That command sets a value in the Windows registry that tells the operating system to delay removing the rollback files until the number of days you specified have passed. (If any part of that sentence confuses you, maybe just stop right here and ask a knowledgeable friend for help before you go any further.)įrom that administrative command prompt, type the following command, choosing any number between 1 and 60 after the Value parameter:ĭISM /Online /Set-OSUninstallWindow /Value:60 Start by opening a Command Prompt session as an administrator and running the DISM tool with the correct arguments.
Use this command immediately after completing the Windows 11 upgrade to make this magic happen. Set the number of days that a user has to uninstall a Windows upgrade.
Remove the ability for a user to uninstall a Windows upgrade.Find out how many days after an upgrade that an OS can be uninstalled.Windows gives a user the ability to uninstall and roll back to a previous version of Windows. It's all documented in a dry, but authoritative Microsoft support article, "DISM operating system uninstall command-line options," which explains its purpose thusly: The magic happens courtesy of the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (Dism.exe), which is built into all modern versions of Windows.ĭon't take my word for it.
You, the knowledgeable Windows expert, the IT professional, and the snarky ZDNet pundit… you can extend that rollback period from its 10-day default to a full 60 days with a few quick commands. Navigate to driver tab and click on RollBack driver. Expand the category you want and right click on the driver and select properties. That would probably end in heartache, right?īut here's the thing. To rollback the driver, you may follow the steps below: Press Windows + R on the desktop screen. I assume we can agree that it would be absurd to allow a Windows user to try to roll back an upgrade after six months or a year or two years. Then, press the Arrow Down button or the Plus button to unfold the hardware categories. Go to find the device that you want to roll back the driver for in Device Manager. They quickly discover an incompatibility with a crucial software program or find a device that doesn't work quite right or just decide that their cheese was moved a bit too far, thank you very much. Right-click on the Windows button and select Device Manager from the popup menu. And, of course, those uninstall files take up multiple gigabytes of disk space that you might need for other purposes.Īs those poor, quietly sobbing Microsoft product managers will tell you, telemetry data confirms that the overwhelming majority of people who decide to roll back their upgrade do so in the first week or so.