Need advice to permanently disable things like win10 updates, defender and apps

[Seyrren]

Hi i have a pc with limited hdd space for which I'm thinking of installing windows 10 but i want the whole update process completely dissabled and to make sure it doesn't revive itself, any advice for this please?

 

As for windows defender is there a way to disable the realtime protection, other then my manual scans i don't want it to do anything. If that's not possible i want to permanently disable it without any chance of it reactivating itself.

 

As for apps is there any good way of getting rid of them without them ever reinstalling or windows installing some begind my back? I don't quite want to get rid of all of them but there's a lot I don't need.

 

PS: Nothing of significance will be stored on it, internet access will be mostly limited to a very few sites and even if by chance it gets compromised it wont affect me. 

[Guest]

All of that can be done via the registry or Group Policy Editor, no third-party tools required

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-antivirus/configure-real-time-protection-microsoft-defender-antivirus

 

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-automatic-driver-updates-windows-10

 

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-stop-updates-installing-automatically-windows-10

 

https://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-10/how-to-disable-windows-10-telemetry/

 

EDIT: Added fourth link for disabling Microsoft telemtry

Edited February 11, 2021 by Sp4gh3tti
Added fourth link

[flashiling]

do you have large files on your computer like pictures or many documents, if so you can use google drive and other online storage solutions to store some of the data to save a bit of space on your pc.

 

also check if you have old windows update files that aren't in use anymore, sometimes they can take up a couple GB

[Quackers101]

some of what you are asking is to install a script that ruins windows 10. updates they have made more options for and can disable some things when installing windows. you shouldn't when it comes to the baked in defender, it will not auto scan without you enabling it. unless you talk about other things that is not something to care about?

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Quackers101 said:

some of what you are asking is to install a script that ruins windows 10. updates they have made more options for and can disable some things when installing windows. you shouldn't when it comes to the baked in defender, it will not auto scan without you enabling it. unless you talk about other things that is not something to care about?

I can tell you haven't needed to deploy (((unlicensed))) windows in a large amount, or ensure constant uptime of those deployments.
The mods OP requested are commonplace with crypto mining on windows. Windows forced updates are a cancer, change my mind

[Quackers101]

5 minutes ago, Sp4gh3tti said:

Windows forced updates are a cancer, change my mind

true, don't know how bad it is now. Have only gotten messages about it, so not sure how bad it is or if they updated it to be "better".

Else I was thinking of:

https://youtu.be/PdKMiFKGQuc?t=971

[isXander]

Maybe this would meet your interest?

Windows Ameliorated  <-- LTT video covering it

Direct link if you suspect rickroll <-- Direct link to their website

[Guest]

Just now, Quackers101 said:

true, don't know how bad it is now. Have only gotten messages about it, so not sure how bad it is or if they updated it to be "better".

Else I was thinking of:

https://youtu.be/PdKMiFKGQuc?t=971

It gets considerably worse every passing year. Also thank you for reminding me I missed a link

 

https://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-10/how-to-disable-windows-10-telemetry/

[Quackers101]

1 minute ago, Sp4gh3tti said:

It gets considerably worse every passing year. Also thank you for reminding me I missed a link

sadly they are going to make windows 10 even worse... soon?

[porina]

Especially if you have multiple PCs you want to do this to, there is one easy way to prevent Windows from updating or installing apps: simply put the Microsoft sites on a blacklist at network level. It can't update if it can't connect. Microsoft themselves provides a list of servers they want you to whitelist to allow it to work, but simply turn it around and block them all. This was a disadvantage to the method, because if you wanted a working store but not WU you can't do that. It just blocks both.

 

On disabling defender, I haven't done it recently but in the past I did find a 3rd party download that did it for me. It was on an ultra-low performance system and I had to do that to make it at all usable. Can't remember what it is though.

[Seyrren]

2 hours ago, porina said:

Especially if you have multiple PCs you want to do this to, there is one easy way to prevent Windows from updating or installing apps: simply put the Microsoft sites on a blacklist at network level. It can't update if it can't connect. Microsoft themselves provides a list of servers they want you to whitelist to allow it to work, but simply turn it around and block them all. This was a disadvantage to the method, because if you wanted a working store but not WU you can't do that. It just blocks both.

 

On disabling defender, I haven't done it recently but in the past I did find a 3rd party download that did it for me. It was on an ultra-low performance system and I had to do that to make it at all usable. Can't remember what it is though.

You mean via the hosts file or via a router ?

 

[porina]

15 minutes ago, Seyrren said:

You mean via the hosts file or via a router ?

Router. I wouldn't rely on doing it on the system itself.

[Seyrren]

3 hours ago, porina said:

Router. I wouldn't rely on doing it on the system itself.

So basically i blacklist in my router all of the addresses here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-server-update-services/deploy/2-configure-wsus#211-connection-from-the-wsus-server-to-the-internet  correct ?

[Guest]

6 hours ago, porina said:

put the Microsoft sites on a blacklist at network level

Does this affect running DISM commands or would those still work..?

[porina]

56 minutes ago, Seyrren said:

So basically i blacklist in my router all of the addresses here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-server-update-services/deploy/2-configure-wsus#211-connection-from-the-wsus-server-to-the-internet  correct ?

I think I found a different list but it looks like what I have done in the past. 

 

Again note that anything behind this block will not be able to get Windows Updates, use the Microsoft Store or other Microsoft provided downloads.

 

20 minutes ago, Sp4gh3tti said:

Does this affect running DISM commands or would those still work..?

Depends on what that command does. If it requires one of the blocked MS servers, then it'll probably not work. 

[RafaelSoaresP]

Try w10privacy
It's amazingly powerful and simple to use.

[Seyrren]

Thank you all for the great tips, any advices on removing unwanted uwp apps ? Since not all uwp apps are removable by default... With forza coming to steam i'm actually thinking of limiting the whole store app as much as possible since except for some of the basic apps i don't feel like i need anything else.