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Disable and Stop Restart or Reboot After Installing Windows Update

Posted By Raymond In Category: Computer

Jul
25
2008
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Microsoft Windows Automatic Updates is a component for Windows XP and Vista that can schedule and automatically download and install important security updates from Microsoft in background without using the browser. The updates are marked by Microsoft as high-priority updates, and most of the updates fix security holes identified with Microsoft software.

This feature can be very useful for any Windows users but it can be terrifying as well. Here’s an example. Let’s say you are working on a document on your computer and you have to leave the office for a few hours to meet a client. You think that since you will be coming back to office to continue working on the document, you just leave it open. But when you get back, you find that your computer has been rebooted and all your work is gone! It is not because of bad RAM or power sag that cause the automatic restart but it’s Automatic Updates! Here’s why…


Anytime you install a Windows Update that requires you to restart your computer, you must restart it or be annoyed with a pop-up message that says “Updating your computer is almost complete. Your computer needs to be restarted for updates to take effect. Windows will restart your computer automatically in 5:00 minutes. Do you want to restart your computer now?”

Disable automatic updates restart

This annoying popup will appear every 10 minutes and gives you 5 minutes to decline or have your Windows system reboot automatically. Here are a few ways to fix this problem.

1. Set Automatic Updates to “Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them”. Go to Control Panel > System > Automatic Updates tab.
Configure Automatic Updates

2. Disable auto restart for automatic updates in Group Policy. Go to Start > Run > type gpedit.msc and click OK. Navigate to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update. Double click “No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Updates installation”. Select Enabled and click OK.
gpedit.msc disable auto restart

3. If you’re on your computer and this annoying popup is nagging you, you can use Leave Me Alone!. Take note that this tool only TEMPORARILY turns off the source of these restart messages. When you boot up your computer the next time, you’ll still get the annoying reboot your computer message after installing windows updates.
Download Leave Me Alone

[ Download Leave Me Alone! ]

Windows shouldn’t be so “helpful” in forcing and annoying the crap out of the user to restart the computer after a windows update. A notification would be fine, but an annoying popup that appears every 10 minutes and gives you 5 minutes to decline or have your Windows system reboot automatically, that’s WRONG! We should have more control over our computer.


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    • Tottero

      Hi,

      intead of running “Leave me alone”, u can also run this command from “Start -> Run”

      sc stop wuauserv

    • Deyaa Addeen Fahmy Shedeed

      appreciate ol Ur efforts.
      thanks .

    • shan

      gpedit is easy. you can even incerase you bandwith 20% from it.

    • http://rarst@ukr.net Rarst

      >you can even incerase you bandwith 20% from it

      That’s a myth. QoS setting is bandwidth that may be used, it is almost never used actually.

    • Amirz

      lol great application! thx Raymond!

    • Merlin Magii

      Thanks Raymond – as usual, this is the place to get useful tips.
      Having said which Raymond, you are such a great sleuth …. have you suffered from the long standing glitch with Live Messenger that causes PC freeze ups and inordinate delays when clicking on opening a word doc you have accepted as a download within Messenger? Trying to open a doc trceived by this route commonly freezes the cursor in the Messenger dialogue box …. causes your cursor to freeze toally …. freezes one or both webcams. It is well documented and HAS been documented for several years and microsoft in its usual aloof fashion has not deigned to post a single response in years. There is a work around but that’s not the point.
      Over to you Maestro !
      *sits and waits for the Master ro come up with an answer nobody else can.*

    • Ray

      “We should have more control over our computer.”

      Well said Raymond!! Well said!!

    • dddddddddd

      raymon baby. i am in love with you.

    • shan

      I can’t get past the configuring updates screen, it’s been doing this for 14 hrs straight. After it goes through the 3 stages it says unable to restart and tries the auto repair but then shuts down and starts all over. What do I do???
      (Windows Vista Home Premium)

    • Stan

      …..Greatest…..tip……ever! Now I can quit raging at my computer and safely go to lunch.

    • Feelbot

      Microsoft forces to update and restart, because they can then do their online business of msn, live search and so on. If you have noticed, everytime it updates, all the settings changes back to microsoft products, like home page changes to msn, my google search toolbar changes to live? search and so on. And my hp pavillion laptop does not support XP politely for which Microsoft had contributed to force using Vista. Is this a way of doing business? Though their software are widely useful, they should at least have some respect of customer, not undestimating them. Thats why anti-microsoft slogans are spreading from such frustrations.

      Thank you all for posting the workaround.

    • Face

      How when you want the automatic update to restart do you

      do you have to restart the computer or enable the service again. I ran the application and now want to automatically update my computer so how do I do it.

      Thanks In Advance

    • http://WOW William Rockateenginny

      I had been writing work for the past FOUR HOURS…Went to get some water because I was thirsty and get this! Windows AU reboots!!!!!! WHY…IS there ANY way to get my work back? I don’t get why it doesn’t like cache it or something like that. F*#@ Microsoft.

    • max

      I tried all 3 methods, none of them work. The reboot message keeps on shown up every 10 minutes.
      Maybe microsoft or our IT group figures out something to force users to update no matter what…

    • jar

      i have the same Fing problem…i have doing some trading strategy optimization that is going on for past 3 days. it will take another 5-6 days before it finishes. and now this Fing thing keeps popping up. i can t lose this fing work.

      only if this trading platform was supported on Linux.

    • Jim Boriotti

      I’m following the instructions at http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/07/25/disable-and-stop-restart-or-reboot-after-installing-windows-update/

      When I try to bring up the group policy editor from START –> RUN –>gpedit.msc I get the message “Windows cannot find gpedit. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.” If I click on Administrative Tools in Control Panel, there is a link for “Edit group policy” When I click on that, I’m first asked to authorize privilidges to use this funtion. I do that. I’m then hit with the message “MMC cannot open the file c:\windows’system32\gpedit/msc. This may be because the file doesn’t exist, is not an MMC console, or was created with a later version of MMC. This may also be because you do not have sufficient access rights to the file.”

      Please advise on this.

    • Dave

      Second time I see someone saying to use gpedit, not all windows has gpedit! Vista home premium does not have it so now what geniuses?

    • Stuart

      net stop “windows update”

      for vista.

      Don’t be a cretin dave….

    • don

      In the run box type NET STOP “AUTOMATIC UPDATES”
      This works for xp

    • Puedo leer en inglés

      Ni siquiera el reinicio automático de windows es tan malo como las traducciones automáticas.
      Please, save my eyes!!

    • Paul

      In Windows2000 SP4 volg ik het beschreven pad, maar na Windows Components vind ik geen Windows Update.
      (wel een Windows Install, maar daar staat het niet onder)
      Andere opties?

    • John Tolhurst

      well explained, with just the right detail and directness, thanks!

    • Greg

      All I did was Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools Open ‘Services’ then stop ‘Automatic Updates’ And it stops it until you restart, in which, it will start again with windows. =]

    • madalina

      buna!am si eu o pb la calc pe care vreau sa o rezolv…cand vreau sa inchid calc imi apare sub TURNING OFF si celelalte 2 unde este si restartul si stand by …urmatoarea chestie: click turn off install important updates and turn off your computer.click here to turn off without instaling updates…. ce as putea sa fac sa scap de ea ?! multumesc :*

    • Tim Rowe

      gpedit isn’t in XP Home version either. Still looking for a permanent solution to this; all the solutions I’ve found only work until the next restart.

    • Andrew

      Very usefull! TNX!

    • Jesus C

      Bless you, it’s like a miracle what you have given me.

      Thanks

    • Arby

      Great post. Saved my day.

      Thanks!!

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