How do I get rid of Windows XP Updates?

Question

I'm running Windows XP Pro on an older laptop. Windows made me install 60 updates the other day, and now it's noticeably slower, and it's harder to run the things I'm used to running.

My computer worked fine before. Is there some way I can get rid of those 60 updates, and stop Windows from installing any more?

Answer 1

If you go on the internet, you really need the updates to keep Windows patched & safe. There are several things you can do to speed up XP:



• Turn off programs not needed at start up. click Start > Run, type "msconfig" without the quotes & click Enter, click Startup tab, uncheck any items that you don't need at startup, click Apply, click OK, restart your PC



• Uninstall unneeded programs. click Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs



• Run Disk Cleaner to remove unneeded files. Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup, select C:drive, in the next window check mark all boxes except Indexing



• Run CCleaner to remove junk files. It's free at http://www.ccleaner.com



• Run Eusing Registry Cleaner to clean up unneeded registry entries. It's free at http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm



• Run Defrag to compact the files that Windows & other programs put all over the place on your hard drive. click Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Defragment, select C:drive & click Defrag



• Restart your computer



This is assuming you run regular spyware scans to remove malware that can slow down your PC. If not, get the free Malwarebytes & SuperAntiSpyware programs. They are excellent.

SuperAntiSpyware http://www.superantispyware.com

Malwarebytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/index.php



Do these steps in order for best results



...

Answer 2

Well if you bought the full version of Windows XP you can uninstall 2000 via the install disk look for an option called clean install. If you bought the upgrade, it's best to leave 2000 on there just in case XP malfunctions. God Bless.

Answer 3

you can remove updates by going to start->control panel-> add or remove programs and selecting windows components you will see each of the service packs installed and you can remove them as you would any other program. you can turn off the update manager as stated in a previous answer, and you can also select change the way windows notifies me to get rid of the update manager disabled notice in the system tray.

Answer 4

I don't think you are 'geeky' enough to do it.



(Geek is a compliment).



You can try your 'update notices log' or get the latest updates from Microsoft and see if the file list is there, I doubt it.



You can restore the PC to an earlier time (before the update took place, Microsoft always creates a 'Restore Point' before doing the update.



Do this via Control Panel > Backup and Restore, or press the proper key at boot up to get into the program.

;-)



PS: When you need to 'undo' upgrades, it's time to get Windows 7 and stop these silly hassles.

Answer 5

Right click on My Computer icon in your desktop(it must not be a shortcut),

Choose the"automatic updates" tab,then you can turn off the updates.

Note that it is not recommended to turn the updates off...

Sajad.YS

Answer 6

I put together a guide in another Post..



Try to follow this, you will speed back up.. if not get faster then you were before...



The updates don't slow you down, the uninstallers do... because they are huge...



I would just run the updates, or, reformat, then disable it through Group policy, as just disabling the Updates, does not kill the service, so the machine will still download everything and create logs, which will slow you down anyway.



Ok...

First thing, performance modifications...

Go to start then to Run type in Msconfig and press OK

in MSconfig go to the startup tab, and uncheck everything except your anti-virus, their is no reason anything should start with your machine aside from your anti-virus, all this does is slow it down, and you have a mouse to double-click what you want to start anyway.

After doing this click apply, then OK, you will be prompted to reboot, click NO..



Next (Assume you run classic mode, if you do not, you will need to go to start first)

Right click on "My computer" choose properties

Click the advanced tab

Click Settings under performance

Click Bullet for best performance

Click Apply

Next click the advanced Tab

Choose bullet for Background services and bullet for system cache

click apply, if prompted do not reboot yet..

click change button under virtual memory in the same location you should be

Click bullet for custom size

Make both the top number and the bottom number two times the memory you have installed on your machine and click set (Bottom of post has chart)

Then Click OK

and Click OK on the previous box,

Do not reboot yet..

Go to www.ccleaner.com

download and install ccleaner

Once installed launch it and under advanced settings choose check boxes for Old Prefetch data, IIS log files, and Hotfix uninstallers... NOTE: in doing this you may loose saved passwords in Internet explorer and Firefox, but you will notice a great speed increase after running this...

After running this portion, (if you went though with it) click on Registry tab on your left

click scan for issues, once complete choose fix selected issues, you will be prompted to backup these changes prior to removal, you want to say yes and back these up.

Once they are backed up, run this a few more times till their is nothing left found...

Next - Reboot

Next - Log back in

You are going to see a pop-up, click do not show this again check box, and click OK

Click on start

Click on Run

type in CMD and press OK

in the command prompt (dos) that pops-up type in Defrag c: -b and press enter, it may appear that it is doing nothing.. i assure you it is, when it is complete,

Type in Defrag c: -f and press enter.. this can take a while, minimize the box, and let it run..

you will notice drag on the system until it is complete, but you should see 10 fold performance increases if you follow this guide, their is alot more we can do if you want faster yet performance.



NOTE: I take no responsibility for your machine if you break it during any of these tweaks, I am uncertain as to your machine, as each machine is different.



Chart: 256mb of ram = 512, 512mb of ram =1024, 1GB of ram =2048, 2GB of ram = 3079, 3GB of ram = 3079, 4GB of ram = 3079