Stop Windows From Nagging You To Reboot After Automatic Updates! ~ Ask The Admin

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Stop Windows From Nagging You To Reboot After Automatic Updates!

We've all seen it, and we are all annoyed by it.

We are particularly annoyed when we have 20 windows open and are multitasking like monkeys in a banana tree (that doesn't make any sense does it?).

Anyway, that annoying prompt can be turned off with a little thing called Group policy. The cool thing about group policy is you can apply it to one machine using local a local policy, or many machines at once through an OU in active directory. Either way, it is setup the same.



  1. Hit your Startmenu
  2. Click Run
  3. Type gpedit.msc
  4. Then click OK.
  5. Select local computer policy
  6. Computer Configuration
  7. Administrative Templates
  8. Windows Components
  9. Windows Update
  10. Re-prompt for Restart with Scheduled Installations.

Check the box that says enabled, and set the time interval between prompts in minutes. If you want to not be bothered by the prompt at all, check the box that says disabled.

Just remember some patches and updates won't take effect until after a reboot, and if you're like me you don't reboot very often which could leave yourself vulnerable.

After you have made you settings to your liking, click Start > Run and type gpupdate /force for the changes to take effect. Or you can take the easy way out and reboot.

Written By Guest Contributor El Di Pablo