Stop Windows Update service

This post explains how to stop Windows update service from command line(CMD). Make sure that you open elevated administrator command prompt to execute this command.

How to stop Windows update service

Do the following

1. Open elevated command prompt
2. Run the below command.

Update service restarts automatically

It’s observed that just stopping the service does not work in some cases and it restarts automatically. In such cases one can disable the service completely by running below command.

Note that these commands to stop or disable service should be run from elevated administrator command prompt. Other wise you will get the following error.

How to start windows update

Neat tip. However, it seems W7 is automatically restarting the Windows Update service every now and then. I’ve changed status to “Manual” under services.msc but the behavior remains. No fun at all.

Hi Carl
FYI everytime you go into windows update it will start the service even though it is set to manual so if you need to look in windows update then stop the service again afterwards.

Run CMD as Admin and “sc config wuauserv start= disabled” will work on Win7Ulti

Please help me to stop the windows update, it is a disaster every time after windows update, totally stupid program, may be next time I should go for apple.

you gott the error because you have’nt run cmd as administrator

Apple is more stupid than the windows.

I cannot get windows update to stop, finish, or go away! How do I get this to stop so I can get back on the computer? It’s a brand new computer, and useless at this point!

Set to disabled and reboot!

Wow thank you for putting this line up here. I needed to restart my windows update and this did the trick

Yes – agreed thanks much appreciated! On a very slow connection so bandwidth is at a premium. This made things much more pleasant.

#Persistent
interval = 600 ; execution interval in seconds
Menu, Tray, Add ; divider line
Menu, Tray, Add, Execute Now, StopService
Menu, Tray, Default, Execute Now
timer_param := -1000 * interval

StopService:
Run %comspec% /c “sc query wuauserv | find “1 STOPPED” & if errorlevel 1 sc stop wuauserv”, , Hide
time = %A_Now%
time += %interval%, seconds
FormatTime, time_string, %time%, Time
Menu, Tray, Tip, Stop Windows Update Service`nNext Execution at %time_string%
SetTimer, StopService, %timer_param%
return

Hi! even thou i star cmd as admin i still get the “error 5 access denied. can someone help me?

go to start menu —> type “cmd” in the search box, wait till cmd shows in the results list, right click on “cmd” and select “run as administrator”

You need to run it from elevated command prompt.

otherwise, check your UAC and if it’s off, turn it on in your account settings.

This information is for those who wish to completely disable Windows 10 automatic updates. It is very simple and requires no real expertise.

1. Bring up your task manager.
2. Select the “Services” tab.
3. Scroll down the lefthand side until you see “wuauserv”. (In the description column to the right, you’ll see “Windows Update”.)
4. Right click on “wuauserv”.
5. In the dropdown box that appears, click on “stop”.

This stops all automatic updates from taking over your computer. In order to get future updates, you will have to follow the same steps, but click on “start” to restart it. I prefer simply to go to Microsoft’s website to find the updates, if I want them at all, which I don’t. I’ve struggled with Microsoft’s updates for years, from Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and now Windows 10. All of them have rendered my computer(s) less functional than they were prior to the updates.

I use a separate security program in conjunction with Windows firewall and find that there is absolutely no need to upload their security updates.

hi, I am having endless problems with my surface pro3, running win10pro. the overwhelming majority of my time spent on this device is occupied by trying to update and keep in functioning without sending me endless notifications. I am an aspiring Linux user, which so far as I can tell, is superior in every way, however, I am concerned if the security is dependable…? I was wondering what the security program is that you referenced? and would be eager to hear any other suggestions/tips/opinions?

I tried this and got a message that access is denied.

Same problem on my PC. Svchost.exe takes continuously almost 100% processor time.
Stopped wuauserv in the way described above and the processor is free. However after a restart it is running again. Same after stopping it via the command: net stop wuauserv.
Anybody knows how I can stop this wuauserv forever.

You need to disable the service using sc command. Added these commands in the post.

