Sgt. Ear Ache
Major Contributor
^^^Can it be prevented and you do it manually if/when you want? My laptop is fine but 2014 model and I think of getting a new one, a backup, and then I'll have to decide whether to accept the Windows 10 or organize an 8.1 install. ...And even 8.1 is only possible for me with Classic Shell.
In some ways you can...although I believe the ****** Defender virus stuff can only be shutdown by having some other virus software active in it's place. I have at times taken pains to manually control updating but the problem is you then end up missing a few big updates and when you finally decide to install them you end up with issues at that point. It's sort of a no win situation.