how do i stop downloading and installing windows 11

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.

I know you didn't ask me, but I feel the need to reply.

It really torques my gluteus when people ask this. Why? One, because it's really no-one's business. If I don't want to buy the "latest" car or "latest" television no-one bugs me about it so why do some seemingly entitled "I know best" folks always grind away at this?

Two - I don't want a new OS until;

a) it's been out a while. My experience is that MS releases buggy code and makes the users test it for them. Fail! I choose not to be part of some cultish mindset where I "have to have" the latest rubbish release before it's gold.

b) I generally want a new OS on a brand new computer where the OS has been set up properly to work with the hardware. MS appears to not take anything into consideration except the devs and coders lines on their resumes and that is so unprofessional that I will NEVER upgrade an OS onto an older computer and,

c) I do different work. I do not have time to do the dev and coder job. So they can pull their noses out of the air and stop acting as though they are elites because without what I do they would not be able to release their work in the modern world.

I am broadband in the field and without us nothing would work properly now, would it?

So let's all do our jobs correctly, stop thinking we're entitled to "just push drek at the user they'll get used to it", appreciate every single and last job being done in the world that makes comfortable life possible (yes, even the trash collector) and end the false snobbish attitude that folks have a tendency to throw at one another.

In the end, I and I alone pay for my computer. MS isn't giving away free computers and we only pay a license fee to use them so they can stuff the ignorant "we know what's best" unless they are ready to fix and/or replace every computer they hose by pushing updates that aren't gold yet.

Sorry if I stepped on your toes, but no-one needs the inconvenience that forced MS updates have become.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I'm having a conversation with Susan and both her and I share the same concerns. I doubt highly I offended Susan by asking if why she may not want to upgrade to Windows 11.

This was not your conversation so it would be logical then that none of it is your business as to Susan and I sharing our angst over the upgrade.

You are free to roam around the cabin and do what you please, but you may not dictate a conversation about concerns that I have.

Yes, modifying the registry is the only way to stop Windows Update from downloading and installing the Windows 11 upgrade. This article was extremely helpful to me: https://www.howtogeek.com/765377/how-to-block-the-windows-11-update-from-installing-on-windows-10/

It explains the whole process WITH screenshots. It was very simple!

Also, I believe it is important to delete Windows Update Cache. Windows itself says that it is completely safe to delete everything out of the SoftwareDistribution/Download folder. See the following YouTube video and Microsoft forum articles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHerbmtWV6o

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/cwindowssoftwaredistributiondownload-deleting/7121844b-82bb-4a53-ad52-3a93fcfc9ffb

I restarted my computer and ran Windows update and it updated the current version of Windows 10 (21H2) and there's no sign of Windows 11 upgrade notifications. I am super pleased, however, it took WAY too much of my time to figure out this one, simple thing! Windows can be so unintuitive sometimes.

Here is where you can figure out what the latest version of Windows 10 is (this will be important for modifying the registry to update the version of Windows you want to get updates for): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/release-information

Also, you may find it helpful to reset Windows Update. You can do so using Windows Update Troubleshooter: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-update-troubleshooter-19bc41ca-ad72-ae67-af3c-89ce169755dd

I would have to do an upgrade to Windows 21H2. I currently have Edition Windows 10 Home

Version   20H2. Then after that, I could go into the registry and do what you did. I find this to be an awful situation.

I'll let you know what I decide.

HI PortlandMT, This is interesting and at the same time I found what appears to be almost the same information on the Microsoft site.

MY question to you is, did you actually allow Windows 11 to download and then do this or did you do this from Windows 10?

In the video I followed and found the Downloads file as directed.

He selected and deleted all "the unimportant" files leaving only the cache.

I"m not a tech, but I can usually follow clear instructions HAHA but I wasn't sure how I know how unimportant these files are and have not felt quite ready to delete them.

So for now I will try and work my way through this version. It does remind me to back up the registry before I mess with it! https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/program-is-not-listed-in-add-remove-programs-after-installation-0866db2a-f8d9-fb0f-16d2-850f5072e536.

I will watch for your further thoughts, thank you, Susan