7 ms·

Windows 11 disabled all ways to get around Auto Restarts. Is there a workaround?

84 points by josephcsible 2y ago

nullindividual 2y ago
Windows Enterprise editions are the "workaround", of course. Easier said than done and all that. As were the suggestions to switch OSes. That SO thread hurts. As-is tradition, there is one answer that while technically correct, is not applicable to an application you do not have the source for/cannot build from source. Then of course there is the suggestions to pirating Windows Enterprise. Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. And the other user who doesn't understand what editions of the OS the related GPOs apply to. At least there is one workaround posted which only involves setting up a scheduled task.
- readthenotes1 2y ago
  Well you may feel it is useless, the just switch OS is becoming increasingly efficient
- AshamedCaptain 2y ago
  > Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments There is a reason Windows has almost completely lost the "batch" professional desktop market. Same reason my old company developed industrial/CAD desktop software ... for Linux ... on Windows laptops (with Enterprise edition, of course) . Microsoft no longer cares about you or your usecase. What are you going to do ? If you enter a cat and mouse game with MS (pirating, registry tricks, whatever), you will lose.
  - namdnay 2y ago
    To be fair, in the case of this specific issue it’s something that is completely configurable in pro/enterprise versions of windows
- bhaney 2y ago
  > Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. That's probably by far the most useful solution. It may be obvious and annoying to hear over and over, but we only nag you because we love you. Friends don't let friends be abused by Windows.
  - ziddoap 2y ago
    You should be nagging Intuit, Dassault Systèmes, etc. rather than the people that need Windows-only software.
    - bachmeier 2y ago
      That's a standard generic response, but in this case the specified software is Matlab, which runs perfectly on Linux - I use it several times a year on my Ubuntu machine.
      - ziddoap 2y ago
        I'm not sure why the people saying "just switch OS!" can speak generally, but I have to speak specifically to Matlab. Many companies run more than one program, even when one of those programs is Matlab.
        TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
        To say nothing of the applications and hardware you may wish to use with Matlab and which require Windows.
    - ranger_danger 2y ago
      No company is going to waste time developing, testing and maintaining a new OS port of their software for 0.3% of their userbase. It just doesn't make any sense.
    - bhaney 2y ago
      I'm happy to nag both
- bachmeier 2y ago
  > Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. The question does not specify anything AFAICS that demonstrates the simulations require Windows. If someone said they wanted to run MS Word on their Linux machine (not in the browser) a perfectly valid suggestion would be to use Windows. If the OS doesn't support what you need, there aren't a lot of options.
  - k8svet 2y ago
    Yeah. I don't know what people want or expect. They might just have to learn something new or admit those crazy Linux people were on to something. Folks, no amount of SO threads is going to make MS reverse course. So...?
- pdonis 2y ago
  > Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. When an OS and the company that makes it keeps on showing you that you don't own your computer, they do, at some point switching should be on your radar.
  - ziddoap 2y ago
    This ignores the large amount of business software which is Windows only. For many companies, and the people that work for them, you simply can't switch even if you are desperate to.
    - bsder 2y ago
      This used to be an excuse. So much business software has migrated to browser based applications that most people could dump Windows and would never notice. This is why Microsoft has been pushing Office365 so hard.
      - ziddoap 2y ago
        Neither SolidWorks nor QuickBooks runs in browser. Those two pieces of software are absolutely essential to many companies.
        JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        Both run on macOS.
