Stop downloads on windows 10

But, imagine you have to do this every time you download a file—that can be annoying and time-consuming. If you often download files from the internet or receive files as email attachments, you might want to completely stop your PC from blocking your files. To stop Windows 10 from blocking you from opening your files, you need to prevent it from adding Zone Information to the files you download.

You must be signed in as an administrator or you should request administrator rights to be able to stop downloaded files from being blocked. From there, type "Regedit" and click Enter. A User Account Control prompt will pop up. When this prompt appears, click the Yes button to continue. If the Attachments key is absent within the Policies key, you'll have to create it. To do this, right-click on the Policies key, click New , click Key.

This will create a new key, which you should then name "Attachments". If you find that the Attachments key is already present, you can skip to the next step.

These metadata are considered to be attachments. This is the default operation carried out by the windows OS. This is an annoying default setting of windows 10 OS that prevents you from opening or executing the downloaded files directly.

Metadata is knows as data that describes other data. The metadata added as attachment to the downloaded file is known as Zone Information. The Zone information is an invisible file stored along with the downloaded file in form of an alternate data stream.

Both the downloaded file and metadata is stored in the same location. From now on, Windows 10 will only automatically restart itself outside of those hours. It will still download and install updates in the background, as usual. There is no outright way to stop updates in Windows 10, but the OS does understand that certain Internet connections charge by the amount of data consumed — such as in-flight or hotel Wi-Fi — or have a data cap — such as your mobile hotspot.

You can close Registry Editor, and return to work. To download updates from now on, open the Windows Update page, and then choose Download. Have you had any problems with automatic updates on Windows 10? Let us know via the comments below. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. Windows 10 automatically downloads, and installs OS updates Active hours let you prevent unexpected system restarts Metered connection is a helpful trick to stop automatic downloads.

Set active hours for your Windows 10 device Active hours are meant to convey the time you usually use your device. Under Update Settings , click Change active hours. By submitting your email, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Windows 10 PCs automatically check for updates and install any updates they find.

You can take some control over this and have Windows 10 install updates on your schedule, but these options are hidden. Windows Update really wants to automatically update on Windows Professional, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows 10 have access to group policy and registry settings for this, but even Home editions of Windows 10 give you a way to stop updates from automatically downloading. Windows 10 will automatically set certain types of connections — cellular data connections, for example — as metered.

However, you can set any connection like as a metered connection. And yes, Windows will remember this setting for each individual network, so you can disconnect from that network and reconnect all you like. Do you have an Internet connection with limited data?

If your connection offers unlimited downloads at a specific time — for example, during the middle of the night — you could mark the connection as unmetered occasionally at these times to download updates and mark it as metered after the updates are downloaded. You can click the Download button to download and install updates at your leisure. You can also override those active hours to schedule certain reboots when an update is ready.

You can read more about how to do that here. Proceed at your own risk. You should really consider leaving automatic updates enabled for security reasons. This setting can be configured in the registry, too. This registry hack does exactly the same thing as the above Group Policy setting. However, it also only seems to work on Professional editions of Windows Download our Disable Automatic Updates on Windows 10 registry hack and double-click one of the included.

This only worked when we tried it on Windows 10 Pro, not Home. You have to perform a check for updates before Windows Update notices your changed setting.