[Guide] Disabling Windows 10 Automatic updates and "spyware"

Mussels · Dec 14, 2017

as an update for everyone:

the latest build(s) of 10 have a lot more control over windows updates, so i dont even use these tools any more.

once every 2 weeks/once a month is a lot less annoying than 'whenever the PC feels like it'

we also have bandwidth control buried away a few settings deeper

Ahhzz · Dec 14, 2017

Mussels said:
as an update for everyone:

the latest build(s) of 10 have a lot more control over windows updates, so i dont even use these tools any more.

once every 2 weeks/once a month is a lot less annoying than 'whenever the PC feels like it'

we also have bandwidth control buried away a few settings deeper

Nope. I'll keep squelching the hell out of it until I have easy control over them and the ability to block individual updates, or all of them.

rtwjunkie · Dec 14, 2017

Mussels said:
as an update for everyone:

the latest build(s) of 10 have a lot more control over windows updates, so i dont even use these tools any more.

once every 2 weeks/once a month is a lot less annoying than 'whenever the PC feels like it'

we also have bandwidth control buried away a few settings deeper

As an update, despite the latest version of WUMT being a year old, it still works perfectly with the newest update to latest W10 version.

Athlonite · Dec 14, 2017

I like to leave updates on but for everything else that can be turned off O&O shut up 10 is great only problem is you'll need to rerun it after most updates as shit gets turned on again

erpguy53 · May 26, 2018

a combination of WUB [windows update blocker] and WUMT (windows update minitool) will do the trick.
Get the WUMT Wrapper script from either Majorgeeks or Softpedia.

Athlonite · May 26, 2018

I can whole heartedly agree that O&O Shut up 10 is a great little program I've used it since it came out thanks to it's turning off of all the telemetry garbage and reporting crap it's a handy dandy little gem that's updated regularly to keep up with win10 updates

@Mussels thanks for the post mate good stuff

lexluthermiester · May 26, 2018

Athlonite said:
O&O Shut up 10 is a great little program

Agreed. It's a great little utility that has become better over time.

sixor · Nov 16, 2018

what i use:

wumt wrapper to disable updates
DWS destroy windows spy to delete all metro crap and telemetry and other annoying things, this app is a gem
regfiles to disable win def after a fresh boot and tons of regfiles for more fixes

John Naylor · Nov 16, 2018

One other thing not oft mentioned that makes sense on 7 or 10

Turn off Windows ability to install Hardware drivers
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials...iver-updates-windows-update-windows-10-a.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/82137-drivers-turn-off-automatic-driver-installation.html

Ahhzz · Nov 16, 2018

John Naylor said:
One other thing not oft mentioned that makes sense on 7 or 10

Turn off Windows ability to install Hardware drivers
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials...iver-updates-windows-update-windows-10-a.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/82137-drivers-turn-off-automatic-driver-installation.html

I can't count how many times I've had to go out to clients and fix their Ethernet drivers because a MS update screwed them up....

lexluthermiester · Nov 16, 2018

John Naylor said:
One other thing not oft mentioned that makes sense on 7 or 10

Turn off Windows ability to install Hardware drivers
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials...iver-updates-windows-update-windows-10-a.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/82137-drivers-turn-off-automatic-driver-installation.html

This! In my experiences, it creates many more problems than it solves.

Ahhzz said:
I can't count how many times I've had to go out to clients and fix their Ethernet drivers because a MS update screwed them up....

Exactly.

Athlonite · Aug 13, 2019

Ahhzz said:
I can't count how many times I've had to go out to clients and fix their Ethernet drivers because a MS update screwed them up....

Yeah I'll agree with that I don't know what MS does to drivers when they get them but boy do they know how to screw them up completely and not just the NIC drivers either it's everything that requires a driver they even screw over Creative SB X-FI drivers to the stage where the software for the card either doesn't install or won't run also no Dolby Digital of any sort, AMD GPU drivers are a shit yes they work fine on the desktop but horribly in anything 3D also AMD chipset drivers from MS are just nasty and under perform

neatfeatguy · Oct 8, 2019

Drone said:
Hide Windows Updates or driver updates

Your Windows 10 PC gets the latest updates automatically. In rare cases, a driver or update might cause issues with your PC. To keep the update from reinstalling automatically, download this troubleshooter, it will let you hide the problematic updates.

