# I must stop Windows 10 updates. How??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 4, 2018, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832 "2018-01-04T01:44:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/23 "2018-01-04T16:09:21Z")
Every coder down in Redmond liked Windows a lot… But Mahaloth, who lived in the real world, Did NOT! Mahaloth hated Windows! The whole update season! Now, please don’t ask why. Everyone knows the reason. Staring down at his monitor with knowledge forseen At the jumbled windows below on the screen. “It ruins my display!” he snarled with a sneer, “The update is downloading!! It’s practically here!” Then he growled, with his key fingers nervously drumming, “I MUST find some way to stop updates from coming!” ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/24 "2018-01-04T17:13:13Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Nope, they don’t allow it to be turned off. > > I am literally willing to delete ANYTHING to make it stop. It’s ruining my computer. Delete Windows. There are other, better operating systems. Ones that you can update on your schedule, and with only the updates you choose. Or choose not to update at all, which is not recommended, but hey, this is _your_ computer, not Microsoft’s. You can make all the bad decisions you want. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/25 "2018-01-04T17:17:35Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Delete Windows. There are other, better operating systems. Ones that you can update on your schedule, and with only the updates you choose. Or choose not to update at all, which is not recommended, but hey, this is _your_ computer, not Microsoft’s. You can make all the bad decisions you want. Except that this is the equivalent of second hand smoke. If your computer wasn’t hooked up to the internet, I couldn’t care less if you didn’t patch but. As soon as you hook up to the rest of the world, I have to deal with your script-kiddie infected machine send out spam, worms, and viruses that I have to spend time and effort to block. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/26 "2018-01-04T18:00:36Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > Except that this is the equivalent of second hand smoke. If your computer wasn’t hooked up to the internet, I couldn’t care less if you didn’t patch but. As soon as you hook up to the rest of the world, I have to deal with your script-kiddie infected machine send out spam, worms, and viruses that I have to spend time and effort to block. No. That’s not how it works. That might be what happens with a local area network. One unsecured computer can infect the whole network, but that’s not how it works with the Internet itself. This is the same Internet that every computer on Earth is connected to, from porn servers, Russian botnets, Nigerian phishing, Chinese espionage, etc. One guy with an out of date version of Linux is literally nothing compared to that. It’s not a threat to anyone else. Keep your own machine secure and stop worrying about what your neighbor does with his. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/27 "2018-01-04T18:04:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Every coder down in Redmond liked Windows a lot… > But Mahaloth, who lived in the real world, Did NOT! > Mahaloth hated Windows! The whole update season! > Now, please don’t ask why. Everyone knows the reason. > Staring down at his monitor with knowledge forseen > At the jumbled windows below on the screen. > “It ruins my display!” he snarled with a sneer, > “The update is downloading!! It’s practically here!” > Then he growled, with his key fingers nervously drumming, > “I MUST find some way to stop updates from coming!” Every time I read that thread title, I heard the Grinch. Nice job,\*\* JAQ\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/28 "2018-01-04T18:16:22Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > No. That’s not how it works. > > That might be what happens with a local area network. One unsecured computer can infect the whole network, but that’s not how it works with the Internet itself. This is the same Internet that every computer on Earth is connected to, from porn servers, Russian botnets, Nigerian phishing, Chinese espionage, etc. One guy with an out of date version of Linux is literally nothing compared to that. It’s not a threat to anyone else. Keep your own machine secure and stop worrying about what your neighbor does with his. I’ll just leave [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botnet) here. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/29 "2018-01-04T18:19:40Z")
I’m disappointed, but I think I’m returning this computer due to the Intedl 620 HD Graphics issue with this Windows 10 update. I just didn’t know what to do. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/30 "2018-01-04T18:34:04Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’m disappointed, but I think I’m returning this computer due to the Intedl 620 HD Graphics issue with this Windows 10 update. > > I just didn’t know what to do. > > ☹ It’ll probably get fixed with a driver update. Are you already on the latest version? [https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/96551/Intel-HD-Graphics-620](https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/96551/Intel-HD-Graphics-620) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/31 "2018-01-04T19:04:05Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > It’ll probably get fixed with a driver update. Are you already on the latest version? [https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/96551/Intel-HD-Graphics-620](https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/96551/Intel-HD-Graphics-620) Yes, have the latest driver. If I do used extended display for the time being, how do I force programs to open over on the TV instead of on my primarily monitor? Do they all have to be “windowed” and I drag them over? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/32 "2018-01-04T19:06:23Z")
