How to Reverse the 7 day pause

kitpzyxmsir · 19 May 2018

I enabled the temporary Windows Update 7 day pause yesterday. Now I'm trying to undo it, but it's not working. Still says I'm in the delay.

Bree · 19 May 2018

That's odd, you should be able to toggle the switch back to 'off'. Once the pause is turned off, you won't be able to turn it on again until you have installed all the latest updates though.

Turn On or Off Pause Updates for Windows Update in Windows 10

Perhaps it has got confused and thinks the pause is off, but show it as on. Try a Restart and see if it clears it. If not, try the Windows Update Troubleshooter.

BTW, for some of us (for reasons unexplained) it shows as 'up to 35 days' for a pause.

LEOPEVA64 · 19 May 2018

Bree said:

BTW, for some of us (for reasons unexplained) it shows as 'up to 35 days' for a pause.

In the insider builds you can only pause up to 7 days, in the public builds you can pause up to 35 days, is a restriction by Microsoft to try to keep insiders in the most recent bulds.

Bree · 19 May 2018

LEOPEVA64 said:

In the insider builds you can only pause up to 7 days, in the public builds you can pause up to 35 days, is a restriction by Microsoft to try to keep insiders in the most recent bulds.

Thanks, that may well be the reason. @Brink only sees 7 days, but then he would have 'Insider' connections, probably even on his clean installs (tested in VMs?).

Brink · 19 May 2018

Yep, it's 7 days for Insiders and 35 days for non Insiders. :)

Turn On or Off Pause Updates for Windows Update in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

Bree · 19 May 2018

Brink said:

Yep, it's 7 days for Insiders and 35 days for non Insiders. :)

Ah, I see the tutorial now say that too.

None of us knew that a year ago - look how we ~~argued about~~ politely discussed it at the time.

Mystery solved!

kitpzyxmsir · 19 May 2018

Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (x64) Build 15063.1088 (1703/RS2)

I'm not an insider. Quite the opposite. This all started with a Macrium backup (created 1/1/18) restore that was already set for the 365 day feature deferral. So, I'm still 1703? Could that be a factor?

Attachment 189417 Attachment 189418

kitpzyxmsir · 19 May 2018

I just ran the Windows update troubleshooter.

Attachment 189449 Attachment 189450

But nothing has changed

Bree · 19 May 2018

Something's very broken there.

There's conflicting information in your post #7 screenshots. The Windows Update page says updates are paused, but the advanced options page says Pause is turned off - they can't both be right!

Try this tutorial: Reset Windows Update in Windows 10

BTW: I've just restored my test machine's 1703 image to look closer at these settings. Seems that in 1703 it was 7 days for everyone, Insider or not. At least, I see 7 days in 1703, but 35 days when I restore the 1709 image, a system made by upgrading from that 1703 system a while back... odd....

Oh, and the two pages are in agreement in my restored image. Both agreed that Pause was off, then I paused and they agreed that it was on. Turned off pause and they agree that updates are being checked for, and that I can't pause again until I'm up to date (the switch is now greyed out).

kitpzyxmsir · 20 May 2018

Bree said:

Something's very broken there.

There's conflicting information in your post #7 screenshots. The Windows Update page says updates are paused, but the advanced options page says Pause is turned off - they can't both be right!

Well, I couldn't agree with you more, but a picture (or 2 pictures in this case) is worth a thousand words, and now you see my problem, or should I say my previous problem.

After nothing worked, I decided to re-install the same Macrium backup hoping for a miracle. Couldn't hurt, right? It worked. Everything was back to normal, I was able to successfully turn off the pause, and resume downloading updates. Obviously, I have no explanation but dumb luck.

Bree said:

Try this tutorial: Reset Windows Update in Windows 10

But thanks for that link. I'm sure it will be of future use.