How do I stop Windows from killing itself with suicide updates?

I have a laptop that downloaded and installed automatic updates which resulted in windows not being able to boot up (Inaccessible Boot Device)

Bravo Windows.

I found some options for windows to attempt a repair which failed, and another option to remove latest updates which again failed.

Fantastic.

I then had to open the cmd line and manually remove the updates which worked. However once I start Windows back up again it proceeds to redownload the updates.

....

I can't find a way to stop Windows from doing it. I see options to postpone for up to a month and to schedule but I want to stop updates entirely. The machine is not my primary computer and is quite old now, I have moved all my important activities to a new computer and only use the old one as an extra screen for a web browser so honestly I don't care about keeping it updated.

What should I do guys?

Windows 10 Home 10.0.19042 Build 19042

Which version of Windows 10 are you in?

I have 2 strategies that work! I installed 1903 version of Windows 10 Pro just over 2 weeks ago.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
"ProductVersion"="Windows 10"
"TargetReleaseVersion"=dword:00000001
"TargetReleaseVersionInfo"="1903"

In the Specify Target Version I put 1903 that way it only updated me to the final build version of 1903 and no more updates since!

Second option is Windows 10 Update Blocker Tool. Windows Update Blocker v1.6

This option completely blocks Windows 10 updates and their respective task schedules. Something which, cannot be manually disabled for normal users. This disables all the task schedules so Windows 10 doesn't scan for updates.

Keep in mind however, if you need to install new drivers for your hardware/device components you will need to temporarily re-enable Windows Update to install those.

I have been using this method last 2 years without issues.

The third option is to delete the task schedules. This seems pretty extreme and I have not tried this myself. But it is suggested by Chris Titus.

schtasks /delete /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator\Schedule Scan" /f > NUL 2>&1

schtasks /delete /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator\Schedule Scan Static Task" /f > NUL 2>&1

schtasks /delete /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator\UpdateModelTask" /f > NUL 2>&1

schtasks /delete /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator\USO_UxBroker" /f > NUL 2>&1

schtasks /delete /TN "\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\Scheduled Start" /f > NUL 2>&1

No idea of the consequences. I haven't tried doing this yet.
But I suggest you do a system restore before attempting this more extreme method.

FoxEatsAces said:

What should I do guys?

Linux.
Seriously, use Linux.