# Disable Windows 10 auto update



## Mishabou (Aug 10, 2020)

I know this topic has been discussed before but was wondering if things have changed since.

I tried all the suggestions and can't seem to turn off the Windows 10 auto update other than the obvious, disable internet.

Anyone ?


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## Jdiggity1 (Aug 10, 2020)

Open start menu, type "services", open the result that comes up.






Scroll down to "Windows Update", right-click, and Stop.






Then deactivate in *Properties*.


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## Mishabou (Aug 10, 2020)

I tried that already. It only works if you don't turn off your machine. Windows update returns to ''Running'' state every time you restart.


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## PerryD (Aug 10, 2020)

I thought "permanently" disabling stuff was exclusive to Win10 "Pro"?


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## Mishabou (Aug 10, 2020)

I'm running the Windows 10 pro version and as stated, Windows update returns to ''Running'' state on restart.


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## Germain B (Aug 11, 2020)

Hello, even if you right click on it -> 'Properties' and change the "Manual (triggered)" to "Deactivate" ?


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## Pictus (Aug 11, 2020)

This is good





O&O ShutUp10++ – Free antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11


With the freeware O&O ShutUp10++, unwanted Windows 10 and 11 features can be disabled and the transfer of sensitive personal data onto Microsoft prevented.




www.oo-software.com





If want more control for Windows update








Download WuMgr - MajorGeeks


WuMgr (Update Manager for Windows) enables you to manage Microsoft updates via the Windows Update Agent API. It works by identifying as well as downloading and installing missing updates. It also allows you to have more control over updates on modern (Windows 10) operating system versions.



www.majorgeeks.com


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## Polkasound (Aug 11, 2020)

Stopping a service from running is always temporary. You have to disable it. In the run menu, type and enter gpedit.msc to access the Group Policy Editor. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update. On the right side menu, select "Configure Automatic Updates" and change to "Disabled"


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## Mishabou (Aug 11, 2020)

Polkasound said:


> Stopping a service from running is always temporary. You have to disable it. In the run menu, type and enter gpedit.msc to access the Group Policy Editor. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update. On the right side menu, select "Configure Automatic Updates" and change to "Disabled"



I also tried the suggestion above and the service still reverts to ''Running'' after restart. Did you manage to permanently disable it ?


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## Rasoul Morteza (Aug 11, 2020)

IIRC there is no clear cut (if any) way to permanently turn off feature and quality updates on Win10 consumer editions. It is only a matter of time until they disable the option to do all this in the group policy as well (their 2004 update clearly shows that they are brute-forcing their model). The only alternative is to opt for the Long-Term Servicing Channel route where you receive updates every 2-3 years instead of the SAC release channel, something more in line with the pre Win10 experience. 

Cheers


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## Polkasound (Aug 11, 2020)

Mishabou said:


> I also tried the suggestion above and the service still reverts to ''Running'' after restart. Did you manage to permanently disable it ?



Yes, my Windows update service is permanently stopped. However, I also took extra steps to disable Windows from updating, so maybe it was one of those extra steps that did it. If the Group Policy edit didn't do it, this is another solution I used:

EDIT: The registry edit I gave previously was not the one I used. This is the one I used:

Press Win+R to open the Run box.
Type in regedit to open the Windows Registry.
Navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Right-click the Windows (folder) key, select New, and then click the Key option
Name the new key WindowsUpdate and press Enter
Right-click the newly created key, select New, and click the Key option.
Name the new key AU and press Enter.
Right-click on the right side, select New, and click the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.
Name the new key NoAutoUpdate and press Enter.
Double-click the newly created key and change its value from 0 to 1.
Click the OK button.
Close regedit
Restart you computer for the changes to take place.

I also set my network connection to "metered".

One of those solutions, or combination of them, has stopped Windows updates for me so far. When I go to Windows Updates in Settings, it says _"Your organization has turned off automatic updates"_.


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## JohnG (Aug 11, 2020)

Group Policy route seems to have worked for me. But I only felt comfortable taking that step because I never/almost never put my PCs online.

Apart from phishing fails and in-house sabotage, which (according to what I've read) comprise the majority of hacks, un-patched software seems to be pretty close behind.


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## Mishabou (Aug 11, 2020)

Polkasound said:


> Yes, my Windows update service is permanently stopped. However, I also took extra steps to disable Windows from updating, so maybe it was one of those extra steps that did it. If the Group Policy edit didn't do it, this is another solution I used:
> 
> EDIT: The registry edit I gave previously was not the one I used. This is the one I used:
> 
> ...



Thanks for the detailed post, i'll give it a shot when i'm back in the studio.


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## bill5 (Aug 11, 2020)

Folks none of these tricks work long term, assuming you ever reboot your PC and are online. I know as I've tried them all. MS aka Big Brother WILL get its slimy paws on you. And now you see one of many reasons why my next PC will have Win 7 on it even if I have to pay more for the privilege.


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## Polkasound (Aug 12, 2020)

bill5 said:


> Folks none of these tricks work long term, assuming you ever reboot your PC and are online. I know as I've tried them all. MS aka Big Brother WILL get its slimy paws on you. And now you see one of many reasons why my next PC will have Win 7 on it even if I have to pay more for the privilege.



Unfortunately you may be right, but so far I've been update-free.

