Disclaimer:
All of this information is for educational purposes, I have a very small set of PCs I've tried this on, and while it worked for me, it doesn't mean it'll work for you, research the steps and do them at your own risk, I am in no way responsible for anything you do with this information.
Why?
Let me tell you a story: I wake up in the morning in the second month of a contract for a customer freelancing with deadlines, turn on my computer and see the dreaded screens indicating a Windows update has just installed overnight. I go downstairs to make a coffee dreading what will be broken in this update. I come back and use my PC mostly fine, but after rebooting the lock screen background doesn't clear anymore. After an update a few months ago on a Saturday morning I sit down to spend some time with my son and our Xbox controllers no longer work properly over Bluetooth, nothing changed from the day, week, and month before except the dreaded Windows update.
This was only an issue on Windows 11 and since there is no reason for Windows 11 to even exist I went back to Windows 10, but then instead of the end of life for Windows 10, instead it started getting new AI Microslop updates pushing ads, AI, and more unwanted features and becoming more buggy than it's been in years.
So, I dusted off my IT hat I haven't warn for a while and went to work coming up with a solution since I'm not ready to re-build my workflow on SteamOS yet.
The Version:
Windows 10 KB5066791 v19045.6456 - October 2025. Why this version? The original plan was Microsoft was going to end of life Windows 10 on this version. Because of that, this version and the versions leading up to it were more carefully patched for stability than adding content as a send off of Windows 10.Preparation:
- Download the Windows 10 installation media creation tool from Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/install-upgrade/create-installation-media-for-windows
- Download the version of KB5066791 Cumulative Update that your system requires (probably x64) from Microsoft: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB5066791
- Download Winhance: https://winhance.net/ technically optional, but a great utility to quickly set options and uninstall unwanted Windows components.
- Download Hardware specific drives. This one will be specific to your hardware. Some hardware will have built in drivers with the Windows OS, however if you're using wi-fi for your network connection you'll likely need to download drivers from the PC manufacturer if it's a pre-build PC like a Dell or from your mother board's website if they're built in. If there is a driver update software utility it's also worth downloading the utility. Video card drivers may also be worth downloading as displays can look pretty poor without them. i.e. Nvidia App Installer
- If you will NOT be using Microsoft Edge as a web browser, download the installer for the web browser you want to use. i.e. Google Chrome, without a browser, you'll have internet, but no web browser.
- Use the Windows 10 Installation Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB drive. And then copy the downloaded files on to it. A list should be:
- USB Stick with Installer for: Windows 10 22H2 v19045.3803.
- Windows 10 Update: KB5066791 v19045.6456.
- Winhance.
- NIC/WIFI Drivers.
- PC Manufacturer or Motherboard Driver Download Utility.
- Video Card Drivers.
- Web Browser Installer.
The Process:
These are the steps in order of what works for me across multiple systems, but they are an overview. Each step contains steps inside of them that are slightly different for each system, but are also well documented if you need to look them up.
- Backup all the data on your PC to a safe removable drive and verify it all backed up successfully.
- Disconnect your PC from the internet: If you are using a wired Ethernet, disconnect it, if you're using WIFI you'll have to manually connect to a network, but be sure you DO NOT connect until the steps tell you to. This process relies on there being no internet so Windows Update doesn't run independently.
- Boot off of the Windows 10 install USB stick. Note: if you're not comfortable partitioning your hard drive, find your own path here or consult a professional before continuing.
- Use the custom install option to delete all hard drive partitions.
- Create a new partition for Windows and essential software only to be installed on. I've found 250,000 MB to be fine even with a fair amount of graphics and programming software also installed.
- Create a partition for the rest of the space and format it.
- Install Windows 10 on the first 250,000 MB (It might read 243GB).
- When prompted to connect to the internet continue with the offline options after a few minutes your computer will re-boot and you'll be on Windows 10 22H2 v19045.3803.
- Install Cumulative Update: KB5066791 v19045.6456
- copy windows10.0-kb5066791-x64_201731eae19a28ce9d6b614068f30be520104b5f.cab to the c drive at the root and rename it update.
