8

Every now and then in Windows 10 it keeps grabbing my screen with an on-screen display (OSD) telling me about updates with a button that takes me to the update menu in Settings. It's very annoying at times, especially whenever I have an app in full-screen it takes me away from it just to tell me about updates.

I want to disable this screen grabbing OSD notification because it's too obtrusive and simply outright annoying. Would prefer if I can just have it notify me in small popup balloon notification instead so it can be viewed in Message Centre.

I'm fine with some registry tweaks or whatever, either that or just disable update notifications completely. I currently only have it to notify of updates, but not download and install them whenever it chooses.

1

4 Answers 4

11

windows_update_notification_only_toggle.bat

Notification-only subset to block just the annoying notifications and reboot tasks, leaving update function enabled and working.

To undo changes and resume windows update notification, simply run the script again.

windows_update_notification_only_toggle.bat

goto="init" /* %~nx0
:: Batch designed for Windows 10 - compatible with Windows 7
:: v7 final: Disable Update Notification-only with working Windows Update, Store and Defender protection updates
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:about
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
call :check_status
if "%STATUS%"=="DISABLED" ( color 0c ) else color 0b
echo.
echo      ---------------------------------------------------------------------
echo     :            Windows Update Notification-only Toggle v7.0             :
echo     :---------------------------------------------------------------------:
echo     :           Just run this script again to enable or disable           :
echo     :                                                                     :
echo     :               Update Notification currently %STATUS%                :
echo     :                                                                     :
echo     : Press Alt+F4 to cancel                    Always run latest version :
echo      ---------------------------------------------------------------------
echo       A subset of windows_update_toggle.bat https://pastebin.com/gNsLEWJe
echo.
exit/b
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:main [ Batch main function ]
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
set "exe=" & title Windows Update Notification Toggle & color 07 & call :about 0b & timeout /t 10
:: notification blocking
set "exe=%exe% MusNotification MusNotifyIcon"                       || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\UpdateOrchestrator       ESSENTIAL!  
set "exe=%exe% UpdateNotificationMgr UNPUXLauncher UNPUXHost"       || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\UNP
set "exe=%exe% Windows10UpgraderApp DWTRIG20 DW20 GWX"              || Windows10Upgrade
:: error reporting blocking
set "exe=%exe% wermgr WerFault WerFaultSecure DWWIN"                || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting
:: diag - optional blocking of diagnostics / telemetry
rem set "exe=%exe% compattelrunner"                                 || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience
rem set "exe=%exe% dstokenclean appidtel"                           || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\ApplicationData
rem set "exe=%exe% wsqmcons"                                        || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement Prg
rem set "exe=%exe% dusmtask"                                        || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\DUSM
rem set "exe=%exe% dmclient"                                        || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\Feedback\Siuf
rem set "exe=%exe% DataUsageLiveTileTask"                           || Tasks\{SID}\DataSenseLiveTileTask
rem set "exe=%exe% DiagnosticsHub.StandardCollector.Service"        || System32\DiagSvcs
rem set "exe=%exe% HxTsr"                                           || WindowsApps\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps
:: other - optional blocking of other tools
rem set "exe=%exe% PilotshubApp"                                    || Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub_
rem set "exe=%exe% SpeechModelDownload SpeechRuntime"               || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\Speech                  Recommended
rem set "exe=%exe% LocationNotificationWindows WindowsActionDialog" || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\Location
rem set "exe=%exe% DFDWiz disksnapshot"                             || Tasks\Microsoft\Windows\DiskFootprint
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:: all_entries - used to cleanup orphaned / commented entries between script versions
set e1=TiWorker UsoClient wuauclt wusa WaaSMedic SIHClient WindowsUpdateBox GetCurrentRollback WinREBootApp64 WinREBootApp32
set e2=MusNotification MusNotifyIcon UpdateNotificationMgr UNPUXLauncher UNPUXHost Windows10UpgraderApp DWTRIG20 DW20 GWX wuapihost
set e3=wermgr WerFault WerFaultSecure DWWIN compattelrunner dstokenclean appidtel wsqmcons dusmtask dmclient DataUsageLiveTileTask
set e4=DiagnosticsHub.StandardCollector.Service HxTsr PilotshubApp SpeechModelDownload SpeechRuntime LocationNotificationWindows
set e5=WindowsActionDialog DFDWiz disksnapshot TrustedInstaller
set old_entries=RAServer ClipUp Dism ShellServiceHost backgroundTaskHost
set all_entries=%e1% %e2% %e3% %e4% %e5%
:: Cleanup orphaned / commented items between script versions
echo.
for %%C in (%old_entries%) do call :cleanup_orphaned %%C silent
for %%C in (%all_entries%) do call :cleanup_orphaned %%C
echo.
:: Toggle execution via IFEO
set/a "bl=0" & set/a "unbl=0" & set "REGISTRY_MISMATCH=echo [REGISTRY MISMATCH CORRECTED] & echo."
for %%a in (%exe%) do call :ToggleExecution "%ifeo%\%%a.exe"
if %bl% gtr 0 if %unbl% gtr 0 %REGISTRY_MISMATCH% & for %%a in (%exe%) do call :ToggleExecution "%ifeo%\%%a.exe" forced
echo.

