How to turn OFF auto updates Win 10 Pro?

SLP Firehawk

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 30, 2020
Messages
184
I watched/read several tutorials and followed them yet it seems on the newer versions of Win10 Pro updates cannot be fully turned off and it eventually comes back on. Right now it's off...but for how long? Auto updates tend to break my work software and cause big and unnecessary problems so I figure if anyone would know how to completely turn this off it would be the very knowledgeable people here.
So anyone know how to completely turn off auto updates in Windows 10 Pro?

On a side note. I'm wondering how many of you prefer Win7 or Win10? I very much dislike 10.
 
Use a standalone firewall appliance and block your PC from accessing the Microsoft Update servers. Same technique can block most of the telemetry flow as well. You do have to remember to undo the block when you decide to update the PC.
 
Thank you. I do not know how to do this but if I understand the concept, the firewall appliance will allow me to choose which sites to block access to (Microsoft) yet allow my other software to access the sites they have to for the random license checks? I thought about just pulling the cable but I think eventually Adobe or Autodesk or plugins of either may cause an issue without internet. And then as soon as I re-connect to internet the dumb Microsoft updates that had been waiting will run.

Is there not another way to turn this off? Was not a problem with WIn7. I never updated it and it has worked fine.
I strongely dislike Microsoft forcing endless updates that cause problems and waste precious time.
 
With Win 10, Microsoft joined the growing group of companies that are changing the rules of ownership. With Win 10, you no longer fully control 'your' computer. Instead, Microsoft sets the update schedule(you can opt for a delay but not a suspension), what your desktop looks like, and is starting down the path of forced advertising. Enterprise versions allow a little more control.

A true firewall appliance will let you block Microsoft Update while allowing access to the the non-Microsoft sites. But the 'firewall' the average consumer grade router includes probably doesn't allows that fine a control.
 
You can turn off or change the way windows 10 pro manages updates with the group policy editor. I don't remember the actual policies but look it up. You can even block driver updates. I've been using this method to notify but never download since windows 10 was released and it has never switched back to auto updating.

If you don't want a particular update use the windows 10 update troubleshooter to hide it.

Windows 10 home doesn't have group policy editor but the same registry keys these policies apply in Pro still work in Home.
 
You can turn off or change the way windows 10 pro manages updates with the group policy editor. I don't remember the actual policies but look it up. You can even block driver updates. I've been using this method to notify but never download since windows 10 was released and it has never switched back to auto updating.

If you don't want a particular update use the windows 10 update troubleshooter to hide it.

Windows 10 home doesn't have group policy editor but the same registry keys these policies apply in Pro still work in Home.
Microsoft removed that option long time ago. You can set the GPO but it has no effect.
 
Looks like it works for me, the message is displayed "*your orginization has disabled automatic updates" on the windows update panel.
I read from many people on this forum that the GPO does not stop all the updates in reality. My aunts Win10 laptop got porked by a windows update yesterday, a patch killed her wifi connection. Had to uninstall the latest update to restore wifi.

Luckily I managed to do it over the phone and I skipped yet another visit because of Microsoft.

I'm actually impressed. After I set the Win10 for her about 2 years ago (with a non-admin user account) this is the first time something fatal has broken.
 
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I'll say this again... I have a copy of windows 10 with update turned off. It's version 15xxx or maybe early 16xxx. Follow this method..

- Open services.msc
- select Windows Update and go to properties
- click the Log On tab at the top
- under This account select guest and put in whatever password you want.
- save and right click the service again and tell it to restart.

This effective tells the service to only run on the guest account. Because the guest account is disabled by default, and the password you selected wouldn't be correct anyway, it fails when trying to start.

Windows update gets turned back on because windows checks if it's been disabled and enables it. When windows checks the status after this change it isn't flagged as disabled.

Enjoy.
 
I read from many people on this forum that the GPO does not stop all the updates in reality. My aunts Win10 laptop got porked by a windows update yesterday, a patch killed her wifi connection. Had to uninstall the latest update to restore wifi.

Luckily I managed to do it over the phone and I skipped yet another visit because of Microsoft.

I'm actually impressed. After I set the Win10 for her about 2 years ago (with a non-admin user account) this is the first time something fatal has broken.
whats she doing on windows? you havent convinced her to use linux yet? wtf?


op, try gpo if that doesnt work then disable wuauserv and rename the file. it wont update after that.
 
I'll say this again... I have a copy of windows 10 with update turned off. It's version 15xxx or maybe early 16xxx. Follow this method..

- Open services.msc
- select Windows Update and go to properties
- click the Log On tab at the top
- under This account select guest and put in whatever password you want.
- save and right click the service again and tell it to restart.

