Delicieuxz

During summer 2015, Microsoft started heavily back-adding telemetry to Windows 7 via various updates. In this post is a link for a fully-updated June 2015 ISO of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 that pre-dates that telemetry back-adding by Microsoft, as well as resources for creating your own custom Windows 7 installer ISO that only has the updates that you wish to have. At the bottom of this post is an archive containing all security-only updates released from October 2016 - October 2017.
 
To install Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit using the provided June 2015-updated ISO, you'll have to have your own license key to use during the installation process. A license for Windows 7 Ultimate can be bought from eBay or reddit and other places for very cheap, less than $10 or even less than $5.
 
 
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Fully updated as of June 2015 Windows 7 Ultimate 64 ISO download link
 
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 (updated to June 2015): -redacted-
 
Description
 
Here is a clean ISO image of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, which is fully-updated with SP1 and all other Windows 7 updates, up to June 2015. No Windows 7 key, license, or pre-activation is provided with this download. This ISO requires that a person has their own license for Windows 7 Ultimate, and that they enter it during the installation process, as is normally done.
 
This ISO image is a normal Windows 7 Ultimate installer, with nothing missing or added, other than all the official updates from Microsoft since October 2009, up until June 2015, including Service Pack 1.
 
What for
 
Microsoft back-added their telemetry and data-collection to Windows 7 in August of 2015, so this is Windows 7 Ultimate, as it was right before Microsoft made any undesirable and invasive changes to its feature-set.
 
This ISO allows a person with a valid Windows 7 Ultimate license to reinstall their Windows 7 Ultimate with all updates up to before Microsoft underwent a paradigm shift and started turning Windows against its users, to use people's installations of Windows 7 for invasive, non-authorized, and likely criminal purposes. If someone wants a Windows 7 installation ISO that is updated to after Microsoft added telemetry and data-collection, one is available for download directly from Microsoft.
 
With this ISO and their genuine Windows 7 Ultimate license key, a person can install Windows 7, and then simply turn off all automatic updates, or all updates completely, in order to never have Microsoft's unwanted updates applied to their Windows 7 OS and PC, yet while still having a fully-functional, stable, and modern Windows 7.
 
Note - 2 Windows updates to uninstall
 
It has been pointed out that this ISO contains updates related to Microsoft's "free upgrade to Windows 10" offer, which Microsoft pushed through Windows Update in April 2015, and so exist in this June 2015 ISO of Windows 7. They will have to be manually removed from the OS after it finishes installing.
 
Those two updates are KB3035583 and  KB3150513 [2], and they can be uninstalled by doing the following:
Select the Start  button, then select Settings  > Update & security   > Windows Update    > Advanced options > View your update history > Uninstall updates. Select the update you want to remove (KB3035583 and KB3150513), then select Uninstall.  
 
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Creating a Custom Windows 7 Home, Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise ISO
 
If you want to create your own custom updated Windows 7 ISO for Windows 7 Home, Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise, see this link for a guide:
https://www.raymond.cc/blog/create-an-integrated-up-to-date-windows-7-install-disc/
 
A 2011-updated Windows ISO of either Home, Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise, to be used for the above-described process, can be obtained from here: http://mirror.corenoc.de/digitalrivercontent.net/   (alternate link here)
 
The ISOs available for download from that page are the official Microsoft Windows 7 ISOs that used to be hosted for public download on Digital River.
 
If you wish to create your own updated Windows 7 ISO, you can also use these quick-access links to download torrent files for untouched official Windows 7 ISOs from Microsoft. These torrent files are the same as the ones for their same versions provided in the above link:
 
Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with SP1, 620851: -redacted-
Windows 7 Pro x64 with SP1, 621750: -redacted-
Windows 7 Pro x64 without SP1, 65805: -redacted-
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with SP1, 677332: -redacted-
 
 
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Extra precaution with Aegis and Spybot Anti-Beacon
 
After installing Windows 7 with this ISO, a person can then run the separately-provided Aegis script, which will block much of Microsoft's Windows 7 telemetry updates from being searched for, and from being found by Windows Update. With the Aegis script blocking all known telemetry updates, a person can then safely continue to receive all other updates for Windows 7.
 
Aegis script to block various Windows 7 telemetry updates from being found by Windows Update, and from being downloaded and installed: https://mega.nz/#!dhExAbBa!fehYhbTNz5dIBh72psfXLfwv9wMk0uhMpGli-c0pBn4
 
The Aegis script was last updated March 18, 2016. A list of telemetry-containing updates released beyond Aegis' last updated date is here: https://pastebin.com/jWX2zHdr
 
Alternatively, or to be used in conjunction with other methods, a person can also check out Spybot's Anti-Beacon program, which aims to prevent Windows 7 telemetry.
 
 
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Windows 7 x64 Security Updates from October 2016 - October 2017
 
This download is an archive of 12 monthly security-only updates for x64 editions of Windows 7 Home, Professional, and Ultimate, spanning the period of October 2016 - October 2017: https://mega.nz/#!Jgd1zAxT!-uk7-glIG98r3oE24iaQ-mi0qIIBgMZS55oH5VgjdYY
 
Included in this archive of 12 monthly security-only updates for Windows 7 is the update to address the WannaCry ransomware threat. "(WannaCry)" has been added to that updates label to make it easy to identify, if that's all that a person wants to install.
 
The WannaCry security update for Windows 7 can also be downloaded directly from Microsoft's website at this address: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4012212
 
Caution: Some of these security updates likely contain telemetry in them. If wanting to vet what potential security issues each update is addressing, and whether it is worth risking adding some telemetry to the system, do an internet search for the individual KB identifiers for each update. For example, the WannaCry security update is labelled KB4012212.
 
Also included in this archive is another folder, which is called "select 2016 quality updates". And in that folder are a couple of possibly non-intrusive non-security updates. However, I didn't include them in this package for any specific reason other than that I didn't take them out of the folder before archiving and uploading it, and if wanting to not have any telemetry installed at all, I suggest not installing the updates that are in that folder.

For a long time, there has existed a strange anomaly in the gaming community: The unbalanced and blind perception of Bethesda / ZeniMax as being a 'good-person' developer and publisher. This perception has been held by many of the companies' fans despite all the while the company keeps doing things that contradict that perception. In many ways, Bethesda / ZeniMax have been games industry leaders in scummy, disrespectful, and exploitative lawsuit-happy practices, going back for more than a decade, showing them to be one of the most arrogant and uncontrollably greedy companies in gaming.
 
So, here is a sobering look at many of Bethesda / ZeniMax' unscrupulous practices and events going back to the companies' earlier years.
 
 
1.
The company known today as Bethesda and ZeniMax was formed through some betrayal and back-stabbing.
 
Julian Le Fay, generally considered the creator of the Elder Scrolls series, directed the first three Elder Scrolls games, Arena, Daggerfall, and Battlespire, and expected to continue working on the series he created with the next game, TES: Morrowind. But, he was sidelined from the project and consequently left the company.
 
Christopher Weaver founded Bethesda in 1986 and acted as its CTO. But in 2002 he was forced out of his own company by Robert Altman, a Washington DC lawyer with a shady history, who Weaver had brought into the company in 1999 after Weaver had recently put-up lots of his own money to save the company.
 
Watch 23:54 - 25:30 in this video for details about those departures:
 
Robert Altman passed away in February 2021, shortly after selling ZeniMax to Microsoft.
 
 
2.
$2.50 horse armour DLC for Oblivion: This is the historical origin of and precedence for all other nickle-and-diming exploitative DLC practices that have since screwed gamers over. Bethesda was the first pioneer of exploitative and greedy DLC practices. After Bethesda had then gotten public expectations for DLC, a then-new and non-established concept, set at their absolute rock-bottom, many other publishers followed and expanded upon Bethesda's lead with their own exploitative DLC practices.
 
 
3.
Bethesda sued Mojang over the use of "Scrolls" as a game title, even after Mojang already volunteered to give up the Scrolls title, and then settled out of court because it became pretty clear that Bethesda was likely going to lose the case.
 
Notch Offered to Give Up "Scrolls" Trademark, Bethesda Sued Anyway
Bethesda And Mojang Settle 'Scrolls' Lawsuit
 
 
4.
Bethesda intentionally destroyed developer of 2012's Prey 2, Human Head, by starving the studio of resources to force it into a corner where Human Head would feel like they had to sell the studio to Bethesda for a far-below-value price in order to survive. Human Head did not give in to Bethesda, and as a result of having no income from Prey 2 after having spent its resources making Prey 2, couldn't afford to make another big-title game:
 
 
It has taken from then until now for Human Head to recover enough financially to be able to make a new big-title game. Human Head's first big-title game since 2006's Prey will be Rune: Ragnarok, and I'm guessing that it will release next year.
 
 
5.
Bethesda reportedly did the same thing to Arkane Studios
 

 
 
6.
Suing Facebook and Oculus for $4 billion, trying to get ownership over Oculus technology, while outright losing their original case. The jury awarded $500 million in damages to ZeniMax over breach of NDA, copyright infringement, and false-designation, but all of ZeniMax' original and core claims against Facebook and Oculus were found to be invalid by the court.
 
ZeniMax awarded $500 million judgment in Oculus lawsuit
 
Facebook and Oculus are appealing the $500 million verdict: Oculus Vows Appeal of $500 Million Verdict, ZeniMax Threatens Injunction
 
John Carmack has given a public defence of himself, while suggesting that ZeniMax are liars. He said that ‘The Internet Would Have Viciously Mocked The Analysis’ in the $500 million verdict.
 
On further appeal, the $500 million verdict was subsequently reduced to $250 million, and then Facebook and ZeniMax settled out of court.
 
 
7.
Suing Samsung as an extension of their lawsuit against Facebook and Oculus.
 
ZeniMax sues Samsung over VR technology in Gear goggles
 
 
8.
Suing developer of Kickstarter project "Prey for the Gods" over having the word Prey in their title. The developer opted to simply modify their game's name to "Praey for the Gods" rather than to deal with Bethesda's frivolous lawsuit.
 
Prey for the Gods changes name to avoid fight with Bethesda's Prey
 
 
9.
Turning community mods into a capitalist venture with paid mods and opening their own Bethesda games digital distribution storefront to continue to pursue paid mods after Valve backtracked on having them sold through Steam following public backlash.
 
 
10.
If you criticize Bethesda too much on their forums, expect to be banned. The Bethesda forums are like a daycare-centre for toddlers because of draconian moderation. Partial lobotomy and Bethesda fanboyism is required for entrance and staying there.
 
 
11.
In a clear violation of the law, Bethesda tried to pretend that it was the law and could stop people from reselling their own game properties and dictate whether a person could list their own unopened games as "new" when reselling them.
 
Bethesda tried to pull this stunt despite the US Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the EU both having definitively ruled that people may resell their copyrighted goods without needing any permission from the copyright holder. Bethesda purporting to prohibit people from listing their unopened games a "new" condition would be an instance of the copyright-holder denying the game owner permission to resell that game-owner's own game, and would therefore be a violation of the US Supreme Court and the EU's Court of Justice rulings:

US Supreme Court Rules People May Resell Copyrighted Goods Without Copyright-Holder's Permission - US Software Association Has a Fit
 
EU Court Says, Yes, You Can Resell Your Software, Even If The Software Company Says You Can't
 
 
 
12.
A whole lot about Fallout '76, which is a dated asset-flip game too buggy for some people to even play:
 
- promising that all future Fallout '76 content would be free and there would be no season passes - and then making pretty much all new Fallout '76 content not only need to be paid for, but also cost insane prices.
 
- The $200 USD Power Armour edition that screwed buyers of it over when Bethesda pulled a bait-and-switch with the advertised canvas bag that was replaced in the actual released product with what basically looks like a crumpled-up garbage bag with no resemblance to the advertised bag.
 
- The blunt brush-off from Bethesda support admitting that they did pull a bait-and-switch with the canvas bag, and further stated they simply aren't going to do anything about it. Bethesda later apologized for the curtness of the earlier Bethesda support's reply, yet didn't apologize for and didn't offer to fixe what the actual issue was, which is the bait-and-switch of the advertised canvas bag.
 
- The crap design of the game, which MSRP'd at $60 USD yet plays like a $20 early-access title at its release.
 
- Refusing to refund the game for people who couldn't play it because it was too broken.
 
- Completely ludicrous and offensive micro-transaction fees such as charging $18 USD for a single power armour skin just to add some blue-coloured paint to it. Coming from the inventor of nickle-and-diming exploitative and egregiously-priced DLC, though, perhaps nobody should be surprised by this - though they certainly ought to be outraged.
 
- Insulting upset Power Armour edition purchasers further by offering them a pathetic 500 Atoms ($5 USD) in-game currency for micro-transactions, when that can basically only buy one hairdo model, or two facial tattoos.
 
- Turning previously-free character customization content from Fallout 4 into nickle-and-diming paid content in Fallout '76
 
- Adding a $100 USD per year Fallout 76 subscription
 
https://falloutfirst.com/
 
 
It gets WORSE! Fallout 76 Subscription BROKEN at Release!
 
 
 
Because of all the scandals surrounding Fallout '76, Bethesda has come under investigation for bad business practices.
 
 
13.
Seemingly driven by jealousy, fear of competition, and a will to spite, Bethesda tried to undermine the launch of Obsidian's The Outer Worlds. Obsidian includes / included some of the original creators of the Fallout series and developed Fallout New Vegas, which is the only 3D Fallout game which actually resembles a Fallout game.
 
 
 
14.
All-around really bad, just completely mindless game-design, met with low production quality values including what perhaps bugs me the most about Bethesda games: the pisspoor, unintentionally-cringy loopy writing, and the banal quest design - which, in some cases, is also combined with mishandling of lore such as for the Fallout series which Bethesda acquired from Interplay in 2007. And then there is the notorious dumbing-down of their games which I find has resulted in there being hardly anything meaningful left to do in them anymore.
 
I think it's a reasonable argument to make, to say that Bethesda Games Studios games have traditionally often displayed the lowest production quality values out of the whole AAA games business - in writing, animations, voice-acting, quest design, character models...
 
 
The Blistering Stupidity of Fallout 3, Part 1 of a five-part analysis
The Blistering Stupidity of Fallout 3, Part 2
The Blistering Stupidity of Fallout 3, Part 3
The Blistering Stupidity of Fallout 3, Part 4
The Blistering Stupidity of Fallout 3, Part 5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Some final thoughts
 
There might some additional information about other ZeniMax / Bethesda lawsuits in this article: A brief history of Bethesda’s many legal tangles
 
So, when talking scummy and greedy publishers, I think both history and the present show that ZeniMax / Bethesda is not only ranked up there at the top along with all the worst of publishers in the history of the games industry (whether people think of EA, ActiVision, Ubisoft, Nintendo, or any other publisher), but that Bethesda has even done and is still doing a lot of stuff that's worse than stuff we think of other big publishers as evil for doing. People just haven't been tuning into it.
 
Bethesda is basically the software developer equivalent of a patent troll: They acquire big idea game IPs from non-Bethesda talent (including TES, since the series creator was separated from it and then left the compnay), and then milk them while progressively squeezing the life out of them as they're dumbed-down closer to oblivion with each successive release.
 
For all these reasons, I think it's important and very long overdue that people start practising serious cautiousness and discretion when thinking about what Bethesda represents. Through so many years of unbalanced and blind-eye-turning praise, Bethesda fans have enabled and encouraged Bethesda to think of themselves as a lot better and more entitled than they really are by letting everything all go to Bethesda's heads despite Bethesda not really having done things to deserve their historically-positive reputation. And now, Bethesda no longer even cares to simply try to appear be reasonable and decent for the sake of their own reputation.
 
 
 
Bonus videos:
 
 
 
 
 

December 13th, 2020 addition:
 
In the first comment underneath the OP, I've added some quotes by Gary Gygax, who coined the phrase "role-playing game", where he says linear narratives aren't RPGs, that combat shouldn't be fixated on in an RPG, and that combat and levelling-up just for the sake of combat and levelling-up doesn't constitute an RPG.
 
October 8th, 2020 addition with January 3rd, 2021 edits:
 
Let's start with what the creators of the RPG genre say an RPG is:
https://thetrove.is/Books/Dungeons & Dragons/4th Edition/Essentials/Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms.pdf

Gary Gygax, the creator of the term Role-Playing Game, expands on what the term refers to, and what isn't an RPG, here:
 
And here:
 
So, an RPG is a storytelling game with form and structure, with robust gameplay and endless possibilities. The endless storytelling possibilities are the essence of what makes a game an RPG, and they are created through the interactivity of player choices, a GM reacting dynamically to and narrating the outcomes to player actions, the game world's rules, and chances of probability. And a game where the player doesn't choose their character's choices and actions and experience intelligent reactions to their specific choices and actions, but instead presents a set linear narrative, isn't an RPG.
 
At its core, an RPG is "collaborative storytelling" between the player(s), the GM, and the world's rules. That choice/consequence-interactivity-based collaborative storytelling is the outcome of what's called Player Agency. Therefore, an RPG is a game with a focus on player agency.
 
That's QED right away. But to completely understand why, you might have to read the exploration and reasoning of the topic that's below.
 
 
Main and original post - Updated October 8th, 2020
 
This is an in-progress post. I have a lot of material and past writings to go through which could result in me adding to it and refining it over time, though likely not any time soon. But I think the topic is important for the genres and for the quality of experiences which are being made by developers and publishers.
 
 
The term RPG comes from the pen-and-paper games where a human serves as a Game Master (also referred to as the Dungeon Master or something else, depending on the game being played) and creates situations for  other people playing as characters in the story, with the choices and unique thoughts and input of the players in the story are an integral part of the story that ultimately manifests. That happens from the human game master playing-off of the players' choices by creating outcomes and new scenarios in response to them. This creates a very dynamic and unpredictable game experience where the players have an essential role to play in the game and story that emerges. And that player-role is the "role" being referred to in the term Role-Playing Game, and the dynamic between player choices and actions and game master-directed outcomes is also what is called Player Agency.
 
Role-playing game - Wikipedia
"Both authors and major publishers of tabletop role-playing games consider them to be a form of interactive and collaborative storytelling."
"Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction."
"The GM describes the game world and its inhabitants. The other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes."
 
What is Player Agency and what is it good for?
"From a game design perspective, Player Agency is the player's ability to impact the story through the game design or gameplay"
 
Player Agency, Critical States, and Games as Formal Systems
"player agency describes the ability of a player to interact meaningfully with game world. More than simple action/feedback interactivity, agency refers to knowing actions taken by the player that result in significant changes within the world."
 
Dungeons & Dragons: The Importance of Player Agency
"Player agency is fairly easy to explain, but a little harder to implement... In addition, an important aspect of player agency is the notion that the decisions made by the player will have direct consequences within the game world... Lastly, player agency is maintained when the players have enough prior information to deduce the possible outcomes and consequences for a particular course of action. This allows the player to make a judgment call based on who their character is and how they would respond."
 
 
In video games, the human game master is replaced with scripted possible reactions to situations, and also complex world rules which can result in unplanned situations emerging, and in quests taking a variety of paths and turning-out in different ways, and how they turn-out having influences on other parts of the game world.
 
