Beware of Microsoft’s free Windows 10 upgrade advert in the task bar

Windows10 Toolbar AdWare Icon

Microsoft is adding a little “AdWare” icon to the toolbar of Windows PCs:
It’s all very well letting people know they may be able to get a free upgrade to Windows 10, but beware clicking on “Reserve your free upgrade now” – you may well end up getting a large download next month, followed by a prompted automatic upgrade.

Such updates do not always go well, so it’s best to check for the possible consequences and pitfalls:

Window shown if you click on the Windows 10 Upgrade icon in the task bar

Click the three bars to left to reveal the menu

Choose Check Your PC to see if any hardware is incompatible

Choose Check Your PC to see if any software will have to be uninstalled

Choose Check Your PC to see if any software is incompatible

So don’t choose “Reserve your upgrade” unless you are really sure.

If you’ve already been tempted and want to back out for now then follow these instructions (posted on www.ghacks.net):

In order to cancel, do the following:

1. Right click on the Get Windows 10 App or Windows icon located in right end of the taskbar.

2. Select “Check your upgrade status”

3. in the upper left corner, click the menu button (looks like 3 horizontal bars), and choose ‘View Confirmation’

4. click ‘cancel reservation’

5. answer about 15 or so ‘are you sure? REALLY sure? Seriously? you want to cancel?” prompts