Get rid of the Windows Update reboot nag

Filed under: Windows

Get rid of the Windows Update reboot nag

by Jordan Running Apr 14th 2006

One of my biggest Windows pet peeves is the Restart Now/Restart Later nag box that pops up after your install a patch from Windows Update. Yes, Windows, I know there's a reason I shouldn't wait too long to reboot but there's absolutely no reason I should be reminded of it every 10 minutes. Fortunately, there seems to be a solution, at least for folks with SP2. Using the Group Policy editor you can change the time between nags from 10 minutes to something more reasonable like, say, an hour, or get rid of them entirely. To learn how to do it, head over to The Code Project's forum, where a user called Daniel Turini describes the tweak.

Additionally, if you just want a temporary fix (or don't have SP2), stopping the Automatic Updates service will make the nags go away. Just go to Start > Run and type net stop wuauserv. Once you eventually reboot, the Automatic Updates service will start again by itself.

Tags: nag, reboot, restart, tip, tweak, update, windows, windowsupdate

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DingoMD said 2:00PM on 4-14-2006

You don't know how happy I am! Those nags were driving me crazy. Linux FTW ;)

lost.sync said 2:16PM on 4-14-2006

i knew about killing the service, but i wish i'd have known about those registry settings...honestly, that is one of the most annoying things i've ever seen a computer do.

there should -seriously- be a "Don't show this again" checkbox. i've never understood why they did that.

Geoffrey said 3:03PM on 4-14-2006

I can't describe my joy at reading about this fix. Then I found out that the fix is XP Pro only, as Home machines don't have gpedit, and never will.

Does anyone know the specific registry entries that would replicate this on Home? I've been trying to search through the registry on my own, but haven't had any success. Has anyone?

Jordan Running said 3:17PM on 4-14-2006

Good question, Geoffrey. It took some digging, but Microsoft's web site has an Excel file that lists all of the registry keys that correspond to settings in the Group Policy editor. You can find the Excel file here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=7821C32F-DA15-438D-8E48-45915CD2BC14&displayLang=en&oRef=http%3a%2f%2fforums.wugnet.com%2fGroup-Policy-Snap-XP-Home-2002-ftopict444237.html

It looks like the relevant keys (on row 10 of the "Wuau.adm" sheet in the Excel file) are:

HKLMSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindows
WindowsUpdateAU!RebootRelaunchTimeoutEnabled

and

HKLMSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindows
WindowsUpdateAU!RebootRelaunchTimeout

Please report back here if it works!

Geoffrey said 8:48PM on 4-15-2006

Once again, joy, followed by heartbreak.

I pulled up my registry, checked the paths 3 times, and my registry does not have those keys. I get as far as HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows and then the only sub folders available are Installer, IPSec, RTC, and Safer.

Could anyone with Pro verify that the Excel files entries are accurate? And what's the likelihood on me adding the entries myself, and having it work?

XIU said 10:55AM on 4-20-2006

The path does exist on WinXP Pro.
But nothing about the keys though, haven't created and tested it. Just did all the updates :P

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