        ziddoap 2y ago
        Not officially, therefor not with support.
        JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        > Not officially Yes, officially [1][2]. [1] https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/install-products/install-set-quickbooks-desktop-mac/L4rzUusTS_US_en_US https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-artic... [2] https://www.solidworks.com/support/system-requirements https://www.solidworks.com/support/system-requirements
- jujube3 2y ago
  MATLAB is available for Linux. "Just switch OSes" seems like a perfectly valid and actionable piece of advice. What's "useless" is sticking with an operating system that doesn't support the use-cases you need it to. (Buying a license for Windows Enterprise might also be a valid and actionable course of advice -- I don't have experience there, but it should be considered if the use-case requires it.)
  - benhurmarcel 2y ago
    > "Just switch OSes" seems like a perfectly valid and actionable piece of advice. It's about as helpful as advising to rewrite his code in C/Rust/Julia so that it doesn't take weeks to run.
- courseofaction 2y ago
  switching to ubuntu desktop for development has been wonderfully painless and, especially with AI to help with finding the right terminal commands and software, quite accessible.
- jabroni_salad 2y ago
  I did appreciate the matlab user who suggested a way to make the job restartable. That seems good to me? There's more than just the OS that could cause an interruption. SRE would never have gotten invented if computers were reliable.
- tpoacher 2y ago
  Actually, in this particular case, switching OSes is probably the best solution. Matlab supports linux, so a dedicated linuxbox for simulations without all the bloat and clutter makes perfect sense.
- bruce343434 2y ago
  It was only asked 3 days ago. Presumably people are still cooking up workarounds. Of course the obvious-but-low-effort answers are in first.
- hi-v-rocknroll 2y ago
  Windows non-Education/-Enterprise editions are crippled ad platforms with forced telemetry lacking opt-out. I can't recall how my one Windows machine received legit Enterprise (wasn't full price), but it doesn't suck as much. With GPO options, most of the junk can be disabled. I also have some cheap used Windows Server and Office licenses that I bound to unique disposable email addresses + Microsoft accounts. When the vendor says "FU", piracy and workarounds are legitimate. (FYI: VMware and Citrix gentlemans' agreement to pirate and not cripple production of each others' stuff for indirect, noncommercial purposes.)
- dvfjsdhgfv 2y ago
  > useless "just switch OSes!" arguments I'm a long-time Linux user and I would discourage people from switching to it on the desktop. Not anymore. It is a viable alternative and the irony is, often more things work out of the box than in Windows as the vast majority of drivers is shipped directly with the kernel. At some point, when someone makes your life more and more miserable, you will have enough and you will switch. Looking at MS actions in the last decade, it's not the question of if, only when.
doctorhandshake 2y ago
When I install on-prem always-on graphics and interaction servers as part of permanent architectural installations, I use Win 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC for this reason - it allows me to only apply critical security (no features) updates, and to schedule them at a time when downtime due to issues with the update are not likely to be disruptive. Edit to mention I always make sure these machines are on a VLAN alone and properly firewalled, as we are deferring patches for sometimes weeks after they come out.
- ranger_danger 2y ago
  Is that edition even available to purchase by mere mortals for a reasonable price?
  - doctorhandshake 2y ago
    It’s $130 for high end processors, IIRC, and I get it pretty regularly without any issues. I’m not a licensed Microsoft anything so I don’t think it’s a particularly controlled substance.
onetimeuse92304 2y ago
I have decided a long time ago that Windows is no longer an operating system to do work o. I have one that is relegated to being a game console and its days are numbered, too. There is only so much BS I can take. Microsoft is driving off professionals with their sheer ineptitude at product development.
