No choice was given

For anyone who wants to do this, use Kill Windows Update. It's simple. and it works. There's several million reasons why conventional wisdom demands that you NOT do it, but I don't give a fuck and if you don't either, then this program is for you.

Gotta give this one a try!
- You really shouldn’t

Do what I do and pull the power. Can't risk M$ putting ads in my explorer

the lengths people will go to not simply use a better OS
- Man I wish. All my work is CAD and rendering software. None of it works on Linux.
Sledgehammer works too.
That's not the best. Instead hold the power button until the computer turns off.
- What is more dangerous about it than holding the power button?
Just pause updates
- i dont think that works for security updates

Should have installed Linux instead

I do use linux mint for basic stuff, bit I am a complete noob and can’t figure out how to get Altstore on it, not that it matters because it hasn’t been updated in 2 years for Linux
- Its better to use a Hackintosh. I do for Sideloadly
- You're using apple products? There's your problem.
  The software you're talking about doesn't even support Linux.
You do not need to update Linux?
- Without intending to circlejerk, the only linux updates that I have encountered that required a reboot were kernel updates, and they don't force a reboot, they just don't apply until you do. And when you do update the kernel, the update is downloaded and set up without interrupting anything. You can just power off when you're done, and next time you power on, it's already updated. None of those "Please wait 5-10 minutes, and don't power off your PC" messages.
- Need to? yes. Have to? No
- Well you are not forced, much better when trying to manage time or data

At this point I just accept that my windows desktop is going to reboot itself and update itself every fucking night. I used to be able to leave it on for months at a time only rebooting when I felt like it and had prepared all of my open projects to be rebooted.

Now I do those projects on my Linux PC, which has to be a separate PC now because the windows updates completely screw up dual booting. Microsoft is such a shit show, I would probably only turn on that PC on the weekends except I need Windows for work.

- I thought that too. My (now windows only) computer has two M2 slots, I used one for Linux and one for Windows. One day I walked into my office having left windows running the night before and my computer had rebooted and updated, The first thing I did was try to boot into the Linux partition and it did not work.
  Not taking that chance again, I now have two separate PCs on my desk.

I never shut down or restart my computer. Then some mornings I find that Windows decided to automatically restart my computer anyway. I lost a lot of unsaved notes that way.

That's a you problem. Don't blame windows for shitty practices.
- To be fair, it would also be highly distruptive if you let the computer run overnight to finish some long running job and Windows decides it's rebootin' time. The point is: the OS shouldn't decide for you to reboot.
- Like using Windows
- Ackshually you still can blame Windows for not supporting live updates.
- It wasnt an issue until windows 10 though. It feels like computers are a bit worse now, imo. For some reason, it's now popular opinion that it's unsafe to run a computer as long as you like. It's one of the main reasons I'll move to Linux.... some day
… why exactly are you leaving unsaved work open on your PC and expecting it to be there the next day? And it seems it’s intentional? Think of all the things that could lose the work apart from an update. A power outage, a brownout, a failed PC component; memory corruption, and more.
- It's was just notes, not work work (that's all in the cloud). And yes,I expect things to be there the next day, it's been decades since I was working on a 2x86 with a bad hard drive that froze ar random intervals, so I had to save every few seconds. I do save even my random notes now, just in case, but if they get closes I will probably forget about them because the whole point is to have them on screen as reminders.
I'm sorry that you've lost so much work. Although it's kind of irresponsible to leave unsaved work open overnight. Perhaps you could look into applications that have an autosave feature? Alternativly if your workflow permits it do your work on the cloud?
- I do my actual work in the cloud. But when I want to just jut down quick notes I open a Notepad window and write them there. Usually it's something I need to remember for just a few hours later. Sometimes it's something I'll be expanding on somewhere permanent later on. It's just the most handy place to write something down quickly. Sometimes I have one such window open, sometimes I end up with 6. I just so happened that night I had some more important notes that I didn't transfer yet. I've got into the habit of saving them now just in case, so I have tons of small text files that I'll probably forget about.
- Why are people down voting you
Do we not turn off our electronic devices to save electricity?
- Do we not use our PC as a heater to kill two birds with one stone?
You are the reason Microsoft has to force computers to restart for the rest of us.
Reboot once in a while, you are to blame for your lost unsaved data.
- I'm the reason Microsoft never learned how to do updates without restarting?