Looking through I found your link and handed it off to the IT guy. He didn't want to utilize a 3rd party software at work for blocking updates. So far the tool offered by MS seems to work on keeping that crap-tastic update KB4524149 that's preventing several people from printing from downloading.

phill · Oct 8, 2019

Brilliant thread @Mussels and thank you

If only Windows 10 came with all of this stuff to begin with....

biffzinker · Oct 8, 2019

Windows Privacy Dashboard is another all in one Windows 10 telemetry, privacy blocker, and app uninstall.

WPD

Privacy dashboard for Windows

wpd.app

Mussels · Oct 8, 2019

phill said:
Brilliant thread @Mussels and thank you If only Windows 10 came with all of this stuff to begin with....

via Imgflip Meme Generator

I honestly dont disable or tweak much with modern builds of 10, i find the more i leave it alone the less issues i have.
That said, having info in one location to come back to is always helpful for everyone.

Theliel · Nov 26, 2019

I have completely disabled Windows Update Service and my PC is unplugged offline 99% of the time. Is that good enough or should I use any of these apps too?

Deleted member 194470 · Aug 21, 2020

I found that disabling updates didn't work anymore so there is a workaround, you can 'pause' updates but infinitely, mine are paused until 2099 lol. Windows 10 has a ton of spying features in it, but you can disable most of them. i would recommend a firewall as well to block 'system' which constantly connects to the internet as well.

lexluthermiester · Aug 21, 2020

masemase said:
I found that disabling updates didn't work anymore

Then you are doing it wrong. It can be disabled.

masemase said:
i would recommend a firewall as well to block 'system' which constantly connects to the internet as well.

This can be done though. You have to have the right firewall.

Deleted member 194470 · Aug 22, 2020

It doesn't really matter as long as it is off. I forget the difficulty I had with it, I disabled it and then it came back on so I did a different work around. I use simplewall. Also windows firewall is imo not that secure because it doens't always ask you to let programs through, so programs besides windows have gotten through that shouldn't

lexluthermiester · Aug 22, 2020

masemase said:
Also windows firewall is imo not that secure because it doens't always ask you to let programs through, so programs besides windows have gotten through that shouldn't

True. This is why alternate firewalls are so important.

Dirtdog · Apr 25, 2021

I have an HP laptop running Windows 10 Home. Last year Windows saw fit to perform a forced laptop firmware update, which I was appalled by. I then googled and found it was a common problem with laptops from various manufacturers. I then researched how to ensure this couldn't happen again. I did the usual things people advise, like telling Windows Update not to perform hardware driver updates etc. I also installed HP's own software just so I could make sure the updates options were all disabled.

So even after doing all that, last night it did it AGAIN. A message came up telling me to restart so it could install HP firmware. Upon restart there were options to postpone or cancel. I chose cancel. I rebooted but those two options were back again. Apparently 'cancel' is not true, the two options are actually postpone or postpone. I let it do it and it was successful. But if it had failed, it would have made my laptop a paperweight.

I've now used O&O's ShutUp10 software to completely disable updates but whether this will work the next time a BIOS update is available, I don't know yet. But I don't really want to disable ALL updates, just the hardware ones. Is there any 100% definitive way to do this? One which definitely works and won't become disabled again?

I am so fed up with this garbage OS that I am seriously considering putting Windows 7 on the laptop, which apparently even though it's modern, you can do if you follow a few steps. But how crazy that I would have to do that, just to save my machine from being damaged from a failed BIOS flash.

ThrashZone · Apr 25, 2021

Hi,
Yeah win-7 rules frankly still
z490 I haven't bothered installing 7 yet seeing I have many other machines that do so I use linux mint more on it than 10.

lemonadesoda · Apr 26, 2021

Dirtdog said:
I have an HP laptop running Windows 10 Home. Last year Windows saw fit to perform a forced laptop firmware update, which I was appalled by.... Is there any 100% definitive way to do this? One which definitely works and won't become disabled again?

I am so fed up with this garbage OS that I am seriously considering putting Windows 7 on the laptop, which apparently even though it's modern, you can do if you follow a few steps. But how crazy that I would have to do that, just to save my machine from being damaged from a failed BIOS flash.

