Dealing with Windows: How to Stop Windows 10 Updates?

26 Aug Dealing with Windows: How to Stop Windows 10 Updates?

By now, many of you have probably upgraded to Windows 10 already and will be enjoying its many good features. However, there’s one feature that you might not be so enamored with, and that’s the fact that in Windows 10, Microsoft decided to remove the option to turn off automatic updates. Yup, there’s nowhere in the Control Panel or Settings to turn it off. Windows 10 PCs will automatically check for updates and install any updates they find.

As a general rule, an up-to-date operating system is a secure operating system. Some people are terrible at updating their operating systems, so automatic updates are typically a good thing. That could be why Microsoft has decided to make Windows 10 an operating system that automatically checks for, downloads and installs new updates to your PC, whether you like it or not.

While this might be convenient for many users, not everyone wants their operating system updated on Microsoft’s schedule. There’s that little principle of being in control of your own PC isn’t there?

Then there’s also the issue of hijacking your bandwidth when the updates are happening. While automatic updates might be fine for a lot of users who have speedy Internet connections, anyone with a slow connection will find this a real pain because Windows updates will take most of the little speed that their connection offers. As a result, their browsing and downloading will get real slow.

Take back control

So, while there’s nowhere in Control Panel or Settings to turn off automatic updates, the old saying of “where there’s a will, there’s a way” holds true, because there is a way to take back control over both your operating system and your bandwidth.

In fact, there are two ways to turn off Windows update. One way stops the updates from downloading automatically, which means you can still go get them manually (which is a good thing), while the other way entirely disables both automatic and manual updates.

The second way means you won’t be getting any updates unless you remember to turn the update service back on. If you wait too long to do this or forget, you could risk compromising the security of your operating system. So we don’t really recommend the second option.

Disabling automatic downloads

Windows 10 offers users on ‘metered’ connections a compromise, because, to save bandwidth, Windows 10updates will not install updates. Windows 10 will automatically set certain types of connections, such as mobile data connections, as metered. However, you can set any connection you like as a metered connection.

So, if you don’t want Windows 10 automatically downloading updates or you have an Internet connection with limited data or you’re connected to the Internet via a Wi-Fi connection, just mark it as metered and Windows 10 won’t automatically download updates on it. Windows 10 will automatically download updates when you connect your device to an unmetered network, or when you set the network it’s connected to as unmetered again.

See below how to stop windows 10 updates:

1. Type gpedit.msc in Start and press the Enter key to open the Group Policy Editor. Or hold down the Windows Key and R, type gpedit.msc and hit Enter.
2. In the left pane, navigate to: Computer Configuration> Administrative Template> Windows Components> Windows Update.
3. In the right pane, double-click on Configure Automatic Updates.
4. Change the value from Not configured to Disabled and press OK.

Now, Windows 10 will not automatically check for and download updates. Just remember to make sure you run updates manually from time to time to ensure you keep your operating system up to date and secure.

How to Stop Windows 10 Updates – Automatic and Manual

Here are the steps to disable Windows Update entirely:

1. Open Run by holding down the Windows Key and R. You can also right-click the Start button and choose Run.
2. Enter services.msc and hit Enter.
3. In the Services window, locate service with the name Windows Update.
4. Right click on Windows Update and choose Properties.
5. Click the Stop button to stop the update service; then change the Startup type from Manual to Disabled.
6. Click OK. Windows will still try to check for updates, but because the service is disabled, it will go into an error state and give you the message “Error checking for Updates”

Here are the steps to turn Windows Update back on:

1. Open Run by pressing Windows Key + R. You can also right-click the Start button and choose Run.
2. Enter services.msc and hit Enter.
3. In the Services window, locate the service with the name Windows Update.
4. Right click on Windows Update and choose Properties.
5. Change Startup type from Disabled to Manual.
6. Click OK.
7. Go to Windows Update in PC Settings and press on Check for Updates and Windows will start installing updates.

Remember, updates are important – they keep your operating system secure with security fixes and bring you driver updates that improve hardware compatibility. Therefore, if you’ve disabled the automatic and manual updates, you need to turn them on from time to time to ensure your operating system is updated. In the meantime, enjoy being the boss of your PC again!

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