- cies 2y ago
  You cannot compete with the best for free --- I forgot who Yet still they make money on windows. The lost phones and servers already. Maybe Valve manages to take a bit of their gaming dominance. That said MS office is still better than libre office.
  - onetimeuse92304 2y ago
    > You cannot compete with the best for free Except I paid for my Windows license.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - ranger_danger 2y ago
      I think they meant that a free competitor (Linux) cannot compete with Windows.
      - cies 2y ago
        yup
  - xyst 2y ago
    > servers Some companies I have worked at still used Windows Server 2012. MS is probably making bank on those extended support licenses.
- ThrowawayTestr 2y ago
  >its days are numbered I will bet you everything I own that Windows will still be the dominant OS in business environments for at least another decade. Until the Chromebook generation enters the workforce in large numbers and starts demanding the simple web interfaces they're used to, no IT admin is going to install Linux on his machines.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago
Glad to see someone mentioned taking the computer offline. That too was my solution when I had to run batch jobs on a Windows workstation where there was no intermediate job checkpointing (datasets could sometimes take two weeks). Just sneaker netting datasets because I could not trust the machine to do as it was told. What was most frustrating about that was when I would bring it back online to patch it. Evidently Microsoft wants to pretend that patching is cheap and so it would slowly sip CPU/disk/network for over an hour to get caught up. Leaving my beastly 16(?)32(?) core machine 99% idle. If I go to the settings page and click patch now, that should mean Ludicrous Speed Go! Also, one other cute Windows that that burned me a couple of times with this setup- evidently Windows will keep some patches in reserve. Connect to Internet, patch, restart, disconnect Internet, restart. Think you are safe? Haha, windows might decide an hour later to install and force reboot for that final update.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > Haha, windows might decide an hour later to install and force reboot for that final update. When I have to use Windows at work, I often think that Microsoft must hate us all and are using Windows as a weapon to punish us.
  - StableAlkyne 2y ago
    What could have even caused it? Some KPI about lowering "average update install time" getting chased?
    - TeMPOraL 2y ago
      Kyber sekhurity. Can't have unpatched machines, it causes botnets!
      - altruios 2y ago
        Seems like a high value target to attack. Imagine a xz situation visible by less people letting a (rootkit for a) bot net infect literally every windows machine in a matter of hours... Automatic updates are a good thing... /s 1/2 ...
PUSH_AX 2y ago
In the same way that you can’t keep a wild animal as a pet, windows is not your software, you paid for it but it serves another master. Linux is great, I can even play modern games on it now.
1970-01-01 2y ago
Don't bother sending MS bug reports anymore, their code will just continue to rot until EOL/EOS date.. then it morphs into a quirky vintage feature that they can safely ignore. Just recently HDR was forcing my monitor to dim to 50% after locking, and it would get stuck there. I found just opening the ms-settings:display window would restore the brightness level. So I went and created a simple task to trigger ms-settings:display on every unlock.
onurcel 2y ago
On a side note, if you are running something for days or weeks you should implement checkpointing anyways. I have no idea if matlab allows that for internal operations
- StableAlkyne 2y ago
  This is the real answer The actual problem OP has is that their simulation can't be restarted if something goes wrong
hbn 2y ago