Hi all, a tip for all of those having issues with Windows update, if you go to services.msc and stop the service in the second tab you can select a user to run the service with afterwards.
So you only need to put a valid user and then change the password of that user and voila! it wont ever be able to run again since it will be trying to run with an invalid user… 🙂

I wind up stopping and disabling this service every day or two, yet somehow Windows keeps turning it back to Automatic and running it! (on an older laptop which has to stay at XP)

Just want to say Thank YOU! I got nearly crazy (even more than normal) because my laptop was making so much noise while windows was checking updates for hours. Tried to close it through task manager to no avail but this tip worked as a charm.
I had no problems at all that was until windows installed updates and I could not get into windows anymore. Thanks no thanks. So now I am going to try to see if I can download the updates one by one or so. Thanks again. Love the sound of silence

Surely it would be much easier to use computer management services scroll down to windows update and apply the above directly with the advantage that you can see what you are actually doing.

Thanks for the tip. CPU had been running crazy trying to keep up with the update service. The CPU temp has dropped from 43 degrees Celcius to 35 degrees.

Omg! Thanks you! I was stuck in windows update hell!

Thanks for the info. I made a .bat file to stop, and one to start with this info. Just run as administrator and it works 🙂

I hope the above stop up dates work as my computer is all bet useless

from cmd run
sc queryex wuauserv
take pidnum from result and replace xxx in
taskkill /PID xxx/F and run

This is a good short term (few days) fix but on Windows 10 home edition, update restarts itself after a few days. There is a regedit out there but it doesn’t work for Home edition. The WUSH tool also only works for a few days.

Would be great if there were a way to program this “sc config wuauserv start= disabled” command to re-run itself every 2 days. Does anyone know how to do this?

Just put the command in a batch file, then schedule a task launching it with highest priviledge “when the computer starts”. (^v^)

i am running cmd as administrator but also the following cmd net stop wuauserv is saying invalid what to do then

Erm… I disabled the command using the command prompt (admin), but the file Windows10Upgrade keeps appearing. Help me please!

I can’t stop windows 10 update using service stopping, when I connect to wifi ,service is auto enable how can I stop permanently

Is there any command just to show the windows update is on or off ?

How can I disable windows updates for all the computers on the network?

Unfortunately, Windows 10 Home does not allow users to turn off automatic updates. To do that, you would have to upgrade to the Pro version. Otherwise, you’re looking at a lot of punishing hours spent rolling back updates you didn’t want… I had this issue with an error related to a registry conflict that prioritizes RuntimeBroker and found that this was the case during my research into the cause for the ongoing rollbacks.

I have no access to stop and disable the services. Can anyone tell me what to do in this case?

Hello, I am searching across the internet to find a solution to fix the svchost.exe disk usage, and almost every one of them suggests to disable or turn manual the Windows Update Service. I already did that, but the svchost.exe thing keeps consuming my disk.

If you know how to fix this, please tell me.

Can always services >Windows update
right click, properties, Revoery, and change to no action for all 3… see if that may help.

Thanks, had to get around an invasive group policy to repair bitlocker bde protectors, this was the trick I needed to disable updates so my bitlocker tables could be repaired.
Brent, New Zealand

Fix: Windows Update Service could not be Stopped

This problem appears when users are unable to stop the Windows Update Service using the Services tool or Command Prompt. The reasons for trying to stop the service are numerous and many problems regarding Windows Update can be resolved simply by stopping the service and starting it once again.

Windows Update Service could not be Stopped

This article will feature some modules which may cause this problem to occur as well as some workarounds which can be used to stop the service forcefully. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully and the problem should be resolved in no time.

What Causes the Windows Update Service to prevent being Stopped?

The causes of this problem are often unknown and this problem often needs to be circumvented rather than resolved. Nonetheless, when Windows Update service stops misbehaving, new updates are installed and they often resolve the problem. However, here are some common causes:

• Missing administrator privileges may prevent Windows Update Service from stopping and you should use an elevated Command Prompt in order to stop it.
• Something is wrong with your computer on a more serious note and you should consider an in-place upgrade or a repair installation.

