Hide or Show Windows Updates in Windows 10  

tomseys said:

Is there a way to not have that cmd box pop up when it runs the update?

Ok I found what appears to be an easy way for windows defender to update silently/ in background with no cmd popup when it updates definitions.

I just set the task to "run whether user is logged in or not" (I'm always logged in) instead of run only when user is logged in. I also set it to not store password so I don't have to enter it to confirm it otherwise you have to enter password I believe if you make any changes to the task which is not a big deal in any case.

Now when it runs the update, it does it without any cmd window popup or anything as if it is doing it in the background. If I check in windows defender I see that it has been updated at the correct time (and the hide/show update is gone). Perfect. Now I don't have to worry about Windows defender definition updates with a metered connection.

I assume this is safe to do. I read about it on a forum and seems it is...

tomseys said:

Ok I found what appears to be an easy way for windows defender to update silently/ in background with no cmd popup when it updates definitions.

I just set the task to "run whether user is logged in or not" (I'm always logged in). I also set it to not store password so I don't have to enter it to confirm it otherwise you have to enter password I believe if you make any changes to the task which is not a big deal in any case.

Now when it runs the update, it does it without any cmd window popup or anything as if it is doing it in the background. If I check in windows defender I see that it has been updated at the correct time (and the hide/show update is gone). Perfect. Now I don't have to worry about Windows defender with a metered connection. I've added one more time/trigger for a total of three checks for definitions per day.

I assume this is safe to do. I read about it on a forum and seems it is...

Brink said:

Please let us know how it went if you do it.

Hi Shawn

I seem to owe you an answer!
The time (and the occasion) came to test if the script works, to remove a stuck update, which I had hidden.

As you may already know, Microsoft updated KB4023057 to include v.1803 and they are pushing to through WU.
Since I have decided to defer FU for 30 days (after all that mess with 1809) I checked for updates using PSWindowsUpdate in PowerShell and when I saw it I hid it. Unfortunately I was a little late and WU had already offered it. So I ended up with a hidden update, and a WU stuck with it waiting to be installed, as seen below:



So I took your advice and run the script to Reset Windows Update.

And ta da! It worked as expected. I got rid of the hidden update from Windows Update and everything is back to normal, with the exception of the flaw we had already discussed: No Update History anymore. It’s wiped out!



But….that’s life. You win some, you lose some…it’s always a trade-off!

Please find following, my observations from running the script:

Didn’t have %SYSTEMROOT%\winsxs\pending.xml.bak
Didn’t have %SYSTEMROOT%\SoftwareDistribution.bak
Didn’t have HKCU\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate
Didn’t have HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate
Didn’t have HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate

The GPO I had set for Automatic Updates was not deleted, as we were expecting. (Quite strange)….but I saved the step to redo it.

Following completion of the script, I couldn’t run %windir%\system32\services.msc, as I was getting a red UAC Error that the Administrator had revoked my privileges to run the app. After rebooting, everything was back to normal.
Maybe you should add an automatic restart at the end of the script (it won’t hurt anybody), to avoid such things.

The “sc config bits start= auto”, didn’t seem to work, as BITS after reboot was set to Manual and I had to set it to Automatic (Delayed Start).


Once more, thanks a lot for your suggestion and your excellent script.

Take care mate!


UPDATE: One last important observation. Following the reset, all hidden updates, were unhidden and I had to hide them again!

You're most welcome Dimitri. That's great news.

I wouldn't want to add an auto restart computer into the script since there could be some people that wouldn't be aware of that and could lose something open from the restart.

It would be better for them to restart on their own.

Your script...your call

Probably goes without saying, but I don't think this works if you are using a fast or slow ring.

Hemimax said:

Probably goes without saying, but I don't think this works if you are using a fast or slow ring.

Hello Richard,

I just tested in a Fast ring PC to see if anything may have changed, but it still works. However, I don't think you would want to hide new build updates though. You could always pause updates if needed though.

Hi Brink,

I was having issues after KB4508451 18362.10013 so I uninstalled and hid the update, a day or so later it showed up again in WU. Maybe I did it wrong so I will give it another go.