If you’re running Windows 8 or Windows 7, you’re probably seeing the “Upgrade to Windows 10 Technical Preview” message in Windows Update and you’re constantly seeing a toast notification too, alerting you that Windows 10 is ready to install.
This happens, because you have enrolled your computer to install the preview of Windows 10 with the Microsoft preparation tool released for Windows Insiders.
When you install the tool, it configures Windows 7 or Windows 8 to receive Windows 10 via the Windows Update service. However, you might have realized that it’s not very wise to install a big piece of software in your main computer when still not ready for primetime, and there are many more safely ways to test the operating system.
Now the issue is that ignoring the message doesn’t make it go away. At the time Microsoft released the preview, your operating system connected to the Microsoft servers and downloaded almost 3GB worth of installation files, which now it’s sitting in your hard drive wasting valuable space.
If you’re no longer pursuing to install the preview on your main computer, it’s not difficult to stop the message from Windows Update and stopping the toast alerts that appear every now and then, just follow the steps below.
How to remove upgrade to Windows 10 update from Windows 8.1
-
Launch Control Panel and navigate through Programs and Features.
-
Click the View installed updates link from the left pane.
-
You will have a long list of updates that have already been installed in your system. Do a search for the following update: KB2990214 or KB3014460.
KB2990214 update in Windows 7. 
KB3014460 update in Windows 8.1. As far as I can tell, you’ll find update KB2990214 on Windows 7 and update KB3014460 on Windows 8/8.1.
-
Double-click the update in question and you’ll be prompted to uninstall the update, click No.
-
Open the Command Prompt as an administrator, type regedit.exe, and hit Enter.
-
While in the Registry Editor, browse the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\WindowsTechnicalPreview
-
Now right-click the Signup (with value: “924EADEB-2472-490D-9203-5D0A1FD5CC73”) entry, select Delete, and click Yes. Alternatively, you can also delete from the tree the “WindowsTechnicalPreview” folder.
-
Restart your computers and Windows will finish removing all the files for you to stop receiving the “Upgrade to Windows 10 Technical Preview” message and toast notification.
If you change your mind, you can always prepare your computer again to install the preview version of Windows 10.
It’s worth pointing out that Microsoft has already confirmed that Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for Windows 7 and Windows 8 home users. Additionally, Windows Insiders testing the preview will be able to upgrade without having to clean install Windows 10 in their PCs.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].