You're the reason Microsoft has to force it on the rest of us.

Everyone would still be able to shut down without updating, if people actually rebooted once in a while when Windows asked. Instead of leaving it in a perpetual sleep cycle of multiple years, and then blaming Microsoft when things go tits up.

At least the Pro version is still able to do so, since then the user can blame the IT department instead.

I think you mean Enterprise? I don’t believe Pro allows you to completely disable auto updates. Furthest I think you can do is turn them off for at most 2 weeks?
Unless you mean with group policies or disabling services, which I believe is still possible even in Home.
- Setting up a GPO with WSUS to localhost will disable updates. But please don't do that. As much as I hate updates, they're very important.
- They got rid of Enterprise somewhere between 7 and 10. You're thinking of Server
  Pro lets you turn it off for 1 week
OP is a horrible person and I hate him
The computer ain't gonna tell me when to restart. I decide that, not it. And it's not getting regular restarts. Hell, my phone bugs me about restarting after i don't do it for a month, and the fucking notification won't fuck off. Can't bloody stand it
- Poor phone lol
If only there was an option to update an os without restarting it....
Oh wait there is, but windows is a shitty product.

"Update and Shutdown"... Walk away.

Did that, computer temporarily died.

long press power button

That's what I was thinking, hard shutdown

What’s power button right? Do power buttons have rights? Or is it right side of power button?

The power button has the right to legally shutdown the computer it belongs to
- Not any longer sadly, kinda amazing how windows has that much control, I always thought it was a way to brute force a shutdown when you can’t do anything else
  Edit: I have the realized the error of my ways thanks to moody, 5sec hold on the power button forces a shutdown, pressing it once is just a software one
Power button has rescue rights. I had to use the power button after Windows forced an update on Friday and my tower just sat there powered on but doing nothing for an hour, no signal to the monitor. Now I feel bad, it was probably just high on drugs.
Linux mint, I just type sudo apt update and I'm done.

I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, philosophically, the user should be in charge of their PC, and updates should happen at a time of their choosing.

On the other hand, people are idiots. Especially the type of people who think they know everything but in reality don't. The type that will search for registry hacks or scripts that disable updates, and proceed to live without any security patches, putting not only their own system/data at risk, but others too.

It's probably a necessary evil that MS forces security patches on users.

What isn't so forgivable is them pushing all the other crap on people, or why the updates take so fucking long on shutdown/startup. That's what they need to improve. Far fewer people would care if a reboot after an update was imperceptibly different to any normal startup, like it is on Linux.

MS is a $3tn company. They can achieve this if they want to, but they see spending money on Windows as a waste of money - why improve something when you've already cornered the market? It doesn't benefit them. It doesn't make them more money. Windows is dominant either way, they get their licensing fees either way. Improving Windows damages Microsoft.

Linux superiority.

I have an extra wireless keyboard laying around just because it has a quick shutdown button on it.

Try configuring windows update

I just don't think the sex will have been very good.

What are you trying to protect?
I don't like wasting electricity
- Yup, Also, I hate having a million LEDs lighting up my house like it's Christmas year round. I sleep better when it's actually dark. I make a point to only get stuff that's actually off when I turn it off.
- A shutdown and a fresh start also deletes files that aren't used anymore and the PC does check itself for hardware problems. Starting a PC could take a long time in the past, but my current 7 year old system starts in about 10 seconds, a newer system could start faster. I also turn off all peripherals like monitors and printer etc. with one switch after the computer is off, to make sure there is not a single light still wasting electricity. Standby devices in a common houshold use so much electricity, that it amounts to a lot of money over a year. But I guess we are still in the phase of convinience over climate and people have money to waste too.
Do you also keep your car running all day for when you have to be somewhere and only turn off the engine at the gas station?
Nah, you just didn't notice the issues, but they are definitely there.
Anyway, my computer boots in less than 5 seconds. Why wouldn't I just shut it down when I am done?
Do you also not bother closing your books when you go do something else?