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Disclaimer: This is a followup question for Will the mandatory update policy in windows 10 bring security issues?; With the purpose to divide one broad question in two specific one, coincidentally originated due to the same policy. Thus, expecting quite different answers. Please, do read both questions before starting to scream "duplicate".

In order to analyse if I'll update all my computers working on windows I came across the the following setback.

I have the home versions of windows and by updating to windows 10, I'll receive the basic version. On which I'll loose total control of the updates that are installed.

The first problem that crosses my mind is "what if an update messes up a third party software program that I need for, i.e. an academic research project?" And "what if a bug is added to the system that messes up the startup and I need it for a meeting, presentation or worst, have an online interview?".

In previous versions of Windows, I removed auto-updates for a reason. To reduce my exposure to these risks. Thus, I currently do not update the PC whenever I know I might need it soon, only in weekends and holidays where I know I have time to fix any bug that might come up.

To sum it up, I fear of momentum/oportunity risk by not having the possibility to manage when it's the best moment to install any patches.

Will there be a way to control the updates anyway with the free basic version, thus reducing such risks? And secondly what is my exposure to these risks? Does Microsoft have strategies to avoid certain big bug releases as happened in the past?

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CMPSoares
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    We are not a discussion forum. – Ramhound Aug 04 '15 at 23:55
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    Could you narrow your down to what you are actually asking, as defined as [on-topic](http://superuser.com/help/on-topic) in the [help centre](http://superuser.com/help)? – bertieb Aug 04 '15 at 23:55
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    There is a great deal that has been changed. You can still defer certain updates with a tool even on Windows 10 Home. Furthermore certain updates have always been required ( Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1 Update 1 etc. ). These required updates are going to go through Insider Preview users before they even hit Windows 10 Home users. – Ramhound Aug 04 '15 at 23:58
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    You refer specifically to update risks, but there are also others. http://www.armstrongeconomics.com/archives/35542 (ignore the tinfoil hat perspective). http://www.break.com/article/husbands-porn-becomes-screensaver-windows-10-2877479 – fixer1234 Aug 05 '15 at 00:57
  • That's a nasty one! Literally! Yep for those reasons I haven't updated yet to avoid surprises, but professionally and academically I'm mainly concerned with the risks I mentioned in this question and the other that's linked. Although the first one might be a very dangerous security risk! – CMPSoares Aug 05 '15 at 01:03
  • You can still uninstall an update and block it from reinstalling. – Andy Aug 15 '15 at 17:00
  • I know @Andy but that means that I might have had already a problem when I need the pc, thus causing me some sort of loss. i.e. messing up a thesis presentation. So instead of preventing something from happening I'm fixing it. But I want to prevent it. – CMPSoares Aug 16 '15 at 01:15

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As for strategies from Microsoft's side, they now have the Insider program which allows them to test some patches with a larger audience beforehand. In return, Insiders don't need to buy a Windows license.

Of course there are still many kinds of patches they can't test that way. For example they can't roll out patches of undiscovered critical vulnerabilities to Insiders first, because attackers could thus discover and use the vulnerability before the majority of the non-Insider systems are patched.

Microsoft has frequently broken Windows with updates in the past. Even the update process itself managed to put systems in a broken state. The changes they implemented reduce that risk, but they do not remove it. In short, it's almost guaranteed that some updates will screw up some people's computers, so the risk that you can't access your computer at a critical time due to Windows Update is small but real. Keep in mind in most cases you can just roll back an update, and you will lose no more than 10-30 minutes.

There are 2 ways to look at this:

First, you can put this in the same bucket of risks as a hardware failure (e.g. a HDD dies), in which case you need to adopt a workflow that accepts the temporary or permanent loss of any one device at any point in time. Use a version control server for software development, use shared browser bookmarks, use a cloud based note taking app like OneNote, etc.

Second, you can decide that the risk of a failure due to an update is large enough that it warrants protecting against more so than a hardware failure. In that case you usually want to have a controlled environment where updates install at regular intervals, usually once a week. You also want to be able to prevent the system from updating during some timeframes, e.g. if you do seasonal trading you wouldn't want to install any updates during the trading season. In these cases, the obvious solution is to not use Windows Home Edition. I'm not sure which Windows versions are currently included in MSDNAA, which is free for students, but I'd expect it to have at least the Pro and Server versions.

If you want to know how to prevent Windows Updates in Windows 10 Home Edition, there are a couple questions that attempt to address this question: Stopping all automatic updates windows 10 , How can I defer updates in Windows 10 Home? , Make Windows 10 stop installing driver software automatically Personally I'd just try to firewall wuauclt.exe, or stop the wuauserv service.

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Peter
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    No it's not available at MSDNAA for now. I guess there are already questions about this or not? At least the other related questions has some suggestions already. Maybe I'll add one if it doesn't exist already. – CMPSoares Aug 05 '15 at 13:22
  • @CMPSoares No Windows 10 at all on MSDNAA? Or just no Pro? – Peter Aug 05 '15 at 13:36
  • Last available version is Windows 7. – CMPSoares Aug 05 '15 at 13:49
  • @CMPSoares I see they renamed msdnaa to dreamspark a while ago. Missed that. There are claims that Windows 10 is available on Dreamspark, although I can't verify ( https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/e603a825-66c0-4aa9-81bb-e5bc029dfed9/dreamspark-windows-10-versions-which-one-to-download?forum=win10itprosetup ). – Peter Aug 05 '15 at 13:55