If you didn’t want to make the jump to Windows 10 from an earlier version of the operating system, then Microsoft may have partially pushed you into doing so anyway without you ever knowing.
It has been revealed this week that Windows 10 has attempted to install itself onto many users’ computers, regardless of them not giving Microsoft explicit permission for it to do so. This fault, reported by Forbes, has seen users prompted to restart their computer only to find Windows 10 installing itself on reboot, with some even finding their update history littered with the operating system’s attempts to install itself onto their PC.
Microsoft claimed that this was a result of a bug related to the automatic updates it rolled out to Windows 7 and Windows 8 users in August, though the company did not disclose which update they were referring to. However, they did state that it was related to the error code ‘0×80240020’, which is found in the log files when these failed installation attempts occur.
But despite Microsoft’s claims that they are not attempting to enforce Windows 10 upon users, many are dubious of these claims and believe that this issue is not a result of a bug at all, but rather a quiet attempt from Microsoft to move many to their latest OS under the guise of a fault with their automatic updates system. While it would seem unlikely that Microsoft would risk such a public backlash by pretty much forcing them to make the upgrade, in October the company were forced to apologize for another incident in which the tick to upgrade PCs to the new OS was automatically checked.
As Forbes reports, Microsoft will move Windows 10 to a ‘Recommended’ status next year, meaning it will be automatically installed for users who have the default update setting. With Microsoft aiming to get the OS to one billion PCs within two years, and the figure sitting at around the 110 million mark as of last month, the company won’t want to raise suspicions by enforcing the download of the new OS for users who have not given them permission to do so. Microsoft have now claimed that the bug has been fixed, and that users will no longer experience such silent attempts at self-installation from Windows 10 in the future.
