Turning off Auto Updates

05-01-2007

When I access the Automatic Updates window in System Properties, all the
options are 'greyed' out and can't be chosen. I am logged on as the
Administrator. Can anyone advise how I can turn off Auto Updates?
--
tsgm

05-01-2007

Is this your personal machine at home or one belonging to your employer &
used at work?
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org

tsgm wrote:
> When I access the Automatic Updates window in System Properties, all the
> options are 'greyed' out and can't be chosen. I am logged on as the
> Administrator. Can anyone advise how I can turn off Auto Updates?

05-01-2007

This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with
latest updates.
--
tsgm

"PA Bear" wrote:

> Is this your personal machine at home or one belonging to your employer &
> used at work?
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
> AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org
>
> tsgm wrote:
> > When I access the Automatic Updates window in System Properties, all the
> > options are 'greyed' out and can't be chosen. I am logged on as the
> > Administrator. Can anyone advise how I can turn off Auto Updates?
>
>

05-01-2007

If it's a left over from a policy, use gpedit.msc to locate it in computer configuration, windows components, windows update and set all options to not configured.

If it was entered directly into the registry, create a backup of your registry (or of your complete computer (not a bad thing every now and then.... ;-) ), then locate these settings
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\WindowsUpdate
and / or
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\WindowsUpdate

and delete all the keys and settings in there. This will reset it to out of the box settings, and regenerate the keys needing to be there. If no GPO is active, you'll have the option to set it by hand again.

Jules

tsgm wrote:

This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with latest updates.

05-01-2007

Many thanks for your prompt reply, Jules.
I don't have gpedit.msc; so I proceeded with modifying the registry as you
suggested.
I deleted all keys and values in Windows Update hives in the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ . . . and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ . . . except for the first
entry in each, which is: (Defaualt) Reg_SZ (value not set). I then rebooted.
However, I still cannot access any options in the System/Automatic Updates
-- they are still greyed out.
Also, going into Regedit again, I find that the Windows Update entries in
the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE are back again. Some other program must be
controlling it.
--
tsgm

"JulesKremer" wrote:

> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
> <html>
> <head>
> <meta content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
> </head>
> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
> If it's a left over from a policy, use gpedit.msc to locate it in
> computer configuration, windows components, windows update and set all
> options to not configured. 
> 
> If it was entered directly into the registry, create a backup of
> your registry (or of your complete computer (not a bad thing every now
> and then.... ;-) ),
> then locate these settings 
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> and / or 
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> 
> and delete all the keys and settings in there. This will reset it to
> out of the box settings, and regenerate the keys needing to be there.
> If no GPO is active, you'll have the option to set it by hand again. 
> 
> Jules 
> 
> 
> tsgm wrote:
> <blockquote
> cite="mid:F87456AB-CD3C-45BE-A9A6-"
> type="cite">
> <pre wrap="">This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with
> latest updates.
> </pre>
> </blockquote>
> 
> </body>
> </html>
>

05-01-2007

Hi,
I was waiting today for someone else to post the 'greyed out' Automatic
Updates issues. This is something that I also just noticed today and I had
spent soem time on this to no avail before I went to this site to see if
anyone else is reporting same concern. I did try all of the steps provided
by JulesKrember (a couple times) but this did not change anything and
restarting my PC didn't help. I should have left my PC to Notify me before
download and install but around the DST (Daylight Savings Time) updates, we
had so many office PCs to do that we decided to install the Microsoft Update
and change everyone to Automatic Updates. Unfortunately, this in and of
itself caused more issues in the guise of the "svchost.exe" which caused
certain PCs in the office to perform badly and freeze. Turning off Automatic
Updates in My Computer | Properties | Automatic Updates tab and changing to
something other thatn Auto Updates turned out to be an easy and good fix for
that issue. But, now that Automatic Updates is greyed out (on certain office
systems), I can't turn it off.

