Windows 10 is using your bandwidth to send other people updates

After installing Windows 10, do you feel like your internet bandwidth is dropping away? Well, Windows 10 is stealing your network bandwidth!

The feature is called Windows Update Delivery Optimization, and it is designed to help others get updates faster. Unfortunately it will be enabled by default in Windows 10 Home and Pro editions, Windows 10 Enterprise and Education also has the feature enabled, but only for the local network.

Basically, it is the same as torrents: your computer is used as part of a peer to peer network to deliver the updates faster to others. It’s a good idea, but it seems handling millions of downloads is quite difficult for Microsoft. Do you really want to waste upload bandwidth to help reduce the company’s bandwidth bills, especially if you have data caps on your internet connection?

Do you want to disable this feature? The option is hidden five clicks deep in the operating system…

- Go to Settings in the Start menu

- Search for Update & Security

- Under Windows Update, open Advanced Options

- Under Choose how updates are installed, select Choose how updates are delivered

- Disable the toggle to “off” under Updates from more than one place

It is recommended that you also change the option underneath to PCs on my local network, but you have three different options:

Off: This disables the peer to peer updates entirely.

PCs on my local network: This is the best option, as you will have faster downloads and less bandwidth will be used.

PCs on my local network and PCs on the Internet: This option is the default, although it probably shouldn’t be. Windows 10 will upload updates from your PC to other computers over the Internet.

This feature is a useful one, as it speeds up software updates, but the fact that it is enabled by default without the user’s knowledge is unfair and not exactly a great idea.  

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