Anyway to not update to 24H2 but still get security updates?

Thank you!

Several weeks ago I had this update and it was total FUBAR. I went back to previous and put my updates on pause. Today, even though i was still on pause, they did it to me again. I thought i "went back" again afterwards but now it shows installed and i cant "go back". Several of my apps wont even start now. If MS got charged for all the hours they make customers do unnecessary work they would be bankrupt. I may try a some restore points or even a full system reinstall soon. Unbelievably disappointed with MS.

Well I have NEVER pressed the red stuff, and today, Microsoft decided that I needed that damn 24H2 update. It took almost all day, and when it was finally done, I had no audio, my Epson scanner app had disappeared and the laptop just crawled with every single keystroke. I tried to install/update the audio drivers - no dice. I was fortunately able to Go Back and my computer is now working like it should. I really don't want this update and if it means I need to edit the registry, I will.

Sadly, as of 8th February 2025 (in my case), this was no longer true. Windows decided to "upgrade" me from 23H2 to 24H2 all by itself, while I was asleep in bed, without my wish or permission. The result? My printers stopped working, my settings were trashed, and some of my go-to apps (not least Copilot, only introduced in the past year or so) had been deleted. I was NOT HAPPY.

It's taken me two and a half days to undo the damage. I immediately did a "Roll-Back", which appeared to work - but Copilot, though once again present, would not run. I did all the obvious things (uninstall, re-install / clear the cache / disk cleanup / repair Windows (SFC found corrupted files, DISM replaced them). Still no luck.

So today, after backing up everything, I did the "nuclear" option, downloading the latest version of 23H2 and reinstalling Windows on my machine, while hoping to retain all my many applications.

It SEEMS to have worked (touch wood), and everything is back to where it was. I also added the registry keys mentioned in another comment above, but with minor corrections, which currently prevents Windows Update from even mentioning 24H2, let alone downloading and installing it. Running these commands from a Command Prompt with Administrator privileges does the trick:

reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /v ProductVersion /t REG_SZ /d "Windows 11" /f

reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /v TargetReleaseVersion /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /v TargetReleaseVersionInfo /t REG_SZ /d "23H2" /f

I've put these in a batch file called "23H2.BAT" in case I need to run them again, or on another computer. If when I want to remove the 23H2 restriction, my other batch file, "24H2.BAT" removes the above key values:

reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /v ProductVersion /f

reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /v TargetReleaseVersion /f

reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate /v TargetReleaseVersionInfo /f

And yes, I've tested these prior to my new install today, when I immediately ran the first of these files to keep 24H2 well at bay.

Windows 24H2 removes all support for Windows Mixed Reality, because Microsoft no longer wish to support any headset that uses this standard, whether it’s my HP or any other. They’ve declared them obsolete, so I would have to either give up on VR just as Flight Simulator 2024 has me regularly using it again, or go out and spend almost £1000 on a Valve Index.