanation is there for what I experienced with GWX? Maybe the .exe version is the culprit? Perhaps if I used the "install" version none of this would have happened? Thoughts anyone? How many of you used the .exe version as I did? I'm dismayed at not being able to protect myself from Win 10 by using GWX, but, in my experience, using it's like "throwing the baby out with the bath water." :(

Greetings Linda,

I have Win7 Pro 64bit. I downloaded the .exe version of GWX Control Panel. I installed it using that file. I have a GWX icon on my desktop and M$ Control Panel lists GWX Control Panel in Uninstall a program. GWX runs at startup and I have an icon on my icon tray.

I have never and will never use McAfee. Recently I read something about it and it was recommended that it not be used. I cannot remember where I read it or why the recommendation, just that I did read about it. It was when I was trying to figure out a BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) problem I have been having (not related to GWX Control Panel).

I believe the first thing you should do is check Windows Control Panel to see if GWX can be uninstalled there. If not, I haven't a clue where to go next. But, if you can, try uninstalling GWX and reinstalling to see if it gets fixed, that is if that is the problem. As I said I'm running the same OS and am having no problems with it. Others here may know more about it. I believe GWX is very beneficial to those of us not wanting Window$ 10.

Keep on BOINCing...! :)

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CAPT Siran d'Vel'nahr - L L & P _\\//
Winders 11 OS? "What a piece of junk!" - L. Skywalker
"Logic is the cement of our civilization with which we ascend from chaos using reason as our guide." - T'Plana-hath

Our least favorite update is back once again for the 11th time.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/microsoft-updates-infamous-get-windows-10-patch-kb3035583-502117.shtml

And I also had the windows 10 install folder downloaded to my machine without my permission.

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It was just a coincidence and absolutely not related to GWX control panel. Pinning a program to something does never start it.

I concur 100%, GWX has worked flawlessly on both of my rigs(Win 8.1)from early January. Another possibility is that Linda's machine had a corrupted file issue(which can be caused by numerous things some say including cosmic rays!). I have had similar issues in the past on Win7 systems, and once had to do a destructive restore to correct the issue.

I would suggest shutting down each night and a full 'cold boot' each morning. This allows the O$ to (in most cases) discard and replace, or at least warn the operator of a problem. The other advantage of daily boot up is you stand a lot better chance of not losing unsaved work if there is a problem.

Unpinning an app does not disengage the program, it only removes the icon from the desktop or task bar. The reason the icon re-appeared was that was the condition of the display on the date Linda chose for the restore rollback.

Occam's razor........if the app worked for many days without a problem then it probably didn't suddenly cause havoc. There most assuredly is another problem that caused the crash.

As I've posted before, I run 3 anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-conscription programs to prevent such occurrences, Norton, Malwarebytes, and Winpatrol concurrently(under the premise that very little will get by all monitors). I also periodically run Spybot Search and Destroy scans to make sure nothing got through(this program should only be run by a knowledgeable user as it can damage your registry if you remove something vital in error).

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"Sour Grapes make a bitter Whine." <(0)>

Hi Linda,

You have had all sorts of problems.
I would STRONGLY recommend to run SFC /scannow on an admin command prompt.

This will test the integrity of your OS.

If you do not do that, all your messing about, trying to fix new issues are likely to cause even more problems.

It is up to you.

Hi Linda,

You have had all sorts of problems.
I would STRONGLY recommend to run SFC /scannow on an admin command prompt.

This will test the integrity of your OS.

If you do not do that, all your messing about, trying to fix new issues are likely to cause even more problems.

It is up to you.

Thank you, and ALL the kind gentlemen before you for help!

I did the SFC /scannow as you suggested and am pasting the final result below. The scan DID find some problems but I'm clueless as to what they are? All my stuff seems to be working OK. I opened the "CBS" file referred to in the scan output but it looks like a dictionary written in chinese! Why can't they just say 'this is good' and 'this is bad?' Why does the output data HAVE to be written in gobble-de-gook like some of the old DOS cmnds? :) I have the CBS file but see no way to 'attach' it here.

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River Song (aka Linda Latte on planet Earth)
"Happy I-Phone girl on the GO GO GO"

Message 1773706 - Posted: 24 Mar 2016, 14:40:24 UTC by JaundicedEye

It was just a coincidence and absolutely not related to GWX control panel. Pinning a program to something does never start it.

I did not KNOW that. I thought anything on the right-side, in the Start Menu, was something that started on a boot.

I concur 100%, GWX has worked flawlessly on both of my rigs(Win 8.1)from early January. Another possibility is that Linda's machine had a corrupted file issue(which can be caused by numerous things some say including cosmic rays!). I have had similar issues in the past on Win7 systems, and once had to do a destructive restore to correct the issue.

