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From everything I’ve read, Signal is a great app, and the ability to use it on Windows is a key feature. That said, don’t both users have to be using Signal for encryption to work? Kinda negates the “one off” use cases you mention if your neighbor, friend, etc. is not willing to download, sign up, and configure a new app for you. I installed Signal a few years ago and if I remember correctly it told you which of your contacts used it. Grand total out of a couple hundred? Zero.

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Save_Us_from_MS, Norio, rbailin, Alex5723

Just an FYI (and it could be unrelated), but I used WUSHOWHIDE to hide KB5034441 before updating (I am on Windows 10 Pro 22H2 and Bitlocker is ON). After updating I received an “Error Encountered” message. “Some update files are missing or have problems. We’ll try to download the update again later. Error code (0x80070003).

Not seeing any ill-effects (yet). Could it just be that KB5034441 is a security update and WU knows it’s “supposed” to be there since Bitlocker is on? It’s an older Surface Pro and the likelihood of anyone gaining possession is slim. I have no interest in mucking with the recovery partition to get it to try to install and am not opposed to just shutting Bitlocker off (assuming I can find the key if needed, LOL!)

Thoughts? Thanks!

Thank you! That gives me what I needed. Thought I was losing my mind. Off to research WUMgr.

Help! What am I doing wrong?

On Win 11/22H2 (Home).

I pause updates until Susan gives the all-clear.

I run wushowhide, and it shows no updates to block, until/unless I un-pause updates.

I un-pause updates and ALL updates IMMEDIATELY begin downloading AND installing AUTOMATICALLY.

If I go to wushowhide while the downloads are occurring, I can select the one(s) I want to block, however it does not stop them from downloading, nor installing.

If I re-pause updates, it stops the process, however once I un-pause again, the vicious cycle repeats itself.

BTW, still getting the message “troubleshooters have moved and this tool will be retired on my Win 11 machine.

Note: have an older Surface running Win10/22H2 Pro. The behavior is the same here as well. Fortunately, there’s nothing I want to block on this machine (like the repeatedly offered 4023057 – which I have memorized since I have blocked it so often).

I must be missing a step somewhere, but I have read and re-read the steps outlined by @PKCano and can’t find anything.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sorry – I guess I did not make the point of my post clear. As you can see in the attachment, running this on Win 11 22H2 I get a message wushowhide will be retired. Was just bringing it to the attention of the community because, if true, this resource may not be available to us in the future. Thanks!

Posting this as an FYI. Not sure of this is the correct place, but perhaps the esteemed PKCano can re-home it to get it noticed.

At any rate, encountered the issue w/ wushowhide not running from a network drive, and moved (rather than copied it) to my Windows 10 machine. Went to run it from my Windows 11 machine, couldn’t find it (obv.), so I downloaded it from Major Geeks. When I ran it, I got a message that “Troubleshooters have been moved, and this tool will be retired” (see attachment).

The “Learn more” link brought me to this page (which tells you to run system>troubleshoot>troubleshooters instead): Deprecation of Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool (MSDT) and MSDT Troubleshooters – Microsoft Support

Unsurprisingly there isn’t an equivalent troubleshooter to wushowhide, and ironically, the Windows Update troubleshooter has the same “warning” banner.

Hoping this just means we won’t be able to D/L wushowhide anymore, versus it won’t run, but it seems in line with the general trend to make it much harder for us to selectively apply updates. Look forward to any thoughts, intel, suggestions you all might have.

Thanks!

Oh c’mon now! No one is bleeding over Windows 11 at this point (if they ever were). Can we please back off the hyperbole at this point?

Speaking purely from a consumer perspective (because I do recognize and respect the concerns businesses have with such a major undertaking), I had a flawless update to Win 11 this past March. Haven’t had any problems since. And while it didn’t bring any groundbreaking improvements, I do like the subtle visual tweaks, and have no issues with the taskbar, or most of the other minor gripes being hammered into the ground here and on other forums.

Of course, YMMV but I do think it’s time to stop portraying Windows 11 as yet another fantastical “Devil’s Spawn of the Great Satan of Redmond”.

Or, to put it more succinctly, “for cryin’ out loud, it ain’t Vista!”

LOL!

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b

You’re kidding, right? “Get Windows 11 on a new computer (not that you have a choice) or — if you wait long enough — Windows 12!” Like you and everyone else will not be immediately advising everyone to wait for Windows 13 (LOL!), lest their computing worlds come to an untimely and disastrous end!

But seriously, Every. Single. Time. Windows (or any other OS) is updated, there is a cadre of pundits and commenters predicting doom and gloom. While you all rightly point out the prudence of not being an early adopter, at this point (despite some persistent claims to the contrary) I think we’re well out of the early adopter stage for Windows 11.

And while I agree with you that there is nothing super compelling about Windows 11, at this point I don’t think there’s anything super compelling against it either. Which is what drove me to my own “why not?” moment (as described by your colleague Simon Bisson) 3 months ago.

Speaking purely from a consumer perspective (because I do recognize and respect the concerns businesses have with such a major undertaking), I had a flawless update to Win 11 this past March. Haven’t had any problems since. And while it didn’t bring any groundbreaking improvements, I do like the subtle visual tweaks, and have no issues with the taskbar, or most of the other minor gripes being hammered into the ground here and on other forums. Of course, YMMV.

