Windows updates are, of course, an important process in the operation of this operating system, necessary for its full functioning - to ensure the correct operation of programs, security and improvement of the system as a whole. But in practice, unfortunately, cases of unfavorable results from system updates have been observed more than once. Windows performance varies immediately after installation and after use for several months. The constantly increasing number of system updates slows down its performance over time. Windows updates can result in settings failures, problems with switching languages, pop-up notifications about system service errors, etc.
Microsoft periodically officially recognizes one or another update as unsuccessful. And, naturally, they are taking measures to correct it. But not always a problem that arises due to updates can be solved automatically, without user intervention and manual removal of the problematic update package.
How to manually remove Windows 8/8.1 updates? How to prevent a problematic system update from being installed again? We will look into this in more detail below.
Uninstalling a problematic Windows update
Tap the right side of the screen from top to bottom to display the Metro interface charms and enter the keyword “Programs and Features” in the search field. From the list provided, select this section of system settings.
Alternative for Windows 8.1: this version implements a slightly improved version of the Start button, and by calling the context menu on it, we will see the command to open the control panel.
Once in the Windows 8.1 Control Panel, select the “Programs and Features” section.
Either way will take you to this section of system settings.
In the “Programs and Features” section we are interested in the “View installed updates” subsection. Click on his link.
In the next window you will see a list of installed Windows updates.
Here you can track the problematic update by its number (КВххххххх) and delete it. If you don't know the update number, you can analyze exactly when the problem occurred with your system by rearranging the updates in the list by installation date, then uninstall all updates from that date.
To remove a problematic Windows update, select it in the list, call up the context menu and click the only command “Delete”.
After uninstalling an update, in most cases, a reboot will be required to return the system state to the same state as before the problematic update was installed.
Prevent reinstalling a problematic Windows update
Removing the problematic Windows update is only half the solution. After all, it can be installed automatically again. To prevent this, you need to make changes to your Windows Update settings.
Open the Windows Update system settings section. For this:
Or enter a key query in the search field of the Metro interface and select this section in the results obtained;
Or open the control panel using the context menu on the Windows 8.1 “Start” button and select the section we need in the list of control panel elements.
As a rule, Windows is installed with settings for automatically downloading and installing system updates. An exception may be pirated assemblies of the system, where assemblers initially change the settings and functionality of Windows. However, in most cases we will see a picture of total control of the situation by the system itself.
Click "Customize Settings" to make changes.
We will change the automatic update installation option that was set up to this point to one that is controlled by you - we will allow the system to automatically download updates, but we will make the decision about installation only and only independently.
In the future, the system will only download updates; you will need to install them manually. But in this case, you will have a choice - install only important updates and not clutter the system with various unnecessary nonsense.
You also need to manually install system updates through Windows Update. Check this section of your system settings periodically to install important updates yourself.
If you need to prevent the re-installation of that problematic update that caused you a lot of trouble, you can hide it. On this update, call the context menu and click the “Hide update” command.
In the same way, you can hide other updates in the future - not important, but simply recommended, so as not to clutter the system.
The most common of them are: incorrect installation of updates, system failures after installing updates, hardware failure, etc.
As you know, keeping Windows 8 up to date comes from the update center, so to speak, repositories. Often, all installations of updates, patches and packages occur automatically (depending on system settings). With the help of these installations, Microsoft developers solve problems with operating system security, software and device incompatibility.
If you suddenly need to remove one or several of the installed updates, say, not those that are “important”, but those that are “optional,” then by following the simple algorithm of actions described below, you can easily solve your problem.
How to remove a broken Windows 8 update and install it again?
In addition to the cases described above when Windows 8 updates need to be uninstalled, it also happens that the download of updates fails, or the installation fails. In such a situation, other update packages or patches stop being downloaded or installed on the system. In this case, uninstalling the failed update and then trying to install it can also help.
In the Windows 8.1 (Windows 8) operating system, with default settings, system updates are downloaded and installed automatically. Once a month or more often if special circumstances arise, for example, to urgently install a patch to a system that closes a vulnerability.
Operating system updates mainly close security holes identified during the operation of Windows. Installing updates improves the overall security of the operating system. In addition, an update installs patches in the OS to improve system performance.
For some reasons, users refuse Windows updates by disabling this feature on their computer. Basically, the reasons for refusing to search for, receive and install Windows updates are as follows:
- After installing updates, problems with the operating system and programs may occur;
- with a limited Internet tariff, receiving updates leads to the consumption of a significant amount of traffic;
- users are afraid of losing Windows activation after installing an update;
- Updates take up a lot of disk space after installation.
