Recently a post showed up on the internet detailing how a changing a Windows 10 registry key allows to see unreleased versions of the operating system and choose how fast users can download those bits. As it turns out there is nothing good that will come out of it.
A new Tweet from Microsoft’s Gabriel Aul, in charge of the Windows Insider Program, he points out that performing the registry tweak in Windows 10 Technical Preview will actually prevent the system to receive any future builds. And you’ll probably be getting the error code 0x80246017 when attempting to download new Preview build.
Note, if anyone has done this for #Windows10 it will actually turn off your ability to get updates. http://t.co/MvbdySJ9aL via @NeowinFeed
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) October 15, 2014
As such, if you changed the registry in Windows 10 to see if you can access to early builds, you’ll have to follow a number of steps to get your system in white list to receive upcoming updates.
How to remove registry tweak to view builds on Windows 10
Open the Command Prompt as an Administrator and perform the following commands:
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability" /v "BranchName" /d "fbl_release" /t REG_SZ /f reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability" /v "ThresholdRiskLevel" /d "low" /t REG_SZ /f reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability" /v "ThresholdInternal" /f reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability" /v "ThresholdOptedIn" /f
This is how the registry should look like to continue receiving updates:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost\Applicability BranchName = fbl_release ThresholdRiskLevel = low ThresholdInternal = ThresholdOptedIn =
It’s worth noting that changing registry keys in Windows is dangerous as such proceed with caution and backup as necessary.
Microsoft is hard at work building Windows 10 and the operating system is scheduled to release in mid-2015, and while we don’t know when we’ll see a new build for testing, we know it’s in the near future.
Source Twitter, Microsoft Answers
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].