Does Win10 work like a torrent client for itself? (bear with me)

F_Clowder

I googled around and couldn't find anything conclusive about this. Even the "Get Help" section at the bottom couldn't find an answer for me.

Somewhere within the Updates section of Win10 I found these settings:


Under the Upload Settings (evidently Advanced Oopsies), who would my computer be uploading to?

And the settings don't quite explain how they work. Here is how I (mis)understand it:
1. If I don't put checkmarks in the boxes, does my computer UL willy nilly ? (and to who?)
2. Or only if I put a checkmark in the boxes? (and then per whatever bandwidth+limit I set it to) ?

guesser

Yes.

AndyC

Yes, Windows 10 will act a bit like a torrent client/server for Windows Updates by default. Mostly this will serve PCs on a local network (because your upload speeds are generally going to be worse for others than direct connections to WU) but in particularly remote areas it might serve updates to neighbours etc.

F_Clowder

Thank for the replies.

So, AndyC when you say "by default" you're saying Win10 is actively streaming/torrenting parts of itself or its updates, even if I keep both of those checkmark boxes unchecked?

And if so, what are the "by default" parameters set as? (asking anyone who knows, not just AndyC)

I notice that according to the screenshot I have not streamed/torrented anything yet. But then again this new update was just recently installed. I guess I will check this graph again later to see if I've been leaking all over the neighborhood.

AndyC

Those checkboxes just enable/disable limits. One screen back from the one you posted there is an option to completely disable distributed downloads and one to control whether it involves other PCs on the local network only or anywhere on the internet. I believe it defaults to "local network only", at least that's how it is set on my machine and I don't believe I ever actively changed anything.

Note that even if you do enable it, PCs only kick in to using it when it's likely to be faster than Windows Update. A typical ADSL setup means that's mostly unlikely for anything not on your local network anyway, given the typical upload speeds and the enormous CDN behind WU.