Get rid of Windows Updates

[Mike Lewis]

Just got my first XP machine, and am struggling to get rid of some of the more intrusive features.

For example, every so often, an icon for the automatic Windows Update appears in the system tray (it is not there when I first boot, as far as I can see), along with a speech bubble saying "Stay connected witrh automatic updates ... ".

Is there any way of getting rid of this? I am not interested in getting automatic updates, mainly because this is a laptop which will not usually have an internet connection.

I've noticed a lot of other annoyances, but I'll leave those for another thread.

Thanks in advance.

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

My Visual Foxpro web site:

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

My Crystal Reports web site:

http://www.ml-crystal.com

 

[bcastner]

right-click My Computer, Properties, Automatic Updates, and uncheck the first box.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Bastner,

Isn't it easy when you know how.

Many thanks ... I thought I had looked everywhere for that option. Never occurred to me to check My Computer properties.

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

My Visual Foxpro web site:

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

My Crystal Reports web site:

http://www.ml-crystal.com

 

[nlm9802]

you can also double click on the windows update icon in the notification area and uncheck "keep my computer up to date".

 

[Mike Lewis]

nlm9802,

you can also double click on the windows update icon in the notification area and uncheck "keep my computer up to date".

When I did that, it launched a wizard for initialising the Windows Update tool. I never ran the wizard, so never saw the checkbox you mentioned.

I'll keep your suggestion in mind. However, following BCastner's advice, the icon had vanished ... for good, I hope.

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

My Visual Foxpro web site:

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

My Crystal Reports web site:

http://www.ml-crystal.com

 

[nlm9802]

yep, it will open the wizard, click next and it brings you to the same screen as the "my computer, properties, automatic updates". 2 ways to do the same thing. both should remove it until you go back in and check it (or install xp sp2 or the security update cd).

 

[bcastner]

SP2 allows disabling of the Automatic Update feature through the GUI and through Group Policy.