This effective tells the service to only run on the guest account. Because the guest account is disabled by default, and the password you selected wouldn't be correct anyway, it fails when trying to start.

Windows update gets turned back on because windows checks if it's been disabled and enables it. When windows checks the status after this change it isn't flagged as disabled.

Enjoy.
^^ that is also another sure fire way
 
I read from many people on this forum that the GPO does not stop all the updates in reality.
I can really only speak for myself, but I have used group policy to set my update settings to notify since release and have never had any issues with windows auto updating anyway. I have skipped a couple feature updates as a result so might have been a bad patch maybe?

Here's the MS docs on the policy settings: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/update/waas-wu-settings

There is a note saying that "user" policies aren't supported for windows updates, but that's referring to outdated group policy on the user level. Whatever update policy settings you choose it has to be done for the machine for win 10.
 
whats she doing on windows? you havent convinced her to use linux yet? wtf?


op, try gpo if that doesnt work then disable wuauserv and rename the file. it wont update after that.
LOL I was waiting for this coment... It was an experiment on my part. I wanted to see how long she can use Win10 before it croaks. The experiment has lasted about (duration-2weeks) longer than I expected :D

In reality she could do everything she needs with linux so if I have to fix windows again for her, she's moving to linux.
 
Looks like it works for me, the message is displayed "*your orginization has disabled automatic updates" on the windows update panel.
Just wanted to clear this up: that message means you (the user) cannot update the computer. Windows will still update, this just means your are blocking yourself from initiating those updates.
 
Just wanted to clear this up: that message means you (the user) cannot update the computer. Windows will still update, this just means your are blocking yourself from initiating those updates.
i think that depends on how its configured. in my work domain its blocks auto updates but i can manually go in and check for and install updates. the only update that comes in auto is defender updates.
 
With Win 10, you no longer fully control 'your' computer. Instead, Microsoft sets the update schedule(you can opt for a delay but not a suspension), what your desktop looks like, and is starting down the path of forced advertising. Enterprise versions allow a little more control.

There still is a way out, but for how long who knows. I'm running LTSC 2019 which is a more minimal enterprise version of Windows. It allows much more control over the update process among other advantages. I actually have updates shut off completely and do them manually from the Microsoft Catalog which is their update depot. I do this mainly for the same reason the OP wants it, to avoid surprises due to automatic forced updates. You need to have s KMS (key management server) to run LTSC so you can't just run it out of the box. It's actually not that big of a deal to set one up locally.

There are some down sides, LTSC versions are only released on a three year interval. So basically I'm running version 1809 until the next version of LTSC comes along. Being somewhat stripped down it lacks some things like Cortana and Microsoft Store, but that's a good thing for me. The only ding for me is I don't get the updated AMD scheduler. Other than that I'm really happy having a more Windows 7 like experience and I think my machine is faster and more efficient.
 
Just wanted to clear this up: that message means you (the user) cannot update the computer. Windows will still update, this just means your are blocking yourself from initiating those updates.
No it does not block me, I can still manually update. It does not however give me the choice to check or DL only. So when you click on check, it still auto installs them.
 
I'll say this again... I have a copy of windows 10 with update turned off. It's version 15xxx or maybe early 16xxx. Follow this method..

- Open services.msc
- select Windows Update and go to properties
- click the Log On tab at the top
- under This account select guest and put in whatever password you want.
- save and right click the service again and tell it to restart.

This effective tells the service to only run on the guest account. Because the guest account is disabled by default, and the password you selected wouldn't be correct anyway, it fails when trying to start.

Windows update gets turned back on because windows checks if it's been disabled and enables it. When windows checks the status after this change it isn't flagged as disabled.

Enjoy.
Looks to be a very clever way round it. What about Windows Update Medic Service? Wouldn't it like be a guest of this as well?
 
Looks to be a very clever way round it. What about Windows Update Medic Service? Wouldn't it like be a guest of this as well?

Never even heard of this medic thing. I just know it's effective, even on my 1909 install on my GPU rack.
 
just found out today about the windows 10 "show or hide updates" tool. so technically you could pause your updates or put them on delay and just run this tool every day and pick which updates you want.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...t-a-windows-update-from-reinstalling-in-windo

edit: i run enterprise edition so not sure how much of this you can do w/ pro but w/ enterprise you can pick "updates for business" ring and also put updates on a delay and also in group policy you can select "notify before downloading updates" so now i basically have total control back. :)
 
just found out today about the windows 10 "show or hide updates" tool. so technically you could pause your updates or put them on delay and just run this tool every day and pick which updates you want.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...t-a-windows-update-from-reinstalling-in-windo

edit: i run enterprise edition so not sure how much of this you can do w/ pro but w/ enterprise you can pick "updates for business" ring and also put updates on a delay and also in group policy you can select "notify before downloading updates" so now i basically have total control back. :)

That tool's been around as long as Windows 10 itself. Personally I haven't had much luck with it, especially under Windows 10 Home. It always fails to pick up the very driver update I want to block.