 
One example of well-implemented player agency in a video game is in Gothic II, when the player needs to get into Khorinis. There are many ways to accomplish the goal, and depending on how the player does it, there can be different impacts on the game world.
 
This video shows 6 different ways, but two of them are exploits and there are an additional 3 non-exploit methods that this video doesn't show:
 
 
The player can also become employed by a local farmer and receive farmhand clothes which allows them entrance into the city.
 
I think there's also another way to scale the city wall from a crack in the wall that's in the forest to the left of the drawbridge (near which there is a dangerous dinosaur-like creature).
 
And if the player runs around the city, jumps off a cliff into the ocean, and swims around to the docks at the back of the city, the game grants the player 500 XP and also acknowledges the player's choice with some dialogue from a character who sees the player coming out of the water.
 
If the player chooses to accept the city pass from the travelling merchant outside the city, they'll be asked to perform a dirty favour for the merchant later on. And if the player doesn't perform that deed for the merchant, the merchant will give the player a bad reputation among the other merchants. And aside from doing the deed, the player can also rat-out the merchant to the town guard, sending the merchant to prison for a while - but he will get out eventually and get his revenge. The player can kill the merchant while they're locked in their jail cell, and that will prevent the merchant from ultimately getting what they wanted the player to do for them.
 
And if the player enters the city by another method other than accepting the travelling merchant's city pass, I think that the merchant will accomplish their goal inside the city on their own, which will have some small effect on who's in the market.
 
All that inter-connectivity between player choices and dynamic game-world reactivity is a superb implementation of player agency in a video game.
 
 
Moving on, when a game lacks that player agency aspect which makes an RPG an RPG, then that game isn't an RPG. When games that otherwise would be RPGs remove that aspect to instead focus on exploration and combat, they are Action(combat)-Adventure(exploration) games. Having an inventory, stats, character building, or even combat is irrelevant to whether a game is an RPG or not - although, those things can contribute a lot to adding complexity and possibility to an RPG experience.
 
That's why Skyrim and Witcher 3, which remove the player agency and streamline questing by using Quest Markers and Quest Directives to always tell the player where to go and what to do in order to fulfill hard-scripted quest narratives, are not RPGs but are Action-Adventure games.
 
 

A simple but reliable rule to follow is this: If a game puts its questing on-rails by issuing them with Quest Directives and spelling their solutions out with Quest Markers, then it isn't an RPG - and then it can't be an RPG because Quest Directives and Quest Markers by, and large, pre-empt the possibility of a game emphasizing player agency enough that its defining quality falls into the RPG category. The specific difference between an Action-Adventure game and an RPG is the notable presence and emphasis on player agency.
 
But there's no requirement that a publisher labels their game correctly and publishers label their games according to what will market them to the broadest audience and bring-in the most sales. So, marketed game labels are regularly at odds with the reality of what a game is. In other words, a publisher claiming something doesn't mean it's true*.  *See: 'Loot boxes are "surprise mechanics" and not gambling' (EA), 'paid mods aren't paid mods' (Bethesda), 'a subscription isn't a subscription' (Ubisoft)
 
A typical real-time RPG that has the player agency removed from it becomes an Action-Adventure game like Oblivion, Fallout 3 and 4, Skyrim, Witcher 3, and Assassin's Creed games.
 
 
Because lots of people don't really know where the terms came from, they make best-guesses at what the terms stand-for. And when they see RPGs commonly having stats, character building, and inventory systems, they can presume that's the common denominator between RPG games and so any game with those systems becomes an RPG to them.
 
Those systems aren't themselves the essence of what makes an RPG, but they were used as a means to support the goal of collaborative and interactive storytelling by invoking player choices and actions, and having those choices and actions evaluate against game world stats to see what the outcomes would be - creating collaborative storytelling.

Some people have come to associate the supportive elements as being the essence itself - and this is due to the 'looks like' effect: People who didn't know what "RPG" means play a bunch of games called "RPG" and then make a personal assessment of what the term means based on what they see as common associations across the games. And in that process, they can miss the purpose those elements were there to serve. But those elements I just talked about are supportive elements and not the essence of the term.
 
And the same thing has happened with people calling games which aren't ARPGs ARPGs. I've recently seen it claimed that an ARPG is any RPG (using a definition of RPG that isn't what RPG means, no less) with a real-time combat system. But an RPG with a real-time combat system is simply an RPG with a real-time combat system, as opposed to an RPG with a RTwP combat system, or an RPG with a turn-based combat system, or an RPG with no combat system. I've also heard multiple times someone claim that an RPG is simply a game where you play the role of a character in a story - which describes every FPS in existence, not to mention most character-based games of all genres.
 

When it comes to ARPGs, they're firstly Action games with a focus on combat similar to hack-n-slash games.
 
Back when the ARPG term was created for Diablo (and before it was retroactively applied to a lot of earlier games), those systems - stats, character building, inventory - were mostly exclusive to RPGs. But, today, they're present in lots of different genres. Those systems aren't what make an RPG, and an RPG can even not have any of those systems (like Choose Your Own Adventure books). But those systems have traditionally been most familiar to RPGs and have been a big part of the pen-and-paper RPG experience where complex dynamics of real-life were simulated by stats.
 
Because Action-centric ARPGs included some systems commonly associated with RPGs, they were called Action-RPGs. So, ARPGs aren't RPGs with Action-based combat systems (which some people take to mean real-time combat). Instead, they're Action games with some traditionally RPG-associated systems to add some additional depth and character progression to them. Some of their gameplay elements 'look like' things you'd see in RPGs without the games containing the essence that makes a game an actual RPG.
 
 
Sometimes people make an argument of 'the meanings of terms evolve over time'. But changing ARPG from meaning an 'Action game with some RPG-style systems' to meaning 'an RPG with real-time combat (as opposed to an RPG with RTwP, TB, or no combat system)' isn't an evolution, it's a stark devolution - and one that leaves Action games with RPG-style systems orphaned from a genre title, while making the term ARPG not refer to anything in specific and so not being a useful label. And the whole purpose of having terms and words is for them to define something as much as possible, so that using them accomplishes some mental work for the people's conceptualization.
 
And changing the meaning of RPG from meaning a game where player agency is essential to the gameplay experience to meaning a game with stats is likewise a sore devolution of the term and imparts a drastic lowering of complexity and depth in the games which get called RPG. An RPG isn't supposed to be a bland, generic, paint-by-numbers experience where you simply do as you're told and bash everything along the way, but that's what many games that are being called RPGs by the big-budget studios making them are. All that's being done there is taking away a useful title to turn it into a too-vague-to-be meaningful one, while then also being absent a title to describe what RPG actually exists to describe. There's a net loss of conceptual and useful value there.
 
So, an argument of 'the meanings of terms evolve over time' argument doesn't apply here. What is actually being done is that people ignorant of the meanings and origins of terms are acting out of assumptions based on a 'looks like' mentality and are lowering the bar with their determinations of what the terms must mean based on a simplistic 'looks like' assumption.
 
 
A game genre doesn't aim to describe every last element contained within a game, but aims to describe the most notable and stand-out characteristic of the experience for the player - even though sometimes people lose sight of a genre's meaning, or create a genre-label out of ambiguity (Souls-Like, for example).
 
- First-Person Shooter describes a game played from the first-person perspective where the player shoots stuff.
 
- Strategy describes a game where the primary gameplay element is strategising.
 
- RPG describes a game where the player themselves, with their unique choices and behaviour, is an essential component of the narrative that plays-out - and because an RPG have to account for various possibilities and outcomes, it is one of the most complex type of games to create, and also one of the most immersive and deep to experience. RPGs can have character-building, but they also can not have character-building. RPGs can have stats, but they can also not have stats. RPGs can have any kind of combat system, but they can also not have a combat system.
 
- Action-Adventure describes RPG-similar games where, rather than relying on player agency, the questing is streamlined and put on-rails so that the player doesn't have to deal with information and can instead focus on a simpler experience of combat and exploration. Having a few boolean choices in them, especially when those choices are presented in scripted dialog sequences, isn't sufficient to make an Action-Adventure game count as an RPG because that utmost basic (and primitive by RPG standards) kind of choice still isn't the, or even a, leading experience of the gameplay. An Action-Adventure game can be said to be simply a typical RPG with real-time combat, but without the focus on player agency. If a game has the elements of an Action-Adventure game but with the additional emphasis on player agency that makes for an RPG, then it's just an RPG.
 
- Action-RPG describes an Action-centric game that added some complexity from systems that are commonly associated (though much less exclusively so today than when the term was created) with RPGs, like stats and character building.
 
 
I think that it's important to use the terms accurately because by not doing so and letting them be used for anything results in game developers perpetually lowering the bar in the type of games they make, and it also results in gamers perpetually lowering the bar of their expectations for what quality of game design they should be expecting when they buy a game of a certain genre, most of all one that's labelled as an RPG.
 
Nowadays, publishers label their generic Action-Adventure games as RPGs and then pat themselves on the back while having accomplished none of the experiential creativity or complexity that is required for a game to meet the requirements of an RPG experience. And because gamers now often expect an RPG to mean nothing more than having stats and bashing stuff while following quest markers, game developers largely aren't reaching for anything higher than that. The misuse of the term RPG has devalued its meaning and lowered expectations from gamers as well as the ambitions of developers and publishers.

1.
US companies heavily sponsored Hitler's rise to power and supplied the Nazis' war preparations to an extent that WW2 would likely not have been possible without the US' support of the Nazis. For one example, by 1942, 1/3rd of all the Nazis' vehicles were made by Ford, while half of the Nazis' vehicles throughout WW2 were made in GM factories (which GM lost control of in 1940), and Standard Oil (today's Exxon and Chevron) continued to supply 13,000 tons oil to the Nazis every month until the very end of the war.
 
And even after the Trading With the Enemy act was applied against US business dealings with Germany, some US companies, including GM, Ford, and Standard Oil (today's Exxon and Chevron) either found ways around it to deliberately continue supporting the Nazis, or indirectly maintained involvement in supplying the Nazis until the very end of the war.

"The contribution made by [United States] to German war preparations can only be described as phenomenal. It was certainly crucial to German military capabilities.... Not only was an influential sector of American business aware of the nature of Nazism, but for its own purposes aided Nazism wherever possible (and profitable)--with full knowledge that the probable outcome would be war involving Europe and the United States."
 
"… although by then Hitler's intentions were clear, IG executive August von Knieriem acknowledged that the style of Hitler's war would have been “impossible” had not “the Americans presented us with the production plans, complete with their know‐how.” "
 
Wall Street and the Rise of Hitler
With a Branch at Auschwitz (Published 1978)
Ford and the Führer
How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power
 
“If we see that Germany is winning we ought to help Russia and if Russia is winning we ought to help Germany, and that way let them kill as many as possible" - Harry S. Truman, June 24, 1941
 
 
 
2.
The Nazis' anti-Jew ambition was largely fed by Henry Ford, the founder of the US auto manufacturing company. Ford wrote a weekly anti-Jew newspaper column, which was compiled into book volumes under the title "The International Jew, the World’s Foremost Problem", which was very popular among the Nazi party. Long before the Nazis became the ruling party in Germany, Ford was being praised by them.
 
In 1924, Heinrich Himmler described Henry Ford as “one of our most valuable, important, and witty fighters”.
 
And Adolf Hitler wrote: “only a single great man, Ford, [who], to [the Jews’] fury, still maintains full independence…[from] the controlling masters of the producers”.
 
Speaking in 1931 to a Detroit News reporter, Hitler said he regarded Henry Ford as his “inspiration”, explaining his reason for keeping Ford’s life-size portrait next to his desk.
 
Regarding Henry Ford's anti-Jew writings, Hitler said, “I shall do my best to put his theories into practice in Germany”.
 
Henry Ford was also the first US citizen to be awarded the Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle, an award created by Hitler in 1937.
 
Henry Ford receiving the Grand Cross of the German Eagle from Nazi officials, 1938
 
 
 
3.
Hitler also found encouragement for his views in various US policies including the Immigration Act of 1924, the US eugenics movement, and the treatment of Native Americans. In a 1928 speech, Hitler noted that Americans in the Jacksonian era had “gunned down the millions of Redskins to a few hundred thousand, and now keep the modest remnant under observation in a cage”.
 
He also attributed the idea of concentration camps to Britain, saying in 1941, “Concentration camps were not invented in Germany. It is the English who are their inventors, using this institution to gradually break the backs of other nations.”
 
And Hitler's idea of a master-race with blonde hair and blue eyes was heavily derived from the US' own eugenics programs.
 
How US Racism Influenced Hitler
The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism
The Horrifying American Roots of Nazi Eugenics
 
 
 
4.
The first military incursion of WW2 was not the Germany and USSR 1939 invasions of Poland, as is often incorrectly claimed, but was Germany and Poland's 1938 invasion, occupation, partitioning, and annexation of Czechoslovakia, done with the backing of the UK, France, and Italy, which partnered with Hitler via the Munich Betrayal pact. This angered the USSR as Czechoslovakia was their ally and with whom they shared a defence pact.
 
The Polish-German invasion of Czechoslovakia also sparked Slovakia's wilful support of the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland, with the government of Slovakia citing Poland's 1938 invasion of Czechoslovakia as their official reason for joining the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland.
 
news clippings concerning Poland's invasion of Czechoslovakia
Annexations by Poland in 1938
Slovak invasion of Poland
Before Hitler Invaded Poland -- Poland Invaded Czechoslovakia!
 
And while the UK, France, and Italy infamously all supported Germany's takeover of Czechoslovakia, via the Munich Betrayal pact. The USSR opposed the takeover of its ally, and offered to send troops to defend Czechoslovakia and fight Germany. But Poland refused to allow the USSR to transit its troops across Poland's borders, and even went so far as to assert that Poland would be the first country to take-on Germany. But that didn't happen, and Poland instead joined Germany in invading and annexing Czechoslovakia - a move which made Churchill resent the idea of saving Poland when it was invaded by Germany less than one year later:
To Churchill, this was incomprehensible, pledging to defend "that very Poland which with hyena appetite had only six months before joined in the pillage and destruction of the Czechoslovak State."   Churchill, Winston S. - William's World War II Page  

 
 
 
5.
The USSR knew that Hitler's ambitions included conquering the USSR, because Hitler had written about his plan and talked about it in speeches. And so, the USSR made every effort it could to prevent a war with Germany - first, by trying to preserve the positive relations they’d had with Germany before the Nazis rose to power. When that failed, the USSR sought permission from Poland to send troops across Poland's borders and fight Germany on their own turf. But that effort also failed.
 
Before signing their pact with Germany in 1939, the USSR also proposed forming an anti-Nazi alliance between the USSR, the UK, and France. But the UK and France both refused, themselves having already signed pacts with Germany.
 
Stalin 'planned to send a million troops to stop Hitler if Britain and France agreed pact'
The Hitler-Stalin Pact
 
"[UK] Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, at first indifferent to Hitler’s capture of the Sudetenland, the German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia, suddenly snapped to life when Poland became threatened. He made it plain that Britain would be obliged to come to the aid of Poland in the event of German invasion. But he wanted, and needed, an ally. The only power large enough to stop Hitler, and with a vested interest in doing so, was the Soviet Union. But Stalin was cool to Britain after its effort to create a political alliance with Britain and France against Germany had been rebuffed a year earlier."
 
 
 
6.
The USSR was actually the last state to sign a pact with Nazi Germany, with non-aggression pacts with Germany having first been signed by Poland, the UK, France, Estonia, Denmark, and Latvia. Germany had also formed anti-Communist pacts with many countries, including Japan (November 1936), Hungary (February 1939), Manchukuo (February 1939), and Spain (March 1939).
 

 

 
Russia's government claims that the USSR had no other choice but to form a pact with Germany after UK, France, and Poland had all refused to work with the USSR to do anything against Germany. Their claim finds support from the UK's own wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, who also believed the USSR no longer had any other option:
 

 
"Russia has pursued a cold policy of self-interest. We could have wished that the Russian Armies should be standing on their present line as the friends and allies of Poland, instead of as invaders. But that the Russian Armies should stand on this line was clearly necessary for the safety of Russia against the Nazi menace.”
 
- Winston Churchill, on the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1939/1939-10-01a.html
 
 
 
7.
Russia's government claims their Soviet archives also show that a motivating factor behind the USSR signing its 1939 non-aggression pact with Germany was Poland's clear interest in forming an anti-USSR alliance with Germany. German historians have written that Hitler was receptive to Poland's request, but conditioned such an alliance on Poland ceding its sovereignty to Germany. Poland refused that offer and then, of course, Germany invaded Poland and took it over all the same.
 
Alliance between Berlin & Warsaw? New docs reveal what pushed USSR towards Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
There was NO other way (by Sergey Naryshkin)
 

 
 
 
8.
Germany wasn't the only country in WW2 to have death camps.
 
The Dark Secret of America’s WWII German Death Camps
 
"Every schoolchild knows that the German side in World War II falsely imprisoned millions of noncombatants in a constellation of concentration camps scattered across the Nazi sphere of influence in Europe. Conditions in these camps were inhumane, to say the least, fraught with starvation, disease, and deliberate murder stalking every inmate for the months or years they spent interned.
 
What has largely escaped the victors’ history books, however, is that another program of internment and mass murder was put together at the end of the war by Allied forces, who took in millions of German prisoners in the summer of 1945 and deliberately starved roughly one in four of them to death.
 
The story of the Rheinwiesenlager, or “Rhine Camps,” was then covered up and obfuscated by professional historians for decades after the war while the survivors grew old and the prisoner records were destroyed."
 
 
 
9.
Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbour which created domestic public support for the US entering WW2 wasn't a surprise to the US government, but was by its design. The US government employed heavy economic warfare against Japan with the intention to provoke Japan into attacking the US, so that the US would have pretext to enter WW2.
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCollum_memo
How U.S. Economic Warfare Provoked Japan's Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor: Hawaii Was Surprised; FDR Was Not
How U.S. Economic Warfare Provoked Japan’s Attack on Pearl Harbor
75 Years of Pearl Harbor Lies
 
Excerpt from the McCollum memo:
"It is not believed that in the present state of political opinion the United States government is capable of declaring war against Japan without more ado; and it is barely possible that vigorous action on our part might lead the Japanese to modify their attitude. Therefore the following course of action is suggested: A. Make an arrangement with Britain for the use of British bases in the Pacific, particularly Singapore B. Make an arrangement with the Netherlands for the use of base facilities and acquisition of supplies in the Dutch East Indies C. Give all possible aid to the Chinese government of Chiang-Kai-Shek D. Send a division of long range heavy cruisers to the Orient, Philippines, or Singapore E. Send two divisions of submarines to the Orient F. Keep the main strength of the U.S. fleet now in the Pacific[,] in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands G. Insist that the Dutch refuse to grant Japanese demands for undue economic concessions, particularly oil H. Completely embargo all U.S. trade with Japan, in collaboration with a similar embargo imposed by the British Empire If by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better. At all events we must be fully prepared to accept the threat of war."  
The cover of a Hawaii newspaper, one week before Japan attacked Pearl Harbour:
 

 
 
 
10.
The US' nuclear testing killed 3x as many US citizens in the US as the atomic bombs the US dropped on Japan killed Japanese.
 