I have been careful to wear a motorcycle helemt covered in tin foil to protect me from cosmic rays! I'm glad GWX has been problem-free on Win 8.1. Perhaps THAT is the OS the GWX programmer used? :)

I would suggest shutting down each night and a full 'cold boot' each morning. This allows the O$ to (in most cases) discard and replace, or at least warn the operator of a problem. The other advantage of daily boot up is you stand a lot better chance of not losing unsaved work if there is a problem.

I would lose SETI time doing that. As a compromise, maybe I'll re-boot weekly instead of letting my PC run 24/7 month after month? :)


Unpinning an app does not disengage the program, it only removes the icon from the desktop or task bar. The reason the icon re-appeared was that was the condition of the display on the date Linda chose for the restore rollback.

Hmmmm. My rollback date was 3/12. I didn't install GWX till 3/13? So, is that still possible?

Occam's razor........if the app worked for many days without a problem then it probably didn't suddenly cause havoc. There most assuredly is another problem that caused the crash.


Ahhhhhhhhhhh, not quite correct. Yesterday was the first day my PC was automatically re-booted during the night by either MalwareBytes or McAfee. This was because one of them found something naughty. My problems with GWX only occurred after a re-boot. Either one by me or my anti-virus. However, I don't dismiss the possibility of another problem, just the timing.

As I've posted before, I run 3 anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-conscription programs to prevent such occurrences, Norton, Malwarebytes, and Winpatrol concurrently(under the premise that very little will get by all monitors).


I do the SAME as you. But, years back, I dumped Norton because, when I used it, it ran about 13 different files concurrently. I just wanted an anti-virus program, not it, and all its relatives. :) Malware Bytes is SUPER! I use McAfee as it is "quiet." It just runs and does its thing, and never clutters my screen daily as did Avast. They used to send out "emergency updates" weekly. One of their competitors imitated them once with a phony "emergency update." I fell for it as it looked so authentic. THAT phony update DESTROYED 2 of my Win xP computers. :)

Thank you for your kind help and thoughtful suggestions!

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River Song (aka Linda Latte on planet Earth)
"Happy I-Phone girl on the GO GO GO"

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/947821#bookmark-manual%20fix

Please follow the instructions.
Your system is windows 7 64bit sp1.

If you have any questions, please ask.

If anyone has an easier solution, please post.

(i have win 8.1, so i could just use the DISM command)

Once you get your issues resolved, open GWX Control Panel & click on the bottom left tab to enable the monitor. That will palce the "10" icon on your right side of your taskbar & will detect any Windows 10 files installed.



Once that is enabled, any Win 10 files installed, it will give you a notification, then all you have to do is to use GWX & click on Delete Win 10 programs.

It deleted this earlier...



..the dreaded 3035583 update :-)

Also by enabling monitor mode, it will always start up on reboot.

Trouble with GWX Control Panel Part 2

Part 1 -See Message 1773464 - Posted: 23 Mar 2016, 14:10:44 UTC

===========================

-[ snip ]-

What OTHER reasonable explanation is there for what I experienced with GWX? Maybe the .exe version is the culprit? Perhaps if I used the "install" version none of this would have happened? Thoughts anyone? How many of you used the .exe version as I did? I'm dismayed at not being able to protect myself from Win 10 by using GWX, but, in my experience, using it's like "throwing the baby out with the bath water." :(

Greetings Linda,

I have Win7 Pro 64bit. I downloaded the .exe version of GWX Control Panel. I installed it using that file. I have a GWX icon on my desktop and M$ Control Panel lists GWX Control Panel in Uninstall a program. GWX runs at startup and I have an icon on my icon tray.

I have never and will never use McAfee. Recently I read something about it and it was recommended that it not be used. I cannot remember where I read it or why the recommendation, just that I did read about it. It was when I was trying to figure out a BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) problem I have been having (not related to GWX Control Panel).

I believe the first thing you should do is check Windows Control Panel to see if GWX can be uninstalled there. If not, I haven't a clue where to go next. But, if you can, try uninstalling GWX and reinstalling to see if it gets fixed, that is if that is the problem. As I said I'm running the same OS and am having no problems with it. Others here may know more about it. I believe GWX is very beneficial to those of us not wanting Window$ 10.

Keep on BOINCing...! :)

I never GOT a GWX icon? How did you get yours? All I got was a big screen box telling me to 'run' it. I even looked for the .exe in both my download folders and could not find it. I was going to right-click it and create a shortcut on the desktop.