When I built my new PC, I had two main concerns... compatibility (especially with older programs, which is why I went with Windows 10 Pro) and privacy. I read lots of information on the subject of privacy before I even installed Windows so that I'd be able to take all the necessary steps to control as much as I could. Windows 10 didn't take long to install, but I spent many hours over several nights customizing it. I've made at least a dozen group policy edits and as many registry edits to date.

The _"Your organization has turned off automatic updates"_ message gives me some confidence that I did it right, because there's a significant difference between "turned off" and "paused". But time will tell. If Microsoft busts through and forces a Windows update on my PC, I'll post about it here.


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## Damarus (Aug 12, 2020)

Interesting turn. While updates can be annoying, most of them are for security.. Privacy is seldom a thing these days. My advice is to keep your devices offline if you are worried about privacy.


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## bill5 (Aug 12, 2020)

Polkasound said:


> Unfortunately you may be right, but so far I've been update-free.


Can't argue with results! I think there is a diff between Win 10 Home and Pro though, so you might be good to go.




Damarus said:


> Interesting turn. While updates can be annoying, most of them are for security..


I think it varies a lot actually; some are, some aren't. 



> Privacy is seldom a thing these days.


 ?


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## Polkasound (Aug 12, 2020)

bill5 said:


> Can't argue with results! I think there is a diff between Win 10 Home and Pro though, so you might be good to go.



My understanding is that being able to disable updates is a function the Home edition cannot do.




Damarus said:


> My advice is to keep your devices offline if you are worried about privacy.



That is generally the best advice, and plenty of people do keep their DAWs offline. I will put my DAWs/PCs online when I'm using the internet of course, but I'll still do whatever I can to help stop unsolicited data from being sent and received without my consent.

Security updates are a good thing, but I've never worried about them nor have I ever used an anti-virus program in my 25+ years of being a daily internet user. In fact, up until last month, I was still using Windows XP and a version of Firefox released in 2015. But my internet usage has arguably always been much more restrictive and cautious than the average computer user's.

The average computer user doesn't have to worry about Windows updates disabling their ASIO audio drivers or software licenses. They just need to get online to use Facebook or to order those mahogany end tables from Wayfair, and chances are Windows updates won't get in their way. I'm a "If it's working, leave it alone" kind of guy. As soon as all of my programs and peripherals were shown to be working harmoniously in Windows 10, I permanently disabled updates, because the only thing a Windows update could to do for me now is screw things up.




Damarus said:


> Privacy is seldom a thing these days.



Privacy is still a thing, but today's privacy paradox exists because most people aren't willing to sacrifice the convenience and fun of online technology for the retention of their privacy. I watch from the sidelines as my all my app-connected friends blissfully generate mountains of data to be harvested, assimilated, stored, bought, and sold. I just can't do that. I don't have accounts with Facebook, Google, Instagram, LinkedIn, or any such service because I simply cannot agree to their privacy policies.

And now Microsoft has joined the data harvesting game by turning their popular operating system into a glorified spyware program that wants to force files onto to MY hard drive on MY computer potentially rendering MY peripherals and MY software licenses inoperative.

Sorry, Microsoft. Access: Denied


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## Rasoul Morteza (Aug 14, 2020)

As I was performing my long-overdue system update last night (slept for like 2 hours Zzz...), I believe I've found the best solution, one which completely kills WU's ability to perform any sort of check. This isn't possible via registry or GPE methods where you have to pray MS doesn't disable the forced manual check policy (the two do the same thing regardless). The service disabling method is also temporary. 

The idea here is to nuke the executable behind it. 

Quote from source:

First go to Services and shut off Windows Update and disable it. Refresh Services to make sure it isn't running.

Now navigate to \windows\system32\ and find files wuaueng.dll and wuauclt.exe. If you can find the former, then look for wuauserv.dll. 

For each, go to properties, security, advanced. 
Click change owner and type in your user name, Click Check Names to select your user name and Click ok. Then Click Apply or Ok on the main window and close it and reopen it.
Now, you can change permissions for all users. 
Delete/Remove permissions from all users and Click Ok.

If that doesn't work, then change owner to Administrator, close the window and try again.

That's it. 
To re-enable, add "Read/Execute" permissions to System on wuaueng.dll or whichever dll you have. Doesn't need it on wuauclt.exe for some reason. 

Of course before trying this method, be smart and take a backup of the two files in case something goes wrong.

Cheers


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## bill5 (Aug 14, 2020)

I'd be curious if that works; I recall doing that or something similar some time back and it didn't, but it might not have been the same.


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## Rasoul Morteza (Aug 14, 2020)

bill5 said:


> I'd be curious if that works; I recall doing that or something similar some time back and it didn't, but it might not have been the same.


It worked for me, manual or automatic check simply gives an error because it can't run the service at all. Disconnected boi!


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## Polkasound (Aug 25, 2020)

It looks like the techniques I used to disable updates worked. The mandatory 30-day forced update period came and went last week, and no updates were installed. The only thing that changed was the security warning added to the Windows Update settings page.


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## EgM (Aug 26, 2020)

I use the same method as @Polkasound on 6 of my PCs and I've never seen an update.

Even Pete Brown who works at Microsoft says it's the correct way to do it:









Gearspace.com - View Single Post - The supported ways to control updates in Windows 10


Post 14530685 -Forum for professional and amateur recording engineers to share techniques and advice.



www.gearslutz.com


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