How to Disable Automatic Updates in Vista
Published by: Codrut Nistor, in Tips & Tricks
November13th2007
Yesterday, when we talked about disabling the Security Center warnings, I mentioned those popups that appear when you have disabled Vista's automatic updating feature, and this is a topic I left aside so far. Since I am sure there are a lot of people asking themselves how to do this, today we'll learn how to disable the automatic update feature in Vista...
To change the updating settings, you have to use the Windows Update tool, and I'll show you the fastest way to get to it and get things done, because "time is money", after all, isn't it?
- Press the Start Orb to bring up the Start menu, type "update" in the search box and then click on Windows Update, as you can see below.
- In the Windows Update window, click on the text link Change Settings.
- Choose Never check for updates, and remember to do this manually from now on, because I don't want to be held responsible for any data loss that may occur because you missed some vital security update...
As usual, the power to use this knowledge is yours. After all, you can also change the automatic update settings to suit your needs better, without completely disabling the feature. Good luck!
- Press the Start Orb to bring up the Start menu, type "update" in the search box and then click on Windows Update, as you can see below.
- In the Windows Update window, click on the text link Change Settings.
- Choose Never check for updates, and remember to do this manually from now on, because I don't want to be held responsible for any data loss that may occur because you missed some vital security update...
As usual, the power to use this knowledge is yours. After all, you can also change the automatic update settings to suit your needs better, without completely disabling the feature. Good luck!
7 vote(s)
Loading ...
11 Comments on How to Disable Automatic Updates in Vista
On 04/10/2008 at 9:31 am Hermel said:
That's good to know, the automatic restart is a pain in the ass if you keep programs running over night. Unfortunately, Vista seems to sometimes reset these settings when doing updates which already happened twice to me. It's quite annoying that you have to check whether Windows has reset some these settings after every update...
On 03/23/2009 at 4:02 pm tore said:
thx :)
On 03/24/2009 at 8:24 pm Reid said:
THANK YOU!
I HATE those stupid updates. I was at a state competition with only an hour to prepare a powerpoint for a case study and when we were in our crunch time (about 20 min left) the freakin computer said it was updating windows; please wait. PLEASE WAIT! WTF!!! Hell no! I'm not gonna wait! You wait! I almost through the computer int he trash.
Now I'll never have to deal with the stupid updates screwing me up again. I HATE THEM!!!!
On 07/06/2009 at 12:06 pm Jo Harvey said:
How do i stop updates before the machine turns on? I turn on the laptop and they start automatically and i cant get in to my computer?
On 07/29/2009 at 5:50 pm Vinod Kumar said:
Hi,
you can simply stop and disable the "windows update" service.
On 05/12/2010 at 12:53 pm Mark said:
Yes, the automatic updates are a pain and as far as I can see, are also useless (I have only noticed slowing down of my machine and reduced memory).
The annoying thing is that once turned off, I persistantly get a system tray balloon telling me to turn them back on.
I might sound like a conspiracy theorist, but I see some desperation from Microsoft in getting these to us, and it makes me wonder what in actual fact they do!
On 06/06/2010 at 2:26 pm Niko said:
Yeah, I'm having the same problem as Hermel. It's like it's trying to take over my computer. I turn them off, and vista just sets it back on again. Is there any way to stop tht from happening?
On 06/26/2010 at 3:00 am PISSED OFF said:
FUCK THIS SITE, TYPE A MESSAGE AND IT GETS DELETED CAUSE I FORGOT AN EMAIL, FUCKOFF COCKHEAD!!!!!!!!!
On 06/26/2010 at 3:05 am WIz said:
Like Nico said, it continually reenabling itself, I have disabled it dozens of times in the past 12 months, I use a firewall to block this ablosute ruddest of behaviour, screw bill gates and his dodgy BETA OS's!
Put me in a room with the mongrel, I will beat him up with my sidewinder steering wheel I paid $350 for, just before XP came out with no support for my most expensive product, what a rude prick!
On 07/18/2010 at 5:28 pm charley said:
The endless configuration update of Vista largely impacted my daughter daily study schedule in 2 years. Thanks for post that helps a lot.
On 08/03/2010 at 1:45 pm Anthony said:
It's no wonder why people are flocking to Apple. Apple still pushes out the same bullshit though. Updates are mostly BULLSHIT! DAMN I HATE BOTH OF THESE FUCKED UP, HYPOCRITES. I'm a PC and FUCK YOU AND YOUR FUCKING UPDATES. And if they are updates, please include the following, "... also any options that you've chosen will go back to the default... HA Ha HA you bought our shit."
Want to add something? Post your comments