Most people who were running Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 before Windows 10 was released this past July who didn’t want it removed (and also hid) KB3035583 from their Windows Updates. But, what about people who bought a new Windows 8.1 computer or reinstalled Windows 7/8.1 AFTER Windows 10 was released? I ran into this scenario last week after a couple family members purchased new Windows 8.1 PCs (yes, you can still get Windows 8.1 PC’s) and the machines download and installed KB3035583. I thought this would be a simple fix, remove and hide KB3035583 and all would be well. As it turns out, this is not at all the case. While you can remove KB3035583, it seems it can not be hidden anymore (it does not show up as an available update after uninstalling it and restarting) and it does not remove all the Get Windows 10 (GWX) propaganda (system tray icon, Get Windows 10 app, Get Windows 10 in Windows update).
After some research I found the site A?KVG which has several methods for removing the Get Windows 10 (GWX). I found performing the below steps in order seems to have worked. Note: While I did this twice over the weekend, I can’t recall if at some points a reboot is required, so don’t be surprised if you are prompted to reboot. Also, if you had removed KB3035583 prior to the July 29th release of Windows 10, you should not have any of this crap on your PC.
- Download and install the Take Ownership registry script. You will need this later in order to delete this crap.
- Open the Windows Task Manager and go into processes. Look for GWX.exe and end task. This will stop the Get Windows 10 process so you can later remove it.
- Remove Get Windows 10 from the Task Scheduler. Press WinKey+R then type taskschd.msc in RUN box and press Enter. Navigate to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows > Setup > gwx. Remove all the tasks listed in this sub-key. Note: There is also a GWXTriggers sub-key, but you can not remove those (yet).
- Press WinKey+R then type tasks and press enter. You will get a permissions message, click Continue. This will open the Tasks folder within the /Windows/System32 folder. Navigate down to Microsoft\Windows\Setup. Select the GWX folder and right-click on the folder and select ‘Take ownership’. You should see a command prompt Window pop-up briefly, once the windows has closed you may delete the GWX folder. Now, repeat the process for the GWXTriggers folder as well.
- Now it is time to remove the Get Windows 10 apps Files and Folders. In Windows (File) Explorer go to C:\Windows\System32\ and delete the GWX folder. For those running a 64-bit version of Windows check to see if there is a GWX folder in the C:\Windows\SysWOW64 path as well and remove it too.
- Finally, hide the Optional (as of the this time) Get Windows 10 update in your Windows Updates.
- Reboot the machine. Once you are back to your desktop check the system tray in your taskbar and you should NOT see the ‘Get Windows 10’ icon. Also check in your Windows Update, the ‘ad’ to Get Windows 10 should be gone as well.
