How to prevent Windows 11 installing

Hazel123 · Oct 15, 2021

Sounds bizarre I know - here we all are finding work arounds to install Windows 11 on machines that aren't supported. And I have one machine here (teenager's gaming PC) which is supported. And Windows 11 just tried to download through Windows updates. He wants to stay on Windows 10 for now. So how do I stop it? I turned Windows updates off on 5th October. Have done a system image (just in case). Turned windows updates back on again today and the banner came up saying you're eligible for Windows 11. It then started downloading a lot of drivers and said when this has finished Windows 11 will install. So I turned Windows updates off again.

So how do I stop it downloading please (and still have Windows updates for W10)?

DatGamerYolo · Oct 15, 2021

If you are in the insider program i guess delay it for 7 days then repeat it every 7 days

Hazel123 · Oct 15, 2021

No just standard Windows 10 Pro install. The update came in Windows updates.

TraderGary · Oct 15, 2021

I'm not sure I would trust an app that isn't in the Microsoft Store.

Athanasian_Creed · Oct 15, 2021

Winaero Tweaker is an excellent piece of software - well respected, many people use it with no problems.

As to the OP, download an app called 'Windows Update MiniTool' here:

Download Windows Update MiniTool - MajorGeeks

Windows Update MiniTool is a free alternative to the standard Windows Update; it puts you in control of updates by allowing you to search, install, and block Windows updates as you please.

m.majorgeeks.com

On the left hand side, at the very bottom, change 'Automatic Updates' to 'Disabled'. Instead of running Windows Updates from within 'Settings' use MIniTool instead. You can then choose to hide the updates you don't want to install. The rest you can choose to install from within the app.

HTH.

Tink009 · Oct 15, 2021

If you're running Windows 10 Pro, go to gpedit.msc, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, then Windows Update. If I recall correctly, there's an entry under Windows for Business that will let you prevent Windows from installing a Feature Update and still download Quality updates.

Hazel123 · Oct 15, 2021

Tink009 said:
If you're running Windows 10 Pro, go to gpedit.msc, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, then Windows Update. If I recall correctly, there's an entry under Windows for Business that will let you prevent Windows from installing a Feature Update and still download Quality updates.

Thanks - I'll try that. Thanks for the other tips as well. I'll try tink's first as it doesn't mean installing anything (and it's not my PC so I'd need permission!)

Tink009 · Oct 15, 2021

Hazel123 said:
Thanks - I'll try that. Thanks for the other tips as well. I'll try tink's first as it doesn't mean installing anything (and it's not my PC so I'd need permission!)

It is what I did on my wife's PC until I finish figuring out Windows 11. Just went and checked. It's Local Machine Policy>Administrative Templates>Windows Components>Windows Update>Windows Update for Business.

Stigg · Oct 16, 2021

I am trying to stop it on my compatible computers.
I don't want this on any other computer.
Windows 11 is a mess. But I'm sure you already know that.

Hazel123 · Oct 16, 2021

Stigg said:
I am trying to stop it on my compatible computers.
I don't want this on any other computer.
Windows 11 is a mess. But I'm sure you already know that.

Well now I’ve used it a bit I think it’s speedy and productive. I don’t like the start menu - because it’s not a menu/list - but does the job.

Main reason for preventing install is it’s not my PC and the teenager wants to keep W10 (he took one look at the start menu and said he preferred the W10 one).

grumpus · Oct 16, 2021

As @Tink009 suggested, you can use the Select the target Feature Update version group policy. Formerly you'd enter, for example, 21H1 to "pin" the OS to Windows 10 21H1. Windows 11 introduced an ambiguity (there can be both Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 21H2, for example) so KB5005101 added a new field to the policy letting you specify Windows 10 or Windows 11, along with the Target Version. There is a good tutorial on tenforums but @Brink hasn't gotten around to adding the change.

Run gpedit and navigate to Administrative Templates/Windows Update/Windows Update for Business/Select the target Feature Update version. Enable it, and specify Windows 10 in the product version field, and 21H1 for Target Version for Feature Updates. It's an open question as to what happens if you leave out the Target Version, specifying only The Windows product version.

Hopefully, after a reboot, Windows Update will stop trying to install Windows 11. But it can be persistent once it has started, so you may need to reset Windows Update. There is a tutorial on tenforums for that too. Good luck!

Brink · Oct 16, 2021

grumpus said:
As @Tink009 suggested, you can use the Select the target Feature Update version group policy. Formerly you'd enter, for example, 21H1 to "pin" the OS to Windows 10 21H1. Windows 11 introduced an ambiguity (there can be both Windows 10 21H2 and Windows 11 21H2, for example) so KB5005101 added a new field to the policy letting you specify Windows 10 or Windows 11, along with the Target Version. There is a good tutorial on tenforums but @Brink hasn't gotten around to adding the change.

Run gpedit and navigate to Administrative Templates/Windows Update/Windows Update for Business/Select the target Feature Update version. Enable it, and specify Windows 10 in the product version field, and 21H1 for Target Version for Feature Updates. It's an open question as to what happens if you leave out the Target Version, specifying only The Windows product version.

Hopefully, after a reboot, Windows Update will stop trying to install Windows 11. But it can be persistent once it has started, so you may need to reset Windows Update. There is a tutorial on tenforums for that too. Good luck!

Tutorial now updated to include 21H1.

How to Specify Target Feature Update Version in Windows 10

This tutorial will show you how to specify a TargetReleaseVersion version of Windows 10 you want to move to or stay on in Windows Update until it reaches end of service in Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education.

www.tenforums.com

grumpus · Oct 16, 2021

Brink said:
Tutorial now updated to include 21H1. :)

How to Specify Target Feature Update Version in Windows 10

This tutorial will show you how to specify a TargetReleaseVersion version of Windows 10 you want to move to or stay on in Windows Update until it reaches end of service in Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education.

www.tenforums.com

Wow, that was fast! But I'm not seeing the change adding the 'Windows product version' field, even after clearing my browser cache. Maybe it needs time to propagate, I'll check back later. Thanks!

Hazel123 · Oct 16, 2021

Brink said:
Tutorial now updated to include 21H1. :)

How to Specify Target Feature Update Version in Windows 10

This tutorial will show you how to specify a TargetReleaseVersion version of Windows 10 you want to move to or stay on in Windows Update until it reaches end of service in Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education.

www.tenforums.com

Great! Thanks.

davewin11 · Oct 18, 2021

I switched off TPM2 in my bios because I don't want to migrate to Windows 11 until I have to. However my already installed Windows 11 VM didn't notice. Which was nice.

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