Hi Folks!
There’s been a good deal of discussion about Microsoft’s GWX, or Get Windows 10 campaign after Michael Horowitz published an account of what he found running on a computer for a small business he supports. The AskWoody thread about it can be found here.
Amongst all the posts in the thread, one fact seems to be missing: The KB3184143 update that was released via the Windows Update/Microsoft Update mechanism was released as an Optional update, meaning that scores of people never installed it, because they have been told to never install optional updates. Many other folks may have seen or read that it was associated with the GWX campaign (or “mess” if you prefer) and decided to hide it, never bothering to read the entire title or look into what it was all about.
So, for those still wanting to install it and be forever done with the GWX mess, launch Windows Update and let it search for (but not install any) updates. Once it’s showing you the results of its search, click on the “Optional” updates listing to see if KB3184143 shows up in the list. If it does, select it as the only item to download and install. This means also going to the “Important” updates listing and deselecting (removing the check marks from) all the updates you find with check marks on that list. Remember, as of this writing, we’re still at MS-DEFCON 2 so nothing else for January should be installed yet. Once you’ve made sure that KB3184143 is the only thing checked for installation, go ahead and let Windows Update install it and reboot if asked to do so. You should then be all set, and rid of any little pieces of the GWX campaign.
If the above search for KB3184143 doesn’t yield any results, you can go here to download the GWX removal package for your specific installation of Windows 7. Once you’ve downloaded it, just double click on the file to run it. Again, reboot after it’s run its course if you’re asked to do so.
Since I didn’t use the GWX Control Panel myself, I would be more than happy for any AskWoody MVP’s or other knowledgeable folks who’ve been using it to comment on the proper sequence to remove that application from one’s machine: Should it be removed before the “installation” of KB3184143 or after the “installation” of KB3184143? The reason for removal of the GWX Control Panel is simple: After “installing” KB3184143, the GWX Control Panel will no longer be necessary, due to the lack of any files or Task Manager entries associated with the GWX campaign.
I’ve looked all over two computers I have with Win7, and there are no entries in Task Manager relating to GWX, nor have I found any files or folders associated with GWX on either computer. Both have KB3184143 installed back on Sept. 30th, 2016 as an “Optional” update.
How’d I make it through the GWX campaign without using the GWX Control Panel? Easy! About the time the program was released, there were a few articles showing how to alter a few entries in the registry so that you wouldn’t be affected by the GWX campaign. I chose that path because I’m fairly comfortable making registry entry changes as long as I understand their intent and am given specific instructions of exactly which entry (or entries) to modify and exactly what type of data is required by the modification (or modifications).
I made these changes after I’d already gone down some of the GWX path. My original intent was to upgrade both of my Windows 7 computers to Windows 10 after the one year mark from initial release to give MS time to work out the bugs, so I was taking the “upgrade preparation” updates that came out. However, once I saw the extent of the upgrade mess and the constant stream of patches and botched patches and new features that “broke” the Win10 installations on many machines, I decided against upgrading either of my two machines, and to stick with Win7. At that point I made the registry changes that disabled the GWX campaign on both machines, and “installed” KB3184143 very shortly after it became available.
I hope this helps anyone wondering just how to finally eliminate the remnants of GWX from their machine after reading the thread mentioned above in the opening paragraph.
