Disable Annoying Restart Notification After Windows Update
It’s always annoying to get a restart notification every few minutes when Windows has installed the Windows updates. The problem with me was that whenever I was typing, that popup would come up automatically and I would press some key that would automatically say yes to that screen ……………………. and the computer restarts. That’s more than annoying if you’re doing some serious type of work.
Here are two methods by which this automatic updates restart reminder nag can be disabled permanently.
1- Through Run Command (temporary)
Go to Start –> Run and type in the following and press OK.
net stop wuauserv
or alternatively type in the following:
net stop “windows updates”
This will temporarily stop the automatic updates service which will automatically start upon next restart.
2- Through Group Policy (permanent)
Go to Start –> Run –> gpedit.msc to run the group policy editor
Now go to Computer Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Windows Components –> Windows Update
In the right hand pane, enable the following:
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Thank you very much. I hate when windows makes my computer act like a douche.
Do you know how to edit change the amount of time it delays between asking you to restart the computer using the registry?
Thanks for the tip. I’m at the beginning of a painfully slow data restore process that’ll take another 5 days. I unwisely made some changes that prompted for a restart to complete. I was afraid that I’d come back, and Windows would have turned off the computer. I’d have to start again for another 7 day. Now that I’ve followed your tip, I can sleep a little better.
Thanks for the tip. Very useful
Thanks for this, and for great positioning in google.
I was actually able to find, read and execute within the 5 minutes Vista gave me with this annoyance.
Respect!
Cheers,
c[oO]
Thank you for publishing this and placing it well! Windows will also SELL this information, one of many of their scams – ridiculous and even more irritating than the auto-restart! The command you published worked like a charm. MAJOR kudos to you!
Hi and thanks for this great tip…. i am v happy… to get rid of this annoying popup
Hi. My XP Home Edition doesn’t have Group Policy. Is there any way to change the Update Restart Notification time with Home Edition?
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Greetings, surfers!
Thanks to the author for sharing this useful tip.
I would like to add some remarks.
1. Turning off the notifications permanently has its downside, namely some unexpected problems might arise if you just continue to work as if nothing happened. The notification is very much needed as the system is usually not in its best after an update, to say the least, and MUST be restarted.
2. On the other side, there is a place for changing the method of notification so that it does not cause a restart when some work might still be unsaved.
3. Therefore, I recommend turning off the notifications completely in the GPO as advised by the author (to prevent the restart mentioned in article 2) combined with installing a third-party software that would show a safer alert when a restart/power-off is required either due to the recent update or just because it is advised to turn off your PC at least once a week in order not to over-burden the hard disk(s), preferably on sabbath, if you want to get to heaven
Cheers!
I like using a larger delay instead of disabling this feature, this site show you how to do that:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000294.html
You can change the time interval to something quite large, e.g. 1440 minutes.
In the end enable your “No auto-restart with logged on users for scheduled automatic updates installations” option.. Thanx..
This doesn’t work in either XP sp2 or sp3. You will still be nagged every 10 minutes whatever you do here and no matter how long the timeout you set. Windows informs you the timeout cannot be more than 30 minutes but even set at that , you will be nagged every ten.
@Steve W
I’m not sure who you’re replying to, did you try this:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000294.html
Uh – duh……….. you NEED to restart for the security fixes to take effect. Dont go crying that Windows screwed up your life because you go a virus or worm or what not that the update WOULD HAVE fix if you didnt consider a 5 minute reboot as an INTERRUPTION of your precious time.
We reap what we sow.