Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows 2000
    - Registry Tips
      - Restriction
        Restrict Access to the Windows Update Feature

Section(s): Restriction, Restriction, Security
Published on Apr 20, 2004.
Last Modified on Apr 20, 2004.
Last Modified by Wayne Maples.
Rated 4.6 out of 5 based on 9 votes.

If your organization needs to block their users from using Windows Update to update Windows components, you can use the following registry hack for Windows NT / Windows 2000 / Windows XP :

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\WindowsUpdate
Name: DisableWindowsUpdateAccess
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Equivalent is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer DWORD value NoWindowsUpdate = 1.

If this restriction is in place, if you try Windows Update, you will receive message:

Network policy settings prevent you from using Windows Update to download and install updates on your computer. If you believe you have received this message in error, please check with your system administrator.