According to Microsoft, Windows 10 is installed on over 100 million computers around the world. While many of those systems possess the latest and greatest hardware, some are older and not-often-updated computers that Microsoft isn't always able to support properly with Windows updates. With the next major update of Windows 10, the so-called "Creators Update", upon us, some users will wish to delay delivery of the upgrade for a bit while Microsoft figures out all the 'gotcha's' that consumers are likely to face over the next few weeks.
In older versions of Windows, deferring or even skipping updates was fairly easy. But Windows 10 changed the game and made accepting them mandatory. Business users are able to delay installing updates for a while, but those customers running Windows 10 Home and Home Premium are out of luck: you have to accept all updates as they come in. Those of us who remember the last major Windows 10 update, the Anniversary Edition, probably are a bit wary about installing major updates fresh upon their release so here's how Home and Home Premium users can avoid installing the Creators Update (for now):
- Click on the Windows Start Menu
- Click the little gear icon near the shutdown button
- Click the Network and Internet selection
- In the window that opens, click "show available networks"
- Single click on the network connection you wish to change and select "Properties"
- Find the slider that says "metered connection" and enable it
Changing your connection type to metered will prevent Windows from installing all but the most critical updates. However, the drawback is that you are likely to miss other important updates that may not be of critical importance but still impacts Windows performance. So you shouldn't leave this connection set this way forever. Give Microsoft a few weeks to a month to work out bugs then change the setting back so you can get the latest updates for your system.
Fun Fact: Microsoft has said that users who accept the Creators Update will be able to defer updates for up to a month in the future and have fine grained control over how and when those updates are installed. However, in order to have this kind of control and not have to use the workaround discussed above, you'll actually need to accept and install the Creators Update.