Same issues. Options are:
W7
W10 LTSC

Until you make the OS change, then my advice is never leave your laptop plugged in when you walk away (e.g. overnight), or laptop will not auto sleep and W will see an inactive system plugged in and automagically force update download and install. Also, consider using wifi setting on "Metered Connection".

However, do try again with latest O&O shutup and latest WPD (Windows Privacy Dashboard). After running, reboot, check settings are "fixed" and relax. After any Windows Update that you do allow, you need to rerun O&O shutup and latest WPD, because Windows Update does not respect all the Policy settings you changed, and resets them, so that Windows is back in charge. So you need to beat Windows into submission by rerunning those tools after any Windows Update.

AsRock · Apr 26, 2021

Dirtdog said:
I have an HP laptop running Windows 10 Home. Last year Windows saw fit to perform a forced laptop firmware update, which I was appalled by. I then googled and found it was a common problem with laptops from various manufacturers. I then researched how to ensure this couldn't happen again. I did the usual things people advise, like telling Windows Update not to perform hardware driver updates etc. I also installed HP's own software just so I could make sure the updates options were all disabled.

So even after doing all that, last night it did it AGAIN. A message came up telling me to restart so it could install HP firmware. Upon restart there were options to postpone or cancel. I chose cancel. I rebooted but those two options were back again. Apparently 'cancel' is not true, the two options are actually postpone or postpone. I let it do it and it was successful. But if it had failed, it would have made my laptop a paperweight.

I've now used O&O's ShutUp10 software to completely disable updates but whether this will work the next time a BIOS update is available, I don't know yet. But I don't really want to disable ALL updates, just the hardware ones. Is there any 100% definitive way to do this? One which definitely works and won't become disabled again?

I am so fed up with this garbage OS that I am seriously considering putting Windows 7 on the laptop, which apparently even though it's modern, you can do if you follow a few steps. But how crazy that I would have to do that, just to save my machine from being damaged from a failed BIOS flash.

Yeah i had it some time ago, not used the system that has windows home on it for a hell long time now. But this only happens with our systems with windows Home the ones with Pro it's a none issue.

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	OrangeHaze / Silence
Processor	i7-13700KF / i5-10400 /
Motherboard	ROG STRIX Z690-E / MSI Z490 A-Pro Motherboard
Cooling	Corsair H75 / TT ToughAir 510
Memory	64Gb GSkill Trident Z5 / 32GB Team Dark Za 3600
Video Card(s)	Palit GeForce RTX 2070 / Sapphire R9 290 Vapor-X 4Gb
Storage	Hynix Plat P41 2Tb\Samsung MZVL21 1Tb / Samsung 980 Pro 1Tb
Display(s)	22" Dell Wide/24" Asus
Case	Lian Li PC-101 ATX custom mod / Antec Lanboy Air Black & Blue
Audio Device(s)	SB Audigy 7.1
Power Supply	Corsair Enthusiast TX750
Mouse	Logitech G502 Lightspeed Wireless / Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
Keyboard	K68 RGB — CHERRY® MX Red
Software	Win10 Pro \ RIP:Win 7 Ult 64 bit

System Name	Bayou Phantom
Processor	Core i7-8700k 4.4Ghz @ 1.18v
Motherboard	ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming 6
Cooling	All air: 2x140mm Fractal exhaust; 3x 140mm Cougar Intake; Enermax T40F Black CPU cooler
Memory	2x 16GB Mushkin Redline DDR-4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 2080 Ti Xc
Storage	1x 500 MX500 SSD; 2x 6TB WD Black; 1x 4TB WD Black; 1x400GB VelRptr; 1x 4TB WD Blue storage (eSATA)
Display(s)	HP 27q 27" IPS @ 2560 x 1440
Case	Fractal Design Define R4 Black w/Titanium front -windowed
Audio Device(s)	Soundblaster Z
Power Supply	Seasonic X-850
Mouse	Coolermaster Sentinel III (large palm grip!)
Keyboard	Logitech G610 Orion mechanical (Cherry Brown switches)
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (Start10 & Fences 3.0 installed)

