Where do we stand with Feature Update deferrals in Win 10 Pro v1903?

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What has happened to Feature Update deferrals in Win10 Pro v1903? Everyone has been lauding the “Pause update” feature added to Windows Update in v190
[See the full post at: Where do we stand with Feature Update deferrals in Win 10 Pro v1903?]

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GreatAndPowerfulTech, Fred, Mele20, WildBill, CyGuy, NetDef, abbodi86, woody

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More detailed Observations on the v1903 upgrade:

+ The installation includes an Intel microcode patch that is uninstallable.
+ There are two separate Feature deferral settings that do not seem related.
+ The Feature deferral setting in v1809 represented by the pulldowns in the Windows Update GUI (SAC, Feature and Quality) set Registry values related to
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate under \UpdatePolicy and under \UX
Setting values here DID NOT affect/change the Group Policy settings under “Windows Update for Business.”
+ The Feature deferral settings in v1809 represented by Group Policy settings under “Windows Update for Business” (Readiness level, number of days) DO NOT affect the same Registry values as the pulldowns in the GUI in v1809. Group Policy “Windows Update for Business” settings are found:
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate and \AU
They are not necessarily the same as those set by the GUI.
+ It is not clear (to me) which deferral settings take precedence, the ones set by the GUI or the ones set in Group Policy. It is also not clear (to me) if those set in Group Policy “Windows Update for Business” are exclusive to Ent/Edu.
+ In any case, in v1903, I found no indication of any Feature update deferral pulldown showing in the Windows Update GUI, grayed out or not, with values set in any/either location.

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GreatAndPowerfulTech

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The registry is not what it used to be through and including Windows 7. I’m running Version 18362.10005. Here’s a screen snip of the registry showing Border Width at 15 and PaddedBorderWidth at 60, which it hasn’t been since Windows 7. Changing the values does nothing to the UI in Windows 8-10. Microsoft seems to have multiple rules being used since Windows 8 was released. There is really no way to tell what is actually controlled by the Registry these days and if changes to hidden attributes actually have an effect.

GreatAndPowerfulTech

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Fascinating.

The real world meets our (apparently inflated) expectations.

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Fred, WildBill

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Updating an OS should not be this **** complicated.

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Mark, WildBill

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Group Policy settings take precedence, then MDM policies
the GUI/registry values comes the last

the registry values under \UpdatePolicy\PolicyState are controlled and set by the system, it represent the result of active policies/settings

#3, UpdatePolicy does respect the deferral values set through registry under \UX\Settings

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woody, AlexEiffel, NetDef, PKCano

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Do the GP “Windows update for Business” settings apply to Pro as well as Ent/Edu?

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Yes they do.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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rc primak, woody, jaman57, abbodi86, WildBill

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I have a 1903 that retained the gui options, I have another that does not. Bottom line forget the GUI, use the local group policy.

 

To the best of my knowledge – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/group-policies-for-enterprise-and-education-editions that’s the list of ent/edu only policies.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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rc primak, jaman57, Mele20, Mark, PKCano, NetDef

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Have you tried to change the value of the GUI setting in 1903? Does the pulldown remain visible? grayed out?

Removing the settings from the GUI certainly takes deferrals away from a lot of people that won’t venture into the Registry or Group Policy.

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I’ll have to try it tonight, it’s on the home pc.  I’ll let you know.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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WildBill

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When you try, afterward close the Settings app, then open it and look again. They have been consistently disappearing for others when the settings were changed.

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It’s greyed out.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Any guess what in tarnation is happening?

I’d like to write up something definitive, for “normal” users….

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Didn’t we explained this already?
https://www.askwoody.com/2019/win10-version-1903-disappearing-update-settings-described-but-not-explained/

Group Policy takes precedence, the box show up greyed (with the correct days)
changing the UX registry also activate the deferrals correctly

the issue is in the Settings UI only

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rc primak, woody

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[pHROZEN gHOST]

MS developers must be taking great pride in their ability to read how people get around the heartaches in Windows 10 and then coding around these life savers.

It’s too bad MS doesn’t stick to the job at hand … make an OS that works properly for the vast majority of the user base.

Byte me!

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by pHROZEN gHOST.

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I’ve got a fresh Win10 v1903 Enterprise PC, the feature deferral is alive and well:

 

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But how about the Pro version.
Have the pulldown settings in the GUI been permanently removed?
Will the Registry settings that they represented continue to be valid/respected?

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aoetalks wrote:

I’ve got a fresh Win10 v1903 Enterprise PC, the feature deferral is alive and well:

 

Can you set 365 days deferral for Feature updates ?

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[EP]

yes.

I even have a Win10 Education edition v1903 and I can set the deferral number of days for feature updates in the UI that aoetalks has posted in the attached pic

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by EP.

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When you set the deferral, where does it change values in Group Ploicy, the Registry?
There were two different locations previously (1809) – the GUI set a Registry value in one location and Group Policy in another. Which on is now represented by the numbers seen in the GUI?

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A little OT.

Just finished up a remote tech support service call for a 94 year old home user.

Dell laptop running slow, unresponsive. couldn’t bring up a web browser. I remotely connected to his laptop and discovered that Windows Update was reporting failures to update from Windows 10 Home 1803 to 1903. I ran the Update Troubleshooter which reported correcting a corrupt database and 2 other items. I offered to manually install 1903 so he did not have to deal with any issues himself. He agreed and I started the update process from the Microsoft “Download Windows 10” web page. The version update succeeded but ran from 4:30 PM thru midnight. Just want to thank Microsoft for the unexpected billable hours. My school taxes are due in September and I can use the money.

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woody

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