@phrab
Yes, just delete the key, or set it to zero (HideMCTLink). Get the tool there when you're ready. If you prefer to upgrade with the ISO file = setup.exe, then you will need the browser extension User-Agent Switcher. Set it to MAC or Linux and the ISO file will be shown (same link).
Download Windows 10
Last edited by MikeMecanic; 10 May 2018 at 07:26.
Isn't there a small, reliable utility maintained by a developer to halt W10 upgrades, until you permit it?
I've seen some utilities and scripts, but I don't know how reliable they are.
Suggestions welcome.
TIA :)
Last edited by Compumind; 10 May 2018 at 08:44.
In Pro you have the ability to defer Features Updates (which are the 'upgrades' you refer to) for up to 365 days.
Windows Update - Defer Feature and Quality Updates in Windows 10
In Home you don't have the Defer options, but you can use Microsoft's wushowhide.diagcab tool to hide the 'Features Update to Windows 10, version 1803'.
Hide or Show Windows Updates in Windows 10
Thanks for this information. I downloaded & tried to use the show/hide tool. However, even when I chose to hide a Windows update, it still didn't disappear from Settings/Update & Security. If I run the tool before anything shows up in Settings/Update & Security, then there's nothing to hide. And if I run after WU shows the update, it doesn't really hide it. Did I miss a step, like rebooting because it doesn't seem to work for me?
For normal updates like cumulative updates or driver updates then they should disappear from Settings/Update & Security after you do a restart. Because you interrupted an update by restarting it should say something like 'we couldn't finish an update because the PC was turned off. Retry?'. If you now manually check for updates the hidden one(s) won't be found.
Task Managers shows that wushowhide.diagcab runs all the same processes as a manual check for updates in Settings/Update & Security does. It should find exactly the same list of available updates as checking for updates in Settings....If I run the tool before anything shows up in Settings/Update & Security, then there's nothing to hide....
If that's not how it's working for you, then you may have problems in windows update, I'd try running the Windows Update Troubleshooter. Then there's the tutorial Reset Windows Update in Windows 10.
(which doubles up as a pretty good way of killing any unwanted updates that have started).
Features Updates (the upgrades to the next version of Windows) can be difficult to hide. As far as I can make out windows update is only involved in the first step of the upgrade process, detecting that a Features Update is available. At that point it seems that windows update hands the task of downloading and installing the new version to processes outside of windows update itself. Once the download has started it makes no difference if you hide it or not. You have to hide it before that starts, wushowhide only controls the first bit - the windows update part of the process....if I run after WU shows the update, it doesn't really hide it...
For my test machine (System Two in my specs) I have system images of all versions, from 1803 right back to the original 1507 release (I restore them as appropriate to help me answer questions on these forums).
When I restore an older image I may need to hide updates to stop it upgrading itself. In general, my process for hiding updates is:
- Turn on Metered Connection if you don't already use it. This prevents most types of updates downloading without your permission (the few types that do download over metered connections are innocuous, Flash update mainly).
- Run wushowhide and hide the Features Update before it has a chance to start installing.
- select 'Restart' from the Start menu power button to restart the PC.
- Run a manual check for update from Settings to confirm the update is not seen any more.
- Turn off Metered Connection (optional)
For 1703 and earlier there are a few addition updates that must be hidden, the most intrusive of which is KB4023814 which perpetually reinstalls the Update Assistant without your permission.
KB4023814 Windows 10 display notification to install latest version
Last edited by Bree; 19 May 2018 at 13:53.
Thank you for your reply & detailed information. I didn't restart my computer after running the WU Show/Hide tool. Next time, I'll know to do that. When updates show up, I have my computer set do nothing until I click download, so I won't be interrupting an update. It's just that if there's more than one update (say a cumulative update & a Windows Defender update), I wasn't sure how I could just install the Defender update.
I will definitely try this next time. Thank you again!!
I just tried it & I still must be doing something wrong. WU showed there was an update for Windows Defender. I figured I could hide it & then restore it.
So I ran WUShowHide.diagcab. It goes through a troubleshooter & then comes up with an option to hide or show updates. So I clicked on "Hide updates"; it showed the Defender update & I selected it & hid it. Then I rebooted. After I rebooted & I went to Settings/Update & Security and it was still there.
I ran the ShowHide utility again & when I selected "Hide updates", it said there were no updates to hide. I went to Settings/Update & Security & it said I was up to date (the Defender update wasn't there).
However, I ran the utility again (it only let's you either hide or show, you can't go back) & selected "Show hidden updates". There weren't any. I opened Windows Defender security center & it showed that it was updated, so I'm not really sure that the utility is working.
Did I miss a step again somewhere?
Windows Defender has it's own separate process for checking for and installing definition updates, that may be part of the explanation. A metered connection will block that and give you a chance to experiment.
Windows Quality an Features updates should only use the window update process, which is what wushowhide.diagcab works on.
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