Answer 

Microsoft has started to strongly encourage users to upgrade from the Windows 7 operating system to the Windows 10 operating system. This action might result in an unwanted or accidental upgrade. As of July 2016, none of the SCIEX software products have been fully tested on the Windows 10 platform. We cannot confirm, therefore, that the SCIEX software will perform as expected on the Windows 10 operating system.

We strongly recommend that users DO NOT upgrade SCIEX products to the Windows 10 operating system.

The following are typical scenarios that SCIEX customers might encounter:

Scenario 1 – The Windows 10 upgrade has not occurred, but users see Windows prompts asking to upgrade to Windows 10

Note 1: There are 3rd party tools available for automating disabling the Windows 10 upgrade, such as Aegis (https://tiny.cc/aegisvoat) SCIEX is working to create or validate an automated approach, but for now the recommendation is to use the manual steps described here.

Note 2: If your IT department is administering computers using group policies, then the Windows 10 upgrade can be centrally disabled by your system administrators and you will not see any upgrade prompts (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080351). Contact your system administrator for more information. Otherwise use the following manual steps:

1. The user might see one of the following prompts:

Prompt 1 :

Prompt 2:

In both cases an action is required because your upgrade has already been scheduled. Closing the dialog and ignoring the message will initiate an upgrade.

2. To prevent an automatic upgrade, click “here” or click “reschedule or cancel”. The scheduler opens.
3. Click “Cancel scheduled upgrade”.

4. Read the provided text and then click “Cancel scheduled upgrade”.

The above actions should eliminate future Windows 10 upgrade prompts. However, if you still see notifications from the Windows tray, then use the following steps to disable the upgrade prompts:

1. Right-click the Taskbar and then select Properties.

2. On the Taskbar tab, select Customize in the Notification area

3. In the Notification Area Icons window, scroll to the GWX icon.

4. Select Hide icon and notifications.

Scenario 2 – The Windows 10 upgrade started, but has not finished

1. If the Windows 10 upgrade has started, but has not finished, then DO NOT interrupt the process. Wait for the Microsoft end user license agreement to open.

2. Click Decline.

3. Select the option to go back to Windows 7.

Scenario 3 – The Windows 10 upgrade finished within the last 30 days

If the operating system was upgraded to Windows 10 within the last 30 days, then you can perform a rollback to Windows 7. However, this procedure does not guarantee the safety and integrity of your data, therefore, back up all of your data before you attempt to roll back the operating system.

1. After the data is backed up, click the Windows button in the bottom left corner and then click Settings.

2. Select Windows update, recovery, backup at the bottom of the screen. You might have to scroll down to see it.

3. Select Recovery.
4. Find the Go back to Windows 7 section and then click Get started.

Note: If you do not see this option, then more than a month has passed and you can no longer perform a roll back.

5. The rollback starts. In the Why are you going back dialog, select My apps or devices don’t work on Windows 10. Click Next.

6. Decline any prompts to check for updates.

7. Read the information on the following screens and then click Next.
8. The final screen shows Go back to Windows 7. Click it and the procedure will start.

Note: This process might take some time. DO NOT turn off the computer or reset it during this procedure. The computer resets by itself several times, but this is normal. At the end of the procedure, you should see the Windows 7 welcome screen.

Scenario 4 – The Windows 10 upgrade finished more than a month ago

If the computer was upgraded to Windows 10 more than 30 days ago, then we recommend that you back up your data and then contact your SCIEX Service Representative for assistance with re-imaging the computer using the SCIEX Recovery disk. All software applications and software licenses must be re-installed. Service charges might apply.

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