US nuclear tests killed far more civilians than we knew
Atomic Tests During the 1950s Probably Killed Nearly Half a Million Americans
 


 
 
 
11.
The atomic bombs dropped on Japan likely didn't play any role in Japan's surrender. When Japan's ruling council in Tokyo sent-out the order to surrender, they hadn't yet received the military report of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima - although, they were aware that an attack had occurred. And when the order to surrender was sent-out by Japan's ruling council, the US hadn't yet dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
 
Instead, Japan surrendered because the USSR had declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria and obliterated Japan's forces there. But Japan surrendered to the US because the ruling council believed that Japan would receive better treatment at the hands of the US than at the hands of the Soviets.
 
The damage caused by the US' atomic bombs on Japan was also not the worst that Japan had faced in recent months. In 1945, 68 Japanese cities were destroyed, some of them more than Hiroshima. And despite Hiroshima having a condensed civilian population, the highest civilian death-toll Japan faced was from the March 1945 bombings of Tokyo.
 
"But if you graph the number of people killed in all 68 cities bombed in the summer of 1945, you find that Hiroshima was second in terms of civilian deaths. If you chart the number of square miles destroyed, you find that Hiroshima was fourth. If you chart the percentage of the city destroyed, Hiroshima was 17th."
 
Additionally, it was said by admiral William Leahy, who was the senior-most US military officer in WW2 and was in command of the US' Pacific forces, that “It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade”.
 
General Dwight D. Eisenhower stated similarly, that “The Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing”.
 
Historians reconsider effect of unheralded Soviet WWII offensive against Japan
The Bomb Didn’t Beat Japan … Stalin Did - Have 70 years of nuclear policy been based on a lie?
Did Nuclear Weapons Cause Japan to Surrender?
Why did Japan surrender in World War II?
Hiroshima and Nagasaki as Collateral Damage
 
 
 
12.
Perceptions of who played what role in WW2 were heavily manipulated in the years following the war's end, and the common narrative of today regarding who played what role in WW2 is extremely contradictory to the facts as they were understood during and in the years immediately following WW2.
 

 

 
"I have always believed and I still believe that it is the Red Army that has torn the guts out of the filthy Nazis."
 
—Winston Churchill, Speech in the House of Commons, October 1944
 
 
 
Bonus.
Supposedly, 'Godzilla' was a metaphor for Hiroshima, and Hollywood whitewashed it
 
"When the monster Godzilla, or “Gojira,” appeared before Japanese movie audiences in 1954, many left the theaters in tears.
 
The fictional creature, a giant dinosaur once undisturbed in the ocean, was depicted in the original film as having been aggravated by a hydrogen bomb. Its heavily furrowed skin or scales were imagined to resemble the keloid scars of survivors of the two atomic bombs that the U.S. dropped on Japan nine years earlier...
 
American audiences, however, had the opposite reaction, finding comedic value in what many interpreted as a cheesy monster movie.
 
...
 
For many Japanese viewers, seeing the movie was a cathartic, validating experience, the scholar said. People were able to witness Tokyo being destroyed once more while seeing radiation given the physical form of a monster. The ending, while bittersweet, is a hopeful one in which humanity triumphs over evil.
 
However, American audiences saw a different film when it was brought stateside as “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” roughly two years later, Tsutsui said. The movie was heavily edited, placing the white actor Raymond Burr at the center of the adaptation. The scholar noted that an estimated 20 minutes of the original Japanese film, predominantly the politically charged portions, were cut out of the American version.
 
Among the axed scenes was one where commuters on a train make the link between the Hiroshima bombing and Godzilla’s attack, as well as the poignant final line in the original where biology professor Dr. Yamane warns that if nuclear testing does not cease, another Godzilla could appear. Tsutsui pointed out that the U.S. version ended on a sunny note, that the world was safe again and could return to normal."

A highly important aspect of owning property, such as your computer hardware, the data on it as well as any data it generates, your Windows operating system, and other software you've purchased, is exclusively being the person that has the authority to make decisions over it, and being able to make the decisions that you know are the best for your situation.
 
As the European Union and Australia's top courts have ruled, and as even the US Supreme Court has indirectly supported, you own the software that you purchase, and you possess full property rights apply to your personally-owned software (with no comparable court in the world ruling contradictory to the European Union and Australia's top court rulings). The ownership rights that people possess over their software naturally includes full decision-making authority concerning whether their software may become modified or not, such as by updates.
 
In recent years, ever since the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has shown itself to be struggling to grasp the understanding of these things. Microsoft's efforts to oppose and sabotage Windows and PC system owners' ability to control and stop updates from being installed on their machines and modifying their OSes and storage drives against their wills constitutes a clear violation of property laws and is vandalism of people's computer systems and their personally-owned Windows OSes.
 
If you'd like more information about your ownership of your software, including Windows 10, and to learn about the nature of software licenses and EULAs, you can check out this link: You legally own the software that you purchase, and any claims otherwise are urban myth or corporate propaganda
 
 
 
Despite Microsoft's ongoing failure to meet its legal obligations to respect Windows owners' rights and property, there are a variety ways to take back control of your OS and make it more secure and reliable by controlling Windows Update. Here are 10 of them:
 
Method 1
One method is by using the Group Policy editor. The Group Policy editor is only available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. If you have Home edition, you will have to follow one of the other methods.
 
Setting the Group Policy editor policy for Automatic Updates to Disabled does the following: "If the status for this policy is set to Disabled, any updates that are available on Windows Update must be downloaded and installed manually. To do this, search for Windows Update using Start."
 
To Disable the automatic updates group policy:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Configure Automatic Updates"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
If you don't want to stop Windows Update from letting you know when new updates are available, but want to stop automatic downloads and installations of updates, then follow this guide to set the automatic updates policy to "Notify for download and notify for install":
 
If following that video guide to stop automatic downloads and installs of Windows updates, then after about 2 months, you might start getting full-screen pop-ups after you boot into the OS saying that updates are available for your OS. There are additional guides online showing how to disable those full-screen pop-ups (which shouldn't be happening in the first place, but Microsoft is not a good company and acts abusively by nature).
 
 
 
Method 2  ---  now possible with Windows 1803 and newer!
Windows Update can be fully disabled by opening Services and then disabling the item for Windows Update. To re-enable Windows Update at a later time, just re-enable its service.
 
If using Windows 1803 or newer, you will have to first give your Windows account "ownership" over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that's located in C:\Windows\System32, and possibly over the entire System32 folder. A guide on how to do that is here.
 
After you have control over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file, then do the following:
 
Step 1 - Go to C:\Windows\System32\
Step 2 - Locate and delete or rename the file WaaSMedicSvc.dll
Step 3 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 4 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
If you need to re-enable the Windows Update service at a later time:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and open it. Press Start, and the set the Startup Type to Enabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
If using Windows 10 1709 and earlier, then the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that automatically resets the Windows Update service isn't there, and so all it takes to disable Windows Update in earlier versions of Windows is this:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
 
Method 3
Here is another Group Policy editor method. If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can run the Group Policy editor (GPEdit.msc) and set the Windows Update Source to a non-existent URL.
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Specify Intranet Microsoft update service location"
Step 4 - In the upper-left of the Set the policy to "Enabled"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 4 - In the lower-left area of the window, under Options, set the intranet update service address and the intranet statistics server address to a URL that doesn't exist
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
 
Method 4
Use 3rd-party program NTLite to completely remove the Windows Update module from Windows.
 

 

 
Removing Windows Update via this method apparently, or might (according to one person), also remove the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel. I don't know if this is true, and it sounds strange to me, but if it does then individual Windows components can still be enabled or disabled using PowerShell.
 
For information on how to do that, visit this page: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/07/14/use-windows-powershell-to-install-optional-features/
 
Here's a quote of the comment which appears to me to claim that removing Windows Update via NTLite also removes the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel:
 
 
 
Method 5
In Windows 10 1803, Microsoft behaves criminally and vandalizes Windows owners' OSes by re-enabling WU-restarting scheduled tasks and the WU service via a new service titled "Windows Update Medic Service". If "Windows Update Medic Service" could be independently disabled, it would be possible to first disable that service and then disable the Windows Update service and have it stay disabled. However, Microsoft is not an honest and fair player, and doesn't respect their customers nor even treats them as people with legitimate interests and goals concerning their personally-owned OS. So, things aren't quite that straight-forward.
 
However, they're still somewhat straight-forward, and here are some programs that will block Windows Update and disable the offending Windows Update Medic service:
 
5.1
Disable Windows Update with one click using StopUpdates10:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/block-updates-windows-10-stopupdates10    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopupdates10.html
 
5.2
Block Updates on Windows 10 using Windows Update Blocker, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-4/    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windows_update_blocker.html
 
5.3
Block Updates on Windows 10 using StopWinUpdates, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopwinupdates.html
 
5.4
Control Windows Updates with Sledgehammer scipt:
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/04/28/control-windows-updates-with-sledgehammer-formerly-wumt-wrapper-script/
 
 
 
Method 6
There is a method to disable Windows Update involving using an offline Windows account (instead of a Microsoft account) described here:
 
https://www.wintips.org/how-to-turn-off-windows-10-updates-permanently/
 
For people not wanting their personal and personally-identifiable data harvested by Microsoft, it is strongly recommended to use a regular, "local" Windows account anyway and not a Microsoft account to log into Windows, as using a Microsoft account significantly increases the amount of personally-identifiable Windows usage data that is harvested by Microsoft.
 
 
 
Method 7
SimpleWall is a 3rd-party firewall program that has built-in protection rules for Windows Update that can be enabled.
 
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/simplewall-block-applications-from-using-internet
 
 
 
Method 8
There is a registry tweak to disable Windows Update, which might work for people on Home editions of Windows 10:
 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/26/windows-10-how-to-stop-forced-updates/#55d4846e46f6
 
Step 1 - Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: regedit and press enter
Step 2 - Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
Step 3 - In there create a ‘32-bit DWORD’ value called ‘AuOptions’ and under ‘Value Data’ type 2 and click ‘OK’
Step 4 - Open the Settings app (Win + I) and navigate to -> Update and Security -> Windows Updates. Click ‘Check for updates’ which applies the new configuration setting
Step 5 - Restart your PC
 
 
Alternatively, you can try this registry edit:
 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU 
Key: NoAutoUpdate 
Type: DWORD 
Value: 1 
 
To enable updates again, remove the "AU" registry key or delete NoAutoUpdate DWORD.
 
 
 
This Microsoft documentation offers alternate registry edits to disable Windows Update:
 
Or:
 
 
 
Method 9
You can also manually block Windows Update in your router's firewall, or in 3rd-party firewall software such as Comodo Firewall and PeerBlock. An advantage of using this method is that there is nothing that Microsoft can do to over-ride, reset, or ignore the block.
 
Be aware that some people have claimed that adding Microsoft servers to the Windows hosts file and to the Windows Defender Firewall will not block then because Windows 10 is maliciously designed to ignore any instructed blocking of Microsoft's own servers. I don't have confirmation that this is true, but if it is then you're going to have to block Microsoft's servers in a a 3rd-party firewall program such as those mentioned previously.
 
These are all or some of the Microsoft servers to block in your router's firewall or 3rd-party firewall software to block Windows Update:
 
windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.update.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.com
download.windowsupdate.com
download.microsoft.com
*.download.windowsupdate.com
wustat.windows.com
ntservicepack.microsoft.com
*.ws.microsoft.com
 
That list was last updated in 2015, so there could be some servers to add to it. There is an updated list of Microsoft's data-harvesting servers to block, and a hosts file with Microsoft's data-harvesting servers already included in it, here:
 
https://encrypt-the-planet.com/windows-10-anti-spy-host-file/
 
There might be an updated list of Microsoft's Windows Update servers on that site, too.
 
 
 
Method 10
You can turn off your Windows 10 OS' connection to Microsoft's Windows Update server.
 
"Used to download operating system patches and updates. If you turn off traffic for these endpoints, the device will not be able to download updates for the operating system."
 
Source process: svchost 
Protocol: HTTPS
Destination:  *.windowsupdate.com
Destination:  fg.download.windowsupdate.com.c.footprint.net
 
For more information on that approach, see this link: https://mspoweruser.com/these-are-the-websites-your-clean-install-windows-pc-connects-to-by-itself/
 
 
 
Method 11
Prevent Windows Update's ability to connect online via the registry. I haven't tried this method and I'm just reporting it as I've seen it stated.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
People should be aware that the reason why Microsoft tries to prevent Windows Update from being disabled is not due to security of your PC (if that was Microsoft's goal there would be a security-only updates setting, and it would be truly security-only), or making things easier for Microsoft's support efforts (which are dedicated from the outset of a new Windows release to run for a certain time-frame, and can't be reduced otherwise Microsoft would be guilty of false advertising), but is to provide Microsoft as many opportunities as possible to reset your Windows and default programs settings, as well as your data-harvesting settings, all back to the Microsoft defaults where Microsoft is able to harvest as much personal and personally-identifiable data about you as possible, while having lots of opportunities to add more data-harvesting to your OS.
 
And at the "Basic" setting, which is the most minimal data-harvesting setting in Windows 10 Home and Pro versions, Microsoft is continuously harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data from over 3,500 individual data points. Altogether, that data forms a meticulous and comprehensive picture of all your activities in your Windows OS.
 
Also, Microsoft's documentation on the volume of data they are harvesting at the Basic setting is incomplete, as watching Microsoft's Diagnostic Data Viewer tool on the transmitted data reveals transmitted data containers that can't be referenced in Microsoft's documentation.
 
 
Selling your personal and personally-identifiable data is a big part of Microsoft's business model now - despite that it is actually illegal for Microsoft to do it because Windows 10 is legally and factually a product (which you own) and not a service (which you merely access). So, Microsoft harvesting your data is analogous to a thief entering your home, taking your possessions, and selling them for profit. This activity by Microsoft, where they commercialize Windows owners' PCs without a license, constitutes the indictable crime of unjust enrichment.
 
 
Another major reason why Microsoft wants to force Windows updates on people's personal Windows OSes is because the large bi-annual Windows 10 updates grant Microsoft frequent opportunity to deliberately break any 3rd-party UI customization software twice a year.
 
Microsoft does this because any 3rd-party UI customization software stops Microsoft's own UI systems from harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data. Since Microsoft wants to steal as much of that data from you as possible so that Microsoft can then sell it for their unjust enrichment, Microsoft seeks for chances to break your custom software, and typically does so with each major update when Microsoft resets your Windows, program defaults, and data-privacy settings at the same time.
 
 
Trying to reason with Microsoft is like talking to a deranged psychopath who doesn't care about you in the least and who is only looking to exploit you as though you are not even human, and expecting them to see common sense and express empathy. Microsoft seeks to dominate and harvest, and not to serve and take into account its customers' needs and interests. Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft views its customers as its enemies to be defeated.
 
 
I hope this help many people regain their rightful control control of their operating system and to have a much more comfortable and stress-free experience in their own OS.
 
 
 
 
 
Old information:
 
In Windows 10 version 1803 and onward, the "Windows Update Medic Service" keep re-starting Windows Update and related scheduled tasks and re-creates Windows Update related scheduled tasks even after a person manually stops them, disables them, and removes the scheduled tasks. You could find another way to disable Windows Update Medic Service, which otherwise keeps re-starting Windows Update, and then disable Windows Update and any associated scheduled tasks.
 
http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/waasmedicsvc/
 
One way to disable Windows Update Medic Service might be to disable Remote Procedure Call, which is what starts Windows Update Medic Service: http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/rpcss/
 
Or by deleting the file "WaaSMedicSvc.dll" that's in the %WinDir%\System32 folder or possibly replacing it with another file and setting its permissions to "read only".
 
There is some information on disabling Windows Update medic Service and preventing it from re-enabling on this page: https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-1/
 
 
 
Method -- (superceded by current method 2)
Remove the files for all Windows 10 services that violate the commands of the system and Windows OS owner.
 
As of Windows 10 1803, the three offending Windows 10 services are:
 
- Windows Update (wuauserv)
- Windows Update Medic Service (WaaSMedic)
- Update Orchestrator Service (UsoSvc)
 
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), which might be thought of as also being involved, reportedly doesn't have any influence over the Windows 10 updates regime.
 
The files to be removed to stop the 3 offending services are all in the directory Windows\System32, and are the following files:

wusa.exe - windows update stand alone installer
wuapi.dll - windows update
wuaueng.dll - windows update
wuauclt.exe - old windows update
UsoClient.exe - update orchestrator
usoapi.dll - update orchestrator
usocore.dll - update orchestrator
WaaSMedicAssessment.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicSvc.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicPL.dll - new medic service
 
One Windows owner has reported that removing these files has fixed the Windows Update service from re-starting without authorization, without any detrimental effects on the rest of their system's operation. I haven't tried this method myself, and if anyone wants to add their feedback after trying it, please do.

If you are aware of updated information regarding telemetry and data collection in Windows 7 / 8 / 10, or know improved methods to disable it, please share it.
 
For Windows 10
 
 
General Privacy Guide's for Windows 10 version 1803 and 1809
 
This guide includes instructions on how to disable or remove various invasive or unwanted aspects of Windows 10. Some of what the guide includes instructions for:
 
- Basic Windows 10 set-up choices
- How to remove various apps, such as Windows Store, and other native Win 10 apps
- How to disable Cortana via registry
- How to remove various telemetry services and scheduled tasks
 
Some of what this guide shows instructions for may already be done by programs such as O&O ShutUp10.
 
For 1803: https://fdossena.com/?p=w10debotnet/index_1803.frag
 
For 1809: https://fdossena.com/?p=w10debotnet/index_1809.frag
 
For 1903: https://fdossena.com/?p=w10debotnet/index_1903.frag
 
 
 
Using an edition of Windows 10 that lets you set the telemetry as low as possible
 
Windows 10 Enterprise and LTSC allow you to use the group policy editor to lower the amount of data-harvesting to Security Only. The Security Only setting may appear in Windows 10 Pro, but setting the group policy to that setting in Pro doesn't have any effect as the Telemetry Only setting is disconnected from any functionality in Pro.
 
Licenses for Windows 10 Enterprise and LTSC can be purchased for cheap off of eBay.
 
To set data-collection to Security Only in Windows 10 Enterprise and LTSC:
 
1. Open the group policy editor
2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Data Collection and Preview Builds
3. From the list of that sections policies, double-click on the policy titled Allow Telemetry
4. Set the policy to Enabled, and then set the policy to Security Only from the drop-down box
5. Click OK to close the window
 
 
 
O&O ShutUp10
 
O&O ShutUp10 is an excellent free piece of software that provides many options to reduce the amount of data that is harvested by Microsoft. I strongly recommend using it and reading the description of each item that can be enabled or disabled to stop a lot of unwanted data-harvesting.
 
