A lot of Windows 10 users were annoyed when the Anniversary update, released a year after the initial release of Windows 10, suddenly decided to install itself on their machines without so much as a polite warning.
Well, this is due to happen again this month (April 2017) with the new “Creators” update, and again, most users will not have the power to prevent it. Anyone using Windows 10 Home with the default Windows Update options could find it downloading any time after April 11th. It will then be scheduled to install any time outside “active hours” which if you haven’t changed them should be 8am to 5pm. Windows will target users of new, tested devices first, and then roll out to older machines later.
You can reschedule this restart and install in the Windows Update settings (under “Restart Options”) but you can only delay it up to 6 days.
Users of Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise or Education can defer the update further. In Windows Update settings, click “Advanced Options” under “Update Settings” and then put a tick in the “Defer Feature updates” box. This will allow continued normal updates to be installed but will block the Creators update.
However, despite all the problems people report when installing Windows Updates, I would still recommend you install the Creators update. Among other things it promises a better Windows Update mechanism which will give users more control over when an update will install, and allow you to postpone restarts so you don’t lose your work to an unexpected reboot. There are many other improvements too, which should make Windows 10 much more bearable for most.
If the update does cause problems for you, contact me or a local professional, who will be able to help you.