Windows XP Update Popup

January 5th, 2009 by Sean Leave a reply »

The windows update popup has lost me hours of work for the last time!

Please Restart... Please Restart... Please...

Please Restart... Please Restart... Please...

Ok.. so that may be a little over the top, maybe minutes of work but it’s still irritating losing all of the windows I have spend days opening and lovingly arranging. After the umpteenth popup of the day I thought I would Google the answer to turn off this unwanted menace.

I found a site that told me exactly the answer I was hoping for and I was popup free in under 5 minutes. The depressing thing is that it was written in 2006 and it took me nearly three years to build up the inclination to do something about it.

So here’s how to do it:

  • Click on the Start button and choose ‘Run.’
  • Type: gpedit.msc.
  • Expand Local Computer Policy, Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, Windows Update.
  • Select “Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations.”
  • Choose “Enable” and then type in how many minutes you want to wait.

I do feel it necessary to put a little disclaimer in here, gpedit is not something that you should really go playing with and I imagine you need to be an administrator on the machine (most home computers are set up so you are the admin) to make the change

I got this handy hint from Tech Target however you are bombarded with advertising as you enter the site. you have been warned.

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