So I have been using LTSB for a long while, and decided that rather than continue with the 1507 core I'd like to go to 1511 - lots of bug fixes, better driver compatibility, etc.

So I plopped in 1511.3 (last known safe build) and it installed fine (after some UEFI fiddling).

But now I'm at a loss - how on earth do I let it download drivers and security patches but PREVENT it from immediately trying to update to v1709? Very first reboot, it updates.

Of course I could turn off Windows update... but then I'd have to hunt up about 100 drivers on my own, not to mention that there are some pretty big security patches still being released for that OS.

Any ideas? Short of building a domain controller in my bedroom, setting up WSUS/WUB, and declining the update?

I've tried some registry hacks already. They didn't seem to help. There's a policy in GPEDIT.MSC, I'll give that a shot next - it seems to defer "feature updates" for up to 8 months, but I'm not clear if that even counts since it's 5 years later already.

Hoping to find a magic bullet. I know there's some kind of update blocker out there, but can't find the link easily.

    Gurm Any ideas? Short of building a domain controller in my bedroom, setting up WSUS/WUB, and declining the update?

    I'm curious how much work goes into that 😛

      I think the big risk is that Microsoft have recently announced that they're going to push everyone to the newer 2404 or newer builds. Knowing how to stop these updates becomes that bit more important.

      • Gurm replied to this.

        Gurm

        Snappy Driver Installer for the drivers (make sure to check build require for the driver it wants to install, since many it chooses as the optimal driver will require newer builds, but you can easily override that by choosing older versions from the drop down list.

          So actually I figured it out. I got a program called:

          wushowhide.diagcab

          Or officially the Microsoft Windows Update Show/Hide Troubleshooter. You can download it from here:

          http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/2/2/f22d5fdb-59cd-4275-8c95-1be17bf70b21/wushowhide.diagcab

          If that link doesn't work, try going to the following page where it is linked...

          https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3073930/

          Anyway, here's the procedure that worked for me:

          1. Installed 1511 (I downloaded the latest version, Threshold 2 R3 Build 10586.164, but any should work.)
          2. Made sure that diagcab file was on the thumb drive.
          3. Told Windows not to use online setup - no WiFi.
          4. Once everything was done setting up, connected to WiFi but marked it as "metered" so NO updates would load.
          5. Ran the diagcab. It takes several minutes to scan available updates, before asking you to pick an option. Pick "hide".
          6. Scrolled through the list of updates until I saw the "Feature Update". In this case it was v1903. Selected it, hit next, and BOOM, it's blocked.
          7. Ran the diagcab AGAIN. Why? Because even after this it still tried to install 1709! On the second run, 1709 was listed, so I picked it.
          8. Turn off metering.
          9. After a couple update runs and a reboot, everything was fine.

          This is the way. Now I need to find the version of Intel drivers that plays nice, this one from 2017 is noooooooot optimal.

          AgentX20 I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to block that update, too. What they might do is sneak in a "security update" that forces a "feature update" or enables a nag or some other piece of stupidness. They've done so in the past. But the reality is that nothing beyond 17xx will really cleanly install through Windows Update, so they'd need to do a standalone installer and nag/force you to run it. I'm confident we will be able to uninstall whatever they push though.

            20 days later

            I had some success getting a 1511 install set up. Blocked 1903 and my general observation was that 1511 was 'ok'. The only catch is it doesn't have DX12 so I cannot play minecraft with the kids... (oh well).

            So after a while, and being in an experimental mode, I thought I'd do the 1903 update and see if the eyestrain returned. It did... but here's the interesting part. Rolling back to 1511 using the "restore a previous version of windows" feature worked quickly, but now there are a couple of windows updates installed that will automatically force me back to 1903. These updates cannot be uninstalled.

            Luckily I made a 1511 image just in case and I can revert to that. I'm going to try an 1809 install first as that has DX12, before I go back to 1511.

            • Gurm replied to this.

              AgentX20 I don't... understand what you're saying. I've seen you post before. What do you mean it doesn't... "have DX12"? DX12 was released WITH Windows 10 1507 and has been included ever since. I have yet to discover a game that doesn't run on 1507/1511, so I'm a little curious what you mean here?

                I could easily be mistaken. Minecraft bedrock wouldn’t install into 1511 from the Windows store. I did some reading around this and I saw something that suggested dx12 came with 1803... hence my remarks above.

                But maybe Minecraft wouldn’t install for other reasons eg it needs a newer runtime library - but of course the windows store is rather opaque on the details. As an example of this I found that the latest .net runtimes wouldn't install on 1511, forcing me to install an older version of 1password.

                I’m glad to be corrected as this certainly makes 1511 a better outcome for me after all of my windows hassles over the last six months.

                • Gurm replied to this.

                  AgentX20 yeah it's more likely there's some hard version check - much of MS's own stuff has a minimum requirement of 1607, and just won't install on an older kernel without jumping through some hoops. I'll see if I can turn anything up, I suggest you return to the Google-cave on this one. 🙂

                    dev