I want to turn off the automatic restart for Windows Update on Windows 7 Home Premium. How do I do this?

This is true.

IF YOU CAN'T USE gpedit.msc THEN YOU CAN USE THE FOLLOWING REMEDY!

1. Open the Registry Edit

(WindowsKey + R, "regedit.exe")

(Remember to be careful! DON'T change anything unless you know exactly what you're doing!) 2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU

* Chances are, if you can't access gpedit.msc you'll be missing these keys! *

If keys WindowsUpdate\AU exist, go ahead to step 3!

OTHERWISE, continue through these indented steps...

1. Navigate to **HKEY\_LOCAL\_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows**
2. (Make sure the above key is highlighted and) go to the edit menu and choose New > Key
3. Name the key **WindowsUpdate**
4. Now, repeat the above steps, except highlight **WindowsUpdate** and name the next key**AU**

3. With WindowsUpdate\AU highlighted, create a new 32-bit DWORD calledNoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers
4. Right click on your newly created value and give it a value data of 1 (hexadecimal)
5. Double check all the steps to make sure you did everything EXACTLY how I explained it
6. Close Registry Editor... You're FREE! :D

Now, even with the gpedit.msc remedy, this will disable automatic restart on important updates, but it will still nag you a bit about restarting it. I don't mind this, personally, because I usually tell it to remind me in about 2-4 hours depending on what I'm doing. The feature is useful if it's just a notification (which is what this remedy will basically do), but when it starts making decisions on whether or not to restart or shutdown my computer is when I get very frustrated. Microsoft REALLY needs to fix this!

*** So why not just use "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them"? Because I still want it to automatically INSTALL them. I just want to choose when to RESTART my computer. There's a massive difference between automatically installing AND restarting to configure, and just automatically installing. I take care of my PC. I'm not stupid enough to never restart my computer, especially when it needs it. Please, Microsoft, don't insult my intelligence, and be a little more flexible! If I wanted to work with all this behind-the-scenes magic I'd spend more time in my Linux terminal...

1. Click Start -> Run
2. Enter “gpedit.msc”
3. Go to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
4. Double-click on “No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Update installation”
5. Enable it!
6. Reboot the computer

This mis-feature of Windows makes me so cross.  How Dare you, Microsoft, control my computer?  It's MY Computer.  I am a PC, but Microsoft tells me when to re-start.  It's not as if your own software is good at shutting itself down so that documents can be recoverd.

Shame on you, Microsoft. 

PS, in my Windows 7, Run -> gpedit.msc does not work.

gpedit.msc is only available to the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate versions of Windows 7. Ergo, the original post cannot access it.

I can only guess that the registry key gpedit modifies in those versions also applies to all the other versions of Windows 7. If so, if MSFT Support can provide us with the specific registry key for this, it would help a lot.

The desire for this specific implementation is so that both download and installation remains an automated process. In this method, downloaded updates will be installed when the user performs a shutdown. The previous answer suggested by Djvan solves the primary problem of users losing their work due to automated shutdowns, but places users back into the role of managing their Windows updates. As long as there are users who forget to perform update installations, the problem of having unprotected machines will remain.

Whereas most users simply circumvent the auto-reboot simply by deactivating their automatic updates, it would be much safer to leave the update process automated. Providing the "no auto-restart" for all versions of Windows 7 affords all users safety with their work and safety with their machines.