Windows Update just spontaneously ignored my settings and updated (W10 Pro 22H2)

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This happened for the first time in January, then normal behavior again until now.  It’s been set in Group Policy to notify before downloading and installing, and starting last Tuesday I’ve been getting the usual notifications that updates are waiting.  Now, 8 days later, I’m browsing my usual reading websites when I suddenly got a notification that my PC will restart to update outside of active hours, or I can click the button to do it now.  I checked Windows Update, and sure enough, this month’s cumulative updates to NET Framework and Windows 10 are installing pending restart.  So…

1. Anyone know why Windows might at a random time suddenly decide to ignore the Update settings it’s been obeying?
2. Is there a safe way to interrupt the install now so that it will still happen normally in a couple of weeks when I give it the go-ahead?

Appreciate any input, thanks!

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I prefer the defer setting.  Any of the legacy settings – and that notify/download but don’t install is a legacy setting from WAY WAY back – will sometimes not work. I saw it sometimes not work on 7.

It’s also possible that something grabbed the screen control and it got an approval that you didn’t realize it. If you are using normal windows update, chances are the log file has already rolled off to past the point when it happened.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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If you were on Win 20H2 or Win 21H2, they went EOL in May and June respectively. The only version of Win10 left active is Win 22H2 – and Microsoft announced it would begin forcing the update to 22H2.

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The subject line had 22H2 so I assumed they were already on 22H2.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Thanks for the responses!  I am on 22H2, correct.

I seem to have had a brain fail somewhere, because a while back I switched from deferring to the notify setting because I thought that was your preference.  One advantage being that it lets you use wushowhide to hide unwanted individual updates, like the obnoxious upgrade compatibility checkers that keep returning like shingles.  So is your recommendation to simply pause updates until the all-clear is sounded?

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I just posted separately before seeing this, but I DO defer updates under 22H2, and as of July 2, 2023, had set WU to defer for at least a week or so.  Now, at about 1AM EDT July 4, WU went ahead and did a .NET update AND rebooted.  And once up, it told me it was going to reboot after hours for another update.  And needless to say, my DEFER date had been cleared.  This is a common thread for me; WU clears my defer dates, then does updates ‘at will’.  So, what’s the point of DEFER dates if WU can just independently clear them?

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Are other people seeing this DEFER date clear problem?

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WSpbug56 wrote:

WU clears my defer dates, then does updates ‘at will’.

Are you running Windows Home or Pro?
How are you deferring?

cheers, Paul

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Pro, advanced options under WU, pick the date to defer to.

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As you have Pro, why not use Group Policy to restrict WU?
https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/2000016-guide-for-windows-update-settings-for-windows-10/

cheers, Paul

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I’ve set one PC with Pro to not include driver updates with WU.  I had extra incentive; I went to do updates on a Win 10 Pro pc a few hours ago, and when I thought it was ready to reboot, it suddenly installed, without any warning, an Nvidia driver update which is apparently known for having lots of problems.  So this will go on all my Pro systems.

But does anyone know how WU gets to clear out Defer To dates?

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Consider making backups on a regular basis. If your computer goes update berserk, you can return it to what you want. Restore points are also useful.

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
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WSpbug56 wrote:

Now, at about 1AM EDT July 4, WU went ahead and did a .NET update AND rebooted. And once up, it told me it was going to reboot after hours for another update.

And there’s your problem!

Whenever you do an update, regardless of how you do it (manually, via wumgr, via WU, etc.), the update process clears the “deferral dates” stored in the registry — because you just successfully “completed” an update.

That means, unless you’ve set the Group Policies to stop “Automatic Updates“, Windows will download & install any pending updates after the reboot.

Don’t know if it’s even possible, but I “suspect” you won’t be able to apply a new deferral before the reboot and probably not after the reboot but before it downloads/installs the pending updates.

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No, I do the update and its referral, and after reboot, set the defer date.  You can’t theoretically do an update if a defer update is done, so each time I do updates, I make sure the defer date is clear, do what I need, finish any reboots, THEN set a new defer date.