:: Done!
echo ---------------------------------------------------------------------
if "%STATUS%"=="DISABLED" ( color 0b &echo  Update Notification now ENABLED! ) else color 0c &echo  Update Notification now DISABLED
echo ---------------------------------------------------------------------
echo.
pause
exit

::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:: Utility functions
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:check_status
set "ifeo=HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options" & set "OK="
reg query "%ifeo%\MusNotification.exe" /v Debugger 1>nul 2>nul && set "STATUS=DISABLED" || set "STATUS=ENABLED!"
exit/b

:cleanup_orphaned %1:[entry to check, used internally] %2:[anytext=silent]
call set "orphaned=%%exe:%1=%%" & set "okey="%ifeo%\%1.exe""
if /i "%orphaned%"=="%exe%" reg delete %okey% /v "Debugger" /f >nul 2>nul & if /i ".%2"=="." echo %1 not selected.. 
exit/b

:ToggleExecution %1:[regpath] %2:[optional "forced"]
set "dummy=%windir%\System32\systray.exe" & rem allow dummy process creation to limit errors
if "%STATUS%_%2"=="DISABLED_forced" reg delete "%~1" /v "Debugger" /f >nul 2>nul & exit/b
if "%STATUS%_%2"=="ENABLED!_forced" reg add "%~1" /v Debugger /d "%dummy%" /f >nul 2>nul & exit/b
reg query "%~1" /v Debugger 1>nul 2>nul && set "isBlocked=1" || set "isBlocked="
if defined isBlocked reg delete "%~1" /v "Debugger" /f >nul 2>nul & set/a "unbl+=1" & echo %~n1 un-blocked! & exit/b 
reg add "%~1" /v Debugger /d "%dummy%" /f >nul 2>nul & set/a "bl+=1" & echo %~n1 blocked! & taskkill /IM %~n1 /t /f >nul 2>nul
exit/b

::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
:"init" [ Batch entry function ]
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@echo off & cls & setlocal & if "%1"=="init" shift &shift & goto :main &rem Admin self-restart flag found, jump to main
reg query "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Environment" /v temp 1>nul 2>nul && goto :main || call :about 0c & echo  Requesting admin rights..
call cscript /nologo /e:JScript "%~f0" get_rights "%1" & exit
::----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/ // [ JScript functions ] all batch lines above are treated as a /* js comment */ in cscript
function get_rights(fn) { var console_init_shift='/c start "init" "'+fn+'"'+' init '+fn+' '+WSH.Arguments(1);
  WSH.CreateObject("Shell.Application").ShellExecute('cmd.exe',console_init_shift,"","runas",1); }
if (WSH.Arguments.length>=1 && WSH.Arguments(0)=="get_rights") get_rights(WSH.ScriptFullName);
//
0
5

The icon and notifications can be disabled by redirecting the calls from MusNotifyIcon.exeand MusNotification.exe to dummy executables. This can be done by creating particular registry keys and it's essentially what the mysterious batch script does.

Run these lines in an elevated command prompt:

reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\MusNotifyIcon.exe" /v "Debugger" /t REG_SZ /d "%windir%\System32\systray.exe" /f
reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\MusNotification.exe" /v "Debugger" /t REG_SZ /d "%windir%\System32\systray.exe" /f
taskkill /IM MusNotifyIcon.exe /t /f
taskkill /IM MusNotification.exe /t /f
1

Go to Settings and select System. On the left click on Notifications & actions.

Scroll down to the bottom of the window and click on Windows Update (should be the last one) to see other options.

Here you can disable the Windows Update notification banners. In this way notifications will only be visible in the Action Center.

Windows Update notifications options

2
  • 13
    I don't know what version of Windows 10 you're running but I do not see this at all when I go to Notifications and Actions.
    – user352590
    Jun 1, 2017 at 9:56
  • Notifications & Actions has definitely changed since version 1703
    – bluesquare
    Nov 27, 2020 at 21:29
1

Windows 10 version 1909 has these advanced settings:

Windows Update settings Advanced Windows Update Options

Disabling the update notifications kept the unobtrusive notification area icon but got rid of the annoying popups.

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