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

How to Stop Windows 10 Update in Progress in 3 Ways

How to stop Windows 10 update in progress? How to cancel Windows update in progressВ even started? Check the three simple methods here to stop windows update in progress.В

Workable Solutions	Step-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Stop automatic maintenance	Open Windows 10 search box, type «Control Panel» and hit the «Enter» button. Click «System and. Full steps
Fix 2. Stop updates in the Services	Type Services in the Windows 10 Search Windows box. When the Services application appears. Full steps
Fix 3. Stop Windows 10 Pro updateВ	В Press Windows + R keys to start the Run window. Type gpedit.msc and click «OK». Go to. Full steps

Downloading and installing the Windows updates automatically on your system can keep your systemВ up to date and make your computerВ more secure. This is because each update includesВ patches for security. But nonetheless, many users still want to stop or cancel Windows updateВ in progress. The solutions presented in this article are applicable to Windows 10 users of Home, Pro, and Enterprise who are looking for answers to the following questions.

• How to stop Windows 10 update in progress
• How to stop Windows update in progress once started
• How to cancel an unwanted Windows 10 update
• How to interrupt Windows 10 updates while updating

As you can tell, people are asking the same question using different expressions. All in all, they are downloading an update by default and want to have it canceled. How to do it? Follow the easy and useful methods below. ButВ you should know that, if you disable or stop Windows 10 updates,В your computer will be left vulnerable to attack. So think twice before you stop Windows update in progress.

How to Stop Windows 10 Update in Progress on Blue Screen

If your PC has already started installing the update,В your computer will be on a blue screen showing the progress percentage andВ tellingВ you not to turn off your computer.В You should do what it says and let the update complete. You should neverВ shut down your device to stop the update in progress. This can cause serious damage to Windows and make your computer unusable. When the process finishes, you canВ either uninstall the update or use Windows 10’s rollback option to set your computerВ back to the previous version.В

1. Stop Windows 10 Automatic Maintenance to Stop UpdateВ

If the Windows 10 update has not been installed,В even if you have already downloaded it, you can still stop itВ instantly. You just need to stop the «maintenance» of Windows itself.В Follow the following steps correctly.В

Step 1.В OpenВ Windows 10В search box, type «Control Panel» and hit the «Enter» button.

Step 2.В Click «System and Security» option.

Step 3.В Now,В click the «Security and Maintenance» option.В

Step 4.В On the right side of Maintenance, click the button to expand the settings. Here you will hit the «StopВ maintenance» toВ stop Windows 10 update in progress.

2. How to Stop Windows 10 Update in Progress in Services

How to disable Windows 10 update permanentlyВ and stop Windows 10 updateВ at any time in the immediate future, you can turn off Windows automatic updates entirely. ThisВ also can cancel Windows update in progress.

Step 1.В Type Services in the Windows 10 Search Windows box. When the Services application appears in the search results, right-click on it and select «Run as Administrator».

Step 2.В In the Services window, you will find out the list of all the services running in the background. You need to scroll down until you find the Windows Update service. As you can see from its status, the Windows Update is running.

Step 3.В Here you need to right-click «Windows Update», and from the context menu, select «Stop». Alternatively, you can click on the «Stop» link available under the Windows Update option on the top left side of the window.

Step 4.В A small dialogue box will appear, showing you the process to stop the progress. Close the window once finished.

Since the Windows 10 system updateВ you’ve just now canceled has been already downloaded on your computer, it’s insignificant to keep such an update package with a large file size on your computer. Luckily, you can use EaseUS partition manager to delete Windows 10 update files you’ve canceled in progress and free up disk space.

3.В How to Stop Windows Update in Progress in Windows 10 Pro

For Windows 10 Professional users, there is an additional method to apply to stop Windows 10 updates in progress by using Windows 10 Group Policy Editor. Some users may prefer this method to stop and cancel the update. Note: This solution isn’t available in the Windows Home edition.

Step 1.В Press Windows + RВ keys to start the Run window. Type gpedit.mscВ and clickВ «OK».

Step 2.В Go to «Computer Configuration»В > «Administrative Templates»В > «Windows Components»В > «Windows Update».

Step 3. Find and clickВ «Configure Automatic Updates».В On the pop-up window, tick «Disabled», then clickВ «Apply»В and «OK».

Summary:В After trying the three ways above correctly, we believe you have stopped Windows 10 update in progress successfully. You can also reverse these steps and allow Windows 10 automatic updates.

People Also Ask

1.В How do I stop a Windows Update in Progress?

Here are three ways to stop a Windows update in progress, either stop update in service, or stop Windows automatic maintenance, or using the Windows 10 Group Policy EditorВ for Windows 10 Professional users.

2. What happens if you turn off computer during update?

When your computer system has already started the installation of the update, you can’t stop update in progress on the blue screen. Otherwise, you risk damaging your Windows install, which could make your system unusable.

3. What do I do if my computer is stuck updating?

If Windows 10 update stuck at checking for updates, you could try to fix by stopping Windows update service, deleting all files in «DataStore» and «Download» folder, or starting windows update service in the Command prompt window.В

Bonus Tips: Use Windows 10 Partition MasterВ

The latest Windows system lays the foundation for your computer to run smoothly, and if you can manage your disks better, your computer’s performance will improveВ significantly. EaseUS Windows partition manager software can help you create, resize, clone, move, merge, and format partitions in the simplest way.В В

Besides, it provides advanced disk/partition conversion functions to convert a logical partition to primary or primary partition to logical, FAT to NTFS partition, MBR disk to GPT, or GPT disk to MBR. The following steps show you how to use this excellent partition manager to resize the partition without effort. Try it, and it will be a great tool for daily disk management.В

Step 1: Locate the drive/partition

Which drive/partition do you want to adjust its size? Right-click on it and choose «Resize/Move».

Step 2: Resize the partition

You can either shrink the selected partition or extend it.

To shrink the partition, simply use your mouse to drag one of its ends into unallocated space. Expand the «Advanced Settings» list, where you can see the exact disk space for each partition. Once done, click «OK».

Fig. 1 Unallocated space before the drive.

Fig. 2 Unallocated space after the drive.

To extend the partition, make sure that there is unallocated space aside (if there isn’t, follow the above steps to create some). In the same way, drag your mouse towards the unallocated space. Click «OK».

Fig. 3 Add unallocated space into the partition

Step 3: Apply changes

At this step, you will see the new disk partition information & diagram.

To save changes, click the «Execute Operation» button and then «Apply».