Stop Windows Update from installing Windows 11

[pifmgr.dll]

I'm currently on Windows 10 Insider Preview (Release Preview Channel). And I had to stop my PC from getting updates at the moment because sometimes the Windows Update just downloads the Windows 11 update without me wanting to install it. I want to get updates, but not a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ downgrade.

Anyone know how to stop Micro$oft forcing me to upgrade to Windows 11? I don't want to upgrade until Windows 10's EOL next year.

[r.linder]

Disable fTPM in BIOS (usually under security related settings) so the system won't be eligible

[Bad 💀 Motha]

I'm curious why anyone would have TPM enabled if you intended to run Win10 in the first place.

[r.linder]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

I'm curious why anyone would have TPM enabled if you intended to run Win10 in the first place.

Believe it or not, Windows 11 was not a first for a Windows OS to have TPM enabled as a soft or hard requirement, OEMs were required by Microsoft to include a functional TPM with their pre-built systems that included Windows 10, so fTPM is usually enabled by default. That trend only ramped up with 11.

[lsdninja]

fTPM is also typically enabled by default, either from the factory, or as part of a BIOS update on motherboards in order to be "Windows 11 Ready"

[pifmgr.dll]

Originally posted by r.linder:

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

I'm curious why anyone would have TPM enabled if you intended to run Win10 in the first place.

Believe it or not, Windows 11 was not a first for a Windows OS to have TPM enabled as a soft or hard requirement, OEMs were required by Microsoft to include a functional TPM with their pre-built systems that included Windows 10, so fTPM is usually enabled by default. That trend only ramped up with 11.

Yeah, I didn't even enable it. The manufacturer did.

Also, I went into the BIOS setting and turned off Intel Platform Trust Technology which i assumed Intel's way of saying TPM. I booted back to Windows 10 and resumed the update. But, it still attempted to download Windows 11 for some reason. I've checked tpm.msc and it said "Compatible TPM cannot be found". What the hell?

I'm not sure if this is an effect of Windows thinking I have TPM and then I don't? I'm not sure.

[lsdninja]

Originally posted by gingus:

Yeah, I didn't even enable it. The manufacturer did.

Also, I went into the BIOS setting and turned off Intel Platform Trust Technology which i assumed Intel's way of saying TPM. I booted back to Windows 10 and resumed the update. But, it still attempted to download Windows 11 for some reason. I've checked tpm.msc and it said "Compatible TPM cannot be found". What the hell?

I'm not sure if this is an effect of Windows thinking I have TPM and then I don't? I'm not sure.

It's possible the update was queued when it thought you had a TPM and isn't being removed from the queue since you turned it off. I'm not quite sure how you "reset" Windows Update in that situation though.

It should work though, it let me hold back the Windows 11 update on one of my machines for something like a year. In fact, I had to use the command line to force Windows Update to acknowledge the TPM when I finally decided to upgrade (it's supposed to eventually happen on its own, but I didn't want to wait).

[pifmgr.dll]

Originally posted by lsdninja:

Originally posted by gingus:

Yeah, I didn't even enable it. The manufacturer did.

Also, I went into the BIOS setting and turned off Intel Platform Trust Technology which i assumed Intel's way of saying TPM. I booted back to Windows 10 and resumed the update. But, it still attempted to download Windows 11 for some reason. I've checked tpm.msc and it said "Compatible TPM cannot be found". What the hell?

I'm not sure if this is an effect of Windows thinking I have TPM and then I don't? I'm not sure.

It's possible the update was queued when it thought you had a TPM and isn't being removed from the queue since you turned it off. I'm not quite sure how you "reset" Windows Update in that situation though.

It should work though, it let me hold back the Windows 11 update on one of my machines for something like a year. In fact, I had to use the command line to force Windows Update to acknowledge the TPM when I finally decided to upgrade (it's supposed to eventually happen on its own, but I didn't want to wait).

It did got queued before I disabled TPM. I think the only way to get rid of the update is to install the update and then roll back to Windows 10. Because that's what I used to do in order to make the Windows Update shut up for a short time. So I'll probably do that now.

Thanks to the people that helped me!

[Bad 💀 Motha]

What I'm implying is; if you intended to install and stay on Win10; why wouldn't you have checked the BIOS? Like everything within and disable TPM on your own.

I understand not all defaults are the best and thus; CHECK EVERYTHING.

I see many Motherboards coming with a CPU OC as a default preset; shame on them for doing such a thing.

