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Some users of Windows 7 are reporting that Windows 10 is automatically installing on their systems without asking for permission.
A host of users have taken to social media and forum sites such as Reddit to complain about the issue, which in some cases has caused computers to crash, or begun downloading in the middle of a crucial task.
One of the first reports of the incident came on Reddit, when user LHoT10820 posted a warning that the forced update had “bricked” his father’s computer.
Since then the post has received several thousand comments from users reporting similar incidents of their own.
User Geekygirlhere said: “Yep this happened to me this morning. Working and all of a sudden Windows closed all my programs, logged me out and started the upgrade. I quickly shut down my computer and was able to stop it but my son wasn’t so lucky. Same thing happened to him today.”
Microsoft has insisted however that the software will not automatically install without first asking for permission.
However, personal settings can play a part in the ‘forced’ update occurring. Microsoft recently changed the status of the Windows 10 upgrade from ‘optional’ to ‘recommended’. This means that if a user has the “install all recommended updates” feature activated in Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, Windows 10 will automatically download to a user’s computer.
Microsoft maintained that reports of forced updates were inaccurate, and that if apparently unexpected upgrades were taking place, it could be because users had scheduled a time for the update and simply forgotten about it.
The technology giant has previously expressed a desire to have one billion devices running Windows 10 within two years of its launch, having reached around 200 million by the end of 2015.
