Woman wins lawsuit over unwanted Windows 10 installation

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Teri Goldstein was awarded $10,000 after Windows 10 borked her PC.

A California woman has been awarded $10,000 in a lawsuit over a botched Windows 10 installation that she said she didn't want, didn't authorize, and left her computer running at a “crawl” and prone to crashing. Microsoft's customer support service was unable to solve the problem, so she sued for lost wages and the cost of a new PC, and came out on top. 

“I had never heard of Windows 10,” Teri Goldstein told The Seattle Times. “Nobody ever asked me if I wanted to update.”   

Microsoft denied any wrongdoing and said it dropped its appeal and accepted the judgment to avoid the expense of fighting the case further. Still, the suit has been seen as yet another blow against Redmond, especially since Windows 10 already has a reputation for being pushier than it should be. I also wonder how this might impact Microsoft over the legal long run. Denial of wrongdoing will only get you so far, after all. Unless there were very specific circumstances about this case that led to the ruling, I would think that the outcome would encourage an awful lot of similar suits in the future. 

I've reached out to Microsoft for comment and will update if and when I receive a reply. In the meantime, if you do happen to be interested in Windows 10, bear in mind that the free upgrade offer comes to an end in just over a month. If you take the plunge, you'll also want to have a look at our recommendations for ten must-have Windows 10 programs, right here. 

Thanks, Kotaku.

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.