If you have production machines where you can’t afford any mistakes, you might want to consider convenience Windows 11 23H2 delaythe next major system release that Microsoft is about to deploy.

The Redmond firm is improving the delivery of updates and versions for Windows with the latest change in the technical plan, which reduced the number of annual deliveries to only one major version. In addition, the number of new features that surely await the launch of Windows 12 was also limited. The sum of both strategies was enough to improve the situation, not to reverse it.

And bugs have become an inherent part of software delivery in Windows. Whether developed by the operating system itself or by third parties working to saturate its gigantic ecosystem with applications or drivers, there is no way to run a flawless update because they repeat randomly and if a patch solves the previous problems, it causes others in a vicious circle that seems to have no end.

Knowing the background makes the most sense to perform those major maintenance tasks that can save our lives in the event of a failure, such as backup or system restore points, and also postpone updates until their overall stability is verified. There are several ways to do this from the same system, with temporary or more radical methods that we will remind you of.

Temporarily hold Windows 11 23H2

The easiest way is temporarily pause the update from the internal configuration tool. The process is done in a few clicks and can be returned at any time in the same way.

• Press “Windows + I” hotkeys to access system settings or search for the tool in the Start menu.
• Go to “Windows Update”.
• In the “Pause Updates” section, view the options and you’ll see that you can choose from one to five weeks.

You will have that many weeks before automatic updates are turned back on. Like the other options we offer you, management is reversible at any time plus you can always install updates manually from Windows Update as well as from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

Windows registry

More powerful than the previous method, feature update may be delayed up to 365 days:

• Enter the system registry. For example, using “regedit” from the launch function of the secondary start menu (right button of the Start menu)
• Navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings”.
• Edit or create a new 32-bit DWORD value named BranchReadinessLevel. Set the value to 10 to set “Targeted Semi-Annual Channel” as the update branch, or 20 to set “Semi-Annual Channel”.
• Similarly, edit or create a new 32-bit DWORD value named DeferFeatureUpdatesPeriodInDays. Set its value to the number of days you want to delay updating the feature, in the range 0 to 365.
• Modifies or creates a new 32-bit DWORD value named DeferQualityUpdatesPeriodInDays and set its value to a decimal number by the number of days you want to delay quality updates.

you can too block completely. As follows:

• Navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows”.
• In this path, create a new key (right mouse button) called “WindowsUpdate”.

• Open the newly created key and repeat the step to create another one named “AU”.
• Enter this key to create a new 32-bit DWORD value named “NoAutoUpdate”.

• Double-click “NoAutoUpdate” and change its value from 0 to 1.

Click OK, exit the registry, and restart your computer. The name of the value explains what we get: the automatic update feature in Windows 11 will be permanently disabled.

Group Policy

If you follow us regularly, you have already seen the huge capacity of this tool designed for advanced users or administrators. It is available in “Pro, Enterprise and Education” versions and is the most radical option to block the installation of Windows 11 22H2 (or any other version) because with it you can disable the Windows Update service and get rid of update errors.

• Enter the services section. For example, by typing “services.msc” in the search box.

• Search for “Windows Update” in local services.

• Right-click and open its properties.

There you can manage the operation of the service, including the option to disable it.

Group Policy

The Windows Group Policy Editor is an internal tool widely used in IT administration because it allows more control over the operation of the computer or the ability to make some settings that are not available using other less advanced administrators such as Control Panel or General System Settings. . We can also manage updates from here.

• Use Windows Search to find “gpedit.msc.”
• Navigate to “Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > End User Experience Management.
• Click “Configure automatic updates” and enable the policy.

• You’ll see a number of options, the most interesting being number 2, which prevents automatic downloads of updates.

If this option is activated, Windows Update will notify you with a specific button that updates are available for manual installation. This is a halfway option between the previous ones, which allows you to block automatic updates, but know about them in case you want to install them yourself.

As you have seen, these are effective methods pause, delay and finally block the installation of Windows 11 23H2. While these updates can improve the experience and add new features, it’s not difficult for them to also cause random errors (some serious) that can crash your computer. Of course, these methods are reversible at any time in the future when you check their stability, and in any case you can install updates manually from the Microsoft catalog.