SOLVED You have reached your monthly data allowance!!!!

[meganms]

Thanks for destroying my internet usage for me.

Please stop automatic updates for Windows 10 home edition! I have now run out of data allowance for this month because I had no choice about when, or whether or not, I could allow updates to occur. In the past I have always allowed updates to occur, once I was sure I had sufficient data usage for the month. Sometimes I needed to delay for a week or two but now I have no choice!

Windows 10 is a nightmare!

Please change the software so that I have a choice about when the updates occur. I am using an iphone to send this message because my router is now unusable for the next 5 days.

I received a message from my provider today to advise me that my broadband speed has been reduced to 64kbps thanks to you.

Would I recommend Windows 10 to others.

No way.

Will I do everything I can to make other people aware of the problem you are causing me and others.

Yes I will.

Fix it now please!

If you do not then I will seriously, for the first time in my life, consider buying an Apple computer.

Megan

 

[Regedit32]

Hi meganms,

There are ways to manage automatic updates for Windows 10 Home to prevent the situation you have described.

Before I go into that though can you please confirm whether you are connecting using WiFi or whether you are connecting using Ethernet.

Regards,

Regedit32

 

[meganms]

Hi Regedit32 (love the name)

Thank you for responding

I use a dongle which uses a WiFi signal from my provider, which is Telstra Next G (in Australia). We do not have a landline connection, only WiFi (I live in a remote rural area).
I hope that answers your question. I will be away for the next 6 hours as I have to attend a meeting.

I am reasonably computer literate, I started with a very early DOS based computer in the early 90's and have used computers ever since.

I had a look at the settings and adjusted my 'do not disturb' time from 7:00am - 7:00pm but I could not work out how to stop the automatic updates. If you want to have a look yourself, I can install whichever remote access program you use.

Thanks

Megan

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Megan,

Assuming you installed the Anniversary Update a while back then:

• Left-click on Start
• Left-click on the Settings cog
• Left-click on Network & Internet
• In the left pane select Wi-Fi
• In the main window click on Manage known networks
• Now select your Wi-Fi network then click on Properties
• In the window that opens move the toggle for Set as metered connection to On
  
  Sample image
  
  
  
  
  
  Notes:
  
  1) If you have more than one Wi-Fi network you will need to do this for each one.
  
  2) To be able to update when you are ready you will need to return here and toggle off, do your updating, then when ready toggle on again to prevent unwanted automatic updating later.
  
  3) If you have not installed the Anniversary Update yet then to get to the screen above you will need to:
  
  > Left-click on Start
  > Left-click on Settings
  > Left-click on Network & Internet
  > Left-click on Advanced options

• When you're done here the other thing you can do is disable automatic app updates via the Windows Store. To do this first open Windows Store and sign in if necessary.
• Once in the Store left-click the Account icon at the top of Store window just to left of search box, and select Settings.
• In the screen that opens under the App updates panel toggle Off the Update apps automatically
  
  Sample image
  
  
  
  
  
  Note: If you have more than one Microsoft Account set up on this computer each user will need to turn the automatic app updates too, and as before, to update apps turn this back on when you wish to update an app, or simply check for updates and manually update without turning the automatic feature on.

If you are still unable to set to metered connection as in first set of instructions let me know and I'll walk you through a Registry tweak to set everything to metered; if required I can provide you two REG files you can save and use to turn metered on or off when you wish to update or stop updates.

Just note before we can modify the Registry I'll need you to be signed in to your computer with a user account that belongs to the Administrator group, as you will need to take ownership of a specific registry key in order to have sufficient privileges for the tweak to work.

Regards,

Regedit32

 

[meganms]

Dear Regedit32
Thank you for your help. I have done as you instructed. I must have the Anniversary Update.

Could you pass on, to the 'Powers that Be' that they need to urgently address this issue. In Australia, we do not routinely have unlimited internet access. I also wonder if it is even legal, to basically force people to 'buy' something they can't afford?..

Hopefully Microsoft will quickly devise a fix to allow people to decide whether or not to accept updates when they have a limited data supply.

Thanks again

Megan

 

[Norton]

Regedit Good advice!
BTW I have turned OFF "Update Apps Automatically" several time as mentioned, only to find out that it turns back ON by default when you exit. Another one of MS dirty deeds.