Quoted from the developer's website:
 
O&O ShutUp10: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
 
 
 
Setting up a custom firewall to block Microsoft telemetry servers
 
Download and install this custom hosts file, and this custom PeerBlock Microsoft IP list which is regularly updated from information obtained via Wireshark: https://encrypt-the-planet.com/windows-10-anti-spy-host-file/
 
Review this thorough guide (a website account is needed to view it): https://encrypt-the-planet.com/completely-disable-windows-10-telemetry/
 
 
 
Spybot Anti-Beacon
 
Another good tool for blocking unwanted communication between a PC and Microsoft. It adds a lot of IPs to the Windows hosts file
 
Spybot Anti-Beacon: https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/
 
 
 
Debloat Windows 10
 
Use the free Debloat Windows 10 script to do as it says in its description:
 
Debloat Windows 10: https://github.com/W4RH4WK/Debloat-Windows-10/blob/master/scripts/block-telemetry.ps1
 
 
 
Manually block Microsoft data-collection servers in your Windows hosts file
 
There have been suggestions that Windows 10 ignores Microsoft servers in the hosts file, but Spybot Anti-Beacon adds a bunch of Microsoft servers to it and so maybe they know something different.
 
The Windows hosts file is located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. To open it, right-click and select "Open with", then choose Notepad and press OK. Then save the file when you're done editing it and then close it.
 
You can try adding these Microsoft data-collection servers to your Windows hosts file:
 
 
 
Disconnect Microsoft telemetry server connections
 
From: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/configure-windows-diagnostic-data-in-your-organization   (US page)
And:   https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/privacy/configure-windows-diagnostic-data-in-your-organization   (UK page)
 
 
More details on Windows 10 endpoints and ways to disconnect them: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/manage-windows-endpoints
 
 
 
My Digital Life's excellent repository on Windows 10 telemetry and its removal that contains sections on:
 
Delete Telemetry Services
Delete Remnants of Diagtrack and Cortana
Task Scheduler Block
IP Re-Routing
Hosts File Block
Packages Uninstall Lists
PEERBLOCK for Blocking Telemetry
Windows 10 IP Range Block List
Apps Online Uninstall
 
Link: [REPO] Windows 10 TELEMETRY REPOSITORY
 
 
 
Disable Windows 10 Telemetry Service
 
Disclaimer: This suggestion has been reported to be deprecated and so likely has no effect on the amount of telemetry Windows 10 collects
 
It was previously suggested that some Windows 10 telemetry and data collection could be disabled by doing the following:
 
Go to Services and Applications -> Services in the left pane. In the services list, disable the following service:
 
Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service     (called "Diagnostics Tracking Service" in Windows 10 version 1151 and earlier)
dmwappushsvc
 
Again, doing this likely has no effect on the level of telemetry that is collected.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For Windows 7 and 8
 
 
The surest way to run Windows 7 telemetry-free is to install Windows 7 from an early-to-mid 2015 ISO and then permanently disable Windows Update.
 
I have a June 2015 ISO of Windows 7 available for download in this post:
 
 
 
Block Microsoft data-collection servers in your Windows hosts file
 
For this, follow the same instructions mentioned in the Windows 10 section of this guide.
 
 
 
Windows 7 / 8(.1): Guidance on avoiding telemetry-containing updates including a list of security-only updates with download links for each (updated February 2019):
 
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2000003-ongoing-list-of-group-b-monthly-updates-for-win7-and-8-1/
 
 
 
Windows 7 / 8(.1): A thorough guide to identifying telemetry updates, removing the Windows telemetry service, and blocking Microsoft's telemetry servers
 
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/02/11/blocking-telemetry-in-windows-7-and-8-1/
 
 
 
Aegis script: Disables, uninstalls, and blocks a bunch of Windows 7 / 8 telemetry & data-collection updates
 
Since around mid-2015 (and possibly a bit earlier), Microsoft has been back-adding telemetry harvesting into Windows 7 and 8(.1) through the updates that are installed by Windows Update. 
 
These updates are not required, and can be declined from installing and also will not be downloaded and installed if Windows Update is disabled. But, if a person has automatic updates enabled these updates will be automatically installed. If a person doesn't want these to be installed, they can be quickly uninstalled and blocked from being re-downloaded and installed by running a script that knows which updates to permanently block from being searched-for by Windows Update, and from being downloaded and installed.
 
Aegis Script is one such script, though it was last updated May 18, 2016.
 
The Aegis script will also remove and block any prompts in Windows 7 and 8 about downloading and installing Windows 10.
 
Original script link, and discussion: Script for Win 7/8 to block all telemetry updates and Windows 10 upgrade components
Direct-download backup link for Aegis v1.18: https://mega.nz/#!dhExAbBa!fehYhbTNz5dIBh72psfXLfwv9wMk0uhMpGli-c0pBn4
 
For a list of the Windows 7 and 8(.1) updates that the Aegis script addresses, and also of the post Aegis scrip Windows updates to avoid because they have telemetry in them, see the bottom of this post.
 
 
For identifying data-collection-containing updates since 2016, here is an updated list of which updates to avoid or uninstall: https://pastebin.com/jWX2zHdr
 
------------------------------------------------
 
Overview of what the Aegis script does
 
Direct-download backup link for Aegis v1.18: https://mega.nz/#!dhExAbBa!fehYhbTNz5dIBh72psfXLfwv9wMk0uhMpGli-c0pBn4
 
(This information was retrieved from an archived version of the voat.co page discussing Aegis, via http://pastebin.com/1Xb2h39Z, and was last updated March 27, 2016, and so will not mention any changes to the script after that time)
 
Description: Blocks 201 bad hosts, change windows update to check/notify (do not download/install), disable automatic delivery of internet explorer via windows update, disable ceip/gwx/skydrive(aka onedrive)/spynet/telemetry/wifisense, disable remote registry, disable 31 scheduled tasks, disable windows 10 download directory, remove diagtrack, sync time to ntp.org, hide/uninstall 50 kb updates (see below).
 
Directions: Download, unzip, disable anti-virus, right click on aegis.cmd, click "run as administrator", follow on-screen instructions.
 
Note: If unable to uninstall some kb's this post may help.
 
Internet Explorer:
Some updates which may contain critical security patches for ie, as well as automated delivery of ie and related updates, will be blocked. Due to the obvious security risk posed by running an unpatched browser we strongly advise to uninstall ie. If you plan to continue to use ie you should probably not run this script - or manually patch and do so at your own risk.
 
Liability:
All code except sed and setacl is provided as open source so you can look and see for yourself what it does. It has been thoroughly tested on my own systems and scanned with VirusTotal, and to the best of my knowledge it does not contain any harmful or malicious elements. However I assume no liability for any problems so use it at your own risk.
 
License:
There is no official license - you are welcome to modify and share my code and you do not have to give me credit. I do appreciate any feedback and I will give you credit if I use your ideas. This script is the product of a collaborative effort and does not belong to any one person.
 
Windows Update:
This script will not block Windows Update however it will change your Windows Update settings to 'check/notify but do not download/install'. If you have problems getting Windows Update to work properly after running the script you may need to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter or the System Update Readiness Tool. If you have recently installed updates and have not yet rebooted you should reboot before running the script. If you are on a fresh install you may want to install all updates before running Aegis for the first time, otherwise it may take a long time to update.
 
 
Here is a possibly-incomplete listing of updates that Aegis removes and blocks, using the format:
kb update ID
update description
 
 
kb971033
update for windows activation technologies
 
kb2882822
update for adding itracerelogger interface support
 
kb2902907
description not available, update was pulled by microsoft
 
kb2922324
description not available, update was pulled by microsoft
 
kb2952664
update for upgrading windows 7
 
 
Ugh, screw this.
 
[kb2976978](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2976978) | update for windows 8.1 and windows 8 [kb2977759](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2977759) | update for windows 7 rtm [kb2990214](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2990214) | update that enables you to upgrade from windows 7 to a later version of windows [kb3012973](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3012973) | upgrade to windows 10 [kb3014460](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3014460) | update for windows insider preview / upgrade to windows 10 [kb3015249](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3015249) | update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 [kb3021917](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3021917) | update for windows 7 sp1 for performance improvements [kb3022345](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3022345) | update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry [kb3035583](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583) | update installs get windows 10 app in windows 8.1 and windows 7 sp1 [kb3042058](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3042058) | update for cipher suite priority order (contains winlogon spying elements) [kb3044374](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3044374) | update that enables you to upgrade from windows 8.1 to windows 10 [kb3046480](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3046480) | update for migrating .net when upgrading to later version of windows [kb3058168](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3058168) | activate windows 10 from windows 8 or windows 8.1, and windows server 2012 or windows server 2012 r2 kms hosts [kb3064683](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3064683) | update for windows 8.1 oobe modifications to reserve windows 10 [kb3065987](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3065987) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 july 2015 [kb3065988](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3065988) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 july 2015 [kb3068708](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3068708) | update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry [kb3072318](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3072318) | update for windows 8.1 oobe modifications to reserve windows 10 [kb3074677](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3074677) | compatibility update for upgrading to windows 10 [kb3075249](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075249) | update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in windows 8.1 and windows 7 [kb3075851](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075851) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 august 2015 [kb3075853](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075853) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 august 2015 [kb3080149](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080149) | update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry [kb3081437](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3081437) | august 18, 2015, compatibility update for upgrading to windows 10 [kb3081454](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3081454) | september 8, 2015, compatibility update for upgrading to windows 10 [kb3081954](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3081954) | update for work folders improvements in windows 7 sp1 (contains telemetry elements) [kb3083324](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083324) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 september 2015 [kb3083325](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083325) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 september 2015 [kb3083710](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083710) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 october 2015 [kb3083711](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083711) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 october 2015 [kb3086255](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3086255) | september 8, 2015, security update for the graphics component in windows (breaks safedisc) [kb3088195](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3088195) | october 13, 2015, security update for windows kernel (reported to contain a keylogger) [kb3090045](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3090045) | windows update for reserved devices in windows 8.1 or windows 7 sp1 (windows 10 upgrade elements) [kb3093983](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3093983) | security update for internet explorer: october 13, 2015 (ie spying elements) [kb3102810](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810) | windows 10 upgrade elements [kb3102812](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102812) | windows 10 upgrade elements [kb3112343](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3112343) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 december 2015 [kb3112336](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3112336) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 december 2015 [kb3123862](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3123862) | updated capabilities to upgrade windows 8.1 and windows 7 [kb3135445](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3135445) | windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2: february 2016 [kb3135449](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3135449) | windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2: february 2016 [kb3138612](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138612) | windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2: march 2016 [kb3138615](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138615) | windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2: march 2016 [kb3139929](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3139929) | security update for internet explorer: march 8, 2016 [kb3146449](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3146449) | updated internet explorer 11 capabilities to upgrade windows 8.1 and windows 7         Updates including post-Aegis that contain telemetry, updated to June 2018:   Windows 7/8/8.1 Updates to avoid as of the June 2018 "Patch Tuesday":
 
KB971033,  Activation exploits
KB2876229, Skype
KB2882822, replaced by KB3068708
KB2952664, telemetry crap
KB2970228, new Russian ruble symbol, breaks fonts
KB2976978, Windows 10 update crap for Win8
KB2977759, telemetry crap
KB2982791, Causes crashes
KB2990214, telemetry crap
KB3004394, faulty update
KB3018238, only applies to Windows Server 2008
KB3021917, telemetry crap
KB3022345, telemetry crap
KB3035583, telemetry crap
KB3050265, telemetry crap
KB3065987, telemetry crap
KB3068708, telemetry crap
KB3075249, telemetry crap
KB3075851, telemetry crap
KB3080149, telemetry crap
KB3081954, telemetry crap
KB3083324, telemetry crap
KB3083710, telemetry crap
KB3097877, Casuses crashes
KB3102810, telemetry crap
KB3107998, Lenovo fix to remove blocker
KB3112336, More WIN10 crap
KB3112343, More WIN10 crap + MS monitoring of win10 upgrade
KB3121255, crash during backup of PI Data server fails
KB3123862, Windows 10 update crap
KB3125574, Apr 2016 rollup with bad ones in it
KB3133977, BitLocker can't encrypt the drive and the service crashes
KB3135445, WIN7 update client to force WIN10
KB3137061, Azure virtual machines network outage data corruption
KB3138901, No Internet multiple users log on Remote Desktop Services
KB3139923, MSI repair doesn't work after you install updates
KB3147071, Connection to Oracle database fails. Causes browser lockups?
KB3150513, telemetry crap
 
other:
KB3184143 removes the Get Windows 10 app
KB3172605 July 2016 update rollup (re-released Sep 13 2016)
KB3179573 August 2016 Rollup

After I used Windows 10 as my primary OS for many months, I realised that I wouldn't miss anything about it if I went back to Windows 7. And since I found that everything was more difficult, more frustrating, more ugly, and more time-consuming on Windows 10, I went back to Windows 7 as my primary OS. Windows 10 made the detail of just having an OS a chore and liability all on its own, whereas Windows 7 is just passively there, like an OS should be, and just works for whatever I decide to do, without any of the barriers, talk-back, and convolution of Windows 10.
 
This post's sections include:
1) General Windows 7, Windows 10 user experience comparison
2) Gaming and application-wise
3) The modern Microsoft factor
4) My conclusion
 
 
 
General Windows 7, Windows 10 user experience comparison:
 
These are many of the reasons why I found Windows 7 to be a much more sophisticated, smartly-designed, and user-friendly OS than Windows 10:
 
Windows 7 has a more useful and efficient start-menu design, that takes up less screen space, and requires less mouse travel distance to get to what you want. Pinning applications to a space-efficient list directly above the start button is a lot more space-smart, and functionally-useful than the live-tiles design in Windows 10.
 
Windows 7 has an intelligent Windows Update set of choices, whereas in Windows 10, unless you edit Group Policies, you have basically no choice. The choice to defer updates is not useful, since deferring them still causes the same ambiguous and random update process to automatically occur, just a couple of months later. There isn't even a choice for how long to defer them. Also, with the Anniversary Update, Microsoft has reduced the availability of Group Policy options in Windows 10, a move which certainly wasn't done to be of any service to Windows 10 Pro license owners.
 
Customizing file-associations in Windows 7 is straight-forward, while in Windows 10 it can be a repeating arm-wrestle with the OS, as sometimes Win 10 resets the file associations you've changed, and sometimes the ability to change file-associations "bugs," and it doesn't let it be changed, or doesn't list the application you want and doesn't provide any means to add the application you want to use to the list (such as to use Chrome to open URLs from offline, non-browser text).
 
Windows 10's UI isn't very aesthetic to many people, and Windows 7's UI feels a lot more comfortable to me. Windows 10's UI can be changed to some extent, using programs like Startisback, Classic Shell, or  Start 10, and Aero Glass.
 
Windows 10's data-collection is invasive, and it isn't straight-forward to turn it off. Microsoft has made effort to spread the settings for various aspects of data-collection in many different places, to make it challenging for a person to find them all and disable them all. And extra efforts may be required to put a more thorough stop to MS' collection of your data, such as those described in the link in my signature. Don't presume that just because you turned off telemetry and data-collection during the Win 10 installation process that you got it all. You'll find more data-collection settings in individual MS apps that need turning off in them after the OS has completed installation.
 
Windows 10 has so far tended to often require users to redo their OS customization work with new big updates, which can have the magical ability to reset things back to the way MS wants them to be. For that reason, and because of data-collection, and because of file-association challenges, Windows 10 is not a user-friendly OS. It's a for-Microsoft OS, that a user might have to struggle with quite a bit to get the way they want, and to keep it the way they want. It's rather abusive, in this.
 
In Windows 10, there are in-OS ads, which is something Windows 7 doesn't have. Does anyone want to see advertisement in their personal space? I don't.
 
In Windows 10, Windows Defender is a nuisance, unless it is permanently disables in Group Policy Editor, and all system warning notifications are disabled (otherwise Windows 10 will constantly bother the user to re-enable Windows Defender).
 
Windows 10 has (lots of) bugs, and while new versions and patches fix some, they also often create new ones, sometimes major ones. Windows 7 has been generally bug-free (or, few enough that I haven't encountered any since its release).
 
Microsoft uses Windows 10 to pester users about whatever random thing they want to happen:
 
General:
Microsoft is disgustingly sneaky: Windows 10 isn't an operating system, it's an advertising platform
How to Get Rid of “Suggested Apps” (like Candy Crush) in Windows 10
How to Disable Ads on Your Windows 10 Lock Screen
Windows 10 Creators Update: Turn Off Suggested Apps in Share Dialog
 
August 2016: Microsoft's war against Chrome battery life now includes Windows 10 notifications
January 2017: Windows 10: Microsoft is spamming Chrome users with pop-up adverts      Microsoft's latest Windows 10 ad annoys Chrome users with taskbar pop-ups
February 2017: Windows 10 pushes notifcaitons to remind you to watch the Superbowl and to purchase snacks
October 2017: Is nothing sacred? Advertisement for OneDrive in my face when I opened Windows Explorer (I already pay for Office 365)      Microsoft is putting OneDrive ads in Windows 10’s File Explorer
https://boards.4chan.org/g/thread/59233293
November 2018: Microsoft wants to put ads in Windows email — and it’s already testing them out
 

 
 
I feel that the best thing I've found about Windows 10 is that after setting everything up the way that I'd like it, it functions pretty much like Windows 7, with the only differences being worse on Windows 10 than in Windows 7. But, since it takes more work to set up than Windows 7, and since it takes work to keep Windows 10 set up the way I want it to be (since Microsoft's Win 10 updates seems to cause people's Windows 10 configurations to reset arbitrarily), I can't see why I would go with the OS that takes ongoing work to be good, rather than the OS that is simply good from the start.
 
Areas in which I've discovered Windows 7 to be more configurable than Windows 10 include: Windows Updates, system restarting, the Group Policy editor, removing default apps, configuring what the default apps for file-types are, disabling background data-collection, account permissions, reliability, and visual customization.
 
 
 
Gaming and Application-wise:

There are no tangible performance differences between Windows 7 and Windows 10 in non DirectX 12 games and applications. While I haven't looked at benchmarks on the subject in a long time, last I saw, some games will perform better in one Windows OS compared to another, but, on average, across a large selection of games, Windows 7, 8, and 10 all perform within ~1 FPS of each other, with the two overall fastest Windows OSes being Windows 8, then Windows 7, with Windows 10 coming in last for performance in non DX12 games.
 
On my dual-boot system, Windows 7 is the OS that's lighter on system resources, using only 13% RAM at idle, compared with 15% RAM-usage at idle in Win 10 (Anniversary Update version).
 
Compatibility-wise, Windows 7 has better support for a larger amount of games and applications, having been the main gaming OS for a very long time, and continuing to be the OS with the largest market share. Because of this, Windows 7 also has a lot more community guides, fixes, and other materials to get games and applications to run on it, then does any other OS.

