Microsoft Finally Issues Update that Removes Despised 'Get Windows 10' App

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 21 Sep 2016

Get Windows 10 (GWX), the app that proved to be more than a little bit annoying, is going away – and this time, for good.

Good riddance, from everyone who didn’t want to switch to Windows 10 and found Microsoft’s insistence very irritating.

Even though the GWX app stopped bothering you once Windows 10 turned 1 year old, it never really went away. It remained installed on your PC (assuming of course that you didn’t get so fed up with it that you removed it yourself).

But now that Microsoft has stopped trying to shove Windows 10 down everyone’s throat, the company has finally issued an update that removes GWX and a few other tools that were meant to get you to upgrade.

Say hello to KB3184143, an optional update for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 that Microsoft just pushed to Windows Update.



Install this update and it will remove any software that is tied to Microsoft’s Windows 10 free upgrade offer that expired on July 29, 2016. This means that the KB3184143 update will get rid of the following:
  • KB3035583 – the infamous update that installed the dreaded GWX app.
  • KB3064683 – update that let you reserve a free Windows 10 upgrade during the Windows 8.1 OOBE (Out-Of-Box Experience) process.
  • KB3072318 – update that let you start an immediate free upgrade to Windows 10 during the Windows 8.1 OOBE process.
  • KB3090045 – update for Windows 7 and 8.1 devices that reserved and are upgrading to Windows 10.
  • KB3123862 – update that helped users learn about Windows 10 or start an upgrade to Windows 10.
  • KB 3173040 – update that brought up a full-screen notification, informing Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8.1 users that the free Windows 10 upgrade offer is about to expire.
  • KB3146449 – update for Internet Explorer 11 that helped users learn about Windows 10 or start an upgrade to Windows 10.

Quick recap

For more than a year, Microsoft’s Get Windows 10 has been a major annoyance. On July 29, 2016, when Windows 10 turned 1, GWX finally gave it a rest and stopped pestering people to upgrade to Windows 10. On September 20, almost two months after the free Windows 10 upgrade offer officially ended, Microsoft pushed an update that removes GWX and other software that’s related to the upgrade offer.


You can still switch to Windows 10… if you want to

So until now, Microsoft pushed Windows 10 on you, and that may have made you reluctant to switch. Now that he free upgrade offer is over, you’re somewhat inclined to finally make the switch. But can you still do that? According to Paul Thurrot, you can. If you do a clean install of Windows 10, you can use your Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 key to activate it.

You’ll need one of these tools to recover the Windows key, in case you forgot or lost it. And you’ll need the Media Creation Tool to download Windows 10.

Alternatively, you could upgrade to Windows 10 for free by saying that you require assistive technologies.



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