Windows is a living thing: It downloads updates frequently. That’s good, particularly when these updates include important anti-virus protections created to keep your computer safe. There is however an annoying side effect with these updates: Windows wants to restart your computer after every update.

 

No more automatic restarts

As Lifehacker says, the restarts are an aggravation. Nobody likes seeing that message about your computer restarting in 15 minutes. If you don’t want this to take place, you can put a stop to it. Tech site Lifehacker recently covered how to place the automatic update on hold.

 

The process

To do this in Windows 8, first click on the “Start” menu. Type regedit. Start the Registry Editor when it comes up. Next, find this line in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsWindowsUpdateAU. Next, click on the AU key and, when you see it in the right pane, right-click on the empty space and select New >DWORD (32-bit) Value. Then, name the new DWORD: “NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers” Finally, double-click on the new DWORD and assign it a value of 1.

 

Rebooting is key

Once you’ve finished this procedure, Windows won’t automatically restart your computer after its automatic updates. This doesn’t mean, though, that you shouldn’t reboot your computer manually on a regular basis. Your Windows updates won’t take effect if you don’t do this. And that could leave your computer and software weakened.