There is no greater Windows 10 controversy than its policy of forced updates. While great in theory, for many users the reality of updates which download and install automatically has been horribly different and the question on many users lips is: How do you stop them?

Now we have an answer: with three potential options. Each has its own pros and cons, so read on to find out which is most suitable for you.

Word of Warning: automatic updates are typically a good thing and I recommend leaving them on in general. As such these methods should primarily be used for preventing a troublesome update from automatically reinstalling (the dreaded crash loop) or stopping a potentially troublesome update from installing in the first place.

Limitations – For Windows 10 Home users there is no way to stop security updates. These are not delivered using the Windows Update Service, but I would not recommend stopping them in any case. The methods below are to give you power over feature and driver updates, less essential areas where I believe users should have control.

Windows 10 will be great, but it needs more time - Image credit Microsoft

Windows 10 will be great, but it needs more time – Image credit Microsoft

Option 1: Stop The Windows Update Service

As central as it is to the core of Windows 10, Windows Update is actually just another Windows process so it can be stopped with these simple steps:

  1. Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: services.msc and press enter
  2. From the Services list which appears find the Windows Update service and open it
  3. In ‘Startup Type’ (under the ‘General’ tab) change it to ‘Disabled’
  4. Restart

To re-enable Windows Update simply repeat these four steps, but change the Startup Type to ‘Automatic’

Option 2: Setup A Metered Connection

Windows 10 offers users on metered connections a compromise: to save bandwidth Microsoft confirms the operating system will only automatically download and install updates it classifies as ‘Priority’.

While Microsoft doesn’t reveal its method of classification, this does cut down more frivolous updates which typically include new drivers and software features – both of which have already caused stability problems.

  1. Open the Settings app (Win + I)
  2. Open the ‘Network & Internet’ section
  3. Open ‘Wi-Fi’ and click ‘Advanced Options’
  4. Toggle ‘Set as metered connection’ to ‘On’

Note: If your PC uses an Ethernet cable to connect to the Internet the Metered Connection option will be disabled as it works with Wi-Fi connections only (silly I know).

Windows 10 is the single operating system working across all Microsoft desktops, laptops, tablets and phones

Windows 10 is the single operating system working across all Microsoft desktops, laptops, tablets and phones

Option 3: Group Policy Editor

This is a halfway house: the group policy editor will notify you about new updates without automatically installing them (how previous generations of Windows always worked) – though again security updates will still install automatically.

Note: Windows 10 Home users have to sit this one out, it is only for Windows 10 Education, Pro and Enterprise editions.

  1. Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: gpedit.msc and press enter
  2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
  3. Open this and change the Configure Automatic Updates setting to ‘2 – Notify for download and notify for install’
  4. Open the Settings app (Win + I) and navigate to -> Update and Security -> Windows Updates. Click ‘Check for updates’ which applies the new configuration setting
  5. Restart

Alternatively for Windows 10 users without group policy access:

  1. Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: regedit and press enter
  2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
  3. In there create a ‘32-bit DWORD’ value called ‘AuOptions’ and under ‘Value Data’ type 2 and click ‘OK’
  4. Open the Settings app (Win + I) and navigate to -> Update and Security -> Windows Updates. Click ‘Check for updates’ which applies the new configuration setting
  5. Restart

Interestingly Microsoft also provides a fourth, slightly different option that is worth considering…

The Show/Hide Tool

Strangely the so-called ‘Show/Hide Tool’ is not part of Windows 10 nor can it be found through Windows Update. Instead it can be downloaded from Microsoft here.

Unlike the three options above, the Show/Hide Tool is not proactive so it doesn’t stop any automatic updates from downloading and installing. Instead it allows you to ‘Hide’ an update from Windows 10 so if you uninstall it Windows Update will not try to reinstall it automatically.

This is very useful if a particular update is causing your system problems. Then again the Show/Hide Tool doesn’t work with Priority Updates.

Windows 10 Show/Hide Tool - image credit Antony Leather

Windows 10 Show/Hide Tool – image credit Antony Leather

Time To See Sense

Of course – handy as they are – what all these options illustrate is a need for Microsoft to get with reality.

The fact Windows 10 updates itself automatically by default is largely a good thing, but every equivalent from rival desktop OSes and mobile OSes to web browsers all offer the choice to proactively disable updates if preferred.

For Windows 10 whether this comes in the form of pre-install update notifications (which can be toggled on or off) or more granular control over each individual update, doesn’t really matter. There needs to be at least the option of greater control.

Until then these workarounds are all you have…

 

Source: FORBES

Microsoft wants to make you love your computer again. Our regularly updated list shows you the best Windows 10 features that are just around the corner.

