Defer the Win 10 October 2018 update

The October 2018 Microsoft update (version 1809, dubbed Redstone 5) may cause some PC's to crash that do not have sufficient disk space.  Further, the update will likely not be ready for prime time deployment in business environments.

A couple of preliminary articles warning of potential issues:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinmurnane/2018/09/23/installing-windows-10s-october-update-could-result-in-a-nightmare-heres-how-to-avoid-it/

https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-october-2018-update-dump-your-files-to-avoid-crashes-warns-microsoft/

While ensuring that your devices have plenty of available storage space going forward,  our advice as always for business users:  do not automatically update to the next major update (like the October 2018 update).  The 1809 update should be deferred.  

For Windows 10 Pro users, the simplest way to defer the update is to ensure that your Windows update settings under Advanced options are set to "Semi-Annual Channel" rather than "Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted)" as outlined below.

Windows Update Settings (Windows 10 Pro ver. 1803)

Advanced options under Windows Update Settings (Win 10 Pro ver. 1803)

You may also wish to pause updates for the next 30 days as a temporary stopgap measure (see example above), and more importantly, set the next feature update to 180 or even 365 days (also see example above) to allow time for issues in the October 2018 update to be resolved.

A few additional references with various additional approaches to consider in blocking this and other Windows 10 updates:

https://pureinfotech.com/prevent-windows-10-installing-october-2018-update-1809/

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3232632/microsoft-windows/how-to-block-the-windows-10-october-2018-update-version-1809-from-installing.html

https://www.windowstechit.com/17096/upgrade-or-block-windows-10-1809/