Logically speaking, such functionality should be built into the updater itself and should work a lot better than it does. When it comes to driver updates, the latest is not always the best - Especially when Microsoft overwrite vendor drivers with Microsoft drivers (HP Printers).
 
That tool's been around as long as Windows 10 itself. Personally I haven't had much luck with it, especially under Windows 10 Home. It always fails to pick up the very driver update I want to block.

Logically speaking, such functionality should be built into the updater itself and should work a lot better than it does. When it comes to driver updates, the latest is not always the best - Especially when Microsoft overwrite vendor drivers with Microsoft drivers (HP Printers).

if you're a power user you might want to consider switching to enterprise edition. You got so much more control over how things go. You can delay updates for up to a year plus even have to give it approval to even download them! and when it comes to the OS "version updates" you can pick "windows for business" ring which supposedly is the most stable version of windows available at the time. (well if you want to ignore win7). Plus from what i hear even though in pro you have access to group policy settings they don't actually do anything. So basically WinXP pro = Win7 ultimate = Win10 Enterprise. they tricked all the gamers into thinking they were getting something special w/ the "pro" version of win10. pro is the new "home" if you ask me.
 
if you're a power user you might want to consider switching to enterprise edition. You got so much more control over how things go. You can delay updates for up to a year plus even have to give it approval to even download them! and when it comes to the OS "version updates" you can pick "windows for business" ring which supposedly is the most stable version of windows available at the time. (well if you want to ignore win7). Plus from what i hear even though in pro you have access to group policy settings they don't actually do anything. So basically WinXP pro = Win7 ultimate = Win10 Enterprise. they tricked all the gamers into thinking they were getting something special w/ the "pro" version of win10. pro is the new "home" if you ask me.

EE is no good for the home user. First of all licensing is stupidly expensive, second of all having a Windows 10 release that's effectively frozen in time results in software not working - Especially true in relation to games.

I don't buy grey market Windows keys because, basically, you can't legally buy Windows for $40.00. There's a difference between activation and legal. Personally I'm using a better solution.
 
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I'll say this again... I have a copy of windows 10 with update turned off. It's version 15xxx or maybe early 16xxx. Follow this method..

- Open services.msc
- select Windows Update and go to properties
- click the Log On tab at the top
- under This account select guest and put in whatever password you want.
- save and right click the service again and tell it to restart.

This effective tells the service to only run on the guest account. Because the guest account is disabled by default, and the password you selected wouldn't be correct anyway, it fails when trying to start.

Windows update gets turned back on because windows checks if it's been disabled and enables it. When windows checks the status after this change it isn't flagged as disabled.

Enjoy.
going to have to try that! I have a couple of servers that have issues rebooting and loosing network settings. Always a pain when Microsoft goes and updates and reboots. I have it mostly turned off but occasionally one sneals through. Going to have to try this!
thanks
 
EE is no good for the home user. First of all licensing is stupidly expensive, second of all having a Windows 10 release that's effectively frozen in time results in software not working - Especially true in relation to games.
why is it no good for home user? it works great for me and is exact same program w/ couple more "power user" features and more control on settings. how is it frozen in time? are you thinking i meant "ltsc"? no i'm talking regular vanilla "enterprise edition" i can choose whatever "update ring" i want to use including the "business ring" which no other versions offer. and all my software and games work great and probably better than on your machine that got forced to version 2004

I don't buy grey market Windows keys because, basically, you can't legally buy Windows for $40.00. There's a difference between activation and legal. Personally I'm using a better solution.
so i think i paid like $5.00 for my copy. and downloaded the install files directly from Microsoft.

and how is your "solution" better?! can you remind us what your "solution" is again?
 
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why is it no good for home user? it works great for me and is exact same program w/ couple more "power user" features and more control on settings. how is it frozen in time? are you thinking i meant "ltsc"? no i'm talking regular vanilla "enterprise edition" i can choose whatever "update ring" i want to use including the "business ring" which no other versions offer. and all my software and games work great and probably better than on your machine that got forced to version 2004

I explained why it's no good, didn't you read my post?

so i think i paid like $5.00 for my copy. and downloaded the install files directly from Microsoft.

