Windows 10 Starts Forcibly Installing Itself On Older PCs

Microsoft’s drive to get Windows 10 installed on a billion devices seems to have taken a more forceful strategy, with users reporting the software has been downloading and installing itself onto their PCs.

Windows 10 has now been upgraded from an optional update to a “recommended” one, as the company looks to continue the rollout of its newest version.

This means that if any current Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 users who have automatic updates enabled on your Windows PC, it will automatically begin downloading Windows 10 in the background, then prompting to begin the installation, which is several gigabytes in size.

Updates

Users will still need to click to confirm the installation, however, and Microsoft says that users will have the option of returning to their original version up to 31 days afterwards. They will also be able to manually block the update from downloading, but this will need to be done within the Windows Update service over the coming few days.

The new alerts will only be displayed to consumers, not business users, but that’s not to say the latter have been forgotten by Microsoft. The upgrade programme is crucial to achieving Microsoft’s ambition of getting Windows 10 running on one billion devices, including PCs, smartphones tablet and IoT units.

Earlier this month, the company said it would begin rolling out the ‘Get Windows 10 app’ to small businesses running Windows 7 and 8, urging them to upgrade.

A recent TechWeekEurope poll showed that 75 percent of readers plan to download Windows 10, which has been greeted by a strong critical response.

The first major update to Windows 10 was released last week, providing a wide range of user interface and software improvements, including updates to some of the most popular apps such as Messaging and Skype.

It also included the option of coloured title bars for desktop apps, improved context menus, and an extra column of Live Tiles for the Start menu.

The company has also signed a deal with leading chipmakers, including Intel, AMD and Qualcomm, to ensure that only devices with the most up to date silicon support the latest Windows software.

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