Windows updates just aren't that important

[sjevtic]

Over the past decade or so, Microsoft's Windows updates have become increasingly aggressive. In particular, Windows will now without your consent:

• reboot to complete updates.
• install updates during a shutdown

I know that cybersecurity practitioners will disagree with me, and I am uninterested in arguing the point. Windows updates just aren't that important though, and accordingly, I prioritize preventing data loss over patches.

The case of updates on shutdown is particularly consequential in a PVE environment: I just today observed a Windows 10 guest initiate an update during a PVE-initiated shutdown and ultimately time out before completing updates. This behavior is even more undesirable when the PVE-initiated shutdown is the result of power loss and shutdown must be completed before UPS batteries are exhausted.

Can anyone suggest some methods to prevent the update on shutdown behavior on Windows 10/11 without completely disabling Windows updates, at least when the shutdown is PVE-imitated?

Thanks.

 

[Kingneutron]

I resorted to putting all my Win vms on a host-only network with everything going thru pihole+squid proxy vm. No internet access unless I fire up ssh with port forwarding, and everything gets logged.