Thanks for your replies and suggestions. The Defender antivirus scan did find a number of malwares which, unfortunately, I didn't record but included some trojans. After they'd been dealt with I also...

Recently I've found a blank black window briefly popping up not long after booting up my HP laptop. Up to now it hasn't hung around long enough for me to see what it was but today it lingered long...

Ah, I wondered if that might be it. Thanks Bree. I'll look at one of the other options suggested. Thanks everyone.

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Hi Paul, when I click on that it reports I don't have...

Hi, for some time I've been wanting to have some control over automatic updates as they frequently crop up at a most inconvenient time (yes, I know I can defer them but I want control!). I've tried...

Yes, I'm aware it's a stand-alone utility.

Well, that's interesting! I tried pinging the laptop IP address and it magically reappeared on the network. Having found the IP address of the wireless printer from the list in my router I pinged...

If I didn't make clear what I'd done I apologise. I pinged the 2nd desktop PC to check that I was using the command correctly and then used that command form to ping the laptop. The results were as...

I don't know how to connect via ip. When I tried pinging using that \\ip\<sharename> form it reports "ping request could not find host"

I tried pinging <laptop-sharename> and it responds with four...

My home network is doing my head in and I hope someone might be able to help and save me from a nervous breakdown.

The network comprises two desktop PCs, 2 laptops and a Canon wireless printer....

I was a bit wary of clicking Continue since I didn't know where that would take me. As I mentioned in my edited reply having read through the remaining pages of the tutorial thread it appears there...

Hi Brink, thanks for your incredibly quick reply.

Unfortunately, as you yourself pointed out in that thread you linked to "this setting is not available until build 18945 and later" and as you can...

Every so often when I start up I get this annoying nag screen. I'm really not interested in any of the options offered but there seems to be no way to tell Micro$oft to go away and stop pestering me...

Indeed, very much simpler. It's a pity I didn't see that in time.

Thanks everyone for responding. I've resolved it and am kicking myself for not reading the "Learn more" bit. It turns out that one has to go through the palaver of setting up an account then once...

Hi, I've just bought a new laptop and whilst following the setup sequence I've landed on a page that wants me to create a Microsoft account. I don't want to do this, I simply want to create a local...

Hi Denis, thanks for clarifying that.

In that case, since I only want to disable updating whilst using a mobile broadband connection maybe I should just use Windows Update Blocker or simply go in...

I don't know if any installed software or drivers could be responsible for the failure of WU to offer 1903, I don't have anything out of the ordinary, but to be honest I find this all a bit too...

That's an interesting question. I did a search for drivers on HP's selfservice site here and it asked for my OS so I tried entering W10 version 1903 to see how it responded. The result was the...

It's already off.

dalchina, in Settings > Windows Update it does confirm that my laptop is not compatible with 1903.

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It's a bit of a bummer as I only recently bought...

Thanks everyone for your responses. My Windows 10 is Home Edition version 1803 running on a laptop. If I want to upgrade to version 1903 of Home Edition will this have to be purchased? If so I'd...

I'm getting more and more p**d off with W10 because of the apparent inability to have any control over when it performs updates. The latest and most frustrating annoyance occurred whilst I was on...

As a postscript I've now received and installed the copy of Office 2010. Installation proceeded without incident, the product key was accepted and Word opens and runs ok, so this has resolved the...

You definitely did!

I've now ordered the Office 2010 version on optical media that I mentioned earlier. It's £5 more than the one you linked but fingers crossed it will hopefully work under both...

That product on Amazon now is £79.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Office-Home-Student-2016/dp/B011N7884S

I have found a copy of Office 2010 on optical media with key for a reasonable price so I'll probably give that a try.

Grateful thanks to everyone who has contributed to the discussion.

Regards,...