Stop Windows Update Restart Now Prompts

By Rich on August 4, 2009 (21 Comments)

Windows update is an excellent way to keep your computer up to date and protected from the latest vulnerabilities. Sometimes, Windows update will apply a patch that requires your computer to be restarted. Many times, this restart comes at an inopportune time as you may have a lot to get done that day. Windows Vista does not bug you as much as Windows XP, because you can change the interval at which Windows to remind you to restart your computer. Regardless of your operating system, you may just want to stop the notifications entirely and restart your computer the end of the day. Why do not recommend this, I often find myself delaying the restart process. In this guide, you’ll learn how to stop Windows update notifying you until the next time you restart your PC.

To turn off will Windows Update notifications, do the following:

Press WINKEY+R, type cmd, and hit enter
In Vista/7, type net stop “windows update” and hit enter
In XP, type net stop “Automatic updates” and hit enter

This stops the Windows update service until the next time you restart your computer. Now you will no longer be pestered to restart your computer. Please remember: there is a reason your computer needs to be restarted; you should restart your computer at your earliest convenience.

About Rich

Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix the problems he creates.

Continue Reading

Free PC tips by email

Search Windows Guides

Comments

rsvr85
Nice tip Rich :)
Does the service start automatically after a reboot or does one have to manually start it again?
http://mintywhite.com RSVR85
Nice tip Rich :)
Does the service start automatically after a reboot or does one have to manually start it again?
- http://mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
  Yes it will start again after a reboot.
  You would have to go into services and set the startup type to “Manual” from “Automatic” to permanently stop the prompts; however, this would also stop you receiving updates, which is obviously not advisable and not you were asking with your question anyway.
rsvr85
Nice tip Rich :)
Does the service start automatically after a reboot or does one have to manually start it again?
- http://mintywhite.com/tech/ Rich
  Yes it will start again after a reboot.
  You would have to go into services and set the startup type to “Manual” from “Automatic” to permanently stop the prompts; however, this would also stop you receiving updates, which is obviously not advisable and not you were asking with your question anyway.
Rich
Yes it will start again after a reboot.
You would have to go into services and set the startup type to “Manual” from “Automatic” to permanently stop the prompts; however, this would also stop you receiving updates, which is obviously not advisable and not you were asking with your question anyway.
Best Windows Freebies and Guid
[…] Stop Windows Update Restart Now Prompts […]
[Windows] Detener los reinicio
[…] Fuente. Average: 0 ‹ [Guias-Windows] Eliminar automáticamente los archivos temporales de Windows 7. arriba [Windows] Instalar actualizaciones de Windows manualmente. › 208 lecturas […]
Pingback: [Windows] Detener los reinicios automáticos causados por Windows Update. | subinet.es beta información tecnológica y de actualidad.
vigge_sWe
lolz
Well, you could set it to remind again in 4 hours, I would think you would be done doing important stuff by then lol
vigge_sWe
lolz
Well, you could set it to remind again in 4 hours, I would think you would be done doing important stuff by then lol
vigge_sWe
lolz
Well, you could set it to remind again in 4 hours, I would think you would be done doing important stuff by then lol
pau fexas
Thank you so much. I hate that prompt.
pau fexas
Thank you so much. I hate that prompt.
pau fexas
Thank you so much. I hate that prompt.
John Schuepbach
Can’t you just modify the registry so that it will never restart until you tell it to, for every instance of when Windows has updates installed (all future instances)?
Simply add this key to the registry (create it if it does not exist): [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdateAU]
“NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers”=dword:00000001
John Schuepbach
Can’t you just modify the registry so that it will never restart until you tell it to, for every instance of when Windows has updates installed (all future instances)?
Simply add this key to the registry (create it if it does not exist): [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdateAU]
“NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers”=dword:00000001
John Schuepbach
Can’t you just modify the registry so that it will never restart until you tell it to, for every instance of when Windows has updates installed (all future instances)?
Simply add this key to the registry (create it if it does not exist): [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdateAU]
“NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers”=dword:00000001
Rich
Thanks for the tip John
Rich
Thanks for the tip John
Rich
Thanks for the tip John

Windows Tools, Help & Guides