Windows 7 is a more stable and reliable OS in general than Windows 10, and Windows 7 doesn't interfere with online gaming by automatically updating and sharing data, such as can occur in Windows 10, for whatever MS app and service wants to do that. There are more options available to Windows 7 owners, to ensure that there won't be any automatic updates while they're playing their games, and Windows 7 doesn't cloud-share OS updates to other Windows owners, which Windows 10 does, unless a person disables it.
 
Windows 7 doesn't have directX 12, but it does have Vulkan, which accomplishes the same low-level hardware communication that improves application performance, and Windows 7 in Vulkan is just as good as Windows 10 in DX12. I think that Vulkan is more likely to become the industry standard than DX12, as it is available for all Windows, Linux, and more, OSes, whereas DX12 is only available in Windows 10. As Valve has expressed, there doesn't seem to be much point in making a game DX12, when making it Vulkan will make it accessible cross-platform.
 
Also, there doesn't currently seem to be any benefit for Nvidia cards in DX12, with Nvidia GPUs typically losing performance when running DX12 modes, compared to their performances while in DX11 mode. Because of this, and because of Vulkan's availability on previous Windows OSes, I think that Windows 10's DX12 has nothing to offer Nvidia GPU owners.
 
Windows 10 has a lot of problems right now, and Microsoft, with their new QA strategy (having laid off most of their testing engineers), has, so far, been unable to stay on top of them. I would avoid Windows 10 just for that reason. But there are other issues with Windows 10 that make it not the most sound OS for gaming, whatever a person is looking to do with it.
 
 
 
The modern Microsoft factor:
 
In the last 3 years, Microsoft has fired around 20,000 employees (many of whom were testing engineers), has changed management, has rearranged internal development and testing structures, has completely shifted business strategies away from software-first to monetization-first, and as a result, is no longer capable of quality product design, or of producing competent software releases. As ridiculous as things seemed to be under Ballmer, Microsoft is a not the same company today, for the worse, and Windows is not the same product anymore, also for the worse. The new Microsoft didn't design and develop the Windows IP, and has simply inherited the Windows IP, and is now just looking for how they can exploit and prostitute every cranny of it. It's just like when a pharmaceutical company buys the rights for a drug that they didn't research or develop, and then jacks the price up by 5000%. Or, it's like when a big publisher buys a developer of a popular game, and turns their game into a dumbed-down, overly-generic version of its previous form.
 
Currently, Windows 10 is probably the most buggy OS Microsoft has released since Windows ME, and each new major Win 10 update brings as many new bugs as it fixes. I think that Windows 10 simply is not a professional OS. It's like an indie-dev's prototype that never solidifies into anything great, but just morphs from one bloated and troubled presentation to another. Also, Win 10 is littered with "bugs" that are intentional, to keep people using MS services - things like issues with changing default apps away from MS ones. If a program starts doing that on a person's PC, it's called malware. And it's not different when Microsoft does it, through Windows. I think that it is fair to classify Windows 10 as malware, especially since it installed itself on so many PC systems without permission. And malware to be cleaned from a system. 
 
I think that Windows 10 is not a professional OS, and many businesses agree, and see Windows 10 as a debacle to be avoided, with nothing to be gained over previous versions of Windows, but rather the liabilities of it being a perpetual beta OS, filled with a bunch of consumer crapware and half-baked phone/mobile apps that have no business on a PC. The redesign of Microsoft QA has led to the current situation where accepting Windows updates can actually be more of a liability than not updating Windows:
 
January 2016: Windows 10 default programs keep changing
June 2016: Microsoft June Patch Breaks Group Policy Settings for Some Orgs
August 2016: 16 Windows 10 Anniversary Update Issues & How to Fix Them
August 2016: Microsoft admits to distributing Windows printing bugs in KB 3177725 and KB 3176493
August 2016: Partition disappears in Windows 10 Anniversary Update
August 2016: Microsoft Warns Windows 10 Update Has A Serious Problem
August 2016: Kindle crashes and broken PowerShell: Something isn’t right with Windows 10 testing
August 2016: Microsoft Has Broken Millions Of Webcams With Windows 10 Anniversary Update
Oct 2016: Flood of reports from people unable to install latest Windows update, resulting in an endless loop of repeated attempts
 
 
Microsoft's immense degradation of its programming and design quality has continued into 2018, with major updates causing a variety of serious issues for Windows owners, and patches meant to address serious security flaws actually making the flaws worse, and in some cases bricking a system's BIOS.
 
January 2018: Windows 10 will not start/boot after windows update
March 2018: Total Meltdown?
October 2018: Microsoft's latest Windows 10 update is reportedly wiping user data
October 2018: New Windows 10 1809 bug: Zip data-loss flaw is months old but Microsoft missed it
October 2018: HP users report BSOD after Tuesday patch
November 2018: Hold off installing re-released Windows Oct Update - networked-mapped drives not working, display driver problems
November 2018: Microsoft Blocks Windows 10 Version 1809 on Some PCs Due to Bad Intel Drivers
November 2018: Microsoft confirms File Association bug in Windows 10 will be patched on Tuesday
November 2018: Re-released Windows 10 October 2018 Update breaks Apple iCloud
November 2018: Et tu, Office? After pulling Windows 10 update, Microsoft does the same for Office
November 2018: Latest Windows 10 update breaks Windows Media Player, Win32 apps in general
December 2018: Microsoft pulls Windows 10’s optional November update following BSOD reports
March 2019: Latest Windows 10 Update Kills Performance in Some Games
 
April 2020 edit: Haven't been keeping tabs on the updates for a bit, but be assured that in 2020 the situation is still the same: Windows 10 KB4549951 update fails to install, deletes files, disables microphones, camera & USB ports, shuts down defender & causes other issues, including BSODs, Bluetooth and WiFi issues, random system crashes
 
Here's an article looking at what some of the changes have been to Microsoft's style of testing. August 2014: Why did Microsoft lay off 'Programmatic testers'?
 
With Microsoft having halved the number of their OS testing engineers, there were bound to be differences between traditional Windows QA and modern Windows QA results:
 
July 2014: Satya Nadella Is Cutting 5,500 Microsoft Employees, Too, With Windows Hit The Hardest
July 2014: Microsoft cuts 18,000 jobs
July 2015: Microsoft cuts another 7,800 jobs, takes $7.6 billion "impairment charge"
July 2016: Microsoft to cut about 2,850 more jobs
January 2017: About 700 Microsoft employees will be laid off next week, sources say
July 2017: Microsoft plans thousands of job cuts in a sales staff overhaul to fuel cloud growth
January 2018: Microsoft makes a new round of layoffs across multiple business units
 
March 2017: Microsoft claims 10 million ‘fans’ help it test Windows 10, but it’s sure got a funny definition of that word
 
 
Today's Windows is not the Windows we are familiar with, and today's Microsoft is not the Microsoft we are familiar with. I think that both of those things, in their modern forms, are shit.
 
And, in both my opinion, and experience with using Windows 10 since its release, using Windows 10 is sort of like walking through a minefield, in that you never know when something is going to screw something up, or even everything up, but you know that there are issues lying in wait to go off, all over the place. And every so often, sometimes frequently, something happens to create frustration, and requires work, sometimes a lot of work, to get sorted out.
 
 
 
My conclusion:
 
Windows 10 is a hyper-invasive, user-fighting, buggy, perpetual beta/demo version of Windows, that is ad-supported, and which is a constant chore and headache to keep set up, and to get it to do what a user wants it to.
On the other hand, Windows 7, at least up until June / July 2015, behaves like it is the full version of Windows, which just works, obeys the user, and doesn't collect a user's data for resale to make MS money, and doesn't try to trick the user at every turn, or even at all.
 
In my view, Windows 10 is a snake-oil OS, and many people are merely caught up in a sentiment they have of Windows 10 being new and the future, and they just want to ride that fluffy feeling while shutting down their minds completely.
Meanwhile, the I find reality to be that Windows 10 has less useful functionality than Windows 7, is a lot less stable and reliable than Windows 7, is less user-friendly than Windows 7, offers a PC admin less control than Windows 7, is more invasive than Windows 7, has in-OS ads which Windows 7 doesn't, has an excess of bloatware pre-installed while Windows 7 doesn't, and constantly resets customised file-associations to force people into using MS applications, which Windows 7 doesn't do.
 
 

 
 
Confessions of a former Microsoft programmer:
 

A highly important aspect of owning property, such as your computer hardware, the data on it as well as any data it generates, your Windows operating system, and other software you've purchased, is exclusively being the person that has the authority to make decisions over it, and being able to make the decisions that you know are the best for your situation.
 
As the European Union and Australia's top courts have ruled, and as even the US Supreme Court has indirectly supported, you own the software that you purchase, and you possess full property rights apply to your personally-owned software (with no comparable court in the world ruling contradictory to the European Union and Australia's top court rulings). The ownership rights that people possess over their software naturally includes full decision-making authority concerning whether their software may become modified or not, such as by updates.
 
In recent years, ever since the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has shown itself to be struggling to grasp the understanding of these things. Microsoft's efforts to oppose and sabotage Windows and PC system owners' ability to control and stop updates from being installed on their machines and modifying their OSes and storage drives against their wills constitutes a clear violation of property laws and is vandalism of people's computer systems and their personally-owned Windows OSes.
 
If you'd like more information about your ownership of your software, including Windows 10, and to learn about the nature of software licenses and EULAs, you can check out this link: You legally own the software that you purchase, and any claims otherwise are urban myth or corporate propaganda
 
 
 
Despite Microsoft's ongoing failure to meet its legal obligations to respect Windows owners' rights and property, there are a variety ways to take back control of your OS and make it more secure and reliable by controlling Windows Update. Here are 10 of them:
 
Method 1
One method is by using the Group Policy editor. The Group Policy editor is only available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. If you have Home edition, you will have to follow one of the other methods.
 
Setting the Group Policy editor policy for Automatic Updates to Disabled does the following: "If the status for this policy is set to Disabled, any updates that are available on Windows Update must be downloaded and installed manually. To do this, search for Windows Update using Start."
 
To Disable the automatic updates group policy:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Configure Automatic Updates"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
If you don't want to stop Windows Update from letting you know when new updates are available, but want to stop automatic downloads and installations of updates, then follow this guide to set the automatic updates policy to "Notify for download and notify for install":
 
If following that video guide to stop automatic downloads and installs of Windows updates, then after about 2 months, you might start getting full-screen pop-ups after you boot into the OS saying that updates are available for your OS. There are additional guides online showing how to disable those full-screen pop-ups (which shouldn't be happening in the first place, but Microsoft is not a good company and acts abusively by nature).
 
 
 
Method 2  ---  now possible with Windows 1803 and newer!
Windows Update can be fully disabled by opening Services and then disabling the item for Windows Update. To re-enable Windows Update at a later time, just re-enable its service.
 
If using Windows 1803 or newer, you will have to first give your Windows account "ownership" over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that's located in C:\Windows\System32, and possibly over the entire System32 folder. A guide on how to do that is here.
 
After you have control over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file, then do the following:
 
Step 1 - Go to C:\Windows\System32\
Step 2 - Locate and delete or rename the file WaaSMedicSvc.dll
Step 3 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 4 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
If you need to re-enable the Windows Update service at a later time:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and open it. Press Start, and the set the Startup Type to Enabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
If using Windows 10 1709 and earlier, then the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that automatically resets the Windows Update service isn't there, and so all it takes to disable Windows Update in earlier versions of Windows is this:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
 
Method 3
Here is another Group Policy editor method. If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can run the Group Policy editor (GPEdit.msc) and set the Windows Update Source to a non-existent URL.
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Specify Intranet Microsoft update service location"
Step 4 - In the upper-left of the Set the policy to "Enabled"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 4 - In the lower-left area of the window, under Options, set the intranet update service address and the intranet statistics server address to a URL that doesn't exist
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
 
Method 4
Use 3rd-party program NTLite to completely remove the Windows Update module from Windows.
 

 

 
Removing Windows Update via this method apparently, or might (according to one person), also remove the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel. I don't know if this is true, and it sounds strange to me, but if it does then individual Windows components can still be enabled or disabled using PowerShell.
 
For information on how to do that, visit this page: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/07/14/use-windows-powershell-to-install-optional-features/
 
Here's a quote of the comment which appears to me to claim that removing Windows Update via NTLite also removes the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel:
 
 
 
Method 5
In Windows 10 1803, Microsoft behaves criminally and vandalizes Windows owners' OSes by re-enabling WU-restarting scheduled tasks and the WU service via a new service titled "Windows Update Medic Service". If "Windows Update Medic Service" could be independently disabled, it would be possible to first disable that service and then disable the Windows Update service and have it stay disabled. However, Microsoft is not an honest and fair player, and doesn't respect their customers nor even treats them as people with legitimate interests and goals concerning their personally-owned OS. So, things aren't quite that straight-forward.
 
However, they're still somewhat straight-forward, and here are some programs that will block Windows Update and disable the offending Windows Update Medic service:
 
5.1
Disable Windows Update with one click using StopUpdates10:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/block-updates-windows-10-stopupdates10    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopupdates10.html
 
5.2
Block Updates on Windows 10 using Windows Update Blocker, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-4/    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windows_update_blocker.html
 
5.3
Block Updates on Windows 10 using StopWinUpdates, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopwinupdates.html
 
5.4
Control Windows Updates with Sledgehammer scipt:
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/04/28/control-windows-updates-with-sledgehammer-formerly-wumt-wrapper-script/
 
 
 
Method 6
There is a method to disable Windows Update involving using an offline Windows account (instead of a Microsoft account) described here:
 
https://www.wintips.org/how-to-turn-off-windows-10-updates-permanently/
 
For people not wanting their personal and personally-identifiable data harvested by Microsoft, it is strongly recommended to use a regular, "local" Windows account anyway and not a Microsoft account to log into Windows, as using a Microsoft account significantly increases the amount of personally-identifiable Windows usage data that is harvested by Microsoft.
 
 
 
Method 7
SimpleWall is a 3rd-party firewall program that has built-in protection rules for Windows Update that can be enabled.
 
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/simplewall-block-applications-from-using-internet
 
 
 
Method 8
There is a registry tweak to disable Windows Update, which might work for people on Home editions of Windows 10:
 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/26/windows-10-how-to-stop-forced-updates/#55d4846e46f6
 
Step 1 - Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: regedit and press enter
Step 2 - Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
Step 3 - In there create a ‘32-bit DWORD’ value called ‘AuOptions’ and under ‘Value Data’ type 2 and click ‘OK’
Step 4 - Open the Settings app (Win + I) and navigate to -> Update and Security -> Windows Updates. Click ‘Check for updates’ which applies the new configuration setting
Step 5 - Restart your PC
 
 
Alternatively, you can try this registry edit:
 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU 
Key: NoAutoUpdate 
Type: DWORD 
Value: 1 
 
To enable updates again, remove the "AU" registry key or delete NoAutoUpdate DWORD.
 
 
 
This Microsoft documentation offers alternate registry edits to disable Windows Update:
 
Or:
 
 
 
Method 9
You can also manually block Windows Update in your router's firewall, or in 3rd-party firewall software such as Comodo Firewall and PeerBlock. An advantage of using this method is that there is nothing that Microsoft can do to over-ride, reset, or ignore the block.
 
Be aware that some people have claimed that adding Microsoft servers to the Windows hosts file and to the Windows Defender Firewall will not block then because Windows 10 is maliciously designed to ignore any instructed blocking of Microsoft's own servers. I don't have confirmation that this is true, but if it is then you're going to have to block Microsoft's servers in a a 3rd-party firewall program such as those mentioned previously.
 
These are all or some of the Microsoft servers to block in your router's firewall or 3rd-party firewall software to block Windows Update:
 
windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.update.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.com
download.windowsupdate.com
download.microsoft.com
*.download.windowsupdate.com
wustat.windows.com
ntservicepack.microsoft.com
*.ws.microsoft.com
 
That list was last updated in 2015, so there could be some servers to add to it. There is an updated list of Microsoft's data-harvesting servers to block, and a hosts file with Microsoft's data-harvesting servers already included in it, here:
 
https://encrypt-the-planet.com/windows-10-anti-spy-host-file/
 
There might be an updated list of Microsoft's Windows Update servers on that site, too.
 
 
 
Method 10
You can turn off your Windows 10 OS' connection to Microsoft's Windows Update server.
 
"Used to download operating system patches and updates. If you turn off traffic for these endpoints, the device will not be able to download updates for the operating system."
 
Source process: svchost 
Protocol: HTTPS
Destination:  *.windowsupdate.com
Destination:  fg.download.windowsupdate.com.c.footprint.net
 
For more information on that approach, see this link: https://mspoweruser.com/these-are-the-websites-your-clean-install-windows-pc-connects-to-by-itself/
 
 
 
Method 11
Prevent Windows Update's ability to connect online via the registry. I haven't tried this method and I'm just reporting it as I've seen it stated.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
People should be aware that the reason why Microsoft tries to prevent Windows Update from being disabled is not due to security of your PC (if that was Microsoft's goal there would be a security-only updates setting, and it would be truly security-only), or making things easier for Microsoft's support efforts (which are dedicated from the outset of a new Windows release to run for a certain time-frame, and can't be reduced otherwise Microsoft would be guilty of false advertising), but is to provide Microsoft as many opportunities as possible to reset your Windows and default programs settings, as well as your data-harvesting settings, all back to the Microsoft defaults where Microsoft is able to harvest as much personal and personally-identifiable data about you as possible, while having lots of opportunities to add more data-harvesting to your OS.
 
And at the "Basic" setting, which is the most minimal data-harvesting setting in Windows 10 Home and Pro versions, Microsoft is continuously harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data from over 3,500 individual data points. Altogether, that data forms a meticulous and comprehensive picture of all your activities in your Windows OS.
 
Also, Microsoft's documentation on the volume of data they are harvesting at the Basic setting is incomplete, as watching Microsoft's Diagnostic Data Viewer tool on the transmitted data reveals transmitted data containers that can't be referenced in Microsoft's documentation.
 
 
Selling your personal and personally-identifiable data is a big part of Microsoft's business model now - despite that it is actually illegal for Microsoft to do it because Windows 10 is legally and factually a product (which you own) and not a service (which you merely access). So, Microsoft harvesting your data is analogous to a thief entering your home, taking your possessions, and selling them for profit. This activity by Microsoft, where they commercialize Windows owners' PCs without a license, constitutes the indictable crime of unjust enrichment.
 
 
Another major reason why Microsoft wants to force Windows updates on people's personal Windows OSes is because the large bi-annual Windows 10 updates grant Microsoft frequent opportunity to deliberately break any 3rd-party UI customization software twice a year.
 
Microsoft does this because any 3rd-party UI customization software stops Microsoft's own UI systems from harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data. Since Microsoft wants to steal as much of that data from you as possible so that Microsoft can then sell it for their unjust enrichment, Microsoft seeks for chances to break your custom software, and typically does so with each major update when Microsoft resets your Windows, program defaults, and data-privacy settings at the same time.
 
 
Trying to reason with Microsoft is like talking to a deranged psychopath who doesn't care about you in the least and who is only looking to exploit you as though you are not even human, and expecting them to see common sense and express empathy. Microsoft seeks to dominate and harvest, and not to serve and take into account its customers' needs and interests. Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft views its customers as its enemies to be defeated.
 
