Blocking Microsoft Windows Updates

GlassWire Help
1

My PC has a 7core Intel, 16gig of RAM, USB 3.0, updated graphics and is basically all I need for the software I use My Dell PC is no longer supported by Dell (even pay as you go), and a year ago a Microsoft WIN10 update crashed my PC by not accommodating Dell’s hardware/software RAID implementation. I had to replace the drives and remove the RAID hardware and software. That’s when I began a campaign to stop Microsoft’s updates. I need nothing from Microsoft and I use 3rd party antivirus and browser software.

Early this month the 3rd party tool I bought to block MS updates WinUpdateStop, allowed 3 minor upgrades from MS, and one major upgrade to get by them, so that tool can’t be trusted. Fortunately those upgrades that got thru didn’t break me like last June, but they did send me into a learning curve and downloaded a boat-load of crap I don’t need.

MY QUESTION IS:

Can Glasswire block the source (port, IP, etc.) means (local EXE’s, DLLs,) or services that Microsoft uses to foist updates on me?

I would likely want to block them even at costs of ‘some’ collateral loss of function, but the best solution would just to block their updates, which can include all of Defender, and certainly should include blocking any of Microsoft’s phone-home (to MS) data collection or error reporting, etc. I don’t need Microsoft/s help, I need them to stop updating but they provide no lasting means that prevents them from rendering this highly functional PC into a boat anchor.

I can image my PC of course, but MS will attack the installed image with any backlog of updates. I’m currently at WIN10 PRO 19042. My PC runs 64Bits using its i7. Each rebuild requires installation of 150 applications I work from, and of course many of those have multiple updates to make them current with reboots between all. What I need is a stasis, for MS to leave me alone.

Microsoft and PC manufacturers are collaborating on forcing a next generation OS and PC buy, which may even force some expensive ap upgrades on users, and I’m not alone in this impending Microsoft caused blue screen of death (that has no permanent fix).

2

@dwpenn

We don’t recommend blocking Windows updates. However, if you want to do that Windows already has some options built in to help you https://www.howtogeek.com/224471/how-to-prevent-windows-10-from-automatically-downloading-updates/.

You could also use our “Block All” mode, when you’re not at your PC and it may help you avoid updates from other apps, along with our “Ask to connect” mode.

Microsoft changes its hosts/ports/etc… all the time, so even if you did block those with GlassWire the host would most likely change and you would still get the update. I think the best way to solve this is to work within the Windows settings and use their own options.

1 Like
3

Microsoft’s process is hacking by definition directed at older PC’s. According to Microsoft my PC (in the beginning) tested out and was OK for WIN10. Microsoft had software they ran the once to expose any issues, and *that was the last and ONLY time when Microsoft tested my PC or anyone else’s for continuing compatibility as it pushed out updates." In the meantime my PC’s manufacturer (Dell) said to me that Microsoft Win 10 was no longer compatible with my PC (this was June a year ago after a Microsoft update crashed my PC).

I couldn’t look to Microsoft to fix it, and I couldn’t look to Dell to fix it. The PC worked on June 11, 2020, on June 12, 2020 it was rendered a boat anchor because Windows 10 failed to support the RAID hardware/software (co-requisites) on my PC.

I stripped my PC of that RAID hardware/software (at a cost of about $300). Since then I’ve been using WinUpdateBlock (3rd party software) but it failed last week. I’m lucky this June, no blue screen of death) but Microsoft didn’t give me a thing I wanted or needed. I have a machine that works as it should with all the software I have installed and all the hardware upgrades and attached devices. I just need Microsoft to leave me alone.

It’s been suggested in this forum that I change my network adapter settings to show that I have a metered connection between me and my ISP, and that if I do that Microsoft will leave me alone, not true! **Microsoft does not honor that to where it is effectively an end-all stop of updates. ** Microsoft also allows a postponement setting (days to hold back on updates) but MS keeps you from pushing that delay repeatedly outward.

When you say to me or others we shouldn’t stop updates you fail to understand that Microsoft is leaving my PC and other older PCs behind. Neither MS nor the PC manufacturer’s care, to them the turnover being forced on ALL OF US (if not now, then eventually) is revenue.to them.

**I need to stop these updates because they can render my PC useless, that’s the simple answer why I don’t want or need any updates from Microsoft. ** There’s an old adage “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” If I can preserve it as is, I get to use it as long as all the hardware holds out.

The other reason is I’m not stuck on some archaic machine. I have an Intel i7core PC with 16 gig of RAM, with its SSD it’s faster than a lot of the PC’s being sold now. I have it upgraded to USB 3.0, and my graphics adapter has its own fan and RAM. I can render video faster or as fast as any PC being sold today. (A MAC might do better, but that’s another subject).

