New 'Get Windows 10' nag screen arrives in Windows 7

When it was revealed a week ago that Microsoft would once again start nagging Windows 7 users into upgrading to Windows 10, there was a collective sigh of annoyance from devotees of the older OS who have lived through this sort of thing before.

This time though, Microsoft appears to have learned its lesson. Not only does the software giant have a valid reason for the popup notifications -- Windows 7 is nearing the end of its life -- but these alerts are optional, and gentler -- there’s no being tricked into upgrading to Windows 10 this time around (at least not yet).

The notification is arriving on Windows 7 machines in the form of KB 4493132, a patch Microsoft has labelled as optional in Windows Update.

There isn’t much documentation regarding it. The KB article says simply:

After 10 years of servicing, January 14, 2020, is the last day Microsoft will offer security updates for computers running Windows 7 SP1. This update enables reminders about Windows 7 end of support. More information about Windows 7 end of support can be found here.

This update is available through Windows Update. If automatic updates are enabled, this update will be downloaded and installed automatically. For more information about how to turn on automatic updating, see Windows Update: FAQ.

Despite what the last paragraph says, so far the update isn't being downloaded and installed automatically, at least not so far as we're aware.

The original GWX nag screen was a nightmare that proved very hard to kill. This time though, Microsoft says you’ll be able to turn it off, and it will stay off. Obviously it remains to be seen if this is true, or if it continues to be the case, but we can but hope.

Have you encountered the new update notification screen yet?

Photo Credit: pathdoc/Shutterstock