Is there any way to disable automatic updates for Microsoft Edge on Windows 7?

Question

On one of my older test machines with Windows Update enabled, the newer Chromium-based build of Microsoft Edge has been downloaded - upon rebooting for the first time after the update had been installed, I hit the "Close" button; I didn't want to make Edge the default browser. However, it appears that a process named "MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe" has appeared in the Task Manager that automatically updates the build of Edge that's currently installed.

Are there currently any known ways in which automatic updates of Edge can be disabled on Windows 7 machines? I've done some rsearch, and most threads online appear to be related to Windows 10.

Solution

UPDATE year 2020 : For Windows 10 these methods no longer apply.

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The article How to Disable or Remove MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe Process Running in Task Manager suggests several methods for getting rid of MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe.

Method 1: Disable Microsoft Edge Update from Startup

This is done in Task Manager, Startup tab, click on Disable for "Microsoft Edge Update".

Method 2: Disable Microsoft Edge Update Services

Open Service Manager and set "Startup type" to Disabled for "Microsoft Edge Update Service (edgeupdate)" and for "Microsoft Edge Update Service (edgeupdatem)".

Method 3: Delete Microsoft Edge Update Scheduled Tasks

Run Task Scheduler, click on "Task Scheduler Library" and delete or disable the following tasks:

• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineCore
• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineUA
• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskUserS-1-5-21.......Core
• MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskUserS-1-5-21.......UA

Method 4: Block Microsoft Edge Update Using Firewall

Use the firewall to disallow internet access to MicrosoftEdgeUpdate.exe.

Comments

[DrMoishe Pippik]

Umm... security on Windows 7? microsoft.com/en-us/windows/… , so there are no security patches for the OS itself. Updating Edge is like locking the back door, and leaving the front wide open.

[John]

There were and are security updates for Windows Browsers pretty much all along.