For all the crap the EU has been giving Apple lately for stuff as dumb as being unable to install the built-in gallery app on iOS -- why the HELL are they not shoving Microsoft's face in their own puddle of piss that is the current state of Windows? No one is using Windows because they like it. They're using it because they have to, and Microsoft has absolutely abused this position they're in to such an egregious extent I can't believe they get looked over for these practices. We're all stuck having our data collected and shipped off to hundreds of third-parties, being forced to look at ads, lose work because of forced restarts that reset the few opt-out-of-this-bullshit settings you can still toggle, click through mazes of menus every update that try and trick you into setting Edge as your default browser and signing up for their cloud services, etc. -- all because it's the only place certain software runs. And they can't even make a search that works as good as it did 15 years ago because instead of even attempting to look for your local files it'll show you ads and Bing search results that can only be opened in Edge. Their old basic photo viewer app of the Windows 7 is long gone and replaced with a janky "modern" Windows app that crashes if you look at it funny. Windows is just so bad and only getting worse over time.
- justahuman74 2y ago
  I'm also a bit stunned that the EU is cool with microsofts level of intrusion. I can imagine the US being whatever about it internally, but surely the EU would see that as encrochment
layer8 2y ago
Anyone know if Reboot-Blocker [0] still works under Windows 11? [0] https://udse.de/reboot-blocker/ https://udse.de/reboot-blocker/
atum47 2y ago
Install Linux
johnea 2y ago
The best solution is to use an OS that is crafted for the user, not the vendor...
rapatel0 2y ago
Has he heard of checkpointing his simulations ?
xyst 2y ago
I am still amazed that people use Windows for any serious workloads at this point. Especially, non-professional editions. The only reason I keep a Windows license at this point is just for the occasional gaming session that cannot be virtualized in a VM (ie, most multiplayer fps games)
- bachmeier 2y ago
  It's possible the person asking the question is using a university computer that comes with Windows. The IT people that set it up don't care how much it gets in your way.
billtsedong 2y ago
Just disable Windows and use something else
FpUser 2y ago
Not sure if running Windows 11 Pro rather then Home has anything to do with it but it had never restarted on me in unexpected manner.
Animats 2y ago
OK, no running AI training jobs on Windows, then.
rkagerer 2y ago
Hearing experiences in this thread gets my blood roiling. I spent a lifetime on Windows and it used to be a great OS, that respected the user and placed them in control. The latest spilth out of Microsoft seems to deliver a more toxic user experience with each release. It's a real shame as there have been some incredible improvements under the hood in the kernel, which get spoiled by awful product and business decisions. People here like to criticize holdouts who refused to upgrade beyond Windows 7, but I don't blame 'em for simply saying NO. Most of the ones I've met rely on other mitigations for security (eg. 0patch, firewalls, fully offline environments), and not a single one has reported feeling more pain in practice from nefarious adversaries than peers on recent versions of the OS have endured from Microsoft.
- ranger_danger 2y ago
  Do you have any examples of Windows "respecting the user"?
  - xcv123 2y ago
    Allowing users to disable auto restarts
cosmin800 2y ago
Switch to mac/linux, made the switch 5 years ago, never looked back, never missed a thing.
znpy 2y ago
Easy: run matlab on linux. I wish i could say i am being ironic but lately Microsoft has become increasingly hostile towards users… it’s incredible they still have this large of a market share.
johnklos 2y ago
I can't imagine anyone who goes through this, and the other rather outrageous things Windows forces upon people, not wanting to find alternatives, whether they're running a different OS and running Windows-only software in VMs, or running Windows 10... The idea that I can own a computer and could pay good money for a license for the OS but have no control over whether it gets rebooted is just... I don't know. I just can't even imagine tolerating it. Then again, I'll likely never have a new car because too much of the functionality is out of the control of the actual owners.

