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
    2012-12-23T16:15:51+00:00

    Have you read the ANSWER and MOST HELPFUL REPLY posts on page 1?

    Yes we did, and it wasn't written by you.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-12-23T16:10:39+00:00

    If you're a Microsoft Certified tech, you should already know how to keep Windows Update from restarting a computer without your approval.

    Every one of your posts in this thread is EXTREMELY arrogant and sarcastic. Your harmful, rude, and condescending comments about other users should not represent Microsoft. I'm surprised you haven't been kicked off this board or at least had your shiny MVP badge revoked.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-12-22T21:33:33+00:00

    The F i just lost a blueray thanks ALOT

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-12-22T05:00:28+00:00

    When posting something like this in which you repeatedly stress that the use of precision and extreme caution are required, you should probably make sure that there aren't a lot of missing spaces/typos/etc... in the body of your instructions.

    An abbreviated version for knowledgeable users:

    <!-- NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers.reg -->

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]

    "NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers"=dword:00000001

    <!-- /NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers.reg -->

    1. Open the Registry Edit

    (WindowsKey + R, "regedit.exe")

    (Remember to be careful! DON'T change anything unless you know exactly what you're doing!) 2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

    * Chances are, if you can't access gpedit.msc you'll be missing these keys! *

    If keys WindowsUpdate\AU exist, go ahead to step 3!

    OTHERWISE, continue through these indented steps... 

    1. Navigate to **HKEY\_LOCAL\_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows**
2. (Make sure the above key is highlighted and) go to the edit menu and choose New &gt; Key
3. Name the key **WindowsUpdate**
4. Now, repeat the above steps, except highlight **WindowsUpdate** and name the next key**AU**
    1. With WindowsUpdate\AU highlighted, create a new 32-bit DWORD calledNoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers
    2. Right click on your newly created value and give it a value data of 1 (hexadecimal)
    3. Double check all the steps to make sure you did everything EXACTLY how I explained it
    4. Close Registry Editor... You're FREE! :D

    Now, even with the gpedit.msc remedy, this will disable automatic restart on important updates, but it will still nag you a bit about restarting it. I don't mind this, personally, because I usually tell it to remind me in about 2-4 hours depending on what I'm doing. The feature is useful if it's just a notification (which is what this remedy will basically do), but when it starts making decisions on whether or not to restart or shutdown my computer is when I get very frustrated. Microsoft REALLY needs to fix this!

    *** So why not just use "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them"? Because I still want it to automatically INSTALL them. I just want to choose when to RESTART my computer. There's a massive difference between automatically installing AND restarting to configure, and just automatically installing. I take care of my PC. I'm not stupid enough to never restart my computer, especially when it needs it. Please, Microsoft, don't insult my intelligence, and be a little more flexible! If I wanted to work with all this behind-the-scenes magic I'd spend more time in my Linux terminal...

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