Of course you downloaded the ISO direct from Microsoft, that's the case regarding 99% of all installs out there. The fact is your key is not legit and most likely against the EULA. You cannot get Windows 10 EE for $5.00.
 
The fact is your key is not legit and most likely against the EULA. You cannot get Windows 10 EE for $5.00.
it is and i did. been running it for years now.

i hope you've never crossed ANY street that wasn't labled as a cross walk because that's jaywalking and is a crime. have you even drove your car even one mile/km over the speed limit? because that's a crime too. you really should turn yourself in for breaking the law. did you completely come to a stop at a stop sign when it's the middle of the night and no cars are coming? quit acting all high and mighty. and let me guess you dont' do drugs, but you still have a cup of coffee in the morning to get you going. right? what about that bottle of viagra someone like you has in their medicine cabinet? ...yeah. you are drug free, too. really if you laid off all that soy intake, you wouldn't even need those b0ner pills.

dang i feel sorry for generation z-a. and glad i'll be dead sonn as i my sickness gets to the point that i can no longer take it. won't be much longer. just at this point trying to put a little old school wisdom into the minds of the shattered youth. so take it for what it's worth. which to you is prob nothing because you already know it all. just erase history, right? GOOD IDEA! just remember... to quote George Santayana:
"Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It." so just keep erasing things from the history books. seems like a good idead.
 
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it is and i did. been running it for years now.

i hope you've never crossed ANY street that wasn't labled as a cross walk because that's jaywalking and is a crime. have you even drove your car even one mile/km over the speed limit? because that's a crime too. you really should turn yourself in for breaking the law. did you completely come to a stop at a stop sign when it's the middle of the night and no cars are coming? quit acting all high and mighty. and let me guess you dont' do drugs, but you still have a cup of coffee in the morning to get you going. right? what about that bottle of viagra someone like you has in their medicine cabinet? ...yeah. you are drug free, too. really if you laid off all that soy intake, you wouldn't even need those b0ner pills.

dang i feel sorry for generation z-a. and glad i'll be dead sonn as i my sickness gets to the point that i can no longer take it. won't be much longer. just at this point trying to put a little old school wisdom into the minds of the shattered youth. so take it for what it's worth. which to you is prob nothing because you already know it all. just erase history, right? GOOD IDEA! just remember... to quote George Santayana:
"Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It." so just keep erasing things from the history books. seems like a good idead.
we want to end racism as long unless it's against people with white skin. slavery was a WORLD WIDE trade involving all cultures inlcuding black skinned humans, but NOW it's only white skinned people that have now all benn borned AFTER slavery has been abolished worldwide that it's now a war on white and some one who was born long after slavery has been abolished are suppose to live with some kind of guilt because of something that happened years before we were born? I grew up w/ black friends and looked on them no different than anyone with ANY other skin color. I though MLK preached about a world where we coud ALL get along?! What is happening now? IT was white people that fought to END slavery and prejudice but to this day even though the laws and polices are actually prejudice against whites and it's actually easier for any race besides white to have grants and benifits to make better of themselves that still aint enough? when does this end? It's almost like you people that were never even born into a time of ratial inequality or god forgive Slavery still think all the benifits you have to take advantage of think it's not enough. What is it you really want? white slaves? wow. please let a "brother know" I thought we were all "created equal" under god. the past is the past. you want that erased now and what good will that do for society in the future. the only way an educated person becomes educated is from learning from past mistakes. Really sounds like you don't want equality but SUPREMECY. so let me know yall's thoughts on that. do you want peace? or war?
Boo-hoo me can't pirate no more. Me got caughts.

Just admit it, if you were using a Technet key you were violating the rules from the get-go. And just as with jaywalking, you can do it a hundred times or a hundred years until the time you get caught.

Ebay is full of shady sellers who sell 5 dollar 'recycled' OEM keys, fully knowing MS does not allow moving OEM keys from a computer to another. But they activate so hey, must be legal, right?
 
Boo-hoo me can't pirate no more. Me got caughts.

Just admit it, if you were using a Technet key you were violating the rules from the get-go. And just as with jaywalking, you can do it a hundred times or a hundred years until the time you get caught.

Ebay is full of shady sellers who sell 5 dollar 'recycled' OEM keys, fully knowing MS does not allow moving OEM keys from a computer to another. But they activate so hey, must be legal, right?
who got caught? MS for spying and forcing updates that brick peoples PC's?