 
I hope this help many people regain their rightful control control of their operating system and to have a much more comfortable and stress-free experience in their own OS.
 
 
 
 
 
Old information:
 
In Windows 10 version 1803 and onward, the "Windows Update Medic Service" keep re-starting Windows Update and related scheduled tasks and re-creates Windows Update related scheduled tasks even after a person manually stops them, disables them, and removes the scheduled tasks. You could find another way to disable Windows Update Medic Service, which otherwise keeps re-starting Windows Update, and then disable Windows Update and any associated scheduled tasks.
 
http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/waasmedicsvc/
 
One way to disable Windows Update Medic Service might be to disable Remote Procedure Call, which is what starts Windows Update Medic Service: http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/rpcss/
 
Or by deleting the file "WaaSMedicSvc.dll" that's in the %WinDir%\System32 folder or possibly replacing it with another file and setting its permissions to "read only".
 
There is some information on disabling Windows Update medic Service and preventing it from re-enabling on this page: https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-1/
 
 
 
Method -- (superceded by current method 2)
Remove the files for all Windows 10 services that violate the commands of the system and Windows OS owner.
 
As of Windows 10 1803, the three offending Windows 10 services are:
 
- Windows Update (wuauserv)
- Windows Update Medic Service (WaaSMedic)
- Update Orchestrator Service (UsoSvc)
 
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), which might be thought of as also being involved, reportedly doesn't have any influence over the Windows 10 updates regime.
 
The files to be removed to stop the 3 offending services are all in the directory Windows\System32, and are the following files:

wusa.exe - windows update stand alone installer
wuapi.dll - windows update
wuaueng.dll - windows update
wuauclt.exe - old windows update
UsoClient.exe - update orchestrator
usoapi.dll - update orchestrator
usocore.dll - update orchestrator
WaaSMedicAssessment.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicSvc.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicPL.dll - new medic service
 
One Windows owner has reported that removing these files has fixed the Windows Update service from re-starting without authorization, without any detrimental effects on the rest of their system's operation. I haven't tried this method myself, and if anyone wants to add their feedback after trying it, please do.

If you are aware of updated information regarding telemetry and data collection in Windows 7 / 8 / 10, or know improved methods to disable it, please share it.
 
For Windows 10
 
 
General Privacy Guide's for Windows 10 version 1803 and 1809
 
This guide includes instructions on how to disable or remove various invasive or unwanted aspects of Windows 10. Some of what the guide includes instructions for:
 
- Basic Windows 10 set-up choices
- How to remove various apps, such as Windows Store, and other native Win 10 apps
- How to disable Cortana via registry
- How to remove various telemetry services and scheduled tasks
 
Some of what this guide shows instructions for may already be done by programs such as O&O ShutUp10.
 
For 1803: https://fdossena.com/?p=w10debotnet/index_1803.frag
 
For 1809: https://fdossena.com/?p=w10debotnet/index_1809.frag
 
For 1903: https://fdossena.com/?p=w10debotnet/index_1903.frag
 
 
 
Using an edition of Windows 10 that lets you set the telemetry as low as possible
 
Windows 10 Enterprise and LTSC allow you to use the group policy editor to lower the amount of data-harvesting to Security Only. The Security Only setting may appear in Windows 10 Pro, but setting the group policy to that setting in Pro doesn't have any effect as the Telemetry Only setting is disconnected from any functionality in Pro.
 
Licenses for Windows 10 Enterprise and LTSC can be purchased for cheap off of eBay.
 
To set data-collection to Security Only in Windows 10 Enterprise and LTSC:
 
1. Open the group policy editor
2. Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Data Collection and Preview Builds
3. From the list of that sections policies, double-click on the policy titled Allow Telemetry
4. Set the policy to Enabled, and then set the policy to Security Only from the drop-down box
5. Click OK to close the window
 
 
 
O&O ShutUp10
 
O&O ShutUp10 is an excellent free piece of software that provides many options to reduce the amount of data that is harvested by Microsoft. I strongly recommend using it and reading the description of each item that can be enabled or disabled to stop a lot of unwanted data-harvesting.
 
Quoted from the developer's website:
 
O&O ShutUp10: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
 
 
 
Setting up a custom firewall to block Microsoft telemetry servers
 
Download and install this custom hosts file, and this custom PeerBlock Microsoft IP list which is regularly updated from information obtained via Wireshark: https://encrypt-the-planet.com/windows-10-anti-spy-host-file/
 
Review this thorough guide (a website account is needed to view it): https://encrypt-the-planet.com/completely-disable-windows-10-telemetry/
 
 
 
Spybot Anti-Beacon
 
Another good tool for blocking unwanted communication between a PC and Microsoft. It adds a lot of IPs to the Windows hosts file
 
Spybot Anti-Beacon: https://www.safer-networking.org/spybot-anti-beacon/
 
 
 
Debloat Windows 10
 
Use the free Debloat Windows 10 script to do as it says in its description:
 
Debloat Windows 10: https://github.com/W4RH4WK/Debloat-Windows-10/blob/master/scripts/block-telemetry.ps1
 
 
 
Manually block Microsoft data-collection servers in your Windows hosts file
 
There have been suggestions that Windows 10 ignores Microsoft servers in the hosts file, but Spybot Anti-Beacon adds a bunch of Microsoft servers to it and so maybe they know something different.
 
The Windows hosts file is located at C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc. To open it, right-click and select "Open with", then choose Notepad and press OK. Then save the file when you're done editing it and then close it.
 
You can try adding these Microsoft data-collection servers to your Windows hosts file:
 
 
 
Disconnect Microsoft telemetry server connections
 
From: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/configure-windows-diagnostic-data-in-your-organization   (US page)
And:   https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/privacy/configure-windows-diagnostic-data-in-your-organization   (UK page)
 
 
More details on Windows 10 endpoints and ways to disconnect them: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/privacy/manage-windows-endpoints
 
 
 
My Digital Life's excellent repository on Windows 10 telemetry and its removal that contains sections on:
 
Delete Telemetry Services
Delete Remnants of Diagtrack and Cortana
Task Scheduler Block
IP Re-Routing
Hosts File Block
Packages Uninstall Lists
PEERBLOCK for Blocking Telemetry
Windows 10 IP Range Block List
Apps Online Uninstall
 
Link: [REPO] Windows 10 TELEMETRY REPOSITORY
 
 
 
Disable Windows 10 Telemetry Service
 
Disclaimer: This suggestion has been reported to be deprecated and so likely has no effect on the amount of telemetry Windows 10 collects
 
It was previously suggested that some Windows 10 telemetry and data collection could be disabled by doing the following:
 
Go to Services and Applications -> Services in the left pane. In the services list, disable the following service:
 
Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service     (called "Diagnostics Tracking Service" in Windows 10 version 1151 and earlier)
dmwappushsvc
 
Again, doing this likely has no effect on the level of telemetry that is collected.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For Windows 7 and 8
 
 
The surest way to run Windows 7 telemetry-free is to install Windows 7 from an early-to-mid 2015 ISO and then permanently disable Windows Update.
 
I have a June 2015 ISO of Windows 7 available for download in this post:
 
 
 
Block Microsoft data-collection servers in your Windows hosts file
 
For this, follow the same instructions mentioned in the Windows 10 section of this guide.
 
 
 
Windows 7 / 8(.1): Guidance on avoiding telemetry-containing updates including a list of security-only updates with download links for each (updated February 2019):
 
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2000003-ongoing-list-of-group-b-monthly-updates-for-win7-and-8-1/
 
 
 
Windows 7 / 8(.1): A thorough guide to identifying telemetry updates, removing the Windows telemetry service, and blocking Microsoft's telemetry servers
 
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/02/11/blocking-telemetry-in-windows-7-and-8-1/
 
 
 
Aegis script: Disables, uninstalls, and blocks a bunch of Windows 7 / 8 telemetry & data-collection updates
 
Since around mid-2015 (and possibly a bit earlier), Microsoft has been back-adding telemetry harvesting into Windows 7 and 8(.1) through the updates that are installed by Windows Update. 
 
These updates are not required, and can be declined from installing and also will not be downloaded and installed if Windows Update is disabled. But, if a person has automatic updates enabled these updates will be automatically installed. If a person doesn't want these to be installed, they can be quickly uninstalled and blocked from being re-downloaded and installed by running a script that knows which updates to permanently block from being searched-for by Windows Update, and from being downloaded and installed.
 
Aegis Script is one such script, though it was last updated May 18, 2016.
 
The Aegis script will also remove and block any prompts in Windows 7 and 8 about downloading and installing Windows 10.
 
Original script link, and discussion: Script for Win 7/8 to block all telemetry updates and Windows 10 upgrade components
Direct-download backup link for Aegis v1.18: https://mega.nz/#!dhExAbBa!fehYhbTNz5dIBh72psfXLfwv9wMk0uhMpGli-c0pBn4
 
For a list of the Windows 7 and 8(.1) updates that the Aegis script addresses, and also of the post Aegis scrip Windows updates to avoid because they have telemetry in them, see the bottom of this post.
 
 
For identifying data-collection-containing updates since 2016, here is an updated list of which updates to avoid or uninstall: https://pastebin.com/jWX2zHdr
 
------------------------------------------------
 
Overview of what the Aegis script does
 
Direct-download backup link for Aegis v1.18: https://mega.nz/#!dhExAbBa!fehYhbTNz5dIBh72psfXLfwv9wMk0uhMpGli-c0pBn4
 
(This information was retrieved from an archived version of the voat.co page discussing Aegis, via http://pastebin.com/1Xb2h39Z, and was last updated March 27, 2016, and so will not mention any changes to the script after that time)
 
Description: Blocks 201 bad hosts, change windows update to check/notify (do not download/install), disable automatic delivery of internet explorer via windows update, disable ceip/gwx/skydrive(aka onedrive)/spynet/telemetry/wifisense, disable remote registry, disable 31 scheduled tasks, disable windows 10 download directory, remove diagtrack, sync time to ntp.org, hide/uninstall 50 kb updates (see below).
 
Directions: Download, unzip, disable anti-virus, right click on aegis.cmd, click "run as administrator", follow on-screen instructions.
 
Note: If unable to uninstall some kb's this post may help.
 
Internet Explorer:
Some updates which may contain critical security patches for ie, as well as automated delivery of ie and related updates, will be blocked. Due to the obvious security risk posed by running an unpatched browser we strongly advise to uninstall ie. If you plan to continue to use ie you should probably not run this script - or manually patch and do so at your own risk.
 
Liability:
All code except sed and setacl is provided as open source so you can look and see for yourself what it does. It has been thoroughly tested on my own systems and scanned with VirusTotal, and to the best of my knowledge it does not contain any harmful or malicious elements. However I assume no liability for any problems so use it at your own risk.
 
License:
There is no official license - you are welcome to modify and share my code and you do not have to give me credit. I do appreciate any feedback and I will give you credit if I use your ideas. This script is the product of a collaborative effort and does not belong to any one person.
 
Windows Update:
This script will not block Windows Update however it will change your Windows Update settings to 'check/notify but do not download/install'. If you have problems getting Windows Update to work properly after running the script you may need to run the Windows Update Troubleshooter or the System Update Readiness Tool. If you have recently installed updates and have not yet rebooted you should reboot before running the script. If you are on a fresh install you may want to install all updates before running Aegis for the first time, otherwise it may take a long time to update.
 
 
Here is a possibly-incomplete listing of updates that Aegis removes and blocks, using the format:
kb update ID
update description
 
 
kb971033
update for windows activation technologies
 
kb2882822
update for adding itracerelogger interface support
 
kb2902907
description not available, update was pulled by microsoft
 
kb2922324
description not available, update was pulled by microsoft
 
kb2952664
update for upgrading windows 7
 
 
Ugh, screw this.
 
[kb2976978](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2976978) | update for windows 8.1 and windows 8 [kb2977759](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2977759) | update for windows 7 rtm [kb2990214](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2990214) | update that enables you to upgrade from windows 7 to a later version of windows [kb3012973](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3012973) | upgrade to windows 10 [kb3014460](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3014460) | update for windows insider preview / upgrade to windows 10 [kb3015249](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3015249) | update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 [kb3021917](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3021917) | update for windows 7 sp1 for performance improvements [kb3022345](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3022345) | update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry [kb3035583](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3035583) | update installs get windows 10 app in windows 8.1 and windows 7 sp1 [kb3042058](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3042058) | update for cipher suite priority order (contains winlogon spying elements) [kb3044374](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3044374) | update that enables you to upgrade from windows 8.1 to windows 10 [kb3046480](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3046480) | update for migrating .net when upgrading to later version of windows [kb3058168](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3058168) | activate windows 10 from windows 8 or windows 8.1, and windows server 2012 or windows server 2012 r2 kms hosts [kb3064683](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3064683) | update for windows 8.1 oobe modifications to reserve windows 10 [kb3065987](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3065987) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 july 2015 [kb3065988](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3065988) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 july 2015 [kb3068708](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3068708) | update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry [kb3072318](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3072318) | update for windows 8.1 oobe modifications to reserve windows 10 [kb3074677](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3074677) | compatibility update for upgrading to windows 10 [kb3075249](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075249) | update that adds telemetry points to consent.exe in windows 8.1 and windows 7 [kb3075851](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075851) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 august 2015 [kb3075853](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3075853) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 august 2015 [kb3080149](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3080149) | update for customer experience and diagnostic telemetry [kb3081437](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3081437) | august 18, 2015, compatibility update for upgrading to windows 10 [kb3081454](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3081454) | september 8, 2015, compatibility update for upgrading to windows 10 [kb3081954](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3081954) | update for work folders improvements in windows 7 sp1 (contains telemetry elements) [kb3083324](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083324) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 september 2015 [kb3083325](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083325) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 september 2015 [kb3083710](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083710) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 october 2015 [kb3083711](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3083711) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 october 2015 [kb3086255](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3086255) | september 8, 2015, security update for the graphics component in windows (breaks safedisc) [kb3088195](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3088195) | october 13, 2015, security update for windows kernel (reported to contain a keylogger) [kb3090045](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3090045) | windows update for reserved devices in windows 8.1 or windows 7 sp1 (windows 10 upgrade elements) [kb3093983](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3093983) | security update for internet explorer: october 13, 2015 (ie spying elements) [kb3102810](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102810) | windows 10 upgrade elements [kb3102812](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3102812) | windows 10 upgrade elements [kb3112343](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3112343) | update for windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2 december 2015 [kb3112336](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3112336) | update for windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2 december 2015 [kb3123862](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3123862) | updated capabilities to upgrade windows 8.1 and windows 7 [kb3135445](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3135445) | windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2: february 2016 [kb3135449](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3135449) | windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2: february 2016 [kb3138612](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138612) | windows update client for windows 7 and windows server 2008 r2: march 2016 [kb3138615](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3138615) | windows update client for windows 8.1 and windows server 2012 r2: march 2016 [kb3139929](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3139929) | security update for internet explorer: march 8, 2016 [kb3146449](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3146449) | updated internet explorer 11 capabilities to upgrade windows 8.1 and windows 7         Updates including post-Aegis that contain telemetry, updated to June 2018:   Windows 7/8/8.1 Updates to avoid as of the June 2018 "Patch Tuesday":
 
KB971033,  Activation exploits
KB2876229, Skype
KB2882822, replaced by KB3068708
KB2952664, telemetry crap
KB2970228, new Russian ruble symbol, breaks fonts
KB2976978, Windows 10 update crap for Win8
KB2977759, telemetry crap
KB2982791, Causes crashes
KB2990214, telemetry crap
KB3004394, faulty update
KB3018238, only applies to Windows Server 2008
KB3021917, telemetry crap
KB3022345, telemetry crap
KB3035583, telemetry crap
KB3050265, telemetry crap
KB3065987, telemetry crap
KB3068708, telemetry crap
KB3075249, telemetry crap
KB3075851, telemetry crap
KB3080149, telemetry crap
KB3081954, telemetry crap
KB3083324, telemetry crap
KB3083710, telemetry crap
KB3097877, Casuses crashes
KB3102810, telemetry crap
KB3107998, Lenovo fix to remove blocker
KB3112336, More WIN10 crap
KB3112343, More WIN10 crap + MS monitoring of win10 upgrade
KB3121255, crash during backup of PI Data server fails
KB3123862, Windows 10 update crap
KB3125574, Apr 2016 rollup with bad ones in it
KB3133977, BitLocker can't encrypt the drive and the service crashes
KB3135445, WIN7 update client to force WIN10
KB3137061, Azure virtual machines network outage data corruption
KB3138901, No Internet multiple users log on Remote Desktop Services
KB3139923, MSI repair doesn't work after you install updates
KB3147071, Connection to Oracle database fails. Causes browser lockups?
KB3150513, telemetry crap
 
other:
KB3184143 removes the Get Windows 10 app
KB3172605 July 2016 update rollup (re-released Sep 13 2016)
KB3179573 August 2016 Rollup

A highly important aspect of owning property, such as your computer hardware, the data on it as well as any data it generates, your Windows operating system, and other software you've purchased, is exclusively being the person that has the authority to make decisions over it, and being able to make the decisions that you know are the best for your situation.
 
As the European Union and Australia's top courts have ruled, and as even the US Supreme Court has indirectly supported, you own the software that you purchase, and you possess full property rights apply to your personally-owned software (with no comparable court in the world ruling contradictory to the European Union and Australia's top court rulings). The ownership rights that people possess over their software naturally includes full decision-making authority concerning whether their software may become modified or not, such as by updates.
 
In recent years, ever since the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has shown itself to be struggling to grasp the understanding of these things. Microsoft's efforts to oppose and sabotage Windows and PC system owners' ability to control and stop updates from being installed on their machines and modifying their OSes and storage drives against their wills constitutes a clear violation of property laws and is vandalism of people's computer systems and their personally-owned Windows OSes.
 
If you'd like more information about your ownership of your software, including Windows 10, and to learn about the nature of software licenses and EULAs, you can check out this link: You legally own the software that you purchase, and any claims otherwise are urban myth or corporate propaganda
 
 
 
Despite Microsoft's ongoing failure to meet its legal obligations to respect Windows owners' rights and property, there are a variety ways to take back control of your OS and make it more secure and reliable by controlling Windows Update. Here are 10 of them:
 
Method 1
One method is by using the Group Policy editor. The Group Policy editor is only available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. If you have Home edition, you will have to follow one of the other methods.
 
Setting the Group Policy editor policy for Automatic Updates to Disabled does the following: "If the status for this policy is set to Disabled, any updates that are available on Windows Update must be downloaded and installed manually. To do this, search for Windows Update using Start."
 
To Disable the automatic updates group policy:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Configure Automatic Updates"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
If you don't want to stop Windows Update from letting you know when new updates are available, but want to stop automatic downloads and installations of updates, then follow this guide to set the automatic updates policy to "Notify for download and notify for install":
 
If following that video guide to stop automatic downloads and installs of Windows updates, then after about 2 months, you might start getting full-screen pop-ups after you boot into the OS saying that updates are available for your OS. There are additional guides online showing how to disable those full-screen pop-ups (which shouldn't be happening in the first place, but Microsoft is not a good company and acts abusively by nature).
 
