A possible solution to stop Win10 from auto-rebooting after updates.

PLEASE report when you techy gurus come up with a solution that's been tested and definitely works. Then make it idiot-proof so I can not only run it but back out of it if needed? I've always run 24/7, previously controlling when I do restarts... AND I DO want the OS updates and up-to-date virus protection.

My current defenses:

1. Enabled AUTOMATIC LOGIN after a restart. Unfortunately anyone can now get into my computer; but if there's an unattended forced restart I need to be up and running as soon as possible to avoid further data loss. (For me, Microsoft's attempt to make our computers more secure has achieved the opposite result)

2. Running "Don'tSleep" which does what the name implies. Reports are that it doesn't work since Windows update "service" now overrides software settings and forces restarts anyway.

3. Running "MouseJiggler" which prevents computer from entering idle state. (enable jiggle, green arrow sends to systray) A short test let me know that a pending update was still waiting to be downloaded and would proceed when the computer was idle. But since I chickened out and did a manual download/restart when it wouldn't affect scheduled tasks, I don't know if or how long MouseJiggler would work until/if Windows forced the issue.

Well, the ol' PC rebooted by itself. NJC2's XML task was in place and active.

Updates were prepared on 10/28/2016 and "reboot required" flags popped up every morning for the next week. On 11/6/2016 I remoted in via UltraVNC to find a clean desktop, and Event Viewer showed a reboot on 11/5 at 6:33 PM, just outside my preset active hours of 6AM-6PM.

The task held off updates for a week, but somehow Windows got round it. Maybe a three-minute timer, or just let the task run even when not idle? I will try running the task at startup, every three minutes, indefinitely, and report back.

This article mentioned about a software called ShutdownGuard Avoid accidental and automatic shut down or restart with ShutdownGuard

Not sure if it is better than Don't Sleep or not.

scottgus1 said:

The task held off updates for a week, but somehow Windows got round it. Maybe a three-minute timer, or just let the task run even when not idle? I will try running the task at startup, every three minutes, indefinitely, and report back.

Thanks! Keep us in the loop! But for my purposes If that's the case, and if Windows will give those warnings consistently in the future, your experiment resulting in flags popping up for a week is a definite improvement over what we have now. I DO want the updates, and with warnings I could then find a task-free time to take care of it manually. (Currently my only experience with a forced reboot caused irretrievable data loss since it came without any warning whatsoever. )

comcom: I think "ShutdownGuard" will have the same issues "DontSleep" has: the ability for Windows to easily override it. Unlike "DontSleep" it even comes with a warning: "It is important to note that ShutdownGuard is not 100% foolproof. Windows or apps still have the ability to override it if they force the shutdown." "MouseJiggler" as I stated above, keeps the system from going into idle, thus a pending update download on my computer was definitely delayed. BUT... I don't know how long it would have held off the download. Fearing more data loss, I chickened out and did the download/restart manually.

TairikuOkami said:

Yes, that did it, the scheduled reboot did not occur (on 2 computers).

After following the steps in that article, what if you want everything to be back to default again? What steps to do?

The article only teaches how to stop reboots.

dalchina said:

Hi, if you read what I posted about Winaero's tweaker, the answer is a checkbox away.

The article is simply the explanation, obtained by clicking on See in detail....

Where did you post about Winaero's tweaker? I have gone through this thread again but I did not find your post about Winaero's tweaker.

It looks good, does it mean just tick the box in your screenshot to stop windows 10 reboots, and untick to return to default? Does it work every time?
Thanks.