This seems asked and answered, but I was having problems when I first went to win10. Had an incredibly slow internet connection and low data cap. When the data cap was reached, it slowed down to dial up speeds. Some update downloads took over a day. Anyway, I just went to Control Panel\>Administrator\>Services and disabled/turned off the Windows Update Service. It’s better now that I have a reasonable (well, much better) internet connection. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/33 "2018-01-04T19:18:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yes, have the latest driver. > > If I do used extended display for the time being, how do I force programs to open over on the TV instead of on my primarily monitor? Do they all have to be “windowed” and I drag them over? If you grab the title bar and drag them over to the other screen, they should go even if they are maximized when you grab them - if you drag them to the top of the screen, they will be maximized there (if you drag them against one side, they will be sized to fit half the screen) If you then close the application in that position, it will usually open up in the same place next time, but not all applications behave properly in this regard. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/34 "2018-01-04T19:41:28Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > No. That’s not how it works. > > That might be what happens with a local area network. One unsecured computer can infect the whole network, but that’s not how it works with the Internet itself. This is the same Internet that every computer on Earth is connected to, from porn servers, Russian botnets, Nigerian phishing, Chinese espionage, etc. One guy with an out of date version of Linux is literally nothing compared to that. It’s not a threat to anyone else. Keep your own machine secure and stop worrying about what your neighbor does with his. **DrCube** , I’ve been in this business a long time and unfortunately it is how it works. One infected computer is a nuisance, as **gnoitall** pointed out a swarm of infected computers in a BotNet is a problem. I’ve had honeypots where I can detect traffic in seconds. My FTP server, which needs to be open and accessible to the entire internet, receives multiple logins per second from script kiddies. I periodically block the worst offenders by IP, but it’s a pain in the ass. I just got off the phone with a outside software developer that wanted me to open an inbound port for SQL Server without an Access Control List (ACL) restricting accessing from a given IP. When further asked if SQL encryption had been enabled on the server with a certificate, there was dead air. We have too many “professionals” in the IT industry that have no awareness of security. Just like immunization for people, herd immunity for IT is real. I feel better about Microsoft pushing down patches to grandma instead of hoping that the distro of unbuntu that her granddaughter installed 3 years ago doesn’t have a faulty driver that allows a malicious web page to take over the computer. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/35 "2018-01-04T19:48:40Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > You need the Pro version of Windows to do that, so it’s not a solution for the OP’s request. The consumer/home versions of Win10 will fight very hard to get updates done, because Microsoft has decided that home users cannot be trusted to make (what they consider to be) the right choices for themselves. Always get the Pro version… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/36 "2018-01-04T19:51:31Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Always get the Pro version… Most people don’t choose - they get their OS with their computer - and unless they’re buying through a business channel, they probably get the home version. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/37 "2018-01-04T20:37:37Z")
Microsoft considers Windows 10 a service it provides. Most people don’t know that, or understand the implications. In short, since it’s a service, it’s offered on Microsoft’s terms. Microsoft makes those terms for its benefit, and arguably for the benefit of some nebulous “Internet As A Whole” broader community of Windows users. Microsoft does not tailor those terms to individual users, unless you’re the PRC or the US Federal government or the EU, and even then I’m sure there are some things Microsoft would refuse rather than do something totally contrary to its broader strategies. Microsoft will do things its way, and while you technically own the hardware, as long as Windows is running on it, you do not control it, and cannot _exercise_ any real ownership over it. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/38 "2018-01-04T20:50:36Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Every time I read that thread title, I heard the Grinch. I’m glad I’m not the only one to hear the thread title in Boris Karloff’s voice! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/39 "2018-01-04T21:12:00Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I’m glad I’m not the only one to hear the thread title in Boris Karloff’s voice! Do ya think we can get a Mod to alter the title to, “I must stop Windows’ up-dating. But, how?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/40 "2018-01-04T21:13:52Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Delete Windows. There are other, better operating systems. Ones that you can update on your schedule, and with only the updates you choose. Or choose not to update at all, which is not recommended, but hey, this is _your_ computer, not Microsoft’s. You can make all the bad decisions you want. Always great to see the Linux advocacy out of nowhere, but… The security flaw being patched this week is a flaw in _all_ OSes that run on Intel CPUs. You need to update your Linux distribution, too. Which, from my experience, is just as likely to break unrelated functionality as updating Windows is. So yes you can make “all the bad decisions you want”, but not updating Linux is going to be a bad decision that’s guaranteed to get you hacked sooner or later. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/41 "2018-01-04T23:00:46Z")
I had the same issue–I don’t mind security updates downloading but that fucking Creator’s Update kept breaking shit and it drove me nuts. But I finally found a solution. Go to Start \> Search and type in “task scheduler.” Select it and open it. In the lefthand side, open the dropdown for “task scheduler library,” then “windows.” That’ll give you a big long list, scroll down to “update orchestrator” and select it. In the middle box you’ll have another list of items, find “update assistant.” There should be two of those. Select the first one and under that box you’ll see a tab marked “triggers.” Select that. There will probably be a whole bunch of conditions that trigger the fucking update assistant to go off. Switch every goddamned one of them to “disabled.” Do the same for the other instance of “update assistance.” Exit out. Now there are no conditions under which the update assistant can be triggered to install itself and begin fucking up your version of Windows 10, but you will still get automatic security updates. I spent a goodly while just going into programs and uninstalling the fucking update assistant every time it installed itself, which was getting to be like two or three times a day. This has stopped it in its tracks for over a month now and I still do not have the fucking breaks everything “creator’s update.” Because any OS “upgrade” that breaks your drivers, settings, preferences and uninstalls apps is in no way something I feel the need for. Because fuck that. ---
**Author:** ![doubleminus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@doubleminus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doubleminus)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832/42 "2018-01-04T23:32:53Z")
The Winaero application will do what the OP wants and a thousand other useful things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-must-stop-windows-10-updates-how/805832.md?page=3)