The point is my PC works today, and if Microsoft leaves it alone it will work tomorrow. In case you haven’t noticed Microsoft doesn’t let you uninstall these updates anymore, and if you turn on the Restore System that’s in Win10 and keep some images, these new updates (each one of them) eliminate all the images you saved and turn off the Restore System. You have to find this out, Microsoft doesn’t tell you after the fact.

Anyone that doesn’t think we need a STOP that works probably has a new machine and is happy with it. My machine is not new, but I’m happy with it, and if the next MS upgrade breaks it I won’t be happy. I’ll have to spend a lot of money and install a lot of software just to stay functional, and the timing of this labor-intensive shut down and expense won’t be at a time when it’s at my convenience or when I’m ready to spend a lot of money.

This may be about me and other contemporaries of mine now, but Microsoft’s uncaring trudging ahead will eventually break everyone’s machine across time because it’s not their concern, nor is it a concern of the PC manufacturers, they’re all incentivized by the revenue that lies ahead on this course.

I have a working PC, Microsoft has had 5 tries at my machine, the one in 2020 broke it then and that’s when Dell told me my machine was no longer Win 10 compatible (they never sent out a notice, I found out when I called them)… I’m running Win10 right now, but they’ve already proven they can (and will) take me down in a single upgrade.

Is the public clamoring for a new OS; certainly not the general public, we like to enjoy a stasis. We don’t like Microsoft adding XBOX, PHONE, the WEATHER, and other toys we consider clutter and a waste of resources. Each update puts them back, and usually they get harder to remove as XBOX did in WIN10 ver. 190042, build 19042.

Obviously you haven’t read "Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson. It was mandatory reading (assigned by Robert Pittman our CEO) for programmers and their managers because they moved things around in a customer interface which caused the phones to light up in our call centers. The programmers weren’t thinking ahead, they just thought it would be nice and moved the ‘cheese’ to a secondary screen. That was AOL version 9, and how is AOL doing now? [Rhetorical]

Microsoft does not care it’s their agenda, they are busy assembling what they want you to have. If you read the same forums and tech papers I do most people resent this, certainly more people than praise these updates. When it comes your turn and you have to buy and reload a new PC, maybe you’ll remember this moment in time, maybe not. Microsoft won’t care then either.

They say they’re going to stop supporting Win10, wouldn’t that be great, but these updates suggest they haven’t broken enough PC’s yet. Microsoft did stop supporting Windows 7 and a lot of people found that acceptable, their machines still work because Microsoft left them alone and moved on. That was a mistake I don’t expect Microsoft to repeat.

Lest I be found out and be called duplicitous I own 2000 shares of Microsoft and I still want them to leave me and my PC alone, and telling them I’m on a metered connection does not stop them because I’ve done that and more.

Ken, thanks for your answer, I know you meant well, but your assumption that nothing bad will happen to me if I keep taking updates just isn’t true, and what you think will stop them is something they’ve learned to bypass.

Sincerely, Dean (Thanks for reading of my plight, I’m not alone).

1 Like
4

PS: I use 3rd party antivirus and Firefox as a browser. I don’t need Defender or Edge verson 3 (or is it 4?).

5

It’s unfortunate to see the amounts of misinformation in here that is considerably dangerous. Some of it literally sounds like blatant misinformation found on the Internet and even touching on paranoia. For example, this “phoning home” you’re talking about… Telemetry and diagnostic data. They are anonymous and help to fix problems you experience. Just like back on XP when you’d have a program crash and were asking to send the error report. If you don’t send it, it cannot be fixed.

A lot of the fault you’re talking about being Microsoft is actually based on Dell’s specific hardware configurations and drivers - even Dell’s own drivers are delivered through Windows Updates. Or the third party hardware you had to handle your RAID configuration. I’ve had a Dell that is over 11 years old now and still runs with all updates from Microsoft. It’s also an i7.

Do not disable Windows Updates. Ever. At all. Doing these sort of things are how several of the worlds worst worms and malware came to be - especially back in the days of Windows XP. You’re only putting yourself - and anyone else on your home network at risk - or worse depending on what these updates fix and resolve.

Firefox is a great browser for privacy and security. Though I wonder what antivirus you’re using. Microsoft Defender has been the top rated antivirus since 2019, for over two years now.

What you need to do is look into what is causing the bluescreens and why. If you need help with that then I’d recommend looking at Nirsoft’s BlueScreenView. It weill display the crash dumps in an easy to understand format citing the offending file(s) and the exception codes from the crashes.

