Microsoft Keep Hijacking my PC

Hi,

I have been having some issues recently with microsoft hijacking my laptop and updating whenever they want to. I have disabled all the auto updates that I could find but they still update without my permission and if that is not bad enough, this morning I was up early watching netflix because I couldn't sleep at around 4:30am while I was watching a movie I noticed that my laptop started up all by itself and proceeded to download the latest update. I will be honest, I am pretty peeved. The past week I have been online learning how to stop them auto updating and it appears to me that it doesn't matter what settings I choose, they turn my machine on while I am sleeping and sneak in the latest update.

This last update has also messed with the colours on my interface....what was once blue has now become this tacky baby cac brownish orange colour. Its hideous and I am not very happy about it. I have looked online to see if there is a fix for this but no response at all.

I will be honest here,, I am now looking at installing Linux instead as I am becoming increasingly suspicious of Microsofts activities with regards to my computer in the past 2 weeks. Privacy is a personal freedom and Microsoft seem hell bent on stripping those away from everybody. I don't know if Linux are better, seems to me they are all as bad as each other, microsoft, apple etc but I would like to think that Linux being open source software has more transparency and integrity?

Has anyone else had this problem?

Not here.

I can't attest to the "everybody" that you claim has updates forced on them, but of the PCs I support, MOST of which are not Win11 hardware capable and are thus will continue to run Win10 for the next 4 years, NONE of them are exhibiting this issue.

While I admit I only check half of those on a daily basis, at least with the ones here, this problem is not happening.

Thanks for your response..."everybody" is perhaps not correct but nevertheless updates are not only being forced upon me when I do not want them, they are also being downloaded without me knowing about it. If they do this, what else are they capable of? Its a question that has been concerning me for a while now as there is some controversy about windows 10. Anyway, I have sourced a copy of linux and arranged for this operating system to be wiped, problem shall be solved soon.

There is a way to delete those update services, but keep in mind that certain UWP applications depend on these services, such as Microsoft Store.

The services you can delete in Registry are located at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services, the list is:

• BITS
• UsoSvc
• WaaSMedicSvc
• wuauserv

In order to delete the BITS service, you must take ownership of the registry key through the Permissions option when you right click.

I am not responsible for any damages or loss of data caused by your and only your actions, always keep a backup.

Creative Kat said:

Thanks for your response..."everybody" is perhaps not correct but nevertheless updates are not only being forced upon me when I do not want them, they are also being downloaded without me knowing about it. If they do this, what else are they capable of? Its a question that has been concerning me for a while now as there is some controversy about windows 10. Anyway, I have sourced a copy of linux and arranged for this operating system to be wiped, problem shall be solved soon.

au revoir & bonne chance

Thank you @Berton, good advice. I appreciate it. Yes I have made up my mind to switch to Linux, I did contact Microsoft and let them know I was thinking about it, they became more aggressive as a result, installing updates without my permission which has actually pushed me to make the change.

@spunk All updates are apparently critical according to Microsoft. Frankly I don't believe every update is that critical at all, especially considering windows 10 is almost obsolete and they are rolling out windows 11. I am curious, just how critical are these updates for an almost obsolete operating system? According to Microsoft this laptop does not have the required specs for an upgrade. Sorry, I don't buy that.

@idgat I don't really consider it relevant which updates came through, as this operating system will no longer be supported.

Cheers for the advice and responses everyone. If I was running a machine that was suitable for windows 11 then yes I would probably be convinced that these updates were critical, but I am not. Microsoft are intrusive and sometimes aggressive when it comes to updating and my recent find that they have been pushing updates while I was supposed to be sleeping is disturbing to say the least.

We have a right to say no to updates and Microsoft need to learn that NO means NO, it does not mean maybe. This is not only intrusive, it is a direct invasion of my privacy and I need to be able to draw a line in the sand. No means No Microsoft. End of story! Hence the switch to Linux.