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

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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.

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  1. 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.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-11-21T23:00:02+00:00

    don't let the door hit you on the way out ;)

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-11-21T22:33:42+00:00

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

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-11-21T22:16:54+00:00

    At the step:

    1. (Make sure the above key is highlighted and) go to the edit menu and choose New > Key

    I get a popup: Cannot create key: You do not have the requisite permissions to create a new key under Windows.

    I am an Administrator on my own machine.  How do I create this key?

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