Preventing automatic Windows updates

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Is there any way in Windows 10 to prevent it from automatically getting and install new updates?

Not a problem from my desktop (it does it overnight, so I don’t care), but on my laptop it is an inconvenience. When I’m “out and about”, I want to be able to just turn-it off; but instead I get a message “updating, don’t turn-off your computer”.

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Under Update Settings, change active hours should enable you to avoid such issues.

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Trev,
I don’t see that option. All I see is a statement “Available updates will be downloaded and installed automatically.” I can’t see where to change that.

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If you are using Wi-Fi when out and about open Settings | Network and Internet | Wi-Fi | Manage Known Networks. Click on the Network to which you are connected. Then click the Properties button. Set the network to be a metered connection. That should stop updates until you are on an unmetered network.

--Joe

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There should be a link immediately below “Available updates will be…” which says “Change active hours”. Not sure which build introduced this concept. It may not be in the build you are running.

--Joe

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There should be a link immediately below “Available updates will be…” which says “Change active hours”. Not sure which build introduced this concept. It may not be in the build you are running.

I definitely don’t see that. I just upgraded 2 weeks ago, so I’d assume I got the latest build at the time. And since it appears to be updating automatically, why wouldn’t I have the latest one now?

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I definitely don’t see that. I just upgraded 2 weeks ago, so I’d assume I got the latest build at the time. And since it appears to be updating automatically, why wouldn’t I have the latest one now?

The latest is 14393.10, which are you on? (run>winver)
The latest build came out a few days ago…

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The latest is 14393.10, which are you on? (run>winver)
The latest build came out a few days ago…

Win 10 Pro Build 10586.494! But again the question, if it is doing automatic updates, why don’t I have current build?

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I definitely don’t see that. I just upgraded 2 weeks ago, so I’d assume I got the latest build at the time. And since it appears to be updating automatically, why wouldn’t I have the latest one now?

The latest was the Anniversary Update which is being rolled out gradually, I know several people who haven’t received it yet.
To get it now you could go here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12387/windows-10-update-history?ocid=update_setting_client

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The latest was the Anniversary Update which is being rolled out gradually, I know several people who haven’t received it yet.
To get it now you could go here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12387/windows-10-update-history?ocid=update_setting_client

That’s the method I used to update my tablet as Windows Update wasn’t picking up the AU.

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There are two batchfiles on The ‘Net that will:
— turn WU off
— turn WU on
I use them to keep WU away until I’m ready to do the updates.
Would it be forum-legal to post these?

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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Batch files are fine unless they are on a site with a copyright notice, in which case you can post the site details.

cheers, Paul

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I can change my settings from Auto to Notify but whether that just means that I will be told they are being downloaded to just being downloaded – not sure.

Even though I have updates in my history after I upgraded, I wasn’t aware of them as none required a restart and that was with it set to Notify.

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Cobbled together from a few sources:

[Double][click] during any specific Windows Sessions to postpone WU:
rem disabling Windows Update for current session
c:windowssystem32net stop wuauserv
c:windowssystem32sc config wuauserv start=disabled
exit

[Double][click] during any specific Windows Sessions to no longer postpone WU:
rem enabling Windows Update for current session
c:windowssystem32sc config wuauserv start=auto
c:windowssystem32net start wuauserv
exit

Normally, any cold/warm-boot or Restart will also mean Windows Updates service/module will be active. The above batchfiles are used by me within my Windows 7 Sessions, I do not know for sure if those also work for Windows 10. The path may or may not have to be altered.

If the above do work, realize that if WU is set to automatically download and/or automatically install, you only have a few seconds within Desktop to use the OFF batchfile.

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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I suppose you could go into services.msc and change the Windows Update service to Disabled and put up with the nags about it, but I’ve noticed that its status now shows as Manual (Trig..) as opposed to the previous Auto (Delayed).

In its Properties it just shows as Manual in the dropdown.

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I think the best options are available through the Group Policy editor. It seems that you can even configure updates to install manually. I am not sure on how this will actually work, since I am discovering them myself.

Here are some settings that may useful:

Configure automatic updates – disabled will make updates install manually. Enabled allows a lot of configuration options. Right now I have it set to notify to download and notify to install – it seems to work, too, since I was notified of a Windows Defender update that hadn’t been download.

Do not include drivers with Windows updates;

Allow Automatic Updates immediate installation;

Delay Rescheduled restart for scheduled installations;

There are also two settings for deferring Windows updates that may help delaying them…

How effective all of this will be, remains to be seen. As I said, I am still experimenting with them.

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Rui,

I found the Group Policy Editor, and I found a bunch of options which were “not configured”. Unfortunately, I don’t have a clue on what any of they do! But I don’t want to be a Windows administrator, and this should not be that difficult for the average user! It’s just annoying.

