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.
I want to turn off the automatic restart for Windows Update on Windows 7 Home Premium. How do I do this?
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Anonymous
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.
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
123 additional answers
Sort by: Oldest
-
Anonymous
2013-03-14T21:39:57+00:00 Yes - love to know if this works and doesn't create any other problems.
Like many people here, I didn't have the appropriate registry keys, so I download updates but don't automatically install them.
It would be preferable to be able to install them, rather than having to wait for the install to finish when turning off the computer.
So it would be great to know if this is a useful solution.
-
Anonymous
2013-03-15T00:20:34+00:00 >>Sheesh... so much drama... oh, well, it kept me entertained. anyway...
Spoken like a true elitist! Ignore the users or blame them!
Sorry if I'm more interested in computing than you are.
>No need to restart in order to prevent windows from restarting on its own,
>no need to fiddle with the registry
>just use the tools windows actually offers
Er, isn't Regedit a tool Windows offers?
Maybe you should rewrite that as "No need to use your computer the way you want, let someone else dictate how it gets used.*
>( but _DO_ restart as quickly as convenience permits... just sayin' )
That's the whole point; let me decide.
Hope this was entertaining enough for you!
-
Anonymous
2013-03-30T00:53:49+00:00 What if I WANT my computer to restart automatically and not ask me every single day to restart it? I am annoyed with being in the middle of something and it asking me to restart my computer. I know I can postpone it, but I want it to restart the laptop right after it checks for and downloads updates. Do I create the 32-bit Dword but leave out the word "No?" And if so, what value do I give it?
-
Anonymous
2013-04-10T20:13:01+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.
Microsoft sometimes pushes "important" updates that requires an automatically restart even if I configure Windows Update to "ask me before downloading". The update overrides my settings.
Aberrance's reply should be taken as the solution. Thank goodness, without gpedit.msc we are still able to make the tweak in the registry.