Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

It was easy not to accept the downloads JB, I don't think I ever had one update in the five years I used Vista, or the five years I used Windows 7. When I first used windows 10 last year I was so surprised to learn that my use of 'Office 360' was subscription only.....

I'm still using excel on my desktop pc running Vista. The computer is incapable of connecting to the internet and it makes a good safe haven for my important stuff...

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

I was just about to play the pedant, but I got out my Ancient Frank Sinatra Disks & there are no warnings, about copying or selling on, written on them.

I think I agree with your old versions but, how would they get at you if there are no warnings?

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

Control of Windows Updates (and by that I mean does the user have control or Microsoft) is an ongoing battle fought through many rounds over many years

Some years ago, disabling the updates was simply a matter of stopping a service

Microsoft retaliated and added a schedule to re-enable the service.

So now the fix was to disable the service and the schedule.

....and so the cat and mouse chase starts.

The last time I looked at this the latest mouse was to remove certain permissions from the folder that Microsoft use to download the updates to, rendering that unusable to the update system and hence halting the updates

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

Yes, sensible.

I keep all my stuff backed up on two external hard drives, so I feel quite happy that my stuff is safe.

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

Not being expert enough to do such things, the best I have come up with is to adjust my settings to show that I am on a 'metered connection' (which I'm not!) and that my hours of work are from 0800 to 0200. They can download updates, then, between 0200 and 0800, but as my computer is never turned on during those hours they cannot do so.

It has worked so far, and the best Microsoft can do is to keep sending me 'reminders' at increasing levels of frequency. The most recent ones appeared every hour until I eventually got fed up of declining them and accepted an upgrade (2004) which, incidentally, took about an hour and a half.

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

Thanks for that interesting link Mart. I am running Mac OS Catalina 10.16.7 and I’ve not experienced any problems with Mac updates. For that reason I’ve never had to check anything out, perhaps I am just lucky in that way? I usually wait a week or so to see if there are any serious problems with any update, there seldom are. If there are none in that time I download the update.
I reckon it's not worth risking any security problems by totally ignoring the updates.

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

I must be lucky with W.10 updates and don't seem to get any of the reported problems. I think what Bruce has said (somewhere) in the past is right. The problems encountered only apply to a small proportion of the total number of users.

I install updates for all devices that are in the household as soon as they become available. These use Windows, Android and Linux platforms. We did have a Mac tablet that gave good service but it has become old now and isn't used any more. Updates were always accepted while it was in use.

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

Windows 10 has 1,000,000,000 users - if my calculations are correct then if 1% are affected by an issue that's 10,000,000 .....

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

Or it could be that the updates go out early to "Windows Insiders", and other pre-arranged trial groups , before they are "staged" out to the everyday user.

That way, fixes could be already being included before the updates reach a high percentage of the "masses".

My advice, "Wait to update - update late"

!

Re: Can I Refuse to Update My Windows PC/Laptop?

Baz,

My sneaky streak says that, if I have to pay twice the price, of a W10 PC, to buy a MAC, I'd buy two W10 PCs and update them, one at a time to avoid trouble.

I, also. thought that Mac users could, more recently, be allowed to install W10 as a secondary system, maybe I'm wrong on that, but if they can, won't they get the nasty updates?