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I am running Windows 10 Pro, Build 16299.

I'm not sure why MS thinks it's okay to forcibly reboot people's PC in the middle of the night...but for years I was able to prevent this by turning off my windows updates. I also stop and disable the Windows Update service. But over the past few nights, my windows has automatically pulled down updates and forcibly rebooted in spite of the fact that my updates are turned off and the service stopped. I have lots of apps running so this is very disruptive.

I can only assume that they found some sneaky new way to do this without my permission because it shouldn't be possible for this to happen, given my current settings.

How can I prevent it in my current version of windows? Thanks in advance.

HerrimanCoder
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  • This was a regular update and not a feature update (like the Creators Update)? – wp78de Dec 16 '17 at 23:18
  • Its not like they need sneaky methods to set their own rules as to how/when you get updates whether you want them or not. It is trivial to start even a disabled service if the kernel decided it should run. The only thing stopping them from behaving this way was customer sentiment, and with Apple behaving as they do, and being successful at it, it was only a matter of time before MS became more autocratic about their eco-system, especially if it gets them one step closer to their end-game: subscription based windows. – Frank Thomas Dec 16 '17 at 23:29

2 Answers2

3

I suggest to check the

  1. Task Scheduler to disable auto-restart after installing updates:

    • Go to Task Scheduler Library/Microsoft/Windows/Update Orchestrator
    • disable the task named Reboot.

TaskScheduler-Microsoft-Windows-UpdateOrchestrator-Reboot

  1. Another good place to check is the Group Policy Editor:

    • Go to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Update.. and the settings of:
    • No auto restart with loggedon users for scheduled automatic updates installations: Enabled

  2. There is also a place in Windows 10 new settings:

    • search Change Active Hours
    • click on Restart Options and disable Restart
wp78de
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In addition to the answer by @wp78de, to prevent downloading updates until you allow it, set all DefaultMediaCost values to 2 (metered). You will need to change ownership of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\DefaultMediaCost from TrustedInstaller to Administrator or to your account. A .REG script to do so follows (change the 2 to 1 to reset them as unmetered; the "values" entry is just a reminder).

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\DefaultMediaCost]

"3G"=dword:00000002

"4G"=dword:00000002

"Default"=dword:00000002

"Ethernet"=dword:00000002

"WiFi"=dword:00000002

"Values"="1=non-metered, 2= metered"

Community
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DrMoishe Pippik
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