Not surprisingly, Windows 10 has been with us for more than five years, so a large part of its errors and problems have been solved over time. Also keep in mind that Microsoft has offered support until 2025so we can still continue using it without fear for the next three years.
Along with all this, it is worth mentioning the high hardware requirements that Windows 11 requires, requiring the double the RAM and disk space than its predecessor. Despite the novelties such as Widgets, game mode and compatibility with Android, they may not be attractive enough to bet on the change.
Every time a new version of Windows is released, it is recommended to wait at least 1 year before installing it. With almost more than a year and a half on the market, the grace period that users can give to the new version of Windows has passed since Microsoft has had more than enough time to polish all the errors with which Windows 11 arrived at the market and currently, if our computer is compatible with this version of Windows, it is highly recommended to update it.
Steps to stop automatic update
While Microsoft promises that Windows 11 will not be forcefully updated on our Windows 10 computer, who knows if this will change in the future, so we can forcefully block it. For this we can use the Windows Update section, the Registry Editor or the Group Policy Editor.
Temporarily block Windows Update
The easiest way to temporarily block the Windows 11 update is to delay the download and installation from Windows Update. To do this, we access the Settings menu by pressing the keyboard shortcut “Windows + I”. Later we click on “Update and security” at the bottom and Windows Update in the left side menu. Here we find the option of “Pause updates for 7 days”so they are blocked during this period.
Likewise, it is possible to configure this value by clicking on the “Advanced options” section. This will open a new window where we must locate the section of “Pause Updates”. Here we can configure it so that the update stops up to 35 days. Later it will be necessary to obtain the new updates before being able to pause it again.
Use the Policy Editor
Another way to block the download of Windows 11 is through the Policy Editor. This tool is only available for the Pro, Enterprise and Education versions of Windows 10, so if we use the Home version we will not be able to use it.
To open the Editor, we press the keyboard shortcut “Windows + R”, which will launch the Run command. here we write gpedit.smc and press Enter or the OK button. Later we navigated to the following address:
Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Windows Update / Manage updates offered on Windows Update
Once here, we double click on the entry “Select Target Feature Update Version”.
In the new window we select “enabled” which will activate the “Options at the bottom” section. Here we set Windows 10 for the first option and 21H2 for the second.
Finally we click on “Apply” to save the changes and on “OK” to close the dialog box. We close the editor and restart the system for the changes to take effect.
Disable the Windows update service
It is also possible to block the Windows 11 update by disabling the entire Windows update service. But keep in mind that it will also prevent the system from performing security and feature updates.
To run it, press the “Windows + R” key combination and launch the Run command. here we write services.msc and press Enter.
Next, in the list of services we double click on “Windows Update”.
This will cause a new popup window to open with its properties. Here in the “General” tab, we go to “Service status” and click on the button “Arrest”. Now, in the drop-down menu of “Startup type” we select “disabled” and click the Apply button to save the changes.
This will stop all updates, including Windows 11. When we want to activate them again, we just have to follow the same steps and select “Automatic” or “Manual” and click Apply.
From Registry Editor
Finally, we can choose to use the Registry Editor to block the upgrade to Windows 11. To do this, we use the keyboard shortcut “Windows + R” to launch the Run command. Subsequently, we write regedit and press Enter or the OK button to start it.
Before modifying anything, we will make a backup, as a preventive measure. To do this, click on “File” and “Export”. We then specify Everything in the export range, give it a name, select the .reg format, and click Save.
Next, we navigate to the following route:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Policies/Microsoft/Windows/WindowsUpdate
Once here, we must locate the registry value TargetReleaseVersion. In case it doesn’t exist, we create it. To do this, we right-click on a blank space and select “New” and “DWORD (32-bit) Value” and give it that name. Later we double click on it and give it the value “1”.
Next we look for the value called TargetReleaseVersionInfo. If this does not exist, we create it by right-clicking on a blank space and selecting “New” and “String Value”. Immediately afterwards we double click on it and indicate the version in which we want to stay, such as 21H2.
All that remains is to restart the PC and from now on Windows 10 is configured to always stay in version 21H2 and we avoid receiving new versions of the operating system by mistake. When we want to update, it will only be necessary to delete the two entries created and look for the update in the Windows Update section.
Disable TPM and Secure Boot
Two of the necessary requirements to be able to install Windows 11 on a computer or upgrade from Windows 10 are found in compatibility with the TPM 2.0 module and that the computer is compatible with Secure Boot.
If we deactivate both the TPM and the secure boot, our version of Windows 10 will detect that the computer does not have both functions activated and, therefore, Will not allow you to upgrade to Windows 11 until we activate them.
Although most computers sold in the last 5 years support Trusted Platform Module (TPM), most have it disabled, so you need to enable it before updating your computer. computer, since it was not useful at that time for an operating system, the function was available but disabled.
For disable tpm on the computer, we must access the advanced options of the board, we must access the BIOS, specifically the section Safety > trusted Computing and disable the Security option Device Support selecting the option disabled.
Although disabling the TPM is more than enough for the computer not to allow us to upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, we can also disable secure boot. For disable secure bootSecure Boot, we go back to the BIOS of our team.
Next, we look for an option with the name Boots either Advanced (each manufacturer includes this function in a section with a different name) and click on Windows OS Configuration. Within this section, we go to Secure Boot and deactivate them, selecting the option disabled.
Disabling any of these two functions required by Windows 11 is more than enough. As long as only one of them is not disabled, we can already forget about the fact that the computer automatically updates to the new version of Windows.
Watch out for Windows pop-up messages
It is possible that from now on many of you will find yourself on the right side of the Windows 10 taskbar, an update icon with a blue circle. This is one of the notifications that Microsoft itself presents to us to upgrade to Windows 11 as soon as possible. This basically means that our equipment is perfectly compatible for said update and we can carry out the migration at the time we want.
To carry it out, all we have to do is click on that icon that we mentioned with the blue dot, although if we don’t want to change at the moment, we just have to ignore it. However, despite this, from time to time and when starting the computer, a screen will appear in which Microsoft tries to promote the new OS and to which we must be very attentive since it offers us various buttons with which to interact.
We tell you this to be vigilant because we can make a mistake, something that Microsoft tries, and instead of continuing to use Windows 10, we inadvertently force the update to the new version of the operating system. Therefore, if you find yourself with this screen in which the software giant is not talking about the wonders of the new software, be careful where you click because you may be giving permission for the update without really wanting it.
How to block the following versions
If we have decided that we are going to continue using Windows 10 for a long period of time and we do not like constantly updating our equipment with numerous patches, we also have the possibility of prevent upgrading to later versions. This is something that can be useful to us if we are only interested in, for example, big updates, so if we already have the 21H2 update, we can block it and tell the operating system that we want to stay with it.
To do this, just access the Windows 10 Registry Editor and navigate again to the address:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Policies/Microsoft/Windows/WindowsUpdate
On this occasion we must create a new value that we will call ProductVersion and edit it to have a value of “Windows 10”. Likewise, we must have created the value TargetReleaseVersionInfo with the value information “21H2”.
All that remains is to close the Editor and restart for the changes to be applied correctly. In this way, Windows 10 will remain in version 21H2 and will update until we change it later.
Is it safe to continue on Windows 10?
With the launch of Windows 11, the countdown to Microsoft’s official support for Windows 10 began, support that is initially scheduled to end in 2025, when it will be 10 years since its market launch. To date, Microsoft will continue to release security updates for Windows 10, just like for Windows 11, so we can continue to use the operating system fully…