How to Cancel Windows 11 update?

The registry editing instructions in this thread (page 1 and again on page 5) really have worked for me! I left my computer on with updates not paused, and while I was gone, it checked for updates and found me up to date -- absolutely no hint of a Windows 11 download!

Yes, I hope one of the experts will jump in here, as I am not one. But I can tell you that I also had a pending download of Windows 11 that I had to keep pausing and then deleting from that download folder specified in step 2 below. Every time I unpaused, it would start all over again at 0% downloading and continue the % download until I could hit pause again and then go back to that download folder and delete whatever had just landed there. I also did the stopping of the wuaserv and bits, as indicated in one of JoJun's earlier posts in this thread. I have copied and pasted it in here for you and I have saved it for myself in a doc I have compiled for future reference. I did both steps 1 and 2 below and then did the registry edit. I re-started my computer after doing these things but before re-visiting the Updates page in Settings. When the computer restarted, then I dared to look at the Updates page in Settings. It still showed the paused updates and looked just as it had when I left it, but this time when I unpaused it, it started doing the cumulative update for Windows 10. So even though I had also deleted Windows 10 pending updates when I emptied the download folder, any updates that applied to my version of Windows 10 were what showed up, downloaded, installed when I unpaused. I watched anxiously the whole time with my finger poised over the pause button, but Windows 11 never reared its ugly head. My updates are no longer paused, and there seems no threat of Windows 11 sneaking up on me.

If it indicates that it is updating to Windows 11, and it displays 'downloading' or even 'reboot to install', then:

1. You need to stop wuauserv and bits, so they don't immediately recreate the directory you're going to delete in step 2.

To stop them, you either need to go to control panel, services, and locate the services by name, and stop them (do not change their startup mode!).

Or, you can open a command prompt with administrative privileges and type in the commands 'net stop wuauserv' and 'net stop bits', respectively. It should look something like this;

C:\WINDOWS\system32> net stop wuauserv

C:\WINDOWS\system32> net stop bits

Things that can go awry with this step:

If you see an error message, or 'The Windows Update Service is not started', you either don't have Administrative Privileges, or you have the Windows Update Window open. Opening the 'Windows Update' window to check what happens, actually restarts the services, so don't do that!

2. You need to delete the directory where it's downloaded the Windows 11 files.

It is the catalog 'C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\29915d28b757d79214ddd971f3fd6134'

Now you have reset the progress on the Windows 11 patch. However, this is just a temporary solution. As soon as you go to the 'Windows Update' window, it will restart the services (wuauserv and bits), and start downloading Windows 11 again.

To make it last a bit longer, you need to do the registry hack that Rodrigo.Quieroz posted about on December 18 (the first page in this thread), so that Windows Update thinks that it should target a later version of Windows 10 instead of Windows 11.

PortlandMT, the instructions first appeared on page 1 of this thread in a post by Rodrigo.Queiroz dated December 17,2021. JoJun repeated them later on -- page 5, January 13, 2022.

Learn from my mistake and check that the pathway in the address bar continues to match what you pasted in, if you use the paste-in method. (I used copy-and-paste for all file names as well, as a way to be certain I was putting in exactly what it said.) But apparently, if you don't have the folder for the final part of the pathway, it will go elsewhere as soon as you make your entries! Makes sense in retrospect-- it can't put things in a folder that doesn't exist.

All of this will make more sense if you look at this video: https://youtu.be/S_s50gEvG7g

  Note: the instructions for the home version like you and I have starts at about minute 2:56. Once you watch this, it is much easier to understand what you are doing with the written instructions on this thread. If pasting in the pathway does not work for you (as it didn't for me), this video will show you just where/how in the subfile branches to navigate to the right place.

Remember: if you make your way down through subfolders all the way to the last Windows folder in the pathway and there is no subfile for WindowsUpdate, follow the instructions at the end of Rodrigo.Quieroz instructions for adding that folder! The YouTube video linked above also shows specifically how to add the update folder if it is not there.

I used my current version of Windows 10 -- 21H1 -- at the last entry rather than attempt to change that to the 21H2 in the instructions. I'm definitely not an expert, but I would think you would use 20H2 at that step since it is what your computer is running. The guy in the YouTube video also said he was using 21H1 because that was his current version. Others have pointed out that the later the version you target for, the longer you are likely to enjoy Windows 10. I was reluctant to change anything from what it had been before the Windows 11 debacle began, and figure I can always modify that registry entry for 21H2 later if I want to. I assume that 20H2 is one version earlier than the one I am running and 2 versions earlier than the 21H2 in the written instructions. 21H2 was released in October 2021 and it doesn't sound like it offers a whole lot of change from what I have.

So, PortlandMT, that's about all the info I have. The process really is not complicated once you see it. Were it not for my overlooking the need to add a folder, I would have gotten there yesterday. J

PS: JoJun's advice to create a registry restore point before doing anything is well taken. I do not yet know how to do that, but will be looking it up and using it before I go back in at a later date to update to 21H2. But for now, I plan to enjoy some computer peace! Wishing you the same.

PPS: I found it easiest to copy and paste the written instructions into a Word doc that I could keep open while making my registry changes. That way I had a handy step-by-step to follow on a single, clear page from which I could also copy and paste the file names.

We are screwed anyway you want to look at it. But, on the bright side, there are far worse things in life right now that we must worry about.

In the meantime, maybe some brilliant tech guy will come up with a magic answer.

Congratulations @Regressist!

I wasn't sure if deleting the entire C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\ would cause any problems, so I only deleted the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download\29915d28b757d79214ddd971f3fd6134 directory. It was the largest by far, so it was pretty easy to conclude that it was the one containing the Windows 11 files.

Thank you!

You know what? I did not have 29915d28b757d79214ddd971f3fd6134

My files had completely different names when 11 was pending