If you purchased a laptop or computer with Windows 8 or simply installed this OS on your computer, then sooner or later (unless, of course, you disabled all updates) you will see a message from the store offering to get Windows 8.1 for free, acceptance of which allows you to upgrade the system to the new one versions. What to do if you don’t want to update, but at the same time regular updates Is it also undesirable to abandon the system?
The second method is actually the same as described above, but disable the update to Windows 8.1 using the registry editor, which you can launch by pressing the Win + R keys on your keyboard and entering regedit.
In Registry Editor, open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\ key and create the WindowsStore subkey in it.
After that, selecting the newly created section, click right click mouse in the right pane of the Registry Editor and create a DWORD value named DisableOSUpgrade and set its value to 1.
That's all, you can close the registry editor, the update will no longer bother you.
Another way to disable Windows 8.1 upgrade notification in Registry Editor
IN this method The registry editor is also used, and it can help if the previous option did not help:
- Launch Registry Editor as described earlier
- Open the section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Setup\UpgradeNotification
- Change the UpgradeAvailable parameter value from one to zero.
If such a section and parameter are missing, you can create them yourself, in the same way as in the previous option.
If in the future you need to disable the changes described in this guide, then simply perform the reverse operations and the system will be able to independently update to latest version.
As you know, many users Windows systems 7 and 8.1 recently received a message about the availability of its update to version 10.
Despite the fact that you can use this service if you wish, the update icon after such a message is installed on the computer of everyone with a licensed OS and periodically appears, interfering and annoying during work. But this is only half the trouble, since along with this icon there also appeared new folder , having Name$WINDOWS.~BT, which serves for an easier transition to new version and the data contained therein are not deleted. This phenomenon is not very pleasant for those users who do not want to use the innovation, especially when system disk almost full of necessary data, because the weight of the folder is quite large, almost 3 GB.
In addition, all this can cause problematic situations in the functioning of a PC or laptop, which is also not very good. That's why the best option will produce removing unnecessary update, and there are several ways to do this.
It is worth noting that these methods work for rollback any system update.
Uninstall via Update Center
The first method, which is the simplest, is to destroy the component using Parameters And Control panels. To perform this you will need the following operations:
After all the activities, a list of all versions that were installed on the computer will be opened. Among them are selected unnecessary updates and press “ Delete" Next, this action is confirmed and its completion is waited for.
You can also get to the list of updates using Control Panel, in which using the section “ Programs and components", a side menu opens where you select " View installed updates ».
Using the command line
The second way to get rid of updates is to use the command line. To carry out the process, the following actions will be required:
Not all Windows folders equally useful. Many users have already made this conclusion for themselves. Some folders in the system can take up a lot of space, but not always with the necessary data. If we have at least figured out the system snapshot folder (restore points), then not everyone knows how to approach the WinSxS folder. In this article, I'll tell you what this folder is, why it takes up so much space, and how to organize it.
Why is WinSxS so big?
There is nothing mysterious about the WinSxS folder. Windows sends “snapshots” to it system files, which are affected by the next update. Hence the meaning of this folder - to ensure a system rollback after an update if it begins to work incorrectly or is unstable. The complaints about the WinSxS folder are related to the monstrous size that research tools show hard drive, like .
But there is no mystery at all. The actual size of the WinSxS folder is much smaller - “hard links” are to blame.
"Hard Link" - Conquest file system NTFS. In reality, there is only one file, but there can be many “hard links” to it. But they, from the point of view file manager, are absolutely separate files with the same size as the file being referenced. But in reality their size is zero.
When standard tools calculate the size of a WinSxS folder, they are told the files themselves without taking into account the fact that these are “hard links”. In reality, the size of the WinSxS folder is not so large and rarely reaches 15 GB. However, with large updates, of which there have been many recently, the size of this folder raises questions.
How to properly clean out the WinSxS folder?
The answer depends on the version operating system which you are using.
Windows 7
In Windows 7, you should install SP1 or package number KB2852386. The fact is that the developers included cleaning this folder in system utility disk cleaning. There this item is called “Cleaning Windows Updates”.
Old files are deleted in the following way. All files that relate to updates installed earlier than 30 days ago are deleted.
Windows 8
In Windows 8, the WinSxS folder has undergone small but important changes. Now it stores not just old files, but compressed old files. This significantly reduces the actual physical size of the folder.
Starting from Windows 8, you can view the actual size of WinSxS with the following command "Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore". To do this, you will need to call the system utility " Command line"("cmd") as administrator.
The standard disk cleaner here is always able to clean Windows updates, as described for Windows 7 SP1.
Windows 8.1 and 10
In Windows 8.1 appeared additional function removing all old versions of Windows components. This is done with the command “Dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase”.
Attention! Use non-standard commands only if free place just catastrophically valuable. In all other cases, “disk cleanup” will give a completely satisfactory result. And system security will be higher due to a 30-day moratorium on removing updates.
Less than a week ago, Microsoft officially announced the imminent release of an update for its operating system. The update (also known as Windows 8.1 Update 1) will be available to everyone tomorrow Windows users 8.1 and Windows 8.1 RT, and completely free.
This update is Microsoft's attempt to appease classic PC users who haven't taken to the latest version of the Windows operating system, or are simply unhappy with it. The update adds several new features, including buttons for minimizing and closing Windows Store apps. Moreover, after Windows installations 8.1 Update users will be able to pin modern applications to the desktop taskbar, and to home screen Elements for controlling the computer's power will appear (shutdown, reboot, etc.).
The update significantly improves the computer experience, but mainly on desktop machines. So, if you installed Windows 8.1 Update on a tablet or other device with touch screen If you're not thrilled with the new features included in this update, you can easily revert back to Windows 8.1.
The best thing that differentiates upgrading to Windows 8.1 from upgrading to Windows 8.1 Update is that the latter is very easy to uninstall. However, if you are not sure how to remove installed updates, follow the simple instructions below that will help you roll back from Windows 8.1 Update to Windows 8.1.
Step 1: Press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to open the Run dialog box. In the window that opens, enter the command Appwiz.cpl, and then press Enter or OK to open the Programs and Features window.
Step 2: On the left side of the Programs and Features window, click the View installed updates link to see all the updates that are installed on your system.
Step 3: In the list of installed updates, go to the section " Microsoft Windows" and find the update KB2919355 there. Right-click on it and click Delete.
Step 4: Click "Yes" when the message "Are you sure you want to remove this update?" appears on your screen.
Step 5: Once the update is removed, you will be prompted to restart your computer. Do this to completely remove Windows 8.1 Update.
Note: you do not need to remove the remaining updates that were installed along with KB2919355, since uninstalling the main update removes everything else related to Win 8.1 Update from the system.
Have a great day!