Tech Tip of the Week: Prevent Windows Update From Automatically Restarting Your PC

I haven't tried this out yet, but I have a cunning plan.

I am running XP SP3 as a "Home User" so I suspect that the command
net stop "automatic updates"
will be what I need to use. However, I don't want to have to remember to type it in every time I start the computer, so I am going to put it into an AUTOEXEC.BAT

I can't speak for whether the command will work. However "automatic updates" is a Windows feature. The only way to turn on or off Windows features is to do so while Windows is running. If you added the command to autoexec.bat and autoexec.bat did load during boot, the lines would be executed before Windows starts to load. In essence you would not be changing anything by adding lines to autoexec.bat, that require Windows to be running. If anything you would be best off to do so through startup entries, or turn off automatic updates the correct way through Windows Update Settings.

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing". Hence I am grateful I know little to nothing about batch files.

That said, on one hand I suppose it's useful to be able to thwart Windows from restarting after an update. OTOH, I want the machine to restart and be done with it.

Besides, the first thing included in any program's installation instructions is this, "close any other running applications before trying to install this program"! I extrapolate that to mean Windows update is an "install", and work from there.

I've always accepted that as sage advice. Ergo, I boot up to an update session, with no other purpose in mind but to update Windows. Any of my updates are hand picked, after reading the description.

So, set the Windows Update adviser at, "notify me when updates are available".

Pick the updates you want or need.

Download the updates, let Windows do its install thing, and reboot.

That way, there's "no belts, no pads, and no pins", and no "tempest in a teapot" either.