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One gotcha with doing it that way…

If the update deferral is cleared using one of the methods shown here on AskWoody that prevents an immediate download/install of the updates, it still flags Windows to perform a download/install any “pending” updates check and that process can happen one of two ways.

1- If your PC is left “up-and-running” after the deferral is removed, the next download/install updates check will happen sometime within the next 17 – 22 hours.

2- However, if your PC is rebooted after the deferral is removed, the check happens immediately after the reboot!

The gotcha with the 2nd one is, once the download/install updates check has started, implementing a deferral doesn’t stop it from completing!

BTW, the registry entries that control the whole deferral process are:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UpdatePolicy\Settings
PausedFeatureStatus (REG_DWORD)
PausedQualityStatus (REG_DWORD)

     0 = Not paused / 1 = Paused / 2 = Auto-resumed (i.e. +35 days since pause started)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings
PauseFeatureUpdatesEndTime (REG_SZ)
PauseFeatureUpdatesStartTime (REG_SZ)
PauseQualityUpdatesEndTime (REG_SZ)
PauseQualityUpdatesStartTime (REG_SZ)
PauseUpdatesExpiryTime (REG_SZ)

     date format = YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ

Clearing a deferral flags Windows to perform a new update check by setting the 2 “Paused??Status” values to 0 and erasing all those dates.

Another situation that can cause Windows to perform a new update check, even if a pause is displayed as “active” on the Windows Update screen, is if it’s been +35 days since the pause was first initiated. In that case the 2 “Paused??Status” values will be changed to 2 and Windows will ignore all those dates and perform an update check either within the next 17 – 22 hrs or after the next reboot (whichever comes first.)

The next time you attempt to set a deferral after installing only part of the pending updates, I’d suggest you take a look at those entries in the registry to ensure they’re actually set as expected. You should also open Settings > Update & Security and ensure it doesn’t show the “Check for updates” button and doesn’t show it’s in the process of downloading/installing an update.

1 user thanked author for this post.

windbg

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I generally understand what you are saying.  Now, let’s say that on a given day I’ve finished installing all pending mandatory updates for that month, done a check for updates, and except for previews there is nothing left.  I set the DEFER TO date.  And then, some days later, WU THEN clears that date and proceeds to download and install updates.  Plus, even though I’ve told it to not automatically reboot, it does anyway.

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I absolutely agree; restore points and backups done regularly.  But I’d like to know how I can set a defer to date, and Windows clears it on its own.  Again, I set those dates AFTER I do updates and reboot.

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WSpbug56 wrote:

I’ve set one PC with Pro to not include driver updates with WU.  I had extra incentive; I went to do updates on a Win 10 Pro pc a few hours ago, and when I thought it was ready to reboot, it suddenly installed, without any warning, an Nvidia driver update which is apparently known for having lots of problems.  So this will go on all my Pro systems.

But does anyone know how WU gets to clear out Defer To dates?

WU doesn’t install drivers if blocked in GP.
WU doesn’t clear deferrals on its own.
You should set ‘notify=2’ in GP so nothing is downloaded/installed without notifying you.

Do you use a 3rd party “fixing” app that change settings ?

Anyway, dump WU and use the free portable WUmgr where you can control what to install, when, and what to block/hide.

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I manage several PC’s for my family, and try to keep things as simple and standard as possible.  My adult kids are trained how to use WU on their own laptops.  I do fully agree with using gpedit to block driver updates through WU – I can’t recall a single one where it either made sense or was correct, almost as if MS was randomly picking out the very old or buggy driver of the month to suddenly install without warning.

Where in gpedit does one find  ‘notify=2’?

And I’ve seen multiple instances of defer dates being cleared.  Monthly, shortly before WU Tuesday, I make sure to run updates.  Reboot.  Come back up, go into WU, see that nothing other than maybe previews are offered, and then defer the date until a few days after the next WU Tuesday.  And yet the date keeps getting cleared, especially on a Win 11 Pro laptop that was a Dell warranty replacement.  On that one, it usually happens the night of WU Tuesday.

 

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WSpbug56 wrote:

Where in gpedit does one find  ‘notify=2’?

Follow https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/comments-on-akb-2000016-guide-for-windows-update-settings-for-windows-10/

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