84 points by josephcsible 2y ago

Windows Enterprise editions are the "workaround", of course. Easier said than done and all that. As were the suggestions to switch OSes. That SO thread hurts. As-is tradition, there is one answer that while technically correct, is not applicable to an application you do not have the source for/cannot build from source. Then of course there is the suggestions to pirating Windows Enterprise. Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. And the other user who doesn't understand what editions of the OS the related GPOs apply to. At least there is one workaround posted which only involves setting up a scheduled task.

readthenotes1 2y ago
Well you may feel it is useless, the just switch OS is becoming increasingly efficient
AshamedCaptain 2y ago
> Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments There is a reason Windows has almost completely lost the "batch" professional desktop market. Same reason my old company developed industrial/CAD desktop software ... for Linux ... on Windows laptops (with Enterprise edition, of course) . Microsoft no longer cares about you or your usecase. What are you going to do ? If you enter a cat and mouse game with MS (pirating, registry tricks, whatever), you will lose.
- namdnay 2y ago
  To be fair, in the case of this specific issue it’s something that is completely configurable in pro/enterprise versions of windows
bhaney 2y ago
> Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. That's probably by far the most useful solution. It may be obvious and annoying to hear over and over, but we only nag you because we love you. Friends don't let friends be abused by Windows.
- ziddoap 2y ago
  You should be nagging Intuit, Dassault Systèmes, etc. rather than the people that need Windows-only software.
  - bachmeier 2y ago
    That's a standard generic response, but in this case the specified software is Matlab, which runs perfectly on Linux - I use it several times a year on my Ubuntu machine.
    - ziddoap 2y ago
      I'm not sure why the people saying "just switch OS!" can speak generally, but I have to speak specifically to Matlab. Many companies run more than one program, even when one of those programs is Matlab.
      - TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
        To say nothing of the applications and hardware you may wish to use with Matlab and which require Windows.
  - ranger_danger 2y ago
    No company is going to waste time developing, testing and maintaining a new OS port of their software for 0.3% of their userbase. It just doesn't make any sense.
  - bhaney 2y ago
    I'm happy to nag both
bachmeier 2y ago
> Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. The question does not specify anything AFAICS that demonstrates the simulations require Windows. If someone said they wanted to run MS Word on their Linux machine (not in the browser) a perfectly valid suggestion would be to use Windows. If the OS doesn't support what you need, there aren't a lot of options.
- k8svet 2y ago
  Yeah. I don't know what people want or expect. They might just have to learn something new or admit those crazy Linux people were on to something. Folks, no amount of SO threads is going to make MS reverse course. So...?
pdonis 2y ago
> Then there are the equally useless "just switch OSes!" arguments. When an OS and the company that makes it keeps on showing you that you don't own your computer, they do, at some point switching should be on your radar.
- ziddoap 2y ago
  This ignores the large amount of business software which is Windows only. For many companies, and the people that work for them, you simply can't switch even if you are desperate to.
  - bsder 2y ago
    This used to be an excuse. So much business software has migrated to browser based applications that most people could dump Windows and would never notice. This is why Microsoft has been pushing Office365 so hard.
    - ziddoap 2y ago
      Neither SolidWorks nor QuickBooks runs in browser. Those two pieces of software are absolutely essential to many companies.
      - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        Both run on macOS.
        ziddoap 2y ago
        Not officially, therefor not with support.
        JumpCrisscross 2y ago
        > Not officially Yes, officially [1][2]. [1] https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-article/install-products/install-set-quickbooks-desktop-mac/L4rzUusTS_US_en_US https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/help-artic... [2] https://www.solidworks.com/support/system-requirements https://www.solidworks.com/support/system-requirements
jujube3 2y ago
MATLAB is available for Linux. "Just switch OSes" seems like a perfectly valid and actionable piece of advice. What's "useless" is sticking with an operating system that doesn't support the use-cases you need it to. (Buying a license for Windows Enterprise might also be a valid and actionable course of advice -- I don't have experience there, but it should be considered if the use-case requires it.)
- benhurmarcel 2y ago
  > "Just switch OSes" seems like a perfectly valid and actionable piece of advice. It's about as helpful as advising to rewrite his code in C/Rust/Julia so that it doesn't take weeks to run.
courseofaction 2y ago
switching to ubuntu desktop for development has been wonderfully painless and, especially with AI to help with finding the right terminal commands and software, quite accessible.
jabroni_salad 2y ago
I did appreciate the matlab user who suggested a way to make the job restartable. That seems good to me? There's more than just the OS that could cause an interruption. SRE would never have gotten invented if computers were reliable.
tpoacher 2y ago
Actually, in this particular case, switching OSes is probably the best solution. Matlab supports linux, so a dedicated linuxbox for simulations without all the bloat and clutter makes perfect sense.
bruce343434 2y ago
It was only asked 3 days ago. Presumably people are still cooking up workarounds. Of course the obvious-but-low-effort answers are in first.
hi-v-rocknroll 2y ago
Windows non-Education/-Enterprise editions are crippled ad platforms with forced telemetry lacking opt-out. I can't recall how my one Windows machine received legit Enterprise (wasn't full price), but it doesn't suck as much. With GPO options, most of the junk can be disabled. I also have some cheap used Windows Server and Office licenses that I bound to unique disposable email addresses + Microsoft accounts. When the vendor says "FU", piracy and workarounds are legitimate. (FYI: VMware and Citrix gentlemans' agreement to pirate and not cripple production of each others' stuff for indirect, noncommercial purposes.)
dvfjsdhgfv 2y ago
> useless "just switch OSes!" arguments I'm a long-time Linux user and I would discourage people from switching to it on the desktop. Not anymore. It is a viable alternative and the irony is, often more things work out of the box than in Windows as the vast majority of drivers is shipped directly with the kernel. At some point, when someone makes your life more and more miserable, you will have enough and you will switch. Looking at MS actions in the last decade, it's not the question of if, only when.

