Windows Updates are stuck in a loop and I can’t log in

Windows Update is StuckThis is a fun one!

You try to install some updates to Windows, and your puter reboots. And reboots, and reboots, and reboots…

It seems to get stuck at 35% or some percentage, but then it does nothing.

Restarting your puter doesn’t help, because it just stays at the same point in the update process, forever and ever.

So, how to break the cycle and finish the update? Read on!

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How to disable telemetry and improve your privacy in Windows – again

You may recall a post I made a couple of years ago:

Another privacy fix, this time for Windows 7, 8, and 10

At some point after that a new update was released – and it’s not clear when since the dates on the Windows update web pages don’t seem to correspond to reality.

This new update is the same thing as the Diagnostics Tracking Service you disabled earlier, only that doesn’t matter because they changed the name and enabled it by default. SIGH

Now they call it the “Diagnostics and Telemetry service” on their web site, but it’s listed as Connected User Experiences and Telemetry in Services on your puter.

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Remove the “Choose an operating system” message when starting your computer

Choose an operating systemMany of you have installed Windows 10 on your puters only to discover that every time you boot up, you get a screen that reads: Choose an operating system

Windows 10 will of course be at the top of the list, usually followed by either Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. If you pick Windows 10, it fires up and everything works normally.

Obviously, there is still something wrong: Why is Windows 10 asking if you want to boot your old version of Windows? After all, you upgraded, right?

Fear not! There’s a very easy trick to remove this boot menu – and it works for all flavors and versions of Windows all the way back to Vista at least…

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Make the Windows 10 Upgrade Notification go away

Kill the Get Windows 10 (GWX) NotificationsYou’ve got Windows 7 or Windows 8, and you’ve decided not to upgrade to Windows 10.

Carry on, then!

If you have Windows 7, you will still get security updates until 2020. If you have Windows 8.1, you’re safe until 2023.

There’s only one problem: That damn GWX (Get Windows 10) notification keeps bugging you about upgrading to Windows 10!

How to make it go away? Read on!

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Another privacy fix, this time for Windows 7, 8, and 10

Enhance Your Privacy in WindowsSo, you’ve avoided installing Windows 10 because you heard how Microsoft is gobbling up lots of data from your puter.

Well, bad news: Even if you have Windows 7 or Windows 8, there was an update in May 2015 that installed the Diagnostics Tracking Service that first appeared in beta versions of – you guessed it – Windows 10!

Fortunately, you can easily turn this “feature” off no matter which version of Windows you’re using.

So, what is it, and how do you kill it?

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Windows 8.1: Easily switch to a Local Account from a Microsoft Account

Windows 8.1In Windows 8, there was an easy way to switch from using a Microsoft Account to log in back to the “old fashioned” way of using a plain old ordinary Windows local account.

With Windows 8.1, Microsoft is trying harder than ever to trick you into signing in with your Microsoft account on your local puter. Most people probably will go this default route, but later they will want to switch back to a normal account as in Windows 7.

There are several guides out there that tell you that you should create a second user account that is a Local Account, move all your data over, and then delete the original.

Well, there is a much, much easier way to go about switching back to a Local Account in Windows 8.1!

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Windows 8 Freezes or Hangs: The Fix that Worked for Me

Windows 8 will be released to the masses in October of this year. As a developer, I’m lucky enough to get Windows 8 RTM a bit earlier.

Despite what everyone is saying, the new Start Screen really isn’t that bad. In fact, it will be very nice once all your apps are updated to take full advantage of it. And contrary to popular belief, the desktop is still around, and everything works pretty much like it did in Windows 7.

Still, I have a few gripes: There are no more gadgets. Instead, there are live tiles on the Start Screen. That’s lame.

Worse yet, I have experienced the infamous hanging/freezing issue that was supposedly fixed during the testing phases of Windows 8.

In short, every 30 minutes or so, my puter would lock up for about 30 seconds, the hard drive would be pegged to 100%, and then everything would go back to normal.

Like I said, Microsoft supposedly fixed this in the test versions of Windows 8 – but it seems they didn’t, really.

There are many solutions to be found on Google, but there is only 1 that worked for me…

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