I think it best to start a new, hopefully positive, thread on this as I
MAY have seen some light at the ed of the tunnel.
My new build does run Win 8.1 but it's clearly not designed for it so I
am in the process of putting Win 10 Pro back, some results of research:
It was Win 10 feature release 2004 that substantially limited the period
you could defer updates for. The previous feature release 1909 allowed up
to 365 days.
I searched through my Win 10 iso using this help:
https://winaero.com/how-to-see-which-build-and-edition-of-windows-10-the-iso-file-contains/#:~:text=wim%2C%20then%20type%20the%20following,letter%20after%20the%20WimFile%3A%20portion.&text=The%20DISM%20tool%20will%20print,architecture)%2C%20and%20so%20on.
to find the earliest build I had and chose the one closest to but not
exceeding 1909.
I then came across a utility called "InControl" from GRC:
https://www.grc.com/incontrol.htm
I should have guessed if anybody had a grip it was him. I won't repeat the blurb here but the idea is it blocks feature updates to a level you choose (1909 for me as above) but allow security updates. Strikes me that could
be exactly what I want. I have now set Windows updates loose and its first message was "updating to feature release 1909" so looks good so far.
In the meantime my Z170-K is happily running Win 8.1 and has all my apps installed and activated so I can play with Win 10 without affecting the
things I need to do!
A general note on installing 10 -v- 8.1 - why does MSFT think it is an improvement for Win 10 to make up a computer name instead of doing what previous versions did and ask what name you want to use?
--
Jeff Gaines Dorset UK
George Washington was a British subject until well after his 40th birthday. (Margaret Thatcher, speech at the White House 17 December 1979)
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