What did windows just try to do to me ????

[MathWizard]

My PC was acting a little slow and it said win10 needed updates so eventually I restarted w/ the updates..........and I think it tried to install windows 11, with a bunch of things asking for a cell phone, or IDK, other stuff, I don't even own, like a cell phone, I don't need 1.

And after looking at this windows login /re-install/type screen for a while, I just turned off my PC. The restarted, and wow....Bill Gates,m let me go back to normal windows 10, no cell phone # required, no vaccine, no eugenics

I must prepare fresh Linux install. This is Saturday night, I don't want to have Bill Gates interrupt my BF1/4 gaming.

I can even see old Bill's POV, and thank him for the many great things windows has given me over the years, yes thanks BillG

[IanB]

Are you sure you don't have a virus or malware?

[bdunham7]

Mine did the same--they are getting more and more insistent that you have a Microsoft account.

Yes, it is malware.  Unfortunately it is malware that is part of Windows and distributed by Microsoft.

[Ian.M]

Ah, the joys of Microsoft's  Win10 OOBE (Out Of Box Experience)

Sometimes when Win10 does a feature update it re-runs the OOBE  'Privacy Settings Experience', presumably because it needs your permission to harvest even more data. 

That's not the worst it can do: Under certain circumstances OOBE can lock up after opening a fullscreen blank black window, which is always on top so you cant switch to another task or even use task manager to close it, leaving you FUBARed unless you've either got a local admin user account on the box that doesn't need to run OOBE, so you can run task manager from that to kill the OOBE task, or if you reboot in safe mode to disable OOBE. 

To disable OOBE  'Privacy Settings Experience', see https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/118840-enable-disable-privacy-settings-experience-sign-windows-10-a.html

[Alex Eisenhut]

Probably trying to push MS Teams on you. On Windows 7 there is a utility to prevent the "get Windows X" upgrade process from running.

There doesn't seem to be one for preventing Win 11 on Win 10, but:

https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/block_windows_11.html

[eti]

Golly, it’s the anti-Microsoft brigade - how very  1996 😁

Will you also go and purchase a “Linux users starter kit”, replete with Tux mug and biro? Heheh. 

[magic]

I abandoned the sinking ship when Micro$0ft started shipping DRM in default installation and locking down the OS so the users won't bypass it too easily.

That already made it clear what their proiritie$ are, although it would be a huge lie to say that back then I could see things becoming so bad in less than two decades. To some extent you can surely thank Apple and Google for that

[Ranayna]

Turn off your TPM in the BIOS/UEFI and no automatic upgrade to Windows 11 should be offered.
One advantage of Microsofts stringend system requirements

If you have a Home Edition running, you will need a Micosoft Account to use Windows 11. There is no way to bypass that anymore.

[amyk]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/09/misbehaving-microsoft-teams-ad-brings-down-the-entire-windows-11-desktop/

No amount of "security" FUD is going to make me "upgrade" to that shit.

[eti]

Oh no, the hardcore Stallman groupies are in town. 🤦‍♂️🤣

By the way, I’ve watched more RMS lectures than most sane people, and have used GNU/Linux distros as my sole OS for a few years now, and have used it on and off (A LOT) since 2002. I don’t spell “Windows” in a childish “we the underdogs!” way, I don’t walk around trying to “convert” people or tell them how “evil” Microsoft are, because they’re not - THEY ARE A BUSINESS, and they make tools. I just happen to not need their tools as much as I need my choice of OS.

I DO use Windows, and I also happen to use doors and gates, sometimes even an elevator. I use what gets the job done, and since I’m pretty nifty in bash, that keeps me here. And yeah, I’ve used the Linux subsystem for Windows for years, and know it exists. Couldn’t care less - it’s great - but I don’t need it. I also use macOS and Chrome OS. on and off.

Wake up and understand this - a screwdriver is a tool, so is a mallet. I can’t undo screws with a mallet, and I can’t effectively hammer wood with a screwdriver. Who cares? Activists, and they squander their entire existence on these empty “causes”.

