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I followed the Ask Woody Plus Newsletter’s advice and put a pause on Windows updates. The pause was supposed to be in effect until Jul 23rd. On 4 of my computers Windows Updates overrode that “Pause” and forced me to Restart and Update them. Any ideas how this happened and what good is using the “Pause” on Windows Updates if Windows 10 can over ride it?
Thanks
I find it easiest to check the subscription button at the top of the thread, after submitting a reply, as changes do occur… best way I know, after a lot of tries.
Non-techy Win 10 Pro and Linux Mint experimenter
Well, I’ve got Win 10 1909 Home and Pro, and my Pause has yet to be overridden. (You’ll hear the screams if that ever happens.) My only problem in the past has been juggling dates to make sure the Pause runs out when I want it to.
Believe me I had the Pause on until July 23rd on all my machines and it was overridden on 4 of them. Now the Pause is on until 8/17/2020
You didn’t state which updates were installed June 2020 or July 2020 ?
Is your PC date correct ?
My PC Dates are all correct they are set by Windows not by me but I checked anyhow. They were the July updates that, I believe, were released this past Tuesday.
Alex5723 wrote:
I think you misremember your pause date.
I got an email stating the above but can’t find the post. Perhaps it was deleted before I could get here. In any case, that is a possibility but I am almost certain all my computers were set to Pause until July 23rd. When I set one, I set them all the same.
The possibility that four computers in one location, with properly set Pause, violating that Pause and automatically installing updates is almost zero. If the same thing was done to all four computers, then it is probably something the User has done, not Microsoft, that caused the updating.
It would be a good thing to recreate each step done in the setting of the Pause, and what was done around the time of the update. Pause works if nothing is done to negate it. If the Pause was set correctly, some change had to be made to all four computers that ended the Pause.
If there was something that was done to end the pause, it was not done by me. I just don’t know what else to tell you because I was shocked when the updates had installed and were waiting for a restart. I have to say this though it has never happened before and I hope it doesn’t happen again. It is possible that I screwed up and set 4 of them at 7/16/20 instead of 7/23/20 as I thought I did but I sure can’t say that for sure. That would have been 1 less click of the Pause button.
I would like to reccomend you wushowhide, it helps you hide certain updates, and since its an official windows 10 app, I dont think you will have problems with it
After the next time you update, use Pause in one place or the other, NOT both. If you set it in Advanced Settings for a certain date, DO NOT click on the Pause button in Windows Update. If you use the Pause button in Windows Update, the date should NOT be set in Advanced Settings.
I strongly recommend obtaining or using a backup package that will generate a system image and a bootable rescue disk. AskWoody has much information on backup software and perhaps you can find a flavor you like.
It’s time for me to backup my system.
Two of the backup/imaging programs we recommend are Macrium Reflect Free and EaseUS Todo Free (from MajorGeeks).
I doubt you will get a backup on a DVD – Windows ISOs almost fill a DVD and they are compressed as much as possible.
We always recommend an external USB hard disk. You can pick one up for less than $40 – cheap insurance.
cheers, Paul
Thank you. If there is a need to use that backup, can the computer be booted from an external USB hard disk?
I had never associated USB hard disk to what I already have and that is external hard drives connected by an USB cable. They are all USB 3.0. When I looked up USB external hard drives it showed me what I already have. I actually have a few of them. They are 2 TB capacity. Since I have 5 computers can I use 1 of these drives to backup multiple computers? And should they be formatted using NTSF format?
You can boot from USB hard disk. See this thread.
You can use the same disk for multiple computers. Create a different folder for each computer.
You can use exFAT or NTFS, both support large files. I would use exFAT to avoid potential ownership / access issues on NTFS.See this article for details on backup and data verification.
cheers, Paul
I got the USB external hard drive I wanted to use for my system images. I created 4 folders on it representing the 4 computers I wanted to make a system image of. Please see first attachment to see those 4 folders. I am not at all sure what I am doing but here is how I got to where I captured the second attachment in a screenshot. I opened Control Panel, chose Backup and restore even though it said Windows 7 by it. I then chose Create system image as is outlined in a Red box. It kept searching and finally found the Toshiba drive I wanted to store the system images on but would not allow me to choose any of the folders I created for each computer. I have to be doing something wrong but no idea what it is. How should I get to where I can create a system image and also be able to choose the proper folder to place it in? I am not sure what I did is correct because it said Windows 7 by it but I could not find any other way to create a system image in Windows 10.
