Share via

How can I stop the Windows Update Medic Service from reenabling itself?

Anonymous
2023-09-16T17:11:50+00:00

As the title says really, I want to turn off updates altogether, and after disabling the Windows Update service I found that it gets reenabled by the Windows Update Medic Service. Upon disabling *that,* I found that it also gets enabled automatically.

I understand people are going to come out of the woodwork to tell me why I shouldn't do this, but that's not the question, I understand that it can cause issues, but I truly do not want it to update.

Any help is appreciated,

Thanks

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows update

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
  1. Ramesh 176.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-09-19T13:10:50+00:00

    This one should help.

    Open Regedit.exe and go to:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WaasMedicSvc

    (Backup the key to a REG file if you haven't done it already.)

    Right-click on "WaasMedicSvc" and choose "Delete".

    Exit Regedit.exe

    40+ people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments

6 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-09-21T07:43:45+00:00

    It's actually a permissions issue.

    The following operation is based on administrator privileges.

    1. Go back to the registry, right-click on the "WaaSMedicSvc" folder and select "Permissions".
    2. After "**Edit", >**click "Advanced", click "Find Now" on the right side to find your own account name, click "OK", tick "Replace owners of subcontainers and objects", click "Disable inheritance" at the bottom.
    3. Click on the second item. Click "Add", click "Select Theme", click "Advanced".
    4. Click "Find Now" on the right side, find your account name, click on it, click "OK", tick "Full Control", click "OK".
    5. Click "Add", click "Select Theme", click "Advanced", click "Find Now" on the right, find "SYSTEM".
    6. Click "OK", switch "Type" to "Deny", click "OK", click "OK" (if a warning box appears, click "Yes"), close the registry.

    9 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2023-09-17T03:36:49+00:00

    Hello, Thomas_438

    Welcome to Microsoft Community.

    You can disable the Windows Update Medic Service by modifying the registry. Here are the steps:

    1. Press , type  and press Enter.Windows key + Rregedit
    2. Input your administrator password if you have any and press Ok.
    3. Go to this root in the registry editor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\WaaSMedicSvc
    4. Right-click on  and select .StartModify
    5. Change the value data from  to .34

    If you’d like to re-enable it later, you can repeat these steps and change the value back to .3

    Disclaimer: Generally, modifying registry subkeys or work group is intended for advanced users, administrators, and IT Professionals. It can help fix some problems, however, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For further protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click **** hereto view the article.

    Hope it helps! If any update, welcome to share with us.

    Best regards,

    Chandy |Microsoft Community Support Specialist

    8 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2023-09-19T13:03:14+00:00

    Thanks for the help, however I find that when I try this, fails and tells me "Access is denied"

    I'm on the administrator account on this computer, not that there are any other accounts, so this should work. Any ideas?

    6 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Ramesh 176.1K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-09-17T03:41:39+00:00

    Alternatively:

    From admin Command Prompt, run:

    • reg export "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WaaSMedicSvc" C:\WaaSMedicSvc.reg

    If the above command runs successfully, run:

    • sc.exe delete WaaSMedicSvc

    (this deletes the service.)

    When you want the service back, import C:\WaaSMedicSvc.reg and reboot Windows.

    5 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments