Windows 7 Auto-update (controlling it)

[johntkucz]

Hey mates,

This is a very "beginner"question. I'm somewhat familiar with windows (not as much as I thought or wanted to be) , but basically the problem is this. Windows shuts down on a regular basis in the middle of work, quitting every program, reboots, and isntalls updates. I am pretty sure this is related ot the "action center" and whatnot, but how do I control that so that it
asks if it wants to restart (in the past, it asked to postpone 10 min, 4 hours etc) now it doesnt' seem to be doing that.
where I set how frequently it does that.

Thanks.

 

[seavixen32]

This workaround will stop it happening: Disable Install Updates And Shutdown Option In Windows 7/Vista

Or you can reconfigure Windows Updates:

 

[marsmimar]

This is just another FWIW observation. Starting in September 2007, Microsoft initated what many called a "stealth" update policy. The source in my previous post was last updated in July 2009 so presumably Microsoft is still using "stealth" updates even if you have your machine set to:

Update Services are "turned on" if you choose one of the following settings: (i) install updates automatically, (ii) download updates automatically and choose whether to install them, or (iii) receive notifications about updates and choose whether to download and install them. Windows Update service is "turned on" and set to "install updates automatically" when you choose the recommended option during Windows Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) setup.

If you turn on the Update Services, regardless of which "turned on" setting you have chosen, required updates to some components of the service will be downloaded and installed automatically without further notice to you. If you would prefer not to receive required updates, turn off the Update Services.

The problem with these stealth updates is simple. If your machine is working on something like a system image, backing up files, etc it might re-boot in the middle of the task causing you to lose whatever you were working on.

Source

See the section called "Required Updates" about half way down the page.

 

[SlasherIT]

This happened to me, and the way I fixed it was with a registry hack . @seavixen, that workaround works, but he doesn't have Windows 7 Pro or higher, so he can't use gpedit.

How to fix with the registry hack:

1. Open regedit.exe (type into search box)

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

3. Create a new 32-bit DWORD value named NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers and give it a value of 1.

4. Done! Problem solved.

I can personally say it works as I have used this trick myself. Its completely safe, and if you want to reverse it, just delete the key you made.

 

[marsmimar]

This happened to me, and the way I fixed it was with a registry hack . @seavixen, that workaround works, but he doesn't have Windows 7 Pro or higher, so he can't use gpedit.

How to fix with the registry hack:

1. Open regedit.exe (type into search box)

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

3. Create a new 32-bit DWORD value named NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers and give it a value of 1.

4. Done! Problem solved.

I can personally say it works as I have used this trick myself. Its completely safe, and if you want to reverse it, just delete the key you made.

Very nice! Gonna have to give this a try.

 

[SlasherIT]

.

 

[seavixen32]

This happened to me, and the way I fixed it was with a registry hack . @seavixen, that workaround works, but he doesn't have Windows 7 Pro or higher, so he can't use gpedit.

How to fix with the registry hack:

1. Open regedit.exe (type into search box)

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

3. Create a new 32-bit DWORD value named NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers and give it a value of 1.

4. Done! Problem solved.

I can personally say it works as I have used this trick myself. Its completely safe, and if you want to reverse it, just delete the key you made.

Thanks for that Slasher, looks like a neat solution,

 

[SlasherIT]

Thanks, your welcome!