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I've seen lots of posts over the years about people being frustrated by the fact that Windows automatically reboots for updates. But since 2015 there has been a workaround where you can set the connection to metered, and then it will check and show the updates, but not initiate the download as far as I can tell. I'm wondering if there's a reason people don't do this? I'm fairly certain you can configure OneDrive to download/sync even when over a metered network, but I feel like this is a good workaround as I've been doing it for years and never had any of these unexpected restarts, as updates happen when I choose to make them happen. For example the updates for this month came out last week and I just installed them last night. #Windows #Windows10 #Windows11 #updates #WindowsUpdate
I wanted to add some additional clarification for the point about me choosing when updates happen. This is the case only if updates have not already been downloaded and are awaiting a reboot. If the updates have already been installed, and are awaiting a reboot, then using a metered connection will not prevent the system from restarting. This is specifically for when Windows checks for updates and at that point, a metered connection will prompt you to download the update. It is at that point you can leave it in that state until you're ready, at which point you can press download.
@BTyson 3 reasons I can think of.
First, it's not a workaround most people know about/want to do. Adding items to the Send To menu isn't hard either, but who's really going to do it?
Second, a metered connection suggests data limits/throttling, which no one wants to deal with. Is the connection actually restricted? I don't know, but it sounds like it might be.
Third, I tried this myself. A few days later, Windows installed updates and restarted itself anyway.
@alexhall For scenario 3, were the updates already downloaded? It doesn't make a difference if the updates are already pending reboot. Also, the connection isn't actually restricted unless you actually put in a data limit.
@BTyson I don't know if they were downloaded, as this was a few years ago. And even if a metered connection isn't restricted by default, most people would see "metered" and assume it is. The solution is valid, but you asked why more people don't use it. I'm guessing that's part of why.
@alexhall That makes sense. Do you suspect that people might think there's an arbitrary restriction set when they see "metered connection"?
@BTyson Yes, exactly. Maybe there's a data cap, maybe it will run more slowly, maybe something else. But being metered implies some sort of restriction, at least to me. I suspect others feel the same.
@alexhall That makes sense. I personally haven't had anything like that happen. You definitely can set a data limit, but you don't have to, and the speeds seem to be the same.
@BTyson According to Microsoft, no data limit is set by default. However, it seems that apps can know if a metered connection is in use, and choose to adjust their behavior. This is up to the app's developer, though. Also, connections can be set to metered one at a time, which might pose another barrier. If you set your home connection to metered, then take your laptop to work, you're not on a metered connection anymore. Same if you get a new router. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/metered-connections-in-windows-7b33928f-a144-b265-97b6-f2e95a87c408
@alexhall That's true, but I created a registry file to make all future connections metered to not have to set it all the time. They might not have that documented.
@BTyson That's a good way around the problem. I didn't think of that.
@alexhall An interesting thing that happened with this a few years ago, Microsoft did this thing where if your version of Windows 10 hit end of service, they would give you the update assistant automatically, and it detected my network as metered and said something to the effect of that a 5 gb download would happen in the background, and gave me a download button. When not on a metered network, it just did it anyway.