Controlling Windows Update Through Group Policy in windows 8 or 8.1

Controlling Windows Update Through Group Policy


Windows Update sometimes causes problems, especially with older, legacy hardware or
software for which an update introduces an incompatibility, preventing older software or
hardware from working properly or making Windows 8 unstable when software runs.
In the corporate environment or on a small Windows Server network with multiple users,
you can disable the Windows Update service and instead use Windows Server features to
download and test all updates before they are rolled out across the network.
You can disable Windows Update in corporate environments by using a utility called
Group Policy Editor. To access Group Policy Editor, open the Start screen and search
for GPEdit.msc (not case-sensitive). The Local Group Policy Editor window appears.

Using the Group Policy Editor, you can independently control policies for the computer and
for individual users. This is important because you want to grant systems administrators full
control of the computer but limit access by other users.
To control Windows Update and set the policy for all users, in the Group Policy Editor, click
Computer Configuration, click Administrative Templates, click Windows Components, and
then click Windows Update. In this window, you can configure Windows Update to stop
receiving automatic updates or to receive updates only from your company’s server, among
various other options that are available for controlling Windows Update.