Updates are important for your computer to run smoothly and efficiently. Updates are designed to not only keep your device and its programs to their latest versions. In addition, they are developed to fix errors and address issues on your computer. But updates can sometimes take a long time to start and finish. And in case you haven’t noticed, Windows 10 has an update almost every week. Sometimes less almost every less than a week if that makes sense.
One simply can’t stop Windows 10 from updating. It’s just a fact. However, you can delay it. Here’s what you can do.
Pause the automatic updates. A few years ago, this option wasn’t available. To attempt to stop an update from installing on that day, all you can do is assign a time for it to make the changes. But now, we finally have that saving button.
Click the Start menu, then the Settings cog. Now go to ‘Update & Security’, click ‘Windows Update’ on the left-hand side, then click ‘Advanced options’. Under ‘Pause Updates’, toggle the switch to ‘On’. This will pause Windows updates for 35 days, but you’ll need to download the latest updates once that period is over if you want to pause further updates.
You can also choose to defer feature updates by up to 365 days and quality updates (which contain important security fixes) by up to 30 days. Once these periods are up, you’ll need to download updates before you can defer them again.
(Via:https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-stop-a-windows-10-update)
Meter your WiFi connection. This will tell Windows that your data is limited. And Windows won’t let you update with an unstable or limited connection.
This is another simple thing to try. Click Start, then click the Settings cog. From here, click ‘Network & Internet’, then click ‘Wi-Fi’ in the left-hand column, then the name of your Wi-Fi connection. Scroll down to the ‘Metered connection’ section and toggle the ‘Set as metered connection’ switch to ‘On’.
This tells Windows 10 that you’re on a limited data plan, with the result that it won’t automatically push updates to you (although you can still manually install them). However, if you’re on an Ethernet connection this method won’t work, so you’ll have to try one of the other methods in this guide.
(Via:https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-stop-a-windows-10-update)
Prevent maintenance from proceeding if the installation hasn’t started yet. Otherwise, don’t. It can harm your computer. Certainly, that doesn’t mean your files or data is at risk, unless you have hard drive failure or crash. Then, you will likely need to find a qualified expert to perform laptop hard drive recovery.
Once an update has started installing, you shouldn’t stop it – doing so can be potentially dangerous for your PC. However, if Windows 10 has downloaded an update but hasn’t started installing it yet, you can still stop it.
In the Windows 10 search bar, type ‘Security and Maintenance’, then click the first result to bring up the control panel window. Click the ‘Maintenance’ title to expand it, then scroll to the ‘Automatic Maintenance’ section. Click ‘Stop maintenance’ to halt the update.
If you change your mind and want to restart the update, simply click ‘Start maintenance’.
(Via:https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-stop-a-windows-10-update)
You can also choose to toggle off Windows Updates service.
In the Windows 10 search bar, type ‘Services’. Right-click the top result and select ‘Run as administrator’. Scroll down the list until you reach the Windows Update entry. If the ‘Status’ column says “Running”, right-click the Windows Update entry and click ‘Stop’.
Now, right-click it again and click ‘Properties’. In the resulting menu, under ‘Startup type’, choose ‘Disabled’, then click ‘OK’.
This will prevent Windows Update from automatically installing updates. If you still want to prevent automatic updates but want to give yourself the opportunity to install updates manually, select ‘Manual’ from the drop-down menu instead.
(Via:https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-stop-a-windows-10-update)
You can do the same thing for Group Policy.
This involves a getting your hands a little dirty, but is easy enough. Type ‘gpedit.msc’ into the Windows 10 search bar and click the first result. Now navigate to the following path using the left-hand pane: ‘Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.’ In the right-hand window, double-click ‘Configure Automatic Updates’.
This will open a new window. In the top-left corner, click ‘Disabled’, then click ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’. This will prevent Windows 10 from automatically downloading and installing updates, although you can still manually look for updates by opening Windows Update.
(Via:https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-stop-a-windows-10-update)
It can be frustrating sometimes when your computer is having a Windows 10 update while in the middle of a task or two. Everything slows and lags like there’s no tomorrow. But we always have to keep in mind that our PCs and laptops need these updates. And we can always delay them. If your hard drives matter to you, keep them in good health. If you run into problems, seek expert help. They can always aid you.