Copilot installing and activating itself, unrequested on my windows 10 machine

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Gad! I have a dual-boot machine but tend not to use W10 much. Evidently it's time I fired it up again and disabled this little spy.
 
A search for how to disable copilot windows 10 on duckduckgo comes up with a lot of answers

Here's one
www.solveyourtech.com

How to Disable Copilot Windows 10: Step-by-Step Guide and Tips - Solve Your Tech

Learn how to disable Copilot on Windows 10 with our step-by-step guide. Follow these simple instructions to regain control over your system settings.
www.solveyourtech.com www.solveyourtech.com

and here's one with pictures
mspoweruser.com

How To Disable Copilot on Windows 10 - Quick Guide

Want to disable Copilot on Windows 10? Read this super-quick guide to learn the tried and tested steps and save time.
mspoweruser.com

Of course, the next update from Windows will undoubtedly enable it again :mad:
 
Natch it doesn't appear in "App and Browser Control" list to switch off but it still appears in the taskbar.
I've just system restored to a month back, and stopped updates. I guess when windows 10 support ends in October it will stop trying to install it.
 
Astro Pen said:
Natch it doesn't appear in "App and Browser Control" list to switch off but it still appears in the taskbar.
I've just system restored to a month back, and stopped updates. I guess when windows 10 support ends in October it will stop trying to install it.
Click to expand...
How did you manage to turn off updates? The received wisdom is that they can't be turned off - but I'd do it in a second if it's possible.

And they're ending support for W10??? I thought 10 was supposed to be the eternal, last-ever (though forever-updated) version of Windows. That's really why I installed it. Took bloody months to get the licensing & setup right and all my W7 apps working again.
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"This is the voice of world control. I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death. The choice is yours: Obey me and live, or disobey and die."
 
Where is co-pilot manifesting? At the risk of "spoke too soon" I've got W10 on my secondary computer and haven't seen any sign of it. (I did downgrade to the non-copilot Office 365 recently, but it sounds like you're talking about W10 itself.)
 
Orcadian said:
How did you manage to turn off updates? The received wisdom is that they can't be turned off - but I'd do it in a second if it's possible.

And they're ending support for W10??? I thought 10 was supposed to be the eternal, last-ever (though forever-updated) version of Windows. That's really why I installed it. Took bloody months to get the licensing & setup right and all my W7 apps working again. View attachment 132763
Click to expand...
I use the 'let me choose when to install updates' option, and have stopped clicking install. I have been told that it will eventually force install anyway but we will see?
"After 14 October 2025, Microsoft will no longer provide free software updates from Windows Update, technical assistance, or security fixes for Windows 10."
(note the use of the weasel word 'free'.)


HareBrain said:
Where is co-pilot manifesting? At the risk of "spoke too soon" I've got W10 on my secondary computer and haven't seen any sign of it. (I did downgrade to the non-copilot Office 365 recently, but it sounds like you're talking about W10 itself.)
Click to expand...
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If you have this icon on your taskbar it is installed
 
If you think copilot is bad, wait until you are infected with Recall, a feature that no one asked for, no one wants, and everyone in the profession says is a bad idea

Here are a couple of articles from tech sites to make you shudder
www.theregister.com

Microsoft rolling Windows Recall back into Copilot+ PCs

: Redmond hopes you’ve forgotten or got over why everyone hated it the first time
www.theregister.com www.theregister.com

arstechnica.com

That groan you hear is users’ reaction to Recall going back into Windows

Snapshotting and AI processing a screen every 3 seconds. What could possibly go wrong?
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com
 
Astro Pen said:
I use the 'let me choose when to install updates' option, and have stopped clicking install. I have been told that it will eventually force install anyway but we will see?
Click to expand...
I see that option on W7 (and have always used it) but on W10 it isn't available to me - at least it wasn't last time I fired W10 up ~4-6 months ago. The only thing I can choose is what time of day to install 'em.
 
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On my 2013 Windows 8.1 machine, Hotmail (I use the browser version, not a separate application) now features a button that offers "quick access to Copilot features in Outlook". I've never clicked on it.

There's also a line at the top of every email I receive saying "Summary by Copilot", although (as I haven't asked for that quick access... so M$ is missing a trick, i.e. forcing it on me), there is no summary provided (thank goodness).
 
Ursa major said:
There's also a line at the top of every email I receive saying "Summary by Copilot", although (as I haven't asked for that quick access... so M$ is missing a trick, i.e. forcing it on me), there is no summary provided (thank goodness).
Click to expand...
I find that quite disturbing. Something (presumably AI) is reading the content of your emails. OK, it's not a person but.. It's till invasive and creepy - particularly if it cannot be disabled.
 
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