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Three Illustrated Methods to Block Windows 10 Upgrade Prompts on Windows 7/8.1

Microsoft began pushing the Windows 10 upgrade as early as June 2015, primarily via the "Get Windows 10" tool. When the new system was officially launched on July 29, many Windows 7 and 8.1 users upgraded for free. However, some users encountered serious issues during or after the upgrade and reverted to their original systems, while others remain undecided and have chosen not to upgrade for the time being.

Despite this, Microsoft's upgrade notifications persist. Whether you plan to upgrade or not, the white Microsoft logo in the bottom-right notification area stays there, unyielding and uncloseable. While there are unofficial ways to disable it—such as uninstalling specific patches or editing the registry—Microsoft has now released an official guide on its support page detailing how to turn off these upgrade notifications. Here are three methods you can try:


1. Disabling via Group Policy

This method is suitable for advanced versions of Windows 7/8.1 (not compatible with Windows 7 Home or Windows 8.1 Standard). Follow these steps:

  1. Press Win+R to open the "Run" dialog box, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter to access the Group Policy Editor.

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  1. Navigate to: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Update Locate Turn off the upgrade to the latest version of Windows through Windows Update on the right-hand side and double-click it.

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  1. In the new window, select Enabled, then click OK.

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After this, the Windows 10 upgrade prompts will be disabled. If you later decide to upgrade to Windows 10, you’ll need to manually enable the upgrade prompt in Group Policy or update manually.


2. Disabling via the Registry

This method works for all versions of Windows 7 and 8.1. Before making any changes, it’s recommended to back up your registry (you can use third-party tools like Wise Registry Cleaner for this).

Steps to modify the registry:

  1. Open the "Run" dialog box by pressing Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
  3. Find the entry DisableOSUpgrade on the right-hand side, double-click it, and change its value data to 1, then click OK.

This has the same effect as the Group Policy method but works universally across all versions of Windows 7 and 8.1.


3. Disabling "Get Windows 10" Notifications

Aside from stopping the upgrade prompts, you can also permanently disable the "Get Windows 10" notifications. This is another registry-based solution, so backing up your registry is advised before proceeding.

Steps to disable the notifications:

  1. Open the "Run" dialog box by pressing Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.

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  1. Navigate to: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade
  2. Find the entry ReservationsAllowed

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Double-click it, and change its value data to 0, then click OK. (If the upgrade feature is already disabled, this value will default to 0.)


Conclusion

After implementing these changes, both the Windows 10 upgrade prompts and notifications will be fully disabled. These methods are particularly helpful for users who don’t wish to upgrade or be disturbed by constant reminders.

However, these solutions may seem complicated for average users. A more convenient approach would be if Microsoft offered a simple toggle in the "Get Windows 10" interface to disable the upgrade prompts. Unfortunately, such an option might conflict with Microsoft's efforts to promote Windows 10 adoption, making these methods a compromise.

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