System Name	Cumquat 2021
Processor	AMD RyZen R7 7800X3D
Motherboard	Asus Strix X670E - E Gaming WIFI
Cooling	Deep Cool LT720 + CM MasterGel Pro TP + Lian Li Uni Fan V2
Memory	32GB GSkill Trident Z5 Neo 6000
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Nitro+ OC RX6800 16GB DDR6 2270Cclk / 2010Mclk
Storage	1x Adata SX8200PRO NVMe 1TB gen3 x4 1X Samsung 980 Pro NVMe Gen 4 x4 1TB, 12TB of HDD Storage
Display(s)	AOC 24G2 IPS 144Hz FreeSync Premium 1920x1080p
Case	Lian Li O11D XL ROG edition
Audio Device(s)	RX6800 via HDMI + Pioneer VSX-531 amp Technics 100W 5.1 Speaker set
Power Supply	EVGA 1000W G5 Gold
Mouse	Logitech G502 Proteus Core Wired
Keyboard	Logitech G915 Wireless
Software	Windows 11 X64 PRO (build 23H2)
Benchmark Scores	it sucks even more less now ;)

Processor	AMD Phenom II X4 925
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 R2
Memory	4 GB DDR3 1333Mhz
Audio Device(s)	onboard Realtek ALC892
Power Supply	Seasonic S12II 620w (SS-620GB)
Software	Windows 10 Education x64 21H2

[Guide] Disabling Windows 10 Automatic updates and "spyware"

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Ahhzz

Moderator

rtwjunkie

PC Gaming Enthusiast

Athlonite

erpguy53

Athlonite

lexluthermiester

sixor

John Naylor

Ahhzz

Moderator

lexluthermiester

Athlonite

neatfeatguy

phill

Moderator

biffzinker

WPD

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Theliel

Deleted member 194470

Guest

lexluthermiester

Deleted member 194470

Guest

lexluthermiester

Dirtdog

ThrashZone

lemonadesoda

AsRock

TPU addict

System Name	pote
Processor	Amd 7800x3d
Motherboard	Gigabyte b650m aorus elite ax
Cooling	Thermalright peerless assasin 120 se
Memory	32gb lexar 6000 cl32
Video Card(s)	AMD XFX 580 8GB
Storage	Lexar 2tb nvme gen4
Display(s)	asus ips 24inch 1080p, LG OLED B9 4K120
Case	Antec CRAP
Audio Device(s)	REALTEK CRAP
Power Supply	corsair 550w vx550
Mouse	microsoft PROINTELLIMOUSE
Keyboard	microsoft wireless
Software	win11 PRO x64

System Name	Personal / HTPC
Processor	Ryzen 5900x / i5-4460
Motherboard	Asrock x570 Phantom Gaming 4 /ASRock Z87 Extreme4
Cooling	Corsair H100i / stock HSF
Memory	32GB DDR4 3200 / 8GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	EVGA XC3 Ultra RTX 3080Ti / EVGA RTX 3060 XC
Storage	500GB Pro 970, 250 GB SSD, 1TB & 500GB Western Digital / 2x 4TB & 1x 8TB WD Red, 2TB SSD & 4TB SSD
Display(s)	Dell - S3220DGF 32" LED Curved QHD FreeSync Monitor / 50" LCD TV
Case	CoolerMaster HAF XB Evo / CM HAF XB Evo
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G35 headset
Power Supply	850W SeaSonic X Series / 750W SeaSonic X Series
Mouse	Logitech G502
Keyboard	Black Microsoft Natural Elite Keyboard
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64 / Windows 10 Pro 64

System Name	Not so complete or overkill - There are others!! Just no room to put! :D
Processor	Ryzen Threadripper 3970X
Motherboard	Asus Zenith 2 Extreme Alpha
Cooling	Lots!! Dual GTX 560 rads with D5 pumps for each rad. One rad for each component
Memory	Viper Steel 4 x 16GB DDR4 3600MHz not sure on the timings... Probably still at 2667!! :(
Video Card(s)	Asus Strix 3090 with front and rear active full cover water blocks
Storage	I'm bound to forget something here - 250GB OS, 2 x 1TB NVME, 2 x 1TB SSD, 4TB SSD, 2 x 8TB HD etc...
Display(s)	3 x Dell 27" S2721DGFA @ 7680 x 1440P @ 144Hz or 165Hz - working on it!!
Case	The big Thermaltake that looks like a Case Mods
Audio Device(s)	Onboard
Power Supply	EVGA 1600W T2
Mouse	Corsair thingy
Keyboard	Razer something or other....
VR HMD	No headset yet
Software	Windows 11 OS... Not a fan!!
Benchmark Scores	I've actually never benched it!! Too busy with WCG and FAH and not gaming! :( :( Not OC'd it!! :(