Though with as much bashing as you’re doing on Microsoft maybe you should try one of the multiple distros of Linux. Microsoft is not the one who is forcing your computer to become obsolete. That is the nature of ever evolving technology and forward progression. I certainly hope you don’t expect a Windows 98 computer to try and be relevant in this day and age; because with what you’re saying here on the forums that is your logic and thinking.

Also, that 11 year old Dell I mentioned was - when first purchased - the latest and greatest gaming computer available at that time. Technology advances, improvements are constantly coming - just look at Nvidia with RTX and more. But if you want that computer to last and update on your terms, try a Linux distro. That, or do some comprehensive research to get a better understanding of how hotfixes, drivers, and configurations work, why they are deployed as they are, and how many of the Windows Internals work - including telemetry and error reports.

@Ken_GlassWire Correct me if I’m wrong… But GlassWire uses the Microsoft Defender Firewall API. I personally am glad with how Microsoft Defender has improved so much in the last two years.

1 Like
7

Thanks for explaining your feelings in detail @dwpenn. You do have some good points and I will look up the article you recommended.

8

I would not recommend using O&O Shutup - the developers themselves even say there are things in there they do not recommend doing as it can break your install.

Memory management is already handled by the OS. Disabling any sort of services or anything does nothing to improve your performance - rather the opposite. If you’re looking to save memory, a few KB worth of RAM is nothing. Idle RAM is wasted RAM.

10

The ports for telemetry are bidirectional when open. Microsoft could use that in reverse if they chose to. Microsoft likely examined WinUpdateStop and defeated it (though that’s speculation on my part).

I understand your reply, but you miss my biggest point, my machine can’t go forward with Microsoft, it’s not considered by them or provisioned for by Dell. If it breaks it will be Microsoft’s doing alone. so continuing is not an option for me.

If you really want to bring Dell into this, it will be because Dell couldn’t foresee the future of where Microsoft would go and I don’t fault Dell for that.

So many words from both of us, but the issue is really simple:

My PC works as is and it meets my needs, all of them. I have an external browser and an antivirus that meets my requirements, and I can keep those current! Those two items will support older machines while there is demand. Microsoft is working the other end of capitalism, creating demand. Dell is happy with that, and so is Lenovo, HP, ACER, LG, and others.

Microsoft is not really adding any improvements in their updates, they’ve fixed Edge 3 times, and they’re not done yet. In the late 1980’s the government considered an antitrust action against Microsoft’s inclusion of a browser in the O.S. based on a lawsuit started by Netscape. Consult the trade press to verify that on both points, don’t believe me.

It matters not that I have an old machine, the fact you mention it means you missed my point. It’s a stable (and protected machine) except for Microsoft’s pursuit of the future making no effort to keep my machine working, to the contrary they’re working against that.

Microsoft provides no exit from this stream of updates that gives a wit for my machine’s continuing operability. They should leave me and my contemporaries alone. I wasn’t the first to ask Glasswire if they could help, and I won’t be the last.

I conclude (as you say) if it could it help might be susceptible to the changes by Microsoft, which means if Glasswire set out to provide that service Microsoft could break Glasswire just like it is going to break me and others with older PCs and laptops. It’s going to break them with its updates, without notice, and analyzing the blue screen data isn’t going to stop that progression or restore the machines to where they were…

I have no beef with Glasswire, you can’t help, I get that.

Your net-net answer is let the updates happen and wait for our PC’s to become a boat anchors. You offered no solution by Glasswire or otherwise that works (which shows how determined Microsoft is). My PC works, Microsoft has broken it once and will break it again (confirmed by Dell).

At least Microsoft quit sending updates to Windows 7 and concentrated on Windows 8, 9, 10, 10 Pro. They are not treating Win 10 the same way.

If we older users assume the risk (browser, virus, Trojan, worm, ransomware) it’s our machine, and frankly I also own Microsoft 10. So, I should be our call to stop it. I reached out because Microsoft could care less. The idea of letting my PC become a boat anchor for new version of Edge or XBOX, etc. or having to find where stuff went, just doesn’t make sense IMHO.

I close with a timely old poem on another subject (WW2 and Hitler ca 1940’s), but the idea applies to Microsoft now and to you and others as much as it does me, only time is the difference between our respective fates:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

                  Martin Niemöller - 1940's
11

@dwpenn Let’s get your full PC specs to see if it is still compatible with Windows 10. I’m sure if it but I want to know why you think updates are hurting it.

Also, just so you know… There was never a Windows 9. Windows 8 no longer gets updates because it’s no longer supported, only 8.1 gets updates.

1 Like