How To Disable the Windows XP Automatic Updates Restart Nag Screen

Because Microsoft released several patches for their Windows XP operating system today, I know there will be a lot of people downloading & installing the updates, only to receive the infamous automatic updates restart nag screen every 10 minutes.

This post will address how to delay this nagging prompt. I say delay because the only way to shut it off completely is to disable updates entirely, and I don’t recommend that.

The longest delay you can have is 1440 minutes (or 24 hours). This delay is good because you really should be prompted to restart eventually, so as to allow the updates to be installed; but every 10 minutes??? c’mon Microsoft…do you really think that prompting us every 10 minutes is necessary?

Anyway…I digress. Here’s how to delay the Windows XP automatic updates restart nag screen:

This can be accomplished one of three different ways. If you have Windows XP Pro, you can choose whichever way tickles your fancy. If you are using Windows XP Home, you’ll only be able to use The Easy Way or The Regedit way.

The Easy Way - download & apply this NagScreenDelay.reg file.  Just save it to your desktop by right-clicking and choosing “Save Link As” or “Save Target As”.  Once downloaded, double-click the file & answer “Yes” when prompted.  That’s it, you’re done.

The Group Policy Way - For all you techies out there (XP Pro only).

1. Click “Start” | “Run” | type in “gpedit.msc” and click “OK”. This will bring up the Group Policy Editor
2. Navigate to: “Local Computer Policy/Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/Windows Update”
3. Double-click “Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations”
4. Click “Enabled” and change the restart minutes: to 1440 (which is 24 hours) and click “OK”
5. Close the Group Policy Editor and you’re all done.

I understand that the Group Policy Editor is not available in Windows XP Home, so if you’re using that operating system, you’ll have to download & install the NagScreenDelay.reg file and apply it, or use The Regedit Way below.

The Regedit Way - If you want to simply edit the registry manually you can do that in Windows XP Home or Windows XP Pro. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Click “Start” | “Run” | type in “regedit”
2. Navigate to “My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU”
3. Create 3 new DWORD values as follows:
   1. Name = NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers, Value = 1
   2. Name = RebootRelaunchTimeout, Value = 5a0 (that’s a zero, not the letter O)
   3. Name = RebootRelaunchTimeoutEnabled, Value = 1
4. Close Regedit and you’re all done.

Now you won’t have to deal with that stupid nag screen every 10 minutes, but will still get reminded once a day.

Enjoy!

If you're new here, or you just enjoy the content, you may want to subscribe to my Email Alerts or RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!