I am used to answering a question like "run at Startup" with new programs. GWX said nothing about that.

I've heard the same thing about McAfee somewhere, but love it as it is QUIET. I don't get a dozen "important msgs" and "run this" offers as I did with Avast.

GWX is GONE from my PC, thanks to the 'restore' to the day prior to my installing it.

I just MAY try downloading again, but am leery about the .exe version. Maybe the 'install' version WILL give me a screen icon?

Below is the GWX screen when I was running it. I think the settings are fine?

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River Song (aka Linda Latte on planet Earth)
"Happy I-Phone girl on the GO GO GO"

Trouble with GWX Control Panel Part 2

Part 1 -See Message 1773464 - Posted: 23 Mar 2016, 14:10:44 UTC

===========================

-[ snip ]-

What OTHER reasonable explanation is there for what I experienced with GWX? Maybe the .exe version is the culprit? Perhaps if I used the "install" version none of this would have happened? Thoughts anyone? How many of you used the .exe version as I did? I'm dismayed at not being able to protect myself from Win 10 by using GWX, but, in my experience, using it's like "throwing the baby out with the bath water." :(

Greetings Linda,

I have Win7 Pro 64bit. I downloaded the .exe version of GWX Control Panel. I installed it using that file. I have a GWX icon on my desktop and M$ Control Panel lists GWX Control Panel in Uninstall a program. GWX runs at startup and I have an icon on my icon tray.

I have never and will never use McAfee. Recently I read something about it and it was recommended that it not be used. I cannot remember where I read it or why the recommendation, just that I did read about it. It was when I was trying to figure out a BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) problem I have been having (not related to GWX Control Panel).

I believe the first thing you should do is check Windows Control Panel to see if GWX can be uninstalled there. If not, I haven't a clue where to go next. But, if you can, try uninstalling GWX and reinstalling to see if it gets fixed, that is if that is the problem. As I said I'm running the same OS and am having no problems with it. Others here may know more about it. I believe GWX is very beneficial to those of us not wanting Window$ 10.

Keep on BOINCing...! :)

I never GOT a GWX icon? How did you get yours? All I got was a big screen box telling me to 'run' it. I even looked for the .exe in both my download folders and could not find it. I was going to right-click it and create a shortcut on the desktop.

I am used to answering a question like "run at Startup" with new programs. GWX said nothing about that.

I've heard the same thing about McAfee somewhere, but love it as it is QUIET. I don't get a dozen "important msgs" and "run this" offers as I did with Avast.

GWX is GONE from my PC, thanks to the 'restore' to the day prior to my installing it.

I just MAY try downloading again, but am leery about the .exe version. Maybe the 'install' version WILL give me a screen icon?

Below is the GWX screen when I was running it. I think the settings are fine?

---

River Song (aka Linda Latte on planet Earth)
"Happy I-Phone girl on the GO GO GO"

Test Post

Please forgive, but I haven't seen anything new since my last post on the 24th, and that is unusual. Just trying this to see if my thread subscription is 'messed' up?

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River Song (aka Linda Latte on planet Earth)
"Happy I-Phone girl on the GO GO GO"

For users of GWX Control Panel, it has just been updated.

An item from the revision history:

"You can now block the Microsoft Get Windows 10 icon app even if it isn't currently installed. Previous versions of the program disabled the "Disable Get Windows 10 App" button if the app couldn't be found. But now you can preemptively disable it in the event that the KB3035583 patch gets installed on your PC subsequent to running GWX Control Panel. The text changes to "Prevent Get Windows 10 app" in this case."

The download is here.

Never 10 also got an update today.

The name “Never 10” is a bit of an overstatement, since this utility may also be used to easily re-enable Windows operating system automatic upgrading. But the primary reason for using this is to disable Windows' pestering insistence upon upgrading Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10.

Many users of Windows 7 and 8.1 are happy with their current version of Windows, and have no wish to upgrade to Windows 10. There are many reasons for this, but among them is the fact that Windows 10 has become controversial due to Microsoft's evolution of their Windows operating system platform into a service which, among other things, aggressively monitors and reports on its users activities. This alone makes many users uncomfortable enough to cause them to choose to wait. In line with this, a few months into 2016, Windows 10 started displaying unsolicited advertisements on its users' desktops. Others dislike the changes Microsoft made by merging their failed “tiled” smartphone user-interface into the Windows UI. And, finally, some object to being force-fed whatever Microsoft wants and simply wish to choose for themselves.

