Disable Windows 10 automatic restart after updates

Anonymous
2019-02-14T12:17:31+00:00

Is there any REAL way to disable this cancer feature?

This is not the first time i have lost unsaved work due to this annoying function, that almost every Windows user hates.

I'm trying to behave, but it is really hard to keep calm after loosing unsaved work multiple times.

Why is it that Windows cannot just wait until the user decides to restart at a convenient time? It's not like the end of the world that users doesn't restart at a specific time.

In a time where Apple's Mac is already "stealing" a lot of Windows customers, it is a very risky (and dumb) feature to add to Windows.

This alone is very difficult to argue against in a Mac vs. Windows discussion.

Luckily (for Microsoft) Microsoft have secured themselves from a law suit in their policy.

MS knows that all Windows users hates this feature, and yet they still have it. WHY?

So back to the question. Is there any official/unofficial way (FOR GOOD)  that allows me to disable this annoying feature?

I tried following some tutorials on YouTube, but little did it help obviously, as i just came home and found my computer restarted, and my work deleted.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-03-16T12:36:46+00:00

    If you don't want to totally disable Windows updates, but want to control them and thus control rebooting, setting "AUOptions" to "2" in the registry has been ideal and works fine under the latest Win 10 1909 build.  See my previous post on Page 6 of this thread.  Windows notifies you when downloads are available.  You just postpone the downloading until you are ready to download, apply, reboot.  Don't click the "download" button until you have decided that you want to download and apply, and thus don't be running programs that take days to finish until after updates are applied and the system has been restarted.  But you should monitor the installs to force the reboot close to the time it completes the installs,  unless you're not planning to use the system again right away... otherwise it if you leave it in that state after the installs complete, it will determine when to restart on its own, and don't wait many months between applying updates (ideally).  Again, with this setting, you are in control... just don't click "download" until you decide "OK, it's about time I apply security updates..."

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-03-15T14:52:30+00:00

    Hello my name is Bradford and I'm an Independent Advisor for the Microsoft Community and I will try to resolve your problem.

    1. Click on the “Start” button and type

    gpedit.msc

    press Enter.

    1. In the Local Group Policy Editor, go to

    Computer Configuration ->

    ->Administrative Templates->

    -> Windows Components->

    -> Windows Update

    1. Double-click on “No auto-restart with automatic installations of scheduled updates”.
    2. Select "Enabled", and then click "OK".
    3. Close the local group policy editor.

    If the above steps don't have the effect you desired please let me know!

    gpedit.msc does not exist

    Also, typing anything on start just enters it in bing search.  It does not call up a program or file.

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-03-13T12:10:27+00:00

    Argh! Yes, it is unpredictable... I found my computer rebooted on Wednesday morning, I assumed due to March Patch Tuesday... But then this morning I tried to login from home (my work computer won't boot up on restart due to external things I have going on, which is why I especially don't want it to reboot without asking)... And my damned computer had restarted for updates again so I couldn't get in! Second day this week. I could have predicted the first update restart this week... But not the second. So now I've gone and disabled the update service for the time being.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-01-15T13:55:10+00:00

    There is ONE way to do this that works. I think I may get in trouble for it, but here it goes.

    There is an option to use 3rd party software to stop the entire update process. I use it for virtual machines that need to be frozen in a certain state, MS's ideas about what I do with my PC be damned.

    These programs use only one big button that makes it stop and go and, unlike other patchable programs, this one has a background task that "repairs" the setting you put there in case anyone tries to break it.

    As Google says, if you want to stop updates the best way to do it is to look for a 3rd party solution. I think GREAT IS the company that allows user choice.

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  5. Anonymous
    2019-08-14T07:04:07+00:00

    You can install gpedit on W10 Home using the gpedit_msc.zip; file form here http://woshub.com/group-policy-editor-gpedit-msc-for-windows-10-home/

    However I'm not sure it's gonna help you as GPEdit is just UI to the registry values mentioned above.

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