How to stop Windows from Restarting after Installing Updates

If you commonly leave work open on your computer overnight, you’ve no doubt had your computer automatically reboot while you are sleeping and in some cases take your work with it. While most times Windows 7 can re-open your local work without a problem, you can easily lose online work and open webpages. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way. This guide will show you how to stop Windows 7 from automatically restarting after installing Windows Updates.

There are two methods, the first involves a registry change and is the best way to disable automatic updates on a Windows 7 Home computer. The second involves changing the group policy on your computer and works on all versions of Windows 7. If you have a version of Windows 7 that supports the second method, try that as it is easier.

For either of these solutions to work you will need to have administrative privileges which most home users will have. Your work PC is another matter, and it may not allow you to make these changes without help from IT.

If you do turn off automatic restarting after updates, you should take care to restart your computer regularly in order to install important fixes and keep your computer up to date.

How to stop Windows 7 Home from Automatically restarting after updates:

Step 1. Click on Start and type “regedit” in the textbox.

Step 2. Press Enter and if prompted, click Yes.

Step 3. In the registry editor find the following folder:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPolicesMicrosoftWindows”

Step 4. Right click on Windows and choose New, then Key.

Step 5. Name the new key “WindowsUpdate” without the quote.

Step 6. Right click on WindowsUpdate and choose New, then Key.

Step 7. Name the new key “AU” without the quotes.

Step 8. In the right section of the Registry Editor, right click and choose New, then “DWORD (32-bit) Value”

Step 9. In the new value area, type or paste the following, “NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers“. Then press Enter.

Step 10. Right click on the NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers entry you just created and choose modify.

Step 11. Type “1” without the quotes in the Value data: field.

Step 12. Click OK, close the Registry Editor and Restart your computer. You should no longer experience automatic restarts after installing Windows Updates.

How to stop Windows 7 from Automatically restarting after updates with a Group Policy change:

Step 1. Click Start and type “gpedit.msc” without the quotes. Press Enter.

Step 2. Navigate to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update

Step 3. Open “No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Update installation” by double clicking.

Step 4. When the window opens, click enable and then Apply.

Step 5. Click OK to close the window and then restart your computer.

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