Now boot into Win10, with ethernet/wifi disabled or disconnected.
Then disable WU or wipe the WU Queue and Download Cache.
Then reboot and re-enable Ethernet/WiFi

[pifmgr.dll]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

What I'm implying is; if you intended to install and stay on Win10; why wouldn't you have checked the BIOS? Like everything within and disable TPM on your own.

I understand not all defaults are the best and thus; CHECK EVERYTHING.

I see many Motherboards coming with a CPU OC as a default preset; shame on them for doing such a thing.

Now boot into Win10, with ethernet/wifi disabled or disconnected.
Then disable WU or wipe the WU Queue and Download Cache.
Then reboot and re-enable Ethernet/WiFi

Because I don't really care much about TPM. Plus, I used to have Windows 11 on this thing before downgrading to the factory's default. I don't really care if the TPM's on or off until the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ update comes on. I don't actually have this problem before going to the Release Preview channel, and it just did that. So yeah.

[metamec]

If you've got the Pro version you can use Group Policy Editor (GPE) to force it to only issue updates for a specific version. Press win+R, type winver <enter> to check that. I don't have Win 10 so I can't check, but it's probably 22H2 according to this[en.wikipedia.org].

To do this with GPE:

1. Press Win+R, type gpedit.msc <enter>
   
2. Browse to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Updates for Business.
   
3. Double-click 'Select the target Feature Update version'.
   
4. Select 'Enable'.
   
5. Type Windows 10 in the 'Which Windows product version would you like to receive feature updates for?' field.
   
6. Type in your specific version number (22H2 ?) into the 'Target Version for Feature Updates' field.
   
7. Close GPE and reboot your system.

Keep an eye out for big updates however, because this will lock you into 22H2 even if 22H3 is released.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Win10 won't have anymore big feature updates such as 23H2 though

[metamec]

Great. Because that means it's not a concern. Apply the update version lock and forget about it.

[pifmgr.dll]

Originally posted by kitty:

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

I'm curious why anyone would have TPM enabled if you intended to run Win10 in the first place.

Maybe they wanted to use Bitlocker Drive Encryption in Windows 10? That requires TPM be enabled.

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

What I'm implying is; if you intended to install and stay on Win10; why wouldn't you have checked the BIOS? Like everything within and disable TPM on your own.

Looking in the bios is NOT a normal thing most computer users do. A very high percentage of computer users globally (probably 90%) never touch the bios and don't know it exists. They just buy something from lenovo or dell or something, press the power button, it turns on and they use it then push the power button when done to turn it off and go sleep. Most computer users never touch bios, don't know what bios is, and don't even use it.

I did actually have BitLocker Drive Encryption forcefully enabled due to my Windows edition being Home Single Language which I can't disable before I upgraded it to Pro because of that drive encryption thing (also gpedit). I do very agree with your second statement btw.

[Crashed]

Originally posted by gingus:

Originally posted by kitty:

Maybe they wanted to use Bitlocker Drive Encryption in Windows 10? That requires TPM be enabled.


Looking in the bios is NOT a normal thing most computer users do. A very high percentage of computer users globally (probably 90%) never touch the bios and don't know it exists. They just buy something from lenovo or dell or something, press the power button, it turns on and they use it then push the power button when done to turn it off and go sleep. Most computer users never touch bios, don't know what bios is, and don't even use it.

I did actually have BitLocker Drive Encryption forcefully enabled due to my Windows edition being Home Single Language which I can't disable before I upgraded it to Pro because of that drive encryption thing (also gpedit). I do very agree with your second statement btw.

Good example of why r.linder's advice is dangerous.
OP mentions being in Insider Preview which Microsoft may be sunsetting for Windows 10 even in the Release Preview tier.

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Originally posted by gingus:

Originally posted by kitty:

Maybe they wanted to use Bitlocker Drive Encryption in Windows 10? That requires TPM be enabled.


Looking in the bios is NOT a normal thing most computer users do. A very high percentage of computer users globally (probably 90%) never touch the bios and don't know it exists. They just buy something from lenovo or dell or something, press the power button, it turns on and they use it then push the power button when done to turn it off and go sleep. Most computer users never touch bios, don't know what bios is, and don't even use it.

I did actually have BitLocker Drive Encryption forcefully enabled due to my Windows edition being Home Single Language which I can't disable before I upgraded it to Pro because of that drive encryption thing (also gpedit). I do very agree with your second statement btw.

How?
None of the WinOS Home Editions have BitLocker. That is a feature only available to editions such as Pro, Business, Enterprise