23 hours ago, SolRayz said:

Not sure what the complication is. Using Group Policy Editor, you can disable driver updates with Windows Updates under: 

Admin Templates--->Window Components--->Windows Update. Then disable "Do not include drivers with Windows Update. 

All well and good but honestly, it shouldn't have to come to this.

MS should include an on/off switch for driver updates within the Windows Update settings.

5 hours ago, vc10man said:

I don't use the Internet on it and I have no need for their Security Updates.

Hi Rick,

Thanks! Yes, that’s one sure way of handling this irksome issue. Unfortunately, and for most of us, denying Internet access is not very realistic these days unless, of course, your rig is dedicated solely for the purposes of running P3D. Many software installations/Addons require internet access for verifications of legit ownership. How do you get around that? Avoid those Addons or connect/disconnect briefly as and when necessary?

Regards,

Mike

1 hour ago, Greggy_D said:

All well and good but honestly, it shouldn't have to come to this.

MS should include an on/off switch for driver updates within the Windows Update settings.

They absolutely should.

36 minutes ago, Cruachan said:

Hi Rick,

Thanks! Yes, that’s one sure way of handling this irksome issue. Unfortunately, and for most of us, denying Internet access is not very realistic these days unless, of course, your rig is dedicated solely for the purposes of running P3D. Many software installations/Addons require internet access for verifications of legit ownership. How do you get around that? Avoid those Addons or connect/disconnect briefly as and when necessary?

Regards,

Mike

Hi Mike

Probably did not make clear.

I dropped out of flight simming for nigh on 7-8 months, maybe more because of Windows 10. I now enjoy P3D on another Windows 7 64-bit machine that I will not MS to take over, or ruin with its so-called Creators Updates. All it Creates is dire anger!

I can run P3Dv4.3.29 and all the add-ons from a different PC connected to the Net quite happily. And be in total control of my PC and enjoy my hobby, too.

1 hour ago, vc10man said:

I now enjoy P3D on another Windows 7 64-bit machine that I will not MS to take over, or ruin with its so-called Creators Updates.

Hi Rick,

Ah, I see. As you can tell from my signature, you’re a man after my own heart!

However, curiosity has got the better of me. For better or worse (and with an eye to the future beyond Jan 2020) my curiosity is compelling me to explore what Win10 has to offer. A dual Boot setup involving a fast capacious drive dedicated for Win10 Pro is a neat solution while giving me the room to experiment. The NTFS file system allows access to all my drives, and their content, by both O/S. This could become important later on as it should be possible to share certain large blocks of existing data on the Win7 Pro installation with its Win10 Pro counterpart (drive letter arrangements are identical) that does not depend on the presence of program specific entries in their respective system registries. No idea how this will work out, but the journey should prove to be an interesting experience. 

Meantime, like you, I’m more than content to keep MS at bay from potentially wrecking my faithful Win7 Pro installation while I continue to develop the Windows 10 side of things. Plenty time ahead and nothing needs to be rushed.

Regards,

Mike

Well summarised, Mike. Exactly as per your ideas.

Only wish MS did not have that global monopoly ala various web browsers that finally killed off their forcing IE on us till the European Courts hammered them.

36 minutes ago, vc10man said:

Only wish MS did not have that global monopoly ala various web browsers that finally killed off their forcing IE on us till the European Courts hammered them.

Hi Rick,

I tried Edge for an hour or so before I felt myself yearning to return to Firefox. Edge is okay and seems quite responsive, but then so is Firefox and Chrome. Now I have all three on my Win10 installation with all my pre-existing bookmarks and passwords, etc. synced so I’m spoiled for choice..lol! However, Firefox still remains my preferred browser.

Regards,

Mike

3 hours ago, vc10man said:

Hi Mike

Probably did not make clear.

I dropped out of flight simming for nigh on 7-8 months, maybe more because of Windows 10. I now enjoy P3D on another Windows 7 64-bit machine that I will not MS to take over, or ruin with its so-called Creators Updates. All it Creates is dire anger!

I can run P3Dv4.3.29 and all the add-ons from a different PC connected to the Net quite happily. And be in total control of my PC and enjoy my hobby, too.

I hear MS will start charging for updates in Win7 soon. That's pretty terrible. 

The best holiday present I could get was LM announcing that they were going to make a Linux version. I could be rid of Microsoft entirely then.

Ted

15 minutes ago, SolRayz said:

I hear MS will start charging for updates in Win7 soon. That's pretty terrible. 

Source please? Sounds extremely unlikely. 

32 minutes ago, SolRayz said:

I hear MS will start charging for updates in Win7 soon. That's pretty terrible.

Hi Marc,

I’m assuming you are jesting. Were it to be true then surely such an ill-considered action would simply harden attitudes further and all those worthy Windows 7 users would lock MS out of the equation for evermore. Bring it on, I say, and see where it gets ‘em..lol! Time they were ‘encouraged’ to face the reality check which is long overdue. Isn’t it amazing how such a monolithic organisation continues to ride roughshod over everyone and does so with such apparent lasting impunity. 

Regards,

Mike

7 minutes ago, Cruachan said:

Hi Marc,

I’m assuming you are jesting. Were it to be true then surely such an ill-considered action would simply harden attitudes further and all those worthy Windows 7 users would lock MS out of the equation for evermore. Bring it on, I say, and see where it gets ‘em..lol! Time they were ‘encouraged’ to face the reality check which is long overdue. Isn’t it amazing how such a monolithic organisation continues to ride roughshod over everyone and does so with such apparent lasting impunity. 

Regards,

Mike

Unfortunately, it seems to be true. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2018/09/08/microsoft-windows-7-monthly-charge-windows-10-free-upgrade-cost/#748c9fcd2db1

1 hour ago, SolRayz said:

Unfortunately, it seems to be true. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2018/09/08/microsoft-windows-7-monthly-charge-windows-10-free-upgrade-cost/#748c9fcd2db1

That's extended support if you want further updates. Makes sense - at some point they stop updating the product.

Cheers!

Luke

1 hour ago, SolRayz said:

Unfortunately, it seems to be true. 

 https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2018/09/08/microsoft-windows-7-monthly-charge-windows-10-free-upgrade-cost/#748c9fcd2db1

Well, well! Should we be surprised? Of course not. This is what it’s been about all along - the generation of an ongoing huge income stream from a captive global audience of users trapped (duped?) into relying on their operating systems. MS knows there are no serious viable alternatives, other than Linux which will never be adopted universally, so now the time has arrived to capitalise on that unassailably advantageous position in the market. 

Mike

I for one would rather pay a fee for continued security updates for Windows 7 than have no security updates at all after 2020, provided that the fee is reasonable. There is conflicting information about the licensing volumes, though. In the linked article, it states that "Worse still, as it stands, Microsoft is currently only making this offer to Windows 7 Professional customers in Volume Licensing. Some small businesses may qualify, but the vast majority of everyday consumers (most of whom are running Windows 7 Home) will not." However, in another article here, there is no mentioning of volume licenses, it just says Windows 7 Professional or Enterprise users.

As far as Windows 10 updates, do some of you remember the problem last year with the "Error creating child window" bug when using P3D v3 after the release of the W10 Fall creators update?  It took a few months to fix that bug. With Windows 7, I don't have the mess with the creators updates - I only download critical security updates, and that's it.