Solved What does OneSettings really do and how does it differ from Windows Update?


Local time
12:06 PM
Posts
60
OS
Win11 64 Pro
Hi!

So, in my quest to debloat, enhance privacy, decrease the amount of background processes and improve usability, and in particular to avoid that Windows keeps installing stuff that I don't want (apps, optional components, older drivers), I came across the option to disable OneSettings downloads in the "data collection and preview builds" in gpedit.
The description says If you disable or don't configure this policy setting, Windows will periodically attempt to connect with the OneSettings service to download configuration settings.
But, WHICH configuration settings?
To configure what?
And how does it differ from the things that Windows Update installs specifically for my system (like drivers etc)?


Thanks in advance antspants :D
He's always the first to answer (no pressure).
 
Windows Build/Version
11 Pro, Version 10.0.22631 Build 22631

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11 64 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
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    LG Gram 17 (2022)

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC12WSHi7
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz
    Motherboard
    NUC12WSBi7
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    64 GB
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    Intel Iris Xe
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    built-in Realtek HD audio
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    Dell U3219Q
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  • Operating System
    Linux Mint 21.2 (Cinnamon)
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    Intel NUC8i5BEH
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz
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    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Iris Plus 655
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard - Cherry MX Clear

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦26100.2161 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
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    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
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    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
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    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
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    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
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    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
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    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
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    Logitech Optical M-100
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    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
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    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
Thanks @Ghot. A little info on how I find these things, in case it helps someone.

I find the setting in question with Group Policy Search or Group Policy Administrative Templates. I prefer the former.

Once I have the name of the actual registry entry, in this case "DisableOneSettingsDownloads," I Google that at Microsoft specifically. Cuts down on the less-useful sites.

"DisableOneSettingsDownloads" site:learn.microsoft.com

Only if I don't find something useful there do I fall back to reddit, Stack Exchange sites, etc.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC12WSHi7
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz
    Motherboard
    NUC12WSBi7
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    built-in Realtek HD audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3219Q
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 @ 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Clears
  • Operating System
    Linux Mint 21.2 (Cinnamon)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC8i5BEH
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Iris Plus 655
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard - Cherry MX Clear
Thanks @Ghot. A little info on how I find these things, in case it helps someone.

I find the setting in question with Group Policy Search or Group Policy Administrative Templates. I prefer the former.

Once I have the name of the actual registry entry, in this case "DisableOneSettingsDownloads," I Google that at Microsoft specifically. Cuts down on the less-useful sites.

"DisableOneSettingsDownloads" site:learn.microsoft.com

Only if I don't find something useful there do I fall back to reddit, Stack Exchange sites, etc.


Yeah... LOL. I spent quite a while reading responses at "less-useful sites", before I saw your post. :-)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦26100.2161 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
Thanks @Ghot. A little info on how I find these things, in case it helps someone.
It's slightly humiliating that after having searched online and even asked GPT4o and Llama in the DuckDuckGo AI chat (surprisingly useful most of the time) I couldn't find what you could in 2 seconds, but that's why places like this exist.
I didn't understand your explanation, but I am thankful for the link!
Another reason to look into Linus @Ghot :D
Seriously, this is just freaking Telemetry?
And they try to sell it as some kind of mysterious configuration that makes you think twice before disabling it?
Unbelievable.

Ok. Disabled.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11 64 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    LG Gram 17 (2022)
It’s not just telemetry, but the telemetry services use it also. Windows Update for Business uses it apparently, which you don’t care about probably. 😂 But the point is, multiple things use it; kind of like how the Event Log is used by lots of things.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC12WSHi7
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz
    Motherboard
    NUC12WSBi7
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    built-in Realtek HD audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3219Q
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 @ 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Clears
  • Operating System
    Linux Mint 21.2 (Cinnamon)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC8i5BEH
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Iris Plus 655
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard - Cherry MX Clear
It’s not just telemetry, but the telemetry services use it also. Windows Update for Business uses it apparently, which you don’t care about probably. 😂 But the point is, multiple things use it; kind of like how the Event Log is used by lots of things.
Is there anything vital or reasonably important or at least somehow beneficial to common mortals that would be using this?
Like, does it download things that every Windows System needs to work better?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win11 64 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    LG Gram 17 (2022)
I actually don’t know. I’m waiting to see what you broke. 🤣🤣
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC12WSHi7
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P, 2100 MHz
    Motherboard
    NUC12WSBi7
    Memory
    64 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe
    Sound Card
    built-in Realtek HD audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3219Q
    Screen Resolution
    3840x2160 @ 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 990 PRO 1TB
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Clears
  • Operating System
    Linux Mint 21.2 (Cinnamon)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Intel NUC8i5BEH
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-8259U CPU @ 2.30GHz
    Memory
    32 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Iris Plus 655
    Keyboard
    CODE 104-Key Mechanical Keyboard - Cherry MX Clear

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