In July of 2015, responding to the significant user backlash, Microsoft added features to its Windows Update facility which allow it to be configured, on a machine-by-machine basis, to not forcibly upgrade qualifying Windows 7 and 8.1 operating systems to Windows 10. However, Microsoft did not make this configuration simple. It requires the use of the group policy editor (which is not present in some qualifying systems) and/or the system registry. In other words, they created some deep internal configuration options but chose not to provide a simple user-interface to give their users the choice. “Never10” provides that choice.

The elegance of this “Never 10” utility, is that it does not install ANY software of its own. It simply and quickly performs the required system editing for its user.

If the system being configured has a version of Windows Update which is older than the required July 2015 release—which would mean that the required “upgrade disable” options are not yet present—this utility will notify its user (see the sample display screens above) and offer to download and install the required update to Windows Update so that Windows can then be configured not to upgrade itself to Windows 10.

Since this utility simply updates and/or configures the system to prevent or allow, OS upgrading, it may be deleted after it has configured the system appropriately.

Using this utility, inexperienced users will be able to easily use Never10 themselves, while advanced users will likely appreciate that fact that no additional software is installed and will be able to refer friends and family, whom they support, to this easy-to-use utility.

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Never 10 also got an update today.

That should be added to this list.

Here is an article:
Never 10: prevent upgrades to Windows 10

Some more useful info in the event you succumb to upgrade mania. Another issue of Win10 that is ripe for clarification from MS.
Report: Windows 10 upgrade may turn retail OS into OEM version

Windows 10's Anniversary Update Is Coming This Summer

This summer, Microsoft will release a major update to Windows 10 that’s being affectionately called the Anniversary Update.

Fingerprint support is all the rage these days, but mostly on mobile devices. Microsoft got into the game in Windows 10 with Windows Hello, which allows you to use your fingerprint to log into your devices. Now, Windows 10 will allow developers to integrate that same authentication in their own apps and websites. If a developer supports Windows Hello (and if your device has a fingerprint scanner), you’ll be able to login to your email, Microsoft account, or other web service without entering a password and just by using a supported fingerprint reader.

Half the problem with styluses on computers is the lack of software that supports them. In the Anniversary Update, Windows 10 will get more support for pen tools. Microsoft’s new Ink Workspace will let you create sketches, write sticky notes, annotate screenshots, and find pen-enabled apps.

Microsoft is also offering new APIs for developers to add pen-related features to their apps. One of the most interesting is a virtual ruler that users can rotate and move around freely to make drawing on-screen easier, and some auto-alignment and adjustment tools to make everything from highlighting text fall into place to drawing charts neat and tidy. Any lines drawn along the edge of the ruler will be kept perfectly straight.

Users of Unix-style operating systems like Linux and OS X are probably familiar with the Bash shell—it rules your command-line life. Now, Microsoft has partnered with Canonical—the company that maintains Ubuntu—to bring the Bash shell to Windows. For developers, tweakers, and people who use multiple platforms, this is huge. Now, you can use the same commands that you’re familiar with on OS X and Linux distros inside Windows, and that includes everything from file management to app development and installation.

This also opens up fans of the command line to a whole host of new tricks that aren’t available in the DOS-style command line. Microsoft points out that this isn’t an emulator or virtualized app, but Bash is running natively directly in Windows.

The company also introduced tools that let developers build powerful chat bots.

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The company also introduced tools that let developers build powerful chat bots.

And we all know what happened to Tay, don't we?

At least when the next ransomware hits the streets it talks to you through Cortana. Or something like that.

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Windows 10's Anniversary Update Is Coming This Summer

Another coat of lipstick on the pig...........it's still a pig.

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"Sour Grapes make a bitter Whine." <(0)>

Windows 10's Anniversary Update Is Coming This Summer

On the page linked above, take a look at the graph titled,"The fastest Windows adoption - ever." What a sham. It's pure, unexpurgated BS. MS would have you believe that the Win10 installations were based on choice. How much of that graph is due to the OS being foisted on users?

Excerpted from here.
"What’s more, the figure isn’t exclusive to Windows 10 PCs as it includes smartphones, tablets and Xbox One consoles that are running the new OS."
Notice how there is no asterisk on that graph to indicate this.

ALSO:
It's not enough that MS has a proven history of collecting info on users of its OSes, and it's not enough that it redefined that collecting with Win10's spying (ie Telemetry), but now it wants your trust with your fingerprint?!?
Take a look here before you grant that trust.
There are other methods of security. Here's one.

On the page linked above, take a look at the graph titled,"The fastest Windows adoption - ever." What a sham.

It's a nice line drawn by the 7 year old kid of one of the managers, as there's no numbers on the X axis or Y axis, so what does it mean? It's like those infomercials where they have graphs showing this product is better, but they neglect to say better than what or how they come to this conclusion, who they asked etc.

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