Saturday, September 30, 2023 – Stop your PC from getting updates from strangers’ PCs – Simple tip for protecting your computer from malware

Stop your Windows PC from getting updates from strangers’ PCs

By default, Microsoft configures Windows to receive Windows Update files not only from Microsoft’s own servers, but also from other Windows PCs located around the Internet.

And guess what? YOUR computer is probably being used to update the computers of strangers at the same time.

Why do they do this? Well, it’s really pretty simple…

Any update files that are delivered by PCs belonging to regular users don’t have to be sent from Microsoft’s servers.

That means Microsoft saves money by keeping their Internet bandwidth charges lower than they would be otherwise while also allowing them to get by with having fewer servers in their data centers.

Personally, I don’t like that.

If you don’t like it either you can stop your PC from sharing updates with other computers over the Internet (and vice versa). Just follow the steps below for your Windows version.

Windows 10:

1 – Right-click the Start button and select Settings from the menu.

2 – Click Update & Security.

3 – Click the Delivery Optimization link in the left-hand column.

4 – Toggle the “Allow downloads from other PCs” setting to Off.

Windows 11:

1 – Right-click the Start button and select Settings from the menu.

2 – In the left-hand pane, click Windows Update.

3 – In the right-hand pane, click Advanced options.

4 – Click Delivery optimization.

5 – Toggle the “Allow downloads from other PCs” setting to Off.

That’s all there is to it. From now on ALL of your Windows Update files will come directly from Microsoft and your PC will NOT send any update files to other computers.