Solution 1: Stopping wuauserv Process

Command Prompt with administrative permissions can be used to circumvent this problem. The command you will use will end the process recognized by its PID and it should be stopped. Note that you will need to use the Services tool to restart the process once you stop it if you wish to use the Windows Update functionality in the future.

1. Use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination by pressing the keys at the same time to open the Task Manager utility.
2. Alternatively, you can use the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination and select Task Manager from the popup blue screen which will appear with several options. You can also search for it in the Start menu.

Running Task Manager

1. Click on More details at the bottom left part of the window in order to expand Task Manager. Navigate to the Services tab and right-click somewhere around the names of the columns and check the box next to the PID entry in the context menu.
2. Locate the Windows Update service by checking the Description column or by looking for the ‘wuauserv’ service under the Name column. Note down its PID number.

Locating the PID of Windows Update Service

1. Search for “Command Prompt” either right in the Start menu or by tapping the search button right next to it. Right-click on the first result which appears at the top and select the “Run as administrator” option.

Running CMD with admin permissions

1. Users who are using an older version of Windows can use the Windows Logo Key + R key combination in order to bring up the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” in the box and use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter key combination in order to run Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Copy and paste the command shown below and make sure you click the Enter key on your keyboard.

1. Make sure you replace [PID] with the number you noted down regarding Windows Update Service. If the Command Prompt reports that the service was successfully stopped, your problem is resolved!

Solution 2: Clearing the Contents of Update Folder

If you want to stop the Windows Update Service because you are either resetting Windows Update components or if you are simply trying to solve a problem regarding the automatic updates, you can follow this set of commands along with deleting the contents of a folder. The method is similar to Solution 1 but the command is different.

1. Search for “Command Prompt” either right in the Start menu or by tapping the search button right next to it. Right-click on the first result which appears at the top and select the “Run as administrator” option.

1. Users who are using an older version of Windows can use the Windows Logo Key + R key combination in order to bring up the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” in the box and use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter key combination in order to run Command Prompt as an administrator. Running CMD using Run box
2. Copy and paste the command shown below and make sure you click the Enter key on your keyboard.

1. Navigate to the following location on your computer by opening the Windows Explorer and clicking on This PC:

1. Use the Ctrl+ A key combination to select all files, right-click on one of them and choose Delete from the context menu.

Deleting the contents of SoftwareDistribution folder

1. If you wish to restart both the BITS and the Windows Update service, run the following set of commands in Command Prompt:

Solution 3: Perform a Repair Installation

This method might seem desperate as it includes creating a bootable Windows 10 media and actually performing a repair installation but it can help you since you won’t lose any of your personal files. This has helped plenty of users deal with the problem and you should check it out as a last resort, especially if you are trying to get Windows Update to work as this will also install the latest version of Windows.

1. Download the Media Creation Tool software from Microsoft’s website. Open the downloaded file you just downloaded and accept the terms and conditions.
2. Select the Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC option from the initial screen.

Choose Create installation media for another PC

1. The language, architecture, and other settings of the bootable drive will be chosen based on your computer’s settings, but you should uncheck the Use the recommended options for this PC in order to select the correct settings for the PC which has the password attached to it (if you are creating this on a different PC, and you probably are).
2. Click Next and click on the USB drive or DVD option when prompted to choose between USB or DVD, depending on which device you want to use to store this image on.

Choose between USB or DVD

1. Click Next and choose the USB or DVD drive from the list which will show the storage media connected to your computer.
2. Click Next and the Media Creation Tool will proceed to download the files necessary to install create the installation device.

Now that you probably have your recovery media, we can start actually solving the booting issue by starting the recovery drive which you should boot from.

1. Insert the installation drive you own or which you have just created and boot your computer. The initial screen will differ depending on the operating system you have installed.
2. Windows Setup should open prompting you to enter the preferred language and time and date settings. Enter them correctly and choose the Repair your computer option at the bottom of the window.

Choose Repair your computer

1. The Choose an option screen will appear so navigate to Troubleshoot >> Reset this PC. This will let you keep your personal files but it will delete the apps you have installed. Follow the further set of instructions on-screen and wait for the process to finish. Check to see if the BSODs still appear in a loop!