- run command prompt as admin run:
- Install Winhance (I use stand alone, but it doesn't really matter)
- These are my recommended options in Winhance, adjust them to your preferences:
- Check all installed software, and uncheck to KEEP the following:
- Calculator
- Media Player
- Microsoft Store
- Photos
- Snipping Tool
- Notepad (Legacy)
- OpenSSH Client (for Raspberry Pi)
- PowerShell ISE
- Windows Media Player
- IF You'll be playing Xbox Games also keep:
- App Installer
- Feedback Hub
- Xbox
- Xbox Game Bar
- Xbox Game Bar Plugin
- Xbox Identity Plugin
- Xbox Live In-Game Experience
- In Optimizations set everything to Recommended then set:
- Gaming & Performance > Xbox > Xbox Game DVR: to On
- In Customizations set everything to Recommended then set:
- Taskbar > Taskbar Behavior > Make taskbar small: to Off
- Start Menu > Clean Start Menu: Click Apply Button.
- Create a restore point
- Reboot
Note: DO NOT Disable Windows Update in Winhance if you need to keep updating Windows Apps from the Microsoft Store.
- Uninstall Windows Apps:
- Open Add or Remove Programs and remove:
- Groove Music
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Remote Desktop Connection
- Disable Windows Update
- Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard, type “services.msc” and press Enter to open the Services window.
- locate the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) service
- Right-click on the service and select Properties.
- In the Properties window, Stop the Service and change the Startup type to Disabled.
- locate the Windows Update and repeat the above steps to Stop and Disable the service.
- Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard, type “regedit” and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
- Navigate to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
- Verify AU contains these two keys:
- AUOptions and set it to 2 = Notify before download.
- NoAutoUpdate and set it to 1 = Disable Automatic Updates.
- If they aren't already there create them in the “AU” folder as New > DWORD (32-bit) Value(s).
- Reboot the PC.
- Connect to the Internet
- Install you network drivers if needed.
- Connect to your wifi network if needed.
- Use your PC Manufacturer or Motherboard Driver Download Utility to start installing drivers.
- When needed install your web browser and continue downloading and installing anything else you need for your computer to get it back up and running.
What to do if your PC downloads updates and wants to reboot to install them!
If this happens something went wrong in the Disable Windows Update section above, but as long as you don't re-boot to let the install happen it can still be fixed, this is how:- Something went wrong in the Disable Windows Update step above:
- Go through the section above "Disable Windows Update".
- Delete the Downloaded Update Files
- Press the Windows Key + E to open File Explorer.
- Navigate to C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download.
- Select all the files and folders inside the Download folder and delete them.
- (Optional) If you want to be thorough, you can delete everything inside the main C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder.
- Reboot the PC and the updates should be gone and not installed.
More Info:
If you want to cherry pick security updates, or need a specific update for a feature you can download any "Cumulative Update" from the Microsoft Update Catalog and install that update to bring your version of Windows up to that version:
Alternately doing the opposite of Disabling Windows Update steps will re-enable Windows Update and you can go back to current versions.
Image your Hard Drive (Optional):
This install process is already fairly quick once you have the installation USB drive created, but if you want to restore in 10-15 minutes instead of a few hours finish setting up your PC the way you want it for everyday use on that small 243GB partition. Keep any data that needs to persist after a restore on the other larger partition including the Image of your 243GB partition. And Image your hard drive for quick restores.
In the past I've used Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image, and others, I buy one and use it until it stops working. Currently I'm using an open source solution that is free, but a bit difficult to understand if you're not familiar with the process, but there are a lot of useful tutorials online for Clonezilla: https://clonezilla.org/
Conclusion:
As someone who needs a reliable PC I spent a couple days ironing out the kinks to this process. I hope you found this helpful! I don't want to do a full step by step process as I've done it across 3 PCs and the steps are slightly deferent, but comment if there is something that would be useful to add. Enjoy, and share if it was helpful!
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