Windows 10 has something new when it comes to Automatic Updates – it does not give any options to the user to stop or postpone the installation of Automatic Updates. Windows 10 forces the installation of all the latest fixes and updates even if they cause problems with your hardware and crash your system. Because of this, many people have already started to complain about Windows 10 installing problematic driver updates. In return Microsoft has released a tool that can be used to temporarily disable the installation of some of the updates until the point new and more stable updates are available.
Here is how you can prevent automatic updates from being installed in Windows 10 using the “Show and Hide Updates” tool:
- Download the “Show and Hide Updates” tool from https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930 and save it anywhere on your computer. The link to the tool (wushowhide.diagcab) is given near the bottom of the page.
- Launch the downloaded troubleshooter tool. It requires administrator privileges. Click on the Next button to proceed.
- You will be shown two options – hide updates and show hidden updates. The first option (hide updates) is used to temporarily disable some of the updates while the second option (show hidden updates) is used to view already disabled updates and enable them. Choose Hide Updates to disable available updates temporarily and click Next.
- You will be displayed all the available updates that are ready to be downloaded and installed by Windows 10. Select the updates that you want to disable because they are causing problems with your PC and click Next.
- It will disable the selected updates and show the information to the effect. These selected updates will not be installed on your Windows 10 PC. Now you can close the “Show and Hide Updates” tool.
If at any later time you decide to re-enable the previously disabled updates, then you have to re-launch the tool and select the “Show Hidden Updates”, select the disabled updates and proceed. These updates will now be automatically installed by Windows 10 once again.