Quick Tip - Turn off Auto Reboot after Windows Update

I was recently working on recovering data from a hard drive, and the hard drive was attached to a computer here in the shop. I have it set up just for checking viruses and recovering data from customer hard drives.

The data recovery process can actually take 24-36 hours depending on the hard drive and how bad it is. So I run the recovery and let it go, sometimes for two days or more.

After about 24 hours, I saw the computer reboot, and I screamed! That means the data recovery would have to be started over, and I didn't know if any of the data had been saved yet.

As the computer rebooted, I saw that it was Microsoft Windows Update that had done the reboot automatically. I thought I had that turned off, but obviously I was wrong!

Rebooting without the user's permission is just crazy. So I wanted to let you know how change this, it is really easy. Normally, you should never allow Windows to automatically reboot. It will shut down anything you are doing, and you can lose information that way.

This change will download the Windows Updates, but wait for your OK to install them. You can assume after most updates from Microsoft, a reboot is needed, so you can plan this when you can allow the computer to reboot when done.

Windows XP & Vista

To configure the Automatic Updates feature in Windows XP:

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

Click the Automatic Updates tab

Click on the button next to
"Download updates but let me choose when to install them"

Windows Vista

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

Click the Windows Update link (bottom left) , and then choose Change Settings from the top left menu

Click on the button next to "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them"

The only drawback to this, is you need to pay attention to when updates are available, and the yellow icon down by the clock (see my blog from a couple days ago). When you see that icon, you need to click on it when it is convenient to install the updates. If you do nothing, the updates DO NOT get installed and your computer is not updated.