I want to turn off the automatic restart for Windows Update on Windows 7 Home Premium. How do I do this?

Anonymous
2009-11-05T12:57:50+00:00

I went to sleep last night and when I woke up my computer had been restarted.  I did not tell it to restart, I did not want it restarted, and I had documents opened that I cannot recover because it restarted.  It restarted because Windows Update had a single update to install.  I am running Windows 7 Home Premium, so I do not have the group policy editor, and the registry key that some websites mentioned to use to disable the restart is not there.

Keep in mind, I just want to prevent an involuntary restart.  I do not want to turn off Windows Update, and I don't mind being prompted to restart.  I just don't want my computer restarting on its own ever again.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2009-11-05T13:05:29+00:00

In Windows Update, click on change settings. Under Important Updates, select 'Download updates but let me choose whether to install them'. This will give you the control on when to install and restart if required.

Was this answer helpful?

100+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

123 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-07-02T14:36:36+00:00

    Thanks infostud!   I got caught out 3 times by this stupid feature of Windows 7.  Each time I lost my work.  Very frustrating.   My employer requires me to have updates set to install automatically so the first solution offered isn't suitable to me.

    If Microsoft is worried about peoples PCs being vulnerable until they reboot their machine, why not just disable networking.  Much less severe than forcing a reboot!

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-12-17T02:52:29+00:00

    Right click regedit and click "run as administrator."

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2010-12-15T16:38:00+00:00

    Wow to PA Bear and Refca!  Play nice now!

    if you are having touble adding/modifying/deleting subkeys, check the permissions on the parent key.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2010-11-21T22:33:42+00:00

    and this guy's a 5 star MVP?  no wonder we're all going to Apple

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments