2

I got a "It's almost time to restart" message. How can I avoid the restart?

enter image description here

Windows automatic updates are supposed to be disabled:

enter image description here

I use Windows 10 "Pro".

Franck Dernoncourt
  • 20,384
  • 48
  • 186
  • 322
  • Even though your organization disabled automatic updates (from Microsoft) they can still push updates to your PC that will require restart based on their deployment schedule. – squillman Sep 14 '22 at 21:21
  • [This](https://superuser.com/questions/957267/how-to-disable-automatic-reboots-in-windows-10/963933#963933) and [this](https://superuser.com/questions/946957/stopping-all-automatic-updates-windows-10) seems relevant. – Ramhound Sep 14 '22 at 23:15
  • 1
    Contrary to what is usually stated (including in the links you provided in your comment), MS allows to prevent automatic updates to reboot as long as a user is logged on. See [this answer](https://superuser.com/a/1721619/89738). As you use the "pro" flavor, you can activate the relevant group policy (`NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers`). – mins Sep 16 '22 at 12:14

1 Answers1

1

After that message? There is no way to avoid this restart. The update has been installed and now you must restart. There is no other option.

You get options as to exactly when to restart, but at this point you must.

If you wish to be proactive, you can check for updates and if there are updates to do, postpone the updates for a few days and do them when convenient.

If your machine is on a domain, ask your IT department about this.

If your machine is an individual machine, updates will happen. Yesterday was monthly Patch Tuesday.

John
  • 46,167
  • 4
  • 33
  • 54
  • Thanks! [How can I postpone the restart by more than one hour?](https://superuser.com/q/1742621/116475) – Franck Dernoncourt Sep 15 '22 at 23:57
  • Your screen shot show "Wait an hour" Another thing I see sometimes is "Pick a time" Look for that. Windows 11 however and I cannot recall about Windows 10 at this point. – John Sep 15 '22 at 23:59
  • "*If your machine is an individual machine, updates will happen*": No, you can activate the relevant group policy, [NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers](https://admx.help/?Category=Windows_10_2016&Policy=Microsoft.Policies.WindowsUpdate::NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers_Title), to prevent forced reboot as long as a user is logged on. There is no time limit. If group policies are not available, there are equivalent registry settings. In the case of the OP, W10 Pro, policies are indeed available. – mins Sep 16 '22 at 12:27
  • There were some provisos in the article you posted. (a) Restart must occur for the updates to take affect; (b) other app updates cannot be processed in this state; (c) I think (not certain) that you would have to activate this policy prior to updates getting in this state. – John Sep 16 '22 at 12:27
  • @John: Just try it instead of challenging it *a priori*, you'll be convinced. – mins Sep 16 '22 at 12:32
  • I am in the rhythm of Patch Tuesday each month, so do not usually find myself with an urgent restart issue. – John Sep 16 '22 at 13:31