Microsoft broke into my office and vandalized my work!!

[AlfBaz]

Ok a bit diva-ish but really wtf?

So I left my pc on overnight to log some important data to work on the next day
I enter the office next morning and instead of a graph populated with measurements I'm facing the login screen

I log in and peruse the event log, Microsoft have decided to install updates and restart the machine, terminating the running measurement program and loosing all of it's valuable data.
The only professional thing about W10 Pro is the professional way in which they ruined my day!

They "virtually" did exactly what the title says albeit remotely
 

[amyk]

It's pretty easy to disable if you know where to look.

[IanB]

Bummer. After they did that to me, I fixed the problem: (Windows Pro only, unfortunately)

[blacksheeplogic]

It's pretty easy to disable if you know where to look.

BS unless you pay for pro.

After doing a bunch of 'suggested' fixes and still having the reboots, I found the only way (at least right now without buying PRO) is to enable Metered Connection.

[AlfBaz]

How many time do you have to set that?
It appears to be something that has to be added as a weekly maintenance task to ensure MS haven't changed it back because I know for a fact I have set it to notify and more than once

[IanB]

How many time do you have to set that?
It appears to be something that has to be added as a weekly maintenance task to ensure MS haven't changed it back because I know for a fact I have set it to notify and more than once

It's a Group Policy set by the administrator (me). I don't think Microsoft can reset it. It's more than their business is worth to mess with administrator policies.

[blacksheeplogic]

How many time do you have to set that?
It appears to be something that has to be added as a weekly maintenance task to ensure MS haven't changed it back because I know for a fact I have set it to notify and more than once

Setting Metered Connection is the only method I have found that does not require you to reset it. Once set it stays set. You just have to remember to manually do updates once in a while to keep your system up to date.

[blacksheeplogic]

How many time do you have to set that?
It appears to be something that has to be added as a weekly maintenance task to ensure MS haven't changed it back because I know for a fact I have set it to notify and more than once

It's a Group Policy set by the administrator (me). I don't think Microsoft can reset it. It's more than their business is worth to mess with administrator policies.

Some of us don't want to pay MS for the Pro edition just to get the policy editor. Hacking the register on Home Edition does not work.

[IanB]

Some of us don't want to pay MS for the Pro edition just to get the policy editor. Hacking the register on Home Edition does not work.

Understood, but AlfBaz is running Win 10 Pro, so this option is available to him.

[amyk]

Turning off all the related services and scheduled tasks also works.

[AlfBaz]

Looking at the group policies now, thanks IanB.

Maybe I need to change the title to MS exposes idiot to his clients

[AlfBaz]

The only thing I have ever needed to configure in group policies was to enable synchronising databases

[edpalmer42]

I always run a software firewall on my systems.  Although it also provides protection against incoming attacks, its main purpose is to block outgoing access.  The only programs that I allow to 'phone home' are those that need the Internet for their basic functions i.e. a browser or email program.

It takes a bit of work configuring it, but after that, all unwanted outgoing accesses from the OS itself are blocked.  Other apps are just as easy to block.  No telemetry, no automatic updates.  Very few problems.  YMMV.

Ed

[NiHaoMike]

Where I work, IT has some sort of application that warns of updates that require a reboot at least 24 hours in advance, with lab machines having the option to delay updates for up to a week, probably even more if a good reason is given to IT.

It's all a reminder of why I don't use Windows on my personal machines. Linux updates often don't need rebooting and the ones that do let you reboot when you want to after applying the update, without taking forever to finish on the next boot.

[AlfBaz]

I always run a software firewall on my systems.  Although it also provides protection against incoming attacks, its main purpose is to block outgoing access.  The only programs that I allow to 'phone home' are those that need the Internet for their basic functions i.e. a browser or email program.

It takes a bit of work configuring it, but after that, all unwanted outgoing accesses from the OS itself are blocked.  Other apps are just as easy to block.  No telemetry, no automatic updates.  Very few problems.  YMMV.

