How do I prevent Windows 7 (Pro) from automatically shutting down to install updates?
When it finishes downloading an update that requires a restart, it pops up a little window that says “Hey dude, I need to shut down to finish this update. I’ll do that in 10 minutes, or you can tell me to do it now, or to wait 4 hours.”
If I am doing anything that is set to full screen (like playing a game or watching a video), I probably never saw that window, and my first clue will be when Windows closes the program I’m using (without saving).
It seems to me that:
there simply must be some way to set it to NEVER shut itself down unless specifically told to do so by me. To just put up a window that says “Dude, I need to shut town to finish that update. Let me know when it would be convenient for you.”
in a sensibly designed program, that setting would be the default.
Setting aside point 2, which is beyond the scope of our abilities right now, how do I achieve point 1?
In a related note, I have some (rhetorical) questions for Microsoft, like:
Why isn’t this well documented on your website?
Why the (expletive) do I have to edit the registry to do this? Why isn’t there a built-in setting in the software for this?
See above post for question about why this isn’t the default setting.
And more broadly, why was this operating system designed in a way that makes it clear that I am here to serve it rather than the other way around? Because that’s the message this clearly sends: rebooting to install the updates is more important than anything I might be doing, and if I should dare to be playing a full-screen game, or watching a video, or typing in Notepad, or doing anything else that will obscure the little warning or yank an active window back to the top immediately after the warning pops up so I never get to see it, … well I can just suck it, because I’m not important like the software is.
My computer does not exist to serve their operating system. It is exactly the other way around.[/rant]
This rant has been brought to you by a lot of pent-up frustration from myself and my brother, whose indignation at how Microsoft has decided to treat their customers dwarfs my own. Please Creator, let them release every program I really want to run for Linux or Android or CPM or AppleDOS or just about anything else.
Both of those questions are answered by the second link Reply gave. (The answers are: 1) It is well-documented, 2) You don’t, 3) There is.)
Because people spent years griping about how insecure Windows was, even though the only reason it was insecure is because lazy Windows users wouldn’t install the security updates. (Pretty much every major exploit in Windows NT-based OSes has happened after the bug was already fixed, and affected just those who hadn’t yet installed the fix.) So Microsoft made Windows more aggressive about installing them in a timely manner.
Put yourself in Microsoft’s shoes. What would you have done? Hell, I wager most people griping about “losing control of their computer” (like you are) are probably the same people griping about Windows’ bad security.
Yeah, their hands were tied. Either inconvenience users or turn their computers into botnets. For every person who edits the registry, a hundred don’t and are safer for it. The average user doesn’t understand security and shouldn’t have decision making authority over it. It is an arrogant stance, but the alternative is the Windows 95/98/XP malware nightmare.
The updates weren’t always that aggressive, and the internet was a lot messier because of it.
So putting it in the registry is their way of saying “you really shouldn’t do this, but if you must, you still can”. The registry is just a minor, deliberate roadblock to keep away casual clueless users. It has hundreds of settings not exposed to the normal user.
I think my first post makes it clear what I would have done: put in the option to have it download and install updates, and put up a pop-up to warn you when a reboot is needed, but not reboot unless specifically told to do so, then made that setting the default unless the user checked the box for “always reboot automatically”.
No, the second link covers how to get it to stop installing the updates without being told to. While that will achieve the ultimate end of getting it to stop rebooting, it does so at great cost as it will stop installing updates.
Given how the “I’m going to reboot unless you tell me not to” window fails to attract attention so often, due to active windows obscuring it, I imagine the “Hey, I’ve got updates I’d like to install” window would be similarly bad at attracting attention to itself.
I am a little concerned about the editing my registry option, as it doesn’t say anything about what will happen now when it requires a reboot. I want it to tell me, because I generally don’t shut my computer down very often. I don’t want to go days without installing updates.
But I don’t want it to shut down my computer while I’m in the middle of working on something, or playing a game, or watching a video, ever again. I don’t want it to restart my computer without warning, and while you might feel the little window is actually a warning, I think we all learned as small children that if we didn’t make sure we had the person’s attention, it doesn’t matter that we said the words, we didn’t tell them.
The most recent update (which reminded me I wanted to ask this question) only got my attention because the program I was using happened to go through a “Not responding” period that showed me my desktop for a few seconds when the “if you don’t tell me not to, I’ll reboot” timer had been running for five minutes already. Either find a better way of getting my attention, or wait until you have confirmation I heard you before doing anything drastic, that’s all I ask.
The second link lets you set it to download updates automatically but not install them until you manually tell it to.
The registry edit just won’t reboot the computer until you tell it to. A dialog box pops up and demands that you restart, but won’t do it automatically (according to the table in the middle of this page). Try it and see if you like it, and if you don’t, just undo the change.
Yes, as I said it does. It doesn’t, however, offer a way to keep auto-installing the updates and only stop the reboots, which is the thing I was asking for, and therefore what I meant when I asked why, since it is possible, it isn’t well documented, and isn’t just a checkbox in the Options section of the program.
Thanks for that. It sounds as if the Registry change will do exactly what I hoped it would do.
I don’t mean to keep harping on this, but it seems like this is a thing many people want. I have had many people share my complaint of the system rebooting in the middle of something because they missed the warning. The fact that the blog you linked to was dealing with WindowsXP just drives home that this has been something people want to do for a long time, which further highlights the question of why Microsoft didn’t make it easy.
If you’ll look carefully, the complaint isn’t about how long the reboot takes, its about it happening at all, and the data loss that it can cause. Or the interruption of real-time events, such as watching live TV (a bit dated now) or online gaming.
Also, I suspect a solid state drive will cost more than my system did. Yep, a quick check of Amazon shows a used 300gig solid state drive (to replace the 270gig platter drive I have) costs more than I spent on this computer. And that for less money than that drive costs, I could buy a 500gig platter drive that has Windows 8.1 already installed on it and a complete desktop computer comes with it.
So, … not really a practical solution as it is expensive and doesn’t address the primary complaint. Thanks for the suggestion, though.