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This is an issue in Windows 7 (and to a lesser extent in Windows 8*) because CEIP is part of the Get Windows 10 (GWX) forced strongly suggested upgrade. So I want to turn it off on all the PCs I support.

I know I can do it GUI : Action Center > Change Action Center settings > Customer Experience Improvement Program settings > No, I don't want to participate in the program.

But I'd like to do it in the command line, even in a .bat file.

This Microsoft technet description of CEIP lists several ways to turn it off (GUI, Group policy, Answer File). Maybe an Answer File would work--I've never used one.

I suppose I could also just modify the registry directly (these were discovered with regshot):

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\CEIPEnable: 0x00000000
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\CEIPEnableLastUpdateTime: 80 61 D8 3B C9 86 D1 01

But I like to avoid direct registry modifications if I can, and I don't know if the Update Time matters or what format that is in.

EDIT:

Thanks for the responses which were all about preventing systems from upgrading to Windows 10. I want to know how to turn off CEIP from the command line not just because of Windows 10. I just want to know, if it's possible.

I DO want to turn off CEIP just because I don't like it, don't believe it gives me enough benefits in exchange for the information I'm sending to Microsoft, and the CPU and bandwidth it uses.

To elaborate on the Windows 10 connection, there are several Windows Updates to CEIP that are diagnostic tracking/telemetry updates to evaluate and/or prepare a system for Windows 10.

For those interested, here are the Windows 10-related KB updates I have identified (via research on the internet) that are involved with Windows 10. You'll notice most are upgrades to CEIP.

  • KB 2952664 - CEIP Labeled a compatibility upgrade for upgrading Windows 7, its purpose is to "make improvements to the current operating system in order to ease the upgrade experience to the latest version of Windows".
  • KB 2976978 - CEIP A compatibility update for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 which "performs diagnostics on the Windows system [..] to determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered when the latest Windows operating system is installed.
  • KB 2977759 - CEIP Diagnostics "help determine whether compatibility issues may be encountered whenf the latest Windows operating system is installed"
  • KB 2990214 - Does the same as KB 3044374 but on Windows 7.
  • KB 3021917 - CEIP Does the same as KB 2976978 but on Windows 7.
  • KB 3022345 - CEIP Update to enable the Diagnostics Tracking Service in Windows (Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1)
  • KB 3035583 - According to Microsoft, this update enables "additional capabilities for Windows Update notifications when new updates are available". Now (at least as of 3/26/2016 but probably earlier) says "installs Get Windows 10 app".
  • KB 3044374 - This update for Windows 8.1 enables systems to upgrade from the current operating system to a later version of Windows.
  • KB 3068708 - CEIP "updates the Diagnostic and Telemetry service"
  • KB 3075249 - CEIP adds telemetry points to consent.exe (ie UAC)
  • KB 3080149 - CEIP "updates the Diagnostics and Telemetry tracking service" and "provides benefits from the latest version of Windows to systems that have not yet upgraded" (suspicious)

So I do think turning off CEIP is part of the fight against the Windows 10 push. But it's not the only reason I ask this question.

EDIT 2: This technet sounds promising Managing Group Policy from the command line but alas you can only view and apply en masse.

3 Answers 3

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The correct way to disable the upgrade in the enterprise is to enable the "Turn off the upgrade to the latest version of Windows through Windows Update" policy that was released. This would of course presume your system are fully patched. The upgrade notification is unrelated to CEIP, AFAIK, and it would be simpler just to uninstall the notification app, rather than mess with CEIP.

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  • The upgraded is related to CEIP in that Microsoft uses CEIP to analyze whether the device can run Windows 10, IIRC. Mar 26, 2016 at 14:47
  • No, the preq win10 upgrade patch allows the upgrade, not CEIP, as far as I can tell. Win10 options should show even on systems that have ceip opt out enabled.
    – Jim B
    Mar 26, 2016 at 17:14
  • The patch you're talking about in your answer is KB 3050265. The text of that one says it will not detect, download, or install. Mar 26, 2016 at 20:44
  • (stupid time limit) URL is support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3050265 ; The text of that one says if you set that GP, MS will "never detect, download, or install an upgrade to the latest version of Windows." I presume this includes never downloading, installing or running GWX. However It still reamins some of the KB's in my OP install Win10-like spying into CEIP. Mar 26, 2016 at 20:50
  • Ahh, I was unaware Cheesus Crust (answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/…) was still posting. I can only point you to solutions that work.
    – Jim B
    Mar 28, 2016 at 15:04
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If all you want is to not see the Windows Icon in the task bar and the notification that pops up, you could consider doing what I did. Put the following in a .bat file and place it in a location such that you'd not accidentally delete it.

taskkill /IM gwx.exe /F

Then Open the Task Scheduler-> Win+R->taskschd.msc

  • Create Task-> General-> Give it a Name (E.g. KillGWX)
  • Triggers-> New-> Begin the task -> At log on & At Workstation Unlock
  • Actions-> New-> Program/Script-> Browse-> Input .bat file Location
  • Settings-> Run the task as soon as Possible after a scheduled start is missed (To be Checked )
  • OK Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
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  • 1
    It's much easier to just disable the existing GWX-related tasks, which are responsible for starting it in the first place; you can find them in Task Scheduler -> Microsoft -> Windows -> Setup.
    – Massimo
    Mar 25, 2016 at 20:59
  • That's a good point, I didn't think of that.
    – Santa
    Mar 25, 2016 at 21:12
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To disable GWX and the Upgrade to Windows 10 deploy those settings to all systems:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\GWX]
"DisableGWX"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\OSUpgrade]
"AllowOSUpgrade"=dword:00000000
"ReservationsAllowed"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"DisableOSUpgrade"=dword:00000001

DisableGWX kills the GWX app in taskbar and the 2 other prevent Windows from doing an upgrade to a newer Windows.

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  • But they dont prevent downloading and installing the GWX application, do they? Mar 26, 2016 at 14:46
  • no, they block running of gwx app and OS upgrade. To prevent getting the GWX app, block update KB3035583 Mar 26, 2016 at 18:32
  • @magicandre1981, correct however that only applies to non enterprise OS versions, and installing that upgrade then blocking it with policies then available prevents users from the install on their own. It depends on if you want to block the upgrade or just the upgrade detection.
    – Jim B
    Mar 26, 2016 at 20:47
  • @jim Not to mention you're relying on Microsoft blocking the installation of something they've already demonstrated to the world they will trick people into installing ;) Mar 27, 2016 at 17:20

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