 

[HelpMePlease]

Dear Regedit32
Thank you for your help. I have done as you instructed. I must have the Anniversary Update.

Could you pass on, to the 'Powers that Be' that they need to urgently address this issue. In Australia, we do not routinely have unlimited internet access.

Hopefully Microsoft will quickly devise a fix to allow people to decide whether or not to accept updates when they have a limited data supply.

Thanks again

Megan

"I also wonder if it is even legal, to basically force people to 'buy' something they can't afford?".. have you ever heard of Obamacare ? just to lighten the air a bit

 

[Peter Bell]

Megan is not using wifi....she has a wireless connection as her plan. She needs to go to Settings and select not to update automatically. She can then choose the optimum time to perform the update manually.

 

[tony359]

While I appreciate that there are a few ways to stop the updates, that is still not acceptable. I want to be able to manage the updates myself. One day on my main PC (Ethernet) the updates were using the entire ADSL bandwidth and I was unable to purchase some train tickets.
I understand that MS don't want to allow people to stop updates but they must understand that the main purpose of a computer is not to update it - is to use it. I must be able to manage my updates. I work with my PC, I *cannot* accept that one day I show up for a meeting and my laptop may decide to install a major OS update that takes 45 minutes.
Windows must ask the user before updating. Then I am happy that, after the user delays the updates several times, then updates will install regardless.
But as it is now the update policy is simply unacceptable.

 

[Peter Bell]

A lot of people are having this problem and it's worth looking at these potential solutions.
https://www.cnet.com/au/how-to/stop-windows-10-from-automatically-updating-your-pc/
If you have a portable device with a limited download plan, and you have access to a wifi hotspot then that should be your best solution of course.

 

[Andrew Schonberger]

I second the opinion of Tony359. I have a laptop I keep for occasional use, typically for remote meetings from home, using Skype-For-Business. I have no reason to turn it on for a couple of weeks. But now, If I turn it on 5 minutes before the scheduled meeting, the damn thing starts a lengthy upload, making it practically unusable at the only time when I need it.
MS is overzealous in pushing it's new "unified" user interface, hoping to achieve some synergy between the desktop and the handheld surfaces. I'm not buying. I'm perfectly happy with my desktop being what it has always been (WinTel) and my numerous tablets and mobiles to run Android. BTW, the Android tablets also take their time to update themselves, but there is a straightforward way to turn the automatic updates off.

 

[Quinco]

Hi Megan,

Assuming you installed the Anniversary Update a while back then:

• Left-click on Start
• Left-click on the Settings cog
• Left-click on Network & Internet
• In the left pane select Wi-Fi
• In the main window click on Manage known networks
• Now select your Wi-Fi network then click on Properties
• In the window that opens move the toggle for Set as metered connection to On
  
  Sample image
  
  View attachment 4229
  
  Notes:
  
  1) If you have more than one Wi-Fi network you will need to do this for each one.
  
  2) To be able to update when you are ready you will need to return here and toggle off, do your updating, then when ready toggle on again to prevent unwanted automatic updating later.
  
  3) If you have not installed the Anniversary Update yet then to get to the screen above you will need to:
  
  > Left-click on Start
  > Left-click on Settings
  > Left-click on Network & Internet
  > Left-click on Advanced options

• When you're done here the other thing you can do is disable automatic app updates via the Windows Store. To do this first open Windows Store and sign in if necessary.
• Once in the Store left-click the Account icon at the top of Store window just to left of search box, and select Settings.
• In the screen that opens under the App updates panel toggle Off the Update apps automatically
  
  Sample image
  
  View attachment 4230
  
  Note: If you have more than one Microsoft Account set up on this computer each user will need to turn the automatic app updates too, and as before, to update apps turn this back on when you wish to update an app, or simply check for updates and manually update without turning the automatic feature on.

If you are still unable to set to metered connection as in first set of instructions let me know and I'll walk you through a Registry tweak to set everything to metered; if required I can provide you two REG files you can save and use to turn metered on or off when you wish to update or stop updates.

Just note before we can modify the Registry I'll need you to be signed in to your computer with a user account that belongs to the Administrator group, as you will need to take ownership of a specific registry key in order to have sufficient privileges for the tweak to work.

