I read awhile back where MS was starting to force the 10 upgrades on 7 and 8.1 machines, so is GWX Control Panel needed again, and is the control panel even updated anymore to include blocking the updates that MS is forcing for Win10. If they are forcing upgrades again and GWX CP is no longer valid, then what are the other measures that can be taken to block a potential upgrade? Thank you.
The GWX Control panel only blocked the forced Windows 10 Upgrade, it doesn't (and never has) blocked the Win10-style Telemetry. Note that the free upgrade officially ended and MS doesn't force GWX onto PCs, anymore.