how do i stop downloading and installing windows 11

Glad you are still doing well with your Windows 10. I don't ever want to go back to that Windows 11 nightmare again. Whew!!!!

I will add one more reason for not wanting Windows 11: It eliminates the option of "tablet mode." Even though I use my Surface Pro more like a laptop than like a tablet, I find the tiled, tablet-style home screen to be the most convenient way to have everything quickly visible and clickable, whether I use the touchscreen or a mouse. I hate the thought of having to use a more traditional desktop arrangement.

Hello Allan,

I also know a few people who just decided to let Windows 11 upgrade and only one had an issue with the driver. Now, on the other hand, I am part of the Facebook group for Windows 11. It only takes a few days reading those posts and it is a nightmare for so many people. A lot of business folks were in the same boat I was in and did not want the upgrade because of all the other programs we are running for tax season.

The common answer to issues with upgrading to Windows 11 was "if you don't like it, then you have 10 days to rollback to Windows 10". On that subject, it seriously caused issues with losing data, duplicating data...the list goes on and on. Overall the bottom line was that the upgrade to Windows 11 was not significantly improved over Windows 10. For people that liked to mess with the new eye candy graphics, they liked it. For me, I care about my programs working and that my Dell business printer/scanner continued to work. A lot of folks especially with HP printers can't get the printer to print anymore. Not every printer mfg. has the driver for Windows 11.

I upgraded to the latest Windows 10 version 21H2; altered the registry to prevent Windows 11 from ever upgrading on it's own (that is what happened to me which led me to months of 'pausing' the installation. I see no reason whatsoever to go to Windows 11. The release is too soon and there are hundreds of bugs and patches and updates. Nightmare.

I'm sticking with my Windows 10 until it is no longer secure. By then Microsoft will have worked out all the issues with Windows 11 and then I'll upgrade.

Hi Shelby,

Thank you for letting me know. May I ask why you don't want Windows 11 and also do you intend on installing Windows 11 anytime soon or in the near future? I've now spoken to two of my family members who upgraded. One upgraded because they wanted to and the other person just woke up one morning and sure enough, there was Windows 11 on the desktop. Both said they haven't had any issues and wasn't much different than Windows 10.

I'm still debating and pausing all the time the installation of it.

This is an interesting question. Personally, the answer is simple: It's my computer.

An OS upgrade needs to have a compelling reason that far exceeds "haven't had any issues." I refuse to buy into the fallacy that "New Version" == "Better". Not better, just newer. I would stop short of saying that Windows 10 is perfect or has no issues. But it has no issues that Windows 11 will fix.

Microsoft has the right to require security updates. I absolutely get that. If we're talking about a security update, Microsoft should 100% be able to push hard on end users to install updates. But an operating system "upgrade" includes arbitrary changes, feature additions, feature removals, unilateral decisions by Microsoft about how my computer will operate, and inevitably requires faster hardware than the previous version. This is my decision, and my default answer is, NO!!

I have been a long-time power-user of Windows. It is my favorite operating system for gaming, spreadsheets, word processing, software development, and it isn't half bad as a server either. For over 11 years, I managed 10,000 physical Windows servers for a major corporation. I have a tremendous amount of affinity and affection for Microsoft and Windows. I trust Microsoft 100000% more than Apple/Amazon/Google/etc. But when it comes to pushing new versions of the operating system, I need more than "wasn't much different than Windows 10" to convince me.

According to a quick Bing search, it appears that Microsoft will stop releasing security updates for Windows 10 on January 9, 2029. I'm not thrilled with updating the registry to refuse updates past 21H2, but I don't think I can "defer" automated installation of Windows 11 for the next 7 years.

And the saga continues. With the blurry screen issue it could be your graphics card and/or the acceleration rate. I don't know the whole technical part of that, but I know you can turn off the fast acceleration. I had the shaking screen issue with my laptop quite sometime ago. Turns out it was a setting in Microsoft Office (outlook). That fixed it.