Processor	Ryzen 9 5900X
Motherboard	MSI B450 Tomahawk ATX
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition
Memory	VENGEANCE LPX 2 x 16GB DDR4-3600 C18 OCed 3800
Video Card(s)	XFX Speedster SWFT309 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT CORE Gaming
Storage	970 EVO NVMe M.2 500 GB, 870 QVO 1 TB
Display(s)	Samsung 28” 4K monitor
Case	Phantek Eclipse P400S (PH-EC416PS)
Audio Device(s)	EVGA NU Audio
Power Supply	EVGA 850 BQ
Mouse	SteelSeries Rival 310
Keyboard	Logitech G G413 Silver
Software	Windows 10 Professional 64-bit v22H2

Processor	i5-10600
Motherboard	MSI Z490-A Pro
Cooling	Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO
Memory	Kingston Fury Renegade 32GB DDR4-3600 CL16
Video Card(s)	Asus GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1TB, 860 EVO 2TB
Display(s)	iiyama G2730HSU-B1 G-Master 27"
Case	Corsair 200R
Audio Device(s)	Asus Xonar Essence STX
Power Supply	Seasonic Focus GX 650W
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Ghetto Rigs z490\|x99\|Acer 17 Nitro 7840hs/ 5600c40-2x16/ 4060/ 1tb acer stock m.2/ 4tb sn850x
Processor	10900k w/Optimus Foundation \| 5930k w/Black Noctua D15
Motherboard	z490 Maximus XII Apex \| x99 Sabertooth
Cooling	oCool D5 res-combo/280 GTX/ Optimus Foundation/ gpu water block \| Blk D15
Memory	Trident-Z Royal 4000c16 2x16gb \| Trident-Z 3200c14 4x8gb
Video Card(s)	Titan Xp-water \| evga 980ti gaming-w/ air
Storage	970evo+500gb & sn850x 4tb \| 860 pro 256gb \| Acer m.2 1tb/ sn850x 4tb\| Many2.5" sata's ssd 3.5hdd's
Display(s)	1-AOC G2460PG 24"G-Sync 144Hz/ 2nd 1-ASUS VG248QE 24"/ 3rd LG 43" series
Case	D450 \| Cherry Entertainment center on Test bench
Audio Device(s)	Built in Realtek x2 with 2-Insignia 2.0 sound bars & 1-LG sound bar
Power Supply	EVGA 1000P2 with APC AX1500 \| 850P2 with CyberPower-GX1325U
Mouse	Redragon 901 Perdition x3
Keyboard	G710+x3
Software	Win-7 pro x3 and win-10 & 11pro x3
Benchmark Scores	Are in the benchmark section

System Name	ICE-QUAD // ICE-CRUNCH
Processor	Q6600 // 2x Xeon 5472
Memory	2GB DDR // 8GB FB-DIMM
Video Card(s)	HD3850-AGP // FireGL 3400
Display(s)	2 x Samsung 204Ts = 3200x1200
Audio Device(s)	Audigy 2
Software	Windows Server 2003 R2 as a Workstation now migrated to W10 with regrets.

Processor	AMD 3900X \ AMD 7700X
Motherboard	ASRock AM4 X570 Pro 4 \ ASUS X670Xe TUF
Cooling	D15
Memory	Patriot 2x16GB PVS432G320C6K \ G.Skill Flare X5 F5-6000J3238F 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	eVga GTX1060 SSC \ XFX RX 6950XT RX-695XATBD9
Storage	Sammy 860, MX500, Sabrent Rocket 4 Sammy Evo 980 \ 1xSabrent Rocket 4+, Sammy 2x990 Pro
Display(s)	Samsung 1080P \ LG 43UN700
Case	Fractal Design Pop Air 2x140mm fans from Torrent \ Fractal Design Torrent 2 SilverStone FHP141x2
Audio Device(s)	Yamaha RX-V677 \ Yamaha CX-830+Yamaha MX-630 Infinity RS4000\Paradigm P Studio 20, Blue Yeti
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime TX-750 \ Corsair RM1000X Shift
Mouse	Steelseries Sensei wireless \ Steelseries Sensei wireless
Keyboard	Logitech K120 \ Wooting Two HE
Benchmark Scores	Meh benchmarks.