This spring, Microsoft will release the next major update to Windows 10. Dubbed Creators Update, the free download includes new 3D apps, VR capabilities and 4K game streaming among its flashier features.

But you don’t need to be a graphics professional or VR-headset owner to appreciate what the Creators Update has in store. I’ve just spent weeks using a preview build of Microsoft’s operating system and pouring over Microsoft’s change logs, and found that the next version of Windows contains dozens of tweaks and enhancements for everyday users as well.

So I believe these are the true top 10 features coming to Windows 10 — not the snazziest, but the ones that might actually make Windows work better when you’re trying to get work done. As neither a visual artist nor a VR early adopter, these are the changes I’m most excited about.

If you like our picks — or even if you dislike them! — bookmark this page and check back. We’ll be updating this post as Microsoft announces new features and new versions of Windows, so this article can become a living guide to how your computing life might improve.

1. Smarter Settings layout

If you head to the Bluetooth page in Windows 10’s Settings page right now, you won’t find a button to Add a Device, which I find maddening. Instead, you must tab over to “Connected Devices” to perform the simple, common task of adding a Bluetooth peripheral to your computer. There’s also no easy way to disconnect from a Bluetooth device without removing it entirely.

Creators Update addresses this mess by combining the separate “Bluetooth” and “Connected devices” pages into one “Bluetooth & other devices” page in Settings where you you can add, remove, connect and disconnect devices at will.

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Hard drive nearing capacity? Mine always seems to be. Creators Update can help keep your drive from filling up with crap. Head to Settings > System > Storage and turn on Storage sense.

With this setting enabled, Windows will automatically delete unused temporary files, as well as files that have been in the Recycle Bin for more than 30 days. I’m pretty good with emptying the Recycle Bin on something approaching a regular schedule, but I’m also very happy to have Windows track down and eradicate needless temp files.

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Right now, when you swipe in from the right edge of your screen to call up the Action Center, there’s a control to adjust display brightness — but tapping it only bumps up display brightness in huge, 25 percent blocks. Usually, I’m looking for finer control. But Creators Update offers handy sliders for both brightness and volume.

Microsoft is also testing a slider that could help you fine-tune the balance between your computer’s battery life and performance. You can see a picture of that below.

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One of the more puzzling things about Windows 10 is how difficult it is to change the resolution of your display. (Currently, you must right-click on the desktop, select Display Settings, scroll to the bottom and click “Advanced display settings” to find it.)

I’d argue that the display resolution isn’t exactly an “advanced” setting, and Microsoft finally agrees; Creators Update places the screen resolution drop-down in its rightful place on the main Display settings page.


I agree, the worst part about Windows 10 is automatic updates. With Creators Update, you can’t stop automatic updates from happening, but you can delay some of them — for about a month, anyhow. Head to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update and click Advanced options under Update settings. Here, you’ll see a toggle switch for Pause Updates, which lets you prevent updates from being installed for up to 35 days.

You aren’t completely free from the specter of an automatic update taking control of your machine and potentially losing unsaved work. As the panel clearly states, “some updates… will continue to be installed.” But, hey, at least it’s a start.

display-settings-edit.jpgpause-updates-edit.jpg


Originally designed to give you control over your data usage if you’re using, say, a mobile hotspot or a satellite connection that has a data cap, a metered connection also has the added benefit of keeping Windows Updates at bay. Windows won’t download the update until you tell it to, or set your connection as unmetered.

But what if your computer is connected with a physical Ethernet cable? Creators’ Update adds that as well. To set your Ethernet connected as metered, head to Settings > Network & Internet > Ethernet and then click your Ethernet network. Next, toggle Set as metered connection.metered-connection.jpg


It’s a bummer to upgrade to a 4K display only to find some of your apps look blurry, because the developer has yet to update them to run on a screen with so many pixels. Creators Update adds a way for you to override DPI settings so individual apps can scale properly (read: crisply) on high-resolution displays. Here’s how:

Right-click on the app and choose Properties. Click on the Compatibility tab and check the box for Override high DPI scaling behavior and then choose System (Enhanced) from the pull-down menu.

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Forget to pay your cable bill or buy flowers for your wedding anniversary? Hopefully, never again: Creators Update adds two new options for Cortana Reminders, so you can now ask Cortana to remind you to do something “Every Month” or “Every Year.”

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Currently, when you hit the share button in an app, the sharing options slide in from the right edge of the screen — usually not where I’m looking. But soon, the share window will pop up right in the center of the current app. The new Share menu in Windows 10 Creators Update offers the usual suspects — Cortana Reminder, Facebook, Mail, OneNote and Twitter — and also features suggestions to install the Box, Dropbox and Line apps.

