Is there no way to disable Win 10 updating itself?

[Noel 4,487]

Since the dawn of SSD's I've always kept my flight sim and OS on the same disk.  For 6.5y I used Win 7 and P3D 3.x, never did one Window update, and all stayed stable and clean.  I only used this drive for FS so very little need for security software and it worked flawlessly for that 6.5y.  I recently build a new machine in installed Win 10 latest build 2m ago and let it update itself as it would do, and so far alls's well.  I really like Win 10 now, but I would much prefer to avoid any security or other updates as long as P3D doesn't require the update.  Is there any way to do this?  I did find the control to postpone the next update til a specific future date but then it appears it's going to happen automatically.

Thanks in advance

[troyboy66 66]

I think you will have to postpone the date once again after or just before that time expires. There are additional settings however at the following link: Disabling windows 10 auto update

 

[Reader 2,009]

I would reply to this but my chisel and stone tablet will not fit into the internet.

[jzimmermann 238]

Hi Noel,

This tool does the trick beautifully, it's called EaseUS Tool M, you can download it from here:

EaseUS Tool M

After installing it, go to the “System Update Management” option located on the left-hand side menu. The application will then fetch the current Windows Update status and will provide a “Disable” blue button if it is currently enabled, or an "Enable" button if it is currently disabled. You will need to reboot the PC anytime you make a change from enabled to disabled or vice versa.

I've been using it for quite a while and it works as intended.

Cheers,

Jerome

 

[Wobbie 938]

Disabling updates is like going into a Covid-19 infested room without a mask.

Just saying!

[G-RFRY 1,708]

MS if users block updates for a prolonged period then they will not receive future updates, AKA bug fixes DX updates DDL update this could then manifest itself to a not compatible programme or addon in the future.

[edpatino 1,960]

53 minutes ago, Wobbie said:

Disabling updates is like going into a Covid-19 infested room without a mask.

Just saying!

I agree, and further add "like going back home without a soap".

Cheers, Ed

[vortex681 806]

12 hours ago, Noel said:

I really like Win 10 now, but I would much prefer to avoid any security or other updates as long as P3D doesn't require the update.

If your machine ever connects to the Internet, preventing security updates is a dangerous practise. I found that unwanted driver updates were most likely to be the cause of problems and so set Win 10 so that it never updated them but continued to give me the security updates: https://pureinfotech.com/exclude-driver-updates-windows-10/. For those who say "I've been running for years without security updates or anti-virus and have never had a problem", I'd say you've been lucky and the longer you go, the more the odds are stacked against you. But more importantly, how do you know you don't have a problem? Many computer viruses, malware infections and other pieces of malicious software rely on the fact that you can't easily detect them - rootkits and key-loggers are prime examples.

[Noel 4,487]

44 minutes ago, G-RFRY said:

MS if users block updates for a prolonged period then they will not receive future updates, AKA bug fixes DX updates DDL update this could then manifest itself to a not compatible programme or addon in the future.

Raymond I'm not seeing any documentation on this specific policy.  Where did you learn this from if you will?  I did just read an article from MS' site that says it is possible to uninstall an installed update so that's hopeful.  

We don’t recommend that you remove any installed updates. However, if you must remove an update, you can do so in update history.

1. Select Start  > Settings  > Update & Security   > Windows Update    >View update history  > Uninstall updates.

2. Select the update you want to remove, then select Uninstall.

[anden145 2,285]

If you're really dead-set (I really wouldn't recommend this practice!!) on stopping Windows from updating, couldn't you just block update.windows.com (or something like that) in the host-file?

EDIT: Or stop the Windows Update Service in Services.msc ... 

Edited May 6, 2020 by anden145

[G-RFRY 1,708]

16 minutes ago, Noel said:

Raymond I'm not seeing any documentation on this specific policy.  Where did you learn this from if you will?  I did just read an article from MS' site that says it is possible to uninstall an installed update so that's hopeful.  

We don’t recommend that you remove any installed updates. However, if you must remove an update, you can do so in update history.

1. Select Start  > Settings  > Update & Security   > Windows Update    >View update history  > Uninstall updates.

2. Select the update you want to remove, then select Uninstall.

I will try to find the article.

But here is a something you could do for a time.

 https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-automatically-windows-10

But remember Windows 10 has a date stamp on the version you are using windows update renews this periodically, you can sometimes see window xxxxx end of life date after that date no more updates for that version.  

[Noel 4,487]

9 minutes ago, vortex681 said:

If your machine ever connects to the Internet, preventing security updates is a dangerous practise. I found that unwanted driver updates were most likely to be the cause of problems and so set Win 10 so that it never updated them but continued to give me the security updates: https://pureinfotech.com/exclude-driver-updates-windows-10/. For those who say "I've been running for years without security updates or anti-virus and have never had a problem", I'd say you've been lucky and the longer you go, the more the odds are stacked against you. But more importantly, how do you know you don't have a problem? Many computer viruses, malware infections and other pieces of malicious software rely on the fact that you can't easily detect them - rootkits and key-loggers are prime examples.

Yes I appreciate the concern but I have over 20y of this practice and have never had a single problem.  I do this by setting up a dual boot, one ultra lean OS install for the sim and its myriad add-ons, and the 2nd OS boot for every other PC use.   This means the sim boot gets no MS Office, is not used for web browsing, email, etc. When I need to download a file it's done on the 2nd OS, scanned, then moved to the sim OS for installation.  So the vastly common forms of malware don't have a good way into anything meaningful.  Malware really has no place to go if it happened to, for example, find its way thru a direct update let's say in Orbx Central because of course that does happen thru the sim OS boot.  But as I say it really has nowhere to go that I can conceive of, unlike in an OS install where there are email accounts to exploit, etc.   And to make matters more resilient, I have a cloned copy of those entire two OS'.  The entire drive is scanned for malware prior to cloning and again, in over 20y of this practice I have yet to have a single issue surface, so it's pretty compelling to continue the practice.  I'm especially interested in this when I read many articles about problems that surface after these mandatory updates for Win 10.

[Jean-Jacques 120]

Are there tons of flightsimmers complaining to have issues with their flightsimulator(s) after Windows 10 updates itself? If so, point me to forum posts or other reading material that deals with Windows 10 update issues in the context of flight simulation.. 

JJ

[Noel 4,487]

I see posts here and there on this forum but they don't necessary stem from updates even though the OP believes that was the case, and certainly posts about this outside of the context of flight simulation.  My particular history came from a time when it was useful to declutter every other service not necessary for flight simulation but perhaps those days are done now.   In any case I'm happy an update can be uninstalled in case it's an issue.

I see these types of posts here and there including this one which I think turned out to be nothing.  I just definitely prefer to have control over what's dumped into the box rather than mandatory installs w/o my permission.

 

[Luke 782]

7 minutes ago, Noel said:

My particular history came from a time when it was useful to declutter every other service not necessary for flight simulation but perhaps those days are done now.   In any case I'm happy an update can be uninstalled in case it's an issue.

Those days are over now. With a few exceptions, most system services don't consume any appreciable CPU and we have plenty of spare cores.

Cheers!

Luke