Using GPedit on Win10 Home doesn’t block updates

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Just got a definitive answer from JC: The TweakHound Win10 patching block only works with the Pro version  in conjunction with gpedit.msc. I have Win1
[See the full post at: Using GPedit on Win10 Home doesn’t block updates]

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gpedit is not available in Home; there is a hack that adds it but it isn’t official. http://drudger.deviantart.com/art/Add-GPEDIT-msc-215792914
Sounds like that’s what was used here which is probably why it didn’t work.

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Yep, exactly. The question is whether running a hacked GPEdit on Win10 Home would give you some of the control that comes with the Win10 Pro version. Short answer: Nope.

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There’s a registry tweak that can set ethernet (cabled) LAN connected devices to metered. Google for “windows 10 metered ethernet”.

Sigh… 15+ months later, Microsoft still doesn’t understand that metering applies to WAN connections, not LAN connections.

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Yes, Abbodi went through the details in a different thread. It’s a sequences of changes, that have to be undone when you want to get updates. More than that, it isn’t clear to me what gets put through a metered connection, and what gets throttled.

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Instead of “downloading” gpedit.msc, you could edit the registry and implement the exact same keys for blocking/configuring Windows Update. Only then the test is relevant. gpedit.msc is only a registry editor for specific locations, it does not change any functionality by itself.

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Well, this was to be expected: http://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/28/microsoft-removes-policies-windows-10-pro/

GPOs that are not available on the running Windows edition will be ignored, much in contrast to previous Windows versions. It looks like this applies to Home editions even more.

It seems it’s getting more and more uncomfortable for power users…

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Right. I don’t have any results yet for the manual registry edits. Not sure anybody tried them this time around.

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Not sure if Power Users are supposed to use the Home Edition. Pro is more suitable for those users.

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Howtogeek.com has created some .reg files to enable and disable metered ethernet connection

http://www.howtogeek.com/262477/how-to-set-an-ethernet-connection-as-metered-in-windows-8-and-10/

I am currently using this tweak – no problems with updates so far – I haven’t needed to disable metered connection.

Although I do have a scheduled task to update Defender definitions.

I also use the registry tweak with wifi – this means when I connect to a new wifi network I don’t have to remember to turn on metered – very handy when out and about!

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Yep, that’s the registry tweak discussed by Abbodi.

What version of Windows are you using?

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I have set this on several 1511 Home laptops.

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In the past, Pro users could support people with Home versions. Now those poor folks who upgraded to Win 10 Home from Win 7 Home are stuck with less features than before. I used to tell them, buy the home version you don’t need the Pro and would push some registry tweaks manually instead of using gpedit, but now the game is changed. I still think that in theory, if we don’t have a domain, we shouldn’t have to not use a Home version to set the computer to behave properly. It’s not called crippled version, but Home version.

Now Pro is Home with automatic crap installation, ads on the lock screen and inability to easily decide when to install patches. It’s appalling that you pay the same Pro price to get forced ads and pay with your privacy. Enterprise LTS with no consumer features might be the version we would like but I don’t think you can even buy a one license standalone version. Anyone else not excited at all by the creative update? I digress.

Questions for you (ch100) or another knowledgeable individual here:
If I try to import a GPO using LGPO on a home version, will it work? I suppose the settings might be imported and saved in a local GPO but never loaded?

Then, if I modify a local policy setting directly in the home version like
[HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsLocationAndSensors]
“DisableWindowsLocationProviders”=dword:00000001
will it be applied in the home version?
I would think maybe?

Or, do I need to find the registry setting the policy change when the policy setting is not the setting itself and hope it will be applied?

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This just keeps coming up over and over, as though people are hoping to find the magic configuration option they’ve missed all along.

Such an option doesn’t exist!

Microsoft is exercising control over your “Home” system ON PURPOSE.

Why is this hard to understand?

But…

For now on Home you STILL have control over what services run… So what is the problem with disabling the Windows Update service when you don’t want unplanned Windows Updates?

You want a little more control, supported by Microsoft? Get the Pro edition.

You want cheap? Just take on a little more work to temporarily Enable / Start / Re-Disable the Windows Update service when you’re ready for updates, then initiate the check through Settings.

-Noel

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Yep, it comes up over and over, and (to me) there’s no clearcut “best” answer.

So I just posted a blog about it. 🙂

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Let’s clarify. Enterprise LTSB is NOT supported for general use even in Enterprise. It is a special purpose operating system for so-called mission-critical environments.
There is even an example in the documentation, if Office is installed on the machine, then it is a general purpose machine and should not use LTSB.
What is the meaning of:
“Questions for you (ch100) or another knowledgeable individual here:
If I try to import a GPO using LGPO on a home version, will it work?”

You can import registry keys configured in another operating system or import Active Directory Domain Group Policies but not Local Policies. The equivalent of importing Local Policies is to import the relevant registry keys.
But a more appropriate answer from me is that I have no interest at all in the home editions and as such my knowledge is limited to what I read about them and you should actually get someone else with more knowledge in this area to reply to your enquiries.

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+1

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For your information, LGPO is a new tool from Microsoft to automatically export and import local policies you set on a machine to another machine. This, for me is a solution to the problem of easily setting multiple unrelated computers without a domain. It works with the Pro version and I was wondering if it could work on the Home edition as well. Then, it becomes easy for me to just deploy a set of settings for a cleaner, safer, version of Windows to friends. Plus, after each big update that resets some settings, I don’t need to manually review all policies all over again.

I was just wondering if the Home edition could benefit from the ability to import settings that way because I am not sure if the home version could even apply GPOs imported that way or if we are stuck with setting the registry manually. I thought you might know since you are very technically knowledgeable, but from your answer, I understand you don’t know much about Home edition and you don’t care for it, so I take a note of that, but thank you anyway for answering and letting me know.

Please just bear in mind that many folks have to deal with the Home edition because that is what comes with most store bought PCs and I think it is interesting that power users can discuss the ways we can make our life easier when dealing with it. The interest that questions about the home version generate on Askwoody shows that it is not an irrelevant topic. And small home based businesses are no less serious about work and productivity than big enterprises. They just lack the means and resources of the big enterprises to manage their things.

As for the LTSB, I understand what you say and I will remember it. Thank you for pointing out the distinction and you probably done it a lot in other comments and you are tired of it. I understand that. Substitute for normal enterprise if you prefer, the idea remains the same (you get more control and you can disable some spying and consumer crap). But, rhetorically, I think a lot of people would prefer to use an LTS version that don’t keep changing all the time too and that just receive security patches, even if that version don’t really exists. Maybe that is why it comes back all the time in the discussions like the ghost of a lost love.

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I just found that one of the Local Group Policies does not seems to work in Windows 10 Enterprise installed stand-alone, not on an Active Directory Domain.

That Group Policy is
Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsStoreDisable all apps from Windows Store

The description is:
Requirements: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
Disable turns off the launch of all apps from the Windows Store that came pre-installed or were downloaded. Apps will not be updated. Your Store will also be disabled. Enable turns all of it back on. This setting applies only to Enterprise and Education editions of Windows.

It configures this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsStore
Value: DisableStoreApps DWORD 0

I am wondering if this is related, although it would not make much sense, as the AD Group Policies configure in fact the same registry keys.
That article says in fact that some policies configured locally do not work, while if they are configured at the domain level, should work.

http://www.urtech.ca/2015/09/solved-how-to-disable-the-store-app-in-windows-10/

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