[deanhills]

Windows 10 updates - are they still completely automatic or is there a workaround yet for controlling them with the option of disabling or enabling them manually?

About two years ago we had a discussion here about the Home version of Windows 10 making automatic updates compulsory.  I.e. there isn't an option to disable automatic downloads so you can pick or disregard some of the updates. One can disable it but it would only be temporary and will be enabled without the ability to control when it gets enabled again.

My question is has someone found a work around of this?  Is there a way one can disable automatic updates for Windows 10 or at least have some control over the process?

And if not, what Windows 10 (Home/Professional/Enterprise/Education) allow disabling of automatic updates?

[Mashiro]

Windows 10 Home is the Windows 10 version to avoid when looking forward to gain any kind of control of the Windows updates. You need at least Windows 10 Professional to be able to control Windows 10 updates. In addition to that I would recommend using the latest build or at least 1903/1909 because from this builds on you have the ability to delay updates every 7 days and perform advanced configuration on the Windows update feature. For example you can just Pause updates for around a month totally (up to 35 days in total). And you can configure general delays for Windows updates which will automatically make Windows wait X amount of days before installing updates (this is only for feature and quality updates).

If you have limited bandwidth there are a few easy things you can do to prevent automatic updates. It is easy. Just set your connection to metered and make sure Windows update is configured to not perform any updates over metered connections. Beware though that Windows will also stop downloading drivers and other things automatically for new devices when your network connection is set to be metered. Thus you will have to download and install drivers automatically if a new device is not detected properly.

If you don't want any quality and feature updates there is nothing else you can do than switching to the Enterprise LTSC version of Windows 10. This however IS NOT a Windows 10 version for any normal customer. It is made for business that require a very stable OS with only security updates. So you can't simply get a license for Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019. There are ways to activate it but... I'll stop at this point. I have been using this for a long time now and I love it. It also comes without all Windows 10 apps and without the Windows 10 Store (can be installed manually though if needed).

[huuthi95]

Yes, you can disable update for windows 10 following this step:
Step 1: Open Group Policy Editor, press Windows key + R to open the Run command window, then type gpedit.msc into it and press Enter.
Step 2: In the Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the key: Computer Configuration => Administrative Templates => Windows Components => Windows Update.
Step 3: Find Configure Automatic Update, double click on it and select Disabled, then proceed to save the changes are finished.

OR:

Disable updating on Windows 10 with services.msc
Press Windows + R to open run ==> type services.msc ==> press Enter or enter through the path:
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools
Navigate to the Windows Update section (scroll down to the very bottom), double click on it to bring up the window.
In the General tab find Startup type ==> click the arrow in the box and select Disabled.
OK to save changes, restart the computer and check the Windows Update feature again.

[youssefbasha]

I was using Windows 10 professional and i removed the automatic updates easily
Steps already in the comment above me.
Here is a quote

Step 1: Open Group Policy Editor, press Windows key + R to open the Run command window, then type gpedit.msc into it and press Enter.
Step 2: In the Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the key: Computer Configuration => Administrative Templates => Windows Components => Windows Update.
Step 3: Find Configure Automatic Update, double click on it and select Disabled, then proceed to save the changes are finished.

OR:

Disable updating on Windows 10 with services.msc
Press Windows + R to open run ==> type services.msc ==> press Enter or enter through the path:
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools
Navigate to the Windows Update section (scroll down to the very bottom), double click on it to bring up the window.
In the General tab find Startup type ==> click the arrow in the box and select Disabled.
OK to save changes, restart the computer and check the Windows Update feature again.

[Sn1F3rt]

As @huuthi95 rightly highlighted, that's the exact way I'd used to disable Windows 10 auto-updates on my school PC.

In addition to the above method, there are two other ways also. One is to disable the Windows 10 Update Service by heading over to services.msc, however this method has its limitations as the Service will reenable itself after sometime.

The other method is the one @"Hidden Refuge", highlighted, that's to meter your internet usage and set Windows Updater accordingly and gotcha However, again there's the problem that he highlighted, but that should be easy for you. Technically it's just time-consuming and requires a little manual effort.

Regards,

[Rehan]

I have successfully disabled the windows 10 updates. It took about 3 months to disable windows 10 update completely. Its over 13 weeks since i disabled windows 10 updates and still it is disabled. I have disabled it with some following steps.

Firstly i disabled unnecessary startup programs. then i disabled updates from the services. I also have changed my connection to a metered connection. I also have installed a windows 10 update disable script ( a .bat file ). I am not a expert in command prompt and registration entries. So i don't know if those scripts are secure or not. I am not giving any link to those script. Those scripts are named as " Windows 10 update Disabler ".
I am not responsible for anything.use at your own risk ( it is working well for me )

[xdude]

@huuthi95 @youssefbasha @sohamb03 @Rehan

Could you guys clarify which version of Windows 10 is used ? I know Hidden Refuge talks about Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC version. I read about this elsewhere too that it's the only version which offers some sort of control over many things.

[huuthi95]

@huuthi95 @youssefbasha @sohamb03 @Rehan

Could you guys clarify which version of Windows 10 is used ? I know Hidden Refuge talks about Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC version. I read about this elsewhere too that it's the only version which offers some sort of control over many things.

You can do that with every version of Windows 10 follow that steps I have listed above.. Good luck

[Rehan]

Yes, you can disable update for windows 10 following this step:
Step 1: Open Group Policy Editor, press Windows key + R to open the Run command window, then type gpedit.msc into it and press Enter.
Step 2: In the Group Policy Editor window, navigate to the key: Computer Configuration => Administrative Templates => Windows Components => Windows Update.
Step 3: Find Configure Automatic Update, double click on it and select Disabled, then proceed to save the changes are finished.

OR:

Disable updating on Windows 10 with services.msc
Press Windows + R to open run ==> type services.msc ==> press Enter or enter through the path:
Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Administrative Tools
Navigate to the Windows Update section (scroll down to the very bottom), double click on it to bring up the window.
In the General tab find Startup type ==> click the arrow in the box and select Disabled.
OK to save changes, restart the computer and check the Windows Update feature again.

I have tried these methods before installing the disabler script. Those disables does not works at all. Updates automatically get enabled in few days. But yeah somehow this method will temporary stops updates.

[deanhills]

I have tried these methods before installing the disabler script. Those disables does not works at all. Updates automatically get enabled in few days. But yeah somehow this method will temporary stops updates.

True @Rehan.  It's supposed to only work for Windows 10 Professional or Enterprise.  With Windows 10 Professional, one has to be alert though, as the disabling only lasts for a fixed duration of 30 days or less.

Thank you for everyone's comment.  Particularly @"Hidden Refuge"'s comment that has been most informative:
https://post4vps.com/Thread-Windows-10-u...0#pid33450

To avoid this discussion from going into spam, am closing it for now.