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Staring at an unnaturally blue screen at night can shift your body’s natural clock and make it difficult to get a good night’s sleep. Your phone likely has a way to switch to warmer colors at night, and Windows soon will, too. In Creators Update, there’s setting to lower the blue light of your PC. Head to Settings > System > Display > Night light settings. You can schedule it to come on at sunset or manually set hours. You’ll also find a new Night light button in the Action Center to toggle the setting on and off.

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  • Game mode: This new setting forces your PC to put more GPU and CPU resources toward the game you are playing and less to any other apps that you might have running for higher, more consistent framerates. It was just added to the latest Insider Build; I need more time to test its effectiveness before deciding on its ranking.
  • Built-in Beam streaming: Also added in the latest build, gamers can call up the Game bar with the Windows key + G keyboard shortcut and begin streaming their gaming exploits to a live audience. Beam streaming promises less than a one-second delay.
  • Start menu folders: Microsoft still hasn’t given up on the idea that you’ll use Start menu tiles instead of desktop shortcuts and the taskbar to launch apps. To lure you to the tiled Start menu, it lets you drag a tile on top of another tile to create a folder of like-minded tiles. It’ll feel very familiar to iPhone owners who pride themselves on their neat and orderly collection of app folders, though there’s no jiggling involved when creating Start tile folders.
  • Custom color picker for Windows themes: You can select a custom color from a picker rather than being forced to choose from the limited selection Windows offers to personalize your Windows theme. Hurray for individuality!
  • Throttled status for apps: Microsoft is experimenting with a new “throttled” status in an effort to improve battery life. Despite regularly checking the Task Manager, I have yet to see any of my apps achieve this status.
  • Download progress bar in Action Center: You can keep an eye on any downloads in progress by simply swiping to reveal the Action Center, the perfect spot for such information.
  • Microsoft Edge tab preview bar: Microsoft’s Edge browser offers an expandable bar that shows a thumbnail for all of your open tabs. Sounds useful in concept, but in practice I find the favicons on each of my open tabs are better indicators of what I’ve got open.
  • Park unused tabs in Edge: Have too many tabs open? Me, too. With Edge, you can click a button to set aside your current tabs, which keeps them within an arm’s reach but stops them from running in the background and making your computer crawl. I’d like the ability to park only some of my tabs, however, instead of the current all-or-nothing approach.
  • e-books and Edge: You’ll soon be able to buy e-books from the Windows Store and read them in Edge. There’s a new hub in Edge in between your Reading list and History for e-books. When reading an e-book in Edge, you can click a button to have Edge read aloud to you.

Office is closer to joining heavyweights like Photoshop and Spotify in supporting Apple’s MacBook Pro Touch Bar.

The Touch Bar in Apple’s updated MacBook Pro laptops is a useful and unique add-on, but for the first few months of the product’s life, it supported little more than a handful of Apple apps built into MacOS.

Since then, some big players, from Photoshop to Spotify, have added support, and now one of the biggest cross-platform software packages — Microsoft Office — is adding Touch Bar controls as well.

For now, however, it’s only for participants in Microsoft’s Insider program, which turns users into beta testers of new features. A just-posted update to the Insider website includes this new listed feature:

“Touch Bar support on the new MacBook Pro: The most relevant commands to what you’re working on are at your fingertips. (Compatible with MacBook Pro with Touch Bar only.)”

If you want to sign up to be an Insider tester, you can do so here. Otherwise, these new features should come to Mac-based Office users later this year.

Source: CNET

Microsoft’s software gets a mini-window for watching video or holding Skype chat. Also new: Windows 10 can lock itself automatically when you walk away.

Multitaskers who need to watch video while crunching numbers in a spreadsheet will be delighted to know Windows 10 soon will be able to accommodate miniature video players better.

A test version of Windows 10 released Wednesday comes with a feature called “compact overlay window” that will always float atop your other windows. That could be handy for holding Skype video chats, keeping an eye on political hearings and yes, watching Netflix or the big game when you’re supposed to be at work.

Microsoft is trying to pep up Windows development with gradual, frequent updates that make users happy and encourage developers to build better software. Slumping PC sales, though, are evidence that it’s harder these days to fire up our enthusiasm for the latest laptop features. 

Another new Windows 10 feature called dynamic lock is aimed at better security when you step away from your machine. “If your Bluetooth-paired phone is not found near your PC, Windows turns off the screen and locks the PC after 30 seconds,” said Windows programmer Dona Sarkar in a blog post.

The new version, on Windows’ “fast ring” geared for those who want the latest features before they’ve been fully tested, also includes dozens of bug fixes. If you’re interested, check CNET’s guide on how to get updates through Windows fast ring.

Source: CNET