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Rui,

I found the Group Policy Editor, and I found a bunch of options which were “not configured”. Unfortunately, I don’t have a clue on what any of they do! But I don’t want to be a Windows administrator, and this should not be that difficult for the average user! It’s just annoying.

Mark,

Well, I am not a Windows administrator, either. For now, I have set just a couple and plan to see how they affect updates behavior:

Configure automatic updates – set it to Enabled and then chose set to notify to download and notify to install. This is probably the one that could help you with the specific situation you mentioned, since no updates would even download without your consent.

So far, I have been notified of two updates (Defender) and they didn’t download without my agreement.

The other one I enabled is the one to avoid drivers being included in updates.

HTH

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I think a lot of us just have Win 10 Home where we don’t have access to GPE.

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Hey Y’all,

This thread got me interested so I did a little reading in the GPE on my Win 10 PRO desktop and decided to set things like this:
45204-W10GPEWUSettings

What I found very interesting was the explanation for the last item in the list above.

Here’s the text in its entirety:

Remove access to use all Windows Update features:

This setting allows you to remove access to Windows Update.

If you enable this setting, all Windows Update features are removed. This includes blocking access to the Windows Update Web site at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com, from the Windows Update hyperlink on the Start menu, and also on the Tools menu in Internet Explorer. Windows automatic updating is also disabled; you will neither be notified about nor will you receive critical updates from Windows Update. This setting also prevents Device Manager from automatically installing driver updates from the Windows Update Web site.

If enabled you can configure one of the following notification options:

0 = Do not show any notifications

This setting will remove all access to Windows Update features and no notifications will be shown.

1 = Show restart required notifications

This setting will show notifications about restarts that are required to complete an installation.

On Windows 8 and Windows RT, if this policy is Enabled, then only notifications related to restarts and the inability to detect updates will be shown. The notification options are not supported. Notifications on the login screen will always show up.

So it would appear with Win 10 Pro at least you can completely turn off Windows Update…unless of course I’m interpreting this incorrectly.

HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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It’s unclear if the anniversary upgrade has stopped this from working:
http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread//176913-Anniversary-Update-Changes-the-way-Update-Works!

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Mark, MS are staggering the update. My main desktop has the new update (14393.10) and this has the change active hours. My secondary desktop hasn’t had the AU offered and like you, doesn’t have the option to change active hours. I think you can force it to upgrade (look for other threads about this), I’m just going to wait for it to happen.

Eliminate spare time: start programming PowerShell

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The four machines I have turned on always say “Your device is up to date” when I Check for Updates.
I’m sure the update will turn up some time soon.

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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@RG
Woody has an article that is about that also: Block Windows 10 forced updates without breaking your machine, part 2 http://www.infoworld.com/article/3053701/microsoft-windows/block-windows-10-forced-updates-without-breaking-your-machine-part-2.html

Since I have read so many things about the AU not really being ready for the general release and breaking a number of things, I followed Woody’s advice ” The case against Windows 10 Anniversary Update grows ” http://www.infoworld.com/article/3104389/microsoft-windows/the-case-against-windows-10-anniversary-update-grows.html
My W10 Pro HP laptop hasn’t caught the upgrade yet so I set the ” Defer Upgrades ” button and also turned on ” Metered connection ” until things get sorted out a little better. I will wait until I start seeing some more good reports about the upgrade before changing them back.

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Lumpy,

I forced the upgrade on all 4 of my machines (1 Desktop & 3 Laptops) and haven’t had a single problem aside from having to re-institute all the privacy settings and some other odds and end settings. It’s working smoothly, quickly, and w/o issue. Even my Wife hasn’t complained as she often does after updates! Of course, YMMV!

That said I do prefer to be able to tell windows when I want it to update, definitely not when I’m in the middle of a project! Thus the settings I’ve selected in the Group Policy Editor as noted above.

HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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That said I do prefer to be able to tell windows when I want it to update, definitely not when I’m in the middle of a project! Thus the settings I’ve selected in the Group Policy Editor as noted above.

I’ll be interested to hear if this still works for you since the verbiage in Settings/Updates changed after the AU and no longer shows “Notify Only” as the option set.

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That said I do prefer to be able to tell windows when I want it to update, definitely not when I’m in the middle of a project! Thus the settings I’ve selected in the Group Policy Editor as noted above.

That’s what the “Notify to schedule restart” setting is for: How to Schedule Restarts for Updates in Windows 10

From your single screenshot of a policy you haven’t configured, it’s unclear to me what you’ve set in GPE.

Why don’t you have all the other options there?: How to Enable or Disable Automatic Updates for Windows Update in Windows 10

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Even my Wife hasn’t complained as she often does after updates

Now THAT is quite a recommendation!!!! :o:
Glad it went well for you but I think I will wait until the dust settles a bit.:o

Don't take yourself so seriously, no one else does
All W10 Pro at 22H2,(2 Desktops, 1 Laptop).

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Graham,

The verbiage is posted is post AU. HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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