straycat19 Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 Thought I would share a little trick I have been using to stop Windows 10 on my test systems from updating when a new version comes out or installing any of the cumulative updates. This does not work in a VM but only on a live system with two drives. I normally install the OS on an SSD, drive C, but install programs and and all the libraries (documents, music video, pictures) on a HDD that is drive D. You do that by changing several keys in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion and change the Program Files and Program Files (x86) locations from C to D. You change the libraries by going into their individual properties, select the location tab, and change the drive from C to D. I do this immediately after installing Windows from a DVD/USB before installing any additional drivers or software. Then I install any drivers, updates or other items I want on the system before I apply the next fix. The secret to stopping all the Windows updates is the hidden Program Data folder on the root of C. Once that folder is moved from C to D Windows can no longer install new versions of itself nor can it update itself. (Reference TechNet Article 949977) To change the Program Data folder from C to D use the following commands. robocopy "C:\ProgramData" "D:\ProgramData" /MIR /COPYALL /XJ rmdir "C:\ProgramData" /S /Q mklink /J "C:\ProgramData" "D:\ProgramData" NOTE: I have extra systems I play with. I do use these settings on my game machines because I don't want windows to update anything and screw them up. These work in windows 7 and 8.1 as well as 10. I have never tried to reverse the Program Data folder location to see if I could make windows update again since I have no desire for it to do so. I have to add the caveat, USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK and NOT SAFE FOR NOOBS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batu69 Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Moved from software news forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rerigam Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 11 hours ago, straycat19 said: Thought I would share a little trick I have been using to stop Windows 10 on my test systems from updating when a new version comes out or installing any of the cumulative updates. This does not work in a VM but only on a live system with two drives. I normally install the OS on an SSD, drive C, but install programs and and all the libraries (documents, music video, pictures) on a HDD that is drive D. You do that by changing several keys in HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion and change the Program Files and Program Files (x86) locations from C to D. You change the libraries by going into their individual properties, select the location tab, and change the drive from C to D. I do this immediately after installing Windows from a DVD/USB before installing any additional drivers or software. Then I install any drivers, updates or other items I want on the system before I apply the next fix. The secret to stopping all the Windows updates is the hidden Program Data folder on the root of C. Once that folder is moved from C to D Windows can no longer install new versions of itself nor can it update itself. (Reference TechNet Article 949977) To change the Program Data folder from C to D use the following commands. robocopy "C:\ProgramData" "D:\ProgramData" /MIR /COPYALL /XJ rmdir "C:\ProgramData" /S /Q mklink /J "C:\ProgramData" "D:\ProgramData" NOTE: I have extra systems I play with. I do use these settings on my game machines because I don't want windows to update anything and screw them up. These work in windows 7 and 8.1 as well as 10. I have never tried to reverse the Program Data folder location to see if I could make windows update again since I have no desire for it to do so. I have to add the caveat, USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK and NOT SAFE FOR NOOBS. By moving your Program Files and Program Files(x86) from C (SSD) to D (HDD) you slow down your system (...or not?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiliarou Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 3 hours ago, rerigam said: By moving your Program Files and Program Files(x86) from C (SSD) to D (HDD) you slow down your system (...or not?) You only slow down the programs you install on the HDD, not the whole system... Nice trick but why wouldn't it work for a VM ? Assuming you have 2 partitions, it should work like in a live system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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