C_B_S 5/1/2007 3:52 pm

"JulesKremer" wrote:

> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
> <html>
> <head>
> <meta content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
> </head>
> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
> If it's a left over from a policy, use gpedit.msc to locate it in
> computer configuration, windows components, windows update and set all
> options to not configured. 
> 
> If it was entered directly into the registry, create a backup of
> your registry (or of your complete computer (not a bad thing every now
> and then.... ;-) ),
> then locate these settings 
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> and / or 
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> 
> and delete all the keys and settings in there. This will reset it to
> out of the box settings, and regenerate the keys needing to be there.
> If no GPO is active, you'll have the option to set it by hand again. 
> 
> Jules 
> 
> 
> tsgm wrote:
> <blockquote
> cite="mid:F87456AB-CD3C-45BE-A9A6-"
> type="cite">
> <pre wrap="">This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with
> latest updates.
> </pre>
> </blockquote>
> 
> </body>
> </html>
>

05-01-2007

I know it sounds like something you would do to begin with, but did you try
turning off the Automatic Update Service, using Manage (right click My
Computer; Manage) and then Services?
--
http://www.fyi.bz

"C_B_S" wrote:

> Hi,
> I was waiting today for someone else to post the 'greyed out' Automatic
> Updates issues. This is something that I also just noticed today and I had
> spent soem time on this to no avail before I went to this site to see if
> anyone else is reporting same concern. I did try all of the steps provided
> by JulesKrember (a couple times) but this did not change anything and
> restarting my PC didn't help. I should have left my PC to Notify me before
> download and install but around the DST (Daylight Savings Time) updates, we
> had so many office PCs to do that we decided to install the Microsoft Update
> and change everyone to Automatic Updates. Unfortunately, this in and of
> itself caused more issues in the guise of the "svchost.exe" which caused
> certain PCs in the office to perform badly and freeze. Turning off Automatic
> Updates in My Computer | Properties | Automatic Updates tab and changing to
> something other thatn Auto Updates turned out to be an easy and good fix for
> that issue. But, now that Automatic Updates is greyed out (on certain office
> systems), I can't turn it off.
>
> C_B_S 5/1/2007 3:52 pm
>
>
>
> "JulesKremer" wrote:
>
> > <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
> > <html>
> > <head>
> > <meta content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
> > </head>
> > <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
> > If it's a left over from a policy, use gpedit.msc to locate it in
> > computer configuration, windows components, windows update and set all
> > options to not configured. 
> > 
> > If it was entered directly into the registry, create a backup of
> > your registry (or of your complete computer (not a bad thing every now
> > and then.... ;-) ),
> > then locate these settings 
> > HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> > and / or 
> > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> > 
> > and delete all the keys and settings in there. This will reset it to
> > out of the box settings, and regenerate the keys needing to be there.
> > If no GPO is active, you'll have the option to set it by hand again. 
> > 
> > Jules 
> > 
> > 
> > tsgm wrote:
> > <blockquote
> > cite="mid:F87456AB-CD3C-45BE-A9A6-"
> > type="cite">
> > <pre wrap="">This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with
> > latest updates.
> > </pre>
> > </blockquote>
> > 
> > </body>
> > </html>
> >

05-01-2007

Start > Settings > Control Panel > Security Center: What does Security
Center report for the status of your anti-virus application and firewall?
Can you enable Automatic Updates here?
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org

tsgm wrote:
> This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with
> latest updates.
>
>> Is this your personal machine at home or one belonging to your employer &
>> used at work?
>> --
>> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
>> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
>> AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org
>>
>> tsgm wrote:
>>> When I access the Automatic Updates window in System Properties, all the
>>> options are 'greyed' out and can't be chosen. I am logged on as the
>>> Administrator. Can anyone advise how I can turn off Auto Updates?

05-02-2007

Hi Cadwan,

Yes I tried all of that earlier when I was reading various other suggestions
on the site. I also did a restart after to verify what I saw next was not
going to go away. With the Automatic Update Service anything other than
Automatic, e.g., Disabled or Manual--within My Comptuer | Manage |
Services...Auto Update box selections are all stilled greyed out under My
Comptuer | Properies | Automatic Updates, and this is what I see when I
subsequently go to the Windows Update site:

Error Number: 0x8DDD0018
this is the header message in bold text: site cannot continue because one
or more of the windows services is not running...

