Can I disable the RESTART option after completing windows update? Is there any way to cancel a Reboot?
MJ writes to us that her machine runs updates around lunch time and she keeps getting the prompt do you want to restart now?
Not only is it annoying – sometimes she clicks yes by accident and her whole world comes crashing down. (See the fix for this at the bottom of the post – not for the faint of heart or slow typers!!!)
Not only will we show you how to disable the automatic restart option after updates via Group Policy we will show you how to quickly cancel a reboot.
- Go to Start –> Run, type “gpedit.msc”.
- Go to Computer Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Windows Components –> Windows Update.
- Look for option “No Auto Restart For Scheduled Automatic Update installation” and Enable that option.
- This will make sure that your computer is not rebooted automatically, instead it will just notify you for a reboot. It will be users choice as to when to reboot your computer
- If in case you want it to notify you again and again, after a specific interval of time, then look for option “Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations”. Enable that option and specify the time.
Everything above is all easy, its just editing some policies which you can perform easily. [TechiesDen]
Now to cancel a reboot:
- Start
- Run
- Type Shutdown -a and hit enter
Thats it, that will cancel your impending doom if you hit it fast enough!
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about 4 years ago
I noticed there is no search available at ATA… can you have a searchable database? That would be hugely helpful!
Anyway, about the disable restart tip.. Cool tip!
I know how to stop the restart pop up by manually going in to:
Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Services, and shutting down the “Automatic Updates” service to prevent my computer from annoyingly reminding me (yeah, yeah).
But I didn’t know I could configur that!
about 4 years ago
@Kedar – There is most definitely a search box for AtA. It is the uppermost left corner of the site next to the Blogger logo – this searches our site only.
Give it a go and you won’t be sorry… It will give you first hand access to all our articles in a searchable database.
Thanks for reading!
about 4 years ago
Right! Sorry Karl.. I had missed that…
Good work ATA! Very cool!
about 4 years ago
“gpedit.msc” does not appear to be a file on my computer. Is there another way to access this setting?
about 4 years ago
@Steve – yes. goto start run type mmc.
then add a new console called group policy follow the steps above from there.
about 2 years ago
Great tutorial!
about 2 years ago
@Steve: If you still don’t have the ability to see the Group Policy Manager after Karl’s instructions, then you may have XP Home edition, which I don’t believes offers access to gpedit.msc
@MJ: The default option to install and reboot the computer is at 3am. So, if your computer asks you to begin rebooting around lunch time, it is possible that your IT person has set your computer to do this. If this is the case, then you will not be able to change this via Group Policy. However, Kedar’s response to stop the “Automatic Updates” service will still work as long as you are an administrator on your computer. However, if your IT person is the one who set your computer to do this, talk to him/her and ask them to help you out. I personally have set up different reboot policies for some people at work because they had legitimate reasons, and so your IT person may be able to do the same.
about 2 years ago
Spoken like a true admin Aakash! Where are you from?
about 2 years ago
Hey Karl! I’m from sunny (usually) California :)
about 2 years ago
Thanks for stopping by and giving your admin’s 2 cents :)