I opened Control Panel, chose Backup and restore even though it said Windows 7 by it. I then chose Create system image as is outlined in a Red box. It kept searching and finally found the Toshiba drive I wanted to store the system images on but would not allow me to choose any of the folders I created for each computer. I have to be doing something wrong but no idea what it is. How should I get to where I can create a system image and also be able to choose the proper folder to place it in?
The Windows 7 option works for Windows 10.
Windows Backup allows you to choose the external hard drive, not the external folder. For each computer you have, if you are going to use Windows Backup, you need a separate external hard drive dedicated to that computer.
PKCano suggested two third-party backup programs. Consider looking into them:
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/pausing-windows-10-updates/#post-2318558
Download Aomei Backupper free and use that to backup. Much more flexible than Windows backup. Install it on all the machines.
Don’t forget to make a boot/recovery USB for the backup from the menu – Utilities > Create bootable media.
cheers, Paul
I was under the understanding I could backup more than one computer on a large external drive.
You can! I do it all the time.
cheers, Paul
I was under the understanding I could backup more than one computer on a large external drive.
You can! I do it all the time.
cheers, Paul
OK I did create a System image using Windows 10 on that drive I just got and I see if you drill down far enough it does identify the computer it backed up. I have a couple questions. Is this backup I created on the USB hard drive bootable? I was not asked if I wanted to create a bootable drive. At the end of backing it up I was asked if I wanted to create a Repair disk that would be bootable. Again, this makes me wonder if the USB drive is bootable.
I am going to try to backup another computer to this same USB drive because I have plenty of unused space on it. If successful, does this create another section on it that would be bootable for a specific computer? Or, I assume I will have to create another bootable Repair disk specifically for the other computer.
To create a bootable rescue disk, select:
Create a system repair disc
I assume I will have to create another bootable Repair disk specifically for the other computer
One recovery USB should do all your computers unless you have very specific hardware.
The disk you used for the backup will not be bootable. A separate bootable USB is simple, cheap and flexible.
cheers, Paul
Backups are a dynamic process.
It helps to have multiple external hard drives with time-sequentially ordered backups on the external hard drives. If an external hard drive fails or becomes infected, you still have other hard drives to restore from.
A further query: Do you know how to boot from a rescue disk and restore from a backup image?
Keep a couple of the Bootable Repair Disks, occasionally test them to see if they boot, and keep them in an accessible place. You don’t need to make a new rescue disk each time you make a backup.
Figure out how to boot your rescue disk before you have a computer “emergency”; I’ve found that computer “emergencies” rarely happen during convenient hours.
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Keep a couple of the Bootable Repair Disks, occasionally test them to see if they boot, and keep them in an accessible place. You don’t need to make a new rescue disk each time you make a backup.
Figure out how to boot your rescue disk before you have a computer “emergency”; I’ve found that computer “emergencies” rarely happen during convenient hours.
Yep that’s for sure. Thanks for the advice.
Keep a couple of the Bootable Repair Disks, occasionally test them to see if they boot, and keep them in an accessible place. You don’t need to make a new rescue disk each time you make a backup.
Figure out how to boot your rescue disk before you have a computer “emergency”; I’ve found that computer “emergencies” rarely happen during convenient hours.
OK I ordered another USB hard drive to have a couple backups. I have 2 questions:
1. Leave your backups in place on the external hard drives. They are ordered by the date you created them.
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/pausing-windows-10-updates/#post-2319861
Go to Manage space to see them. As your external hard drive fills up, you may want to delete some of the older backups.
2. Your installed programs will be functional once a backup is restored from your external hard drive to your working hard drive. The backup is a special snapshot copy of your system, that when restore is used, replaces what’s on the working hard drive with what’s on the backup external drive for the image by date you selected to restore.
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