BOO-HOO BOOnie's a MS shill that likes being spied on by his government and any other service he wants to use in this "modern age".

dude what are you going on about? the keys are just as legit as your simping for large corporation and government data collection and spying. one day it's gonna bite you in the ass. like the guy that recently was FIRED for something his WIFE posted on facebook!!! LOL. but y.. nevermind, i'm just gonna leave it at that. i already have had enough problems with SJW's this week.
 
who got caught? MS for spying and forcing updates that brick peoples PC's?

BOO-HOO BOOnie's a MS shill that likes being spied on by his government and any other service he wants to use in this "modern age".

dude what are you going on about? the keys are just as legit as your simping for large corporation and government data collection and spying. one day it's gonna bite you in the ass. like the guy that recently was FIRED for something his WIFE posted on facebook!!! LOL. but y.. nevermind, i'm just gonna leave it at that. i already have had enough problems with SJW's this week.
I have been banned enough times for MS criticism to tell your assessment is about so far off as possible ROFL! :ROFLMAO:
Technet keys and 99% of the cheap online keys are illegal and can at any time be disabled by MS. Just deal with it.

My recommendation is and always has been to dump Windows, dump it's problems and start using Linux and OSX instead.
 
it is and i did. been running it for years now.

i hope you've never crossed ANY street that wasn't labled as a cross walk because that's jaywalking and is a crime. have you even drove your car even one mile/km over the speed limit? because that's a crime too. you really should turn yourself in for breaking the law. did you completely come to a stop at a stop sign when it's the middle of the night and no cars are coming? quit acting all high and mighty. and let me guess you dont' do drugs, but you still have a cup of coffee in the morning to get you going. right? what about that bottle of viagra someone like you has in their medicine cabinet? ...yeah. you are drug free, too. really if you laid off all that soy intake, you wouldn't even need those b0ner pills.

dang i feel sorry for generation z-a. and glad i'll be dead sonn as i my sickness gets to the point that i can no longer take it. won't be much longer. just at this point trying to put a little old school wisdom into the minds of the shattered youth. so take it for what it's worth. which to you is prob nothing because you already know it all. just erase history, right? GOOD IDEA! just remember... to quote George Santayana:
"Those Who Do Not Learn History Are Doomed To Repeat It." so just keep erasing things from the history books. seems like a good idead.
we want to end racism as long unless it's against people with white skin. slavery was a WORLD WIDE trade involving all cultures inlcuding black skinned humans, but NOW it's only white skinned people that have now all benn borned AFTER slavery has been abolished worldwide that it's now a war on white and some one who was born long after slavery has been abolished are suppose to live with some kind of guilt because of something that happened years before we were born? I grew up w/ black friends and looked on them no different than anyone with ANY other skin color. I though MLK preached about a world where we coud ALL get along?! What is happening now? IT was white people that fought to END slavery and prejudice but to this day even though the laws and polices are actually prejudice against whites and it's actually easier for any race besides white to have grants and benifits to make better of themselves that still aint enough? when does this end? It's almost like you people that were never even born into a time of ratial inequality or god forgive Slavery still think all the benifits you have to take advantage of think it's not enough. What is it you really want? white slaves? wow. please let a "brother know" I thought we were all "created equal" under god. the past is the past. you want that erased now and what good will that do for society in the future. the only way an educated person becomes educated is from learning from past mistakes. Really sounds like you don't want equality but SUPREMECY. so let me know yall's thoughts on that. do you want peace? or war?
Well that took a weird left turn

*backing out of the room slowly*
 
Never even heard of this medic thing. I just know it's effective, even on my 1909 install on my GPU rack.

So! This medic service is an issue for newer installs. It will revert your old settings on the windows update service.

The medic service is protected, however, and you cannot change its settings in the services window. You need to edit it in the registry.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WaaSMedicSvc

There locate the "Start" Key and change the hex to 4. This changes it from 3 (manual) to 4 (disabled). You can verify this works by opening services after the change and checking its set to disabled.
 
I have been banned enough times for MS criticism to tell your assessment is about so far off as possible ROFL! :ROFLMAO:
Technet keys and 99% of the cheap online keys are illegal and can at any time be disabled by MS. Just deal with it.

My recommendation is and always has been to dump Windows, dump it's problems and start using Linux and OSX instead.

Oh man, when he called you a MS shill I was HOWLING.
 
So! This medic service is an issue for newer installs. It will revert your old settings on the windows update service.

The medic service is protected, however, and you cannot change its settings in the services window. You need to edit it in the registry.

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WaaSMedicSvc

There locate the "Start" Key and change the hex to 4. This changes it from 3 (manual) to 4 (disabled). You can verify this works by opening services after the change and checking its set to disabled.

Thanks! Will dish out registry medicine stat.
 
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