Registry Change to Delay Feature Updates on Win10 Home

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Most articles and postings here say that the only way to stop or delay Feature Updates on Windows 10 Home Edition is to keep your network marked as a “Metered Connection”.  But then there’s this Sep 2018 article from Martin Brinkmann (ghacks.net) that claims you can delay those updates — even on Home Edition — by making a few registry edits.   Specifically, he says to navigate to (or create if needed) the following registry key:

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings\

Then under that key modify (or create if needed) the following Dword values:

• BranchReadinessLevel
• DeferFeatureUpdatesPeriodInDays

Setting the BranchReadinessLevel to 20 supposedly indicates to Windows Update that the system is on the Semi-Annual Channel.  And the DeferFeatureUpdates… value should delay the installation by whatever number of days you specify as that value.

For reference, here’s a link to the Sep 2018 article on ghacks.net:
How to delay feature updates in Windows 10

Does anyone know if these registry changes actually work on Win10 Home Edition?   Or does Windows Update just ignore these registry values for the Home Edition?  If anyone can confirm that this actually works, I’d really appreciate your input.

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metoo! 😉

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I’ve seen reports of people trying the registry hack, but Windows keeps reversing the registry changes. Even setting the network connection to metered is not a guaranteed solution. The only true way to defer feature updates is to upgrade to the pro or enterprise version and block updates in the group policy editor.

I am no longer an active member of the forums.

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I’ve thought about maybe upgrading my Win10 systems to Pro; but just like you’ve seen reports of Windows reversing the registry changes on Home editions, I also recall hearing reports of Windows ignoring the deferral settings on Pro editions too.  So I have my doubts about whether spending an extra $100 per system will actually buy me anything.

I couldn’t find any posts here in these forums where anybody tried the specific settings recommended by Martin Brinkmann on a Home Edition system.  If you know of someone who actually tried it, and (especially) if they found that Windows reversed those settings, it would be really helpful to know the details about what happened, and exactly how they had the system settings configured.  I’d appreciate it if you could point me to their posting.

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Tom-R wrote:

For reference, here’s a link to the Sep 2018 article on ghacks.net:
How to delay feature updates in Windows 10

Does anyone know if these registry changes actually work on Win10 Home Edition?

A comment at that link says it does not work.

Tom-R wrote:

Or does Windows Update just ignore these registry values for the Home Edition? If anyone can confirm that this actually works, I’d really appreciate your input.

Dave B said on September 28, 2018 at 4:16 pm
I reran the test without checking for updates. Restored back to April, made the registry changes and let it sit.
Within minutes it was downloading the 1803 upgrade.

Windows 11 Pro version 22H2 build 22621.1778 + Microsoft 365 + Edge

3 users thanked author for this post.

HiFlyer, Elly, Tom-R

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I guess I should have read thru all the comments on that article.  Well, so much for relying on that registry change method.  It would have been nice if Martin Brinkmann had updated that article of his to say that this method does not apply to Win 10 Home Edition.  Oh well.  At least now I know.  I’ll mark my post here as “Resolved”.  Thanks for the reply.

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My desktop PC automatically applied the latest lot of MS updates to my Win10 Home system on 27 December and the result was to wipe every bit of data from my PC. The programmes were still there but had been cleared of all data and registration codes.
Yes, I did have up to date backups of everything but who wants to spend days restoring a computer? Fortunately System Restore worked for the first time ever on this PC, previously it had refused to restore. I was terrified that the update would be automatically applied again so looked on line for ways to prevent this. None worked because it is the Home edition.

Finally in desperation I contacted Microsft UK and would you believe it, a technician rang immediately and talked me through the whole process to prevent it happening again. The PC has just updated again but only Defender definitions.

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a technician rang immediately and talked me through the whole process to prevent it happening again.

Could you elaborate a bit as to what that “process” was exactly?  Also did the tech say anything about this process being able to stop or delay Feature updates (as opposed to the normal monthly Security updates)?

1 user thanked author for this post.

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