 
 
Method 2  ---  now possible with Windows 1803 and newer!
Windows Update can be fully disabled by opening Services and then disabling the item for Windows Update. To re-enable Windows Update at a later time, just re-enable its service.
 
If using Windows 1803 or newer, you will have to first give your Windows account "ownership" over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that's located in C:\Windows\System32, and possibly over the entire System32 folder. A guide on how to do that is here.
 
After you have control over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file, then do the following:
 
Step 1 - Go to C:\Windows\System32\
Step 2 - Locate and delete or rename the file WaaSMedicSvc.dll
Step 3 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 4 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
If you need to re-enable the Windows Update service at a later time:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and open it. Press Start, and the set the Startup Type to Enabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
If using Windows 10 1709 and earlier, then the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that automatically resets the Windows Update service isn't there, and so all it takes to disable Windows Update in earlier versions of Windows is this:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
 
Method 3
Here is another Group Policy editor method. If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can run the Group Policy editor (GPEdit.msc) and set the Windows Update Source to a non-existent URL.
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Specify Intranet Microsoft update service location"
Step 4 - In the upper-left of the Set the policy to "Enabled"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 4 - In the lower-left area of the window, under Options, set the intranet update service address and the intranet statistics server address to a URL that doesn't exist
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
 
Method 4
Use 3rd-party program NTLite to completely remove the Windows Update module from Windows.
 

 

 
Removing Windows Update via this method apparently, or might (according to one person), also remove the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel. I don't know if this is true, and it sounds strange to me, but if it does then individual Windows components can still be enabled or disabled using PowerShell.
 
For information on how to do that, visit this page: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/07/14/use-windows-powershell-to-install-optional-features/
 
Here's a quote of the comment which appears to me to claim that removing Windows Update via NTLite also removes the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel:
 
 
 
Method 5
In Windows 10 1803, Microsoft behaves criminally and vandalizes Windows owners' OSes by re-enabling WU-restarting scheduled tasks and the WU service via a new service titled "Windows Update Medic Service". If "Windows Update Medic Service" could be independently disabled, it would be possible to first disable that service and then disable the Windows Update service and have it stay disabled. However, Microsoft is not an honest and fair player, and doesn't respect their customers nor even treats them as people with legitimate interests and goals concerning their personally-owned OS. So, things aren't quite that straight-forward.
 
However, they're still somewhat straight-forward, and here are some programs that will block Windows Update and disable the offending Windows Update Medic service:
 
5.1
Disable Windows Update with one click using StopUpdates10:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/block-updates-windows-10-stopupdates10    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopupdates10.html
 
5.2
Block Updates on Windows 10 using Windows Update Blocker, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-4/    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windows_update_blocker.html
 
5.3
Block Updates on Windows 10 using StopWinUpdates, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopwinupdates.html
 
5.4
Control Windows Updates with Sledgehammer scipt:
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/04/28/control-windows-updates-with-sledgehammer-formerly-wumt-wrapper-script/
 
 
 
Method 6
There is a method to disable Windows Update involving using an offline Windows account (instead of a Microsoft account) described here:
 
https://www.wintips.org/how-to-turn-off-windows-10-updates-permanently/
 
For people not wanting their personal and personally-identifiable data harvested by Microsoft, it is strongly recommended to use a regular, "local" Windows account anyway and not a Microsoft account to log into Windows, as using a Microsoft account significantly increases the amount of personally-identifiable Windows usage data that is harvested by Microsoft.
 
 
 
Method 7
SimpleWall is a 3rd-party firewall program that has built-in protection rules for Windows Update that can be enabled.
 
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/simplewall-block-applications-from-using-internet
 
 
 
Method 8
There is a registry tweak to disable Windows Update, which might work for people on Home editions of Windows 10:
 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/26/windows-10-how-to-stop-forced-updates/#55d4846e46f6
 
Step 1 - Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: regedit and press enter
Step 2 - Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
Step 3 - In there create a ‘32-bit DWORD’ value called ‘AuOptions’ and under ‘Value Data’ type 2 and click ‘OK’
Step 4 - Open the Settings app (Win + I) and navigate to -> Update and Security -> Windows Updates. Click ‘Check for updates’ which applies the new configuration setting
Step 5 - Restart your PC
 
 
Alternatively, you can try this registry edit:
 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU 
Key: NoAutoUpdate 
Type: DWORD 
Value: 1 
 
To enable updates again, remove the "AU" registry key or delete NoAutoUpdate DWORD.
 
 
 
This Microsoft documentation offers alternate registry edits to disable Windows Update:
 
Or:
 
 
 
Method 9
You can also manually block Windows Update in your router's firewall, or in 3rd-party firewall software such as Comodo Firewall and PeerBlock. An advantage of using this method is that there is nothing that Microsoft can do to over-ride, reset, or ignore the block.
 
Be aware that some people have claimed that adding Microsoft servers to the Windows hosts file and to the Windows Defender Firewall will not block then because Windows 10 is maliciously designed to ignore any instructed blocking of Microsoft's own servers. I don't have confirmation that this is true, but if it is then you're going to have to block Microsoft's servers in a a 3rd-party firewall program such as those mentioned previously.
 
These are all or some of the Microsoft servers to block in your router's firewall or 3rd-party firewall software to block Windows Update:
 
windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.update.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.com
download.windowsupdate.com
download.microsoft.com
*.download.windowsupdate.com
wustat.windows.com
ntservicepack.microsoft.com
*.ws.microsoft.com
 
That list was last updated in 2015, so there could be some servers to add to it. There is an updated list of Microsoft's data-harvesting servers to block, and a hosts file with Microsoft's data-harvesting servers already included in it, here:
 
https://encrypt-the-planet.com/windows-10-anti-spy-host-file/
 
There might be an updated list of Microsoft's Windows Update servers on that site, too.
 
 
 
Method 10
You can turn off your Windows 10 OS' connection to Microsoft's Windows Update server.
 
"Used to download operating system patches and updates. If you turn off traffic for these endpoints, the device will not be able to download updates for the operating system."
 
Source process: svchost 
Protocol: HTTPS
Destination:  *.windowsupdate.com
Destination:  fg.download.windowsupdate.com.c.footprint.net
 
For more information on that approach, see this link: https://mspoweruser.com/these-are-the-websites-your-clean-install-windows-pc-connects-to-by-itself/
 
 
 
Method 11
Prevent Windows Update's ability to connect online via the registry. I haven't tried this method and I'm just reporting it as I've seen it stated.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
People should be aware that the reason why Microsoft tries to prevent Windows Update from being disabled is not due to security of your PC (if that was Microsoft's goal there would be a security-only updates setting, and it would be truly security-only), or making things easier for Microsoft's support efforts (which are dedicated from the outset of a new Windows release to run for a certain time-frame, and can't be reduced otherwise Microsoft would be guilty of false advertising), but is to provide Microsoft as many opportunities as possible to reset your Windows and default programs settings, as well as your data-harvesting settings, all back to the Microsoft defaults where Microsoft is able to harvest as much personal and personally-identifiable data about you as possible, while having lots of opportunities to add more data-harvesting to your OS.
 
And at the "Basic" setting, which is the most minimal data-harvesting setting in Windows 10 Home and Pro versions, Microsoft is continuously harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data from over 3,500 individual data points. Altogether, that data forms a meticulous and comprehensive picture of all your activities in your Windows OS.
 
Also, Microsoft's documentation on the volume of data they are harvesting at the Basic setting is incomplete, as watching Microsoft's Diagnostic Data Viewer tool on the transmitted data reveals transmitted data containers that can't be referenced in Microsoft's documentation.
 
 
Selling your personal and personally-identifiable data is a big part of Microsoft's business model now - despite that it is actually illegal for Microsoft to do it because Windows 10 is legally and factually a product (which you own) and not a service (which you merely access). So, Microsoft harvesting your data is analogous to a thief entering your home, taking your possessions, and selling them for profit. This activity by Microsoft, where they commercialize Windows owners' PCs without a license, constitutes the indictable crime of unjust enrichment.
 
 
Another major reason why Microsoft wants to force Windows updates on people's personal Windows OSes is because the large bi-annual Windows 10 updates grant Microsoft frequent opportunity to deliberately break any 3rd-party UI customization software twice a year.
 
Microsoft does this because any 3rd-party UI customization software stops Microsoft's own UI systems from harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data. Since Microsoft wants to steal as much of that data from you as possible so that Microsoft can then sell it for their unjust enrichment, Microsoft seeks for chances to break your custom software, and typically does so with each major update when Microsoft resets your Windows, program defaults, and data-privacy settings at the same time.
 
 
Trying to reason with Microsoft is like talking to a deranged psychopath who doesn't care about you in the least and who is only looking to exploit you as though you are not even human, and expecting them to see common sense and express empathy. Microsoft seeks to dominate and harvest, and not to serve and take into account its customers' needs and interests. Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft views its customers as its enemies to be defeated.
 
 
I hope this help many people regain their rightful control control of their operating system and to have a much more comfortable and stress-free experience in their own OS.
 
 
 
 
 
Old information:
 
In Windows 10 version 1803 and onward, the "Windows Update Medic Service" keep re-starting Windows Update and related scheduled tasks and re-creates Windows Update related scheduled tasks even after a person manually stops them, disables them, and removes the scheduled tasks. You could find another way to disable Windows Update Medic Service, which otherwise keeps re-starting Windows Update, and then disable Windows Update and any associated scheduled tasks.
 
http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/waasmedicsvc/
 
One way to disable Windows Update Medic Service might be to disable Remote Procedure Call, which is what starts Windows Update Medic Service: http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/rpcss/
 
Or by deleting the file "WaaSMedicSvc.dll" that's in the %WinDir%\System32 folder or possibly replacing it with another file and setting its permissions to "read only".
 
There is some information on disabling Windows Update medic Service and preventing it from re-enabling on this page: https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-1/
 
 
 
Method -- (superceded by current method 2)
Remove the files for all Windows 10 services that violate the commands of the system and Windows OS owner.
 
As of Windows 10 1803, the three offending Windows 10 services are:
 
- Windows Update (wuauserv)
- Windows Update Medic Service (WaaSMedic)
- Update Orchestrator Service (UsoSvc)
 
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), which might be thought of as also being involved, reportedly doesn't have any influence over the Windows 10 updates regime.
 
The files to be removed to stop the 3 offending services are all in the directory Windows\System32, and are the following files:

wusa.exe - windows update stand alone installer
wuapi.dll - windows update
wuaueng.dll - windows update
wuauclt.exe - old windows update
UsoClient.exe - update orchestrator
usoapi.dll - update orchestrator
usocore.dll - update orchestrator
WaaSMedicAssessment.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicSvc.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicPL.dll - new medic service
 
One Windows owner has reported that removing these files has fixed the Windows Update service from re-starting without authorization, without any detrimental effects on the rest of their system's operation. I haven't tried this method myself, and if anyone wants to add their feedback after trying it, please do.

A highly important aspect of owning property, such as your computer hardware, the data on it as well as any data it generates, your Windows operating system, and other software you've purchased, is exclusively being the person that has the authority to make decisions over it, and being able to make the decisions that you know are the best for your situation.
 
As the European Union and Australia's top courts have ruled, and as even the US Supreme Court has indirectly supported, you own the software that you purchase, and you possess full property rights apply to your personally-owned software (with no comparable court in the world ruling contradictory to the European Union and Australia's top court rulings). The ownership rights that people possess over their software naturally includes full decision-making authority concerning whether their software may become modified or not, such as by updates.
 
In recent years, ever since the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has shown itself to be struggling to grasp the understanding of these things. Microsoft's efforts to oppose and sabotage Windows and PC system owners' ability to control and stop updates from being installed on their machines and modifying their OSes and storage drives against their wills constitutes a clear violation of property laws and is vandalism of people's computer systems and their personally-owned Windows OSes.
 
If you'd like more information about your ownership of your software, including Windows 10, and to learn about the nature of software licenses and EULAs, you can check out this link: You legally own the software that you purchase, and any claims otherwise are urban myth or corporate propaganda
 
 
 
Despite Microsoft's ongoing failure to meet its legal obligations to respect Windows owners' rights and property, there are a variety ways to take back control of your OS and make it more secure and reliable by controlling Windows Update. Here are 10 of them:
 
Method 1
One method is by using the Group Policy editor. The Group Policy editor is only available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. If you have Home edition, you will have to follow one of the other methods.
 
Setting the Group Policy editor policy for Automatic Updates to Disabled does the following: "If the status for this policy is set to Disabled, any updates that are available on Windows Update must be downloaded and installed manually. To do this, search for Windows Update using Start."
 
To Disable the automatic updates group policy:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Configure Automatic Updates"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
If you don't want to stop Windows Update from letting you know when new updates are available, but want to stop automatic downloads and installations of updates, then follow this guide to set the automatic updates policy to "Notify for download and notify for install":
 
If following that video guide to stop automatic downloads and installs of Windows updates, then after about 2 months, you might start getting full-screen pop-ups after you boot into the OS saying that updates are available for your OS. There are additional guides online showing how to disable those full-screen pop-ups (which shouldn't be happening in the first place, but Microsoft is not a good company and acts abusively by nature).
 
 
 
Method 2  ---  now possible with Windows 1803 and newer!
Windows Update can be fully disabled by opening Services and then disabling the item for Windows Update. To re-enable Windows Update at a later time, just re-enable its service.
 
If using Windows 1803 or newer, you will have to first give your Windows account "ownership" over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that's located in C:\Windows\System32, and possibly over the entire System32 folder. A guide on how to do that is here.
 
After you have control over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file, then do the following:
 
Step 1 - Go to C:\Windows\System32\
Step 2 - Locate and delete or rename the file WaaSMedicSvc.dll
Step 3 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 4 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
If you need to re-enable the Windows Update service at a later time:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and open it. Press Start, and the set the Startup Type to Enabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
If using Windows 10 1709 and earlier, then the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that automatically resets the Windows Update service isn't there, and so all it takes to disable Windows Update in earlier versions of Windows is this:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
 
Method 3
Here is another Group Policy editor method. If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can run the Group Policy editor (GPEdit.msc) and set the Windows Update Source to a non-existent URL.
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Specify Intranet Microsoft update service location"
Step 4 - In the upper-left of the Set the policy to "Enabled"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 4 - In the lower-left area of the window, under Options, set the intranet update service address and the intranet statistics server address to a URL that doesn't exist
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
 
Method 4
Use 3rd-party program NTLite to completely remove the Windows Update module from Windows.
 

 

 
Removing Windows Update via this method apparently, or might (according to one person), also remove the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel. I don't know if this is true, and it sounds strange to me, but if it does then individual Windows components can still be enabled or disabled using PowerShell.
 
For information on how to do that, visit this page: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/07/14/use-windows-powershell-to-install-optional-features/
 
Here's a quote of the comment which appears to me to claim that removing Windows Update via NTLite also removes the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel:
 
 
 
Method 5
In Windows 10 1803, Microsoft behaves criminally and vandalizes Windows owners' OSes by re-enabling WU-restarting scheduled tasks and the WU service via a new service titled "Windows Update Medic Service". If "Windows Update Medic Service" could be independently disabled, it would be possible to first disable that service and then disable the Windows Update service and have it stay disabled. However, Microsoft is not an honest and fair player, and doesn't respect their customers nor even treats them as people with legitimate interests and goals concerning their personally-owned OS. So, things aren't quite that straight-forward.
 
However, they're still somewhat straight-forward, and here are some programs that will block Windows Update and disable the offending Windows Update Medic service:
 
5.1
Disable Windows Update with one click using StopUpdates10:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/block-updates-windows-10-stopupdates10    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopupdates10.html
 
5.2
Block Updates on Windows 10 using Windows Update Blocker, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-4/    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windows_update_blocker.html
 
5.3
Block Updates on Windows 10 using StopWinUpdates, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopwinupdates.html
 
5.4
Control Windows Updates with Sledgehammer scipt:
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/04/28/control-windows-updates-with-sledgehammer-formerly-wumt-wrapper-script/
 
 
 
Method 6
There is a method to disable Windows Update involving using an offline Windows account (instead of a Microsoft account) described here:
 
https://www.wintips.org/how-to-turn-off-windows-10-updates-permanently/
 
For people not wanting their personal and personally-identifiable data harvested by Microsoft, it is strongly recommended to use a regular, "local" Windows account anyway and not a Microsoft account to log into Windows, as using a Microsoft account significantly increases the amount of personally-identifiable Windows usage data that is harvested by Microsoft.
 
 
 
Method 7
SimpleWall is a 3rd-party firewall program that has built-in protection rules for Windows Update that can be enabled.
 
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/simplewall-block-applications-from-using-internet
 
 
 
Method 8
There is a registry tweak to disable Windows Update, which might work for people on Home editions of Windows 10:
 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/26/windows-10-how-to-stop-forced-updates/#55d4846e46f6
 
Step 1 - Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: regedit and press enter
Step 2 - Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
Step 3 - In there create a ‘32-bit DWORD’ value called ‘AuOptions’ and under ‘Value Data’ type 2 and click ‘OK’
Step 4 - Open the Settings app (Win + I) and navigate to -> Update and Security -> Windows Updates. Click ‘Check for updates’ which applies the new configuration setting
Step 5 - Restart your PC
 
 
Alternatively, you can try this registry edit:
 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU 
Key: NoAutoUpdate 
Type: DWORD 
Value: 1 
 
To enable updates again, remove the "AU" registry key or delete NoAutoUpdate DWORD.
 
 
 
This Microsoft documentation offers alternate registry edits to disable Windows Update:
 
Or:
 
 
 
Method 9
You can also manually block Windows Update in your router's firewall, or in 3rd-party firewall software such as Comodo Firewall and PeerBlock. An advantage of using this method is that there is nothing that Microsoft can do to over-ride, reset, or ignore the block.
 
Be aware that some people have claimed that adding Microsoft servers to the Windows hosts file and to the Windows Defender Firewall will not block then because Windows 10 is maliciously designed to ignore any instructed blocking of Microsoft's own servers. I don't have confirmation that this is true, but if it is then you're going to have to block Microsoft's servers in a a 3rd-party firewall program such as those mentioned previously.
 
These are all or some of the Microsoft servers to block in your router's firewall or 3rd-party firewall software to block Windows Update:
 
windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.update.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.com
download.windowsupdate.com
download.microsoft.com
*.download.windowsupdate.com
wustat.windows.com
ntservicepack.microsoft.com
*.ws.microsoft.com
 
That list was last updated in 2015, so there could be some servers to add to it. There is an updated list of Microsoft's data-harvesting servers to block, and a hosts file with Microsoft's data-harvesting servers already included in it, here:
 
https://encrypt-the-planet.com/windows-10-anti-spy-host-file/
 
There might be an updated list of Microsoft's Windows Update servers on that site, too.
 
 
 
Method 10
You can turn off your Windows 10 OS' connection to Microsoft's Windows Update server.
 
