How to get more control over Windows update in Windows 10
Windows update is an important component of windows which checks for updates for device drivers,core OS,security patches etc.Updates or upgrades-all happen in windows only through Windows update.Newer updates are checked and Installed at some specified time.
Installing these updates is important as it offers more stability to the OS and security issues are also fixed.
Earlier Operating systems allowed some more flexible options to windows update like Installing them when the user presses Check for updates button and then the user had to confirm the download and Installation.
But in Windows 10 Microsoft has removed the ability to manually check and download the windows updates.The windows updates in windows 10 automatically check and download the updates as soon as they become available.Sometimes this is problematic for the user(for example a faulty driver gets installed.).Also,Windows sometimes schedules restarts when the user is working that might lead to loss of work.
To overcome this issue in Windows 10,there are some workarounds which are as under:
Installing these updates is important as it offers more stability to the OS and security issues are also fixed.
Earlier Operating systems allowed some more flexible options to windows update like Installing them when the user presses Check for updates button and then the user had to confirm the download and Installation.
But in Windows 10 Microsoft has removed the ability to manually check and download the windows updates.The windows updates in windows 10 automatically check and download the updates as soon as they become available.Sometimes this is problematic for the user(for example a faulty driver gets installed.).Also,Windows sometimes schedules restarts when the user is working that might lead to loss of work.
To overcome this issue in Windows 10,there are some workarounds which are as under:
Set your Network connection as metered:
Internet service providers can charge by the amount of data used (the amount of data sent and received by your PC). That’s called a metered Internet connection.
When your Internet connection is set as metered,windows would ask you before downloading the updates.It would also show approximate data required to download the update.
To set Wi-Fi connection as metered:
- Open the settings app and then navigate to Netork and Internet.
- Now under Wifi Settings click Advanced Options.
- Then set the Slider to ON for metered connections.
To set Ethernet as metered connection:
Setting an Ethernet connection as metered requires a registry Edit.This is covered here:
Hide Updates using Troubleshooter tool:
Microsoft has released an official troubleshooter tool to hide windows updates.This is quite handy to hide unwanted windows updates.
When you run the tool,click hide updates and it would show a list of available updates.Tick the updates to hide that ones.To un-hide,run the tool again and click “un-hide updates” at the first prompt.
Use Registry Edit to set the update settings to Check for download and Install manually(Windows 10 Pro Edition only)
Now an Advanced method.Using registry edit we can set the windows update settings to Check for updates but confirm before the download.Follow the steps:
- Open Run dialog box using Windows key+R.Type in regedit and press OK.
- Now on the left hand side navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows
- Create a new key under Windows and name it WindowsUpdate
- Create a new key under Windows update and set the name as AU.The final would look like this:
- Now right Click AU and select new DWORD and name it AUOptions and set its value to 2 (to notify to download and notify to Install).Alternatively change the value according to this table:
3 to auto download and notify for install,
4 to auto download and schedule the install and
5 To allow local admin to choose setting.
This method works only in Pro Editions,not the home one.
Completely disable the windows update service
To completely turn off the windows update service,you need to disable Windows update service.Follow the steps:
- iPress Windows key+R to open Run dialog box.
- Type in Services.msc and on the right hand side right click Windows update service.
- Navigate to Properties and set startup type to disabled
- Now windows would never check for updates.
An error code of 80070422 would be displayed.
Powershell method(manual Installation)
The last method is Powershell method.In this the selective updates can be installed.For this first of all set your connection as metered connection so that windows doesn’t automatically download the updates using the above methods.
Then proceed as following article:
That’s it.Let me know if there are any other methods………