Regards,

Regedit32

I have the same issue with the auto updates. I am on a limited broadband data quota, but am connected via Ethernet, so I have no way of making the connection "Metered", so what solution does the Microsoft offer?

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Quinco,

I've posted an Article about how to set a metered connection here that answers your question:

https://www.windows10forums.com/art...ered-connection-for-windows-10-home-users.48/

 

[Quinco]

Thanks, looks good.

 

[hdhondt]

If you're worried about your data allowance, there's another problem with Win10: M$ use tour PC in a "Torrent-like" system. To be more specific: they use your PC (and everyone else's) to distribute Win10 updates. If you are using mobile data that matters to you, as you will be paying for uploads as well as downloads.

However, you can disable it. Go to Settings > Update and Security > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Choose how updates are delivered. Now turn OFF "Updates from more than one place". Even though the labels are all about receiving updates, just above the on/off switch you will see how "your PC may also SEND parts of previously downloaded Windows updates".

It's incredible that M$ can do this without warning users. And they sure buried it deep enough!

 

[Tim Locke]

An article from the Windows team today. My highlights.
NOVEMBER 3, 2016 10:02 AM
Introducing Unified Update Platform (UUP)
By Bill Karagounis / Director of Program Management, Windows Insider Program & OS Fundamentals
Share Tweet Share Share Skype


We’ve updated over 400 million devices running Windows 10 to date and release new builds to Windows Insiders nearly every week. That is pretty incredible if you think about where we were just 2 years ago. But we know we can do even better! Our customers have told us they would like updates to be more seamless, that they’d like more control over the timing of when updates are installed, that they’d like updating to require less local processing and thus improve battery life, and that they’d like download sizes to be reduced. We’re working on all of the above. In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, we added active hours and improved the control capabilities for our customers. In the next Windows 10 update, we’ll be improving that and more. Today, we are ready to roll out to our Windows Insiders an improvement that works across PC, tablet, phone, IoT, and HoloLens. We are announcing the next generation of our delivery technologies incorporated into our latest Insider builds called the Unified Update Platform (UUP).

One of the biggest community and customer benefits of UUP is the reduction you’ll see in download size on PCs. We have converged technologies in our build and publishing systems to enable differential downloads for all devices built on the Mobile and PC OS. A differential download package contains only the changes that have been made since the last time you updated your device, rather than a full build. As we rollout UUP, this will eventually be impactful for PCs where users can expect their download size to decrease by approximately 35% when going from one major update of Windows to another. We’re working on this now with the goal of supporting this for feature updates after the Windows 10 Creators Update; Insiders will see this sooner.

We have also revamped how devices check for updates, making them more efficient. As we move to UUP, we are reducing the update data sent to client devices as well as the amount of processing we are doing on devices, this especially important for devices built on the Mobile OS. Using UUP, when your device checks for updates, the Windows Update service will evaluate which updates are needed by a given device. The Windows Update service then returns these updates to the device for download and install. Because more processing is being done by the service, this will lead to faster checks for update operations. It’s important to note that with UUP, nothing will look or behave differently on the surface, UUP is all underlying platform and service optimization that happens behind the scenes.

We’ve also taken concepts that existed in the PC world and have extended them to Mobile. As you may have noticed in the past, PC flights update to the latest build in one operation, regardless of what base build you are currently running, yet that’s not how it worked for the Mobile OS. On your phone, we would sometimes require you to install in two-hops (updates) to get current. With UUP, we now have logic in the client that can automatically fallback to what we call a “canonical” build, allowing you to update your phone in one-hop, just like the PC.

We’re excited to start using UUP to release new builds to Windows Insiders. We plan to roll-out UUP in stages – starting today for Mobile devices. We expect to start using UUP for PC Insider builds later this year and then IoT and HoloLens shortly after. Our team is excited to begin publishing Mobile builds using UUP and seeing the results of a lot of hard work in unifying our update publishing platform for Windows.

Thanks,
Bill



This doesn't look like a total answer as I think that security updates will download as soon as they are available but it should help. So next spring sometime I think.

 

[Norton]

"users can expect their download size to decrease by approximately 35% when going from one major update of Windows to another" LOL

It's what Microsoft doesn't say that troubles me. They don't tell us that the frequency of updates and fixes will increase by 35-40%.