"Used to download operating system patches and updates. If you turn off traffic for these endpoints, the device will not be able to download updates for the operating system."
 
Source process: svchost 
Protocol: HTTPS
Destination:  *.windowsupdate.com
Destination:  fg.download.windowsupdate.com.c.footprint.net
 
For more information on that approach, see this link: https://mspoweruser.com/these-are-the-websites-your-clean-install-windows-pc-connects-to-by-itself/
 
 
 
Method 11
Prevent Windows Update's ability to connect online via the registry. I haven't tried this method and I'm just reporting it as I've seen it stated.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
People should be aware that the reason why Microsoft tries to prevent Windows Update from being disabled is not due to security of your PC (if that was Microsoft's goal there would be a security-only updates setting, and it would be truly security-only), or making things easier for Microsoft's support efforts (which are dedicated from the outset of a new Windows release to run for a certain time-frame, and can't be reduced otherwise Microsoft would be guilty of false advertising), but is to provide Microsoft as many opportunities as possible to reset your Windows and default programs settings, as well as your data-harvesting settings, all back to the Microsoft defaults where Microsoft is able to harvest as much personal and personally-identifiable data about you as possible, while having lots of opportunities to add more data-harvesting to your OS.
 
And at the "Basic" setting, which is the most minimal data-harvesting setting in Windows 10 Home and Pro versions, Microsoft is continuously harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data from over 3,500 individual data points. Altogether, that data forms a meticulous and comprehensive picture of all your activities in your Windows OS.
 
Also, Microsoft's documentation on the volume of data they are harvesting at the Basic setting is incomplete, as watching Microsoft's Diagnostic Data Viewer tool on the transmitted data reveals transmitted data containers that can't be referenced in Microsoft's documentation.
 
 
Selling your personal and personally-identifiable data is a big part of Microsoft's business model now - despite that it is actually illegal for Microsoft to do it because Windows 10 is legally and factually a product (which you own) and not a service (which you merely access). So, Microsoft harvesting your data is analogous to a thief entering your home, taking your possessions, and selling them for profit. This activity by Microsoft, where they commercialize Windows owners' PCs without a license, constitutes the indictable crime of unjust enrichment.
 
 
Another major reason why Microsoft wants to force Windows updates on people's personal Windows OSes is because the large bi-annual Windows 10 updates grant Microsoft frequent opportunity to deliberately break any 3rd-party UI customization software twice a year.
 
Microsoft does this because any 3rd-party UI customization software stops Microsoft's own UI systems from harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data. Since Microsoft wants to steal as much of that data from you as possible so that Microsoft can then sell it for their unjust enrichment, Microsoft seeks for chances to break your custom software, and typically does so with each major update when Microsoft resets your Windows, program defaults, and data-privacy settings at the same time.
 
 
Trying to reason with Microsoft is like talking to a deranged psychopath who doesn't care about you in the least and who is only looking to exploit you as though you are not even human, and expecting them to see common sense and express empathy. Microsoft seeks to dominate and harvest, and not to serve and take into account its customers' needs and interests. Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft views its customers as its enemies to be defeated.
 
 
I hope this help many people regain their rightful control control of their operating system and to have a much more comfortable and stress-free experience in their own OS.
 
 
 
 
 
Old information:
 
In Windows 10 version 1803 and onward, the "Windows Update Medic Service" keep re-starting Windows Update and related scheduled tasks and re-creates Windows Update related scheduled tasks even after a person manually stops them, disables them, and removes the scheduled tasks. You could find another way to disable Windows Update Medic Service, which otherwise keeps re-starting Windows Update, and then disable Windows Update and any associated scheduled tasks.
 
http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/waasmedicsvc/
 
One way to disable Windows Update Medic Service might be to disable Remote Procedure Call, which is what starts Windows Update Medic Service: http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/rpcss/
 
Or by deleting the file "WaaSMedicSvc.dll" that's in the %WinDir%\System32 folder or possibly replacing it with another file and setting its permissions to "read only".
 
There is some information on disabling Windows Update medic Service and preventing it from re-enabling on this page: https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-1/
 
 
 
Method -- (superceded by current method 2)
Remove the files for all Windows 10 services that violate the commands of the system and Windows OS owner.
 
As of Windows 10 1803, the three offending Windows 10 services are:
 
- Windows Update (wuauserv)
- Windows Update Medic Service (WaaSMedic)
- Update Orchestrator Service (UsoSvc)
 
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), which might be thought of as also being involved, reportedly doesn't have any influence over the Windows 10 updates regime.
 
The files to be removed to stop the 3 offending services are all in the directory Windows\System32, and are the following files:

wusa.exe - windows update stand alone installer
wuapi.dll - windows update
wuaueng.dll - windows update
wuauclt.exe - old windows update
UsoClient.exe - update orchestrator
usoapi.dll - update orchestrator
usocore.dll - update orchestrator
WaaSMedicAssessment.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicSvc.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicPL.dll - new medic service
 
One Windows owner has reported that removing these files has fixed the Windows Update service from re-starting without authorization, without any detrimental effects on the rest of their system's operation. I haven't tried this method myself, and if anyone wants to add their feedback after trying it, please do.

A highly important aspect of owning property, such as your computer hardware, the data on it as well as any data it generates, your Windows operating system, and other software you've purchased, is exclusively being the person that has the authority to make decisions over it, and being able to make the decisions that you know are the best for your situation.
 
As the European Union and Australia's top courts have ruled, and as even the US Supreme Court has indirectly supported, you own the software that you purchase, and you possess full property rights apply to your personally-owned software (with no comparable court in the world ruling contradictory to the European Union and Australia's top court rulings). The ownership rights that people possess over their software naturally includes full decision-making authority concerning whether their software may become modified or not, such as by updates.
 
In recent years, ever since the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has shown itself to be struggling to grasp the understanding of these things. Microsoft's efforts to oppose and sabotage Windows and PC system owners' ability to control and stop updates from being installed on their machines and modifying their OSes and storage drives against their wills constitutes a clear violation of property laws and is vandalism of people's computer systems and their personally-owned Windows OSes.
 
If you'd like more information about your ownership of your software, including Windows 10, and to learn about the nature of software licenses and EULAs, you can check out this link: You legally own the software that you purchase, and any claims otherwise are urban myth or corporate propaganda
 
 
 
Despite Microsoft's ongoing failure to meet its legal obligations to respect Windows owners' rights and property, there are a variety ways to take back control of your OS and make it more secure and reliable by controlling Windows Update. Here are 10 of them:
 
Method 1
One method is by using the Group Policy editor. The Group Policy editor is only available in Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise. If you have Home edition, you will have to follow one of the other methods.
 
Setting the Group Policy editor policy for Automatic Updates to Disabled does the following: "If the status for this policy is set to Disabled, any updates that are available on Windows Update must be downloaded and installed manually. To do this, search for Windows Update using Start."
 
To Disable the automatic updates group policy:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Configure Automatic Updates"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
If you don't want to stop Windows Update from letting you know when new updates are available, but want to stop automatic downloads and installations of updates, then follow this guide to set the automatic updates policy to "Notify for download and notify for install":
 
If following that video guide to stop automatic downloads and installs of Windows updates, then after about 2 months, you might start getting full-screen pop-ups after you boot into the OS saying that updates are available for your OS. There are additional guides online showing how to disable those full-screen pop-ups (which shouldn't be happening in the first place, but Microsoft is not a good company and acts abusively by nature).
 
 
 
Method 2  ---  now possible with Windows 1803 and newer!
Windows Update can be fully disabled by opening Services and then disabling the item for Windows Update. To re-enable Windows Update at a later time, just re-enable its service.
 
If using Windows 1803 or newer, you will have to first give your Windows account "ownership" over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that's located in C:\Windows\System32, and possibly over the entire System32 folder. A guide on how to do that is here.
 
After you have control over the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file, then do the following:
 
Step 1 - Go to C:\Windows\System32\
Step 2 - Locate and delete or rename the file WaaSMedicSvc.dll
Step 3 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 4 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
If you need to re-enable the Windows Update service at a later time:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and open it. Press Start, and the set the Startup Type to Enabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
If using Windows 10 1709 and earlier, then the WaaSMedicSvc.dll file that automatically resets the Windows Update service isn't there, and so all it takes to disable Windows Update in earlier versions of Windows is this:
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for and open Services
Step 2 - In the Services window, search for Windows Update and double-click on it to open it. Press Stop, and the set the Startup Type to Disabled. Then press OK to close the window.
 
 
 
Method 3
Here is another Group Policy editor method. If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise, you can run the Group Policy editor (GPEdit.msc) and set the Windows Update Source to a non-existent URL.
 
Step 1 - In the start menu, search for Group Policy, and open the policy editor
Step 2 - Navigate to: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
Step 3 - In the folder containing policies for Windows Update, double-click on the policy titled "Specify Intranet Microsoft update service location"
Step 4 - In the upper-left of the Set the policy to "Enabled"
Step 4 - In the top-left area of the window that pops up, check the box that says Disabled
Step 4 - In the lower-left area of the window, under Options, set the intranet update service address and the intranet statistics server address to a URL that doesn't exist
Step 5 - Press OK to close that window
 

 
 
 
Method 4
Use 3rd-party program NTLite to completely remove the Windows Update module from Windows.
 

 

 
Removing Windows Update via this method apparently, or might (according to one person), also remove the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel. I don't know if this is true, and it sounds strange to me, but if it does then individual Windows components can still be enabled or disabled using PowerShell.
 
For information on how to do that, visit this page: https://www.ghacks.net/2017/07/14/use-windows-powershell-to-install-optional-features/
 
Here's a quote of the comment which appears to me to claim that removing Windows Update via NTLite also removes the "turn Windows features on or off" section in the Windows control panel:
 
 
 
Method 5
In Windows 10 1803, Microsoft behaves criminally and vandalizes Windows owners' OSes by re-enabling WU-restarting scheduled tasks and the WU service via a new service titled "Windows Update Medic Service". If "Windows Update Medic Service" could be independently disabled, it would be possible to first disable that service and then disable the Windows Update service and have it stay disabled. However, Microsoft is not an honest and fair player, and doesn't respect their customers nor even treats them as people with legitimate interests and goals concerning their personally-owned OS. So, things aren't quite that straight-forward.
 
However, they're still somewhat straight-forward, and here are some programs that will block Windows Update and disable the offending Windows Update Medic service:
 
5.1
Disable Windows Update with one click using StopUpdates10:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/block-updates-windows-10-stopupdates10    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopupdates10.html
 
5.2
Block Updates on Windows 10 using Windows Update Blocker, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-4/    Alternative link: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/windows_update_blocker.html
 
5.3
Block Updates on Windows 10 using StopWinUpdates, a 3rd-party tool which disables Windows Update:
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/stopwinupdates.html
 
5.4
Control Windows Updates with Sledgehammer scipt:
https://www.ghacks.net/2019/04/28/control-windows-updates-with-sledgehammer-formerly-wumt-wrapper-script/
 
 
 
Method 6
There is a method to disable Windows Update involving using an offline Windows account (instead of a Microsoft account) described here:
 
https://www.wintips.org/how-to-turn-off-windows-10-updates-permanently/
 
For people not wanting their personal and personally-identifiable data harvested by Microsoft, it is strongly recommended to use a regular, "local" Windows account anyway and not a Microsoft account to log into Windows, as using a Microsoft account significantly increases the amount of personally-identifiable Windows usage data that is harvested by Microsoft.
 
 
 
Method 7
SimpleWall is a 3rd-party firewall program that has built-in protection rules for Windows Update that can be enabled.
 
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/simplewall-block-applications-from-using-internet
 
 
 
Method 8
There is a registry tweak to disable Windows Update, which might work for people on Home editions of Windows 10:
 
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2015/08/26/windows-10-how-to-stop-forced-updates/#55d4846e46f6
 
Step 1 - Open the Run command (Win + R), in it type: regedit and press enter
Step 2 - Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
Step 3 - In there create a ‘32-bit DWORD’ value called ‘AuOptions’ and under ‘Value Data’ type 2 and click ‘OK’
Step 4 - Open the Settings app (Win + I) and navigate to -> Update and Security -> Windows Updates. Click ‘Check for updates’ which applies the new configuration setting
Step 5 - Restart your PC
 
 
Alternatively, you can try this registry edit:
 
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU 
Key: NoAutoUpdate 
Type: DWORD 
Value: 1 
 
To enable updates again, remove the "AU" registry key or delete NoAutoUpdate DWORD.
 
 
 
This Microsoft documentation offers alternate registry edits to disable Windows Update:
 
Or:
 
 
 
Method 9
You can also manually block Windows Update in your router's firewall, or in 3rd-party firewall software such as Comodo Firewall and PeerBlock. An advantage of using this method is that there is nothing that Microsoft can do to over-ride, reset, or ignore the block.
 
Be aware that some people have claimed that adding Microsoft servers to the Windows hosts file and to the Windows Defender Firewall will not block then because Windows 10 is maliciously designed to ignore any instructed blocking of Microsoft's own servers. I don't have confirmation that this is true, but if it is then you're going to have to block Microsoft's servers in a a 3rd-party firewall program such as those mentioned previously.
 
These are all or some of the Microsoft servers to block in your router's firewall or 3rd-party firewall software to block Windows Update:
 
windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
*.update.microsoft.com
*.windowsupdate.com
download.windowsupdate.com
download.microsoft.com
*.download.windowsupdate.com
wustat.windows.com
ntservicepack.microsoft.com
*.ws.microsoft.com
 
That list was last updated in 2015, so there could be some servers to add to it. There is an updated list of Microsoft's data-harvesting servers to block, and a hosts file with Microsoft's data-harvesting servers already included in it, here:
 
https://encrypt-the-planet.com/windows-10-anti-spy-host-file/
 
There might be an updated list of Microsoft's Windows Update servers on that site, too.
 
 
 
Method 10
You can turn off your Windows 10 OS' connection to Microsoft's Windows Update server.
 
"Used to download operating system patches and updates. If you turn off traffic for these endpoints, the device will not be able to download updates for the operating system."
 
Source process: svchost 
Protocol: HTTPS
Destination:  *.windowsupdate.com
Destination:  fg.download.windowsupdate.com.c.footprint.net
 
For more information on that approach, see this link: https://mspoweruser.com/these-are-the-websites-your-clean-install-windows-pc-connects-to-by-itself/
 
 
 
Method 11
Prevent Windows Update's ability to connect online via the registry. I haven't tried this method and I'm just reporting it as I've seen it stated.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
People should be aware that the reason why Microsoft tries to prevent Windows Update from being disabled is not due to security of your PC (if that was Microsoft's goal there would be a security-only updates setting, and it would be truly security-only), or making things easier for Microsoft's support efforts (which are dedicated from the outset of a new Windows release to run for a certain time-frame, and can't be reduced otherwise Microsoft would be guilty of false advertising), but is to provide Microsoft as many opportunities as possible to reset your Windows and default programs settings, as well as your data-harvesting settings, all back to the Microsoft defaults where Microsoft is able to harvest as much personal and personally-identifiable data about you as possible, while having lots of opportunities to add more data-harvesting to your OS.
 
And at the "Basic" setting, which is the most minimal data-harvesting setting in Windows 10 Home and Pro versions, Microsoft is continuously harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data from over 3,500 individual data points. Altogether, that data forms a meticulous and comprehensive picture of all your activities in your Windows OS.
 
Also, Microsoft's documentation on the volume of data they are harvesting at the Basic setting is incomplete, as watching Microsoft's Diagnostic Data Viewer tool on the transmitted data reveals transmitted data containers that can't be referenced in Microsoft's documentation.
 
 
Selling your personal and personally-identifiable data is a big part of Microsoft's business model now - despite that it is actually illegal for Microsoft to do it because Windows 10 is legally and factually a product (which you own) and not a service (which you merely access). So, Microsoft harvesting your data is analogous to a thief entering your home, taking your possessions, and selling them for profit. This activity by Microsoft, where they commercialize Windows owners' PCs without a license, constitutes the indictable crime of unjust enrichment.
 
 
Another major reason why Microsoft wants to force Windows updates on people's personal Windows OSes is because the large bi-annual Windows 10 updates grant Microsoft frequent opportunity to deliberately break any 3rd-party UI customization software twice a year.
 
Microsoft does this because any 3rd-party UI customization software stops Microsoft's own UI systems from harvesting your personal and personally-identifiable data. Since Microsoft wants to steal as much of that data from you as possible so that Microsoft can then sell it for their unjust enrichment, Microsoft seeks for chances to break your custom software, and typically does so with each major update when Microsoft resets your Windows, program defaults, and data-privacy settings at the same time.
 
 
Trying to reason with Microsoft is like talking to a deranged psychopath who doesn't care about you in the least and who is only looking to exploit you as though you are not even human, and expecting them to see common sense and express empathy. Microsoft seeks to dominate and harvest, and not to serve and take into account its customers' needs and interests. Under Satya Nadella, Microsoft views its customers as its enemies to be defeated.
 
 
I hope this help many people regain their rightful control control of their operating system and to have a much more comfortable and stress-free experience in their own OS.
 
 
 
 
 
Old information:
 
In Windows 10 version 1803 and onward, the "Windows Update Medic Service" keep re-starting Windows Update and related scheduled tasks and re-creates Windows Update related scheduled tasks even after a person manually stops them, disables them, and removes the scheduled tasks. You could find another way to disable Windows Update Medic Service, which otherwise keeps re-starting Windows Update, and then disable Windows Update and any associated scheduled tasks.
 
http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/waasmedicsvc/
 
One way to disable Windows Update Medic Service might be to disable Remote Procedure Call, which is what starts Windows Update Medic Service: http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/rpcss/
 
Or by deleting the file "WaaSMedicSvc.dll" that's in the %WinDir%\System32 folder or possibly replacing it with another file and setting its permissions to "read only".
 
There is some information on disabling Windows Update medic Service and preventing it from re-enabling on this page: https://www.sordum.org/9470/windows-update-blocker-v1-1/
 
 
 
Method -- (superceded by current method 2)
Remove the files for all Windows 10 services that violate the commands of the system and Windows OS owner.
 
As of Windows 10 1803, the three offending Windows 10 services are:
 
- Windows Update (wuauserv)
- Windows Update Medic Service (WaaSMedic)
- Update Orchestrator Service (UsoSvc)
 
Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), which might be thought of as also being involved, reportedly doesn't have any influence over the Windows 10 updates regime.
 
The files to be removed to stop the 3 offending services are all in the directory Windows\System32, and are the following files:

wusa.exe - windows update stand alone installer
wuapi.dll - windows update
wuaueng.dll - windows update
wuauclt.exe - old windows update
UsoClient.exe - update orchestrator
usoapi.dll - update orchestrator
usocore.dll - update orchestrator
WaaSMedicAssessment.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicSvc.dll - new medic service
WaaSMedicPL.dll - new medic service
 
One Windows owner has reported that removing these files has fixed the Windows Update service from re-starting without authorization, without any detrimental effects on the rest of their system's operation. I haven't tried this method myself, and if anyone wants to add their feedback after trying it, please do.