So, while Automatic Updates is Disabled within Services, I can't even open
Windows Updates and hope to see the box on the right that allows the user to
change their Auto Update selections.

C_B_S 5/1/07 5:05 pm

"Cadwan" wrote:

> I know it sounds like something you would do to begin with, but did you try
> turning off the Automatic Update Service, using Manage (right click My
> Computer; Manage) and then Services?
> --
> http://www.fyi.bz
>
>
> "C_B_S" wrote:
>
> > Hi,
> > I was waiting today for someone else to post the 'greyed out' Automatic
> > Updates issues. This is something that I also just noticed today and I had
> > spent soem time on this to no avail before I went to this site to see if
> > anyone else is reporting same concern. I did try all of the steps provided
> > by JulesKrember (a couple times) but this did not change anything and
> > restarting my PC didn't help. I should have left my PC to Notify me before
> > download and install but around the DST (Daylight Savings Time) updates, we
> > had so many office PCs to do that we decided to install the Microsoft Update
> > and change everyone to Automatic Updates. Unfortunately, this in and of
> > itself caused more issues in the guise of the "svchost.exe" which caused
> > certain PCs in the office to perform badly and freeze. Turning off Automatic
> > Updates in My Computer | Properties | Automatic Updates tab and changing to
> > something other thatn Auto Updates turned out to be an easy and good fix for
> > that issue. But, now that Automatic Updates is greyed out (on certain office
> > systems), I can't turn it off.
> >
> > C_B_S 5/1/2007 3:52 pm
> >
> >
> >
> > "JulesKremer" wrote:
> >
> > > <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
> > > <html>
> > > <head>
> > > <meta content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="Content-Type">
> > > </head>
> > > <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
> > > If it's a left over from a policy, use gpedit.msc to locate it in
> > > computer configuration, windows components, windows update and set all
> > > options to not configured. 
> > > 
> > > If it was entered directly into the registry, create a backup of
> > > your registry (or of your complete computer (not a bad thing every now
> > > and then.... ;-) ),
> > > then locate these settings 
> > > HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> > > and / or 
> > > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\WindowsUpdate 
> > > 
> > > and delete all the keys and settings in there. This will reset it to
> > > out of the box settings, and regenerate the keys needing to be there.
> > > If no GPO is active, you'll have the option to set it by hand again. 
> > > 
> > > Jules 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > tsgm wrote:
> > > <blockquote
> > > cite="mid:F87456AB-CD3C-45BE-A9A6-"
> > > type="cite">
> > > <pre wrap="">This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with
> > > latest updates.
> > > </pre>
> > > </blockquote>
> > > 
> > > </body>
> > > </html>
> > >

05-02-2007

Hi Pa Bear,
No, unfortuantely it also greyed out as it is the same box just a different
way to get there. I am sure it is the same for tsgm. I re-checked this just
now but I also checked it earlier today. I agree with tsgm that something is
controlling this and it is probably some easy fix that we just don't know
about yet

C_B_S 5/1/07 5:15 pm

"PA Bear" wrote:

> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Security Center: What does Security
> Center report for the status of your anti-virus application and firewall?
> Can you enable Automatic Updates here?
> --
> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
> AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org
>
> tsgm wrote:
> > This is my personal desktop computer at home running WinXP Home SP2 with
> > latest updates.
> >
> >> Is this your personal machine at home or one belonging to your employer &
> >> used at work?
> >> --
> >> ~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
> >> MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
> >> AumHa VSOP & Admin; DTS-L.org
> >>
> >> tsgm wrote:
> >>> When I access the Automatic Updates window in System Properties, all the
> >>> options are 'greyed' out and can't be chosen. I am logged on as the
> >>> Administrator. Can anyone advise how I can turn off Auto Updates?
>
>

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