How to selectively Update Windows 10 v2004

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I was quite happy with v1909 but with “End of service” of that version coming up I updated to v2004 as per Sue’s recommendation. I went into update advanced settings and paused updates until April 4 2021. Earlier this week when Sue suggested installing KB5001649, I downloaded it from the Catalog site and installed it. This morning I wanted to see what would happen when I resumed updates, so I did. I got a whole whack of stuff including some some intel microcode updates and the dreaded KBXXX3057 that I have been blocking forever.

I notice that wushowhide doesn’t show pending updates when they are being paused in windows settings. How do I selectively ensure that updates I do not want on v2004 are blocked before hitting the resume update button or allowing the pause period to expire on its own.

 

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AKB2000016 Guide for Windows Update Settings for Win10 is a good read. It explains each of the settings and how to control updates on both Win10 Home and Win10 Pro.

Explanation of what happened to you:
Windows Update and wushowhide both use the same Windows Update Service to scan for updates. When you set Pause, you are basically telling the Windows Update Service not to show you updates for the number of days Paused. So neither Windows Update or wushowhide can see anything.

When you end Pause by clicking “Resume Updates,” you basically start the Windows Update Service scanning. Because you have had no updates to hide when Paused, the “Resume Updates” scans and immediately starts the download/install process and you get everything available for your computer.

If you want to prevent the immediate download/install, you need to set Metered connections in the Settings App\Network\Status BEFORE you Resume Updates. This tells Windows Update that you have a data cap (even if you really don’t) so it will cost you for the download. This keeps the updates from downloading until you can hide the ones you don’t want and clear the update cache to get only the ones desired.

All explained in AKB2000016.

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Thanks. I read the knowledge base article. Lots of info and a bit confusing in places but I think I understand it. I have the targeted feature release set to 2004 in updates for business and ask to download /install in windows updates in group policy. My error was not turning on set as a metered connection and doing a restart before resuming updates, then running wushowhide. I will not set a pause period for April and see what happens. If I can see the pending updates I can selectively hide any that I do not want. Since I am not pausing updates at all I assume I do not need to fiddle with a metered connection this time around?

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If you are using the GP setting of “2” you do not need Pause or Metered connections. The updates will sit in the queue until you click “Download..” This gives you the ability to HIDE the updates you can SEE. But you have to clear the queue or let WU rescan on its own, because, what you see in the queue, is what will download/install when you click “Download.”

When you set Pause, then “Resume Updates,” everything will download/install ignoring your other settings. That’s why I don’t use Pause.

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Thanks for the clarification. That was my takeaway from the articles you wrote.

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Can you add that as a TL;DR to the guide?

cheers, Paul

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