XP "Automatic Update" / "Restart Later" super annoying dialog

[Armando]

Yes I'm still using XP. 

I thought this annoyance had been discussed in the past, but i can't find it. Anyway, here are some solutions I found:

XP Automatic Update Nagging

Of both solutions proposed in the article, the second one allows more control over the dialog.

If you're on XP pro, you can just do as described in the article. If you're on XP Home, you won't be able to use the "Group policy settings" editor/dialog (what you could then do is try to hack XP by following these guidelines : Windows XP Home Edition: gpedit.msc (group policy) editing via registry . It's probably not legal though.)

What you can also use WhyReboot? to check out whether you should reboot or not.

And there's this little app that become handy : DontSleep
I don't think it's ever been reviewed here.

Anyhow.

[Armando]

For XP Home users, you could also enter these lines in the registry :

http://www.xiven.com/weblog/2004/05/01/WeHaveWaysOfMakingYouRestartYourComputer

Badge (2005-08-15 18:20:18 UTC)

For the guy with Windows XP Home...

1. Copy the text below into Notepad. Save it with a .reg extension. Open and confirm that you want to copy the data into your registry.

==>
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
"RebootRelaunchTimeoutEnabled"=dword:00000000
"NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers"=dword:00000001

[Armando]

Note that group policies aren't updated until a... system restart. so your changes won't be perceptible right away.

You might want to try a GPUPDATE.exe (command line on XP pro) or just stop the automatic update service for a while... until your next reboot.

[mwb1100]

I like the

Code: (generic)

net stop "automatic updates"

solution.

I'd get a notification that a reboot is necessary, but it would stop nagging.  After rebooting, automatic updates would be active again as normally configured.

Makes for a nice little one-liner batch file - maybe call it "stopnag.cmd" or something.  And no clicking about in some service management GUI, no mucking about in the register (or even worse, Group Policy editor settings that I can never find again 6 months later).  Best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned.

[tomos]

there's also a quick-fix Armando, killing the update exe, which can be implemented via FARR
but I'm damned if I can remember how it goes (hoping someone else will remember..)

- I have the excuse of being on win7 now

[Armando]

I like the

Code: (generic)

net stop "automatic updates"

solution.

I'd get a notification that a reboot is necessary, but it would stop nagging.  After rebooting, automatic updates would be active again as normally configured.

Makes for a nice little one-liner batch file - maybe call it "stopnag.cmd" or something.  And no clicking about in some service management GUI, no mucking about in the register (or even worse, Group Policy editor settings that I can never find again 6 months later).  Best of all worlds as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, it's much better than clicking through a GUI.

However, I like the group policy thing. I've set it up to remind me every 6 hours that I need to reboot.


@Tom : brutal.  But yes, that would work too I suppose.

I was trying to find a solution less drastic than just shutting down the service on a regular basis. Maybe that's because I rarely (want to) reboot.

[app103]

Another solution is to not click "Restart later" and just use PS Tray Factory to hide the dialog in the tray. 

[Armando]

Hehe.

However, aren't there cases where a count down will be triggered after a while and you computer will restart anyway ? Maybe not... but I think I've experienced that in the past.

[app103]

Hehe.

However, aren't there cases where a count down will be triggered after a while and you computer will restart anyway ? Maybe not... but I think I've experienced that in the past.

I have never had that happen before.

[JavaJones]

As far as I know the countdown only happens if you have updates set to fully automatic, i.e. not on "download but let me decide when to install", or other options. In that case, even if you do the update manually before the scheduled time, I believe if you leave it to sit after finishing, it will start a restart countdown.

- Oshyan