Creators build or not

Longbow · 10 Jun 2017

First of all I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere.
We have a small network with around 40pc's, 35 of which are windows 10, for a year they have ran with noissues. In the last couple of weeks that has changed a lot. We have started seeing a lot of wheel ofdeath at boot up and log in.
I have gone through each machine that ishaving issues and changed the updates not to give updates to other machines on networkor internet, changes privacy turned off background apps and a few othersettings but this only helps on some machines for a short time then they willdo an update outside of active hours and all changes disappear and I have toset them again.
I wear a lot of hats besides just IT sohaving been keeping up on windows 10 as much as I should have been or networks in general I understand Microsoft’s reasoning for wanting everything patchedbut there has to be a better way. But as for my questions.

Best solution I have found so far is manually update a PC to creators build1703 332, turn off updates for other Microsoft products and defer updates 35days to give users some relief, is this best option or is there better?
Is there a good definitive guide anywhere of what to enable/disable withgroup policy?
I have found a few settings I would like to disable in GPO but not others.
It appears to me that if you reboot your PC during active hours it willinstall updates anyway, is this true?
Finally some of the settings I found through research I do not have in myOU’s

We have 2012 Domain controllers
Thank you

dalchina · 10 Jun 2017

Hi, for a good number of months I don't think there have been issues with routine cumulative updates (you can read through the News section here, where there is a thread per update).

However, as you know, the Creator's build is a major upgrade, and for some, this introduces problems.
The Creator's build also introduces more options for users to manage updates.

Here's how I deal with this myself: (I have the AU)
1. Set updates to notify only. (For convenience I used Winaero's free tweaker to do this- it can be done via group policy of course).
This means I get notification an update is available: I download it when I choose.
2. I have enabled Defer feature updates
(Available in Pro not Home, e.g.)
This means I will not receive an automatic CU update for some months.

Thus I never have an unexpected update or restart.
And curiously, even if an update is pending a restart, and the Active hours period ends, still no automatic restart.

Longbow · 10 Jun 2017

Its strange we have never had issues with the updates till now, most PC's are still at 1607 but the ones having constant issues I updated to 1703 and they seem better, will play with tweaker, Is that per pc or network, if just PC I will use your suggestion and set updates to download only with GPO
Your acronym Here's how I deal with this myself: (I have the AU) I assume that is automatic updates?
Are you deferring updates per pc or is there a group policy for that?

I appreciate all the feedback

dalchina · 10 Jun 2017

Hi, all is clear if you get Winaero's tweaker- search tweaks for update- there's a link to an internet page with full description of the GPO/registry change per tweak.

I just have one PC...(!)

Early updates after 1607 (the AU build) presented challenges, then all has generally been ok.

I'm not adopting the CU for some time- two reasons:
a. Experience shows volatility after a major build
b. I have a utility Aeroglass that isn't updated for some months after a major build (provides semi-opaque frames)

Creators build or not-snap-2017-06-10-18.32.23.jpg

Longbow · 10 Jun 2017

Ah thank you, I'm looking more for gpo settings to fix all 40 at once but tweaker looks cool and I will paly with on my home pc

dalchina · 10 Jun 2017

The links in the tweaker tell you all the info about GPO settings which you can use, or indeed you can just browse Winaero's site.

How to disable Windows Update in Windows 10 RTM - Winaero