Therefore, users have questions: how to disable updates on Windows 8, or how to disable updates on Windows 8.1. You can solve this problem yourself by changing the system settings.
In these operating systems, the process of disabling the update is the same. Therefore, I combined these operating systems in one article. From the OS names it is clear that Windows 8.1 is an improved version of the Windows 8 operating system (support for this operating system has been discontinued by Microsoft).
In this article I will tell you how to disable Windows 8 updates automatically, and how to disable Windows 8.1 updates permanently, using Windows 8.1 Update as an example (in Windows 8 everything happens similarly), using two different methods using the operating system.
How to disable automatic updates in Windows 8.1
In automatic mode, the operating system independently searches for, downloads and installs updates on the user’s computer through Windows Update.
To disable automatic system updates, complete the following settings:
- Access PC settings from the Start menu in Windows1, or from the list of applications in Windows 8.
- In the All Control Panel Items window, click on Windows Update.
- In the Windows Update window, click the Customize settings link.
- In the "Configure Settings" window, in the "Important updates" setting, select the "Don't check for updates (not recommended)" option.
- Next, click on the “OK” button.
Additionally, you can uncheck the “Recommended updates” and “Microsoft Update” settings.
To download and install system updates manually, select the option “Search for updates, but the decision to download and install is made by me.” In this case, you yourself decide which of the proposed updates needs to be installed on your computer.
How to disable Windows 8.1 update permanently
Another way to disable Windows 8 update is to stop the service responsible for updating the system.
To disable the Windows Update service, follow these steps:
- Log in to the “Control Panel”, select “Administration”.
- In the “Administration” window, double-click the “Services” shortcut with the left mouse button.
- In the Services window, find the Windows Update service.
- Right-click on the Windows Update service and select “Properties” from the context menu.
- In the “Properties: Windows Update (Local Computer)” window, in the “General” tab, in the “Startup type” setting, select the “Disabled” option.
- In the “Status” setting, click on the “Stop” button.
- Then click alternately on the “Apply” and “OK” buttons.
Please note that when installing Microsoft applications, the Windows Update service may be enabled by the system. Therefore, after installing such applications, you must disable the operating system update service again.
To enable Windows 8 update, in the “Properties: Windows Update (Local Computer)” window, select the startup type: “Automatic (Delayed Start)” or “Manual”.
Disabling automatic updates using Windows Update Blocker
The free Windows Update Blocker program has a feature to disable the automatic updating service of the Windows operating system. The Windows Update Blocker program has been translated into Russian, the application does not require installation on a PC, it is launched from a folder.
The Windows Update Blocker program must be downloaded from the developer’s official website.
Windows Update Blocker download
Follow these steps:
- First you need to extract the ZIP archive on your computer.
- Open the "Wub" folder and then launch the "Wub.exe" application.
- In the Windows Update Blocker application window, you must enable the “Disable Updates” button; immediately after this, the “Protect Service Settings” checkbox will be automatically checked.
- To turn off system updates, click on the “Apply” button.
- The Windows Update service is disabled and the service status indicator changes to red.
You can find out about the status of the update service using the “Menu” button. In the context menu that opens, click on the “Windows Update” and “Windows Services” items in turn to see the results of the program.
To enable the automatic Windows Update service, you will need to activate the “Enable Updates” option in the Windows Update Blocker program window, and then click the “Apply” button.
Conclusions of the article
In the Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 operating system, the user can disable automatic system updates, or permanently disable the installation of updates for Windows. Windows Update Blocker disables the Windows Update service, preventing you from receiving system updates.
How to disable Windows updates in Windows Update Blocker (video)
As you know, many users of Windows 7 and 8.1 have recently received a message about the availability of an 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 a new version and the data contained in it are not deleted. This phenomenon is not very pleasant for those users who do not want to use the innovation, especially when the system disk is almost full of the necessary data, because the weight of the folder is quite large, even 3 GB.
In addition, all this can cause problematic situations in the functioning of a PC or laptop, which is also not very good. Therefore, the best option would be to 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:
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 tomorrow for all Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 RT users, and it will be 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. In addition, after installing Windows 8.1 Update, users will be able to pin modern applications to the desktop taskbar, and elements for managing the computer's power (shutdown, restart, etc.) will appear on the Start screen.
The update significantly improves the computer experience, but mainly on desktop machines. So, if you installed the Windows 8.1 Update on a tablet or other touchscreen device and aren't thrilled with the new features included with the update, you can easily switch 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 “Microsoft Windows” section and find the KB2919355 update 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!