Time-Sensitive: I Need to Stop Unasked-For Win Updates From Installing

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Hi! I hope you can help me...

 

I have had the Win Update setting at “Check for updates but let me choose whether to install them” for years now, and have not had a problem. Something in my computer went awry, and now I see this screen:

 

 

 

Is there a way to prevent these unasked-for updates from being installed?

 

 

If there is a way to do so, just so that we are on the same page, I did travel to the area for these settings...

 

 

 

Upon clicking on "Change settings"...

 

 

 

... And the setting is where it should be. So I don't understand how this could have happened, but sometimes computers have minds of their own. 

 

I attempted to see if there is any advice for my situation on the web, but everything out there that I managed to run into only advises on how to stop updates from taking place (as with this YouTube video entitled, "How to Completely Disable Windows Update").

 

Here, the damage has been done and the idea is to prevent these updates from wreaking potential havoc on older programs, as has been my experience in the past. 

 

The sixth post on this page that explores the problem (where users have been similarly surprised, receiving unwanted updates) seems to have given what sounds like a solution: "Basically, the only way to keep Windows from applying the updates is to turn off the machine – don’t let it cycle down normally"... but I don't know what that means. Once the machine is turned off, and then started up again, the updates will most likely be installed. (Do you know what the writer was getting at?)

 

As additional notes, I suppose once these updates are installed, I could do a "system restore"... so that may be a way out. Sometimes that process does not always succeed, so I don't want to rely on it.

 

I can't turn off the computer until I get your advice; that explains the "time sensitive" note.

 

As added information, I also clicked on "View Update History" (third option from Windows Update main screen)  and it looks like what's in line to get installed is "Security Update for Windows (KB4474419)," details for which are provided on this Microsoft page. I'm now learning one may "uninstall" an update after it's installed, so perhaps the situation is not as disastrous as I first feared.

 

Sometimes, however, once a system is gooked up, an "undo" does not always work. Regardless, I would like to know if there is a way to prevent installation in the first place.

 

Thank you.

 

 

EDIT: I later got the idea that a search for KB4474419 might lead to the directory this file now sits in (since I got the idea that perhaps I might simply delete it), and the answer was "ProgramData\Malwarebytes\MBAMService\ctlrupdate" (with filename, "windows6.1-kb4474419-v3-x64.msu," which has a description here. In case someone was pulling a fast one, the file was given a clean bill of health from this online service called "VirusTotal").

 

Something else happened that was strange. I have Malwarebytes, but it just sits quietly until I have need for it. Today, it checked for malware on its own. Did Malwarebytes take it upon itself to download a Microsoft update?

 

That's very peculiar. Another surprise is that I thought Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 7, so how in the world could this update have been downloaded..?

 

 

 

 

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Edited by Upbloat, Today, 12:16 AM.

 

windows6.1-kb4474419-v3-x64.msu," which has a description here. In case someone was pulling a fast one, the file was given a clean bill of health from this online service called "VirusTotal").

That Windows update in particular is important for Malwarebytes and many other software to continue to work correctly.

It enables the following

SHA-2 code signing support update for Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008: September 23, 2019

Edited by Porthos, Today, 02:26 AM.

 

I can't turn off the computer until I get your advice; that explains the "time sensitive" note.

I would let it install and restart the computer.

I agree with Porthos: Install the update! If you later decide to uninstall it for whatever reason, then you should first uninstall Malwarebytes, which does indeed require it. Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials are signed with SHA-2, so it also requires KB4474419. The last major browser version with ongoing support for Windows 7 is Firefox 115 ESR (security updates until September), but Firefox 100 and above require that update IIRC.

Should always install the update as they are all Security Updates now.

 

Though being on line you are a danger to everyone on the internet including your friends and family.

Another surprise is that I thought Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 7, so how in the world could this update have been downloaded..?.

 

If you so not want them, why in the world don't you choose "Never check for updates" or disable the Windows Update Service?

 

I'm starting to get downright annoyed by people who suppose updates disappear the minute end of support is reached. This was not the case with Vista, it was not the case with XP, not with 2000, and it's not the case with 8.1.

 

Also Malwarebytes sure enough requires KB4474419, as does every current antivirus and browser. If you had the setting for years, how do you manage to never have installed updates - for Windows and other products from Microsoft Update?

 

Anyway, good luck averting evil KB4474419 and any other.

Thank you so much! I appreciate greatly those who have take  the time and trouble to lend me a hand.

 

I will listen to the consensus here, and install.

 

VolumeZ asked,"If you so not want them, why in the world don't you choose 'Never check for updates'" ; after this episode happened, I wondered about that myself. I suppose that extreme option sounded so final, and scary... and there is an ominous "not recommended" note that accompanies it, red sign and all.

 

VolumeZ additionally added, "Malwarebytes sure enough requires KB4474419."  (Novices are not privy to such insightful knowledge.) That makes me think this update message came not from Windows, but from a software program that took it upon itself to download and force an update. If that is the case, it's highly interesting; I have never encountered anything of the kind in the past.

 

I was primarily wondering if there would be a way to prevent an install when such an update message arrives before rebooting the computer, but that question was not addressed. I now have a feeling that's not possible, but I had mentioned a reference claiming what hinted at a solution (which I did not understand): "Basically, the only way to keep Windows from applying the updates is to turn off the machine – don’t let it cycle down normally".

 

Bleeping Computers has been so helpful to me, and is a precious site. Yet I noticed in this and my prior post, some of the experts get a little worked up, and perhaps even upset. I believe it would be better to bear in mind that not everyone knows what they are doing, and there are those with different needs. Sometimes there are those who prefer not to follow strict rules, and something in their experience could have led them to feel differently. Anyone who seeks answers prefers understanding, and hopes to receive facts, with little emotion. 

 

Once again, my gratitude to those who have offered their helpful brainpower.

 

 

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