How to disable Windows 11 automatic reboots?

Anonymous

Hi,

I have browsed this forum but found so far no real solution:

It has happened to my now several times that I was running tasks over extended periods of time only to come back to my PC the next morning to find Windows 11 had done an automatic reboot! So not only the tasks weren't finished, worse, lots of preparatory work was lost!

I don't want Windows to ever automatically reboot after an update. Never. Ever. Period. I want to be informed about updates, that's fine, and I keep Windows 11 up to date, but under no circumstances ever is it acceptable that Windows just shovels an update on my PC and disrupts overnight tasks and REBOOTS(!) my PC all by itself.

So it would be very helpful if somebody could tell me how to disable these automatic update reboots once and for all. I don't want to "pause" Updates (I absolutely want updates, I just want to control myself when the updates are done) and resetting "work hours" is of no use unless I can set it to 24 hours.

Best regards

Nick

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84 answers

Anonymous

2024-09-14T21:06:42+00:00

Windows 11 Home will auto update Forever every 7 days by default .

NOTHING can STOP it as of Sep24 :(
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Anonymous

2024-08-07T13:41:16+00:00

Welcome to the club my friend. And tell Mr Gates about it
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Anonymous

2024-07-25T20:25:35+00:00

These places use something called "windows update services" which integrates with networks of windows PCs and runs on windows server. It allows administrators to review the updates and approve them for release into the network. It is not something you can just run on your own pc, or on a normal windows PC on your home network.
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Anonymous

2024-07-10T11:20:17+00:00
Running this as admin in powershell will create a ps1 script that cancels pending restarts (with logging), and schedule it as a task.

Microsoft, don't be Apple. This also is not an effective way to get me to PAY for pro, if that's your game.

Create the script to cancel pending restarts with logging

$scriptContent = @"

`$logPath = "C:\Scripts\CancelRestartLog.txt"

function Log-Message {
```
param([string]`$message) 

`$timestamp = Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss" 

"`$timestamp - `$message" | Out-File -FilePath `$logPath -Append 
```
}

Log-Message "Script execution started"

$restartCancelled = $false

if (Get-ChildItem "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\RebootPending" -EA Ignore) {
```
shutdown /a 

`$restartCancelled = `$true 
```
}

if (Get-ChildItem "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\RebootRequired" -EA Ignore) {
```
shutdown /a 

`$restartCancelled = `$true 
```
}

if (Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\RebootPending" -EA Ignore) {
```
shutdown /a 

`$restartCancelled = `$true 
```
}

if (Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update\RebootRequired" -EA Ignore) {
```
shutdown /a 

`$restartCancelled = `$true 
```
}

if (Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager" -Name PendingFileRenameOperations -EA Ignore) {
```
shutdown /a 

`$restartCancelled = `$true 
```
}

if (`$restartCancelled) {
```
Log-Message "Restart cancelled successfully" 
```
} else {
```
Log-Message "No pending restart detected" 
```
}

Log-Message "Script execution completed"

"@

Save the script to a file

$scriptPath = "C:\Scripts\CancelRestart.ps1"

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path (Split-Path $scriptPath)

Set-Content -Path $scriptPath -Value $scriptContent

Create a scheduled task

$taskAction = New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute "PowerShell.exe" -Argument "-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "$scriptPath""

$taskTrigger = New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Once -At (Get-Date) -RepetitionInterval (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 15)

$taskSettings = New-ScheduledTaskSettingsSet -AllowStartIfOnBatteries -DontStopIfGoingOnBatteries -ExecutionTimeLimit (New-TimeSpan -Minutes 5)

$taskPrincipal = New-ScheduledTaskPrincipal -UserId "SYSTEM" -LogonType ServiceAccount -RunLevel Highest

Register-ScheduledTask -TaskName "CancelWindowsRestart" -Action $taskAction -Trigger $taskTrigger -Settings $taskSettings -Principal $taskPrincipal -Force

Write-Host "Script created and scheduled task set up successfully. Logs will be written to C:\Scripts\CancelRestartLog.txt"
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How to disable Windows 11 automatic reboots?

84 answers

Create the script to cancel pending restarts with logging

Save the script to a file

Create a scheduled task