doctorhandshake 2y ago

When I install on-prem always-on graphics and interaction servers as part of permanent architectural installations, I use Win 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC for this reason - it allows me to only apply critical security (no features) updates, and to schedule them at a time when downtime due to issues with the update are not likely to be disruptive. Edit to mention I always make sure these machines are on a VLAN alone and properly firewalled, as we are deferring patches for sometimes weeks after they come out.

ranger_danger 2y ago
Is that edition even available to purchase by mere mortals for a reasonable price?
- doctorhandshake 2y ago
  It’s $130 for high end processors, IIRC, and I get it pretty regularly without any issues. I’m not a licensed Microsoft anything so I don’t think it’s a particularly controlled substance.

onetimeuse92304 2y ago

I have decided a long time ago that Windows is no longer an operating system to do work o. I have one that is relegated to being a game console and its days are numbered, too. There is only so much BS I can take. Microsoft is driving off professionals with their sheer ineptitude at product development.

cies 2y ago
You cannot compete with the best for free --- I forgot who Yet still they make money on windows. The lost phones and servers already. Maybe Valve manages to take a bit of their gaming dominance. That said MS office is still better than libre office.
- onetimeuse92304 2y ago
  > You cannot compete with the best for free Except I paid for my Windows license.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - ranger_danger 2y ago
    I think they meant that a free competitor (Linux) cannot compete with Windows.
    - cies 2y ago
      yup
- xyst 2y ago
  > servers Some companies I have worked at still used Windows Server 2012. MS is probably making bank on those extended support licenses.
ThrowawayTestr 2y ago
>its days are numbered I will bet you everything I own that Windows will still be the dominant OS in business environments for at least another decade. Until the Chromebook generation enters the workforce in large numbers and starts demanding the simple web interfaces they're used to, no IT admin is going to install Linux on his machines.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

0cf8612b2e1e 2y ago

Glad to see someone mentioned taking the computer offline. That too was my solution when I had to run batch jobs on a Windows workstation where there was no intermediate job checkpointing (datasets could sometimes take two weeks). Just sneaker netting datasets because I could not trust the machine to do as it was told. What was most frustrating about that was when I would bring it back online to patch it. Evidently Microsoft wants to pretend that patching is cheap and so it would slowly sip CPU/disk/network for over an hour to get caught up. Leaving my beastly 16(?)32(?) core machine 99% idle. If I go to the settings page and click patch now, that should mean Ludicrous Speed Go! Also, one other cute Windows that that burned me a couple of times with this setup- evidently Windows will keep some patches in reserve. Connect to Internet, patch, restart, disconnect Internet, restart. Think you are safe? Haha, windows might decide an hour later to install and force reboot for that final update.

JohnFen 2y ago
> Haha, windows might decide an hour later to install and force reboot for that final update. When I have to use Windows at work, I often think that Microsoft must hate us all and are using Windows as a weapon to punish us.
- StableAlkyne 2y ago
  What could have even caused it? Some KPI about lowering "average update install time" getting chased?
  - TeMPOraL 2y ago
    Kyber sekhurity. Can't have unpatched machines, it causes botnets!
    - altruios 2y ago
      Seems like a high value target to attack. Imagine a xz situation visible by less people letting a (rootkit for a) bot net infect literally every windows machine in a matter of hours... Automatic updates are a good thing... /s 1/2 ...

PUSH_AX 2y ago

In the same way that you can’t keep a wild animal as a pet, windows is not your software, you paid for it but it serves another master. Linux is great, I can even play modern games on it now.

