Put a Stop to Windows' System-Restart Reminders

The last thing you need during a busy workday is Windows nagging you to restart your machine after it's installed a system update--or doing it for you automatically after five unattended minutes (goodbye, unsaved work document!). Fortunately, it's a relatively simple matter to banish these pop-up reminders:

1. Click Start > Run (or just plain Start in Vista), and then type gpedit.msc. This loads Windows' Group Policy Editor.
2. In the lefthand pane, under Computer Configuration, click Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.
3. In the main window, right-click Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations and choose Properties.
4. Enable the Enabled option and then set the number of minutes to 999. Then click OK and exit the Group Policy Editor.