And of course, I will wait a suitably prudent length of time before upgrading to Windows 12, as I did for 11. I may be less paranoid than some, but I ain’t no fool either.

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b

I find it kind of funny that Every. Single. Time. Windows (or any other OS) is updated, there is a cadre of pundits and commenters predicting doom and gloom. While they rightly point out the prudence of not being an early adopter, at this point (despite some persistent claims to the contrary) I think we’re well out of the early adopter stage for Windows 11.

And while I agree with Peter Deegan that there is nothing super compelling about Windows 11, at this point I don’t think there’s anything super compelling against it either. Which is what drove me to my own “why not?” moment 3 months ago.

Speaking purely from a consumer perspective (because I do recognize and respect the concerns businesses have with such a major undertaking), I had a flawless update to Win 11 this past March. Haven’t had any problems since. And while it didn’t bring any groundbreaking improvements, I do like the subtle visual tweaks, and have no issues with the taskbar, or most of the other minor gripes being hammered into the ground here and on other forums. Of course, YMMV.

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plannerguy

Re: “I’m still on the fence about recommending Windows 11 22H2 to home and consumer users”

I recently bit the bullet and upgraded to Windows 11 (Home), mostly because I got my son a laptop which had it pre-installed, and I wanted to be able to use Quick Assist to help him if he had any issues. Of course, 22H2 was the version offered so I crossed my fingers and . . . experienced the easiest, fastest, and most issue free (so far) Windows upgrade ever. I started w/ 3.1, skipped Vista, but have had every other version since. Went from Win 10 22H2 to Win 11 22H2 in a little under 40 minutes, no issues with apps, printers, Bluetooth, wi-fi . . . nuttin’. Didn’t even lose connection w/ my NAS!

As for whether it’s worth it, I actually like the UI look and feel better, and have thus far resisted moving the start button from its center(ish) position. Start Menu is a non-issue as well. I actually find myself just typing the name of the app I want to open – much quicker. All in all, an inoffensive change.

Obviously, YMMV, but I figured I’d provide this feedback as most of the time we only hear the horror stories and not the successes. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself! LOL!

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Lars220

Thanks, @PKCano. Any thoughts on the date question?

OK, it’s totally possible this is SOP and I just never noticed it before this, so bear with me.

I went into advanced options and set my pause update date to November 30, 2022, however the main Windows Update settings page says, “Updates will resume on 11/29/2022”. What gives? Does this mean updates will be queued up to automatically install on the 29th or the 30th?

I use “wushowhide” as well, but I’ve been suspicious updates are getting pushed after the pause date expires regardless (I think).

Am I nuts? Just confused? Is MS trying to pull a fast one on us?

Thanks!

Got it. I configured all that, and understand. My question is about the last bullet in proc AKB2000013. I guess if I take the statement “+ Reset connections to Metered BEFORE the Restart.” and loop back to the first step “Be sure your Network connections are set to metered connections each time before shutting down the computer.” it follows that you’re saying keep your Network set to Metered unless following the specific step “+ Now you should be able to open Settings\Updates and Security and update without getting the hidden updates. Once you see that only the ones you want are there, turn off Metered connections and allow download.”

If that’s correct, can you validate the following summary of my understanding then?

• I’ve configured update settings and group policy as outlined in the topic “Configuring update on win10/pro”;
• Whenever I am of a mind to check for updates (every Patch Tuesday, for instance), Update and Security will display the latest patches that are on offer (and which have not previously been hidden by me using wushowhide), in a “queued for download” state;
• I can then xref the KB numbers against the master patch list and determine which patches I want to hide/unhide;
• I should then follow the proc listed under this topic (AKB2000013) in order to ensure the Windows Update cache is properly cleared, the appropriate updates are well and truly hidden; and only the updates I have elected NOT to hide are available for download; downloaded, and installed.
• Except where noted above, my network connection should be set to metered at all times to guard against as much MS sneakiness as possible.

Sorry if I am being a pest, but like I said I just want to get it right and my brain is wired for checklists. LOL! Thanks again for your help and patience!!!

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jburk07

How about if you are using Win10 Pro? At one time I believe I had metered connections set to ON all the time, but I think it messed with something I needed (OneDrive sync, perhaps?) so I turned it off. Would you say it’s OK to leave Metered Connections OFF until I want to check for updates, and then follow the process above? Thanks – it’s all so convoluted (not your fault, if MS did their thing right we wouldn’t need to worry) and I just want to get it right!

Question: how often are you all looking for new patches, etc. to manage? This is the second time I have just been about to look at wushowhide but got a message that my PC needs to reboot to install updates. Today it was KB4465065. Of course, now that I go to wushowhide it doesn’t show I can hide it as Windows Update has presumably already done (most of) it’s thing. This microcode patch doesn’t show up on any “absolutely don’t install” lists, but what if, right?

I’m running Windows 10 Pro and have all my deferrals maxed out (Semi-annual, 365 and 30 days). Should I be looking every Monday/Tuesday (e.g. potential Patch Tuesdays) since that’s when the last 30 day deferral would theoretically expire and wushowhide would then see something being newly offered? Etc.

I understand all the “steps” Woody and others have outlined here, but I’m still not clear on timing.

Thanks in advance!