Ed

Just wondering what software you use, assuming it's not the router.
I ask because I was under the impression windows firewall is hard coded to allow windows telemetry including updates

[BradC]

I always run a software firewall on my systems.

Years ago I started treating Windows as an appliance to run the windows specific software I needed to run (Office, AutoCAD, Revit and a few others) and constrained it to a VM with absolutely no outside access (not even external DNS resolution).

It's faster, more reliable and more predictable than running on the bare metal, plus all the other advantages of being able to snapshot/backup/rollback the VM filesystem.

I acknowledge it's not for everyone, but it works for me.

[edpalmer42]

I always run a software firewall on my systems.  Although it also provides protection against incoming attacks, its main purpose is to block outgoing access.  The only programs that I allow to 'phone home' are those that need the Internet for their basic functions i.e. a browser or email program.

It takes a bit of work configuring it, but after that, all unwanted outgoing accesses from the OS itself are blocked.  Other apps are just as easy to block.  No telemetry, no automatic updates.  Very few problems.  YMMV.

Ed

Just wondering what software you use, assuming it's not the router.
I ask because I was under the impression windows firewall is hard coded to allow windows telemetry including updates

I've never heard that windows firewall is hard coded, but it is configured to allow almost all outgoing access by any app, not just telemetry and updates.  I'm not that familiar with windows firewall, but I did play with it and I believe that I had it set up to block updates.  But it was supposed to give me a popup when an app tried to access the net and I never got that to work.  In any case, if you load an external firewall program, windows firewall shuts down.  It's likely that any firewall program could be configured to do what you want.

I chose Comodo's Internet Security.  You could also use their Firewall program.  They're both free, just make sure that you click the correct link.  They're similar packages, but have a few different features.  Both include the firewall and a module that runs in memory and pops up if a program tries to do something unexpected.  You can set different notification levels for this.  I normally run 'Paranoid Mode'.   

https://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php?af=3272
https://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/firewall.php

One thing I like to see is that after I boot up, the network icon in the system tray says that as far as Windows is concerned, I'm not connected to the net!  That doesn't change unless and until I use a program like Firefox or Thunderbird.  Then Windows realizes that I am connected and updates the icon.

Ed

[james_s]

Why anyone finds this even remotely acceptable is beyond me, but you'll find corporate apologists justifying it disturbingly frequently. It is the primary reason I absolutely refuse to install Win10 on any of my personal devices. Bottom line is I should not have to constantly fight with my operating system to keep it working the way I want. I almost never shut down my system, I keep all sorts of stuff open that I'm working on and an uncommanded reboot is a huge pain.

[David Hess]

After doing a bunch of 'suggested' fixes and still having the reboots, I found the only way (at least right now without buying PRO) is to enable Metered Connection.

Enabling the Metered Connection for all network adapters seems to be the most reliable way to disable unintended updates even on PRO for me.

[emece67]

.

[james_s]

It's totally ridiculous that a person must jump through such hoops in the first place. I understand that there are valid reasons to strongly encourage most people to stay updated, but I demand full control over the process on my systems, this is not negotiable. There must be a simple setting (that STAYS the way I set it) to enable manual control or I will not use it.

[Messtechniker]

Simply search for a Windows 10 update disable tool.
Installed one on my audio recoding notebook.
Its not nice when Windows decides to
reboot during a live recoding session.

[Mark]

I use Windows Update Blocker from Sordum.  it has blocked all updates so far.  I enable updates on my schedule. 

[PKTKS]

I am still to figure why people use and pay such a crock of shit product ...

We are in the 20s why wtf anyone would  just tell these jerks to fuck off...

Go to hell ms and take your hands off my hardware... very simple

Did that in the 90s..
Never had prejudice again with these assholes

Paul

[BradC]

I am still to figure why people use and pay such a crock of shit product ...

We are in the 20s why wtf anyone would  just tell these jerks to fuck off...

Because some people use (for either need or want) software that only runs on Windows. It's pretty simple really. If you need application X and it only runs on Windows then you need Windows to run it on.