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You are here: Home / Tech Questions & Answers / Q&A: How can I stop all auto-updates in Windows 8.1?

Q&A: How can I stop all auto-updates in Windows 8.1?

Posted on February 13, 2014

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windows-8-1Question from Alan J.:  Rick, I travel frequently and I use my mobile phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot via “tethering” for my laptop. The problem is I’m only allotted 2 GB of data transfer per month.

2GB would be enough but something on my laptop is constantly checking for updates and downloading them. I need to put a stop to the auto-updates because they’re using up my paltry supply of monthly data.

I’ve already turned off automatic Windows Updates. How can I prevent ALL auto-updates from my laptop with Windows 8.1?

Rick’s answer:  Tethering is a great way to access the Internet when you’re on the go Alan, but as you well know it’s important to keep a close eye on your data usage. The steps listed below should disable all automatic updates on your laptop:

1 – Press the Windows+R key combination to open a “Run” box.

2 – Type services.msc into the Run box, then press the Enter key.

3 – Click the Standard tab that’s located at the bottom of the Services window.

4 – Double-click on Background Intelligent Transfer Service.

5 – Find the “Startup type” field and select Disabled from the drop-down menu.

6 – Click Apply, then click Ok.

7 – Double-click on Windows Update.

8 – Find the “Startup type” field and select Disabled from the drop-down menu.

9 – Click Apply, then click Ok.

10 – Click File>Exit.

From now on there should be no auto-updates executed from your laptop. Just be sure to manually check for new Windows Updates on a regular basis. Here’s how:

1 – Press the Windows+S key combination to open the “Search” pane.

2 – Type windows update into the Search box, then select Windows Update from the list of search results.

I hope this helps Alan. Good luck!


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