Sneaky GWX Trying to Upgrade Windows 10 Again?

GWX, the hidden Windows 10 upgrade component, has a long history of showing up even when told not to.

Apparently, it’s back, delivered silently and secretly under the guise of yesterday’s Patch Tuesday update stack. Either that, or one of the updates kicked-it off again. Those companies that have chosen to block upgrades are seeing the following message when GWX tries to run:

Are you seeing this? If so, for which Windows version?

UPDATE: After further inspection, MS16-023 (a security update made available on March 8, 2016), contains a "nonsecurity-related fix." This General Distribution Release (GDR) fix is available only to add functionality to Internet Explorer 11 on some computers that lets users learn about Windows 10 or start an upgrade to Windows 10. The GDR is listed under KB3146449. So, yes, Microsoft snuck more Windows 10 upgrade code into a security fix. This is somewhat underhanded and I can sense that this will raise the ire of many customers. Delivering an upgrade mechanism in clear view is one thing, but stuffing it inside a required security patch is quite another.