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

Hi,
That's why 1703 is more straight forward than 1709 to me branch for business is where i was always set
I just added the 365 option since fall creators was pushing out
Mostly for good measure I switched it *Biggrin

I have one install on fall creator and uefi install it's just flakier than 1703 :/

 

Now @ThrashZone's screenshot is clearly 1703, so why does it say 'Temporarily pause updates for up to 35 days'?

 

Hi,
Pause is just another option that 1703 offered *Smile
Bad because it stops updates entirely after 35 days and one must update.

The 365 delay does not stop security updates just other newer builds from downloading and installing *Biggrin

 

After my recent disaster with Windows Update, I'm paying closer attention to the various ways (including gpedit or Services, if need be) to delay the installation and/or downloading of updates. So, I have the following question, which my research (including here) has failed to make completely clear to me: If a user has chosen (1) to defer feature updates for 365 days and quality updates for 30 days (the current maximums) *and* (2) to "pause" updates from being installed for 35 days, do these things (that is, choice #1 and choice #2 above) interact with or influence one another and, if so, how?

Thank you!

 

Hello devnull, *Smile

Pausing updates will pause all updates until you un-pause for up to seven days.

Deferring updates doesn't include all updates, but would be more long term. Think deferring Cumulative Updates.

*Arrow Windows Update - Defer Feature and Quality Updates in Windows 10 Windows 10 Tutorials

Feature updates
With Windows 10, Microsoft will package new features into feature updates that can be deployed using existing management tools. Because feature updates are delivered more frequently than with previous Windows releases — two to three times per year rather than every 3–5 years — changes will be in bite-sized chunks rather than all at once and end user readiness time much shorter.

Quality updates
Monthly updates in previous Windows versions were often overwhelming because of the sheer number of updates available each month. Many organizations selectively chose which updates they wanted to install and which they didn’t, and this created countless scenarios in which organizations deployed essential security updates but picked only a subset of nonsecurity fixes.

In Windows 10, rather than receiving several updates each month and trying to figure out which the organization needs, which ultimately causes platform fragmentation, administrators will see one cumulative monthly update that supersedes the previous month’s update, containing both security and nonsecurity fixes. This approach makes patching simpler and ensures that customers’ devices are more closely aligned with the testing done at Microsoft, reducing unexpected issues resulting from patching. The left side of Figure 1 provides an example of Windows 7 devices in an enterprise and what their current patch level might look like. On the right is what Microsoft’s test environment PCs contain. This drastic difference is the basis for many compatibility issues and system anomalies related to Windows updates.

 

Shawn, thank you, but what if you have all three of the settings configured in the way I described---that is, (1) defer feature updates for 365 days and quality updates for 30 days (the current maximums) *and* (2) "pause" updates from being installed for 35 days---isn't there an inherent contradiction there?

 

The pause will last up to 7 days for all updates.

After that, the defer will still continue for the others.

 

Hi,
Yeah once the 35 days delay is over just use pause and get another 30-35 days out of it maybe *Smile
Otherwise which ever update is bad for you see about hiding it
Post which ever one you're having issues with.

 

I still haven't fathomed out why some of us see 35 days on offer while other only see 7 days. My 1709 Pro, build 16299.248 still shows 35 days, as it has done since first upgrading to 1709.

 

Hi,
Me either *Smile
Might of made a little difference if one was set for builds for business or not before other builds
I switched off the new wording of "Targeted" too I sure didn't want a bulls eye on me lol *Biggrin

 

I like the way you think!*Biggrin

 

OK, but here's one thing that is still confusing to me. My "pause" setting on one of my Win 10 PCs (a laptop) is 35 days (not 7 days). And my "defer" setting for "quality updates" is 30 days. So what happens in this particular case? Does the "pause" setting supersede the "quality update" setting, giving me an additional 5 days deferral of "quality updates"? If that's so, wouldn't it make more sense for Windows to show the "quality update" setting grayed out, because the number 30 in this case is actually incorrect? Or does the "quality update" setting supersede the "pause" setting, reducing the amount of the pause by 5 days? And if that's so, shouldn't Windows indicate that in some way?

 

In some older builds of Windows, it was 35 days for pause while the newer ones are only 7 days by default now. I'm still not sure why some newer ones are still showing 35 days though.

Pause will indeed supersede defer. However, if defer last longer than the Pause, it will still defer until its time runs out.

 

Well, I'm in good company, it seems *Smile

It's worth noting that at the end of a Pause (7 or 35 days) you cannot pause again until you have got the latest updates.. This is clearly stated on the Pause updates setting page, as shown in the screenshots in post #1.

 

Got it, thank you, Shawn!