Thanks I was looking for this, many times it has updated my computer and restarted by itself and I have lost what I was doing!
If the gpedit.msc snap-in has been whacked by the Sys Admins, then what? Suggestions?
many thanks, did both fixes, that reboot now/later thing would pop up on a timer for meā¦ very bad for when i need to leave my computer on, thanks
Thank you!
Thank you, stupid stupid thing!!!
Thank you soooo much!!! This thing had annoyed me for months and I always forgot to turn automatic updates off until it was too late!
Oh thank God for these simple, but yet effective solutions =)
Iāve been on this computer AND on remote desktop to another computer, and BOTH have had that naggy dialog box popping upā¦ finally itās over! 
I would like to thank you every 5 minutes!
THANK YOU!!! Iāve been battling this dialog box repeatedly for like 2 years. Whoās laughing now evil dialog box?!?
Iāve found another workable solution that doesnāt involve changing any settings. You can let Automatic Updates stay enabled. What I do is pause the process itself (wuauclt) with a program called pausep (http://www.codeproject.com/threads/pausep.asp). Once itās paused, it stays that way until you voluntarily unpause it or reboot yourself. Itās even better than the gpedit fix because it will keep the nagging at bay for longer than 24 hours. In fact, if you could go forever without rebooting, Windows Update would not bother you ever again.
I cant believe Windows did such a horrible thing to his OP, i was working with my computer when this stupid dialoge box popped up and i accidentally clicked on restart computer losing all my WORK!!! WINDOWS IS STARTING TO SUCK!!!
THANKX FOR THIS HELP, I GOT THIS RIDICULOUS UPDATE BOX SINCE OVER A YEAR BUT NEVER CARED TO TRY TO TURN IT OFF UNTIL THIS HAPPENED TO ME
You can try the group policy editing but your computer will not apply it right away.So,either you can open a command line and type GPUPDATE.exe (The system policy will be refreshed) or if it doesnāt work try stopping the service StartāRunāservices.msc ==Go to Automatic Updates and stop the service (do not disable it ,just stop).When you boot the computer,the service will restart automatically.
The system policy solution works but the issue is how long will it take to refresh and apply it .
Only a computer restart will apply the policy for sure,but remember u did not wanna restart in the first place :).GPupdate does not always work.
Thanks so much! Haaaate dialog box, evil!
I want to thank Jeff for this. There is nothing worse than leaving your PC to download some huge file or perform some other longwinded task, only to come back and find that windows has restarted itself.
I canāt beleive Microsoft let this one get out the door. That restart is the most illogical thought ever. How do you know what work you are going to destroy if I step out of the room and you get a reboot in.
Thank you Jeff so much for this fix!!!
sometimes that group policy is overriden by an automatic update.
I have had the āNo auto-restart for schedule Automatic Updates installationsā enabled for months and have seen it get overrided an a few occasions. 
OTOH, Iāve never seen the āRe-prompt for restart with scheduled installationsā policy get overriden. 
But that policy doesnāt matter when your machine is booted while youāre away from it.
I have set these settings on two PCās now, but it just doesnāt seem to do anything for me. When you apply those settings while the cycle of popups is actually going, should it be killed instantly by this? Or will it only take effect the next run? Iām really interested to know, because the popup is coming back still now.
To be clear, I applied these 2 settings:
- No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Updates installations: Enabled
- Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations: Disabled
Iām interested to know what other peopleās experiences are.
Thanks for the great tip. I had an application going that I didnāt want to stop. But I had to be away from my computer for more than 10 minutes. Your advice to stop the automatic updates service worked perfectly. Iāll reboot when itās more convenient for me.
i have downloaded up windows updates manulally using this
now they are installed, how do i get xp pro to auto install them on shutdown?
i have downloaded the windows updates using a program called windows updater
to find it go to google and type in to search box
windows update downloader wud
open the jcarle web site and run the windows update downloader program.
after the udates are down, how do you make xp pro install these on shutdown?