1970-01-01 2y ago

Don't bother sending MS bug reports anymore, their code will just continue to rot until EOL/EOS date.. then it morphs into a quirky vintage feature that they can safely ignore. Just recently HDR was forcing my monitor to dim to 50% after locking, and it would get stuck there. I found just opening the ms-settings:display window would restore the brightness level. So I went and created a simple task to trigger ms-settings:display on every unlock.

onurcel 2y ago

On a side note, if you are running something for days or weeks you should implement checkpointing anyways. I have no idea if matlab allows that for internal operations

StableAlkyne 2y ago
This is the real answer The actual problem OP has is that their simulation can't be restarted if something goes wrong

hbn 2y ago

For all the crap the EU has been giving Apple lately for stuff as dumb as being unable to install the built-in gallery app on iOS -- why the HELL are they not shoving Microsoft's face in their own puddle of piss that is the current state of Windows? No one is using Windows because they like it. They're using it because they have to, and Microsoft has absolutely abused this position they're in to such an egregious extent I can't believe they get looked over for these practices. We're all stuck having our data collected and shipped off to hundreds of third-parties, being forced to look at ads, lose work because of forced restarts that reset the few opt-out-of-this-bullshit settings you can still toggle, click through mazes of menus every update that try and trick you into setting Edge as your default browser and signing up for their cloud services, etc. -- all because it's the only place certain software runs. And they can't even make a search that works as good as it did 15 years ago because instead of even attempting to look for your local files it'll show you ads and Bing search results that can only be opened in Edge. Their old basic photo viewer app of the Windows 7 is long gone and replaced with a janky "modern" Windows app that crashes if you look at it funny. Windows is just so bad and only getting worse over time.

justahuman74 2y ago
I'm also a bit stunned that the EU is cool with microsofts level of intrusion. I can imagine the US being whatever about it internally, but surely the EU would see that as encrochment

layer8 2y ago

Anyone know if Reboot-Blocker [0] still works under Windows 11? [0] https://udse.de/reboot-blocker/ https://udse.de/reboot-blocker/

atum47 2y ago

Install Linux

johnea 2y ago

The best solution is to use an OS that is crafted for the user, not the vendor...

rapatel0 2y ago

Has he heard of checkpointing his simulations ?

xyst 2y ago

I am still amazed that people use Windows for any serious workloads at this point. Especially, non-professional editions. The only reason I keep a Windows license at this point is just for the occasional gaming session that cannot be virtualized in a VM (ie, most multiplayer fps games)

bachmeier 2y ago
It's possible the person asking the question is using a university computer that comes with Windows. The IT people that set it up don't care how much it gets in your way.

billtsedong 2y ago

Just disable Windows and use something else

FpUser 2y ago

Not sure if running Windows 11 Pro rather then Home has anything to do with it but it had never restarted on me in unexpected manner.

Animats 2y ago

OK, no running AI training jobs on Windows, then.

rkagerer 2y ago

Hearing experiences in this thread gets my blood roiling. I spent a lifetime on Windows and it used to be a great OS, that respected the user and placed them in control. The latest spilth out of Microsoft seems to deliver a more toxic user experience with each release. It's a real shame as there have been some incredible improvements under the hood in the kernel, which get spoiled by awful product and business decisions. People here like to criticize holdouts who refused to upgrade beyond Windows 7, but I don't blame 'em for simply saying NO. Most of the ones I've met rely on other mitigations for security (eg. 0patch, firewalls, fully offline environments), and not a single one has reported feeling more pain in practice from nefarious adversaries than peers on recent versions of the OS have endured from Microsoft.

ranger_danger 2y ago
Do you have any examples of Windows "respecting the user"?
- xcv123 2y ago
  Allowing users to disable auto restarts

cosmin800 2y ago

Switch to mac/linux, made the switch 5 years ago, never looked back, never missed a thing.

znpy 2y ago

Easy: run matlab on linux. I wish i could say i am being ironic but lately Microsoft has become increasingly hostile towards users… it’s incredible they still have this large of a market share.

johnklos 2y ago

I can't imagine anyone who goes through this, and the other rather outrageous things Windows forces upon people, not wanting to find alternatives, whether they're running a different OS and running Windows-only software in VMs, or running Windows 10... The idea that I can own a computer and could pay good money for a license for the OS but have no control over whether it gets rebooted is just... I don't know. I just can't even imagine tolerating it. Then again, I'll likely never have a new car because too much of the functionality is out of the control of the actual owners.