[PlainName]

I can’t undo screws with a mallet

A good reason why Linux isn't a solution. Does any Linux app replicate the functionality of Listary? Dopus? Those and 215 other applications, which cost an investment fortune overall, are why I remain with Windows 7. Switching to Linux would be like using a flathead screwdriver on PH2s.

[bd139]

Lots of people here jumping round the monolith like some monkeys.

Please attempt to understand what happened instead of trying to murder it.

You got a Windows 10 major version upgrade via windows update and it ran you through some OOBE questions. That is all.

For the other folk Windows did an: apt dist-upgrade. That is all.

[eti]

Ah this made me laugh hard, and I never knew it existed until now! 

[Alex Eisenhut]

For the other folk Windows did an: apt dist-upgrade. That is all.

Who typed that command and pressed enter?

[David Hess]

Are they pushing Windows 11 through updates?  I have not seen that yet but my new systems do not support it.

[rsjsouza]

For the other folk Windows did an: apt dist-upgrade. That is all.

Who typed that command and pressed enter?

Myself. Many times. In quite a few machines. Since Ubuntu 12.04. No significant flops (from 14.04 to 16.04 I had an issue with Wifi on a laptop).

[bd139]

Are they pushing Windows 11 through updates?  I have not seen that yet but my new systems do not support it.

No. It will ask.

[james_s]

Are they pushing Windows 11 through updates?  I have not seen that yet but my new systems do not support it.

Well they pushed Win10 "upgrade" though updates, they got more and more desperate and started getting more and more aggressive. Two different friends of mine had Win10 foisted on them because they had Windows 7 set to automatically install recommended updates.

And people wonder why I've had Windows Update turned off for years, frankly I trust MS about as much as I trust random malware creators, and why not, they've been using the same tactics.

[bd139]

You can block 11 if you want 

https://bgr.com/tech/how-to-block-the-windows-11-update-from-being-installed-on-your-pc/

[james_s]

I don't need to block it, I'm still on Win7 and I don't think they'll try to update that to 11. I'll transition over to Linux at the point that 7 is no longer viable. My laptop is the only Windows machine I still use, all of my secondary stuff has been Linux for several years. There is very, very little I do anymore that needs Windows and Microsoft has done virtually everything in their power to drive me away, I was once a big fan of the company and many of their products.

[Simon]

My computer now randomly crashes, I have downloaded ubuntu and will be giving it a more serious try than ever. I am sick of random stuff that worked fine breaking right when i need it.

[bd139]

You’ll love Ubuntu then.

I had to dump it because the Radeon drivers kept shitting a brick.

[voltsandjolts]

You’ll love Ubuntu then.

Yeh, impatience and linux don't mix well.
Don't get me wrong, linux provides a great technical computing environment, sometimes not the best experience though.
Just relax and enjoy the learning curve.

[Simon]

that is what worries me and why I have had several failed attempts already. Indeed my issue on windows right now I think is graphics related.

[bd139]

You’ll love Ubuntu then.

Yeh, impatience and linux don't mix well.
Don't get me wrong, linux provides a great technical computing environment, sometimes not the best experience though.
Just relax and enjoy the learning curve.

As always you're trading one set of problems for another.

It's not some magical place where things are amazing. It's trading corporate cost cutting and disarray (Microsoft) for a different kind of lack of attention and quality. Even the most robust and well tested distributions (RHEL) have problems after armies of people have actually been employed to patch out all the icky bits.

The key thing when being told that something is amazing is that the person telling it to you has to justify their usage and thus misrepresents the actual scale of the problems.

"Yes Linux really rocks, but I have to use the cranky desktop PC I bought 5 years ago because it doesn't work with my Intel B560 chipset yet"

"Yes Linux really rocks, but I can't open these photos I took 11 years ago because some idiot who wrote the libexif library doesn't understand memory management and my image viewer dumps core every time I open it"

"Yes Linux really rocks, apart from the 11 hours I spent recovering a hosed mdraid node with systemd and grub throwing cricket balls at your dick at every turn"

etc etc

Never change for the sake of the old thing being bad. Only change if it gives you an advantage or capability.